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RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/012,353 filed on Jan. 24, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to hydrocracking processes, and in particular to hydrocracking processes adapted to receive multiple feedstreams.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Hydrocracking processes are used commercially in a large number of petroleum refineries. They are used to process a variety of feeds boiling in the range of 370° C. to 520° C. in conventional hydrocracking units and boiling at 520° C. and above in the residue hydrocracking units. In general, hydrocracking processes split the molecules of the feed into smaller, i.e., lighter, molecules having higher average volatility and economic value. Additionally, hydrocracking processes typically improve the quality of the hydrocarbon feedstock by increasing the hydrogen to carbon ratio and by removing organosulfur and organonitrogen compounds. The significant economic benefit derived from hydrocracking processes has resulted in substantial development of process improvements and more active catalysts.
[0006] In addition to sulfur-containing and nitrogen-containing compounds, a typical hydrocracking feedstream, such as vacuum gas oil (VGO), contains small amount of poly nuclear aromatic (PNA) compounds, i.e., those containing less than seven fused benzene rings. As the feedstream is subjected to hydroprocessing at elevated temperature and pressure, heavy poly nuclear aromatic (HPNA) compounds, i.e., those containing seven or more fused benzene rings, tend to form and are present in high concentration in the unconverted hydrocracker bottoms.
[0007] Heavy feedstreams such as de-metalized oil (DMO) or de-asphalted oil (DAO) have much higher concentration of nitrogen, sulfur and PNA compounds than VGO feedstreams. These impurities can lower the overall efficiency of hydrocracking unit by requiring higher operating temperature, higher hydrogen partial pressure or additional reactor/catalyst volume. In addition, high concentrations of impurities can accelerate catalyst deactivation.
[0008] Three major hydrocracking process schemes include single-stage once through hydrocracking, series-flow hydrocracking with or without recycle, and two-stage recycle hydrocracking. Single-stage once through hydrocracking is the simplest of the hydrocracker configuration and typically occurs at operating conditions that are more severe than hydrotreating processes, and less severe than conventional full pressure hydrocracking processes. It uses one or more reactors for both treating steps and cracking reaction, so the catalyst must be capable of both hydrotreating and hydrocracking. This configuration is cost effective, but typically results in relatively low product yields (e.g., a maximum conversion rate of about 60%). Single stage hydrocracking is often designed to maximize mid-distillate yield over a single or dual catalyst systems. Dual catalyst systems are used in a stacked-bed configuration or in two different reactors. The effluents are passed to a fractionator column to separate the H 2 S, NH 3 , light gases (C 1 -C 4 ), naphtha and diesel products boiling in the temperature range of 36-370° C. The hydrocarbons boiling above 370° C. are unconverted bottoms that, in single stage systems, are passed to other refinery operations.
[0009] Series-flow hydrocracking with or without recycle is one of the most commonly used configuration. It uses one reactor (containing both treating and cracking catalysts) or two or more reactors for both treating and cracking reaction steps. Unconverted bottoms from the fractionator column are recycled back into the first reactor for further cracking. This configuration converts heavy crude oil fractions, i.e., vacuum gas oil, into light products and has the potential to maximize the yield of naphtha, jet fuel, or diesel, depending on the recycle cut point used in the distillation section.
[0010] Two-stage recycle hydrocracking uses two reactors and unconverted bottoms from the fractionation column are recycled back into the second reactor for further cracking. Since the first reactor accomplishes both hydrotreating and hydrocracking, the feed to second reactor is virtually free of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. This permits the use of high performance zeolite catalysts which are susceptible to poisoning by sulfur or nitrogen compounds.
[0011] A typical hydrocracking feedstock is vacuum gas oils boiling in the nominal range of 370° C. to 520° C. DMO or DAO can be blended with vacuum gas oil or used as is and processed in a hydrocracking unit. For instance, a typical hydrocracking unit processes vacuum gas oils that contain from 10V % to 25V % of DMO or DAO for optimum operation. 100% DMO or DAO can also be processed for difficult operations. However, the DMO or DAO stream contains significantly more nitrogen compounds (2,000 ppmw vs. 1,000 ppmw) and a higher micro carbon residue (MCR) content than the VGO stream (10W % vs. <1W %).
[0012] The DMO or DAO in the blended feedstock to the hydrocracking unit can have the effect of lowering the overall efficiency of the unit, i.e., by causing higher operating temperature or reactor/catalyst volume requirements for existing units or higher hydrogen partial pressure requirements or additional reactor/catalyst volume for the grass-roots units. These impurities can also reduce the quality of the desired intermediate hydrocarbon products in the hydrocracking effluent. When DMO or DAO are processed in a hydrocracker, further processing of hydrocracking reactor effluents may be required to meet the refinery fuel specifications, depending upon the refinery configuration. When the hydrocracking unit is operating in its desired mode, that is to say, producing products in good quality, its effluent can be utilized in blending and to produce gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel to meet established fuel specifications.
[0013] In addition, formation of HPNA compounds is an undesirable side reaction that occurs in recycle hydrocrackers. The HPNA molecules form by dehydrogenation of larger hydro-aromatic molecules or cyclization of side chains onto existing HPNAs followed by dehydrogenation, which is favored as the reaction temperature increases. HPNA formation depends on many known factors including the type of feedstock, catalyst selection, process configuration, and operating conditions. Since HPNAs accumulate in the recycle system and then cause equipment fouling, HPNA formation must be controlled in the hydrocracking process.
[0014] Lamb, et al. U.S. Pat. 4,447,315 discloses a single-stage recycle hydrocracking process in which unconverted bottoms are contacted with an adsorbent to remove PNA compounds. Unconverted bottoms having a reduced concentration of PNA compounds are recycled to the hydrocracking reactor.
[0015] Gruia U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,242 describes a single-stage recycle hydrocracking process in which an HPNA containing heavy fraction from a vapor-liquid separator downstream of a hydrocracking reactor is contacted with an adsorbent in an adsorption zone. The reduced HPNA heavy fraction is then either recycled to the hydrotreating zone or introduced directly into the fractionation zone.
[0016] Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,763,163 discloses adsorption of a DMO or DAO feedstream to a hydrocracker unit to remove nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds. This process is effective for removal of impurities including nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds from the DMO or DAO feedstock to the hydrocracker unit. A separate VGO feedstock is also shown as a feed to the hydrocracker reactor along with the cleaned DMO or DAO feed. However, a relatively high concentration of HPNA compounds remains in unconverted hydrocracker bottoms.
[0017] While the above-mentioned references are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for improved process and apparatus for efficient and efficacious hydrocracking of heavy oil fraction feedstocks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] In accordance with one or more embodiments, a hydrocracking process is provided for treating a first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream and a second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream, in which the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream contains undesired nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds. The process includes the following steps:
[0019] a. contacting the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream with an effective amount of adsorbent material to produce an adsorbent-treated heavy hydrocarbon stream having a reduced content of nitrogen-containing, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds;
[0020] b. combining the second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream with the adsorbent-treated heavy hydrocarbon stream;
[0021] c. introducing the combined stream and an effective amount of hydrogen into a hydrocracking reaction unit that contains an effective amount of hydrocracking catalyst to produce a hydrocracked effluent stream;
[0022] d. fractionating the hydrocracked effluent stream to recover hydrocracked products and a bottoms stream containing HPNA compounds;
[0023] e. contacting the fractionator bottoms stream with an effective amount of adsorbent material to produce an adsorbent-treated fractionator bottoms stream having a reduced content of heavy poly-nuclear aromatic compounds;
[0024] f. integrating the adsorbent-treated fractionator bottoms stream with the combined stream of steps (b); and
[0025] g. introducing the combined stream into the hydrocracking unit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] The foregoing summary as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention will be best understood when read in conjunction with the attached drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and apparatus shown, in the drawings, in which:
[0027] FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram of an integrated hydrocracking process with feed/bottoms pretreatment;
[0028] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram of an embodiment of a desorption apparatus; and
[0029] FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram of an integrated hydrocracking process with separate feed and bottoms treatments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0030] Integrated processes and apparatus are provided for hydrocracking hydrocarbon feeds, such as a combined feed of VGO and DMO and/or DAO, in an efficient manner and resulting in improved product quality. The presence of nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds in DMO or DAO feedstreams, and the presence of HPNA compounds in hydrocracker bottoms, have detrimental effects on the performance of hydrocracking unit. The integrated processes and apparatus provided herein remove or reduce the concentration of nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, PNA compounds and HPNA compounds to thereby improve process efficiency and the effluent product quality.
[0031] In general, the processes for improved cracking includes contacting a first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream and a hydrocracking reaction bottoms stream, with an effective quantity of adsorbent material in which nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, PNA compounds and HPNA compounds are removed. The adsorbent effluent, which generally contains about 85 V % to about 95 V % of the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream and about 10 V % to about 60 V %, in certain embodiments about 20 V % to about 50 V %, and in further embodiments about 30 V % to about 40 V % of the hydrocracking reaction bottoms stream (i.e., the recycle stream), is combined with a second hydrocarbon feedstream and cracked in the presence of hydrogen in a hydrocracking reaction zone. Excess hydrogen is separated from hydrocracking effluent and recycled back to the hydrocracking reaction zone. The remainder of the hydrocracking effluent is fractionated, and the hydrocracking reaction bottoms stream is contacted with adsorbent material as noted above.
[0032] In particular, and referring to FIG. 1 , a process flow diagram of an integrated hydrocracking apparatus 100 including feed/bottoms treatment is provided. Apparatus 100 includes an adsorption zone 110 , a hydrocracking reaction zone 130 containing hydrocracking catalysts, an optional high-pressure separation zone 150 , and a fractionating zone 160 .
[0033] Adsorption zone 110 includes an inlet 114 in fluid communication with a source of a first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream via a conduit 102 , and hydrocracking reaction product fractionator bottoms via a conduit 164 , which is in fluid communication with an unconverted/partially converted fractionator bottoms outlet 162 of fractionating zone 160 . Optionally, inlet 114 of adsorption zone 110 is also in fluid communication with a source of elution solvent via conduit 104 , for instance, straight run naphtha which can be derived from the product collected from the fractionating zone 160 or from another source of solvent. In addition, adsorption zone 110 includes a cleaned feedstream outlet 116 in fluid communication with an inlet 136 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 via a conduit 120 . In embodiments in which a solvent elution stream is employed, the solvent can be distilled off, for instance, at an optional fractionator 118 between the cleaned feedstream outlet 116 and the inlet 136 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 .
[0034] Feed inlet 136 of hydrocracking zone 130 is also in fluid communication a source of second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream via a conduit 132 . In addition, inlet 136 is in fluid communication with a source of hydrogen via a conduit 134 and optionally a hydrogen recycle stream from outlet 154 of high-pressure separation zone 150 via a conduit 156 , e.g., if there is an excess of hydrogen to be recovered. An outlet 138 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 is in fluid communication with an inlet 140 of high-pressure separation zone 150 . In embodiments in which there is not an excess of hydrogen to be recovered, i.e., stoichiometric or near-stoichiometric hydrogen feed is provided, high pressure separation zone 150 can be bypasses or eliminated, and outlet 138 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 is in fluid communication with inlet 158 of the fractionating zone 160 .
[0035] High-pressure separation zone 150 includes an outlet 152 in fluid communication with an inlet 158 of the fractionating zone 160 for conveying cracked, partially cracked and unconverted hydrocarbons, and an outlet 154 in fluid communication with inlet 136 of the hydrocracking reaction zone 130 for conveying recycle hydrogen. Fractionating zone 160 further includes outlet 162 in fluid communication with inlet 114 of adsorption zone 110 and a bleed outlet 163 , and an outlet 166 to discharge cracked product.
[0036] In operation of the system 100 , a combined stream including a first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream via conduit 102 and a hydrocracking reaction bottoms stream via conduit 164 , and optionally solvent via conduit 104 from fractionating zone 160 or from another source, are introduced into the adsorption zone 110 via inlet 114 . Solvent can be optionally used to facilitate elution of the feedstock mixture over the adsorbent. The concentrations of nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds present in the in the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream, and HPNA compounds from the hydrocracking reaction bottoms stream, are reduced in the adsorption zone 110 by contact with adsorbent 112 .
[0037] An adsorbent-treated hydrocracking feedstream is discharged from adsorption zone 110 via outlet 116 and conveyed to inlet 136 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 via and conduit 120 , along with the second hydrocarbon feedstream which is introduced into inlet 136 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 via conduit 132 . In embodiments in which elution solvent is utilized, it is distilled and recovered in fractionator 118 .
[0038] An effective quantity of hydrogen for hydrocracking reactions is provided via conduits 134 and optionally recycle hydrogen conduit 156 . Hydrocracking reaction effluents are discharged from outlet 138 of hydrocracking reaction zone 130 . When an excess of hydrogen is used, the hydrocracking reaction effluents are conveyed to inlet 140 of high-pressure separation zone 150 . A gas stream, which mainly contains hydrogen, is separated from the converted, partially converted and unconverted hydrocarbons in the high-pressure separation zone 150 , and is discharged via outlet 154 and recycled to hydrocracking reaction zone 130 via conduit 156 . Converted, partially converted and unconverted hydrocarbons, which includes HPNA compounds formed in the hydrocracking reaction zone 130 , are discharged via outlet 152 to inlet 158 of fractionating zone 160 . A cracked product stream is discharged via outlet 166 and can be further processed and/or blended in downstream refinery operations to produce gasoline, kerosene and/or diesel fuel. At least a portion of the fractionator bottoms from the hydrocracking reaction effluent, including HPNA compounds formed in the hydrocracking reaction zone 130 , are discharged from outlet 162 and are recycled to adsorption zone 110 via conduit 164 . A portion of the fractionator bottoms from the hydrocracking reaction effluent is removed from bleed outlet 163 to remove a portion of the HPNA compounds, which could causes equipment fouling. The concentration of HPNA compounds in the hydrocracking effluent fractionator bottoms is reduced in adsorption zone 110 . In particular, in system 100 , both the hydrocracking reaction fractionator bottoms and the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream are combined and contacted with adsorbent material 112 in adsorption zone 110 . The adsorbent-treated hydrocracking feed is combined with the second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream for cracking in the hydrocracking reaction zone 130 .
[0039] In certain embodiments, the adsorption zone includes columns that are operated in swing mode so that production of the cleaned feedstock is continuous. When the adsorbent material 112 in column 110 a or 110 b becomes saturated with adsorbed nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, PNA compounds and/or HPNA compounds, the flow of the combined feedstream is directed to the other column. The adsorbed compounds are desorbed by heat or solvent treatment.
[0040] In case of heat desorption, heat is applied, for instance, with an inert nitrogen gas flow to adsorption zone 110 . The desorbed compounds are removed from the adsorption columns 110 a, 110 b via a suitable outlet (not shown) and can be conveyed to downstream refinery processes, such as residue upgrading facilities, or is used directly in fuel oil blending.
[0041] Referring to FIG. 2 , a flow diagram of a solvent desorption apparatus 100 a is provided. A solvent inlet 174 of adsorption zone 110 is in fluid communication with a source of fresh solvent via a conduit 172 and recycled solvent via a conduit 186 . Adsorption zone 110 further includes an outlet 176 in fluid communication with an inlet 182 of a desorption fractionating zone 180 via a conduit 178 . A solvent outlet 184 of desorption fractionating zone 180 is in fluid communication with the adsorption zone inlet 174 via a conduit 186 , and a bottoms outlet 188 is provided to discharge the desorbed nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, PNA compounds and/or HPNA compounds.
[0042] In one embodiment, fresh solvent is introduced to the adsorption zone 110 via conduit 172 and inlet 174 . The solvent stream containing removed nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, PNA compounds and/or HPNA compounds is discharged from adsorption zone 110 via outlet 176 and conveyed via conduit 178 to inlet 182 of fractionation unit 180 . The recovered solvent stream is recycled back to adsorption zone 110 via outlet 184 and conduit 186 . The bottoms stream from the fractionation unit 180 containing the previously adsorbed nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, PNA compounds and/or HPNA compounds is discharged via outlet 188 and can be conveyed to downstream refinery processes, such as residue upgrading facilities, or is used directly in fuel oil blending.
[0043] Referring to FIG. 3 , a process flow diagram of an integrated hydrocracking apparatus 200 including feed pretreatment and bottoms treatment is provided. Apparatus 200 includes a first adsorption zone 210 , a hydrocracking reaction zone 230 containing hydrocracking catalysts, a high-pressure separation zone 250 , a fractionating zone 260 , and a second adsorption zone 290 .
[0044] First adsorption zone 210 includes an inlet 214 in fluid communication with a source of first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream via a conduit 202 (and optionally a source of solvent as described with respect to FIG. 1 , not shown in FIG. 3 ), and a cleaned feedstream outlet 216 in fluid communication with an inlet 236 of hydrocracking reaction zone 230 via a conduit 217 .
[0045] Feed inlet 236 of hydrocracking reaction zone 230 is also in fluid communication with a source of second hydrocarbon feedstream via a conduit 232 . In addition, inlet 236 is in fluid communication with a source of hydrogen via a conduit 234 and hydrogen recycle stream from outlet 254 of high-pressure separation zone 250 via a conduit 256 . As noted with respect to the discussion of apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 , the high pressure separation zone can be bypasses or eliminated, for instance, if there is little or no excess hydrogen. Hydrocracking reaction zone 230 includes an outlet 238 in fluid communication with an inlet 240 of high-pressure separation zone 250 .
[0046] High-pressure separation zone 250 also includes an outlet 252 in fluid communication with an inlet 258 of fractionating zone 260 for conveying cracked, partially cracked and unconverted hydrocarbons, and an outlet 254 in fluid communication with the hydrocracking reaction zone 230 for conveying recycle hydrogen. Fractionating zone 260 further includes outlet 262 in fluid communication with inlet 292 of second adsorption zone 290 , and an outlet 264 to discharge cracked product.
[0047] Second adsorption zone 290 includes inlet 292 in fluid communication with fractionating zone outlet 262 (and optionally a source of solvent as described with respect to FIG. 1 , not shown in FIG. 3 ), and an outlet 294 in fluid communication with inlet 236 of hydrocracking reaction zone 230 via a conduit 296 . p In operation of the system 200 , a first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream is conveyed via conduit 202 to inlet 214 of first adsorption zone 210 . The concentrations of nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds in the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream are reduced in first adsorption zone 210 .
[0048] An adsorbent-treated first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream is discharged from outlet 216 of adsorption zone 210 and conveyed to inlet 236 of hydrocracking reaction zone 230 via conduit 217 . A second hydrocarbon feedstream is also introduced into the hydrocracking reaction zone 230 via conduit 232 . An effective quantity of hydrogen for hydrocracking reactions is provided via conduits 234 , 256 . Hydrocracked effluents are discharged via outlet 238 to inlet 240 of high-pressure separation zone 250 . A gas stream, which primarily contains hydrogen, is separated from the converted, partially converted and unconverted hydrocarbons in the high-pressure separation zone 250 , and is discharged via outlet 254 and recycled to hydrocracking reaction zone 230 via conduit 256 . Converted, partially converted and unconverted hydrocarbons, including HPNA compounds formed in the hydrocracking reaction zone 230 , are discharged via outlet 252 to inlet 258 of fractionating zone 260 . A cracked product stream is discharged via outlet 264 and can be further processed and/or blended in downstream refinery operations to produce gasoline, kerosene and/or diesel fuel. Unconverted and partially cracked fractionator bottoms, including HPNA compounds formed in the hydrocracking reaction zone 230 , are discharged from outlet 262 and at least a portion thereof is conveyed to inlet 292 of second adsorption zone 290 , with the remainder removed via a bleed outlet 263 . The concentration of HPNA compounds in the unconverted fractionator bottoms is reduced in the second adsorption zone 290 , therefore improving the quality of the recycle stream. Adsorbent-treated unconverted fractionator bottoms are sent to the hydrocracking reaction zone 230 via outlet 294 in fluid communication with inlet 236 for further cracking.
[0049] By employing distinct adsorption zones 210 , 290 , the content of the individual feeds to these adsorption zones can be specifically targeted. That is, nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds from the initial feed can be removed in the first adsorption zone 210 under a first set of operating conditions and using a first adsorbent material, and HPNA compounds formed during the hydrocracking process can be removed in the second adsorption zone 290 under a second set of operating conditions and using a second adsorbent material.
[0050] The feedstreams for use in above-described system and process can be a partially refined oil product obtained from various sources. In general, the first heavy feedstream is one or more of DMO from a solvent demetalizing operations or DAO from a solvent deasphalting operations, coker gas oils from coker operations, heavy cycle oils from fluid catalytic cracking operations, and visbroken oils from visbreaking operations. The first heavy feedstream generally has a boiling point of from about 450° C. to about 800° C., and in certain embodiments of from about 500° C. to about 700° C.
[0051] The second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream is generally VGO from a vacuum distillation operation, and contains hydrocarbons having a boiling point of from about 350° C. to about 600° C., and in certain embodiments from about 350° C. to about 570° C.
[0052] Suitable reaction apparatus for the hydrocracking reaction zone include fixed bed reactors, moving bed reactor, ebullated bed reactors, baffle-equipped slurry bath reactors, stirring bath reactors, rotary tube reactors, slurry bed reactors, or other suitable reaction apparatus as appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. In certain embodiments, and in particular for VGO and similar feedstreams, fixed bed reactors are utilized. In additional embodiments, and in particular for heavier feedstreams and other difficult to crack feedstreams, ebullated bed reactors are utilized.
[0053] In general, the operating conditions for the reactor of a hydrocracking zone include: reaction temperature of about 300° C. to about 500° C., in certain embodiments about 330° C. to about 475° C., and in further embodiments about 330° C. to about 450° C.; hydrogen partial pressure of about 60 Kg/cm 2 to about 300 Kg/cm 2 , in certain embodiments about 100 Kg/cm 2 to about 200 Kg/cm 2 , and in further embodiments about 130 Kg/cm 2 to about 180 Kg/cm 2 ; liquid hourly space velocity of about 0.1 h −1 to about 10 h −1 , in certain embodiments about 0.25 h −1 to about 5 h −1 , and in further embodiments about 0.5 h −1 to about 2 h −1 ; hydrogen/oil ratio of about 500 normalized m 3 per m 3 (Nm 3 /m 3 ) to about 2500 Nm 3 /m 3 , in certain embodiments about 800 Nm 3 /m 3 to about 2000 Nm 3 /m 3 , and in further embodiments about 1000 Nm 3 /m 3 to about 1500 Nm 3 /m 3 .
[0054] In certain embodiments, the hydrocracking catalyst includes any one of or combination including amorphous alumina catalysts, amorphous silica alumina catalysts, natural or synthetic zeolite based catalyst, or a combination thereof. The hydrocracking catalyst can possess an active phase material including, in certain embodiments, any one of or combination including Ni, W, Mo, or Co. In certain embodiments in which an objective is hydrodenitrogenation, acidic alumina or silica alumina based catalysts loaded with Ni—Mo or Ni—W active metals, or combinations thereof, are used. In embodiments in which the objective is to remove all nitrogen and to increase the conversion of hydrocarbons, silica alumina, zeolite or combination thereof are used as catalysts, with active metals including Ni—Mo, Ni—W or combinations thereof.
[0055] The adsorption zone(s) used in the process and apparatus described herein is, in certain embodiments, at least two packed bed columns which are gravity fed or pressure force-fed sequentially in order to permit continuous operation when one bed is being regenerated, i.e., swing mode operation. The columns contain an effective quantity of absorbent material, such as attapulgus clay, alumina, silica gel silica-alumina, fresh or spent catalysts, or activated carbon. The packing can be in the form of pellets, spheres, extrudates or natural shapes, having a size of about 4 mesh to about 60 mesh, and in certain embodiments about 4 mesh to about 20 mesh, based on United States Standard Sieve Series.
[0056] The packed columns are generally operated at a pressure in the range of from about 1 kg/cm 2 to about 30 kg/cm 2 , in certain embodiments about 1 kg/cm2 to about 20 kg/cm 2 , and in further embodiments about 1 kg/cm 2 to about 10 kg/cm 2 , a temperature in the range of from about 20° C. to about 250° C., in certain embodiments about 20° C. to about 150° C., and in further embodiments about 20° C. to about 100° C.; and a liquid hourly space velocity of about 0.1 h −1 to about 10 h −1 , in certain embodiments about 0.25 h −1 to about 5 h −1 , and in further embodiments about 0.5 h −1 to about 2 h 1 . The adsorbent can be desorbed by applying heat via inert nitrogen gas flow introduced at a pressure of from about 1 kg/cm2 to about 30 kg/cm 2 , in certain embodiments about 1 kg/cm 2 to about 20 kg/cm 2 , and in further embodiments about 1 kg/cm 2 to about 10 kg/cm 2 .
[0057] In embodiments in which the adsorbent is desorbed by solvent desorption, solvents can be selected based on their Hildebrand solubility factors or by their two-dimensional solubility factors. Solvents can be introduced at a solvent to oil volume ratio of about 1:1 to about
[0058] 10 : 1 .
[0059] The overall Hildebrand solubility parameter is a well-known measure of polarity and has been calculated for numerous compounds. See The Journal of Paint Technology, Vol. 39, No. 505 (February 1967). The solvents can also be described by their two-dimensional solubility parameter. See, for example, I. A. Wiehe, Ind. & Eng. Res., 34(1995), 661. The complexing solubility parameter component, which describes the hydrogen bonding and electron donor acceptor interactions, measures the interaction energy that requires a specific orientation between an atom of one molecule and a second atom of a different molecule. The field force solubility parameter, which describes the van der Waals and dipole interactions, measures the interaction energy of the liquid that is not destroyed by changes in the orientation of the molecules.
[0060] In accordance with the desportion operations using a non-polar solvent or solvents (if more than one is employed) preferably have an overall Hildebrand solubility parameter of less than about 8.0 or the complexing solubility parameter of less than 0.5 and a field force parameter of less than 7.5. Suitable non-polar solvents include, e.g., saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons such as pentanes, hexanes, heptanes, paraffinic naphtha, C 5 -C 11 , kerosene C 12 -C 15 diesel C 16 -C 20 , normal and branched paraffins, mixtures or any of these solvents. The preferred solvents are C 5 -C 7 paraffins and C 5 -C 11 parafinic naphtha.
[0061] In accordance with the desportion operations using polar solvent(s), solvents are selected having an overall solubility parameter greater than about 8.5, or a complexing solubility parameter of greater than 1 and field force parameter of greater than 8. Examples of polar solvents meeting the desired minimum solubility parameter are toluene (8.91), benzene (9.15), xylenes (8.85), and tetrahydrofuran (9.52).
[0062] Advantageously, the present invention reduces the concentrations of nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and PNA compounds in a heavy feedstream to a hydrocracking unit such as a DMO or DAO feedstream. In addition, in recycle hydrocracking operations, the concentration of HPNA compounds that are formed in the unconverted fractionator bottoms is reduced. Accordingly, the overall efficiency of operation of the hydrocracking unit is improved along with the effluent product quality.
Example
[0063] Attapulgus clay having the properties set forth in Table 1 was used as an adsorbent to treat a blend of de-metalized oil stream and unconverted hydrocracker bottoms (1:2 ratio). The virgin DMO contained 2.9 W % sulfur and 2150 ppmw nitrogen, 7.32 W % MCR, 6.7 W % tetra plus aromatics as measured by a UV method. The unconverted hydrocracker bottoms was almost free of sulfur (<10 ppmw), nitrogen (<2 ppmw) and contained >3000 ppmw coronene and its derivatives and about 50 ppmw of ovalene. The mid-boiling point of the DMO stream was 614° C. as measured by the ASTM D-2887 method. The unconverted hydrocracker bottoms had much lower mid boiling point (442° C.). The de-metalized oil and HPNA blend was mixed with a straight run naphtha stream boiling in the range of 36° C. to 180° C. containing 97 W % paraffins, the remainder being aromatics and naphthenes at 1:10 V %:V % ratio and passed to the adsorption column containing attapulgus clay at 20° C. The contact time for the mixture was 30 minutes.
[0064] The naphtha fraction was distilled off and 94.7 W % of adsorbent treated DMO/unconverted hydrocracker bottoms mixture was collected. The molecules adsorbed on the adsorbent material, was desorbed in two steps. A first desorption step was conducted with toluene, and after distilling the first desorption solvent, the yield was 3.6 W % based on the total weight of the blend feed. A second desorption step was conducted with tetrahydrofuran, and after distilling the second desorption solvent, the yield was 2.3 W % based on the initial feed. After the treatment process, 75 W % of nitrogen-containing compounds, 44 W % of MCR and 2 W % of sulfur-containing compounds were removed from the blend sample. 95 W % of the HPNA was also removed from the blend.
[0065] The treated de-metalized oil and unconverted hydrocracker bottoms were hydrocracked using a stacked-bed reactor. Using the treated de-metalized oil and unconverted hydrocracker bottoms according to the process herein, the hydrocracking reactions occurred with a decrease in 10° C. in reactivity temperature as compared to untreated oil as shown in Table 2, thereby indicating the effectiveness of the feedstream treatment process of the invention. Table 3 shows product yields for both configurations
[0066] The reactivity, which can be translated into longer cycle length for the catalyst, can result in at least one year of additional cycle length for the hydrocracking operations, processing of a larger quantity of feedstream, or processing of heavier feedstreams by increasing the de-metalized oil content of the total hydrocracker feedstream. In addition, the treatment of unconverted hydrocracker bottoms stream resulted in clean recycle stream and eliminated the indirect recycle to the vacuum tower or other separation units such as solvent de-asphalting.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Property
Unit
Attapulgus Clay
Surface Area
m 2 /g
108
Pore Size
°A
146
Pore Size Distribution
°A-cc/g
97.1
Pore Volume
cc/g
0.392
Carbon
W %
0.24
Sulfur
W %
0.1
Arsenic
ppmw
55
Iron
ppmw
10
Nickel
W %
0.1
Sodium
ppmw
1000
Loss of Ignition @500° C.
W %
4.59
[0000]
TABLE 2
VGO/DMO
VGO/DMO
Blend With
Blend No
treated DMO
Feedstream
Treatment
Treatment
VGO/DMO Ratio
85:15
85:15
Temperature
398° C.
388° C.
Pressure
115 Kg/cm2
115 Kg/cm2
Hydrogen to Oil Ratio
1,500
1,500
LSHV
0.70 h−1
0.70 h−1
Catalyst 1
Ni—W on Silica
Ni—W on Silica
Alumina
Alumina
Catalyst 2
Ni—W on Zeolite
Ni—W on Zeolite
Catalyst 1/Catalyst 2 V:V %
3:1
3:1
Overall Conversion of 370° C.+
95
95
Hydrocarbons, W %
Recycle of 370° C.+, W %
15
15
Bleed of 370° C.+ Hydrocarbons,
0
0
W %
[0000]
TABLE 3
VGO/DMO
VGO/DMO
Blend With
Blend No
treated DMO
Feedstream
Treatment
Treatment
Light Naphtha
20.01
22.02
Heavy Naphtha 85-185° C.
39.64
37.34
Kerosene 185-240° C.
8.68
8.58
Light Diesel Oil 240-315° C.
6.41
6.42
Heavy Diesel Oil 315-375° C.
4.42
4.56
Bottoms 375-FBP ° C.
20.84
21.07
[0067] The method and system of the present invention have been described above and in the attached drawings; however, modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and the scope of protection for the invention is to be defined by the claims that follow. | A hydrocracking process is provided for treating a first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream and a second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream, in which the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream contains undesired nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and poly-nuclear aromatic compounds. The process includes contacting the first heavy hydrocarbon feedstream with adsorbent material to produce an adsorbent-treated heavy hydrocarbon stream having a reduced content of nitrogen-containing, sulfur-containing compounds and poly-nuclear aromatic compounds. The second heavy hydrocarbon feedstream is combined with the adsorbent-treated heavy hydrocarbon stream. The combined stream is charged to a hydrocracking reaction unit. The hydrocracked effluent is fractioned to recover hydrocracked products and a bottoms stream containing heavy poly-nuclear aromatic compounds. Fractionator bottoms are contacted with adsorbent material (which can be the same or different than the adsorbent material used to treat the initial feed) to produce an adsorbent-treated fractionator bottoms stream having a reduced content of heavy poly-nuclear aromatic compounds, and are recycled to the hydrocracking reaction unit. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to needling of continuous glass yarn mats, intended to be used as reinforcements in composite materials with a base of thermoplastic resins, and in particular in laminates.
Needling of continuous glass yarn mats has the aim of giving a good cohesion to the mat by tangling glass yarns and increasing the hooking characteristics of the thermoplastic resin to the mat by modification of the surface state of said mat. Barbed needles which go through the mat have a double action: they cut certain continuous constitutive yarns of the mat and they displace the yarns which comprise one or two free ends. The displacement of the yarns causes on the inside of the mat the tangling of the yarns which gives the mat its cohesion and on the surface of the mat the appearance of free ends of cut yarns or loops. It is found that each of the two main surfaces of the mat has, after needling according to the conventional process, a different appearance in regard to the density of the free ends of cut yarns projecting from said surface and the density of the loops: the main surface, corresponding to the face of the mat through which the needles penetrate, exhibits a slighter density of free ends which we will designate by the word tassels and a large amount of loops which we will designate by the term floats.
This difference of surface state between the two faces of the mat obtained by a conventional needling, in which all the needles have the same diameter and same length, causes a difference in hooking between the mat and the thermoplastic resin depending on whether the resin is applied to the one or the other face of the mat. This difference is all the more marked as the mat is formed of yarns comprising a greater number of filaments. Laminates made from a superposition of mats and thermoplastic resin (or thermoplastic sheets) can exhibit different mechanical characteristics depending on the appearance given to the mats.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Thus, according to the teaching of the patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,176, a laminate made from two needled glass yarn mats sandwiched between three layers of thermoplastic resin exhibits improved mechanical characteristics when the mats are placed so that the faces comprising the most tassels are both turned toward the outside (FIG. 4 of patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,176) of the laminate.
This particular arrangement requires, during production of the laminate, a prior examination of the surface state of the mat and a presentation of the two mats according to the teaching of said patent. This can be a source of errors, which will not be immediately visible on the laminate itself, but whose effects will be produced on the stamped finished products. Further, this particular arrangement provides a satisfactory solution only for laminates made from two mats.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Now, there has been found, and this is particularly the object of the invention, a process for needling continuous glass yarn mats intended to be used as reinforcements of composite materials with a thermoplastic resin base, and in particular in laminates, which mitigates said drawback. The process of the invention is of the type known in which the mat is subjected to the repetitive action of needles provided with barbs. In an original way, it consists in subjecting the mat to the action, preferably simultaneous action, of two sets of needles of different diameters.
The diameter relates to that of the active part of the needle, i.e., that which penetrates into the mat. The active part of the needle can have any cross section, for example, circular or polygonal. By diameter should be understood that of the circle by which the cross section of the active part of the needle is circumscribed.
The invention relates to a needle board especially designed to use said needling process. This needle board is distinguished by the fact that it comprises two sets of needles, provided with barbs, some having a diameter between 0.50 and 2.35 mm and others having a diameter between 1.10 and 3.56 mm. Each set, for example, is mounted on the board at a rate of every other crosswise row.
Preferably, the needles with smaller diameters are longer than the needles with larger diameters. The glass yarn mat is then perforated first by the needles with the smaller diameter then by the needles with the larger diameter.
In a favored embodiment of the invention, the rows of large-diameter needles are 13 gage for needles having a shank with a diameter of 2.35 mm and a length of 76.2 mm and the rows of small-diameter needles are 15 gage for needles having a shank with a diameter of 1.83 mm and a length of 88.9 mm.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The Figure is a side view of the invention showing the alternating length needles striking the glass mat in the same portion of the mat.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The invention also relates to a sheet of thermoplastic resin reinforced with glass fibers in the form of at least two needled continuous yarn mats, each mat comprising perforations of different dimensions.
In a completely unexpected way, the continuous glass yarn mat needled according to the process of the invention is easily impregnated by a thermoplastic resin from its two faces.
An attempt is made to explain this aptitude for impregnation by making the following assumptions. The needles with larger diameter, when they penetrate the mat, create a momentary densification of the mat by shoving back the yarns they encounter. This densification enables the barbs of the needles with smaller diameters penetrating into these zones that are denser in the number of yarns to carry yarns previously cut by the needles with larger diameters and to create tassels. The presence both of cavities due to the perforation of the mat by the needles with larger diameters and of tassels drawn by the needles with smaller diameters improves the penetration and hooking of the thermoplastic resin to the mat.
The invention will be better understood from reading the description that will be given of a favored embodiment of a continuous glass yarn mat needled with a board with two sets of needles and from the accompanying drawing in which the single figure shows a partial view, in section, of a board with two sets of needles above a mat in the process of being needled. This description is given by way of nonlimiting example.
Continuous glass yarn mat 1 was formed from at least two continuous yarns distributed crosswise on a moving conveyor, in a known way and not described here. Each yarn comprises 50 filaments exhibiting a diameter of 17 microns. The grams per square meter of the mat obtained is 450 g/m 2 .
The needling machine is a standard machine, not shown in the figure, which comprises a beam driven in an up and down movement thanks to a connecting rod and eccentric system; needle board 2 is fastened to this beam. The mat passes between two perforated plates, upper plate 3 or detacher and bottom plate 4 or anvil. The needles pass through holes 5 made in the detacher, penetrate into the mat and go through it until they descend into holes 6 made in the anvil.
On needle board 2 are mounted 50 rows of needles, alternately needles 7 and needles 8. Needles 7 have a shank with a diameter of 2.35 mm and a length of 76.2 mm. Needles 8 have a shank with a diameter of 1.83 mm and a length of 88.9 mm. The active part of these needles has a triangular cross section. Each needle comprises 9 barbs placed regularly over the entire height of the needle, at a rate of 3 barbs per edge.
The rows corresponding to needles 7 have a gage of 13, while the rows corresponding to needles 8 have a gage of 15.
Needling of mat 1 with needle board 2 is performed under the following operating conditions:
______________________________________speed of advance of mat 1.20 m/minstriking speed 150 strikes/minpenetration 26 mmnumber of needles per linear meter 2500number of strikes per cm.sup.2 10.6______________________________________
The mats needled according to the invention can be used for reinforcing numerous thermoplastic resins such as vinyl or acrylic resins.
Thus, a laminate is made by using two mats needled as described above, between which is extruded a thermoplastic resin and which are between two thermoplastic sheets. The laminate is obtained by applying to the unit thus constituted a pressure when the temperature is high enough to assure progressive melting of the thermoplastic sheets. The device making it possible to produce such a laminate is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,531 (FIG. 5).
Comparative tests were made with two laminates made under the same conditions from the same mats, with the same resin and same thermoplastic sheets, but in one of the laminates the two mats had their faces denser with tassels turned toward the outside according to the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,176 and in the other, the two mats had a face denser in tassels turned toward a face less dense in tassels. The two laminates were stamped under the same conditions and no difference of behavior in the stamping or between the characteristics of the stamped finished products were noted.
The mat needled according to the invention, associated with thermoplastic resins, makes it possible to produce reinforced articles exhibiting excellent mechanical properties such as, for example, parts for automobiles made by die stamping.
Various modifications can be made to this invention without thereby going outside its scope. | This invention relates to needling of continuous glass yarn mats.
The invention consists in subjecting the mat to the action, preferably simultaneous action, of needles of different diameters. Thus perforations of different dimensions, preferably regularly distributed, are made in the mat.
This mat is intended to be used as reinforcement in composite materials with a base of thermoplastic resins, in particular in laminates. | 3 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus using biometrics.
BACKGROUND
Currently, a user of a communication apparatus which accesses a mobile network such as a 3GPP network enters authentication information such as a PIN (Personal Identification Number) code, a swipe code, or the like so that the mobile network can authenticate the user. However, the authentication information is sharable and any individual who has access to this information can access the mobile network. Thus, although the mobile network can verify that authentication information assigned to a subscriber is entered, the mobile network cannot verify that this authentication information is actually entered by the subscriber who has a subscription for the mobile network.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,781 proposes employing biometrics to log in to a wireless transceiver. This technique makes it possible to verify that a specific person logs in to the wireless transceiver. However, it is still impossible for the mobile network to verify that the subscriber is actually using the wireless transceiver because a user can give the wireless transceiver to another person after the login procedure. It is desirable that a mobile network can verify that it is the subscriber who actually requests access to the mobile network, and who continues its usage. It is also desirable that a mobile network can verify that the subscriber does not change after the connection to the mobile network is established.
SUMMARY
According to an aspect of the invention, a communication apparatus for connecting to a network that requires authentication is provided. The apparatus includes a network controller for connecting to the network; a controller for controlling a connection to the network via the network controller; a sensor for obtaining biometric information of a user of the communication apparatus; and a memory for storing a subscription module applied to authentication towards the network. The subscription module includes identification information created based on biometric information of the user. In order to establish a connection to the network by use of the subscription module stored in the memory, the controller obtains biometric information of the user by use of the sensor and compares the obtained biometric information to the identification information in the subscription module.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system according to some embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary appearance of a game console 200 according to some embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the game console 200 in FIG. 2 .
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary shape of an ECG wave.
FIG. 5 illustrates an initial setting procedure for biometrics authentication according to some embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a login procedure using biometrics according to some embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings. Each embodiment described below will be helpful in understanding a variety of concepts from the generic to the more specific. It should be noted that the technical scope of the present invention is defined by claims, and is not limited by each embodiment described below. In addition, not all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are always indispensable for the present invention.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system according to some embodiments of the present invention. The system may include a communication apparatus 100 , a mobile network 110 , and an identification server 120 . A user (a subscriber) who has subscription of the mobile network 110 can use the communication apparatus 100 to connect to the mobile network 110 . Examples of the communication apparatus 100 include mobile communication apparatuses such as mobile phones, tablets, laptop computers, game consoles, compact cameras; stationary communication apparatuses such as land phones, desktop computers, photocopy machines, POS terminals; vehicles such as cars, aircrafts; and other apparatuses which have a communication capability. The communication apparatus 100 obtains biometric information of the user when connecting to the mobile network 110 so that the mobile network 110 can authenticate the user of the communication apparatus 100 .
The mobile network 110 is a network managed by a network operator and typically includes a Radio Access Network and a Core Network. The Radio Access Network typically includes eNodeBs and communicates with the communication apparatus 100 directly. The Core Network processes data from/to the Radio Access Network. The Core Network includes an eSIM provisioning server 111 that provisions an eSIM (embedded SIM) with the communication apparatus 100 . The eSIM is a downloadable SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) now being standardized in ETSI TC SC. An eSIM is used herein as an example of a downloadable SIM, but other downloadable SIMs (downloadable subscription tokens) such as an MCIM (Machine Communication Identity Module) as defined in 3GPP TR 33.812 can be used. The SIM contains security tokens, shared secrets, and other information required to establish a mutually trusted connection between the communication apparatus 100 and the mobile network 110 . The SIM also serves to uniquely identify the subscription used by various identifiers, such as the IMSI or MSISDN numbers.
In some embodiments of the present invention, an eSIM can be provisioned from the mobile network 110 to the communication apparatus 100 in an existing way as standardized in ETSI. The eSIM also contains an identification vector, which will be described in detail below. The identification server 130 can generate, or request the identification of, an identification vector used for an eSIM.
Some examples of biometric information will now be explained. Biometric information is physiological and behavioral characteristics that are unique to each individual. Examples of biometric information include physiological characteristics such as the shape of the face, the fingerprints, the hand/finger geometry, the EEG (Electroencephalogram) pattern, the ECG (Electrocardiogram) pattern, the iris and the retina; behavioral characteristics such as the signature, the gait and the keystroke rhythm; and combinations of the physiological and behavioral characteristics such as voice biometric information.
Biometric information can be divided into other two categories; static biometric information and non-static biometric information. The static biometric information is information which does not change with the passage of time. A fingerprint is an example of the static biometric information. On the other hand, the non-static biometric information is information which changes with the passage of time or other external conditions. A heartbeat pattern is an example of the non-static biometric information. Static biometric information can be easily imitated. For example, it is known that fingerprints can be imitated using an artificial finger. However, non-static biometric information is difficult to imitate, as described in Kumar, S.; Sim, T.; Janakiraman, R.; and Sheng Zhang., “Using Continuous Biometric Verification to Protect Interactive Login Sessions,” ACSAC '05 Proceedings of the 21st Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, Pages 441-450. Thus, some embodiments of the present invention use non-static biometric information for the mobile network 110 to authenticate the user of the communication apparatus 100 .
Some of the non-static biometric information such as a heartbeat patterns and EEG pattern expose repetition in the space of a few seconds. Such non-static biometric information is useful to shorten the login procedure to the mobile network 110 . Thus, in the following embodiments, heartbeat patterns are used as the main exemplary parameter of biometric information.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary appearance of a game console 200 according to some embodiments of the present invention. The game console 200 can be used as the communication apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 . The game console 200 may comprise a display 201 , buttons 202 , an antenna 203 , and capacitive coupling contact pads 204 . The display 201 and buttons 202 are user interfaces for a user of the game console 200 to play games, establish a connection with the mobile network 110 , etc. The antenna 203 transmits/receives signals to/from the mobile network 110 . The capacitive coupling contact pads 204 are used to obtain biometric information of the user. When a user of the game console 200 holds the game console 200 at the contact pads 204 on both sides to play a game, a closed circuit is formed by the user's body and the game console 200 . Since a human body generates an electric field, and the organs modify applied electric fields, the game console 200 can obtain an ECG wave of the user through the contact pads 204 .
Instead of the contact pads 204 , the game console 200 may comprise another device which is sensitive enough to capture the movement of the veins, arteries, or heart itself; or their effects, such as the pulse. A sensitive microphone, a millimeter wave or terahertz radiation antenna, infrared light, laser, or many other devices can be used to detect and capture heartbeat patterns.
FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the game console 200 in FIG. 2 . The game console 200 comprises a CPU 301 , a memory 302 , a communication controller 303 , a capturing agent 304 , and a Trusted Environment (TRE) 305 . The CPU 301 controls overall operations of the game console 200 . The memory 302 stores computer programs and data used for operations of the game console 200 . The network controller 303 controls communication with the mobile network 110 and typically comprises a baseband processor and RF transceiver.
The TRE 305 is a hardware and software component for managing an eSIM. According to the proposed standard in ETSI TC SC, the TRE 305 comprises a memory called an embedded a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC) on which an eSIM is stored. The TRE 305 also includes application(s) which enables the over-the-air provisioning and re-provisioning of an eSIM on the eUICC in a secure and controlled way.
The capturing agent 304 captures an ECG (electrocardiogram) wave to create a heartbeat pattern of the user of the game console 200 . FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary shape of an ECG wave. A typical ECG wave of a normal heartbeat consists of a P wave, a QRS complex, and a T wave, as described in Y. Wang, F. Agrafioti, D. Hatzinakos and K. N. Plataniotis, “Analysis of Human Electrocardiogram for Biometric Recognition,” EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, Vol. 2008, 2008, Article ID: 148658, pp. 1-11”
The heartbeats of an ECG wave are aligned by the R peak position, which are localized by using a QRS detector, and truncated by a window of 800 milliseconds (size is estimated by heuristic) centered at the R peak. There is strong evidence that the human heartbeat is a distinctive biometric trait that can be used for identity recognition. There are some solutions for biometric recognition from ECG signals based on temporal and amplitude distances between detected fiducial (fixed) points. It usually has positive polarity, and its duration is less than 120 milliseconds. The spectral characteristic of a normal P wave is usually considered to be low frequency, below 10-15 Hz. The QRS complex corresponds to depolarization of the right and left ventricles, which lasts for about 70-110 milliseconds in a normal heartbeat, and has the largest amplitude of the ECG waveforms.
Since ECG waves captured from the same and single person can differ due to change in conditions of the person, etc., the capturing agent 304 creates a heartbeat pattern based on a captured ECG wave. The heartbeat pattern is unique to an individual and the same heartbeat pattern is obtained from the same individual even if the underlying ECG waves differ. In other words, a heartbeat pattern created based on an ECG wave of a person can match another heartbeat pattern created based on another ECG wave of the same person using a pattern matching mechanism.
To create a heartbeat pattern, the capturing agent 304 captures an ECG wave for a measurement period (e.g. a few seconds) and extracts temporal and amplitude distances between fiducial points of the ECG wave to create a signature vector. Then, the capturing agent 304 performs a dimension reduction to the signature vector using PCA (Principal component analysis) or LDA (Linear discriminant analysis) for example. Finally, the capturing agent 304 classifies the signature vector using k-means or the nearest neighbor (NN) classifier for example to obtain a model of a heartbeat pattern.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate exemplary operations of the system in FIG. 1 . The CPU included in each device executes computer programs stored in memory of each device to process these operations. FIG. 5 illustrates an initial setting procedure for biometrics authentication. Before the initial setting procedure begins, the game console 200 already has an eSIM which has the user PIN and PUK codes and other information stored in it. This eSIM may represent an initial connectivity subscription, and not the final connectivity subscription. As described above, this eSIM is not personalized to the user since the PIN and PUK codes can be shared with another person.
In step S 501 , the user of the game console 200 requests a personalized eSIM to the mobile network 110 through the user interface of the game console 200 such as the display 201 and buttons 202 . The user may be requested to input the PIN code of the current eSIM for identification.
In step S 502 , the capturing agent 304 obtains a heartbeat pattern of the user who is currently using (holding) the game console 200 based on an ECG wave captured through the contact pads 204 during a measurement period (e.g. a few seconds) as described above.
In step S 503 , the capturing agent 304 sends the obtained heartbeat pattern along with the user information (for example, MSISDN, etc.) to the identification server 120 over the mobile network 110 .
In step S 504 , the identification server 120 creates an identification vector based on the received heartbeat pattern and other parameters such as the PIN code. The identification server 120 sends the identification vector to the eSIM provisioning server 111 along with the user information and requests that the identification vector be packaged in an eSIM.
In step S 505 , the eSIM provisioning server 111 creates a new eSIM which includes the received identification vector and other user information in conjunction with existing ways of securing communication mechanisms. The eSIM provisioning server 111 can work according to the standard currently under development in ETSI. The eSIM provisioning server 111 provisions the new eSIM with the game console 200 using standard techniques and requests the TRE 305 to replace the current eSIM with the new eSIM.
In step S 506 , the TRE 305 installs the new eSIM (the received eSIM) and discards or disables the previous (temporal) eSIM. Since the new eSIM includes an identification vector which is created based on the heartbeat pattern of the user, the new eSIM is personalized to this user.
FIG. 6 illustrates a login procedure using biometrics. In step S 601 , the user of the game console 200 requests to log in to the mobile network 110 to access the mobile network 110 using the eSIM stored in the TRE 305 . The user may explicitly request a login through the user interface of the game console 200 or implicitly request a login by holding the contact pads 204 of the game console 200 .
In step S 602 , the capturing agent 304 obtains a heartbeat pattern of the user who is currently using (holding) the game console 200 based on an ECG wave captured through the contact pads 204 during a measurement period (e.g. a few seconds) as described above, and sends the heartbeat pattern to the TRE 305 .
In step S 603 , the TRE 305 compares the received heartbeat pattern to the heartbeat pattern included in the eSIM installed at step S 506 . If the received heartbeat pattern does not match one in the eSIM, the procedure goes to the S 604 and the TRE 305 rejects the login request (or a subset of the installed services is exposed). If the received heartbeat pattern matches one in the eSIM, the procedure goes to the S 605 and the TRE 305 establishes a connection between the game console 200 and the mobile network 110 according to the standard method.
After step S 605 (that is, after the connection is established), steps S 606 and S 607 , which are the same as steps S 602 and S 603 respectively, are repeated while the connection between the game console 200 and the mobile network 110 continues. At step S 607 , if the received heartbeat pattern does not match one in the eSIM, the procedure goes to the S 608 and the TRE 305 disconnects the connection between the game console 200 and the mobile network 110 . If the user of the game console 200 changes to another person after the login request is successfully accepted, the TRE 305 can detect this change and terminates the ongoing session. When the capturing agent 304 cannot capture an ECG wave at step S 607 , the TRE 305 may also disconnect the connection. This function makes it possible for the mobile network 110 to verify that the subscriber is currently using the game console 200 .
According to the embodiments described above, the mobile network can uniquely identify an individual who is currently using the communication apparatus. The user of the communication apparatus is not bothered by authentication procedure since all the user has to do is to hold the communication apparatus. When the invention has been applied, the use of the eSIM proceeds as normal (i.e. according to standard). The only addition is that the login sequence is modified so that the verification of the Identification Vector against the heartbeat pattern is required. This can however be accommodated in the standard. Hence, apart from the insertion of the Identification Server, there is no need to modify the current mobile network or its features. | A communication apparatus for connecting to a network that requires authentication is provided. The apparatus includes a network controller for connecting to the network; a controller for controlling a connection to the network via the network controller; a sensor for obtaining biometric information of a user of the communication apparatus; and a memory for storing a subscription module applied to authentication towards the network. The subscription module includes identification information created based on biometric information of the user. In order to establish a connection to the network by use of the subscription module stored in the memory, the controller obtains biometric information of the user by use of the sensor and compares the obtained biometric information to the identification information in the subscription module. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a zoom lenses and more particularly to high magnification range zoom lenses suited to still cameras.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of the typical prior art zoom lenses include the so-called two-component zoom lens, which includes two components of negative and positive powers, and the so-called four-component zoom lens, which includes from components having, from front to rear, a focusing portion, a variator portion, a compensator portion and a relay portion.
Where a zoom lens of extended zooming or image magnification range is desired, the use of the two-component zoom lens makes it difficult to correct all aberrations, particularly spherical aberration for the telephoto positions. Use of the four-components zoom lens, on the other hand, necessitates a marked strengthening of the refractive power of the zoom portion. Accordingly, it is difficult to correct all aberrations in a balanced system. Moreover, the longitudinal length of the entire system and the diameter of the front component must be increased. Thus, the prior art two and four component zoom lenses were not suited for the purpose.
Many new zoom lenses have been proposed in recent years, one of which uses at least three components to share the magnification power varying effect to obtain a higher magnification range.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a zoom lens having an extended range and minimum bulk and size utilize effectively still preserving good correction of aberrations.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a lens block diagram of a first specific embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a lens block diagram of a second specific embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a lens block diagram of a third specific embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 4(a), 4(b) and 4(c) illustrate the various aberrations of the lens of FIG. 1 at the wide angle end, intermediate position and telephoto end, respectively.
FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) illustrate the various aberrations of the lens of FIG. 2 at the wide angle end, intermediate position and telephoto end, respectively.
FIGS. 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c) illustrate the various aberrations of the lens of FIG. 3 at the wide angle end, intermediate position and telephoto end, respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A feature of the invention is the construction of a zoom lens including a first component counting from the front having a positive refractive power, a second component having a negative refractive power, and a third component having a positive refractive power. A first air separation between the first and second components and a second air separation between the second and third components vary to effect zooming. The third component consists of a front member having a positive refractive power, a middle member having a negative refractive power and a rear member having a positive refractive power. The front member of the third component consists of at least two positive lenses, the middle member consists of a meniscus lens of negative power having a divergent cemented surface with a convex curvature toward the front, and the rear member consists of at least one lens of positive power with its rear surface having a stronger curvature.
The present invention achieves its primary object with the above-described system. It is however, further preferred that the middle member is a doublet consisting of a bi-convex lens and a bi-concave lens cemented at their adjoining surfaces, and the rear member is constructed with one lens, the following condition being satisfied:
0.1<Nv-Np<0.35 (1)
where Np and Nv are the refractive indices of the glasses of the bi-convex and bi-concave lenses of the middle member, respectively.
When the zoom lens of the invention fulfills the general requirement that the third component have three constituent parts of positive, negative and positive powers, improved aberration correction is achieved. Specifically, the negative spherical aberration and the coma produced from the positive member are corrected by the negative member. The negative longitudinal and lateral chromatic aberrations produced from the positive member are also corrected by the negative member. Further, the astigmatism and the field curvature are corrected by the positive and negative members. When the front member consists of at least two positive lenses, the various aberrations produced from this member, particularly spherical aberration and coma, are minimized.
A second specific requirement that the member is constructed with a negative meniscus doublet of forward convexity having a diverging cemented surface, various aberrations such as spherical aberration and coma produced by the positive member of the third component are corrected by the cemented surface and the concave rear surface. If this middle member is constructed of a positive singlet and negative singlet, the rear surface of the positive singlet and the front surface of the negative singlet are liable to produce aberrations of higher order which have to be corrected by other lens surfaces. Therefore, it is advantageous if the middle member is a cemented lens as in the present invention.
Moreover, while the two lenses of the middle member may be separately installed in a lens barrel, since errors in alignment of these two lenses can adversely affect the various aberrations, it is preferable to cement these two lenses together beforehand in an accurate positioned relation and then to install this now formed middle member as a unit in the lens barrel.
When condition (1) is satisfied, the field curvature particularly can be well corrected. The factor (Nv-Np) concerns the Petzval sum. When the lower limit is exceeded, the Petzval sum is small. When the upper limit is exceeded, the Petzval sum is large. In either case, the field curvature is difficult to correct.
Specific numerical examples of the zoom lens of the invention follow. In the numerical data, tables Ri is the radius of curvature of the i-th lens surface counting from the front; Di is the i-th lens thickness or air space counting from the front; and Ni and νi are, respectively the refractive index and the Abbe number of the glass of the i-th lens element counting from the front.
In FIGS. 1 to 3, I, II, III, IV and V denote the first, second, third, fourth and fifth lens components respectively, and arrows indicate the paths of zooming movement of all zoom components. In FIGS. 4 to 6, M denotes the meridional image surface and S the sagittal image surface.
______________________________________Example 1______________________________________F = 36-102 FNO = 1:3.5-4.6 2ω = 62°-24°______________________________________R1 = 118.592 D1 = 2.50 N1 = 1.80518 ν1 = 25.4R2 = 49.747 D2 = 9.00 N2 = 1.60311 ν2 = 60.7R3 = -719.998 D3 = 0.12R4 = 46.718 D4 = 5.90 N3 = 1.69680 ν3 = 55.5R5 = 221.557 D5 = Vari- ableR6 = 131.328 D6 = 1.20 N4 = 1.88300 ν4 = 40.8R7 = 17.626 D7 = 4.80R8 = -52.895 D8 = 1.00 N5 = 1.88300 ν5 = 40.8R9 = 62.652 D9 = 1.85R10 = 35.284 D10 = 4.80 N6 = 1.84666 ν6 = 23.9R11 = -31.841 D11 = 1.35R12 = -24.835 D12 = 1.00 N7 = 1.83400 ν7 = 37.2R13 = -260.777 D13 = Vari- ableSR14 = 0.0 D14 = 1.00R15 = 77.954 D15 = 3.20 N8 = 1.77250 ν8 = 49.6R16 = -87.117 D16 = 0.38R17 = 22.389 D17 = 2.70 N9 = 1.59551 ν9 = 39.2R18 = 50.045 D18 = 0.14R19 = 20.013 D19 = 5.71 N10 = 1.51742 ν10 = 52.4R20 = -185.087 D20 = 4.45 N11 = 1.84666 ν11 = 23.9R21 = 14.513 D21 = 3.87R22 = 79.837 D22 = 3.00 N12 = 1.67003 ν12 = 47.3R23 = -48.218 D23 = Vari- ableAR24 = 0.0 D24 = Vari- ableR25 = -39.695 D25 = 1.20 N13 = 1.77250 ν13 = 49.6R26 = 136.657 D26 = 2.90 N14 = 1.51742 ν14 = 52.4R27 = -88.781 D27 = 2.49R28 = 95.553 D28 = 5.40 N15 = 1.62299 ν15 = 58.2R29 = -52.956______________________________________F 36 60.14 102______________________________________D5 1.02 11.55 19.83D13 17.37 9.59 1.0D23 1.11 5.18 6.48D24 4.0 7.72 15.0______________________________________
______________________________________Example 2______________________________________F = 36-131.1 FNO = 1:4.1 2ω = 62°-18.7°______________________________________R1 = 203.976 D1 = 2.50 N1 = 1.80518 ν1 = 25.4R2 = 67.066 D2 = 9.01 N2 = 1.69680 ν2 = 55.5R3 = -353.880 D3 = 0.12R4 = 55.758 D4 = 5.53 N3 = 1.69680 ν3 = 55.5R5 = 184.608 D5 = Vari- ableR6 = 235.238 D6 = 1.50 N4 = 1.88300 ν4 = 40.8R7 = 23.487 D7 = 5.04R8 = -75.474 D8 = 1.20 N5 = 1.80400 ν5 = 46.6R9 = 47.273 D9 = 3.27R10 = 40.714 D10 = 4.88 N6 = 1.80518 ν6 = 25.4R11 = -46.433 D11 = 1.86R12 = -34.117 D12 = 0.90 N7 = 1.79952 ν7 = 42.2R13 = -427.842 D13 = Vari- ableSR14 = 0.0 D14 = Vari- ableR15 = 143.647 D15 = 2.50 N8 = 1.72000 ν8 = 50.2R16 = -220.374 D16 = 0.12R17 = 57.016 D17 = 2.50 N9 = 1.65844 ν9 = 50.9R18 = 123.461 D18 = 0.12R19 = 33.272 D19 = 3.03 N10 = 1.62004 ν10 = 36.3R20 = 75.701 D20 = 0.12R21 = 24.716 D21 = 7.35 N11 = 1.51742 ν11 = 52.4R22 = -241.028 D22 = 5.57 N12 = 1.84666 ν12 = 23.9R23 = 18.530 D23 = 5.36R24 = 96.485 D24 = 2.68 N13 = 1.66672 ν13 = 48.3R25 = -54.371 D25 = Vari- ableAR26 = 0.0 D26 = Vari- ableR27 = -50.660 D27 = 1.40 N14 = 1.77250 ν14 = 49.6R28 = 153.277 D28 = 2.25 N15 = 1.56965 ν15 = 49.4R29 = -347.010 D29 = 0.60R30 = 141.986 D30 = 4.79 N16 = 1.64850 ν16 = 53.0R31 = -50.727______________________________________F 36 69.96 131.06______________________________________D5 1.42 15.87 26.54D13 27.48 13.04 2.36D14 2.5 3.22 0.82D25 1.26 8.97 9.76D26 3.7 9.72 22.0______________________________________
______________________________________Example 3______________________________________F = 36-131 FNO = 1:4.1 2ω = 62°-18.8°______________________________________R1 = 138.348 D1 = 2.50 N1 = 1.80518 ν1 = 25.4R2 = 59.235 D2 = 8.60 N2 = 1.60311 ν2 = 60.7R3 = -708.983 D3 = 0.12R4 = 57.659 D4 = 5.70 N3 = 1.69680 ν3 = 55.5R5 = 265.892 D5 = Vari- ableR6 = 323.585 D6 = 1.50 N4 = 1.88300 ν4 = 40.8R7 = 22.256 D7 = 4.88R8 = -70.172 D8 = 1.20 N5 = 1.80400 ν5 = 46.6R9 = 54.050 D9 = 3.04R10 = 41.696 D10 = 5.00 N6 = 1.80518 ν6 = 25.4R11 = -41.442 D11 = 0.87R12 = -34.082 D12 = 1.20 N7 = 1.79952 ν7 = 42.2R13 = -721.294 D13 = Vari- ableR14 = 99.974 D14 = 3.50 N8 = 1.67003 ν8 = 47.3R15 = -80.231 D15 = 1.20 N9 = 1.80400 ν9 = 46.6R16 = -187.247 D16 = 1.50R17 = 0.0 D17 = 0.50R18 = 62.327 D18 = 2.50 N10 = 1.71300 ν10 = 53.8R19 = 117.949 D19 = 0.12R20 = 31.707 D20 = 3.30 N11 = 1.62004 ν11 = 36.3R21 = 74.670 D21 = 0.12R22 = 25.329 D22 = 6.80 N12 = 1.51742 ν12 = 52.4R23 = -197.354 D23 = 5.50 N13 = 1.84666 ν13 = 23.9R24 = 18.719 D24 = 5.12R25 = 65.205 D25 = 3.40 N14 = 1.66672 ν14 = 48.3R26 = -48.987 D26 = Vari- ableR27 = -32.563 D27 = 1.20 N15 = 1.77250 ν15 = 49.6R28 = 3199.093 D28 = 3.10 N16 = 1.57957 ν16 = 53.7R29 = -37.012 D29 = Vari- ableR30 = -71.021 D30 = 2.80 N17 = 1.58913 ν17 = 61.0R31 = -41.935______________________________________F 36 70.02 131______________________________________D5 1.83 16.13 28.2D13 27.14 12.84 0.77D26 1.76 10.0 14.19D29 2.5 8.55 16.44______________________________________
Example 1 concerns a type of zooming where the first, second and third components I, II and III are moved in differential relation to one another. The fourth component IV is held stationary during zooming. A stopper AR24 changes its axial position independently of any of the zoom components during zooming, so that the off-axis aberrations and particularly flare are removed.
Example 2 concerns another type of zooming where the first and third components I and III are moved in differential relation to each other. The second and fourth components II and IV remain stationary during zooming. A stop SR14 moves as a unit with the first component I, giving the advantage that the structure of the lens mounting mechanism is simplified. Specifically, when the stop SR14 moves in unison with the first lens components but independently of those components that follow the first component, in the case of the one-ring type mechanical mounting, it is possible to transmit the axial movement of the zoom ring directly to the diaphragm mechanism. Therefore, when zooming, the diaphragm mechanism is easily moved axially without necessitating rotation of it and the operating mechanism is simple. Additionally, in Example 2, if stopper AR26 is moved axially independently of the other lens components during zooming, good aberration correction and a decrease in the outer diameter of the first lens component is possible.
Example 3 is another type of zooming where the first, third and fourth components I, III and IV are moved. The second and fifth lens components II and V remain stationary during zooming. In this example, the first and third lens components I and III move as a unit.
As has been described above, according to the present invention, though the refractive power of the third lens component is strengthened and its total zooming movement is extended, because the third lens component is made of a partial system which stabilizes aberrations during zooming, it is possible to provide a zoom lens of high magnification range well corrected for aberrations.
Also, according to the present invention, the principal point of the third lens component can be put on the object side. Accordingly, while the air space between the second and third lens components is minimized, or is compact, the image magnification range can be extended.
All the above-described embodiments of the invention apply to the zoom type lens where the movement of the first lens component with zooming assists in varying the magnification power of the second lens component. This type is suited for shortening the total length of the lens system at the wide angle end and also the outer diameter of the lens and, therefore, for achieving compactness. However the features of the third lens component of the invention are not confined to the above-described zoom type, lens and are effective in other types, provided that the separations between the successive two of the first, second and third lens components are variable. For example, the conventional 4-component zoom type lens in which the first lens component is held stationary during zooming and only has the focusing function, and an alternative type lens in which the third lens component is held stationary during zooming and the fourth lens component moves to indirectly vary the image magnification, may be mentioned. The principle of correcting the aberrations of the partial system for high grade imagery despite a strong refractive power is applicable to many other zoom type lenses. | A zoom lens including, from front to rear, a positive first component, a negative second component, a positive third component and a fourth component which is stationary during zooming. In some zoom lenses, a fifth component may be positioned behind the fourth component, in which, during zooming, the fourth component is movable and the fifth component is stationary. The separation between the first and second components and the separation between the second and third components varies to effect zooming. The third component is composed of, from front to rear, two positive lenses, a negative meniscus lens having a divergent cemented surface convex towards the front, and a positive lens with its rear surface having the stronger curvature. Minimization of bulk and size and an increase of the image magnification range of the zoom lens is achieved while preserving correction if aberrations. | 6 |
This is a division of application of Ser. No. 07/503407 filed on 02-APR90, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,929.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the manufacture of substrates including electrical circuit paths on the upper and lower surfaces thereof and through holes extending therebetween and particularly to the application of conductive material to the inner surfaces of the through holes to provide an electrical connection between circuit paths.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The application of conductive material to the inner surfaces of the through holes, referred to as through hole printing, is presently performed using manual print systems. An operator hand loads a substrate onto a support referred to in the art as a print nest. The operator locates the substrate on the print nest so that the through holes in the substrate are aligned with corresponding holes in the print nest. The operator then activates a hold down vacuum, which is applied through holes in the nest located adjacent to the perimeter of the substrate, to clamp the substrate to the nest.
The print nest is thereafter pneumatically moved into a printing position under a printing screen. The printing operation is then performed whereby the desired pattern of conductive paths, including the conductive material for the through holes, is printed on the substrate, and the nest is moved back to the load/unload position. The operator then activates a second vacuum that is applied to the corresponding holes in the nest and serves to pull the conductive material through the through holes in the substrate and coat the inner walls of the through holes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,395 issued to Young et al. on Dec. 1, 1987 discloses a method and apparatus that can be used to increase the uniformity of this coating operation.
This completes the printing operation, and the operator deactivates both vacuums and removes the substrate from the print nest. Before loading the next substrate, the operator must wipe away excess conductive material that has been pulled through the through holes of the previous substrate onto the surface of the nest. Otherwise, this excess conductive material will smear on the bottom surface of the next substrate and cause electrical shorts between conductive paths on the lower surface.
It is clear that the foregoing process is both labor intensive and time consuming and thus makes the product produced by this process expensive. Furthermore, this process does not lend itself to automation in view of the need to wipe away the excess conductive material from the print nest each time a through hole printing operation is performed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The apparatus and method of the present invention eliminates the shortcomings of the prior art and permits the printing operation to be performed quickly. It also permits the operation to be performed without the participation of an operator. More particularly, it permits the operation to be automated.
In one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus comprises means for supporting a perimeter portion of the substrate and means for interacting with the bottom surface of an interior portion of the substrate, the interacting means being located alongside of the support means. The interacting means, which in terms of the art could be considered to be an inner nest, includes holes corresponding to the holes in the substrate. The apparatus further comprises means for reciprocally moving the interacting means generally perpendicular to the substrate between a position in which the interacting means is spaced from the bottom surface of the substrate and a position in which the interacting means is in juxtaposition with the bottom surface of the substrate. Still further, the apparatus comprises means for applying conductive material to the top surface of the substrate and means for applying a vacuum to the holes in the interacting means to pull the conductive material through the through holes of the substrate, whereby printing occurs. The moving means moves the interacting means into juxtaposition with the bottom surface of the substrate when the conductive material applying means is to apply the conductive material to the top surface of the substrate and moves the interacting means to its spaced position from the substrate after the conductive material applying means has applied the conductive material to the top surface and the vacuum means has applied a vacuum to the holes in the interacting means.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the support means, which in terms of the art could be considered to be an outer nest, is reciprocally movable by the moving means perpendicular to the plane of the substrate. The moving means moves the support means to a lower position when the substrate is to be loaded onto the support means prior to the printing occurring and again when the substrate is to be unloaded from the support means after printing occurs. The moving means moves the support means to an upper position when printing is to occur. This movement of the support means facilitates mechanical movement of the substrate onto and away from the support means.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises means for locating the substrate in a particular position and means for holding the substrate in the particular position. The locating means comprises a multiple of locators disposed about the perimeter of the substrate when it is supported by the support means. Some of the locators are fixed, and other locators, in opposed relationship to the fixed locators, are movable in the plane of the substrate to move the substrate against the fixed locators prior to the holding means holding the substrate in place.
The holding means comprises holes in the support means connected to, the vacuum applying means. The vacuum applying means applies a vacuum to the holes in the support means after the locating means properly locates the substrate and before the moving means moves the interacting means into juxtaposition with the interior of the substrate. The application of the vacuum to the holes in the support means secures the substrate in place.
It is seen that this apparatus and the method embodied in the steps performed by the apparatus facilitate automation of the application of conductive material to a substrate. Because the interacting means moves perpendicularly in and out of juxtaposition with the substrate, any excess conductive material left on the top surface of the interacting means causes no problem. This is because the excess conductive material surrounds the holes in the interacting means, and the next substrate to be printed is already in the aligned position before the interacting means comes into contact with the substrate. Therefore, any such excess conductive material deposited on the next substrate is deposited exactly at the location of the holes in the substrate, and no shorting of conductive paths occur.
The invention may be further understood from the following more detailed description taken with the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of apparatus in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and
FIGS. 3 through are partial sectional views taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing the steps of the printing operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1.
The drawings are not necessarily to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown apparatus 98 in accordance with the present invention. Apparatus 98 comprises a preprint station 100, a print station 200 and a post print station 300. All three stations accommodate a planar substrate 10 that is formed from an electrically non-conductive material such as ceramic. The substrate 10 includes opposed top and bottom surfaces 12 and 14 and an array of through holes 16 extended between these surfaces.
As the names imply, the substrate 10 is located in the preprint station 100 prior to the printing operation, in the print station 200 during the printing operation, and in the post print station 300 after the printing operation. Means, such as a walking beam 400, periodically advances the substrate 10 from one station to the next. The timing of the advance corresponding to the time it takes to complete the hereinafter described complete cycle of the printing operation.
The preprint station 100 and post print station 300, respectively, include pairs of guide rails 110 and 112, and 310 and 312, respectively. Facing surfaces of each pair of guide rails 110 and 112, and 310 and 312, are spaced from one another slightly greater than the width of the substrate 10. In addition, the facing surfaces of each pair of guide rails 110, 112 and 310, 312 include ledges (one of which, 314, is shown on guide, rail 312) for accommodating opposed side portions of the substrate 10, the ledges serving to support the substrate 10 in a suspended position.
The print station 200 also includes means for supporting the substrate 10 in a suspended position. The support means comprises a pair of support members 250 and 260 that extend between a pair of spaced guide blocks 210 and 212. The support member 250 has a pair of shoulders 252 that protrude toward the support member 260. Similarly, the support member 260 has a pair of shoulders 262 that protrude toward the support member 250. The distance between the shoulders 252 and 262 is such that they engage just the end portions of the substrate 10, which portions typically have no through holes 16. As hereinafter described in greater detail, the support members 250 and 260 are part of a common assembly that is reciprocally movable perpendicularly to the plane of the substrate 10.
The print station 200 further includes means for locating the substrate 10 in a particular position. The locating means comprises stationary locators 220 and 230 and movable locators 225 and 235. The stationary locator 220 consists of a stop 221 fastened to a fixed block 222 that is situated within a recess in the guide block 210. The movable locator 225 is opposite to the guideblock 210 and consists of a stop 226 fastened to a movable block 227 that is situated within a recess in the guide block 212. The block 227 is reciprocally movable in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. 1.
The stationary locator 230 consists of a pair of spaced stops 231 and 232 that are situated between and at one end of the guide blocks 210 and 212. The stops 231 and 232 are fastened to the support member 250 and are situated in a line that extends parallel to a line extending between the stops 221 and 226. Finally, the movable locator 235 consists of a pair of spaced stops 236 and 237 that are situated between and at the other end of the guide blocks 210 and 212 from the stops 231 and 232. The stops 236 and 237 are fastened to movable blocks 238 and 239 that are situated in a line within recesses in the support member 260 and that extends parallel to a line extending between the fixed stops 230 and 232. The blocks 238 and 239 are reciprocally movable in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 1.
The print station 200 further comprises means for holding the substrate 10 in a fixed position once it has been located in the particular position by the locating means. The holding means comprises a hole 254 in each shoulder 252 of the support member 250 and a hole 264 in each shoulder 262 of the support member 260. The holes 254 and 264 are connected to means for applying a vacuum to the holes. This means (not shown) is known in the art, an example being found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,395 referred to in the Background of the Invention, and hereby incorporated herein.
The print station 200 further comprises means for interacting with the substrate 10 when it is held in the particular position on the support means by the holding means. The interacting means includes a planar interacting member 270 having an array of holes 272 that correspond to the array of through holes in the substrate 10. The interacting member 270 lies in a plane that lies parallel to the plane of the substrate 10 when the substrate is supported on the shoulders 252 and 262 of the support members 250 and 260. As hereinafter described, the interacting member 270 is movable perpendicular to this plane.
Referring now to FIG. 2. There is shown a cross-sectional perspective view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 of the mechanism for moving the support members 250 and 260 and the interacting member 270. The interacting member 270 is positioned on the top of the upstanding sides of a cup-shaped member 274 to form a hollow chamber 275 that communicates with all of the holes 272 in the interacting member 270. The bottom of the cup-shaped member 274 has recesses therein within which the upper ends of vertically displaceable lift rods 280 are positioned. The interacting member 270 is joined to the cup-shaped member 274, which is in turn joined to lift rods 280 and, therefore, these members move together as a unit.
The lift rods 280 extend through openings in a plate 256 and a base 266. The plate 256 is joined to the base 266 and is either joined to or integral with the support members 250 (see FIG. 1) and 260. Consequently, these members also move together as a unit. The upper ends of the lift rods 280 are reduced in diameter to form shoulders 282, and the openings in the plate 256 are slightly larger than the reduced diameters of the lift rods. The openings in the base 266 are both larger than those in the plate 256 and larger than the full diameter of the lift rods 280. Shoulders 282 formed by the change in diameter are situated within the openings in the base 266.
Disposed about the reduced diameter portion of each lift rod 280 and contained within each opening in the base 266 is a spring retainer 284 and a compression coil spring 283. The spring retainer 284 rests on the shoulder 282 of the associated lift rod 280 and is vertically displaced within the associated opening in the base 266. The coil spring 283 is restrained in a compressed condition between the spring retainer 284 and the bottom surface of the plate 256.
Disposed about the full diameter portion of each lift rod 280 and fixedly contained within the lower end of each opening in the base 266 is a bearing 286. The lift rods 280 move up and down within the bearings 286 between an upper position and a lower position, the reciprocal movement of the lift rods being controlled by means, such as a cam (not shown), which are well known in the art.
Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6, there are shown partial sectional views of apparatus 98 through line 3--3 of FIG. 1 which show the positions of parts of apparatus 98 during typical steps of a printing operation in which conductors are printed on substrate 10.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 3, the operation of this embodiment of the present invention is as follows. When a substrate 10 is to be moved from the preprint station 100 to the print station 200, the lift rods 280 are in their lower position. Consequently, the cup-shaped member 274, which is joined to the lift rods 280, and the interacting member 270, which is joined to the cup-shaped member, are in their lower position. In addition, as a result of the force exerted by the coil springs 283, the plate 256 is pressed against the bottom surface of the cup-shaped member 274. Therefore, the plate 256 and base 266, and the support members 250 and, 260 joined thereto, are in their lower position.
The location of these members in their lower position relative to a substrate 10 positioned on the support members 250 and 260 is shown in FIG. 3. It is seen that the bottom surface 14 of the substrate 10 is resting on the top surface of the shoulders 262 of the support member 260 and thereby the top surface of the shoulders 252 of the holding member 250 (FIG. 1). In addition, the top surface of the interacting member 270 is located a distance below the top surface of the shoulders 262 and 252. The substrate 10 is, therefore, readily moveable from the preprint station 100 to the print station 200 without any engagement between the substrate 10 and the print station 200 other than the shoulders 252 and 262 of the support members 250 and 260 engaging end portions of the substrate 10 to support the substrate 10 in a suspended position.
With the substrate 10 resting on the shoulders 252 and 262 of the support members 250 and 260, the movable locators 225 and 235 are operated. The operation of the movable locator 225 results in the stop 226 on the movable block 225 engaging the adjacent side edge of the substrate 10 to displace the opposite side edge of the substrate into engagement with the stop 221 of the stationary locator 220. The operation of the movable locator 235 results in the stops 236 and 237 on the movable blocks 238 and 239 engaging the adjacent end edge of the substrate 10 to displace the opposite end edge of the substrate 10 into engagement with the stops 231 and 232 of the stationary locator 230. The stops of the stationary locators 220 and 230 serve to locate the substrate 10 in a particular position, the particular position being the position shown in FIG. 4 in which the holes 16 in the substrate are in registration with corresponding holes 272 in the interacting member 270.
With the substrate 10 located in the particular position, a vacuum is applied to the holes 254 and 264 in the shoulders 252 and 262 of the holding members 250 and 260. The end portions of the substrate 10 resting on the shoulders 252 and 262 have no through holes in registration with the holes 254 and 264 in the shoulders. Therefore, the application of the vacuum to the holes 254 and 264 clamps the substrate 10 to the shoulders 252 and 262 and holds the substrate in the particular position. Then with the substrate 10 held in the particular position, the movable locators 225 and 235 are returned to their original positions.
At the same time that the movable locators 225 and 235 return to their original positions, the lift rods 280 start to rise. As the lift rods 280 rise, in addition to moving the interacting member 270 upward, the rods 280 act to compress the coil springs 283, which in turn act to maintain the plate 256 in engagement with the bottom of the cup-shaped member 274. Consequently, the support members 250 and 260, which are joined to the plate 256, move upward with the lift rods 280.
Then when the lift rods 280 move this assembly upward to the position shown in FIG. 5, an arm 268 joined to and extending laterally from the base 266 engages a fixed block 285 mounted on a support 288 adjacent to the base. This engagement arrests the upward motion of the base 266 and thereby the plate 256 and support members 250 and 260. Continued upward movement of the lift rods 280 results in upward movement of the cup-shaped member 274, and thereby the interacting member 270. It also results in compression of the coil springs 283.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 6, at the end of their upward travel, the lift rods 280 position the top surface of the interacting member 270 in the same plane as the top surface of the shoulders 252 and 262 of the support members 250 and 260. Thus, the top surface of the interacting member 270 also engages the bottom surface 14 of the substrate 10 held in place by the vacuum applied to the holes 254 and 264 in the shoulders 252 and 262. This is the print position, and a screen printer, shown schematically as 290 (900 in FIG. 1), is moved on top of the substrate 10 to apply conductive material 295 to the top surface 12 of the substrate in a pattern that includes the holes 16 in the substrate. A vacuum is applied to the chamber 275 for a predetermined period of time. The vacuum can be applied during or after the print stroke. The vacuum is applied by means known in the art (not shown) such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,395 referred to in the Background of the Invention. The vacuum draws the conductive material 295 through the holes 16 in the substrate 10 to coat the walls of the holes.
When the printing operation is completed, the application of a vacuum to the chamber 275 is discontinued, while the vacuum applied to the holes 254 and 264 in the shoulders 252 and 262 of the support members 250 and 260 continues to hold the substrate 10 in place. The lift rods 280 start to move downward, and the cup-shaped member 274 moves with the rods. Because the shoulders 252 and 262 remain stationary, the interacting member 270 separates from the substrate 1O. As the downward travel of the lift rods 280 continues, the cup-shaped member 274 engages the plate 256, as shown in FIG. 5, and the interacting member 270, cup-shaped member 274, plate 256, and base 266 thereafter move downward together. Consequently, the shoulders 252 and 262 of the support members 250 and 260 joined to the base 266 move downward also, lowering the substrate 10 held on the shoulders by the vacuum applied to the holes 254 and 264 in the shoulders. When the lift rods 280 move to the position shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum is removed from the holes 254 and 264 in the shoulders 252 and 262, enabling the printed substrate 10 to be readily moved to the post-print station 300 and another substrate moved from the pre-print station 100 to the print station 200.
It is seen that should any conductive material be left on the top surface of the interacting member 270 after the foregoing operation is completed, it poses no problem. That is because the interacting member 270 only moves perpendicularly to the plane of the substrate 10 and then only after the substrate has been placed in the position in which the holes 16 in the substrate are in registration with the holes 272 in the interacting member. Thus, any conductive material left on the top surface of the interacting member 270 is only placed in engagement with surfaces immediately surrounding the holes 16 in the substrate 10 and is not smeared by the movement of the substrate in and out of the print station 200. Consequently, there is no need to remove such conductive material from the top surface of the interacting member 270, enabling automation of the printing operation.
An embodiment of apparatus 98 has been made and tested. It was found that a substrate 10 could have conductors printed thereon in about three seconds.
It is to be understood that the apparatus and methods which have been described are illustrative. Modifications may readily be devised by those skilled in the art without departing the spirit and scope of the invention. | A method and apparatus are disclosed for enabling automated printing of through holes extending between top and bottom surfaces of a ceramic substrate or the like. The perimeter of the substrate is placed on a support that locates the bottom surface of the substrate spaced from a member that interacts with the interior portion of the substrate. The interacting member has holes that correspond to the through holes in the substrate, and it is moved generally perpendicular to the substrate to a position where it is in juxtaposition with the bottom surface of the substrate and its holes are in registration with the holes in the substrate. Conductive material is applied to the top surface of the substrate and a vacuum is applied to the holes in the interacting member to pull the conductive material through the through holes in the substrate. The vacuum is then discontinued and the interacting member is moved back to a position where it is spaced from the bottom surface of the substrate. | 7 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority benefit from U.S. Provisional Application 60/453,134 filed Mar. 6, 2003 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to the polynucleotide sequence of a nontypeable strain of Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) genome, NTHi genes contained within the genome and polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides. The invention also relates to uses of these NTHi polynucleotides and NTHi polypeptides including vaccines and methods of treating and preventing NTHi related disorders. The invention also relates to NTHi genes which are upregulated during or in response to NTHi infection of the middle ear or nasopharynx.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Otitis media (OM) is a highly prevalent pediatric disease worldwide and is the primary cause for emergency room visits by children (Infante-Rivand and Fernandez, Epidemiol . Rev., 15: 444-465, 1993). Recent statistic indicate that 24.5 million physician office visits were made for OM in 1990, representing a greater than 200% increase over those reported in the 1980's. While rarely associated with mortality any longer, the morbidity associated with OM is significant. Hearing loss is a common problem associated with this disease, often times affecting a child's behavior, education and development of language skills (Baldwin, Am. J. Otol., 14: 601-604, 1993; Hunter et al., Ann. Otol. Rhinol. Laryngol. Suppl., 163: 59-61, 1994; Teele et al., J. Infect. Dis., 162: 685-694, 1990). The socioeconomic impact of OM is also great, with direct and indirect costs of diagnosing and managing OM exceeding $5 billion annually in the U.S. alone (Kaplan et al., Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J., 16: S9-11, 1997).
[0004] Whereas antibiotic therapy is common and the surgical placement of tympanostomy tubes has been successful in terms of draining effusions, clearing infection and relieving pain associated with the accumulation of fluids in the middle ear, the emergence of multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the invasive nature associated with tube placement, has illuminated the need for more effective and accepted approaches to the management and preferably, the prevention of OM. Surgical management of chronic OM involves the insertion of tympanostomy tubes through the tympanic membrane while a child is under general anesthesia. While this procedure is commonplace (prevalence rates are ˜13%; Bright et al., Am. J. Public Health, 83(7): 1026-8, 1993) and is highly effective in terms of relieving painful symptoms by draining the middle ear of accumulated fluids, it too has met with criticism due to the invasive nature of the procedure and its incumbent risks (Berman et al., Pediatrics, 93(3):353-63, 1994; Bright et al., supra.; Cimons, ASM News, 60: 527-528; Paap. Ann. Pharmacother., 30(11): 1291-7, 1996).
[0005] Progress in vaccine development is most advanced for Streptococcus pneumoniae , the primary causative agent of acute OM (AOM), as evidenced by the recent approval and release of a seven-valent capsular-conjugate vaccine, PREVNAR® (Eskola and Kilpi, Pedriatr. Infect. Dis. J. 16: S72-78, 2000). While PREVNAR® has been highly efficacious for invasive pneumococcal disease, coverage for OM has been disappointing (6-8%) with reports of an increased number of OM cases due to serotypes not included in the vaccine (Black et al., Pedriatr. Infect. Dis J., 19: 187-195; Eskola et al., Pedriatr. Infect. Dis J., 19: S72-78, 2000; Eskola et al., N. Engl. Med. 344: 403-409, 2001; Snow at al., Otol. Neurotol., 23: 1-2, 2002). Less progress has been made for non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), the gram-negative pathogen that predominates in chronic OM with effusion (Klein, Pedriatr. Infect. Dis J., 16: S5-8, 1997; Spinola et al., J. Infect. Dis., 154: 100-109, 1986). Hampering development of effective vaccines against NTHi, is the currently incomplete understanding of the pathogenesis of NTHi-induced middle ear disease. Contributing to this delay is a lack of understanding of the dynamic interplay between microbe-expressed virulence factors and the host's immune response as the disease progresses from one of host immunological tolerance of a benign nasopharyngeal commensal, to that of an active defensive reaction to an opportunistic invader of the normally sterile middle ear space.
[0006] Currently there is a poor understanding of how NTHi causes OM in children. The identification of putative virulence factors necessary for induction of OM will contribute significantly to the understanding of the host-pathogen interaction and ultimately, the identification of potential vaccine candidates and targets of chemotherapy. There is a tremendous need to develop more effective and accepted approaches to the management and preferably, the prevention of otitis media. Vaccine development is a very promising and cost effective method to accomplish this goal (Giebank, Pedriatr. Infect. Dis J., 13(11): 1064-8, 1994: Karma et al., Int. J. Pedritr. Otorhinolaryngol., 32(Suppl.): S127-34, 1995).
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0007] The present invention provides for the identification and characterization of the genomic sequence of NTHi H. influenzae strain 86-028NP and the polypeptide sequences encoded thereby. The 3-fold analysis of the NTHi genomic sequence is set out in a series of contig sequences denoted as SEQ ID NO: 1-576, and the subsequent 8-fold analysis of the genomic sequence is set out in a series of 11 contig sequences denoted as SEQ ID NOS: 675-685. These contigs are raw data and one of skill in the art may assemble these contigs by comparing overlapping sequences to construct the complete genome of the NTHi stain 86-028NP using routine methods.
[0008] The present invention also provides for antibodies specific for the NTHi polypeptides of the invention. Methods of detecting NTHi bacteria in a human or in sample, such as serum, sputum, ear fluid, blood, urine, lymphatic fluid and cerebrospinal fluid are contemplated. These methods include detecting NTHi polynucleotides with specific polynucleotide probes or detecting NTHi polypeptides with specific antibodies. The invention also contemplates diagnostic kits which utilize these methods of detecting NTHi bacteria.
[0009] The present invention also contemplates methods of eliciting an immune response by administering a NTHi polypeptide of the invention or a NTHi peptide thereof. These methods include administering the NTHi polypeptide or NTHi peptide as a vaccine for treatment and/or prevention of diseases caused by NTHi infection, such as OM. The following NTHi genes are upregulated during or in response to middle ear and/or nasopharynx infections; and the polypeptides encoded by these genes and peptides thereof are contemplates as possible OM vaccine candidates and/or target of chemotherapy: hisB, lppB, sapA, lolA, rbsC, purE, ribB, arcB, uxuA, dsbB, ureH, licC, HI1647, ispZ, radC, mukF, glpR, ihfB, argR, cspD, HI0094, HI1163, HI1063, HI0665, HI1292, HI1064. NTHi hisB gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 615 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 616. NTHi sapA gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 617 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 618. NTHi rbsC gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 619 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 620. NTHi purE gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 621 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 622. NTHi ribB gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 623 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 624. NTHi arcB gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 625 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 626. NTHi uxuA gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 627 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 628. NTHi dsbB gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 629 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 630. NTHi ureH gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 631 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 632. NTHi licC gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 633 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 634. NTHi HI1647 gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 635 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 636. NTHi ispZ gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 637 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 638. NTHi radC gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 639 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 640. NTHi mukF gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 641 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 642. NTHi glpR gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 643 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 644. NTHi ihfB gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 645 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 646. NTHi argR gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 647 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 648. NTHi cspD gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 649 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 650. NTHi HI1163 gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 651 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 652. NTHi HI1063 gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 653 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 654. NTHi HI0665 gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 655 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 656. NTHi HI1292 gene is set out as nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 657 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 658.
[0010] The novel NTHi genes included in the polynucleotide sequences presented as SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Tables 4 and 4B are also up-regulated during infection of the middle ear and/or the nasopharynx, and therefore are contemplated to encode OM vaccine candidates and/or targets of chemotherapy. In addition, the following NTHi genes are contemplated to be virulence-associated genes and therefore are contemplated to encode possible OM vaccine candidates and/or targets of chemotherapy: HI1386, HI1462, HI1369, lav, HI1598. NTHi HI1386 gene sequence is set out as SEQ ID NO: 659 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 660. NTHi HI1462 gene sequence is set out as SEQ ID NO: 661 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 662. NTHi HI1369 gene sequence is set out as SEQ ID NO: 665 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 666. NTHi lay gene sequence is set out as SEQ ID NO: 663 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 664. NTHi HI1598 gene sequence is set out as SEQ ID NO: 669 and SEQ ID NO: 671 and encodes the amino acid sequence set out as SEQ ID NO: 670 and SEQ ID NO: 672. Additional NTHi genes associated with virulence include the polynucleotide sequences presented as SEQ ID NO: 667 and SEQ ID NO: 673.
[0011] As a method of treating or preventing NTHi infection, the present invention contemplates administering a molecule that inhibits expression or the activity of the NTHi polypeptides, which are upregulated or active during infection. In particular, the invention contemplates methods of treating or preventing NTHi infection comprising modulating NTHi protein expression by administering an antisense oligonucleotide that specifically binds to NTHi genes that are upregulated during NTHi infections, such genes include hisB, lppB, sapA, lolA, rbsC, purE, ribB, arcB, uxuA, dsbB, ureH, licC, HI1647, ispZ, radC, mukF, glpR, ihfB, argR, cspD, HI0094, HI1163, HI1063, HI0665, HI1292, HI1064. The invention also contemplates methods of treating or preventing NTHi infection comprising administering antibodies or small molecules that modulate the activity of the proteins encoded by theses genes. The novel NTHi genes included in the polynucleotide sequences presented as SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Tables 4 and 4B are also up-regulated during infection of the middle ear and/or the nasopharynx and therefore antisense oligonucleotides that specifically bind these polynucleotide sequences are also contemplated.
Polynucleotides and Polypeptides of the Invention
[0012] The present invention provides for the sequences of the NTHi strain 86-028NP genome. This genomic sequence is presented as a series of conng sequences denoted herein as “contigs 1-576”. Each contig is assigned a sequence identification number that correlates with its “contig number”. Therefore, the contigs of the present invention as set out as SEQ ID NOS: 1-576. These contig polynucleotide sequences may be assembled into the complete genome sequence of the NTHi strain 86-028NP using routine methods. Upon completion of 8-fold sequence analysis of the NTHi strain 82-028NP genome, the genomic sequence was assembled into 11 contigs which are denoted herein as SEQ ID NOS: 675-685.
[0013] The present invention provides for the NTHi polynucleotide sequences and open reading frames contained within the contigs of SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5. The present invention also provides for the polypeptide sequences encoded by the NTHi polynucleotides of the present invention such as the amino acid sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5. The invention provides for polynucleotides that hybridize under stringent conditions to (a) the complement of the nucleotides sequence of SEQ ID NOS: 1-576; SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein (b) a polynucleotide which is an allelic variant of any polynucleotides recited above; (c) a polynucleotide which encodes a species homolog of any of the proteins recited above; or (d) a polynucleotide that encodes a polypeptide comprising a specific domain or truncation of the NTHi polypeptides of the present invention.
[0014] The NTHi polynucleotides of the invention also include nucleotide sequences that are substantially equivalent to the polynucleotides recited above. Polynucleotides according to the invention can have, e.g., at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, or 89%, more typically at least 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, or 94% and even more typically at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to the NTHi polynucleotides recited above.
[0015] Included within the scope of the nucleic acid sequences of the invention are nucleic acid sequence fragments that hybridize under stringent conditions to the NTHi nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 413 and Table 5 herein, or compliments thereof, which fragment is greater than about 5 nucleotides, preferably 7 nucleotides, more preferably greater than 9 nucleotides and most preferably greater than 17 nucleotides. Fragments of, e.g., 15, 17, or 20 nucleotides or more that are selective for (i.e., specifically hybridize to any one of the polynucleotides of the invention) are contemplated. Probes capable of specifically hybridizing to a polynucleotide can differentiate NTHi polynucleotide sequences of the invention from other polynucleotide sequences in the same family of genes or can differentiate NTHi genes from other bacterial genes, and are preferably based on unique nucleotide sequences.
[0016] The term “stringent” is used to refer to conditions that are commonly understood in the art as stringent. Hybridization stringency is principally determined by temperature, ionic strength, and the concentration of denaturing agents such as formamide. Examples of stringent conditions for hybridization and washing are 0.015 M sodium chloride, 0.0015 M sodium citrate at 65-68° C. or 0.015 M sodium chloride, 0.0015M sodium citrate, and 50% formamide at 42° C. See Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2 nd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 1989). More stringent conditions (such as higher temperature, lower ionic strength, higher formamide, or other denaturing agent) may also be used, however, the rate of hybridization will be affected. In instances wherein hybridization of deoxyoligonucleotides is concerned, additional exemplary stringent hybridization conditions include washing in 6×SSC 0.05% sodium pyrophosphate at 37° C. (for 14-base oligos), 48° C. (for 17-base oligos), 55° C. (for 20-base oligos), and 60° C. (for 23-base oligos).
[0017] Other agents may be included in the hybridization and washing buffers for the purpose of reducing non-specific and/or background hybridization. Examples are 0.1% bovine serum albumin, 0.1% polyvinyl-pyrrolidone, 0.1% sodium pyrophosphate, 0.1% sodium dodecylsulfate, NaDodSO 4 , (SDS), ficoll, Denhardt's solution, sonicated salmon sperm DNA (or other non-complementary DNA), and dextran sulfate, although other suitable agents can also be used. The concentration and types of these additives can be changed without substantially affecting the stringency of the hybridization conditions. Hybridization experiments are usually carried out at pH 6.8-7.4, however, at typical ionic strength conditions, the rate of hybridization is nearly independent of pH. See Anderson et al., Nucleic Acid Hybridisation: A Practical Approach , Ch. 4, IRL Press Limited (Oxford, England). Hybridization conditions can be adjusted by one skilled in the art in order to accommodate these variables and allow DNAs of different sequence relatedness to form hybrids.
[0018] The sequences falling within the scope of the present invention are not limited to these specific sequences, but also include allelic and species variations thereof. Allelic and species variations can be routinely determined by comparing the sequence provided in SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685, and nucleotide sequences out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein, preferably the open reading frames therein, a representative fragment thereof, or a nucleotide sequence at least 90% identical, preferably 95% identical, to the open reading frames within SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 with a sequence from another isolate of the same species. Preferred computer program methods to determine identity and similarity between two sequences include, but are not limited to, the GCG program package, including GAP (Devereux et al., Nucl. Acid. Res., 12: 387, 1984; Genetics Computer Group, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.), BLASTP, BLASTN, and FASTA (Altschul et al., J. Mol. Biol., 215: 403-410, 1990). The BLASTX program is publicly available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and other sources ( BLAST Manual , Altschul et al. NCB/NLM/NIH Bethesda, Md. 20894; Altschul et al., supra). The well known Smith Waterman algorithm may also be used to determine identity.
[0019] Furthermore, to accommodate codon variability, the invention includes nucleic acid molecules coding for the same amino acid sequences as do the specific open reading frames (ORF) disclosed herein. In other words, in the coding region of an ORF, substitution of one codon for another codon that encodes the same amino acid is expressly contemplated.
[0020] The isolated polypeptides of the invention include, but are not limited to, a polypeptide comprising: the amino acid sequences encoded by the nucleotide sequences included within the polynucleotide sequences set out as SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5, or the corresponding full length or mature protein. The polypeptides of the invention include the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 616, SEQ ID NO: 618, SEQ ID NO: 620, SEQ ID NO: 622, SEQ ID NO: 624, SEQ ID NO: 626, SEQ ID NO: 628, SEQ ID NO: 628, SEQ ID NO: 630, SEQ ID NO: 632, SEQ ID NO: 634, SEQ ID NO: 636, SEQ ID NO: 638, SEQ ID NO: 640, SEQ ID NO: 642, SEQ ID NO: 644, SEQ ID NO: 646, SEQ ID NO: 648, SEQ ID NO: 650, SEQ ID NO: 652, SEQ ID NO: 654, SEQ ID NO: 656, SEQ ID NO: 658, SEQ ID NO: 660, SEQ ID NO: 662, SEQ ID NO: 664, SEQ ID NO: 666, SEQ ID NO: 668, SEQ ID NO: 670, SEQ ID NO: 672, SEQ ID NO: 674, SEQ ID NO: 687, SEQ ID NO: 689, SEQ ID NO: 691, SEQ ID NO: 693, SEQ ID NO: 695, SEQ ID NO: 697, SEQ ID NO: 699, SEQ ID NO: 701, SEQ ID NO: 703, SEQ ID NO: 705, SEQ ID NO: 707, SEQ ID NO: 709, SEQ ID NO: 711, SEQ ID NO: 713, SEQ ID NO:715, SEQ ID NO: 717, SEQ ID NO: 719, SEQ ID NO: 721, SEQ ID NO:723, SEQ ID NO:725, SEQ ID NO:727, SEQ ID NO:729, SEQ ID NO: 731, SEQ ID NO: 733, SEQ ID NO: 735, SEQ ID NO: 737, SEQ ID NO: 739, SEQ ID NO: 741, SEQ ID NO: 743, SEQ ID NO: 745, SEQ ID NO: 747, SEQ ID NO: 749, SEQ ID NO: 751, SEQ ID NO: 753, SEQ ID NO: 755, SEQ ID NO: 757, SEQ ID NO: 759, SEQ ID NO: 761, 763, SEQ ID NO: 765, SEQ ID NO: 767, SEQ ID NO: 769 or SEQ ID NO: 771 which are set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein.
[0021] Polypeptides of the invention also include polypeptides preferably with biological or immunogenic activity that are encoded by: (a) an open reading frame contained within the nucleotide sequences set forth as SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5, or (b) polynucleotides that hybridize to the complement of the polynucleotides of (a) under stringent hybridization conditions.
[0022] The invention also provides biologically active or immunologically active variants of the amino acid sequences of the present invention; and “substantial equivalents” thereof (e.g., with at least about 65%, at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, at least about 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, typically at least about 95%, 96%, 97%, more typically at least about 98%, or most typically at least about 99% amino acid identity) that retain biological and/or immunogenic activity. Polypeptides encoded by allelic variants may have a similar, increased, or decreased activity compared to polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides included within the nucleotide sequences presented in SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein, and the polypeptides having an amino acid sequence set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein
[0023] NTHi peptides refer to fragments of the NTHi polypeptides encoded by the nucleotide sequences presented in SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 or the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein, and the polypeptides having the amino acid sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein. The preferred NTHi peptides are biologically and/or immunologically active.
[0024] The present invention further provides isolated NTHi polypeptides or NTHi peptides encoded by the NTHi nucleic acid fragments of the present invention or by degenerate variants of the nucleic acid fragments of the present invention. The term “degenerate variant” refers to nucleotide fragments which differ from a nucleic acid fragment of the present invention (e.g., an ORF) by nucleotide sequence but, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, encode an identical NTHi polypeptide sequence. Preferred nucleic acid fragments of the present invention are the ORFs that encode proteins.
[0025] The invention also provides for NTHi polypeptides with one or more conservative amino acid substitutions that do not affect the biological and/or immunogenic activity of the polypeptide. Alternatively, the NTHi polypeptides of the invention are contemplated to have conservative amino acids substitutions which may or may not alter biological activity. The term “conservative amino acid substitution” refers to a substitution of a native amino acid residue with a normative residue, including naturally occurring and nonnaturally occurring amino acids, such that there is little or no effect on the polarity or charge of the amino acid residue at that position. For example, a conservative substitution results from the replacement of a non-polar residue in a polypeptide with any other non-polar residue. Further, any native residue in the polypeptide may also be substituted with alanine, according to the methods of “alanine scanning mutagenesis”. Naturally occurring amino acids are characterized based on their side chains as follows: basic: arginine, lysine, histidine; acidic: glutamic acid, aspartic acid; uncharged polar: glutamine, asparagine, serine, threonine, tyrosine; and non-polar: phenylalanine, tryptophan, cysteine, glycine, alanine, valine, proline, methionine, leucine, norleucine, isoleucine General rules for amino acid substitutions are set forth in Table 1 below.
[0000]
TABLE 1
Amino Acid Substitutions
Original Residues
Exemplary Substitutions
Preferred Substitutions
Ala
Val, Leu, Ile
Val
Arg
Lys, Gln, Asn
Lys
Asn
Gln
Gln
Asp
Glu
Glu
Cys
Ser, Ala
Ser
Gln
Asn
Asn
Glu
Asp
Asn
Gly
Pro, Ala
Ala
His
Asn, Gln, Lys, Arg
Arg
Ile
Leu, Val, Met, Ala, Phe,
Leu
Leu
Norleucine, Ile, Val, Met,
Leu
Lys
Arg, 1,4 Diaminobutyric
Arg
Met
Leu, Phe, Ile
Leu
Phe
Leu, Val, Ile, Ala, Tyr
Arg
Pro
Ala
Gly
Ser
Thr, Ala, Cys
Thr
Thr
Ser
Ser
Trp
Tyr, Phe
Tyr
Tyr
Trp, Phe, Thr, Ser
Phe
Val
Ile, Met, Leu, Phe, Ala,
Leu
[0026] Antisense polynucleotides complementary to the polynucleotides encoding the NTHi polypeptides are also provided.
[0027] The invention contemplates that polynucleotides of the invention may be inserted in a vector for amplification or expression. For expression, the polynucleotides are operatively linked to appropriate expression control sequence such as a promoter and polyadenylation signal sequences. Further provided are cells comprising polynucleotides of the invention. Exemplary prokaryotic hosts include bacteria such as E. coli, Bacillus, Streptomyces, Pseudoinonas, Salmonella and Serratia.
[0028] The term “isolated” refers to a substance removed from, and essentially free of, the other components of the environment in which it naturally exists. For example, a polypeptide is separated from other cellular proteins or a DNA is separated from other DNA flanking it in a genome in which it naturally occurs.
Antibodies and Methods for Eliciting an Immune Response
[0029] The invention provides antibodies which bind to antigenic epitopes unique to (i.e., are specific for) NTHi polypeptides. Also provided are antibodies which bind to antigenic epitopes common among multiple H. influenzae subtypes but unique with respect to any other antigenic epitopes. The antibodies may be polyclonal antibodies, monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments which retain their ability to bind their unique epitope (e.g., Fv, Fab and F(ab) 2 fragments), single chain antibodies and human or humanized antibodies. Antibodies may be generated by techniques standard in the art.
[0030] It is known in the art that antibodies to the capsular polysaccharide of H. influenzae exhibit the ability to kill bacteria in vitro assays. These antibodies are also known to protect against challenge with H. influenzae in animal model systems. These studies indicate antibody to the capsular polysaccharides are likely to elicit a protective immune response in humans. The present invention provides for antibodies specific for the NTHi polypeptides of the present invention and fragments thereof, which exhibit the ability to kill both H. influenzae bacteria and to protect humans from NTHi infection. The present invention also provides for antibodies specific for the NTHi polypeptides of the invention which reduce the virulence, inhibit adherence, inhibit cell division, and/or inhibit penetration into the epithelium of H. influenzae bacteria or enhance phagocytosis of the H. influenzae bacteria.
[0031] In vitro complement mediated bactericidal assay systems (Musher et al., Infect. Immun. 39: 297-304, 1983; Anderson et al., J. Clin. Invest. 51: 31-38, 1972) may be used to measure the bactericidal activity of anti-NTHi antibodies. Further data on the ability of NTHi polypeptides and NTHi peptides to elicit a protective antibody response may be generated by using animal models of infection such as the chinchilla model system described herein.
[0032] It is also possible to confer short-term protection to a host by passive immunotherapy via the administration of pre-formed antibody against an epitope of NTHi, such as antibodies against NTHi OMP, LOS or noncapsular proteins. Thus, the contemplated vaccine formulations can be used to produce antibodies for use in passive immunotherapy. Human immunoglobulin is preferred in human medicine because a heterologous immunoglobulin may provoke an immune response to its foreign immunogenic components. Such passive immunization could be used on an emergency basis for immediate protection of unimmunized individuals exposed to special risks. Alternatively, these antibodies can be used in the production of anti-idiotypic antibody, which in turn can be used as an antigen to stimulate an immune response against NTHi epitopes.
[0033] The invention contemplates methods of eliciting an immune response to NTHi in an individual. These methods include immune responses which kill the NTHi bacteria and immune responses which block H. influenzae attachment to cells. In one embodiment, the methods comprise a step of administering an immunogenic dose of a composition comprising a NTHi protein or NTHi peptide of the invention. In another embodiment, the methods comprise administering an immunogenic dose of a composition comprising a cell expressing a NTHi protein or NTHi peptide of the invention. In yet another embodiment, the methods comprise administering an immunogenic dose of a composition comprising a polynucleotide encoding a NTHi protein or NTHi peptide of the invention. The polynucleotide may be a naked polynucleotide not associated with any other nucleic acid or may be in a vector such as a plasmid or viral vector (e.g., adeno-associated virus vector or adenovirus vector). Administration of the compositions may be by routes standard in the art, for example, parenteral, intravenous, oral, buccal, nasal, pulmonary, rectal, or vaginal. The methods may be used in combination in a single individual. The methods may be used prior or subsequent to NTHi infection of an individual.
[0034] An “immunological dose” is a dose which is adequate to produce antibody and/or T cell immune response to protect said individual from NTHi infection, particularly NTHi infection of the middle ear and/or the nasopharynx or lower airway. Also provided are methods whereby such immunological response slows bacterial replication. A further aspect of the invention relates to an immunological composition which, when introduced into an individual capable or having induced within it an immunological response. The immunological response may be used therapeutically or prophylactically and may take the form of antibody immunity or cellular immunity such as that arising from CTL or CD4+ T cells. A NTHi protein or an antigenic peptide thereof may be fused with co-protein which may not by itself produce antibodies, but is capable of stabilizing the first protein and producing a fused protein which will have immunogenic and protective properties. Thus fused recombinant protein, preferably further comprises an antigenic co-protein, such as Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) or beta-galactosidase, relatively large co-proteins which solubilize the protein and facilitate production and purification thereof. Moreover, the co-protein may act as an adjuvant in the sense of providing a generalized stimulation of the immune system. The co-protein may be attached to either the amino or carboxy terminus of the first protein. Provided by this invention are compositions, particularly vaccine compositions, and methods comprising the NTHi polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotide of the invention or antigenic peptides thereof.
[0035] The invention correspondingly provides compositions suitable for eliciting an immune response to NTHi infection, wherein the antibodies elicited block binding of NTHi bacterium to the host's cells. The compositions comprise NTHi proteins or NTHi peptides of the invention, cells expressing the NTHi polypeptide, or polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides. The compositions may also comprise other ingredients such as carriers and adjuvants.
[0036] Genes that are up-regulated in NTHi infection of the middle ear and/or the nasopharynx and genes that are associated with NTHi virulence are described herein. The polypeptides and peptides thereof which are encoded by these NTHi genes are contemplated to be useful for eliciting an immune response for treating or preventing disorders associated with NTHi infection, such as OM. Some of the polypeptides encoded by these genes include: histidine biosynthesis protein, lipoprotein B, peptide ABC transporter, periplasmic SapA precursor, outer membrane lipoproteins carrier protein precursor, ribose transport system permease protein, phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase catalytic subunit, PurE, Phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase catalytic subunit, ornithine carbarnolytransferase, mannonate dehydratase, disulfide oxidoreductase, urease accessory protein, phospshocholine cytidylytransferase, putative pyridoxine biosynthesis protein, singlet oxygen resistance protein, intracellular septation protein, DNA repair protein, MukF protein, glycerol-3-phosphate regulon repressor, integration host factor beta subunit, arginine repressor, cold shock like protein, stress response protein, LicA, MukF, RadA and those hypothetical proteins encoded by HI0094, HI1163, HI0665, HI1292, HI064 HI186, HI0352 genes. NTHi OMPs, LOS and noncapsular proteins are also contemplated to elicit an immune response for prevention and treatment of disorders associated with NTHi infection.
[0037] An “immunogenic dose” of a composition of the invention is one that generates, after administration, a detectable humoral and/or cellular immune response in comparison to the immune response detectable before administration or in comparison to a standard immune response before administration. The invention contemplates that the immune response resulting from the methods may be protective and/or therapeutic.
[0038] The invention includes methods of blocking binding of NTHi bacteria to host cells in an individual. The methods comprise administering antibodies or polypeptides of the invention that block binding of NTHi cellular attachment. Alternatively, administration of one or more small molecules that block binding of NTHi cell attachment is contemplated. In vitro assays may be used to demonstrate the ability of an antibody, polypeptide or small molecule of the invention to block NTHi cell attachment.
[0039] Pharmaceutical compositions comprising antibodies of the invention, polypeptides of the invention and/or small molecules of the invention that block NTHi cellular attachment are provided. The pharmaceutical compositions may consist of one of the foregoing active ingredients alone, may comprise combinations of the foregoing active ingredients or may comprise additional active ingredients used to treat bacterial infections. The pharmaceutical compositions may comprise one or more additional ingredients such as pharmaceutically effective carriers. Dosage and frequency of the administration of the pharmaceutical compositions are determined by standard techniques and depend, for example, on the weight and age of the individual, the route of administration, and the severity of symptoms. Administration of the pharmaceutical compositions may be by routes standard in the art, for example, parenteral, intravenous, oral, buccal, nasal, pulmonary, rectal, or vaginal.
[0040] Also provided by the invention are methods for detecting NTHi infection in an individual. In one embodiment, the methods comprise detecting NTHi polynucleotides of the invention in a sample using primers or probes that specifically bind to the polynucleotides. Detection of the polynucleotide may be accomplished by numerous techniques routine in the art involving, for example, hybridization and PCR.
[0041] The antibodies of the present invention may also be used to provide reagents for use in diagnostic assays for the detection of NTHi antigens (NTHi polypeptides and peptides thereof) in various body fluids of individuals suspected of H. influenzae infection. In another embodiment, the NTHi proteins and peptides of the present invention may be used as antigens in immunoassays for the detection of NTHi in various patient tissues and body fluids including, but not limited to: blood, serum, ear fluid, spinal fluid, sputum, urine, lymphatic fluid and cerebrospinal fluid. The antigens of the present invention may be used in any immunoassay system known in the art including, but not limited to: radioimmunoassays, ELISA assays, sandwich assays, precipitin reactions, gel diffusion precipitin reactions, immunodiffusion assays, agglutination assays, fluorescent immunoassays, protein A immunoassays and immunoelectrophoresis assays.
Vaccines and Chemotherapeutic Targets
[0042] An aspect of the invention relates to a method for inducing an immunological response in an individual, particularly a mammal which comprises inoculating the individual with a NTHi antigen protein or an antigenic peptide thereof.
[0043] The present invention also provides for vaccine formulations which comprise an immunogenic recombinant NTHi protein or NTHi peptide of the invention together with a suitable carrier. The NTHi polypeptides and peptides thereof contemplated as vaccine candidates and/or targets of chemotherapy include, but are not limited to, histidine biosynthesis protein, lipoprotein B, peptide ABC transporter, periplasmic SapA precursor, outer membrane lipoproteins carrier protein precursor, ribose transport system permease protein, phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase catalytic subunit, PurE, 3,4-dihydroxt-2-butone 4-phosphate synthase, ornithine carbamolytransferase, mannonate dehydratase, disulfide oxidoreductase, urease accessory protein, phospshocholine cytidylytransferase, putative pyridoxine biosynthesis protein, singlet oxygen resistance protein, intracellular septation protein, DNA repair protein, MUKF protein, glycerol-3-phosphate regulon repressor, integration host factor beta subunit, arginine repressor, cold shock like protein, stress response protein, LicA, RadA and those hypothetical proteins encoded by HI0094, HI1163, HI0665, HI1292, HI1064 HI1386, HI0352 genes, NTHi OMPs, NTHi LOS and NTHi noncapsular proteins and polypeptides encoded by the novel NTHi polynucleotide sequences present in the nucleotide sequences set out as SEQ ID NOS: 1-576, SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 and the nucleotide sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein, and the polypeptides having the amino acid sequences set out in Table 3B, Table 4B and Table 5 herein.
[0044] Since the protein may be broken down in the stomach, it is preferably administered parenterally, including, for example, administration that is subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, or intradermal. Formulations suitable for parenteral administration include aqueous and non-aqueous sterile injection solutions which may contain anti-oxidants, buffers, bacteriostats and solutes which render the formulation isotonic with the bodily fluid, preferably the blood, of the individual; and aqueous and non-aqueous sterile suspensions which may include suspending agents or thickening agents. The formulations may be presented in unit-dose or multi-dose containers, for example, sealed ampules and vials and may be stored in a freeze-dried condition requiring only the addition of the sterile liquid carrier immediately prior to use. The vaccine formulation may also include adjuvant systems for enhancing the immunogenicity of the formulation, such as oil-in water systems and other systems known in the art. The dosage will depend on the specific activity of the vaccine and can be readily determined by routine experimentation.
[0045] A. Peptide Vaccines
[0046] Peptide therapeutic agents, such as peptide vaccines, are well known in the art and are of increasing use in the pharmaceutical arts. Consistent drawbacks to the parenteral administration of such peptide compounds have been the rapidity of breakdown or denaturation. Infusion pumps, as well as wax or oil implants, have been employed for chronic administration of therapeutic agents in an effort to both prolong the presence of peptide-like therapeutic agents and preserve the integrity of such agents. Furthermore, the peptide-like agent should (with particular reference to each epitope of the peptide-like agent) ideally maintain native state configuration for an extended period of time and additionally be presented in a fashion suitable for triggering an immunogenic response in the challenged animal or immunized human.
[0047] The NTHi antigenic peptides of the invention can be prepared in a number of conventional ways. The short peptides sequences can be prepared by chemical synthesis using standard means. Particularly convenient are solid phase techniques (see, e.g., Erikson et al., The Proteins (1976) v. 2, Academic Press, New York, p. 255). Automated solid phase synthesizers are commercially available. In addition, modifications in the sequence are easily made by substitution, addition or omission of appropriate residues. For example, a cysteine residue may be added at the carboxy terminus to provide a sulfhydryl group for convenient linkage to a carrier protein, or spacer elements, such as an additional glycine residue, may be incorporated into the sequence between the linking amino acid at the C-terminus and the remainder of the peptide. The short NTIIi peptides can also be produced by recombinant techniques. The coding sequence for peptides of this length can easily be synthesized by chemical techniques, e.g., the phosphotriester method described in Matteucci et al., J Am Chem. Soc., 103: 3185 (1981).
[0048] Some of the NTHi peptide sequences contemplated herein may be considered too small to be immunogenic, they may be linked to carrier substances in order to confer this property upon them. Any method of creating such linkages known in the art may be used. Linkages can be formed with heterobifunctional agents that generate a disulfide link at one functional group end and a peptide link at the other, such as a disulfide amide forming agent, e.g., N-succidimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) proprionate (SPDP) (See, e.g., Jansen et al., Immun. Rev. 62:185, 1982) and bifunctional coupling agents that form a thioether rather than a disulfide linkage such as reactive esters of 6-maleimidocaproic acid, 2-bromoacetic acid, 2-iodoacetic acid, 4-(N-maleimido-methyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid and the like, and coupling agent which activate carboxyl groups by combining them with succinimide or 1-hydroxy-2-nitro-4-sulfonic acid, for sodium salt such as succinimidyl 4-(N-maleimido-methyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate (SMCC).
[0049] B. Vaccine Compositions and Administration
[0050] A priming dose of the immunogen that is followed by one or more booster exposures to the immunogen may be necessary to be an effective vaccine (Kramp et al., Infect. Immun., 25: 771-773, 1979; Davis et al., Immunology Letters, 14: 341-8 1986 1987). Examples of proteins or polypeptides that could beneficially enhance the immune response if co-administered include cytokines (e.g., IL-2, IL-12, GM-CSF), cytokine-inducing molecules (e.g. Leaf) or costimulatory molecules. Helper (HTL) epitopes could be joined to intracellular targeting signals and expressed separately from the CTL epitopes. This would allow direction of the HTL epitopes to a cell compartment different than the CTL epitopes. If required, this could facilitate more efficient entry of HTL epitopes into the MHC class II pathway, thereby improving CTL induction. In contrast to CTL induction, specifically decreasing the immune response by co-expression of immunosuppressive molecules (e.g. TGF-β) may be beneficial in certain diseases.
[0051] Ideally, an immunogen will exhibit two properties; the capacity to stimulate the formation of the corresponding antibodies and the propensity to react specifically with these antibodies. Immunogens bear one or more epitopes which are the smallest part of an immunogen recognizable by the combing site of an antibody. In particular instances, immunogen, fractions of immunogens or conditions under which the immunogen is presented are inadequate to precipitate the desired immunological response resulting in insufficient immunity. This is often the case with peptides or other small molecules used as immunogens. Other substances such as immunomodulators (e.g., cytokines such as the interleukins) may be combined in vaccines as well.
[0052] The vaccine art recognizes the use of certain substances called adjuvants to potentate an immune response when used in conjunction with an immunogen. Adjuvants are further used to elicit an immune response that is faster or greater than would be elicited without the use of the adjuvant. In addition, adjuvants may be used to create an immunological response using less immunogen than would be needed without the inclusion of adjuvant, to increase production of certain antibody subclasses that afford immunological protection or to enhance components of the immune response (e.g. humoral, cellular). Known adjuvants include emulsions such as Freund's Adjuvants and other oil emulsions, Bordetella pertussis , MF59, purified saponin from Quillaja saponaria (QS21), aluminum salts such as hydroxide, phosphate and alum, calcium phosphate, (and other metal salts), gels such as aluminum hydroxide salts, mycobacterial products including muramyl dipeptides, solid materials, particles such as liposomes and virosomes. Examples of natural and bacterial products known to be used as adjuvants include monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), RC-529 (synthetic MPL-like acylated monosaccharide), OM-174 which is a lipid A derivative from E. coli , holotoxins such as cholera toxin (CT) or one of its derivatives, pertussis toxin (PT) and heat-labile toxin (LT) of E. coli or one of its derivatives, and CpG oligonucleotides. Adjuvant activity can be affected by a number of factors, such as carrier effect, depot formation, altered lymphocyte recirculation, stimulation of T-lymphocytes, direct stimulation of B-lymphocytes and stimulation of macrophages.
[0053] Vaccines are typically prepared as injectables, either as liquid solutions or suspensions; solid forms suitable for solution in, or suspension in, liquid prior to injection may also be prepared. The preparation may also be emulsified. The active immunogenic ingredient is often mixed with excipients, which are pharmaceutically acceptable and compatible with the active ingredient. Suitable excipients are, e.g., water, saline, dextrose, glycerol, ethanol, or the like and combinations thereof. In addition, if desired, the vaccine may contain minor amounts of auxiliary substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering agents, or adjuvants, which enhance the effectiveness of the vaccine. The vaccines are conventionally administered parenterally, by injection, for example, either subcutaneously or intramuscularly. Additional formulations which are suitable for other modes of administration include suppositories and, in some cases, oral formulations. For suppositories, traditional binders and carriers may include, for example, polyalkalene glycols or triglycerides; such suppositories may be formed from mixtures containing the active ingredient in the range of 0.5% to 10%, preferably 1-2%. Oral formulations include such normally employed excipients as, for example, pharmaceutical grades of mannitol, lactose, starch, magnesium stearate, sodium saccharine, cellulose, magnesium carbonate and the like. These compositions take the form of solutions, suspensions, tablets, pills, capsules, sustained release formulations or powders and contain 10%-95% of active ingredient, preferably 25-70%.
[0054] Vaccines may also be administered through transdermal routes utilizing jet injectors, microneedles, electroporation, sonoporation, microencapsulation, polymers or liposomes, transmucosal routes and intranasal routes using nebulizers, aerosols and nasal sprays. Microencapsulation using natural or synthetic polymers such as starch, alginate and chitosan, D-poly L-lactate (PLA), D-poly DL-lactic-coglycolic microspheres, polycaprolactones, polyorthoesters, polyanhydrides and polyphosphazenes polyphosphatazanes are useful for both transdermal and transmucosal administration. Polymeric complexes comprising synthetic poly-ornithate, poly-lysine and poly-arginine or amphipathic peptides are useful for transdermal delivery systems. In addition, due to their amphipathic nature, liposomes are contemplated for transdermal, transmucosal and intranasal vaccine delivery systems. Common lipids used for vaccine delivery include N-(1)2,3-(dioleyl-dihydroxypropyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium-methyl sulfate (DOTAP), dioleyloxy-propyl-trimethylammonium chloride DOTMA, dimystyloxypropyl-3-dimethyl-hydroxyethyl ammonium (DMRIE), dimethyldioctadecyl ammonium bromide (DDAB) and 9N(N′,N-dimethylaminoethane) carbamoyl) cholesterol (DC-Chol). The combination of helper lipids and liposomes will enhance up-take of the liposomes through the skin. These helper lipids include, dioleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), dilauroylphosphatidylethanolamine (DLPE), dimyristoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE), dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE). In addition, triterpenoid glycosides or saponins derived from the Chilean soap tree bark ( Quillaja saponaria ) and chitosan (deacetylated chitan) have been contemplated as useful adjuvants for intranasal and transmucosal vaccine delivery.
[0055] The proteins may be formulated into the vaccine as neutral or salt forms. Pharmaceutically acceptable salts, include the acid addition salts (formed with the free amino groups of the peptide) and which are formed with inorganic acids such as, e.g., hydrochloric or phosphoric acids, or such organic acids as acetic, oxalic, tartaric, mandelic. Salts formed with the free carboxyl groups may also be derived from inorganic bases such as, e.g., sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium, or ferric hydroxides, and such organic bases as isopropylamine, trimethylamine, 2-ethylamino ethanol, histidine, and procaine.
[0056] The vaccines are administered in a manner compatible with the dosage formulation, and in such amount as will be therapeutically effective and immunogenic. The quantity to be administered depends on the subject to be treated, capacity of the subject's immune system to synthesize antibodies, and the degree of protection desired. Precise amounts of active ingredient required to be administered depend on the judgment of the practitioner and are peculiar to each individual. However, suitable dosage ranges are of the order of several hundred micrograms active ingredient per individual. Suitable regimes for initial administration and booster shots are also variable, but are typified by an initial administration followed in one or three month intervals by a subsequent injection or other administration.
[0057] Upon immunization with a vaccine composition as described herein, the immune system of the host responds to the vaccine by producing large amounts of CTLs specific for the desired antigen, and the host becomes at least partially immune to later infection, or resistant to developing chronic infection. Vaccine compositions containing the NTHi polypeptide or NTHi peptides of the invention are administered to a patient susceptible to or otherwise at risk of bacterial infection to elicit an immune response against the antigen and thus enhance the patient's own immune response capabilities. Such an amount is defined to be an “immunogenically effective dose.” In this use, the precise amounts again depend on the patient's state of health and weight, the mode of administration, the nature of the formulation, etc., but generally range from about 1.0 μg to about 5000 per 70 kilogram patient, more commonly from about 10 to about 500 mg per 70 kg of body weight. For therapeutic or immunization purposes, the NTHi polypeptide or NTHi peptides of the invention can also be expressed by attenuated viral hosts, such as vaccinia or fowlpox. This approach involves the use of vaccinia virus as a vector to express nucleotide sequences that encode the peptides of the invention. Upon introduction into an acutely or chronically infected host or into a noninfected host, the recombinant vaccinia virus expresses the immunogenic peptide, and thereby elicits a host CTL response.
[0058] Humoral immune response may be measured by many well known methods, such as Single Radial Immunodiffussion Assay (SRID), Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) and Hemagglutination Inhibition Assay (HAI). In particular, SRID utilizes a layer of a gel, such as agarose, containing, the immunogen being tested. A well is cut in the gel and the serum being tested is placed in the well. Diffusion of the antibody out into the gel leads to the formation of a precipitation ring whose area is proportional to the concentration of the antibody in the serum being tested. EIA, also known as ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunoassay), is used to determine total antibodies in the sample. The immunogen is adsorbed to the surface of a microtiter plate. The test serum is exposed to the plate followed by an enzyme linked immunoglobulin, such as IgG. The enzyme activity adherent to the plate is quantified by any convenient means such as spectrophotometry and is proportional to the concentration of antibody directed against the immunogen present in the test sample. HAI utilizes the capability of an immunogen such as viral proteins to agglutinate chicken red blood cells (or the like). The assay detects neutralizing antibodies, i.e., those antibodies able to inhibit hemagglutination. Dilution of the test serum are incubated with a standard concentration of immunogen, followed by the addition of the red blood cells. The presence of neutralizing antibodies will inhibit the agglutination of the red blood cells by the immunogen. Tests to measure cellular immune response include determination of delayed-type hypersensitivity or measuring the proliferative response of lymphocytes to target immunogen.
[0000] Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi)
[0059] H. influenzae is a small, nonmotile gram negative bacterium. Unlike other H. influenzae strains, the nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi) strains lack a polysaccharide capsule and are sometimes denoted as “nonencapsulated.” NTHi strains are genetically distinct from encapsulated strains and are more heterogenous than the type b H. influenzae isolates. NTHi presents a complex array of antigens to the human host. Possible antigens that may elicit protection include OMPs, lipopolysaccharides, lipoproteins, adhesion proteins and noncapsular proteins.
[0060] Humans are the only host for H. influenzae . NTHi strains commonly reside in the upper respiratory tract including the nasopharynx and the posterior oropharynx, the lower respiratory tract and the female genital tract. NTH 1 causes a broad spectrum of diseases in humans, including but not limited to, otitis media, pneumonia, sinusitis, septicemia, endocarditis, epiglottitis, septic arthritis, meningitis, postpartum and neonatal infections, postpartum and neonatal sepsis, acute and chromic salpingitis, epiglottis, pericarditis, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, cholecystitis, intraabdominal infections, urinary tract infection, mastoiditis, aortic graft infection, conjunctitivitis, Brazilian purpuric fever, occult bacteremia and exacerbation of underlying lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis, bronchietasis and cystic fibrosis.
[0061] Epidemiologic studies of NTHi have indicated that the strains are heterogeneous with respect to outer membrane protein profiles (Barenkamp et al., Infect. Immun., 36: 535-40, 1982), enzyme allotypes (Musser et al., Infect. Immun., 52: 183-191, 1986), and other commonly used epidemiologic tools. There have been several attempts to subtype NTHi, but none of the methodologies have been totally satisfactory. The outer-membrane protein composition of NTHi consists of approximately 20 proteins. All NTHi strains contains two common OMP's with molecular weights of 30,000 and 16,600 daltons. NTHi strains may be subtyped based on two OMP's within the 32,000-42,000 dalton range. The NTHi liposaccharide profile is fundamentally different than the enteric gram negative bacteria and separates into 1-4 distinct bands ranging from less than 20,000 daltons.
[0062] A prototype NTHi isolate is the low passage isolate 86-028NP which was recovered from a child with chronic otitis media. This strain has been well characterized in vitro (Bakaletz et al., Infect. Immun., 53: 331-5, 1988; Holmes et al., Microb. Pathog., 23: 157-66, 1997) as well as in the chinchilla OM model (described herein) (Bakaletz et al., Vaccine, 15: 955-61, 1997; Suzuki et al., Infect. Immun., 62: 1710-8, 1994: DeMaria et al., Infect. Imniun., 64: 5187-92, 1996). The 86-028NP strain was used, as described herein, to identify genes that are up-regulated in expression in the chinchilla model of otitis media and genes that are necessary for NTHi survival in the chinchilla middle ear.
DFI Strategy
[0063] A differential fluorescence induction (DFI) strategy was used herein to identify NTHi genes induced during OM in a chinchilla animal model. Several methods have been developed to identify bacterial genes that contribute to the virulence of an organism during infection. Such methods include in vivo expression technology (IVET) in which bacterial promoters regulate the expression of gene(s) required for synthesis of essential nutrients required for survival in the host; signature-tagged mutagenesis (STM) enabling tag-specific identification of genes that alter the virulence properties of a microorganism when mutated; DNA microarray technology to globally screen for transcriptionally active genes, and DFI which uses FACS analysis to select for transcriptionally active promoters (Chiang et al. Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 53: 129-154, 1999). DFI is a high-throughput method that allows for the identification of differentially regulated genes regardless of the basal level of expression and does not exclude those that are essential for growth in vitro.
[0064] DFI has been successfully utilized in many microorganisms. For example, a GFP reporter system and flow cytometry was used to study mycobacterial gene expression upon interaction with macrophages (Dhandayuthapani et al., Mol. Microbiol., 17: 901-912, 1995). A promoter trap system was used to identify genes whose transcription was increased when Salmonellae were subjected to environments simulating in vivo growth and when internalized by cultured macrophage-like cells (Valdivia and Falkow, Mol. Microbiol., 22: 367-378, 1996; Valdivia and Falkow, Science, 277: 2007-2011, 1997; Valdivia and Falkow, Curr. Opin. Microbiol., 1: 359-363, 1998). In addition, DFI has been used to identify promoters expressed in S. pneumoniae and S. aureus when grown under varied in vitro conditions simulating infection (Marra et al., Infect. Immun., 148: 1483-1491, 2002; Schneider et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 97: 1671-1676, 2000). In addition, DFI has been utilized to study gene regulation in Bacillus cereus in response to environmental stimuli (Dunn and Handelsman, Gene, 226: 297-305, 1999), in S. pneumoniae in response to a competence stimulatory peptide (Bartilson et al., Mol. Microbiol., 39: 126-135, 2001), and upon interaction with and invasion of host cells in Bartonella henselae Lee and Falkow, Infect. Immun., 66: 3964-3967, 1998), Listeria monocytogenes Wilson et al., Infect. Immun., 69: 5016-5024, 2001), Brucella abortus (Eskra et al., Infect. Immun., 69: 7736-7742, 2001), and Escherichia coli (Badger et al., Mol. Microbiol., 36: 174-182, 2000).
[0065] Whereas DFI has been successfully used to identify promoters active in cell culture models of infection or in vitro conditions designed to simulate an in vivo environment, few have applied DFI to identify promoters regulated in a specific biological niche within the whole animal. This is likely due to the numerous challenges associated with sorting from an in vivo environment. The host inflammatory response, dissemination and/or clearance of bacterial cells from the site of infection, as well as adherence of bacteria to epithelial cells, possibly via biofilm formation, can make bacteria inaccessible for retrieval from the living animal. These factors, among others, contribute to the complexity of the microenvironment and the heterogeneity of gene expression as the bacteria sense and respond to these changes. Recently, DFI has been used to identify promoters expressed in S. pneumoniae when the bacteria were screened in a mouse model of respiratory tract infection and a gerbil infection model of OM (Marra et al., Infect. Immun. 70: 1422-33, 2002; Marra et al., Microbiol., 148: 1483-91, 2002).
Animal Model
[0066] The chinchilla model is a widely accepted experimental model for OM. In particular, a chinchilla model of NTHi-induced OM has been well characterized (Bakaletz et al., J. Infect. Dis., 168: 865-872, 1993; Bakaletz and Holmes, Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol., 4: 223-225, 1997; Suzuki and Bakaletz, Infect. Immun., 62: 1710-1718, 1994), and has been used to determine the protective efficacy of several NTHi outer membrane proteins, combinations of outer membrane proteins, chimeric synthetic peptide vaccine components, and adjuvant formulations as vaccinogens against OM (Bakaletz et al., Vaccine, 15: 955-961, 1997; Bakaletz et al., Infect. Immun., 67: 2746-2762, 1999; Kennedy et al., Infect. Immun., 68: 2756-2765, 2000).
[0067] In particular, there is an unique in vivo model wherein adenovirus predisposes chinchillas to H. influenzae -induced otitis media, which allowed for the establishment of relevant cell, tissue and organ culture systems for the biological assessment of NTHi (Bakaletz et al., J. Infect. Dis., 168: 865-72, 1993; Suzuki et al., Infect Immunity 62: 1710-8, 1994). Adenovirus infection alone has been used to assess for the transudation of induced serum antibodies into the tympanum (Bakaletz et al., Clin. Diagnostic Lab Immunol., 4(2): 223-5, 1997) and has been used as a co-pathogen with NTHi, to determine the protective efficacy of several active and passive immunization regimens targeting various NTHi outer membrane proteins, combinations of OMPs, chimeric synthetic peptide vaccine components, and adjuvant formulations as vaccinogens against otitis media (Bakaletz et al., Infect Immunity, 67(6): 2746-62, 1999; Kennedy et al., Infect Immun., 68(5): 2756-65, 2000; Novotny et al., Infect Immunity 68(4): 2119-28, 2000; Poolman et al., Vaccine 19 (Suppl. 1): S108-15, 2000).
Genes Upregulated In Vivo in Response to NTHi Infection of the Middle Ear
[0068] In order to identify differentially regulated promoters in response to NTHi infection of the middle ear, a promoter trap library was constructed and sorting parameters defined. A portion of the promoter trap library was inoculated directly into the chinchilla middle ear and OM development was monitored by video otoscopy and tympanometry at 24 and 48 hours. In addition, the middle ear fluids were recovered 24 and 48 hours after infection. Two-color FACS analysis was used to isolated bacteria that were expressing GFP from other cells and debris associated with the effusion. Following isolation, DNA sequence of the Haemophilus inserts 5′ of the gfpmut3 gene were determined and analyzed. In this manner, we identified genes that are up-regulated as NTHi sense and respond to the environment of the chinchilla middle ear during AOM. The following genes were identified and due to their up-regulation during NTHi infection, they may play a role in NTHi infection and virulence.
[0069] As described below in Example 7, following the DFI procedure described above and subsequent FACS analysis of gfp-expressing clones, 52 candidate clones containing potential in vivo-regulated promoters were isolated. The genes these clones control were categorized based upon general description and function within the cell and include general metabolic processes, environmental informational processing and membrane transport, membrane proteins and hypothetical proteins. Eight of these 52 clones contain sequences that are unique to NTHi strain 86-028NP. Importantly, 3 clones were isolated from independent screens in more than one animal thereby verifying the method of isolation.
[0070] In order to independently confirm the FACS data, we determined the relative expression of candidate genes by quantitative RT-PCR. The parent strain 86-028NP, was used for these studies. Thus, wild-type gene expression without the influence of plasmid copy number on gene regulation was analyzed, allowing for the indication of false-positive clone identification by FACS. Of the 44 candidate clones containing sequence similar to that identified in H. influenzae strain Rd, quantitative comparison of gene expression in vitro and in vivo confirmed up-regulated gene expression for twenty-six genes (60%) when NTHi respond to environmental cues present in the chinchilla middle ear. This analysis identified in vivo-regulated promoters which drive expression of genes involved in membrane transport, environmental informational processing, cellular metabolism, gene regulation, as well as hypothetical proteins with unknown function. (See Table 4 in Example 6).
[0071] Quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated a two-fold increase in lolA expression, enabling lipoprotein transport from the inner membrane to the outer membrane. Bacteria grow rapidly in the middle ear environment reaching 5.0×10 8 CFU NTHi ml middle ear fluid within 48 hours. The bacteria sense and respond to the environment, acquiring or synthesizing the necessary nutrients for growth and survival. The gene encoding the membrane component in ribose sugar transport, rbsC (SEQ ID NO: 619), showed a 5-fold increase in expression in vivo compared to cells growing in vitro. In addition, many genes involved in metabolic processes show a dramatic increase in gene expression in vivo compared to cells growing in vitro. These include a riboflavin synthesis gene, ribB (SEQ ID NO: 623), a purine nucleotide biosynthetic gene purE (SEQ ID NO: 621), ornithine carbamoyltransferase, arcB (SEQ ID NO: 625), involved in arginine degradation via the urea cycle and uxuA (SEQ ID NO: 627), encoding mannonate hydrolase, required for the uptake of D-glucuronate and transformation into glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. In addition, but to a lesser degree, genes for histidine biosynthesis (hisB; SEQ ID NO: 615), DNA repair (radC; SEQ ID NO: 639) and a putative intracellular septation transmembrane protein (ispZ; SEQ ID NO: 637) were up-regulated.
[0072] Disulfide bond formation is important for folding and assembly of many secreted proteins in bacteria. In prokaryotes, DsbA and DsbB make up the oxidative pathway responsible for the formation of disulfides. DsbB reoxidizes DsbA, which donates disulfide bonds directly to unfolded polypeptides, and DsbB has been demonstrated to generate disulfides de novo from oxidized quinones (Collet and Bardwell, Mol. Microbiol., 44: 1-8, 2002). In H. influenzae strain Rd, DsbA has required for competence for transformation (Tomb, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 89: 10252-10256, 1992). Herein, an approximate 3-fold increase in dsbB gene (SEQ ID NO: 629) transcription was demonstrated, illuminating an important role for disulfide interchange for NTHi growing in the middle ear environment.
[0073] Bacteria colonization of the middle ear, a normally sterile environment, results in a host inflammatory response and subsequent neutrophil infiltration. Bacteria have evolved numerous strategies to combat this host response. NTHi increase gene expression (4-fold) of ureH (SEQ ID NO:631), a homologue of a gene required for expression of active urease in Helicobacter , shown to be involved in acid tolerance (Young et al., J. Bacterol., 178: 6487-6495, 1996). Recently, it has been reported that urease activity may play a role in chronic Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection by counteracting the decrease in pH occurring upon infection (Baltes et al., Infect. Iminun., 69: 472-478, 2000; Baltes et al., Infect. Immun., 69: 472-478, 2001; Bosse and Maclnnes, Can. J. Vet. Res., 64: 145-150). A biotype analysis on NTHi isolates from middle ear effusions demonstrated that 87% are urease positive (DeMaria et al., J. Clin. Microbiol., 20: 1102-1104, 1984). However, the role of urease in NTHi virulence is unknown. Similarly, an increase in expression of a gene whose product demonstrates 88% sequence identity to a pyridoxine biosynthesis protein in S. pneumoniae and 60% homology to a putative singlet oxygen resistance protein that may function as an antioxidant. Phosphorylcholine (ChoP) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of NTHi (Weiser et al., Infect. Immun., 65: 943-950, 1997). NTHi modulates ChoP expression by phase variation, decorating the LOS on the cell surface. ChoP may contribute to NTHi persistence in the respiratory tract via decreased susceptibility to antimicrobial peptides (Lysecko et al., Infect. Immun., 68: 1664-1671, 2000) and alter the sensitivity to serum killing mediated by C-reactive protein (CRP) (Weiser et al., J. Exp. Med., 187: 631-640, 1998). The microenvironment of the nasopharynx and middle ear cavity may select for the ChoP + phenotype, as ChoP + strains show greater colonization of the chinchilla nasopharynx (Tong et al., Infect. Immun., 68: 4593-4597, 2000). Expression of the licC gene (SEQ ID NO: 633) was also increased. The licC gene encodes a phosphorylcholine cytidylyltransferase that plays a role in the biosynthesis of phosphorylcholine-derivatized LOS (Rock et al., J. Bacterol., 183: 4927-4931, 2001).
[0074] Also included among the in vivo-induced genes is a set whose products subsequently regulate gene expression or DNA replication. These genes include transcriptional regulation of glycerol metabolism by the glp repressor, glpR (SEQ ID NO: 643), the arginine repressor gene, argR (SEQ ID NO: 647), and the integration host factor (IHF) beta subunit, ihfB (SEQ ID NO: 645). IHF is a histone-like protein that binds DNA at specific sequences, an accessory factor involved in replication, site-specific recombination and transcription, altering the activity of a large number of operons (Goosen and van de Putte, Mol. Microbiol. 16: 1-7, 1995). In addition, CspD inhibits DNA replication during stationary phase-induced stress response in E. coli (Yamanaka et al., Mol. Microbiol., 39: 1572-1584, 2001) and the mukF (SEQ ID NO: 641) gene protein homologue contributes to a remodeling of the nucleiod structure into a more compact form prior to cell segregation (Sawitzke and Austin, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 62: 1710-1718, 2000). The DFI strategy described herein also identified promoters induced in vivo for genes of unknown function. The hypothetical protein, HI0094, demonstrated an 8-fold increase in gene expression during early OM but its role remains unknown. HI1163 (SEQ ID NO: 651) showed 58% amino acid identity with the hypothetical YdiJ proteins, a putative oxidase, of E. coli.
[0075] A high-density transposon mutagenesis strategy was used to identify H. influenzae genes essential for growth on rich medium (Akerley et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 99: 966-971, 2002). Six genes were identified in the screen described herein that are included in essential gene set described in Akerley' et al., supra. (hisB, lppB, lolA, ispZ, mukF and unknown HI0665). Recently genes of non-typeable H. influenzae that are expressed upon interaction with two human respiratory tract-derived epithelial cell lines have been identified. These genes included those involved in metabolic processes, stress responses, gene expression, cell envelope biosynthesis, DNA-related processes, cell division and ORF's encoding proteins of unknown function. (Ulsen et al., Mol. Microbiol., 45: 485-500, 2002). Similarly the stress response gene, cspD (SEQ ID NO: 649), genes involved in purine and riboflavin biosynthesis, and a protein of unknown function, vapA was identified in the screen described herein. Expression of vapA was detected in vitro, yet vapA gene expression increased two-fold in vivo. These unique approaches identified known genes that are upregulated in NTHi-induced OM and therefore are likely to play a role in NTHi infection and virulence; and may be potential candidates for vaccines and antisense therapies and other therapeutic methods of treatment of NTHi related disorders.
[0076] The DFI strategy resulted in the identification of promoters induced in vivo for genes of unknown function as well. The hypothetical protein, HI0094, demonstrated a 8-fold increase in gene expression during early OM but its role remains unknown. HI1163 (SEQ ID NO: 651) showed 58% amino acid identity with the hypothetical YdiJ proteins, a putative oxidase, of E. coli . Therefore, these hypothetical genes are likely to play a role in OM induced by NTHi infection.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[0077] FIG. 1 depicts the LKP gene region in a panel of Haemophilus isolates. The strain 86-028NP sequence is identical in this region to the sequence in NTHi strain R3001. Both of these NTHi lack the hif gene cluster encoding the hemagglutinating pilus.
[0078] FIG. 2 depicts the rfaD region in a panel of Haemophilus isolates. The gene arrangement in the rfaD region of the strain 86-028NP genome is similar to that of the strain Rd genome but different than the arrangement of these genes seen in the genome of most NTHi examined.
[0079] FIGS. 3A-3M set out the nucleotide sequences (SEQ ID NOS: 589-614) described in Table 4, which were identified to be upregulated during OM infection (see Example 6). The nucleotides (nt.) which correspond to known genes and those nt. which correspond to the contig sequences set out as SEQ ID NO: 1-576 are also presented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0080] The following examples illustrate the invention wherein Example 1 describes the sequence of the NTHi genome, Example 2 describes the identified contigs and initial gene discovery, Example 3 describes construction of the NTHi promoter trap library, Example 4 describes the analyses of 86-028NP derivatives expressing GFP, Example 5 demonstrates direct labelling of bacteria from middle ear fluids, Example 6 describes identification of promoters induced in vivo in acute otitis media, Example 7 describes identification of virulence-associated genes, and Example 8 describes identification of unique NTHi gene sequences.
Example 1
Sequence of a Non-Typeable Haemophilus influenzae Genome
[0081] NTHi strain 86-028NP is a minimally passaged clinical isolate obtained from a pediatric patient who underwent tympanostomy and tube insertion for chronic OM at Columbus Children's Hospital. (Bakaletz et al. Infection and Immunity, 56(2): 331-335, 1988) The 86-028NP strain was deposited with the American Type Tissue Collection (Manassas, Va. 20108 USA) on Oct. 16, 2002 and assigned accession no. PTA-4764.
[0082] In an effort to more broadly approach the identification of the virulence determinants in NTHi, the genome of the NTHi 86-028NP strain was sequenced to 3-fold coverage. Chromosomal DNA was prepared from strain 86-028NP using the Puregene protocol and sheared to 2-4 kb in size with a Hydroshear instrument (Gene Machines). The sheared DNA was ethanol-precipitated, end-repaired using a mixture of Klenow enzyme and T4 DNA polymerase, and size-selected by agarose gel electrophoresis to obtain 2-4 kb fragments as described in Chissoe et al. ( Methods: a Companion to Methods of Enzymology 3: 55-65, 1991) and Sambrook et al. ( Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual, 2 nd Ed. Cold Springs Harbor, N.Y., 1989). These fragments were cloned into vector pUC18 using the SmaI restriction site (phosphatase-treated) and transformed into E. coli XL-1 Blue, selecting for ampicillin resistance. Colonies that contain inserts were identified by blue/white screening on LB-Amp plates containing X-gal, and transferred into 96-deep well plates containing 1.5 ml of TB-Amp (TB=Terrific Broth) broth. The deep-well plate cultures were grown overnight (18-22 hours) at 37° C. Template preparation, sequencing and contig assembly were performed.
[0083] Automated template preparation was performed on the Beckman Biomek 2000 automated robotics workstation as described in Chissoe et al., (supra. Briefly, each 96-deep well plate, containing the clones prepared above, was centrifuged to pellet the cells, the supernatant decanted, and the cells frozen (if necessary) at −20° C. Four 96-deep well blocks were placed on the Biomek table, and the liquid handling robot was used to prepare the template using an automated version of a typical SDS-NaOH lysis protocol as described in Chissoe et al., (supra.). The final ethanol-precipitated templates were each dissolved in 50 μl ddH 2 O, and used for DNA sequencing.
[0084] Sequencing reactions were run by re-arraying the templates (from 96-well plates) into 384-well plates, using the Robbins Hydra 96 robot. Cycle-sequencing reactions were run using PE Big-Dye™ terminators and universal primers (M13 forward and reverse), cleaned up over Sephadex G50 columns, and analyzed on a PE Biosystems 3700 capillary electrophoresis DNA sequencer according to the manufacturer's instructions. Sequencing reads (8219) were assembled into 576 contigs (SEQ ID NOS: 1-576 herein). The statistics for the 3-fold sequencing are shown in Table 2A. The total unique sequence in assembly 17 is 1.74 Mb.
[0000]
TABLE 2A
Contig
Size
Total Number
Total Length
% of Cumulative
0-1
kb
65
55961
3.2%
1-2
kb
228
333665
19.2%
2-3
kb
101
243059
14.0%
3-4
kb
49
172385
9.9%
4-5
kb
45
196699
11.3%
5-10
kb
74
515152
29.6%
10-20
kb
11
144591
8.3%
20-30
kb
3
77352
4.4%
[0085] Subsequently, 8-fold sequencing analysis of the NTHi genome was carried out. The 8-fold sequencing assembled the NTHi genome into 11 contigs. Contigs 5, 8, 9, 10, 12-18 are denoted as SEQ ID NOS: 675-685 herein. The statistics for the 8-fold sequencing are shown in Table 213.
[0000]
TABLE 2B
Contig Size
Total Number
Total Length
% of Cumulative
0-1
kb
5
3950
0.2%
1-2
kb
3
4316
0.2%
2-3
kb
0
0
0.0%
3-4
kb
1
3964
0.2%
4-5
kb
0
0
0.0%
5-10
kb
0
0
0.0%
10-20
kb
1
15147
0.8%
20-30
kb
2
51888
2.7%
30-40
kb
0
0
0.0%
40-50
kb
0
0
0.0%
50-100
kb
1
85814
4.5%
>100
kb
5
1760339
91.4%
Example 2
Contig Description and Initial Gene Discovery
[0086] Seventy-five of the 88 contigs with length ≧5000 bp, identified with the 3-fold sequence analysis, show significant similarity via BLASTN to genes in H. influenzae strain Rd. To visualize the potential relationship between the gene order in H. influenzae strain 86-028NP and H. influenzae strain Rd, the 86-028NP three-fold contig set and the Rd gene set were bidirectionally compared using BLASTN. The results were plotted in gene-order verses contig space by sorting the contigs based on gene coordinates of the Rd genes hit, anchoring each contig at the smallest coordinate found as described in Ray et al., ( Bioinformatics 17: 1105-12, 2001). Compared in this fashion, an incomplete assembly of a genome with identical gene order to a completely known genome would display a monotonically increasing stair-stepped form.
[0087] BLASTX was used to identify hits to sequences with homology to genes in the strain Rd genome as well as genes not found in H. influenzae strain Rd. Hits to strain Rd sequences were removed from the data set and the other hits summarized in Table 3A. The data are presented as follows: contig #(=SEQ ID NO: #), column 1; E score for each hit, column 2; the name of the protein that had homology to a portion of the amino acid translation of the cited contig, column 3; the organism producing the homologue, column 4; and the Genbank protein identifier for each of the proteins cited in column 3, column 5; the corresponding nucleotides within the contig (referenced by SEQ ID NO:). In most instances, several homologues were identified but for clarity, the protein of greatest homology is cited in Table 3A.
[0088] The sequences for some of the genes listed in Table 3A were identified within the 8-fold sequencing of the NTHi genome. Table 3B lists the location of these genes within the 11 contigs, the full length open reading frame sequence (identified by SEQ ID NO:), the derived amino acid sequence encoded by the open reading frame and the gene with high homology identified by BLASTX (as listed in Table 3A).
[0089] To examine the relative short range gene arrangements in NTHi and the Rd strain, the gene order in two gene clusters that have been well-described were compared. First, the genes present in the hemagglutinating pilus (LKP) gene region were examined. (Mhlanga-Mutangadura et al., J Bacteriol. 180(17): 4693-703, 1998). The pilus gene cluster is located between the purE and pepN genes, only fragments of which are depicted in FIG. 1 . The serotype b strain, Eagan, contains the hifABCDE gene cluster and produces hemagglutinating pili. Strain Rd lacks the hicAB genes as well as the hifABCDE gene cluster. In general, the nontypeable strains previously examined contained the hicAB genes but not the hif genes that encode the hemagglutinating pilus. The strain 86-028NP sequence (described herein) is identical in this region to the sequence in NTHi strain R3001 ( FIG. 1 ). The rfaD gene encodes an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of endotoxin. In addition, the rfaD gene from NTHi strain 2019 has been characterized by Nichols et al. ( Infect Immunity 65(4): 1377-86, 1997). In strain 2019, the rfaD gene is immediately upstream of the rfaF gene that encodes another enzyme involved in endotoxin biosynthesis. The gene arrangement in strain Rd is different; the rfaD and rfaF genes are separated by approximately 11 kb of sequence. Most nontypeable strains examined contained the gene arrangement seen in strain 2019. In contrast, strain 86-028NP has a gene arrangement identical to that seen in strain Rd ( FIG. 2 ).
[0090] A global analysis of the current assembly indicates that the gene content and order are similar to that in strain Rd. A more detailed analysis revealed that there are a substantial number of NTHi genes not previously seen in the Pasteurellaceae and some regions where the NTHi gene content and order is different than that seen in strain Rd. Thus, the current data suggest that the strain 86-028NP genome will contain a complex mosaic of Rd and non-Rd like features.
[0091] The DFI strategy also identified novel NTHi sequences that had increased gene expression. A list of these novel contig sequences that contain genes or gene fragments that have homology to ORFs in other organisms (primarily gram-negative bacteria) is set out in Table 3A. For example, the nucleotide sequence of contig 442 (SEQ ID NO: 442), nucleotides 1498-1845 are highly homologous to the sequences encoding amino acids 1-116 of H. influenzae strain Rd lipoprotein B (LppB). The gene is positioned between the stationary phase survival gene, surE, and a gene encoding a 43 kD antigenic outer membrane lipoprotein that is highly homologous to the recently identified bacterial lipoprotein, LppB/1\11pD, which has been associated with virulence (Padmalayam et al., Infect. Immun., 68: 4972-4979, 2000). Recently, Zhang and coworkers demonstrated that nlpD and surE gene expression was induced during stationary phase of bacterial growth in Thermotoga maritima (Zhang et al., Structure ( Camb ), 9: 1095-1106, 2001). Therefore, under stress-induced conditions in the middle ear, this NTHi lipoprotein may be expressed.
[0000]
TABLE 3A
Genbank
Contig
E score
Hit Identity
Organism
Protein
SEQ ID NO:
104
4.00E−59
CpdB
Pasteurella
NP_246953.1
nt. 204-659 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 104
106
9.00E−10
hypothetical protein
Pyrococcus
G71244
nt. 40-309 of
PH0217-
horikoshii
SEQ ID NO: 106
106
1.00E−08
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246871.1
nt. 605-694 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 106
106
2.00E−20
Orf122
Chlorobium
AAG12204.1
nt. 7-210 of
tepidum
SEQ ID NO: 106
110
3.00E−05
ArdC antirestriction
IncW plasmid pSa
AAD52160.1
compliment of
protein
nt. 959-1162 of
SEQ ID NO: 110
110
1.00E−33
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458676.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. nt. 181-825
enterica serovar
of SEQ ID NO:
Typhi
110
111
5.00E−12
putative membrane
Salmonella
NP_458664.1
compliment of
protein
enterica subsp.
nt. 45-287 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 111
Typhi
111
6.00E−41
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458658.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 1091-1480 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 111
Typhi
114
7.00E−80
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245828.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 118-696 of
SEQ ID NO: 114
115
2.00E−09
A111R
Paramecium
NP_048459.1
nt. 555-869 of
bursaria Chlorella
SEQ ID NO: 115
virus 1
118
5.00E−45
DNA methylase
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231404.1
nt. 44-439 of
HsdM, putative
SEQ ID NO: 118
122
2.00E−18
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245314.1
nt. 865-1302 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 122
123
4.00E−99
RNA
Proteus mirabilis
P50509
nt. 351-782 of
POLYMERASE
SEQ ID NO: 123
SIGMA-32
FACTOR
124
9.00E−58
ACETOLACTATE
Spirulina platensis
P27868
nt. 603-1025 of
SYNTHASE
SEQ ID NO: 124
(ACETOHYDROXY-
ACID SYNTHASE)
(ALS)
130
0
restriction
Neisseria
CAA09003.1
nt. 495-1559 of
modification
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 130
system-R protein
131
6.00E−91
uronate isomerase
Salmonella
NP_457532.1
compliment of
(glucuronate
enterica subsp.
nt. 661-1380 of
isomerase)
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 131
Typhi
133
3.00E−30
GyrA
Pasteurella
NP_245778.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 1447-1626 of
SEQ ID NO: 133
133
1.00E−27
DNA GYRASE
Pectobacterium
P41513
compliment of
SUBUNIT A
carotovorum
nt. 1302-1442 of
SEQ ID NO: 133
138
7.00E−06
KicA
Pasteurella
NP_245545.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 92-157 of
SEQ ID NO: 138
138
1.00E−148
TYPE II
Haemophilus
O30869
compliment of
RESTRICTION
aegyptius
nt. 164-1045 of
ENZYME HAEII
SEQ ID NO: 138
(ENDONUCLEASE
HAEII) ( R. HAEII )
143
4.00E−06
Gifsy-1 prophage
Salmonella
NP_461555.1
compliment of
protein
typhimurium LT2
nt. 228-632 of
SEQ ID NO: 143
143
1.00E−14
hypothetical protein
Bacteriophage
NP_050531.1
compliment of
VT2-Sa
nt. 778-1248 of
SEQ ID NO: 143
143
5.00E−09
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
CAD09979.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 715-1026 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 143
Typhi
143
6.00E−10
hypothetical 14.9 kd
Escherichia coli
NP_065324.1
nt. 3-173 of
protein
SEQ ID NO: 143
147
1.00E−38
GTP-binding
Escherichia coli
NP_289127.1
compliment of
elongation factor,
O157:H7 EDL933
nt. 172-342 of
may be inner
SEQ ID NO: 147
membrane protein
147
2.00E−14
GTP-binding
Borrelia
NP_212222.1
compliment of
membrane protein
burgdorferi
nt. 17-181 of
(lepA)
SEQ ID NO: 147
148
6.00E−17
galactokinase
Homo sapiens
AAC35849.1
compliment of
nt. 746-1246 of
SEQ ID NO: 148
148
7.00E−96
GALACTOKINASE
Actinobacillus
P94169
compliment of
(GALACTOSE
pleuropneumoniae
nt. 232-741 of
KINASE)
SEQ ID NO: 148
149
1.00E−92
GTP-binding
Buchnera sp.
NP_240245.1
compliment of
protein TypA/BipA
APS
nt. 265-1077 of
SEQ ID NO: 149
15
2.00E−21
ORF1
Escherichia coli
CAA39631.1
nt. 665-850 of
SEQ ID NO: 15
150
6.00E−17
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245919.1
nt. 171-665 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 150
153
7.00E−07
cuter membrane
Rickettsia conorii
T30852
nt. 51-623 of
protein A
SEQ ID NO: 153
155
7.00E−40
cytochrome d
Vibrio cholerae
NP_233259.1
nt. 583-1002 of
ubiquinol oxidase,
SEQ ID NO: 155
subunit II
157
7.00E−13
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245490.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 1170-1367 of
SEQ ID NO: 157
157
2.00E−05
glycosyl
Neisseria
AAA68012.1
nt. 85-189 of
transferase
gonorrhoeae
SEQ ID NO: 157
158
1.00E−152
MltC
Pasteurella
NP_246259.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 36-530 of
SEQ ID NO: 158
161
3.00E−25
lipoprotein, putative
Vibrio cholerae
NP_230232.1
nt. 870-1439 of
SEQ ID NO: 161
163
9.00E−53
chorismate
Caulobacter
NP_421948.1
nt. 1283-2029 of
synthase
crescentus
SEQ ID NO: 163
168
3.00E−13
COPPER-
Mus musculus
Q64430
nt. 66-995 of
TRANSPORTING
SEQ ID NO: 168
ATPASE 1
(COPPER PUMP
1)
168
2.00E−22
Cu transporting
Homo sapiens
2001422A
nt. 135-989 of
ATPase P
SEQ ID NO: 168
174
8.00E−48
magnesium/cobalt
Mesorhizobium
NP_103977.1
nt. 918-1205 of
transport protein
loti
SEQ ID NO: 174
175
5.00E−26
vacB protein
Buchnera sp.
NP_240369.1
compliment of
APS
nt. 1-1587 of
SEQ ID NO: 175
176
3.00E−21
putative ABC
Campylobacter
NP_282774.1
compliment of
transport system
jejuni
nt. 259-1089 of
permease protein [
SEQ ID NO: 176
183
5.00E−29
PROBABLE ATP
Ralstonia
NP_521442.1
compliment of
SYNTHASE A
solanacearum
nt. 42-677 of
CHAIN
SEQ ID NO: 183
TRANSMEMBRANE
PROTEIN
185
6.00E−85
putative exported
Salmonella
NP_458655.1
compliment of
protein
enterica subsp.
nt. 162-1529 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 185
Typhi
187
2.00E−05
transketolase
Homo sapiens
AAA61222.1
nt. 709-819 of
SEQ ID NO: 187
188
1.00E−116
ribonuclease E
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_299884.1
compliment of
9a5c
nt. 280-1704 of
SEQ ID NO: 188
192
1.00E−38
ImpA
Pasteurella
NP_245829.1
nt. 35-448 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 192
193
3.00E−08
Orf80
Enterobacteria
NP_052285.1
nt. 1612-1818 of
phage 186
SEQ ID NO: 193
193
1.00E−06
holin
Haemophilus
AAC45168.1
nt. 370-576 of
somnus
SEQ ID NO: 193
193
0.007
unknown
Enterobacteria
NP_052260.1
nt. 1376-1609 of
phage 186
SEQ ID NO: 193
193
2.00E−48
lysozyme
Haemophilus
AAC45169.1
nt. 608-1093 of
somnus
SEQ ID NO: 193
199
4.00E−21
unknown protein
Escherichia coli
NP_288675.1
nt. 398-778 of
O157:H7
SEQ ID NO: 199
EDL933,
prophage CP-
933V
199
2.00E−49
hypothetical protein
Bacteriophage
NP_049495.1
compliment of
933W
nt. 1907-2392 of
SEQ ID NO: 199
20
1.00E−62
RpL14
Pasteurella
NP_246344.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 233-601 of
SEQ ID NO: 20
200
2.00E−62
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458658.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 431-997 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 200
Typhi
200
3.00E−16
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458657.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 1028-1264 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 200
Typhi
201
2.00E−26
TsaA
Pasteurella
NP_245732.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 1618-1809 of
SEQ ID NO: 201
209
6.00E−16
TsaA
Pasteurella
NP_245732.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 2-136 of
SEQ ID NO: 209
211
2.00E−15
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245535.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 23-211 of
SEQ ID NO: 211
211
1.00E−70
PUTATIVE
Ralstonia
NP_520082.1
compliment of
ATPASE PROTEIN
solanacearum
nt. 475-915 of
SEQ ID NO: 211
212
3.00E−18
hypothetical protein
Escherichia coli
NP_309775.1
compliment of
O157:H7
nt. 895-1035 of
SEQ ID NO: 212
216
1.00E−173
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245069.1
nt. 35-1543 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 216
217
9.00E−18
diacylglycerol
Vibrio cholerae
NP_233101.1
nt. 2083-2208 of
kinase
SEQ ID NO: 217
221
4.00E−34
Tail-Specific
Chlamydia
NP_219953.1
nt. 849-1421 of
Protease
trachomatis
SEQ ID NO: 221
222
4.00E−23
AGR_C_3689p
Agrobacterium
NP_355005.1
compliment of
tumefaciens str.
nt. 940-1305 of
C58 (Cereon)
SEQ ID NO: 222
224
9.00E−19
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245536.1
nt. 15-308 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 224
225
1.00E−89
portal vector-like
Salmonella
NP_461651.1
nt. 31-750 of of
protein, in phage
typhimurium
SEQ ID NO: 225
P2 [ Salmonella
LT2Fels-2
typhimurium LT2]
prophage
229
2.00E−25
anaerobic
Salmonella
CAB62266.1
nt. 1806-2108 of
ribonucleotide
typhimurium
SEQ ID NO: 229
reductase
234
3.00E−08
conserved
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_299850.1
nt. 1680-2048 of
hypothetical protein
9a5c
SEQ ID NO: 234
234
1.00E−42
Methionine
Clostridium
NP_348177.1
compliment of
sulfoxide reductase
acetobutylicum
nt. 415-654 of
C-terminal domain
SEQ ID NO: 234
related protein,
YPPQ ortholog
235
4.00E−16
phage-related tail
Wolbachia
AAK85310.1
compliment of
protein
endosymbiont of
nt. 931-1929 of
Drosophila
SEQ ID NO: 235
melanogaster
235
6.00E−56
similar to orfG
Salmonella
NP_461625.1
compliment of
protein in phage
typhimurium LT2,
nt. 313-1863 of
186, Salmonella
Fels-2 prophage
SEQ ID NO: 235
typhimurium LT2
236
6.00E−20
conserved
Pseudomonas
NP_252693.1
nt. 1572-1916
hypothetical protein
aeruginosa
of SEQ ID NO:
236
240
5.00E−27
MODIFICATION
Brevibacterium
P10283
compliment of
METHYLASE BEPI
epidermidis
nt. 922-1305 of
SEQ ID NO: 240
241
2.00E−15
phage-related
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_299573.1
compliment of
protein
9a5c
nt. 865-1305 of
SEQ ID NO: 241
241
4.00E−08
hypothetical protein
phage SPP1
T42296
nt. 73-636 of
SEQ ID NO: 241
241
4.00E−07
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458686.1
nt. 10-468 of
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 241
enterica serovar
Typhi
242
2.00E−29
translation
chloroplast-
S35701
compliment of
elongation factor
soybean
nt. 18-1085 of
EF-G
SEQ ID NO: 242
247
3.00E−23
GTP
Synechococcus
Q54769
compliment of
CYCLOHYDROLASE
sp. PCC 7942
nt. 1009-1257c
I (GTP-CH-I)
of SEQ ID NO:
247
248
6.00E−05
phospho-N-
Aquifex aeolicus
NP_213025.1
nt. 830-1747 of
acetylmuramoyl-
SEQ ID NO: 248
pentapeptide-
transferase
25
2.00E−86
PROBABLE
Ralstonia
NP_522358.1
compliment of
TRANSPORT
solanacearum
nt. 309-854 of
TRANSMEMBRANE
SEQ ID NO: 25
PROTEIN
25
7.00E−06
major facilitator
Caulobacter
NP_419155.1
compliment of
family transporter
crescentus
nt. 134-283 of
SEQ ID NO: 25
250
1.00E−150
CpdB
Pasteurella
NP_246953.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 36-1016 of
SEQ ID NO: 250
252
3.00E−57
alanyl-tRNA
Vibrio cholerae
AAA99922.1
compliment of
synthetase
nt. 1418-1951 of
SEQ ID NO: 252
253
1.00E−108
similar to
Listeria
NP_464432.1
compliment of
glutathione
monocytogenes
nt. 411-1358 of
Reductase
EGD-e
of SEQ ID NO:
253
259
3.00E−39
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458654.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 342-1037 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 259
Typhi
259
3.00E−17
possible exported
Salmonella
NP_458653.1
compliment of
protein
enterica subsp.
nt. 1251-1607
enterica serovar
of SEQ ID NO:
Typhi
259
261
5.00E−74
hypothetical protein
Haemophilus
S27582
compliment of
6- Haemophilus
influenzae
nt. 3-422 of
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 261
263
1.00E−94
putative
Haemophilus
AAD01406.1
nt. 2142-2672 of
transposase
paragallinarum
SEQ ID NO: 263
264
1.00E−126
unknown
Actinobacillus
NP_067554.1
nt. 40-714 of
actinomycetemcomitans
SEQ ID NO: 264
264
1.00E−103
unknown
Actinobacillus
NP_067555.1
nt. 695-1309 of
actinomycetemcomitans
SEQ ID NO: 264
264
2.00E−21
unknown
Actinobacillus
NP_067556.1
nt. 1302-1448 of
actinomycetemcomitans
SEQ ID NO: 264
265
6.00E−27
Aminopeptidase 2
chloroplast
Q42876
nt. 556-1539 of
SEQ ID NO: 265
268
1.00E−116
MutY
Pasteurella
NP_246257.1
nt. 1003-1581 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 268
272
1.00E−07
hypothetical protein
Bacteriophage
NP_049495.1
compliment of
933W
nt. 77-232 of
SEQ ID NO: 272
274
3.00E−13
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246952.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 1658-1975 of
SEQ ID NO: 274
275
3.00E−20
CafA
Neisseria
AAG24267.1
nt. 1299-1571 of
gonorrhoeae
SEQ ID NO: 275
276
1.00E−45
mukE protein
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231351.1
compliment of
nt. 650-1390 of
SEQ ID NO: 276
276
1.00E−69
KicA
Pasteurella
NP_245545.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 647-1321 of
SEQ ID NO: 276
278
2.00E−56
3-oxoacyl-[acyl-
Salmonella
NP_455686.1
nt. 1366-1944 of
carrier-protein]
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 278
synthase III
enterica serovar
Typhi
281
5.00E−56
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246261.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 31-678 of
SEQ ID NO: 281
282
3.00E−09
orf25; similar to T
bacteriophage phi
NP_490625.1
compliment of
gene of P2
CTX
nt. 511-1032 of
SEQ ID NO: 282
282
1.00E−08
orf11; similar to
Haemophilus
AAC45165.1
compliment of
phage P2 gene S-
somnus
nt. 1450-1584 of
like product, which
SEQ ID NO: 282
is involved in tail
synthesis,
282
9.00E−27
putative
Salmonella
NP_457167.1
compliment of
bacteriophage tail
enterica subsp.
nt. 3-509 of
protein
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 282
Typhi
286
5.00E−18
plasmid-related
Listeria innocua
NP_471066.1
compliment of
protein
plasmid
nt. 887-1501 of
SEQ ID NO: 286
287
8.00E−20
GTP
Escherichia coli
NP_287920.1
nt. 2-145 of
cyclohydrolase II
O157:H7 EDL933
SEQ ID NO: 287
289
1.00E−168
MODIFICATION
Haemophilus
O30868
compliment of
METHYLASE
aegyptius
nt. 138-1091 of
HAEII
SEQ ID NO: 289
289
5.00E−11
TYPE II
Haemophilus
O30869
compliment of
RESTRICTION
aegyptius
nt. 22-132 of
ENZYME HAEII
SEQ ID NO: 289
289
6.00E−47
mukF homolog
Haemophilus
AAB70828.1
compliment of
influenzae biotype
nt. 1107-1385
aegyptius
of SEQ ID NO:
289
294
1.00E−171
LICA PROTEIN
Haemophilus
P14181
compliment of
influenzae
nt. 677-1564 of
RM7004
SEQ ID NO: 294
297
1.00E−158
DNA methylase
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231404.1
compliment of
HsdM, putative
nt. 12-1136 of
SEQ ID NO: 297
302
0
HEME-BINDING
Haemophilus
P33950
nt.3-1316 of
PROTEIN A
influenzae DL42
SEQ ID NO: 302
304
6.00E−19
hypothetical protein 6
Haemophilus
S27582
nt. 121-267 of
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 304
305
6.00E−40
putative
Streptococcus
NP_269557.1
nt. 65-805 of
recombinase-
pyogenes M1
SEQ ID NO: 305
phage associated
GAS
305
7.00E−22
single stranded
Shewanella sp.
AAB57886.1
nt. 1607-2014 of
DNA-binding
F1A
SEQ ID NO: 305
protein
305
1.00E−43
phage-related
Bacillus
NP_244410.1
nt. 92-751 of
protein
halodurans
SEQ ID NO: 305
312
1.00E−28
PUTATIVE
Ralstonia
NP_518994.1
nt. 1819-2673 of
BACTERIOPHAGE-
solanacearum
SEQ ID NO: 312
RELATED
TRANSMEMBRANE
PROTEIN
312
9.00E−25
similar to
Homo sapiens
XP_068727.1
nt. 27-1001 of
BASEMENT
SEQ ID NO: 312
MEMBRANE-
SPECIFIC
HEPARAN
SULFATE
PROTEOGLYCAN
CORE PROTEIN
PRECURSOR
(HSPG)
315
2.00E−45
uracil permease
Deinococcus
NP_296001.1
compliment of
radiodurans
nt. 525-1592 of
SEQ ID NO: 315
318
7.00E−15
CzcD
Pasteurella
NP_246276.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 3-227 of
SEQ ID NO: 318
320
2.00E−60
orf3; similar to
Haemophilus
AAC45159.1
compliment of
endonuclease
somnus
nt. 606-1241 of
subunit of the
SEQ ID NO: 320
phage P2
terminase (gene M)
320
2.00E−09
orf4; similar to
Haemophilus
AAC45160.1
compliment of
head
somnus
nt. 52-285 of
completion/stabilization
SEQ ID NO: 320
protein (gene
L) of phage P2
320
3.00E−35
orf2; similar to
Haemophilus
AAC45158.1
compliment of
major capsid
somnus
nt. 1271-1624 of
protein precursor of
SEQ ID NO: 320
phage P2 (gene N)
323
4.00E−37
dedC protein
Escherichia coli
AAA23966.1
compliment of
nt. 74-463 of
SEQ ID NO: 323
324
1.00E−153
conserved
Neisseria
NP_274972.1
compliment of
hypothetical protein
meningitidis
nt. 930-1943 of
MC58
SEQ ID NO: 324
326
5.00E−52
selenophosphate
Eubacterium
CAB53511.1
compliment of
synthetase
acidaminophilum
nt. 1186-2292 of
SEQ ID NO: 326
328
1.00E−129
secretion protein
Pseudomonas
NP_252510.1
compliment of
SecD
aeruginosa
nt. 8-625 of
SEQ ID NO: 328
333
3.00E−08
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245489.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 5-418 of
SEQ ID NO: 333
336
6.00E−38
probable methyl
Pseudomonas
NP_253353.1
compliment of
transferase
aeruginosa
nt. 2547-2819 of
SEQ ID NO: 336
338
2.00E−98
Pmi
Pasteurella
NP_245766.1
nt. 144-842 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 338
339
2.00E−07
tRNA
Escherichia coli
QQECPE
nt. 2331-2540 of
nucleotidyltransferase
SEQ ID NO: 339
340
0
DNA gyrase,
Salmonella
NP_461214.1
compliment of
subunit A, type II
typhimurium LT2
nt. 93-1799 of
topoisomerase
SEQ ID NO: 340
342
4.00E−12
tolA protein
Haemophilus
JC5212
nt. 980-1318 of
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 342
344
1.00E−07
MODIFICATION
Haemophilus
P50192
compliment of
METHYLASE
parahaemolyticus
nt. 849-1034 of
HPHIA
SEQ ID NO: 344
344
8.00E−05
ABC transporter
Leishmania major
AAF31030.1
compliment of
protein 1
nt. 17-205 of
SEQ ID NO: 344
349
3.00E−44
conserved
Neisseria
NP_273467.1
compliment of
hypothetical protein
meningitidis
nt. 1397-1903 of
MC58
SEQ ID NO: 349
349
8.00E−09
hypothetical protein
Pseudomonas
NP_252667.1
compliment of
aeruginosa
nt. 795-1121 of
SEQ ID NO: 349
349
9.00E−10
conserved
Helicobacter
NP_207009.1
compliment of
hypothetical
pylori 26695
nt. 1319-1816 of
secreted protein
SEQ ID NO: 349
349
2.00E−06
putative TPR
Salmonella
NP_463149.1
compliment of
repeat protein
typhimurium LT2
nt. 2244-2558 of
SEQ ID NO: 349
35
1.00E−23
type I restriction-
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_300003.1
compliment of
modification
9a5c
nt. 29-388 of
system specificity
SEQ ID NO: 35
determinant
352
1.00E−116
putative peptidase
Escherichia coli
NP_416827.1
compliment of
K12
nt. 951-1640 of
SEQ ID NO:
352
352
0
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245275.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 86-946 of
SEQ ID NO: 352
354
5.00E−86
putative uronate
Salmonella
NP_462052.1
compliment of
isomerase
typhimurium LT2
nt. 168-914 of
SEQ ID NO: 354
356
1.00E−07
isomerase-like
Escherichia coli
S57220
nt. 5-73 of
protein (DsbD)-
SEQ ID NO: 356
358
1.00E−07
USG protein
Pediococcus
CAC16793.1
nt.534-1307 of
pentosaceus
SEQ ID NO: 358
358
0.005
HsdS protein
Escherichia coli
CAA10700.1
nt. 26-205 of
SEQ ID NO: 358
361
1.00E−152
maltodextrin
Escherichia coli
NP_289957.1
compliment of
phosphorylase
O157:H7 EDL933
nt. 77-922 of
SEQ ID NO: 361
363
6.00E−06
BH2505~unknown
Bacillus
NP_243371.1
nt. 554-844 of
conserved protein
halodurans
SEQ ID NO: 363
368
1.00E−12
H02F09.3.p
Caenorhabditis
NP_508295.1
compliment of
elegans
nt. 1069-1977 of
SEQ ID NO: 368
368
6.00E−27
hypothetical
Mesorhizobium
NP_102360.1
compliment of
glycine-rich protein
loti
nt. 1201-1986 of
SEQ ID NO: 368
37
6.00E−09
putative ATP-
Escherichia coli
NP_415469.1
compliment of
binding component
K12
nt. 455-691 of
of a transport
SEQ ID NO: 37
system
372
7.00E−18
conserved
Clostridium
BAB80319.1
compliment of
hypothetical protein
perfringens
nt. 1763-1924 of
SEQ ID NO: 372
376
7.00E−24
putative
Salmonella
NP_456379.1
compliment of
bacteriophage
enterica subsp.
nt. 158-808 of
protein
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 376
Typhi
376
8.00E−10
hypothetical protein
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_298882.1
compliment of
9a5c
nt. 1129-1671
of SEQ ID
NO: 376
376
9.00E−06
lin1713
Listeria innocua
NP_471049.1
compliment of
nt 913-1557 of
SEQ ID NO: 376
377
6.00E−05
Vng1732c
Halobacterium sp.
NP_280487.1
nt. 2378-2587 of
NRC-1
SEQ ID NO: 377
377
1.00E−11
INVASIN
Yersinia
P31489
compliment of
PRECURSOR
enterocolitica
nt. 127-345 of
(OUTER
SEQ ID NO: 377
MEMBRANE
ADHESIN)
382
4.00E−16
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246871.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 967-1068 of
SEQ ID NO: 382
383
4.00E−36
putative
Streptomyces
BAB69302.1
nt. 488-1162 of
transposase
avermitilis
SEQ ID NO: 383
383
3.00E−58
recombinase
IncN plasmid R46
NP_511241.1
compliment of
nt. 1-393 of
SEQ ID NO: 383
383
4.00E−24
transposase
Escherichia coli
I69674
nt. 1294-1740 of
SEQ ID NO: 383
383
0
tnpA
Yersinia
CAA73750.1
nt. 1782-2834 of
enterocolitica
SEQ ID NO: 383
385
2.00E−31
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246065.1
nt. 1515-1772 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 385
386
5.00E−65
cydC [
Escherichia coli
AAA66172.1
compliment of
nt. 3438-4115 of
SEQ ID NO: 386
386
4.00E−33
ABC transporter,
Mesorhizobium
NP_105463.1
compliment of
ATP-binding
loti
nt. 2569-3390 of
protein
SEQ ID NO: 386
388
3.00E−45
60 KDA INNER-
Coxiella burnetii
P45650
compliment of
MEMBRANE
nt. 3211-3759
PROTEIN
of SEQ ID NO:
HOMOLOG
388
390
4.00E−25
putative DNA-
Salmonella
NP_458175.1
nt. 1051-1416 of
binding protein
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 390
enterica serovar
Typhi
390
3.00E−13
transcriptional
Bacillus
NP_241773.1
compliment of
regulator
halodurans
nt. 84-578 of
SEQ ID NO: 390
390
3.00E−06
DNA translocase
Staphylococcus
NP_372265.1
compliment of
stage III sporulation
aureus subsp.
nt. 620-871 of
prot homolog
aureus Mu50
SEQ ID NO: 390
395
7.00E−31
ATPase, Cu++
Homo sapiens
NP_000044.1
compliment of
transporting, beta
nt. 615-1406 of
polypeptide
SEQ ID NO: 395
397
3.00E−23
terminase large
Bacteriophage
NP_112076.1
compliment of
subunit
HK620
nt. 2363-2725 of
SEQ ID NO: 397
397
3.00E−16
hypothetical protein
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_297824.1
compliment of
9a5c
nt. 1517-1744 of
SEQ ID NO: 397
398
4.00E−67
orf32
Haemophilus
NP_536839.1
compliment of
phage HP2
nt. 1288-1866 of
SEQ ID NO: 398
398
8.00E−24
putative
Salmonella
NP_463063.1
compliment of
cytoplasmic protein
typhimurium LT2
nt. 798-1220 of
SEQ ID NO: 398
398
2.00E−83
orf31
Haemophilus
NP_043502.1
compliment of
phage HP1
nt. 1881-2510 of
SEQ ID NO: 398
399
1.00E−94
HEME/HEMOPEXIN-
Haemophilus
P45355
nt. 88-774 of
BINDING
influenzae N182
SEQ ID NO: 399
PROTEIN
401
3.00E−63
Sty SBLI
Salmonella
CAA68058.1
nt. 1690-2742 of
enterica
SEQ ID NO: 401
401
3.00E−06
RESTRICTION-
Mycoplasma
NP_325912.1
nt. 79-489 of
MODIFICATION
pulmonis
SEQ ID NO: 401
ENZYME
SUBUNIT M3
402
2.00E−13
OPACITY
Neisseria
Q05033
compliment of
PROTEIN OPA66
gonorrhoeae
nt. 2634-2915 of
PRECURSOR
SEQ ID NO: 402
406
8.00E−13
type I restriction
Neisseria
NP_273876.1
nt. 281-520 of
enzyme EcoR124IIR
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 406
MC58
407
6.00E−65
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246237.1
nt. 938-2450 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 407
407
5.00E−99
PepE
Pasteurella
NP_245391.1
nt. 1216-1917 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 407
407
1.00E−16
Hemoglobin-
Haemophilus
Q48153
nt. 1-141 of
haptoglobin binding
influenzae Tn106
SEQ ID NO: 407
protein A
409
1.00E−106
hypothetical protein 1
Haemophilus
S27577
compliment of
influenzae
nt. 2524-3159 of
SEQ ID NO: 409
411
4.00E−29
heme-repressible
Haemophilus
AAB46794.1
nt. 391-615 of
hemoglobin-binding
influenzae , type b,
SEQ ID NO: 411
protein
strain HI689
411
0
Hemoglobin-
Haemophilus
Q48153
nt. 651-3263 of
haptoglobin binding
influenzae Tn106
SEQ ID NO: 411
protein A
412
2.00E−07
REGULATORY
bacteriophage
P03036
compliment of
PROTEIN CRO
434
nt. 59-259 of
(ANTIREPRESSOR)
SEQ ID NO: 412
412
4.00E−06
hypothetical protein
Bacteriophage
CAC83535.1
nt. 1436-1654 of
P27
SEQ ID NO: 412
413
8.00E−07
hypothetical protein
Deinococcus
NP_294301.1
compliment of
radiodurans
nt. 791-1012 of
SEQ ID NO: 413
414
9.00E−65
conserved
Vibrio cholerae
NP_230092.1
nt. 1696-2103 of
hypothetical protein
SEQ ID NO: 414
414
3.00E−93
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246834.1
nt. 1777-2109 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 414
416
2.00E−17
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246629.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 2565-2831 of
SEQ ID NO: 416
416
4.00E−26
hypothetical protein
Escherichia coli
S30728
compliment of
o154
nt. 1928-2254 of
SEQ ID NO:
416
416
3.00E−37
transport protein
Pseudomonas
NP_253757.1
compliment of
TatC
aeruginosa
nt. 1494-2018 of
of SEQ ID NO:
416
417
1.00E−66
weakly similar to
Listeria innocua
NP_471073.1
compliment of
methyltransferases
nt. 999-1928 of
SEQ ID NO: 417
417
5.00E−05
DNA-BINDING
Pectobacterium
Q47587
compliment of
PROTEIN RDGA
carotovorum
nt. 3526-4212 of
SEQ ID NO: 417
417
2.00E−29
putative phage-
Yersinia pestis
NP_407132.1
compliment of
related protein
nt. 2546-2938 of
SEQ ID NO: 417
417
3.00E−06
Adenine-specific
Thermoplasma
NP_393798.1
compliment of
DNA methylase
acidophilum
nt. 826-1020 of
SEQ ID NO: 417
43
9.00E−16
PcnB
Pasteurella
NP_245801.1
nt. 511-870 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 43
434
2.00E−97
beta′ subunit of
Nephroselmis
NP_050840.1
compliment of
RNA polymerase
olivacea
nt. 32-1534 of
SEQ ID NO: 434
435
4.00E−52
MODIFICATION
Brevibacterium
P10283
compliment of
METHYLASE BEPI
epidermidis
nt. 11-565 of
SEQ ID NO: 435
435
4.00E−57
pentafunctional
Saccharomyces
NP_010412.1
compliment of
arom polypeptide
cerevisiae
nt. 757-2064 of
(contains: 3-
SEQ ID NO: 435
dehydroquinate
synthase, 3-
dehydroquinate
dehydratase (3-
dehydroquinase),
shikimate 5-
dehydrogenase,
shikimate kinase,
and epsp synthase)
437
5.00E−70
dihydrofolate
Haemophilus
S52336
nt. 2393-2767 of
reductase
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 437
(clinical isolate
R1042)
438
1.00E−106
polyA polymerase
Vibrio cholerae
NP_230244.1
nt. 3-1124 of
SEQ ID NO: 438
439
6.00E−60
Porphyrin
Salmonella
NP_457816.1
nt. 2343-2783 of
biosynthetic protein
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 439
enterica serovar
Typhi
441
5.00E−73
RimM
Pasteurella
NP_246234.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 151-441 of
SEQ ID NO: 441
442
9.00E−31
LIPOPROTEIN
Salmonella
P40827
compliment of
NLPD
typhimurium
nt. 3362-3520 of
SEQ ID NO: 442
444
6.00E−24
glycine betaine
Staphylococcus
NP_371872.1
compliment of
transporter
aureus subsp.
nt. 2242-2514 of
aureus Mu50
SEQ ID NO: 444
452
6.00E−28
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245616.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 533-883 of
SEQ ID NO: 452
452
0
Type I restriction
Escherichia coli
Q47163
nt. 3291-4154 of
enzyme Ecoprrl M
SEQ ID NO: 452
protein
452
2.00E−75
type I restriction
Ureaplasma
NP_077929.1
nt. 4156-4562 of
enzyme M protein
urealyticum
SEQ ID NO: 452
455
9.00E−56
PROBABLE
Ralstonia
NP_520059.1
nt. 2028-2774 of
BACTERIOPHAGE
solanacearum
SEQ ID NO: 455
PROTEIN
455
2.00E−55
orf2; similar to
Haemophilus
AAC45158.1
nt. 2864-3490 of
major capsid
somnus
SEQ ID NO: 455
protein precursor of
phage P2 (gene N),
455
1.00E−175
gpP
Enterobacteria
NP_046758.1
compliment of
phage P2
nt. 127-1812 of
SEQ ID NO: 455
456
1.00E−38
hypothetical protein
Pseudomonas
NP_542872.1
compliment of
putida
nt. 1010-1282 of
SEQ ID NO: 456
456
1.00E−172
hypothetical protein
Pseudomonas
NP_542873.1
compliment of
putida
nt. 1443-2006 of
SEQ ID NO: 546
457
1.00E−116
hypothetical protein
Haemophilus
S15287
compliment of
(galE 5′ region)-
influenzae
nt. 62-961 of
Haemophilus
SEQ ID NO: 457
influenzae
457
1.00E−134
dTDPglucose 4,6-
Actinobacillus
T00102
nt. 2637-3656 of
dehydratase
actinomycetemco
SEQ ID NO: 457
mitans
459
2.00E−10
RNA polymerase
Synechocystis sp.
NP_441586.1
nt. 25-117 of
gamma-subunit
PCC 6803
SEQ ID NO: 459
461
9.00E−51
conserved
Staphylococcus
NP_370593.1
nt. 4124-4624 of
hypothetical protein
aureus subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 461
aureus Mu50
462
9.00E−06
NADH
Burkholderia
AAG01016.1
nt. 703-828 of
dehydrogenase
pseudomallei
SEQ ID NO: 462
465
3.00E−41
GTP-binding
Synechocystis sp.
NP_441951.1
compliment of
protein Era
PCC 6803
nt. 2470-2787 of
SEQ ID NO: 465
466
1.00E−15
putative
Salmonella
NP_455548.1
nt. 837-1478 of
bacteriophage
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 466
protein
enterica serovar
Typhi
466
1.00E−90
orf31
Haemophilus
NP_043502.1
nt. 2396-3199 of
phage HP1
SEQ ID NO: 466
469
0
Hemoglobin and
Haemophilus
Q9X442
compliment of
hemoglobin-
influenzae HI689
nt. 427-3459 of
haptoglobin binding
SEQ ID NO: 469
protein C precursor
471
8.00E−05
transposase,
Neisseria
NP_274608.1
nt. 2957-3217 of
putative
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 471
MC58
472
6.00E−08
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458660.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 2881-3270 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 472
Typhi
472
5.00E−23
antirestriction
Mesorhizobium
NP_106707.1
nt. 4908-5324 of
protein
loti
SEQ ID NO: 472
472
1.00E−75
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458661.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 1931-2776 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 472
Typhi
472
9.00E−72
hypothetical protein
Salmonella
NP_458662.1
compliment of
enterica subsp.
nt. 544-1689 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 472
Typhi
475
3.00E−25
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_244952.1
nt. 3207-3626 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 475
476
8.00E−73
putative DNA-
Salmonella
NP_458175.1
compliment of
binding protein
enterica subsp.
nt. 3339-4310 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 476
Typhi
476
6.00E−47
anticodon nuclease
Neisseria
NP_273873.1|
compliment of
meningitidis
nt. 4397-4885 of
MC58
SEQ ID NO: 476
478
3.00E−06
methionin
Arabidopsis
CAB38313.1
compliment of
synthase-like
thaliana
nt. 3554-3679 of
enzyme
SEQ ID NO: 478
478
3.00E−05
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245444.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 164-250 of
SEQ ID NO: 478
479
1.00E−18
conserved
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_298841.1
nt. 2302-2658 of
hypothetical protein
9a5c
SEQ ID NO: 479
48
3.00E−19
Dca
Neisseria
AAF12796.1
compliment of
gonorrhoeae
nt. 225-746 of
SEQ ID NO: 48
482
1.00E−06
hypothetical protein
Neisseria
NP_275122.1
nt. 2055-2189 of
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 482
MC58
482
9.00E−28
conserved
Neisseria
NP_274383.1
nt. 1689-1898 of
hypothetical protein
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 482
MC58
487
5.00E−75
conserved
Neisseria
NP_284304.1
nt. 2541-2978 of
hypothetical protein
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 487
Z2491
488
2.00E−64
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246617.1
nt. 2983-3540 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 488
488
8.00E−93
1-deoxy-D-xylulose
Zymomonas
AAD29659.1
nt. 1344-1880 of
5-phosphate
mobilis
SEQ ID NO: 488
reductoisomerase
491
5.00E−51
rubredoxin
Clostridium
AAB50346.1
compliment of
oxidoreductase
acetobutylicum
nt. 1690-2439 of
homolog
SEQ ID NO: 491
492
1.00E−27
phosphotransferase
Staphylococcus
AAK83253.1
compliment of
system enzyme
aureus
nt. 755-970 of
IIA-like protein
SEQ ID NO: 492
493
2.00E−84
unknown
Actinobacillus
AAC70895.1
nt. 3333-3935 of
actinomycetemcomitans
SEQ ID NO: 493
493
4.00E−49
unknown
Helicobacter
NP_223898.1
nt. 3345-4010 of
pylori J99
SEQ ID NO: 493
493
9.00E−31
transcriptional
Acinetobacter
AAF20290.1
nt. 1885-2793 of
factor MdcH
calcoaceticus
SEQ ID NO: 493
493
6.00E−30
HimA
Pasteurella
NP_245565.1
nt. 1129-1260 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 493
494
4.00E−85
putative prophage
Yersinia pestis
NP_404712.1
nt. 900-2099 of
integrase
SEQ ID NO: 494
494
4.00E−63
DNA
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_299063.1
compliment of
methyltransferase
9a5c
nt. 5544-6170 of
SEQ ID NO: 494
494
6.00E−19
MODIFICATION
Lactococcus lactis
P34877
compliment of
METHYLASE
subsp. cremoris
nt. 5019-6113 of
SCRFIA
SEQ ID NO: 494
497
0
transferrin-binding
Haemophilus
S70906
nt. 3251-4999 of
protein 1
influenzae (strain
SEQ ID NO: 497
PAK 12085)
50
5.00E−07
AcpP
Pasteurella
NP_246856.1
nt. 2-136 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 50
501
7.00E−50
conserved
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231403.1
compliment of
hypothetical protein
nt. 3649-4872 of
SEQ ID NO: 501
501
0
type I restriction
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231400.1
compliment of
enzyme HsdR,
nt. 1551-3440 of
putative
SEQ ID NO: 501
501
4.00E−13
ATP-dependent
Deinococcus
NP_295921.1
compliment of
DNA helicase
radiodurans
nt. 5317-5844 of
RecG-related
SEQ ID NO: 501
protein
501
5.00E−11
conserved
Ureaplasma
NP_077868.1
compliment of
hypothetical
urealyticum
nt. 5098-5769 of
SEQ ID NO: 501
504
2.00E−44
OUTER
Haemophilus
Q48218
compliment of
MEMBRANE
influenzae
nt. 4681-5019 of
PROTEIN P2
AG30010
SEQ ID NO: 504
PRECURSOR
(OMP P2)
507
0
SpoT
Pasteurella
NP_245857.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 3685-5316 of
SEQ ID NO: 507
51
6.00E−87
glucosamine--
Vibrio cholerae
NP_230141.1
nt. 30-470 of
fructose-6-
SEQ ID NO: 51
phosphate
aminotransferase
(isomerizing)
512
2.00E−28
dipeptide transport
Yersinia pestis
NP_407439.1
compliment of
system permease
nt. 1095-1580 of
protein
SEQ ID NO: 512
512
3.00E−82
SapC
Pasteurella
NP_245850.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 730-1095 of
SEQ ID NO: 512
514
9.00E−06
putative integral
Campylobacter
NP_281236.1
compliment of
membrane protein
jejuni
nt. 577-684 of
SEQ ID NO: 514
514
3.00E−11
orf, hypothetical
Escherichia coli
NP_286004.1
compliment of
protein
O157:H7 EDL933
nt. 449-568 of
SEQ ID NO: 514
518
0
putative inner
Neisseria
NP_284893.1
nt. 92-1927 of
membrane transacylase
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 518
protein
Z2491
519
4.00E−30
hypothetical protein
Mesorhizobium
NP_108196.1
compliment of
loti
nt. 2221-3159 of
SEQ ID NO: 519
519
2.00E−12
conserved
Listeria innocua
NP_471067.1
compliment of
hypothetical protein
nt. 3994-5241 of
SEQ ID NO: 519
519
6.00E−20
hypothetical protein
Mesorhizobium
NP_108198.1
compliment of
loti
nt. 707-1552 of
SEQ ID NO: 519
519
4.00E−26
putative
Salmonella
NP_455526.1
compliment of
bacteriophage
enterica subsp.
nt. 3982-5163 of
protein
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 519
Typhi
52
3.00E−94
OUTER
Haemophilus
Q48218
nt. 45-788 of
MEMBRANE
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 52
PROTEIN P2
PRECURSOR
(OMP P2)
520
0
excision nuclease
Escherichia coli
NP_418482.1
compliment of
subunit A
K12
nt. 6309-7745 of
SEQ ID NO: 520
521
5.00E−08
zinc/manganese
Rickettsia conorii
NP_359651.1
nt. 2236-2652 of
ABC transporter
SEQ ID NO: 521
substrate binding
protein
521
1.00E−140
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245865.1|
nt. 338-1390 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 521
521
1.00E−86
ORF_f432
Escherichia coli
AAB40463.1
nt. 203-1390 of
SEQ ID NO: 521
522
3.00E−22
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246093.1
nt. 670-885 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 522
526
5.00E−33
exodeoxyribonuclease
Yersinia pestis
NP_404635.1
nt. 5582-6202 of
V alpha chain
SEQ ID NO: 526
526
1.00E−62
exodeoxyribonuclease
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231950.1
nt. 5675-6193 of
V, 67 kDa
SEQ ID NO: 526
subunit
527
1.00E−147
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245980.1
nt. 4283-5203 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 527
527
0
Mfd
Pasteurella
NP_245978.1
nt. 7545-8759 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 527
527
0
transcription-repair
Salmonella
NP_455708.1
nt. 7611-8762 of
coupling factor
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 527
(TrcF)
enterica serovar
Typhi
527
0
PROBABLE
Ralstonia
NP_519763.1
nt. 7611-8870 of
TRANSCRIPTION-
solanacearum
SEQ ID NO: 527
REPAIR
COUPLING
FACTOR
PROTEIN
528
1.00E−48
undecaprenyl
Chlamydia
NP_297109.1
nt. 2918-3712 of
pyrophosphate
muridarum
SEQ ID NO: 528
synthetase
528
0
leucyl-tRNA
Vibrio cholerae
NP_230603.1
compliment of
synthetase
nt. 180-2822 of
SEQ ID NO: 528
529
1.00E−104
DNA PRIMASE
Legionella
P71481
compliment of
pneumophila
nt. 3316-3960 of
SEQ ID NO: 529
534
9.00E−29
putative integrase
Salmonella
NP_461690.1
nt. 4668-5009 of
typhimurium LT2
SEQ ID NO: 534
534
6.00E−18
hypothetical protein
Neisseria
NP_283002.1
compliment of
NMA0153
meningitidis
nt. 5933-6337 of
Z2491
SEQ ID NO: 534
534
2.00E−23
hypothetical protein
Deinococcus
NP_294868.1
nt. 6908-7654 of
radiodurans
SEQ ID NO: 534
534
1.00E−88
prophage CP4-57
Escherichia coli
NP_417111.1
nt. 5057-5875 of
integrase
K12
SEQ ID NO: 534
535
1.00E−115
phosphate
Buchnera sp.
NP_240007.1
nt. 3385-4596 of
acetyltransferase
APS
SEQ ID NO: 535
536
3.00E−35
cobalt membrane
Actinobacillus
AAD49727.1
compliment of
transport protein
pleuropneumoniae
nt. 3531-4136 of
CbiQ
SEQ ID NO: 536
536
6.00E−37
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_245305.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 6478-6921 of
SEQ ID NO: 536
539
2.00E−26
Orf122
Chlorobium
AAG12204.1
compliment of
tepidum
nt. 1778-2008 of
SEQ ID NO: 539
540
1.00E−77
heat shock protein
Neisseria
NP_273864.1
compliment of
HtpX
meningitidis
nt. 2567-3481 of
MC58
SEQ ID NO: 540
541
0
IleS
Pasteurella
NP_246601.1
nt. 3167-4549 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 541
545
2.00E−09
DNA-BINDING
Pectobacterium
Q47588
nt. 3816-3977 of
PROTEIN RDGB
carotovorum
SEQ ID NO: 545
545
2.00E−11
putative
Sinorhizobium
NP_437741.1
compliment of
transposase
meliloti
nt. 2786-3019 of
SEQ ID NO: 544
545
2.00E−07
Hypothetical 42.5 kd
Escherichia coli
BAA77933.1
compliment of
protein in thrW-
nt. 2614-2811 of
argF intergenic
SEQ ID NO: 545
region
545
4.00E−18
putative IS element
Salmonella
NP_454711.1
nt. 1955-2230 of
transposase
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 545
enterica serovar
Typhi
546
0
HEME/HEMOPEXIN-
Haemophilus
P45354
nt. 5551-7809 of
BINDING
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 546
PROTEIN
546
0
HEME/HEMOPEXIN
Haemophilus
P45356
nt. 3842-5536 of
UTILIZATION
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 546
PROTEIN B
546
0
HEME/HEMOPEXIN
Haemophilus
P45357
nt. 1638-3176 of
UTILIZATION
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 546
PROTEIN C
546
2.00E−12
HasR
Pasteurella
NP_246561.1
nt. 3149-3763 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 546
549
0
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246821.1
nt. 2526-3512 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 549
549
1.00E−121
putative membrane
Yersinia pestis
NP_404859.1
nt. 605-1108 of
protein
SEQ ID NO: 549
549
0
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246822.1
nt. 1122-1664 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 549
551
1.00E−157
type I restriction-
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_300016.1
compliment of
modification
9a5c
nt. 7396-8322 of
system
SEQ ID NO: 551
endonuclease
552
1.00E−100
valyl-tRNA
Deinococcus
NP_293872.1
compliment of
synthetase
radiodurans
nt. 6691-8688 of
SEQ ID NO: 552
552
0
VALYL-TRNA
Haemophilus
P36432
compliment of
SYNTHETASE
parainfluenzae
nt. 5850-6647 of
SEQ ID NO: 552
553
0
DNA-directed RNA
Vibrio cholerae
NP_229982.1
nt. 2668-6699 of
polymerase, beta
SEQ ID NO: 553
subunit
554
0
iron utilization
Haemophilus
T10887
nt. 991-2508 of
protein B
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 554
559
1.00E−100
PREPROTEIN
Bacillus firmus
P96313
nt. 3420-4472 of
TRANSLOCASE
SEQ ID NO: 559
SECA SUBUNIT
56
2.00E−23
RpL30
Pasteurella
NP_246336.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 656-832 of
SEQ ID NO: 56
56
9.00E−13
RpS5
Pasteurella
NP_246337.1
compliment of
multocida
nt. 843-1064 of
SEQ ID NO: 56
560
1.00E−157
Na+/H+ antiporter
Vibrio cholerae
NP_231535.1
2 compliment of
nt. 279-2989 of
SEQ ID NO: 560
562
1.00E−72
putative biotin
Yersinia pestis
NP_404419.1
nt. 7862-8878 of
sulfoxide reductase 2
SEQ ID NO: 562
562
1.00E−125
restriction
Neisseria
CAA09003.1
nt. 2-985 of
modification
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 562
system-R protein
563
0
IMMUNOGLOBULIN
Haemophilus
P45384
compliment of
A1 PROTEASE
influenzae HK715
nt. 4127-9508 of
SEQ ID NO: 563
563
0
3-
Schizosaccharomyces
O14289
nt. 1980-3983 of
ISOPROPYLMALATE
pombe
SEQ ID NO: 563
DEHYDRATASE
(IPMI)
564
2.00E−79
orf32
Haemophilus
NP_536839.1
nt. 6241-6831 of
phage HP2
SEQ ID NO: 564
564
7.00E−33
probable variable
Salmonella
NP_457882.1
nt. 3707-4177 of
tail fibre protein
enterica subsp.
SEQ ID NO: 564
enterica serovar
Typhi
564
2.00E−14
M protein
Enterobacteria
NP_052264.1
nt. 1905-2213 of
phage 186
SEQ ID NO: 564
564
4.00E−44
similar to tail fiber
Salmonella
NP_461635.1
nt. 3171-3692 of
protein (gpH) in
typhimurium LT2,
SEQ ID NO: 564
phage P2
Fels-2 prophage
564
2.00E−85
gpJ
Enterobacteria
NP_046773.1
nt. 2267-3166 of
phage P2
SEQ ID NO: 564
564
1.00E−24
hypothetical protein
Neisseria
NP_284534.1
nt. 6852-7334 of
meningitidis
SEQ ID NO: 564
Z2491
564
4.00E−26
gpV
Enterobacteria
NP_046771.1
nt. 1337-1912 of
phage P2
SEQ ID NO: 564
564
2.00E−47
similar to
Escherichia coli
BAA16182.1
nt. 11383-11961
[SwissProt P44255
of SEQ ID NO:
564
564
2.00E−51
hypothetical protein
Neisseria
NP_284066.1
nt. 10452-11180
NMA1315
meningitidis
of SEQ ID NO:
Z2491
564
564
0
orf31
Haemophilus
NP_043502.1
nt. 4160-6226 of
phage HP1
SEQ ID NO: 564
564
2.00E−09
rep
Haemophilus
NP_536816.1
compliment of
phage HP2
nt. 9986-10234
of SEQ ID NO:
564
565
2.00E−57
resolvase/integrase-
Haemophilus
AAL47097.1
nt. 11885-12445
like protein
influenzae biotype
of SEQ ID NO:
aegyptius
565
565
1.00E−93
integrase
Actinobacillus
AAC70901.1
compliment of
actinomycetemcomitans
nt. 4118-4900
of SEQ ID NO:
565
565
6.00E−35
probable phage
Salmonella
NP_458745.1
compliment of
integrase
enterica subsp.
nt. 4148-4990 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 565
Typhi
565
1.00E−107
hypothetical protein
Xylella fastidiosa
NP_299042.1
compliment of
9a5c
nt. 5066-6817 of
SEQ ID NO: 565
566
1.00E−126
hypothetical protein
Haemophilus
S15287
compliment of
(galE 5′ region)-
influenzae
nt. 10726-11607
of SEQ ID NO:
566
567
0
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246387.1
nt.5343-7688 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 567
568
1.00E−151
multidrug
Escherichia coli
NP_311575.1
nt. 6-1403 of
resistance
O157:H7
SEQ ID NO: 568
membrane
translocase
568
1.00E−141
YhbX/YhjW/YijP/YjdB
Neisseria
|NP_275002.1
compliment of
family protein
meningitidis
nt. 11213-12634
MC58
of SEQ ID NO:
568
570
1.00E−180
hypothetical protein
Haemophilus
S71024
compliment of
3 (ksgA-lic2B
influenzae (strain
nt. 12845-13720
intergenic region)
RM7004)
of SEQ ID NO:
570
571
0
glycerophosphodiester
Haemophilus
A43576
nt. 1656-2693 of
phosphodiesterase
influenzae (isolate
SEQ ID NO: 571
772)
571
1.00E−137
outer membrane
Haemophilus
A43604
nt. 6145-6909 of
protein P4
influenzae
SEQ ID NO: 571
precursor-
Haemophilus
influenzae
571
2.00E−72
CG8298 gene
Drosophila
AAF58597.1
nt. 3813-5339 of
product [alt 1]
melanogaster
SEQ ID NO: 571
572
1.00E−40
hypothetical protein
Chlamydia
G81737
nt. 3734-4099 of
TC0130
muridarum (strain
SEQ ID NO: 572
Nigg)
572
5.00E−10
hypothetical protein
Pyrococcus
NP_142215.1
nt. 4472-4888 of
horikoshii
SEQ ID NO: 572
572
3.00E−11
109aa long
Sulfolobus
NP_377117.1
nt. 7303-7470 of
hypothetical protein
tokodaii
SEQ ID NO: 572
572
8.00E−43
hypothetical protein
Chlamydophila
NP_445524.1
nt. 4289-4618 of
pneumoniae
SEQ ID NO: 572
AR39
572
9.00E−08
CDH1-D
Gallus gallus
AAL31950.1
nt. 7183-7521 of
SEQ ID NO: 572
575
1.00E−173
topoisomerase B
Salmonella
NP_458624.1
nt. 18980-20923
enterica subsp.
of SEQ ID NO:
enterica serovar
575
Typhi
575
1.00E−100
DNA helicase
Salmonella
NP_458617.1
nt. 10399-11706
enterica subsp.
of SEQ ID NO:
enterica serovar
575
Typhi
65
2.00E−53
Sufl
Pasteurella
NP_245041.1
nt. 3-821 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 65
67
4.00E−39
putative MFS
Salmonella
NP_462786.1
compliment of
family tranport
typhimurium LT2
nt. 125-1033 of
protein (1st mdule)
SEQ ID NO: 67
7
4.00E−29
putative membrane
Salmonella
NP_458664.1
compliment of
protein
enterica subsp.
nt. 2-559 of
enterica serovar
SEQ ID NO: 7
Typhi
72
2.00E−51
serine transporter
Vibrio cholerae
NP_230946.1
nt. 18-803 of
SEQ ID NO: 72
74
3.00E−90
hypothetical 21.8K
Haemophilus
JH0436
compliment of
protein (in locus
influenzae
nt. 248-766 of
involved in
SEQ ID NO: 74
transformation)-
77
2.00E−18
RecX protein
Legionella
CAC33485.1
nt. 480-920 of
pneumophila
SEQ ID NO: 77
82
4.00E−95
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246414.1
nt. 128-955 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 82
83
2.00E−66
unknown
Pasteurella
NP_246777.1
nt. 5-556 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 83
83
6.00E−33
CTP SYNTHASE
Helicobacter
NP_223042.1
compliment of
pylori J99
nt. 1027-1338 of
SEQ ID NO: 83.
83
4.00E−34
CTP synthase
Campylobacter
NP_281249.1
compliment of
jejuni
nt. 1024-1275 of
SEQ ID NO: 83
84
1.00E−16
REPRESSOR
Bacteriophage
P14819
nt. 823-1233 of
PROTEIN CI
phi-80
SEQ ID NO: 84
84
2.00E−05
orf, hypothetical
Escherichia coli
NP_415875.1
compliment of
protein
K12
nt. 533-700 of
SEQ ID NO: 84
84
4.00E−11
orf33
bacteriophage phi
NP_490633.1
compliment of
CTX
nt. 32-466 of
SEQ ID NO: 84
85
3.00E−42
SpoT
Pasteurella
NP_245857.1
nt. 899-1261 of
multocida
SEQ ID NO: 85
90
1.00E−103
putative methylase
Bacteriophage
NP_108695.1
compliment of
Tuc2009
nt. 478-1206 of
SEQ ID NO: 90
90
4.00E−11
probable adenine
Thermoplasma
NP_394624.1
compliment of
specific DNA
acidophilum
nt. 397-1140 of
methyltransferase
SEQ ID NO: 90
[0000]
TABLE 3B
Full Length
Nucleotide
Amino Acid
Homology to Genbank
Hit Identity
Sequence
Sequence
Location in Contig
Protein
CpdB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 38041-36068 of
NP_246953.1
686
687
SEQ ID NO: 681
(contig 14)
putative membrane
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 906601-908094
NP_458664.1
protein
688
689
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
GTP-binding
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 42557-40995 of
NP_240245.1
protein TypA/BipA
690
691
SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
outer membrane
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 7000420-704187
T30852
protein A
692
693
of SEQ ID
NO: 685 (contig 18)
vacB protein
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 39184-36836 of
NP_240369.1
694
695
SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
putative ABC
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 59155-58370 of
NP_282774.1
transport system
696
697
SEQ ID NO: 685
permease protein [
(contig 18)
putative exported
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 901142-902542
NP_458655.1
protein
698
699
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
ImpA
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 348187-347747
NP_245829.1
700
701
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
TsaA
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 74941-75548 of
NP_245732.1
702
703
SEQ ID NO: 684
(contig 17)
PROBABLE
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 74436-75176 of
NP_522358.1
TRANSPORT
704
705
SEQ ID NO: 685
TRANSMEMBRANE
(contig 18)
PROTEIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 75160-75660 of
706
707
SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
possible exported
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 899618-900262
NP_458653.1
protein
708
709
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
LICA PROTEIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 356917-355958
P14181
710
711
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
HEME-BINDING
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
NT. 26114-27739
P33950
PROTEIN A
712
713
of SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
similar to
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 311610-312683
XP_068727.1
BASEMENT
714
715
of SEQ ID NO: 685
MEMBRANE-
(contig 18)
SPECIFIC
HEPARAN
SULFATE
PROTEOGLYCAN
CORE PROTEIN
PRECURSOR
(HSPG)
CzcD
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 34865-35542 of
NP_246276.1
716
717
SEQ ID NO: 681
(contig 14)
conserved
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 194993-193977
NP_274972.1
hypothetical protein
718
719
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
secretion protein
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 203707-201857
NP_252510.1
SecD
720
721
of SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 17)
ABC transporter
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 3943-5859 of
AAF31030.1
protein 1
722
723
SEQ ID NO: 681
(contig 14)
conserved
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 331090-331749
NP_273467.1
hypothetical protein
724
725
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 331938-332492
726
727
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 332681-33232
728
729
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
INVASIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 416757-417020
P31489
PRECURSOR
730
731
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(OUTER
(contig 18)
MEMBRANE
ADHESIN)
HEME/HEMOPEXIN-
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 229430-232195
P45355
BINDING
732
733
of SEQ ID NO: 384
PROTEIN
(contig 17)
OPACITY
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 375592-375879
Q05033
PROTEIN OPA66
734
735
of SEQ ID NO: 384
PRECURSOR
(contig 17)
Hemoglobin-
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 45709-42566 of
Q48153
haptoglobin binding
736
737
SEQ ID NO: 681
protein A
(contig 14)
transport protein
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 134452-135222
NP_253757.1
TatC
738
739
of SEQ ID NO: 384
(contig 17)
LIPOPROTEIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 18895-20112 of
P40827
NLPD
740
741
SEQ ID NO: 682
(contig 15)
Hemoglobin and
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 34181-31041 of
Q9X442
hemoglobin-
742
743
SEQ ID NO: 682
haptoglobin binding
(contig 15)
protein C precursor
HimA
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 382795-383085
NP_245565.1
744
745
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
transferrin-binding
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 178537-175799
S70906
protein 1
746
747
of SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
SapC
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 197754-196867
NP_245850.1
748
749
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
heat shock protein
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 40414-41265 of
NP_273864.1
HtpX
750
751
SEQ ID NO: 682
(contig 15)
HEME/HEMOPEXIN-
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 229430-232195
P45354
BINDING
752
753
of SEQ ID NO: 684
PROTEIN
(contig 17)
HEME/HEMOPEXIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 227721-229418
P45356
UTILIZATION
754
755
of SEQ ID NO: 684
PROTEIN B
(contig 17)
HEME/HEMOPEXIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 225516-227645
P45357
UTILIZATION
756
757
of SEQ ID NO: 684
NP_246561.1
PROTEIN C
(contig 17)
iron utilization
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 32076-33611 of
T10887
protein B
758
759
SEQ ID NO: 684
(contig 17)
PREPROTEIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 82314-84785 of
P96313
TRANSLOCASE
760
761
SEQ ID NO: 683
SECA SUBUNIT
(contig 16)
IMMUNOGLOBULIN
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 171647-166263
P45384
A1 PROTEASE
762
763
of SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
multidrug
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 74524-72992 of
NP_311575.1
resistance
764
765
SEQ ID NO: 683
membrane
(contig 16)
translocase
YhbX/YhjW/YijP/YjdB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 61734-63200 of
NP_275002.1
family protein
766
767
SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
putative membrane
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 906601-908094
NP_458664.1
protein
768
769
of SEQ ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
putative membrane
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 16185-17942 of
NP_404859.1
protein
770
771
SEQ ID NO: 683
(contig)
Example 3
Construction of the NTHi Promoter Trap Library
[0092] To identify potential virulence determinants of NTHi, bacterial gene expression was monitored by differential fluorescence induction (DFI) during early disease progression in one specific anatomical niche of a chinchilla model of NTHi-induced otitis media (OM). Genomic DNA fragments from NTHi strain 86-028NP were cloned upstream of the promoterless gfpmut3 gene using a promoter trap library. Plasmid pGZRS39A, a derivative of pGZRS-1 isolated from Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae , is an A. pleuropneumoniae - Escherichia coli shuttle vector. This plasmid contains the origin of replication from A. pleuropneumoniae , the lacZa gene from pUC19 and the kanamycin resistance gene from Tn903. (West et al., Genes, 160: 81-86, 1995).
[0093] The promoter trap vector was constructed by cloning the GTP mutant gfpmut3 gene, as a BamHI to EcoRI fragment into pGZRS-39A to form pRSM2167. This mutant GTP gene contains two amino acid changes, S65G and S72A, that enhance fluorescence emission when excited at 488 nm. This mutant also has high solubility and fast kinetics of chromophore formation (Cormack et al., Gene, 173: 33-38, 1996). This plasmid was transformed by electroporation into NTHi strain 86-028NP, generating the parent-plasmid strain 86-028NP/pRSM2169.
[0094] Random genomic DNA fragments (described in Example 1) were prepared for ligation into the promoter probe vector. Genomic DNA was isolated from strain 86-028NP using the Puregene DNA isolation kit (Gentra Systems, Minneapolis. MN) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Due to restriction barriers, it was necessary to isolate the plasmid DNA and use this for the library generation. The isolated DNA was partially digested with Sau3AI (NEB, Beverly, MA; 0.25 units/μg DNA) for 1 hour at 37° C., separated by gel electrophoresis and DNA fragments 0.5-1.5 kb in size were recovered using the Qiagen gel extraction kit. For vector preparation, pRSM2167 was isolated from an overnight culture using the Wizard Plus Maxiprep DNA purification system (Promega, Madison Wis.) according to the manufacturer's protocol.
[0095] Plasmid DNA was linearized by BamHI digestion and 5′ phosphate groups removed by treatment with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (CIAP; GibcoBRL Life Technologies). Genomic DNA fragments were ligated with the linearized, phosphatase-treated vector and electroporated into competent NTHi strain 86-028NP prepared for electroporation according to a modified protocol (Mitchell et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 19: 3625-3628,1991). When plasmid DNA was electroporated back into NTHi strain 86-028NP, transformation efficiency was improved by one-thousand fold. Briefly, cells were grown to an OD 600 =0.3 in sBHI (brain heart infusion) broth at 37° C., 220 rpm. Cells were chilled on ice for 30 minutes and subsequently washed with an equal volume of 0.5×SG (1×SG: 15% glycerol, 272 mM sucrose) at 4° C. Washes were repeated a total of three times. Subsequently, the cells were diluted in 1×SG to a 100× concentrated volume. The cells were electroporated using the BioRad Gene Pulser II set at 200 ohms, 2.5 kV and 25 μF and then diluted in 1 ml prewarmed sBHI, incubated for 2 hours at 37° C., 5% CO 2 and plated on chocolate agar for overnight growth of transformants.
[0096] Transformants were selected and frozen in pools of 1000 clones in skim milk containing 20% glycerol (vol/vol). A 68,000 member gfp promoter probe library was (generated. Using the probability calculation of Clarke and Carbon (Cell, 9: 91-99, 1976), to achieve a 99% probability of having a given DNA sequence represented in a library of 300 bp fragments of strain 86-028NP DNA (1.8×10 6 bp/genome), a library of 27,629 clones was needed. Therefore the present library represents 2.5 fold coverage of the 86-028NP genome.
[0097] In order to assess the quality of the library, fifty clones were selected at random, grown overnight on chocolate agar and the plasmids were isolated and insert DNA sequenced. A majority (64%) of the selected clones had insert sizes ranging between 200 and 500 bp while 32% exceeded 500 bp. The majority of inserts showed homology to unique H. influenzae strain Rd open reading frames (ORFs), and 15 clones had sequence unique to strain 86-028NP DNA. Of those clones with homology to strain Rd, 60% were in the correct orientation, 36% of which contained sequence upstream an ORF. Although a majority of clones had an insert size less than 500 bp, no correlation was found between small insert size and increased GFP expression. In fact four clones exhibited slight to moderate fluorescence in vitro, 3 of which had insert sizes between 200-500 base pairs and one had an insert that was greater than 700 base pairs.
[0098] A fraction of the library (approximately 1000 clones) was grown on chocolate agar, harvested in PBS and analyzed by flow cytometry for GFP fluorescence. Compared to strain 86-028NP/pRSM2169 that contains the promoter trap vector without insert DNA, the pool of library clones displays an increased fluorescence intensity. Thus, the library contains clones with promoters at varying levels of activity.
Example 4
Analysis of 86-028NP Derivatives Expressing GFP
[0099] In order to establish the FACS parameters necessary to identify and sort gfp-expressing bacteria, a panel of isolates demonstrating varying levels of gfp expression was utilized. Background fluorescence was assessed using strain 86-028NP/pRSM2169 (negative control), therefore any observed fluorescence would be due to the lacZ promoter driving gfp expression. However, this strain does not produce detectable levels of GFP and in fact, does not demonstrate increased fluorescence when compared to the parent strain 86-028NP. A high-level gfp-expressing isolate was generated by cloning a 500 bp fragment containing the strong promoter for outer membrane protein P2 expression into SalI-BamHI digested pRSM2167. This plasmid was transformed into 86-028NP by electroporation, generating the high-level gfp expressing strain 86-028NP/pRSM2211 (highly fluorescent control). This strain demonstrated an approximate 100 fold increase in GFP fluorescence compared to strain 86-028NP/pRSM2169. An intermediate fluorescent derivative clone. 86-028NP/pKMM4B5 (intermediate fluorescent control), was isolated by FACS analysis and used both in preliminary experiments and as a control for cell sorting. The DNA fragment containing a promoter driving gfp expression in vitro is unique to strain 86-028NP, having no known homology to DNA of other organisms. This clone exhibits an approximate 10 fold increase in fluorescence compared to strain 86-028NP/pRSM2169.
[0100] The control strains were resuspended from growth on chocolate agar and labeled with cross-reactive Phycoprobe R-PE anti-human IgG (H+L) antibody (10 μg/ml in 100 μl PBS; Biomeda Corp) for 30 minutes at 4° C. Following three successive washes to remove unbound antibody, bacteria were resuspended in 300 μl DPBS for FACS analysis. These control preparations were used to set the appropriate size and fluorescence gates using a Coulter Epics Elite flow cytometer (Coulter Corp.) equipped with an argon laser emitting at 488 nm. Bacteria were gated for size based on log forward angle and side scatter detection and for sorting by FITC/PE labeling of bacteria. Sorted cells were collected into cold sBHI and plated on chocolate agar. After overnight growth, cells were collected for a secondary round of infection or were individually selected and grown overnight, screened by individual clone for fluorescence when grown in vitro, and frozen in skim milk containing 20% (vol/vol) glycerol prior to plasmid isolation and sequencing of insert DNA. Sorting efficiency of control strains was confirmed using a Coulter EPICS flow cytometer (Coulter Corp.).
[0101] Many plasmids were segregated rapidly in vitro in the absence of antibiotic selection. Thus, in order to assess whether the promoter trap vector used here was prone to this event, a single colony of strain 86-028NP/pRSM2211 (highly fluorescent control) was isolated on chocolate agar and passaged 20 times in the absence of antibiotic selection. No significant decrease in fluorescence intensity was observed when compared to bacteria grown in the presence of antibiotic. In addition, the plasmid is maintained in the absence of antibiotic selection in vivo. Similar bacterial counts were observed when bacteria-containing middle ear fluids collected from a chinchilla were plated on chocolate agar with or without kanamycin. These data demonstrate that the promoter trap vector was stably maintained in the absence of antibiotic selection.
[0102] In addition to problems with plasmid stability, early studies on the use of GFP as a reporter to study host-pathogen interactions demonstrated that GFP could be continuously synthesized as a cytoplasmic protein with low toxicity, having minimal effects on the bacterial cell-surface dynamics (Chalfie et al., Science, 263: 802-805, 1994). The construction of a high level gfp-expressing derivative allowed the assessment of the GFP toxicity on NTHi. Growth curves of both the wild-type strain (86-028NP) and the high GFP producing strain 86-028NP/pRSM2211 were compared when grown under similar conditions. The growth rates were similar, indicating that GFP expression was not toxic to the cells.
[0103] The 86-028NP gfp-expressing derivatives were used to define the parameters for efficient cell sorting. Strain 86-028NP/pRSM2169 was mixed with the intermediate gfp-expressing derivative, strain 86-028NP/pKMM4B5, at a 100:1 ratio, simulating the in vivo environment that is expected to contain a small percentage of gfp-expressing clones relative to the total bacterial population. This mixture was subjected to FACS analysis, collecting the 1.8% most fluorescent population and the 52% least fluorescent population. Flow cytometric analysis of the sorted populations revealed an enrichment of strain 86-028NP/pKMM4B5 to 65% of the bacterial population, a phenomenon that was not observed when sorting on the negative population. Subsequent rounds of sorting would be expected to further enrich for this intermediate fluorescent population. The inability to decrease the amount of fluorescent bacteria in the negative sort was attributed to the size of the gate set for negative sorting. GFP-negative cells were enriched by gating on the 10% least fluorescent population.
Example 5
Direct Labeling of Bacteria from Middle Ear Fluids
[0104] A similar strategy (as described in Example 5) was applied to sort fluorescent clones from effusions obtained from the chinchilla middle ear during AOM. Our ability to use differential fluorescence induction (DFI) in vivo was dependent upon our ability to sort gfp-expressing bacteria from non-fluorescent bacteria, fluorescent and non-fluorescent cellular debris, and eukaryotic cells.
[0105] Healthy adult chinchillas ( Chinchilla lanigera ) with no evidence of middle ear infection by either otoscopy or tympanometry were used to screen the library for promoter activity in vivo. Two pools of the NTHi/pRSM2169 library (1000 clones each) were grown overnight on chocolate agar containing kanamycin. The library was combined and diluted in cold 10 mM sterile PBS to 3.3×10 6 CFU/ml and 300 μl (1.0×10 6 CFU; 500 CFU/clone) was used to inoculate the left and the right chinchilla transbullar cavity (2000 clones/ear). OM development was monitored by video otoscopy and tympanometry at 24 and 48 hours. The bacteria multiplied in the middle ear cavity, reaching a concentration 500 times the inoculum dose by 48 hours as expected (Bakaletz et al., Infect. Immunity 67: 2746-62, 1999). This bacterial adaptation to the host environment results in an inflammatory response, indicated by erythema, vessel dilation and bulging of the tympanic membrane, infiltration of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN's), and accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity as observed by otoscopy and microscopic examination of recovered effusions. Twenty-four and 48 hours later, middle ear fluids were retrieved by epitympanic tap, and prepared for FACS.
[0106] It is important to note that this analysis was limited to those bacteria recoverable in the middle ear fluid. In some cases it was necessary to lavage the middle ear cavity to collect the bacteria for FACS analysis. Thus, this analysis includes genes up-regulated when NTHi are loosely adherent to mucosae. NTHi has been observed to form a biofilm in the middle ear cavity in a chinchilla model of OM (Erhlich et al., JAMA, 287: 1710-5, 2002). Since the protocols described herein select for clones recovered from the planktonic population, it is not expected to recover those clones in which genes are up-regulated when the bacteria are associated with mucosal biofilms. Homogenization of middle ear mucosae and subsequent bacterial cell isolation however, would enable us to recover these clones. It is also possible that some GFP-expressing clones were recovered in the effusion, yet were adherent to eukaryotic cells present in the effusion as exfoliated cells, or in aggregates. These bacteria are difficult to recover from the effusion without compromising the sorting efficiency. Therefore the middle ear fluids were treated with a mucolytic agent, then centrifuged to remove large aggregates and eukaryotic cells and prior to labeling.
[0107] Chinchilla middle ear fluids were diluted, if necessary, to 250 μl with sterile saline. An equal volume of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (0.5%; w/v) in DPBS (pH 7.4) was added for 5 minutes at room temperature as a mucolytic agent (Miyamoto and Bakaletz, Microb. Pathog., 21: 343-356 1996). Fluids were centrifuged (300×g, 5 min) to remove cellular debris, red blood cells and inflammatory cells, and supernatants containing bacteria were transferred to a fresh tube. Bacteria were incubated with chinchilla antiserum (1:50 dilution) directed against a whole OMP preparation, derived from NTHi strain 86-028NP, for 45 minutes at 4° C., pelleted by centrifugation (2000×g, 5 min) and washed twice with cold DPBS containing 0.05% bovine serum albumin. Bacteria were subsequently labeled with cross-reactive phycoprobe R-PE anti-human IgG (H+L) antibody (10 μg/ml in 100 μl PBS; Biomeda Corp) for 30 minutes at 4° C. Following three successive washes to remove unbound antibody, cells were resuspended in 300 μl DPBS for FACS analysis.
Example 6
Identification of Promoters Induced In Vivo in Acute Otitis Media
[0108] H. influenzae 86-028NP transformed with the promoter trap library was grown overnight on chocolate agar. To select against those clones containing promoters that expressed gfp in vitro, the library was subjected to one round of FACS analysis (as described in Example 6), collecting only those clones expressing low-level amounts of GFP. These clones were pooled and used to inoculate the chinchilla middle ear transbullarly. Following 24 and 48 hours of infection, bacteria-containing effusions were removed by epitympanic tap. Bacteria were indirectly labeled with R-PE-labeled antibody and subjected to FACS analysis by gating on fluorescently tagged bacteria but sorting for those that were also expressing. These clones were used to reinfect animals for further enrichment. Following the final round of sorting, single colony isolates were screened in vitro for lack of fluorescence.
[0109] Those clones isolated by FACS analysis (positive for GFP fluorescence in vivo), which did not emit fluorescence in vitro were prepared for plasmid isolation and identification of insert DNA sequence. These clones were grown overnight on chocolate agar plates containing kanamycin and prepared for plasmid isolation using the Qiaprep Miniprep Kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Plasmid insert DNA was sequenced using the primer 5′-TGCCCATTAACATCACCATCTA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 588) that is complementary to the gfpmut3 gene and downstream of the insert DNA. Sequencing reactions were performed using the ABI prism BigDye® terminator cycle sequencing ready reaction kit (Applied Biosystems) according to manufacturer's protocol using a GeneAmp PCR System 9700 (Applied Biosystems). The sequences were then purified by passage through sephadex G-50 in a 96-well multiscreen HV plate (Millipore) and subsequently analyzed on an ABI Prism 3100 DNA analyzer (Applied Biosystems).
[0110] Insert sequences were compared to the complete annotated sequence of H. influenzae strain Rd Those inserts with no nucleotide homology to strain Rd were subsequently analyzed using the BLASTN and BLASTX algorithms. Further sequence analysis was performed with DNASTAR (Madison, Wis.). Inserts in the correct orientation and containing sequence 5′ to a predicted ORF contained a putative promoter that was preferentially active when the NTHi bacteria were in the chinchilla middle ear.
[0111] Fifty-two clones with putative promoters that were regulated in vivo were isolated. Of the 44 candidate clones containing sequence similar to that identified in H. influenzae strain Rd, quantitative comparison of gene expression in vitro and in vivo conformed up-regulated gene expression for twenty-six genes (60%) when NTHi respond to environmental cues present in the chinchilla middle ear and these genes are summarized in Table 4A below. The in vivo-regulated promoters driving expression of genes are predicted to be involved in membrane transport, environmental informational processing, cellular metabolism, gene regulation, as well as hypothetical proteins with unknown function.
[0112] In order to confirm the induction of putative promoter candidates in vivo, the relative amount of messenger RNA expression was compared when NTHi strain 86-028NP was grown in vitro to mid-log phase or in vivo for 48 hours. The RNA was isolated using TRIzol LS reagent (Gibco Life Technologies) according to the manufacturer's protocol. DNA was removed from the RNA preparation using DNA-free kit (Ambion) according to the manufacturer's protocol. DNase I treated RNA samples were purified by passage through a Qiagen RNeasy column. RNA purity and integrity was assessed by 260/280 nm spectrophotometer readings and on the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies), respectively.
[0113] In order to independently confirm the FACS data, we determined the relative expression of candidate genes by quantitative RT-PCR. The parent strain 86-028NP, was used for these studies. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR using the one-step QuantiTect SYBR Green RT-PCR kit (Qiagen) assessed transcription levels according to the manufacture's instructions. Briefly, using primers generated to an open reading frame downstream of the putative in vivo-induced promoters identified by FACS analysis, gene-specific mRNA was reverse transcribed and amplified by RT-PCR on the ABI Prism 7700 sequence detection system (Applied Biosystems). The amount of product was calculated using a standard curve generated to known amounts of bacterial genomic DNA (10 2 -10 7 genomic copies DNA) by amplifying a fragment of the gyrase (gyr) gene. Controls were analyzed in parallel to verify the absence of DNA in the RNA preparation (-RT control) as well as the absence of primer dimers in control samples lacking template RNA. In addition, RT-PCR products were analyzed by gel electrophoresis and, in all cases, a single product was observed at the appropriate base pair size. Amounts of bacterial RNA between samples were normalized relative to gyr expression, shown to be constitutively expressed under various growth conditions that we tested in vitro. Known amounts of bacterial genomic DNA (10 2 -10 7 genomic copies DNA) were used to generate a standard curve for RT-PCR quantitation by amplifying a fragment of the gyrase (gyr) gene. Gyrase is constitutively expressed in vitro under various growth conditions and was therefore used to normalize total bacterial RNA levels between samples. Relative gene expression in vivo was compared to that of gene expression in vitro and data expressed as fold-increase are summarized in Table 4A.
[0114] The 8-fold sequencing of the genome identified the full length open reading frames for the majority of genes listed in Table 4A. Table 4B provides the full length nucleotide sequence within the NTHi genome and the corresponding amino acid sequence. The fold induction of the gene due to environmental cues present in the chinchilla middle ear and the product or function of the gene are repeated in Table 4B for convenience.
[0000]
TABLE 4A
SEQ
Gene or
ID
GenBank
Fold
Category
ORF
NO:
Protein ID
Induction
Product or Function
Amino acid
hisB
589
NP_438632
2.9
Histidine biosynthesis
metabolism
bifunctional protein
Lipoprotein
lppB
590
NP_438862.1
2.6
Lipoprotein B homologue
Membrane transport
sapA
591
NP_439780.1
2.8
Peptide ABC transporter;
periplasmic SapA precursor
lolA
592
NP_439736.1
2.4
Outer membrane lipoproteins
carrier protein precursor
rbsC
593
NP_438661.1
5.1
Ribose transport system
permease protein
Purine synthesis
purE
594
NP_439757.1
51.7
Phosphoribosylaminoimidazole
carboxylase catalytic
subunit; PurE
Biosynthetic and
ribB
595
NP_438923.1
8.3
3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-
metabolic functions
phosphate synthase;
riboflavin biosynthesis
arcB
596
NP_438753.1
10
Ornithine
carbamolytransferase;
arginine degradation
uxuA
597
NP_438228.1
3.1
Mannonate dehydratase;
production of glyceraldehyde
3-phosphate
dsbB
598
NP_438589.1
2.6
Disulfide oxidoreductase;
disulfide bond formation
protein B
ureH
599
NP_438693.1
3.9
Urease accessory protein
licC
600
NP_439688.1
2.3
Phosphocholine (ChoP)
cytidylyltransferase
HI1647
601
NP_439789.1
2.0
Putative pyridoxin
biosynthesis protein; singlet
oxygen resistance protein
DNA replication,
ispZ
602
P43810
2.5
Probable intracellular
repair
septation protein
radC
603
NP_439113.1
2.1
DNA repair protein
mukF
604
P45185
2.0
MukF protein homologue;
remodeling of nucleiod
structure
Gene regulation
glpR
605
NP_438777.1,
2.8
Glycerol-3-phosphate regulon
NP_439170.1
repressor
ihfB
606
P43724
2.5
Integration host factor beta
subunit
argR
607
NP_439365.1
2.7
Arginine repressor
cspD
608
NP_439584.1
2.1
Cold shock like protein;
stress response protein
Hypothetical or
HI0094
609
NP_438267.1
8.3
Hypothetical protein
unknown
HI1163
610
NP_439321.1
2.3
Conserved hypothetical
proteins
protein; putative oxidase
HI1063
611
NP_439221.1
2.7
Hypothetical protein
HI0665
612
NP_438824.1
2.8
Hypothetical protein
HI1292
613
NP_439444.1
2.6
Hypothetical protein
HI1064
614
NP_439222.1
2.6
Hypothetical protein
[0000]
TABLE 4B
Full
Gene
Length
or
Nucleotide
Amino Acid
Fold
Product or
Category
ORF
Sequence
Sequence
Location in Contig
Induction
Function
Amino
hisB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 68378-67290
2.9
Histidine
acid
615
616
of SEQ ID NO:
biosynthesis
metabolism
680 (contig 13)
bifunctional protein
Membrane
sapA
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 200403-198709
2.8
Peptide ABC
transport
617
618
of SEQ
transporter;
ID NO: 685
periplasmic SapA
(contig 18)
precursor
rbsC
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 42773-41802
5.1
Ribose transport
619
620
of SEQ ID NO:
system permease
680 (contig 13)
protein
Purine
purE
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 219625-219131
51.7
Phosphoribosylaminoimidazole
synthesis
621
622
of SEQ
carboxylase catalytic
ID NO: 685
subunit; PurE
(contig 18)
Biosynthetic
ribB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 131537-132184
8.3
3,4-dihydroxy-2-
and
623
624
of SEQ
butanone 4-
metabolic
ID NO: 682
phosphate synthase;
functions
(contig 15)
riboflavin
biosynthesis
arcB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 49710-48706
10
Ornithine
625
626
of SEQ ID NO:
carbamolytransferase;
681 (contig 14)
arginine
degradation
uxuA
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 840671-841855
3.1
Mannonate
627
628
of SEQ
dehydratase;
ID NO: 685
production of
(contig 18)
glyceraldehyde 3-
phosphate
dsbB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 388050-388583
2.6
Disulfide
629
630
of SEQ
oxidoreductase;
ID NO: 384
disulfide bond
(contig 17)
formation protein B
ureH
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 4452-5267 of
3.9
Urease accessory
631
632
SEQ ID NO: 680
protein
(contig 13)
licC
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 355083-354382
2.3
Phosphocholine
633
634
of SEQ
(ChoP)
ID NO: 385
cytidylyltransferase
(contig 18)
HI1647
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 664017-664892
2.0
Putative pyridoxin
635
636
of SEQ
biosynthesis protein;
ID NO: 685
singlet oxygen
(contig 18)
resistance protein
DNA
ispZ
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 4512-5069 of
2.5
Probable
replication,
637
638
SEQ ID NO: 683
intracellular
repair
(contig 16)
septation protein
radC
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 132695-132030
2.1
DNA repair protein
639
640
of SEQ
ID NO: 683
(contig 16)
mukF
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 504549-503215
2.0
MukF protein
641
642
of SEQ
homologue;
ID NO: 685
remodeling of
(contig 18)
nucleiod structure
Gene
glpR
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 72716-73483
2.8
Glycerol-3-
regulation
643
644
of SEQ ID NO:
phosphate regulon
682 (contig 15)
repressor
ihfB
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 661004-660720
2.5
Integration host
645
646
of SEQ
factor beta subunit
ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
argR
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 178540-178085
2.7
Arginine repressor
647
648
of SEQ
ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
cspD
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 435310-435528
2.1
Cold shock like
649
650
of SEQ
protein; stress
ID NO: 685
response protein
(contig 18)
Hypothetical
HI1163
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 137202-134119
2.3
Conserved
or
651
652
of SEQ
hypothetical protein;
unknown
ID NO: 685
putative oxidase
proteins
(contig 18)
HI1063
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 35158-34937
2.7
Hypothetical protein
653
654
of SEQ ID NO:
685 (contig 18)
HI0665
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 17949-18980
2.8
Hypothetical protein
655
656
of SEQ ID NO:
679 (contig 12)
HI1292
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID NO:
nt. 555002-555799
2.6
Hypothetical protein
657
658
of SEQ
ID NO: 685
(contig 18)
Example 7
Identification of Virulence-Associated Genes
[0115] In many bacterial species, a subset of virulence-associated genes is regulated by errors in replication of short repeats. These repeats may be 5′ to a gene or in the coding sequence, and their presence is an indication of controlled expression of the gene, which indicates association with virulence. Addition or deletion of a repeat results in the expression or of lack of expression of the particular virulence determinant.
[0116] The NTHi H. influenzae strain 86-028NP contig set was queried for short oligonucleotide repeats. The region surrounding the repeats was analyzed to identify the gene(s) associated with the repeat. Table 5 lists the identified repeats and the ORF (identified by BLAST) associated with each repeat.
[0117] Further sequence analysis has identified the full length nucleotide sequence of the virulence-associated genes and the corresponding amino acid sequences encoded by the ORF. The derived amino acid sequences are highly homologous to the listed Genbank sequence.
[0000]
TABLE 5
Location in
Location in
Full Length
Amino
3-fold
8-fold
Nucleotide
Acid
Genebank
Repeat
Contigs
Contigs
Sequence
Sequence
Accession No.
SEQ ID
115
nt. 484533-483643
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
NP_439538.1
NO: 581
nt. 473-540
of
NO: 659
NO: 660
of
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
NO: 685
NO: 115
(contig 18)
SEQ ID
377
nt. 416274-414910
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
P45217
NO: 582
nt. 546-597
of
NO: 661
NO: 662
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
685 (contig
NO: 337
18)
SEQ ID
505
nt. 414500-416614
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
AAK76425
NO: 583
nt. 310-393
of
NO: 663
NO: 664
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
684 (contig
NO: 505
17)
SEQ ID
508
nt. 506516-507913
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
NP_439520
NO: 584
nt. 2079-2120
of
NO: 665
NO: 666
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
685 (contig
NO: 508
18)
SEQ ID
518
nt. 354274-352406
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
NP_284893
NO: 585
nt. 758-789
of
NO: 667
NO: 668
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
684 (contig
NO: 518
17)
SEQ ID
543
nt. 347864-243236
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
AAA20524
NO: 586
nt. 1814-196
of
NO: 669
NO: 670
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
685 (contig
NO: 543
18)
SEQ ID
543
nt. 699709-704187
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
AAD56660
NO: 586
nt. 1814-196
of
NO: 671
NO: 672
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
685 (contig
NO: 543
18)
SEQ ID
567
nt. 85546-84689
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
ZP_00053190
NO: 587
nt. 13309-13320
of
NO: 673
NO: 674
of
SEQ ID NO:
SEQ ID
681 (contig
NO: 567
14)
Example 8
Identification of Unique NTHi Gene Sequences
[0118] Genes associated with NTHi virulence were also identified by comparing the level of expression of the gene when the NTHi bacterium was infecting a tissue verses the level of expression of the same gene when the NTHi was grown on artificial laboratory media. These novel genes were identified using the promoter trap techniques described above in Examples 4-6, and subsequently comparisons with the known Rd genome demonstrated these genes are unique to NTHi strain 86-028NP.
[0119] The DNA sequence identified using this screening procedure are set forth as SEQ ID NOS: 577-580. These sequences did not contain genes or gene fragments that have homologues in the H. influenzae Rd. genome sequence. Even though these are completely novel sequences, due to their expression level during NTHi infection in the chinchilla middle ear, it is likely that expression of these genes are involved in NTHi virulence. | The invention relates to the polynucleotide sequence of a nontypeable stain of Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotides and uses thereof. The invention also relates to NTHi genes which are upregulated during or in response to NTHi infection of the middle ear and/or the nasopharynx. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/313,419 filed Mar. 12, 2010 entitled “Automatically Steered Gearboxes for a Mower with a Pivoting Tongue” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to crop harvesting equipment and, more particularly, to pull-type mowers or mower/conditioners having a pulling tongue which is hydraulically swingable from side-to-side so that the lateral position of the machine relative to the towing tractor can be adjusted on-the-go from the tractor seat. More particularly, the present invention involves a swing tongue harvester of the aforementioned type wherein provision is made for driving the operating components of the harvesting header, such as the crop severing mechanism and the conditioner rolls, through mechanical structures coupled with the power takeoff shaft of the towing vehicle, rather than through a hydraulic drive system.
2. Background of the Invention
Swing-tongue harvesters have become extremely popular over the years due in part to their ability to be quickly and easily maneuvered from the tractor seat around obstacles, through right angle turns, and otherwise operated in a manner previously reserved only for self-propelled vehicles. In the case of swing-tongue harvesters in which the tongue is pivoted about the frame, the machine is capable of being used to be positioned in an operative position behind a towing tractor to one side of the tractor when the mower is being used to cut a crop and a transport position wherein the machine is behind the towing tractor for transporting the machine from place to place. However, having a pulling tongue which is shifted between relatively sharp angular positions creates problems in the delivery of driving power from the tractor to operating components of the machine.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide solutions for the aforementioned problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mowing and/or conditioning machine with pivoting steered gearboxes. The design contemplated in FIGS. 1-16 provides a mower conditioner having a header that is suspended from a frame and includes a plurality of cutting blades laterally disposed relative to the ground and conditioning rollers at the back end. The mower includes a tongue connecting the mower to a towing unit. The tongue is pivotally connected to the mower frame. At the front portion of the tongue is an upper tongue swivel gearbox, gearbox one, rigidly attached to the tongue which transmits rotary power from the power take off of the tractor to a lower tongue swivel gearbox, gearbox two, located directly below and pivotally attached to gearbox one. Gearbox two is attached to the front end of a telescoping driveline that is attached, at its rear end, to the input shaft of a rear gearbox, gearbox three. The output shaft of gear box three is connected a drive shaft that is attached to the rotary cutting units.
Gearbox three is mounted to the mower frame, beneath and at the rear of the tongue, with a pivoting arrangement, so that the gearbox housing and input shaft can pivot about the axis of its output shaft.
The pivoting rear gearbox three is attached to the header frame with the input shaft connected at a U-joint to the output end of a telescopic drive line section. The other end of the telescopic drive line section is connected at another U-joint located forward from the mower header along and below the tongue. At this forward U-joint, the telescopic drive line section connects with a gearbox two that is connected to the gearbox one above gearbox two. Gearbox one is connected to a forward section of drive line that is operatively connected to the power takeoff of the tractor.
In the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1-12 , also extending around the telescoping drive line and between the U-joints located between the pivoting gearbox two and the pivoting gearbox three are telescoping steering cylinders. These telescoping cylinders also serve as a guard to keep operators from becoming tangled in the driven shaft which extends between the two aforementioned U-joints. As shown in the drawings, the telescoping steering cylinders attach at one end to the U-joint adjacent the pivoting rear gear box structure three and at the opposite end to the U-joint on the other (front) end of the drive line connection, where it connects to forward lower gearbox two.
A second embodiment shown in FIGS. 13-15 has a pivoting rear gearbox on the header as a simple right angle gearbox that pivots along a vertical axis and is steered by a front gearbox that is operatively fixed to the tongue. A primary advantage to both concepts is to minimize the u-joint angles in the drive system.
A third embodiment shown in FIG. 16 utilizes the driveline arrangement of the first embodiment, with a different configuration of the tongue and mower header, in a center pivot arrangement, where the tongue is connected to the middle of the machine, and the mower is able to swing off to either side, to mow on either side of the towing unit.
One aspect of the present invention is the arrangement of the tongue and the driveline with a swivel gear box assembly, the combination of gearboxes one and two, mounted at the front portion of the tongue. This combination allows the towing forces to remain contained in the tongue, not transferred through the gearboxes, while providing a driveline with the capability of allowing various angles of operation.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention attached to a towing tractor in the transport position thereof with the tongue swung in so the mower/conditioner follows behind the towing tractor;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view like FIG. 1 shown without the towing vehicle;
FIG. 3 is a top enlarge view like FIG. 3 but with the tongue swung out so that it can cut and windrow a crop without the crop being first driven over by the towing tractor;
FIG. 4 is a left side elevational view with the tongue swung in and the cutter bar raised;
FIG. 5 is a left side elevational view with the tongue swung in and the cutter bar lowered;
FIG. 5 a is a cross sectional view taken along vertical axis b of FIG. 5 showing the rear gearbox and the drive train from it to the cutter bar;
FIG. 5 b is a cross sectional view along line 5 B- 5 B through the rotational axis of the telescoping driveline between the two U-joints connecting the lower front gearbox and the rear gearbox;
FIG. 5 c is a cross sectional view taken along line 5 C- 5 C of FIG. 1 showing not only the rear gearbox and the drive train from it to the cutter bar but also the header assembly, gearbox mount, a cage to protect the crop from wrapping around a spinning double U-joint and a tubular structures for enclosing the drive train from the rear gearbox to the cage;
FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view with the tongue swung out and the cutter bar raised;
FIG. 7 is a left side elevational view with the tongue swung out and the cutter bar lowered;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial top plan view showing a front part of the tongue and how the first front top gearbox is attached to the tongue;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial perspective view showing the front part of the tongue and how the first front top gearbox is attached to the tongue;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-9 with the tongue swung in to the transport position thereof;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-9 with the tongue swung out to the operational crop cutting position thereof;
FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view taken along line 12 - 12 of FIG. 8 of two gearboxes, one below the other one, attached to a front part of the tongue;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment similar to FIGS. 11 and 12 , except that the front and rear gearbox assemblies have been changed to a simplified design and those new gearbox assemblies, the gearbox steering device and the driveline between the front and rear gearboxes are all that is shown;
FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view taken along line 14 - 14 of FIG. 13 showing the two meshing gears and the input and output shafts of the front gearbox;
FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view taken along line 15 - 15 of FIG. 13 showing two telescoping parts of the drive shaft; and
FIG. 16 shows a third embodiment that utilizes the driveline arrangement of the first embodiment, with a different configuration of the tongue and mower header, in a center pivot arrangement, where the tongue is connected to the middle of the machine, and the mower is able to swing off to either side, to mow on either side of the towing unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows a mower ( 10 ) with automatically steered gearboxes including a frame ( 11 ) with wheels ( 12 ) operatively attached thereto for permitting the frame ( 11 ) to be towed from place to place.
A header ( 13 ) is operatively attached to the frame ( 11 ) by top links ( 14 ) and bottom links ( 15 ) for example in the way shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,109 in FIGS. 8-12b, which patent is incorporated herein in its entirety. Hydraulic cylinders ( 16 ) attached to the frame ( 11 ) and the header ( 13 ) in the way disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,109 are used to raise or lower the header ( 13 ) with respect to the frame ( 11 ) for example between the raised position shown in FIG. 4 and the lowered position shown in FIG. 5 .
Cutters ( 17 ) are operatively rotatably attached to the header ( 13 ) in the way shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 c for cutting plants off a short distance above the ground.
A tongue ( 21 ) is operatively pivotally attached along a first substantially vertical axis c as shown in FIG. 5 by a bracket ( 22 ) and pin ( 23 ) to the frame ( 11 ) at one end thereof and adapted to be attached to a prime mover ( 1 ) at the other end thereof by use of a hitch ( 24 );
A hydraulic actuator ( 16 ) is operatively attached to the frame ( 11 ) and is operatively attached to the tongue ( 21 ) for adjusting an angle of the tongue ( 21 ) along the first substantially vertical axis c with respect to the frame ( 11 ) between (i) an operating position (see FIG. 3 ), whereby the wheels of the prime mover ( 1 ) are to one side of the cutters ( 17 ) as the mower ( 10 ) is towed through a field in a forward direction so that the wheels of the towing prime mover ( 1 ) do not pass over the crop being cut by the cutters ( 17 ) as the mower ( 10 ) is being used to cut crops, and (ii) a transport position (see FIGS. 1 and 2 ) whereby the angle of the tongue ( 21 ) with respect to the frame ( 11 ) is such that the wheels of the prime mover are in front of the cutters ( 17 ).
A first gearbox ( 31 ) is operatively rigidly attached to the tongue ( 21 ) by use of a bracket ( 32 ) with portions ( 32 t ) and ( 32 b ) on the top and the bottom of the tongue ( 21 ) as can best be seen in FIGS. 8-11 . The first gearbox ( 31 ) has a rotary input shaft ( 33 ) best seen in FIGS. 8 and 12 , adapted to be attached to a power take off ( 35 ) of the prime mover ( 1 ), as shown in FIG. 1 , and a rotary output shaft ( 36 ) as shown in FIG. 12 rotatable about a second substantially vertical axis a, shown in FIG. 5 , whereby rotary power from the power take off ( 35 ) of the prime mover will transmit rotary power to the rotary input shaft ( 33 ) of the first gearbox ( 31 ) via shaft ( 37 ) which has unnumbered universal joints connected to each end thereof. This arrangement is well known from a variety of machines including round balers, and is configured to position the first gearbox a distance from the PTO shaft of the towing unit such that the length of the driveline is adequate to allow proper operation with as the towing unit turns to different positions. This arrangement typically uses a special type of a universal joint known as a CV (constant velocity) joint attached directly to the PTO shaft of the towing unit. CV joints are used to allow typical misalignments, while maintaining a consistent output rpm, and are an accepted component for agricultural equipment. Thus, the driveline includes a CV joint on the end that attaches to the PTO shaft of the towing unit, and a standard universal joint on the end that attaches to the first gearbox. In this way the rotary power is transferred from the PTO shaft of the towing unit ( 35 ) to the input shaft ( 33 ) and then transmitted by the first gearbox ( 31 ) to the rotary output shaft ( 36 ) of the first gearbox ( 31 ). The housing of the first gearbox ( 31 ) is rigidly mounted to the tongue ( 21 ) at the front portion of the tongue such that it is a proper distance from the hitch point.
The forces required to tow the machine are all transferred directly from the drawbar of a towing unit through hitch 24 to the frame 11 , without being transferred through any portion of the driveline.
A second gearbox ( 41 ) is operatively pivotally attached to the first gearbox ( 31 ) about the second substantially vertical axis a, the second gearbox ( 41 ) has a rotary input shaft ( 46 ) which can be in one piece with rotary output shaft ( 36 ) of the first gearbox ( 31 ) or rotary input shaft ( 46 ) and rotary output shaft ( 36 ) can be separate shafts connected together, it being noted that claiming these shafts separately is meant to include inter alia a one or two piece shaft construction between gearboxes ( 31 ) and ( 41 ). Whether shafts ( 36 ) and ( 37 ) are connected together later or manufactured in one piece at the outset is clearly equivalent.
Referring to FIG. 12 , it is noted that the rotary input shaft ( 46 ) of the second gearbox ( 41 ) is operatively attached to the rotary output shaft ( 36 ) of the first gearbox ( 31 ) thereby transmitting rotary power from the rotary output shaft ( 36 ) of the first gearbox ( 31 ) to the rotary input shaft ( 36 ) of the second gearbox ( 41 ) for causing the rotary output shaft ( 43 ) of the second gearbox ( 41 ) to rotate.
A third gearbox ( 51 ) is operatively pivotally attached to the header ( 13 ) about a third substantially vertical axis b as shown in FIG. 5 , the third gearbox ( 51 ) having a rotary input shaft ( 53 ) and a rotary output shaft ( 56 ), the rotary output shaft ( 56 ) being operatively attached to the cutters ( 17 ) through double universal joint ( 57 ) for causing the cutters ( 17 ) to move in a cutting manner, which is a rotary motion in the embodiment shown. Looking to FIGS. 5 a and 5 c , a double universal joint ( 57 ) connects the output shaft ( 56 ) of the third gearbox ( 51 ) to the input shaft ( 58 ) of the cutter bar ( 17 ), which cutter bar structure can be of any one of many well known cutter bars which do not form part of this invention per se.
Looking to FIGS. 1 and 5 b , a first universal joint ( 61 ) is operatively attached to the rotary output shaft ( 43 ) of the second gearbox ( 41 ). A telescoping driveline ( 62 ), comprising an outer sleeve ( 62 a ) and a complementary shaped inner shaft ( 62 b ), is operatively attached to the first universal joint ( 61 ) at a front end thereof. For example the sleeve ( 62 a ) could be square in cross section and the shaft ( 62 b ) square in cross section so the shaft ( 62 b ) can slid in or out in the sleeve ( 62 a ) to permit the two parts to transmit rotary power while also being able to automatically adjust the length thereof as needed.
Extending around the telescoping driveline ( 62 ) is a gearbox steering device which in a preferred embodiment includes two telescoping tubes ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) which serve two purposes. Primarily the two telescoping tubes ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) serve to steer the second and third gear boxes ( 41 ) and ( 51 ) as the tongue ( 21 ) pivots with respect to the frame ( 11 ). Secondly, the two telescoping tubes ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) serve as a safety shield to help prevent anything, such as clothing, from wrapping around the driveshaft parts ( 62 a ) and ( 62 b ) as they rotate. The two telescoping tubes ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) are preferably round in cross section as is typical for guards that encompass drive shafts in agricultural equipment.
Looking to FIGS. 1-5 and 5 a , it can be seen that the two telescoping tubes ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) do not rotate, tube ( 64 ) being bolted along a horizontal pivotal axis (e) to bracket ( 71 ) that is connected rigidly to the bracket surrounding gearbox three ( 51 ). Similarly, tube ( 65 ) is bolted along a horizontal pivotal axis (d) to bracket ( 72 ) which is rigidly attached to gearbox two ( 32 ).
The telescoping drive line ( 62 ), at the rear end thereof, is connected to a second universal joint ( 66 ) and to the rotary input shaft ( 53 ) of the third gearbox ( 51 ) whereby rotary power from the rotary output shaft ( 43 ) of the second gearbox ( 41 ) will be transmitted through the first universal joint ( 61 ), the telescoping driveline ( 62 ), the second universal joint ( 66 ), the rotary input shaft ( 53 ) of the third gearbox ( 51 ) to the output shaft ( 56 ) of the third gearbox ( 51 ) to cause the cutting movement of the cutters ( 17 ).
Drive shaft 37 shown in FIG. 6 , dimension D, is a minimum of thirty (30) inches. The advantage of using a longer driveline than those used in the prior art for the present invention is that the angles that the joints are subjected to are reduced, as compared to shorter drivelines. With this minimum length of 30 inches it is known that a front CV is capable of withstanding those angles. If a shorter driveline were to be used, the durability of the CV would be adversely affected.
In operation, with the mower/conditioner ( 10 ) attached to the tractor ( 1 ) as shown in FIG. 1 , the mower/conditioner ( 10 ) can be towed from place to place, including on public roads, because a hydraulic cylinder ( 20 ) pivotally attached to the frame ( 11 ) along a vertical axis ( 20 a ) and to the tongue ( 21 ) at vertical axis ( 20 b ) is shortened to pull the tongue ( 21 ) to the transport position shown in FIG. 1 . Of course when that occurs, the second and third gearboxes ( 41 and 51 ) will pivot along vertical axes (a) and (b) respectively. The input/output shafts and associated unnumbered gears shown in FIGS. 5 a , 5 c and 12 accommodate such pivoting along vertical axes (a) and (b). In the towing position of FIG. 1 the header ( 13 ) would also be raised to the position shown in FIG. 4 by lengthening the hydraulic cylinders ( 16 ) to pivot upper and lower links ( 14 ) and ( 15 ).
After the mower/conditioner ( 10 ) is towed to a field where it is to be used to cut and windrow a crop, hydraulic cylinder ( 20 ) is lengthened to the position shown in FIG. 3 so that the towing vehicle's tires are to the left of the crop in front of the mower/conditioner ( 10 ) so the tires of the towing vehicle ( 1 ) will not smash down the crop and make it difficult to cut. In the towing position of FIG. 3 the header ( 13 ) would also be lowered to the position shown in FIG. 5 by shortening the hydraulic cylinders ( 16 ) to pivot upper and lower links ( 14 ) and ( 15 ). It can be seen in the drawings that the second and third gearboxes ( 31 ) and ( 41 ) are automatically moved or steered up/down/left/right when all of this adjusting between a transport position and an operation position is done.
Referring now to an alternate embodiment 100 in FIGS. 13 , 14 and 15 , the front gearboxes ( 31 ) and ( 41 ) of the FIGS. 1-12 embodiment are replaced with a normal increaser front gearbox ( 131 ) with an input shaft ( 133 ) for attachment to the drive shaft ( 37 ) via a u-joint as in FIG. 1 , the input shaft ( 133 ) being disposed along a rotational axis (f) and an output shaft ( 136 ) that is disposed along a rotational axis (g) that is preferably parallel to the rotational axis (f) but is not required to be parallel to the axis (f).
The rear gear box ( 51 ) and everything shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 c are still the same on this alternate embodiment ( 100 ). U-joints ( 61 ) and ( 66 ) can still be used for example. This alternate embodiment ( 100 ) of FIGS. 13 and 14 is steered by a telescoping link ( 168 ) with a first member ( 164 ) having a spherical ball joint ( 166 ) on one end thereof mounted to the top of the front gearbox ( 131 ) and a second telescoping member ( 165 ) that the first member ( 164 ) extends into. This is a similar to the setup of the FIGS. 1-12 embodiment except the spherical ball joint ( 166 ) is attached to the front gearbox ( 131 ) instead of using the telescoping steering members ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) shown in FIGS. 1-7 . This can optionally eliminate the need for a CV u-joint for the rear gearbox ( 51 ) and the front one ( 61 ) is not as critical so a standard u-joint could be used there. The same telescoping drive linkage ( 62 ), including receiver ( 62 a ) having complementary shaft ( 62 b ) extending therein as shown in FIG. 5 b would be used but without the telescoping steering tubes ( 64 ) and ( 65 ) which have been replaced by telescoping steering tubes ( 164 ) and ( 165 ). The rear end of steering tube ( 65 ) has a bracket ( 167 ) rigidly attached thereto, which bracket ( 167 ) is pivotally attached along a substantially horizontal axis (h) to the housing of gearbox ( 51 ). Gearbox ( 51 ) still pivots about vertical axis (c) as shown in FIG. 6 , for example, using the same structure shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 c , for example. The solid line structure of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 13 can be placed into the mower of FIGS. 1-5 and 6 - 11 to replace all of the gearboxes 31 , 41 and 51 and the structure connecting gearboxes 41 and 51 and such the solid line structure of FIG. 13 is hereby incorporated into FIGS. 1-11 by reference.
FIG. 15 shows that the telescoping drive shaft ( 62 ) is square in cross section, but it could be of any cross sectional shape that is not circular, such as using a splined shaft ( 62 b ) that would extend into a complementary shaped opening in shaft ( 62 a ).
FIG. 16 shows a mower ( 210 ) with a header ( 213 ) configured to operate when positioned to either the right side, or the left side of a towing vehicle. A header ( 213 ) is operatively attached to the frame ( 11 ) by top links ( 14 ) and bottom links ( 15 ) for example in the way shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,109 in FIGS. 8-12b, which patent is incorporated herein in its entirety. The mower can be positioned by rotating tongue ( 221 ) about the axis of pin ( 223 ). The rotational drive for the mower is transferred from the towing vehicle to the mower using the automatically steered gearboxes of the present invention including a front swivel gear box assembly ( 212 ) and a rear gearbox ( 251 ).
The front swivel gearbox assembly ( 212 ) is comprised of an upper gearbox ( 31 ) and a lower gearbox ( 41 ), as shown in greater detail in FIG. 12 . Gearbox ( 31 ) is located at a distance from the hitch ( 24 ), mounted directly to the tongue ( 21 ), and positioned such that the first shaft assembly ( 37 ) is a minimum length of 30 inches. This shaft, which is also known as a driveline, is a variable length member, configured to allow variation of the distance and relative angles between the power take off (PTO) shaft of the towing vehicle and the input shaft ( 33 ) of the first gearbox. These variations occur as the machine is towed over variations in the terrain and around corners. With this minimum length, and a maximum length of 120 inches, a standard CV joint ( 214 ) can be used at the front of the shaft ( 37 ), where the shaft connects to the PTO shaft of the towing vehicle. The rear of the shaft ( 37 ) is connected to the input shaft ( 33 ) of gearbox ( 31 ) with a U-joint. While CV joints are preferred where mentioned in this document, regular U-joints can be used instead and are considered fully equivalent structures. The housing of the upper gearbox is oriented so that the axis of the input shaft ( 33 ) is approximately parallel to the axis of the driveline ( 37 ) in the top view of FIG. 16 , with the mower positioned directly behind the towing vehicle. As the mower is swung to either the left side or the right side, the driveline and input shaft will be repositioned into a non-parallel relationship, and so will have an angular offset. The angular offset is determined by the length of the shaft ( 37 ), which is set by the position of the gearbox ( 212 ), the length of the tongue ( 221 ), and the width of the mower. The angular offset, if kept to an acceptable maximum, will not affect the performance of the machine, and a standard U-joint will be capable of providing acceptable performance. If the angular offset is too large for a standard U-Joint, then a second CV joint could be used in place of the U-joint.
The rest of the drive is the same as described in the other embodiments, with the rotary power transferred through the swivel gearbox ( 212 ), from gearbox ( 31 ), to gearbox ( 41 ), then to the first universal joint ( 61 ) of the telescoping driveline ( 62 ), then to the second universal joint ( 66 ) which is attached to the input shaft ( 53 ) of gearbox ( 251 ). With this configuration the steerable gearboxes of the present invention can be configured for use with a mower that can operate while swung to either the left or the right side.
While only exemplary embodiments of the invention have been described in detail above, many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. | A mower is suspended from a frame and includes a header with a cutter. A tongue is pivotally connected to the mower frame and is moveable with respect to the frame by a hydraulic cylinder. At the front of the tongue is a front gearbox rigidly attached to the tongue. The front gearbox transmits rotary power from the power take off of the tractor to a rear gearbox pivotally attached the header and from the rear gearbox rotary power is passed on ultimately to the rotary cutting units. Pivoting of the rear gearbox is controlled by a steering connection operatively attached between the front and rear gearboxes. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device for cutting continuous cigarette rods.
On cigarette manufacturing machines, at least one continuous cigarette rod is formed and fed axially and continuously through a cutting station where it is cut transversely by a cutting head into a succession of portions for supply to a follow-up, e.g. filter assembly, machine.
On known cigarette manufacturing machines, the cutting station normally comprises a tubular element--hereinafter referred to as a "counterblade"--which is coaxial with the path of the continuous cigarette rod through the cutting station, is movable back and forth in the traveling direction of the cigarette rod, is engaged, in use, in sliding manner by the cigarette rod, and is divided substantially into two integral parts by an intermediate transverse slit through which the cutting head moves during the cutting operation. In other words, just before and during the cutting operation, the counterblade moves in the traveling direction of and at the same speed as the cigarette rod, which is supported on either side of the cut by the two portions of the counterblade, so that the accuracy and neatness of the cut depends on how narrow the transverse slit is.
On most known machines, the counterblade and the cutting head are connected to the ends of respective drives, the only common feature of which is that they are so linked as to enable the counterblade to move with the cigarette rod when this is engaged by the cutting head, normally by means of a blade inclined in relation to the cigarette rod so that, during the cutting operation, the point of contact between the blade and the cigarette rod travels in the same direction and at the same speed as the rod. The fact that the counterblade and the cutting head are connected to different drives inevitably results in a lack of synchronization and, hence, the need for a relatively wide transverse slit in the counterblade.
One solution to the above drawback is proposed in French Patent Application n. 78 29 511, wherein the cutting head is mounted for rotation on a reciprocating support, which travels with the cigarette rod during the cutting operation and supports the counterblade in a fixed position.
Such a solution presents several drawbacks, mainly due to the vibration induced in the machine as a whole by the reciprocating movement of the cutting head, which is relatively heavy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cutting device designed to overcome the drawbacks typically associated with the above known devices.
According to the present invention, there is provided a cutting device for cutting continuous cigarette rods, and comprising guide means for guiding at least one continuous cigarette rod along a given path extending through a cutting station; a supporting body; a counterblade for supporting and guiding said cigarette rod, the counterblade being parallel to said path, being integral with the supporting body, and presenting an intermediate transverse slit; and a blade fitted to the supporting body and movable, in relation to the supporting body, through said slit; characterized by comprising first actuating means for rotating the supporting body about a first axis crosswise to said path to move said counterblade at a given speed along a first circular trajectory tangent to said path at said cutting station; and second actuating means for moving the blade through said slit when the slit is located at said cutting station.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view in perspective, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a preferred embodiment of the cutting device according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a larger-scale schematic view in perspective, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a first detail in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a larger-scale schematic view in perspective, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a second detail in FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Number 1 in FIG. 1 indicates a cigarette manufacturing machine, an output portion 2 of which comprises a bed 3 for supporting and guiding two parallel, side by side continuous cigarette rods 4 traveling at substantially constant speed and in an axial direction 5 along a substantially horizontal path 6 through a cutting station 7 located at the output end of bed 3.
In addition to bed 3, output portion 2 also comprises a cutting unit 8 located at cutting station 7 and in turn comprising a drive shaft 9 rotating at substantially constant speed about a substantially horizontal axis 10 extending beneath path 6 and crosswise to direction 5. Unit 8 also comprises a first and second fixed shaft, 11 and 12, coaxial with axis 10 and located at either end of shaft 9. At the end facing shaft 12, shaft 11 is fitted integral with a downward-facing square arm 13 fitted on its free end with a pin 14, the axis 15 of which is parallel to and located a given distance D from axis 10; and shaft 12 is fitted with a gear forming a fixed sun gear 16 of an epicyclic gear train 17 comprising at least one planetary gear 18. In actual fact, gear train 17 comprises a number of planetary gears 18 (only one shown for the sake of simplicity) equally spaced about axis 10 and moved about axis 10 by a carrier 19 integral with drive shaft 9.
As shown in FIG. 1, carrier 19 comprises a disk 20 fitted to the opposite end of shaft 9 to that facing sun gear 16, and presenting, for each planetary gear 18, a peripheral through pin 21 fitted in rotary manner to disk 20 and presenting an axis 22 coaxial with respective planetary gear 18. Carrier 19 also comprises, for each pin 21, a bell 23, the end wall of which is integral with the end of pin 21 facing sun gear 16; and a tubular body 24 extending coaxially with axis 22 and fixed at one end inside bell 23. From the end of body 24 opposite that connected to bell 23, there projects the end of a shaft 25, which is supported inside body 24 so as to rotate about axis 22, and is fitted with respective planetary gear 18.
At the end opposite that connected to bell 23, pin 21 is fitted with a square bracket 26, one arm 27 of which extends downwards, crosswise to axis 22, and is fitted in rotary manner on its free end with a pin 28, the axis 29 of which is parallel to and separated from axis 22 by a distance equal to distance D between axes 10 and 15. Pin 28 engages in rotary manner a through hole (not shown) formed in the periphery of a control disk 30, which is fitted idly to pin 14 and rotated about axis 15 by drive shaft 9 via pins 21 (only one shown) and respective arms 27. Disk 30 is off-centered in relation to disk 20 by distance D, and, as it rotates about axis 15, obviously at the same speed as disk 20 and shaft 9, maintains arms 27 (only one shown) parallel to themselves and to arm 13 as disk 20 rotates about axis 10. Consequently, as disk 20 rotates about axis 10, tubular bodies 24 (only one shown) travel parallel to themselves at all times about axis 10.
Each body 24 forms a supporting body for a respective cutting assembly 31 defined by two cutting devices 32 arranged side by side on body 24 and for cutting respective cigarette rods 4. Devices 32 are located on either side of and specular in relation to paths 6, and each comprise, as shown in FIG. 2 (relative to device 32 to the right of paths 6 in FIG. 1), a box body 33 projecting from body 24 in direction 5 and defined at the front, i.e. on the opposite side to that connected to body 24, by a flat wall 34, which is maintained crosswise to direction 5 at all times by disk 30, and is fitted through with a tubular bushing 35 integral with wall 34 and presenting outer teeth 36 and an axis 37 parallel to direction 5. Bushing 35 communicates with a chamber 38 defined by bodies 24 and 33, and which is fitted through with a portion of shaft 25 fitted with a helical gear 39 meshing with a helical gear 40 formed on the rear end of a shaft 41 coaxial with axis 37. Shaft 41 is supported in rotary manner by bushing 35, and presents a front end projecting frontwards of bushing 35 and connected integral with an intermediate portion of a cutting head 42 comprising an arm 43 extending crosswise to axis 37, and a counterweight 43a. Close to its free end, arm 43 presents a through hole engaged in rotary manner by a shaft 44, the axis 45 of which is parallel to axis 37. The rear end of shaft 44 is fitted with a gear 46 meshing with teeth 36; and the front end of shaft 44, to the front of arm 43, is fitted with a circular blade 47 presenting a circular outer cutting edge 48, which, as head 42 rotates about axis 37, travels along a circular trajectory 49 about axis 37.
As shown more clearly in FIG. 3, an appendix 50 projects frontwards from body 24, is located in an intermediate position between the two box bodies 33, is substantially parallel to direction 5, and is fitted integrally on its free end with two side by side counterblades 51, each of which is defined by a plate 52 substantially in the form of a rectangular prism and presenting a top groove 53 parallel to respective path 6, so that counterblade 51 is substantially U-shaped with its concavity facing upwards. Each counterblade 51 presents an intermediate transverse slit 54 extending the full width of groove 53 and which is engaged by respective blade 47, the trajectory 49 of edge 48 of which extends through slit 54.
As shown in FIG. 1, each cutting device 32 comprises a sharpening device 55 fitted to body 24 and in turn comprising a preferably powered grinding wheel 56 tangent to trajectory 49.
In actual use, shaft 9, as stated, rotates carrier 19 about axis 10 at substantially constant speed, and, by means of disk 30, the angular position of assemblies 31 (only one shown) is so controlled that they translate about axis 10 with axes 45 of blades 47 parallel at all times to paths 6 and direction 5. As assemblies 31 translate about axis 10, the point of intersection between the axis of each groove 53 and the plane of respective slit 54 travels along a circular trajectory 57, which is tangent to relative path 6 at station 7, and presents an axis 58 below and parallel to axis 10, so that, for each complete turn of shaft 9 about axis 10, each counterblade 51 is positioned tangent to relative cigarette rod 4 at station 7. If, as in the example shown, disk 20 is rotated anticlockwise in FIG. 1 at such a speed that the linear speed of counterblades 51 equals the traveling speed of cigarette rods 4 along respective paths 6, each counterblade therefore travels through station 7 in direction 5 at the same speed as relative cigarette rod 4. That is, each counterblade 51 travels through station 7 at the same speed as and supporting cigarette rod 4.
As regards each device 32, as planetary gear 18 rolls about fixed sun gear 16, shaft 25 is rotated about axis 22 so that head 42 rotates about axis 37; and, at the same time, gear 46 meshes with teeth 36 to rotate blade 47 about respective axis 45.
Connections 39-40 of each assembly 31 are such that the two heads 42 are rotated in opposite directions and in time with each other about respective axes 37. More specifically, heads 42 to the left and right of paths 6 in FIG. 1 respectively rotate clockwise and anticlockwise about respective axes 37, so that respective blades 47 travel downwards through respective slits 54 and cut respective rods 4 by pressing them on to respective counterblades 51.
By appropriately timing assemblies 31 (only one shown) and relative heads 42, each blade 47 may be fed through respective slit 54 to cut relative rod 4 as respective counterblade 51 travels through station 7.
In connection with the above, it should be pointed out that, since each counterblade 51 travels with respective blade 47 along respective trajectory 57, the clearance between blade 47 and counterblade 51 may be very small, as may the width of respective slit 54, thus enabling a precise "clean" cut of relative rod 4 by blade 47. And this by means of a number of rotational movements at substantially constant speed, i.e. with substantially no vibration.
As already stated, though FIG. 1 shows a cutting unit 8 comprising only one cutting assembly 31, in actual practice, unit 8 may of course comprise a number of assemblies 31 equally spaced about axis 10, the number of assemblies 31 depending on the ratio between the traveling speed of rods 4 and the linear speed of assemblies 31.
In the event machine 1 is designed to produce only one cigarette rod 4, each cutting assembly 31 will obviously comprise only one cutting device 32. | On a machine for producing at least one continuous cigarette rod, the rod is guided along a given path through a cutting station where it is cut into portions by a cutting device wherein a supporting body, fitted with a counterblade for supporting and guiding the rod, and with a blade movable on the supporting body and through a transverse slit on the counterblade, is moved about an axis crosswise to the path of the rod to move the counterblade along a circular trajectory tangent to the path of the rod at the cutting station. | 8 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for filtering wastewater in which solid components are mixed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A filtering apparatus is an important tool in making effective use of water resources. This is because wastewater can be converted to purified water by a filtering apparatus. An essential component of a filtering apparatus is an element for removing impurities that include solid matter from wastewater. The amount of solid matter that accumulates in the element is proportional to the time elapsed in filtering. Flow resistance increases when the amount of sediment increases, and the amount of water that can be treated is reduced. In order to restore the amount of water that can be treated, the element must be replaced with a new element or the element must be regenerated.
[0003] Considering the effective use of earth resources, regeneration is more preferable to replacing elements. A technique for regenerating elements is described in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-108790 (JP 2001-108790 A). The filtering and regenerating technique described in JP 2001-108790 A is described with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8C hereof.
[0004] Solid matter in the wastewater flows (arrow B) from an outer surface 101 of an element 100 toward an inner surface 102 when the wastewater flows in the manner indicated by arrow A parallel to the element 100 , which is composed of a ceramic filter, as shown in FIG. 8A . In this case, solid matter 103 accumulates on the outer surface 101 of the element 100 . Wastewater is purified in this manner.
[0005] Water pressure P 1 is applied from the inner surface of 102 toward the outer surface 101 when a fixed amount of wastewater is treated, as shown in FIG. 8B . On the other hand, a water pressure P 2 , which is a lower pressure than water pressure P 1 , is applied from the outer surface 101 toward the inner surface 102 .
[0006] Next, the water pressure P 2 is rapidly reduced. At this point, the solid matter 103 that is deposited on the outer surface 101 is removed by the effect of the water pressure P 1 , as described in FIG. 8C . The element 100 is thereby regenerated.
[0007] Regeneration is smoothly carried out because sludge is soft when the solid matter 103 is principally composed of sludge.
[0008] However, in the case that sand and fine metals are mixed in large quantities in the solid matter 103 , a substance is formed in which the sand or the like in the sludge is embedded as an aggregate and becomes hard overall, and the removal of the solid matter 103 becomes difficult. The difficulty particularly increases when the thickness of the sediments increases. The regeneration described above is not suitable for wastewater that contains large amounts of sand and the like.
[0009] In view of the above, there is a need for a filtration technology that is advantageous for treating wastewater containing large amounts of sand and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In the discussion below, the term “backwashing” is short for “backflow washing.” Backflow washing refers to washing by sending a fluid in an opposite direction of the filtration flow. Also, the term “regeneration” refers to removal of impurities from an element and the regeneration of the element.
[0011] According to the present invention, there is provided a wastewater filtering apparatus for filtering wastewater in which solid matter is mixed, the apparatus comprising a container for storing the wastewater; a wastewater inlet tube that is connected to the container and that directs wastewater into the container; a tubular element that is disposed inside the container and that removes impurities containing the solid matter from wastewater that flows from an outside to an inside; a purified water transport tube for drawing out filtered purified water to the exterior of the container; a cleaning water spray tube that is disposed inside the container and that sprays cleaning water to an outside surface of the tubular element; a rotation mechanism for rotating the tubular element when the cleaning water is sprayed, and causing the outside surface of the tubular element to be uniformly aligned facing the cleaning water spray tube; a backflow supply tube for supplying fluid to the inside of the tubular element after the rotation by the rotation mechanism has been stopped, and washing the tubular element using the backflow; and a deposit transport tube which extends from a bottom of the container and whereby the impurities containing the solid matter that has been removed by the cleaning water and the fluid are discharged from the container.
[0012] There is an advantage in that the external peripheral surface of the tubular element is cleaned and most of the solid matter is removed in the first step, even fine solid matter that has been embedded on the filter in the second step can be removed by backwashing, and highly precise regeneration can be achieved. As a result, wastewater that contains large amounts of sand and the like can be treated.
[0013] Preferably, a plurality of the tubular elements is disposed about a periphery of the cleaning water spray tube. There is an advantage in that a plurality of the tubular elements can be cleaned by using a single purified water spray tube.
[0014] Desirably, the purified water transport tube is provided with an activated charcoal filter that further filters the filtered purified water. Very fine sand and the like that cannot be filtered by the tubular element can be reliably filtered. Filtration precision increases.
[0015] In a preferred form, the fluid for the backwashing be compressed air. The cleaning of the first step is performed using water, and most of the impurities are removed. The cleaning of the second step is adequately performed using compressed air. In accordance with the present invention, water can be conserved in comparison with the case in which water is used in the first and second steps.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a wastewater filtering apparatus according to the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2 - 2 of FIG. 1 ;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an ordinary filtrating operation;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a first step of a regeneration operation;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a second step of the regeneration operation;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the filtration operation and regeneration operation;
[0023] FIG. 7 is a diagrammatical view illustrating a basic theory of a workpiece cleaning machine provided with the filtering apparatus; and
[0024] FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrammatical views illustrating conventional filtration and regeneration operations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0025] As shown in FIG. 1 , the filtering apparatus 10 is comprised of a container 11 that is opens at the top, an intermediate plate 12 that is disposed in an upper portion of the container 11 so as to close off the container 11 , a cylinder 13 that is superimposed on the intermediate plate 12 , a cover 14 that is superimposed on the cylinder 13 and acts as a cover of the cylinder 13 , a hollow body 15 that passes completely through the intermediate plate 12 in the vertical direction and that is rotatably supported by the intermediate plate 12 via a bearing 16 , a sprocket 24 provided to the top end of the hollow body 15 , a tubular element 17 that is supported at the lower end of the hollow body 15 and that extends in the perpendicular direction into the container 11 , a passage 18 that is disposed inside the hollow body 15 and that connects the inner part of the tubular element 17 and the inner part of the cylinder 13 , a cleaning water spray tube 21 that is disposed in the container 11 and that is vertically placed between a plurality of tubular elements 17 , a rotation mechanism 25 that rotates the sprocket 24 , a wastewater inlet tube 27 that is provided to the side surface of the lower portion of the container 11 and that introduces wastewater into the container 11 , a wastewater discharge tube 28 that is provided to the outer surface of the lower portion of container 11 and that is used for discharging wastewater from inside the container 11 , a deposit transport tube 29 that is provided to the bottom surface of container 11 and that is used for transporting to the exterior solid matter that has been removed by cleaning, a purified water tank 32 that is connected to the cleaning water spray tube 21 via a cleaning water inlet tube 31 , an activated charcoal filter 34 that is provided to the exterior of the cylinder 13 and that is used for further filtering the filtered water, a flowmeter 35 that is disposed in the vicinity of the activated charcoal filter 34 and that is used for measuring the flow rate of the filtered water, a purified water transport tube 36 in which the distal end is connected to the cylinder 13 and which contains the activated charcoal filter 34 and the flowmeter 35 , and a backflow supply tube 37 in which the distal end is connected to the cylinder 13 separately from the purified water transport tube 36 and which supplies compressed air inside the cylinder 13 .
[0026] The rotation mechanism 25 has a rotating shaft 38 that extends in the front/rear direction of the diagram, a rotating shaft sprocket 39 provided to the rotating shaft 38 , and a chain 41 that is disposed so as to make contact with rotating shaft sprocket 39 and the sprocket 24 and that drives the sprocket 24 , as shown in FIG. 2 .
[0027] A motor 43 for driving the rotation mechanism 25 is provided to the upper portion of the cover 14 , as shown in FIG. 1 . The upper surface of the container 11 , the lower surface of the intermediate plate 12 , and the cylinder 13 are connected by a long bolt 45 , and the cylinder 13 and the cover 14 are connected by a short bolt 46 . Reference numerals 47 , 48 , 49 , 51 , 52 , and 53 are valves that open and close the tubes, and 54 is a sealing material, preferably an O-ring.
[0028] The effect of the filtering apparatus having the configuration described above will be described next. In other words, an ordinary filtration operation will be described with reference to FIG. 3 , the operation of the first step of regeneration will be described with reference to FIG. 4 , the operation of the second step of regeneration will be described with reference to FIG. 5 , and the overall flow of the operation will be described with reference to FIG. 6 . Furthermore, the dark arrows in FIGS. 3 to 5 indicate the flow of water, and white arrows indicate the flow of air.
[0029] The wastewater introduced from the wastewater inlet tube 27 into the container 11 flows from the external peripheral surface toward the internal peripheral surface of the tubular element 17 , and the filtration of the first step is performed by the tubular element 17 , as described in FIG. 3 . Purified water thus filtered flows from a purified water outlet 22 to the cylinder 13 and passes through the purified water transport tube 36 , and the filtration of the second step is performed by the activated charcoal filter 34 .
[0030] Very fine sand and the like that could not be filtered by the tubular element 17 can be reliably filtered. Filtration precision increases.
[0031] Purified water that has been purified by the tubular element 17 and the activated charcoal filter 34 in the second step can thereby be obtained in a continuous fashion. However, sand and other solid matter that was contained in wastewater accumulates on the external peripheral surface of the tubular element 17 when the purification operation progresses, and filtration capacity is reduced. In view of the above, the regenerating operation is suitably carried out in the following manner.
[0032] First, the wastewater inlet valve 47 is closed in the first step of regeneration, and the introduction of wastewater to the container 11 is stopped, as shown in FIG. 4 . Next, the wastewater discharge valve 49 is opened. Wastewater collected in the container 11 can thereby be discharged to the exterior as indicated by the white arrow at bottom right of the diagram.
[0033] When the discharge of wastewater is completed, the wastewater discharge valve 49 is closed, the motor 43 is actuated as indicated by the arrows, and the tubular element 17 is rotated. The cleaning water inlet valve 51 is opened at the same time. At this point, the cleaning water can be sent from the purified water tank 32 to the cleaning water spray tube 21 as indicated by the black arrows. The cleaning water is sprayed from the cleaning water spray tube 21 toward the external peripheral surface of the tubular element 17 , and the deposits of tubular element 17 are cleaned in the manner indicated by the imaginary lines.
[0034] The large portion of solid matter accumulated on the external peripheral surface of the tubular element 17 can be removed by the cleaning water. The sediments in which sand and fine metals have become mixed in the sludge and hardened can be particularly effectively removed by the water pressure of the cleaning water.
[0035] Furthermore, since the tubular element 17 is rotated at a fixed speed by the motor 43 , the cleaning water indicated by the imaginary lines uniformly makes contact with the entire periphery of the tubular element 17 , and unclean areas do not occur. In other words, a plurality (e.g., six) of the tubular elements 17 can be cleaned in a single process by using a single cleaning water tube 21 .
[0036] The cleaning water inlet valve 51 closes and cleaning by the purified water is ended when the cleaning is performed by the cleaning water spray tube 21 for a fixed length of time.
[0037] Next, in the second step of regeneration, the cleaning water inlet valve 51 is first closed, as shown in FIG. 5 . Next, the backflow inlet valve 52 is opened and compressed air is sent from the backflow supply tube 37 to the cylinder 13 as indicated by the black arrows. The compressed air sent into the cylinder 13 passes through the purified water outlet 22 and flows from the internal peripheral surface of the tubular element 17 towards the external peripheral surface.
[0038] The solid matter that is deposited on the external peripheral surface of the tubular element 17 is blown to the exterior by compressed air as indicated by the white arrows. The cleaning capacity is low because the density of air is less than that of water. However, in the present invention, the quantity of remaining deposits is low and the thickness of the layer is also low because a large portion of the sediments has been cleaned away in the first step of the regeneration operation. For this reason, cleaning is possible even using compressed air in the second step.
[0039] The cleaning of the second step can be performed using cleaning water, but the quantity of cleaning water that is used can be reduced when compressed air is used as in the present invention.
[0040] The backflow inlet valve 52 is closed and the backflow produced by the compressed air is ended after the backflow produced by the compressed air is carried out for a fixed length of time.
[0041] Next, the deposit transport valve 53 is opened. Solid matter collected in the bottom portion of the container 11 and the cleaning water used in the first step are thereby sent from the deposit transport tube 29 to the exterior as indicated by the white arrow in the lower portion of the diagram, and the cleaning of the tubular element 17 is ended.
[0042] Next, the overall operation of FIGS. 3 to 5 described above will be described with reference to FIG. 6 .
[0043] A treatment flow rate Q 1 is set in step (hereinafter abbreviated as ST) 01 in the manner shown in FIG. 6 . The wastewater is introduced into the wastewater tank and filtered by the tubular element (ST 02 ). The cumulative flow rate Q 2 is measured in this interval (ST 03 ). Specifically, the flow rate of filtered water is measured by the flowmeter 35 shown in FIG. 1 .
[0044] The cumulative flow rate Q 2 is examined as to whether the treatment flow rate Q 1 has been reached (ST 04 ). If the cumulative flow rate is less than Q 1 , the filtration of wastewater (ST 02 ) continues, and the filtration stops when Q 1 is reached (ST 05 ). Specifically, the wastewater inlet valve 47 shown in FIG. 1 is closed.
[0045] Wastewater inside the wastewater tank is discharged from the wastewater discharge outlet (ST 06 ).
[0046] The tubular element is rotated (ST 07 ), purified water is sprayed onto the external peripheral surface of the tubular element that is being rotated, and the tubular element is washed (ST 08 ).
[0047] The tubular element is backwashed by compressed air (ST 09 ).
[0048] The deposits collected in the lower portion of the wastewater tank and the purified water sprayed in ST 08 are discharged to the exterior of the wastewater tank (ST 10 ).
[0049] The filtration apparatus 10 described above can be provided to a variety of applications. An example in which the filtration apparatus is applied to a workpiece washing apparatus will be described below.
[0050] A workpiece washing apparatus 60 includes a reticulated workpiece mount 62 on which a workpiece 61 to be washed is mounted, and a wastewater tank 63 for receiving the wastewater generated when the workpiece 61 is washed, as shown in FIG. 7 .
[0051] One opening of a three-way valve 55 is connected to the flowmeter 35 , one of the remaining openings of the three-way valve 55 is connected to the purified water tank 32 , and the remaining opening is connected to the workpiece cleaning apparatus 60 .
[0052] The purified water filtered through the filtration apparatus 10 is allowed to flow to the purified water tank 32 until a prescribed quantity is collected in the manner indicated by arrow ( 1 ). The three-way valve 55 is switched when the prescribed quantity of purified water is collected in the purified water tank 32 . The purified water is then sent to the workpiece cleaning apparatus 60 when the three-way valve 55 switches in the manner indicated by arrow ( 2 ).
[0053] The workpiece 61 is cleaned in the manner indicated by the arrow ( 4 ) by purified water sent to the workpiece cleaning apparatus 60 , and purified water is introduced from a workpiece cleaning water inlet tube 64 in the manner indicated by arrow ( 3 ). Sand and the like that have been deposited on the workpiece 61 by cleaning the workpiece 61 is made to fall into the wastewater tank 63 together with water in the manner indicated by arrow ( 5 ).
[0054] The wastewater collected in the wastewater tank 63 passes through the wastewater inlet tube 27 in the manner indicated by arrow ( 6 ), and is introduced into the filtration apparatus 10 . The wastewater thus introduced is filtered inside the filtration apparatus 10 , and steps ( 1 ) through ( 6 ) are repeated.
[0055] Wastewater is not required to be discarded and a contribution is made to environmental conservation because purified water that has been filtered is used to wash the workpiece 61 . The quantity of purified water introduced from the workpiece cleaning inlet tube 64 can be reduced. In addition, purified water obtained by filtration is made to flow into the purified water tank, and the element is regenerated using purified water. The quantity of purified water introduced from the exterior can be reduced, as can running costs of using the filtration apparatus.
[0056] Obviously, various minor changes and modifications of the present invention are possible in light of the above teaching. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. | A filtration apparatus including a tubular element ( 17 ) for purifying wastewater that flows from outside to inside, and a spray tube ( 21 ) for spraying cleaning water onto the external peripheral surface of the tubular element. In the first step, the external peripheral surface of the tubular element is cleaned and most of solid matter is removed. In the second step, compressed air is fed to the tubular element, and fine solid matter that is embedded in the filter is removed by backwashing. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The invention relates generally to a novel collecting and bagging apparatus for leaves, trash and other debris as well as to a method for collecting such debris using the disclosed apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to such containers which employ conventional disposable trash bags, preferably biodegradable, and are intended for household application by the general consuming public.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Numerous devices have been developed and commercialized for the collection of trash, leaves and other refuse. These range from commercial units weighing hundreds of pounds and requiring special transport trucks to widely marketed inexpensive consumer oriented products. Refuse containers for non-commercial or household applications which are inexpensive and relatively easy to employ abound. Such prior art containers have a number of shortcomings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,277 to Coker discloses trash and leaf bagging apparatus constructed of a rigid frame having an opening that is completely surrounded with a supply of netting material that forms a netting bag and is primarily designed for air-blowing the trash into the receptacle. In addition to being large, heavy and very likely expensive, air-blowing will not "blow" pine needles and certain other trash. Furthermore, the nature of the opening will not readily permit raking the trash because of its structure.
The devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,442,567 and 4,357,728 to Pravettone provide a frame for supporting and transporting a garbage collecting bag. The bag is attached to the top of the frame. The frame has a dustpan extending from one end and is designed so that refuse can be swept through the dustpan and into the bag when the device is placed in a horizontal position. When placed in an upright position, the bag rests on wheels which makes the device portable. The frame for the device in the two related patents is dimensionally adjustable.
In addition to the above, U.S. Pat. No. 1,234,057 to McIntyre discloses a combined scoop and sack filling device designed to hold the sack to be filled around the discharge spout of the scoop. U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,429 to Davison discloses a bag holder and filler which is adjustable to fit boxes or bags of substantially the same size opening but of variable height. U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,127 to Dunleavy discloses a central hole through it and an attachment means around the hole to which the blanket is secured. U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,474 to Perkins discloses a bag holder and collector for receiving grass clippings etc., in a top hopper for discharge into a collection bag mounted below the hopper. U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,167 to Stillwell discloses a trash bag holding stand that may be manually assembled without the use of tools to support a pliable bag in open, fillable position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,043 to Wilsford discloses a trash bagging apparatus comprising two flat side sheets connected together by a hinge at their interior edges, their exterior edges free to be pivoted about the hinged connection for carrying or storage, or opened up to engage a flexible container for trash. U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,547 to Hoerner discloses an elongated sleeve made of a plurality of substantially rigid panels interconnected with one another in folding relationship. The sleeve is adapted to positively retain a collapsible bag at the top while the bag is being filled by filling the interior of the sleeve.
As shown above, any number of containers, collectors and transporters for refuse such as garbage, leaves, grass clippings and the like have been suggested and commercialized in the past. These range from commercial units weighing hundreds of pounds and requiring special transport trucks to widely marketed inexpensive consumer oriented products. The generally available commercial units typically prove to be unacceptable for household applications due to size and, more importantly, weight and cost considerations. Many containers which have received consumer acceptance attribute success only to mass marketing such as through television and newspaper advertising rather than through engineering and design excellence. Single application containers often are not adjustable to accommodate disposable trash bags of varying dimensions.
Finally, many prior art devices fail to provide versatility for the aged or physically infirm wherein the design allows the user to apply mechanical advantage thereto in repositioning it from the refuse collecting position to the transporting position. Most prior art devices require the user to bear the full weight of the container as well as its contents.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a lawn bagger for dead leaves, grass clippings, pine needles, and other accumulated lawn trash. In use, a plastic or paper bag is placed around the open rear of the bagger and held in place with a length of elastic or other cord. With the bag in place, the device is placed flat on the ground and the lawn trash is raked or blown directly into it. Picking the lawn bagger up by the handle and holding it upright allows the trash to drop into the bag of its own weight, or the trash may be urged into the bag by hand.
More specifically, the lawn bagger is comprised of a rigid frame structure which provides an unobstructed opening or funnel into a bag which is conveniently held over the back end by a flexible cord, such as a bungee cord, having fastening hooks located at each of its ends. The frame structure also preferably includes a bottom panel extending beyond the vertical plane of a top panel and side panels angled downwardly from the top panel to form an opening sufficiently large to permit a lawn rake or broom to guide the trash into the converging tunnel, or funnel of the lawn bagger. A handle may be provided on the top panel for convenience of lifting the lawn bagger each time the trash is emptied into the bag.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a debris collecting and bagging apparatus and method that do not require the direct manual transfer of debris into a receptacle.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bagging apparatus of the above type that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and highly effective in operation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a lawn bagger of the above type permitting convenient collection of lawn trash and quick attachment and easy removal of a waste-filled bag.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved collector and bag holder construction which has a unique configuration consisting of an extended bottom wall, a sloping top wall and side walls surrounding a rectangular discharge opening.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of a lawn bagger in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a lawn bagger in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a lawn bagger in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a lawn bagger being filled with lawn trash.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a lawn bagger being lifted to empty the trash into the bag.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to drawings FIGS. 1 through 5, a preferred embodiment of a combination of a debris collecting and bagging apparatus 10 is illustrated. Although the apparatus is principally intended for consumer or household type applications, it is contemplated that it could also be employed for many commercial or industrial applications. A specific use for the apparatus 10 contemplated by the applicant is an aid in gathering and storing refuse or items which are scattered on the ground such as grass clippings, thatch, dust, dirt, leaves, and the like.
As can be seen, the bottom side 11 lies flat and facilitates raking the trash thereonto. The apparatus 10 also includes oppositely disposed side walls 12 and top side 13, joined to the bottom side 11 to form a hollow body, apparatus 10. The sloping top side 13, is shorter than the bottom side 11 thus leaving an opening between the side walls 12 to permit the sweeping or raking of trash onto bottom side 11 as shown in FIG. 4. The bottom side 11 and top side 13 gradually decrease in transverse direction toward the back end of the lawn bagger, thus, when the apparatus 11 is assembled, it will have a broad mouth portion forward end 14 and a contracted inner portion back end 15.
A flange 16 extends outwardly from the perimeter of back end 15 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The flange 16 may extend perpendicularly as shown, or at an angle as shown in dotted lines. In operation, a plastic or other bag 17 is placed over flange 16 and held in place by cord 18. The back end 15 is sized to accommodate the smallest practical sized bag such as a 20-gallon paper (biodegradable) bag, as well as to accommodate bags as large as a 39-gallon bag, or as small as a 13-gallon kitchen garbage bag. In practice, when the bag 17 is assembled with cord 18, it is possible to drag the filled bag without the bag 17 slipping off.
A carrying means, handle 19, is provided for carrying the apparatus 10 as well to provide convenient holding and lifting means when lifting the apparatus 10 to empty its contents into the bag 17. The handle 19 may be supplemented by, or replaced by, a longer handle. In a second embodiment, a "U" shaped bracket (not shown), is tack welded where the current handle 19 is located and a handle, shaped like a hairpin, with the bottom ends at a 90-degree angle is inserted into holes in the "U" shaped bracket. In practice, the apparatus 10 may also be lifted by gripping the top side 13 at its forward end.
Collecting and bagging apparatus 10 may be made from steel, galvanized steel, molded plastic or other rigid material such as aluminum. Sheet metal construction of the apparatus 10 provides sufficient weight to hold it very flat against the surface being cleaned and is equally useful for sweeping sand, dirt, and similar debris from the pavement. Apparatus 10 is far superior to a dustpan. Because of its unique shape, apparatus 10 may be manufactured using state-of-the-art processes and conveniently packaged for shipment by removing the handle 19 and stacking the units inside each other. Although the apparatus 10 is especially useful for older citizens residing in modular homes with little storage space, it would be of greatest use for raking leaves in the northern part of the United States. With the current emphasis on ecology, a paper bag or a biodegradable plastic bag 17 would be preferred.
The method of collecting and bagging leaves, trash, and other debris would comprise the steps of assembling the bag 17 to the flange 16 and fastening the bag 17 by encircling the back end 15 with the cord 18. The apparatus, with bag 17 attached is then placed on the surface to be cleaned and the debris is forced into the opening at the forward end 14. The handle 19 is then gripped, and the apparatus 10 is lifted sufficiently to drop the contents into the bag 17. Except for very light matter such as pine needles, lifting the handle usually causes everything to drop down into the bag 17, in which case, a gentle push will complete the step. The steps are then repeated until the bag 17 is filled to near capacity. The bag 17 is then removed and cinched with a line or plastic tie usually supplied with the bags.
While the invention has been explained with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is contemplated that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. | The invention is a lawn and trash bagger comprising a rigid frame structure which provides an unobstructed opening or funnel into a bag which is held over the back end by a flexible cord having fastening hooks located at each of its ends. A handle is provided for lifting the lawn bagger each time the trash is emptied into the bag. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a new method of making V-grooved pulley assembly having wall portions of different thicknesses so as to reduce the cost of materials and labor.
A V-grooved pulley assembly is normally used with electric clutches for transmitting on power of engine mounted in vehicles such as, for example, automobiles and trucks to air conditioner compressors to drive the same.
A preferable V-grooved pulley assembly is provided with a thick wall portion for the structual strength and a magnetically efficient joint which includes thin wall portions for the weight reduction.
A known V-grooved pulley assembly having portions of different thicknesses have been made by means of hot forging workings and machinings.
Problems of the known assembly are that the forging workings themselves are relatively expensive, the cost of machining same even more so, and the combination of the forging workings with the machinings reduces the operation efficiency.
To solve the above-noted problems another method has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,366, wherein V-belt pulley is formed from a single sheet of metal by means of bend-press workings.
Disadvantages of the known V-belt pulley structures formed from the single sheet of metal by means of bend-press working resides in the fact that the number of steps of working processes is increased and the integrity of the pulley structure is low due to the uniform thickness in any portion of the pulley structures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention resides in providing a new method of making a V-grooved pulley assembly which reduces the cost of materials and labor.
Another object of the present invention resides in providing a new method of making a V-grooved pulley assembly having wall portions of different thickness with simplicity.
Still another object of the present invention resides in providing a new method of making a V-grooved pulley assembly having a high structural integrity and is of less weight than similar pulleys manufactured from castings or forgings.
In accordance with the present invention, the V-grooved pulley is made by forming a thick wall portion including one side wall portion of the pulley assembly and a tubular thin wall portion which extends from the thick portion and includes the other side wall portion of the pulley assembly from a tubular member by means of cold working, and expanding the tubular thin portion in order to form a V-shaped groove of the pulley assembly.
By virtue of the method of the present invention the cost of materials and labor are reduced since the V-grooved pulley assembly can be manufactured through cold-working processes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a V-grooved pulley assembly according to the present invention mounted on an electromagnetic clutch assembly;
FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view of the tubular metal member and a die arrangement prior to a working in accordance with the method of the present invention;
FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the tubular member and die arrangement of FIG. 2A after a forward extrusion working stroke;
FIG. 2C is a cross sectional view of the tubular member and another die arrangement for expanding a tubular thin portion outwardly to form a V-groove of the V-grooved pulley assembly;
FIG. 2D is a cross sectional view of the tubular member and a further die arrangement for forming a cylindrical portion of the V-groove pulley assembly;
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrated a relationship between an expanding ratio and an expanding angle;
FIG. 4 is a graph showing an experimental result obtained according to the present invention with relation to the expanding ratio and the expanding angle;
FIG. 5 is a partial cross sectional perspective view of the V-grooved pulley assembly fabricated according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 a V-grooved pulley assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 34, fabricated in accordance with the present invention and fashioned from a material having low magnetic reluctance in order to permit the establishment of magnetic fields therein, is mounted on an electric clutch pulley assembly which includes an electromagnetic coil assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 20, a rotor assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 30 and an armature assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 40. A power shaft 12 of a compressor 18 extends into the electric clutch pulley assembly and is rotatably supported by means of a bearing assembly 14. A side cover 16 of the compressor 18 is mounted on the bearing assembly 14.
A shaft boss 13, having a flange portion 15, is fixedly mounted on one end portion of the power shaft 12. The shaft boss 13 is held on the power shaft 12 by a suitable lock nut 16' provided at one end of the power shaft 12.
The electromagnetic coil assembly 20 includes an electromagnetic coil 22 and a casing 24, constructed of a material having a low magnetic reluctance, connected with the side cover 16 of the compressor 18. The electromagnetic coil assembly 20 is energized, in a manner well known by those skilled in the art, whenever a vehicle engine is in operation and when so energized generates a magnetic field that extends from the casing 24. A pair of bearing assemblies 26 for rotatably supporting the rotor assembly 30 are mounted on the side cover 16.
The rotor assembly 30 includes a rotor boss 32, the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 and a disc plate 36 arranged between the rotor boss 32 and the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 through metal members 37 and 38 made of non-magnetic materials.
The V-grooved pulley assembly 34 is adapted to be drivingly connected to the vehicle engine by a pulley belt, not shown, and the V-grooved pulley assembly 34, together with the armature assembly 40, forms part of the clutch mechanism.
The V-grooved pulley assembly 34 is rotatably mounted on the side cover 16 of the compressor 18 by the bearing assembly 26 in fixed axially spaced relationship to the armature assembly 40 in order to form an axial air gap 39 there-between.
The V-grooved pulley assembly 34 includes a V-grooved portion generally designated by the reference numeral 340 including a first and a second side portion 341 and 342, a bottom portion 343, a cylindrical portion 344, extending from the second portion 342 and a disc portion 345 including a friction end face 346. The cylindrical portion 344, the second side portion 342 and the disc portion 345 form a part of a flux path 28 when the electromagnetic coil assembly 20 is energized.
The armature assembly 40 includes an armature disc portion generally designated by the reference numeral 42 axially displaceable into engagement with the friction end face 346 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 by the electromagnetic coil assembly 20.
The armature disc portion 42 includes first and second disc plates 44 and 45 made of magnetic materials and a metal portion 46, made of a non-magnetic material, arranged therebetween. The armature disc portion 42 is supported through a leaf spring 47 fitted to the flange portion 15 of the shaft boss 13.
When the electromagnetic assembly 20 is energized a magnetic field, characterized by the flux path 28, extends through the material of the components of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 and through the armature disc portion 42.
When flex is not present, i.e., the electromagnets are not energized, the armature disc portion 42, as shown in FIG. 1, is separated by a gap 39 from the friction end face 345 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34. Obviously, once the electromagnets are energized and flux path 28 occurs, a magnetic circuit is built up through the casing 24, the cylindrical portion 344, the second side portion 342, the bottom portion 343, the disc portion 345, first disc portion 44 of the armature assembly 40, the disc plate 36 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34, second disc portion 45 of the armature assembly 40, and the rotor boss 32, whereby the armature disc portion 42 will be in firm frictional contact with the friction end face 346 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 and gap 39 is closed.
The new and improved V-grooved pulley assembly according to this invention will now be described.
As shown in FIG. 2A, a die member 61 is inserted into a tubular metal member 50 made of soft iron, with a die ring 62 being arranged around the tubular metal member 50, and a die tubular member 63 arranged above the tubular metal member 50. The tubular die member 63 has a flat face 64 and a curved face 65 one end portion thereof for defining a thick wall portion and a thin wall portion of the V-grooved pulley assembly.
The die member 61 is used for defining an inner side of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34, the die ring 62 is used for defining an outer side of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34, and the tubular die member 63 is used as a punching means for defining the thick wall portion including first side portion 341 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34, and the tubular thin wall portion including second side portion 342 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34.
After the arrangement of the die members 61, 62 and 63 and the tubular metal member 50 as described above, a forward extrusion working stroke is carried out by means of the tubular die member 63 and, as shown in FIG. 2B, during the foward extrusion working stroke, the thick wall portion comprising disc portion 345 is formed in order to make a good strong and magnetically efficient joint, and the thin wall portion comprising the first side wall portion 341 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 is formed at the upper end portion of the tubular metal member 50. The tubular thin wall portion 350 extending from the thick wall portion 345 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 is simultaneously formed at a lower end portion of the tubular metal member 50.
In order to expand the tubular thin wall portion 350 outwardly, as shown in FIG. 2C, the die member 61 and the die ring 62 are removed from the die arrangement of FIGS. 2A and 2B and a new die member 64 and die ring 65 are substituted therefore to further work the tubular metal member 50. The die member 64 has a stepped diameter and functions as a punching means for defining an inner side of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34, while the die ring 65 is used for defining an outer side of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34.
As shown in FIG. 2C, the die member 64 is inserted into the tubular thin wall portion 350 from a lower end and by virtue of the cooperation between the die member 64 and die ring 65 the thin tubular wall portion 350 is expanded to form the V-groove of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34.
The tubular thin wall portion 350 is outwardly expanded by the stepped diameter of the die member 64 so that the second side portion 342 and the bottom portion 343 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 is formed.
Subsequent to the outward expanding of the tubular thin wall portion 350 to form the V-groove, the die ring 65 is removed from the die arrangement and replaced by a new die ring 66 for forming the cylindrical portion 344 and an angle between the first and second side portions 341,342 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34. As shown in FIG. 2D, the tubular thin wall portion 350 expanded outwardly in the expanding step (FIG. 2C) is inwardly pressed by the die ring 66 whereby the thin cylindrical portion 344 of the V-grooved pulley assembly is formed.
FIGS. 3 and 4 provide an illustration of the relationship between an expanding ratio of an outer diameter d of the tubular thin wall portion 350 to an inner diameter d O thereof and an expanding angle θ in degrees, made between the second side portion 342 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 and the horizontal axis.
As apparent from FIG. 4, wherein the ordinate represents the expanding ratio (d/d 0 ) and the abscissa represents the expanding angle θ, the preferable expanding ratio is obtained when the tubular thin wall portion 350 is outwardly expended at an expanding angle of between 35° and 50°, whereby high efficient V-groove formation and uniform thickness of the thin wall portion are obtained with simplicity. An angle α between the first and the second side portions 341 and 342 of the V-grooved pulley assembly 34 is adjusted by the force added to the die ring 66 and is preferably between 32° and 36° as shown in FIG. 5.
A V-grooved pulley assembly having thick wall portion and thin wall portions therein is obtained in accordance with the present invention by cold working without machining, whereby the cost of material and labor is reduced, the integrity of the structure is improved, the weight of the V-grooved pulley assembly is reduced, and the number of steps for forming the V-grooved pulley assembly is decreased. | A V-grooved pulley assembly having thick wall portion and thin wall portion therein designed for use with electromagnetic type clutches for driving air conditioning compressors on automobiles and the like wherein the component parts thereof are fabricated by cold workings so as to result in a reduction of the cost of materials and labor. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/294,749, filed Jan. 13, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates in general to adjustable seats and in particular to vehicle seats whose position may be adjusted fore and aft. Vehicles such as passenger cars typically include seats for the use of the driver and other occupants. In many vehicles, the position of the seats may be adjusted for the comfort of the occupant. The options to adjust the position of a seat typically include the ability to move the seat in a fore and aft direction by operation of a track assembly which mounts the seat to the vehicle floor.
[0003] Some vehicles include the option of moving the seats in the first row in order to facilitate access to the second row. This is known as an easy entry option and is commonly seen in two-door vehicles. The easy entry allows the generally upright back portion of the seat to be dumped, or pivoted from its normal use position to a more forward position, in order to facilitate access to the space behind the seat. Additionally, the track assembly may be actuated so that the seat may be moved forward. Often, the seat is moved to its most forward position. This allows a person to more easily gain access to the space located behind the seat. When the seat no longer has to be in the dumped position, the seat back may be raised to its use position, and the seat may be moved back from its most forward position. This allows an occupant to comfortably sit in the seat.
[0004] An occupant of a seat will typically position that seat in the location that is most comfortable for him or her. When the seat is dumped, it is moved from that selected position. It is desirable that when the seat is raised from the dumped position that it return to the desired position that the user previously selected. This way the seat is in the location that is most comfortable for the occupant without the occupant having to adjust the seat again.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] This invention relates to an adjustable memory track assembly for a vehicle seat. The track assembly has a lower rail adapted to be secured relative to a vehicle frame, and an upper rail adapted to support the seat for fore/aft sliding movement relative to the lower rail. The adjustable memory track assembly also has a track lock assembly operable via a first actuator between a locked, engaged state wherein relative movement between the lower and upper rails is resisted, and an unlocked, disengaged state wherein the seat can be slid to and then locked in a user-selected position. A memory module is operable via a second actuator to record the user-selected position. The second actuator is also operatively connected to disengage the track lock assembly to allow forward movement of the seat from the user-selected location to a forward location, and thereafter allow rearward movement of the seat back to, but not past, the user-selected location. The adjustable memory track assembly is characterized in that the memory module is provided with a blocking element to prevent rearward movement of the seat past the user-selected position independent of the locking state of the track lock assembly.
[0006] This invention further relates to an adjustable memory track assembly that includes a first rail and a second rail adapted for fore/aft sliding movement relative to the first rail. A track lock assembly is operable between a locked, engaged state wherein relative movement between the first and second rails is resisted, and an unlocked, disengaged state wherein relative movement between the first and second rails is not resisted. A memory module is operable to record a user-selected position. The memory module is provided with a blocking mechanism adapted to prevent movement of the second rail in the aft direction past the user-selected position independent of the locking state of the track lock assembly.
[0000] This invention further relates to an adjustable memory track assembly that includes a first rail and a second rail adapted for fore/aft sliding movement relative to the first rail. A track lock assembly is operable between a locked, engaged state wherein relative movement between the first and second rails is resisted, and an unlocked, disengaged state wherein relative movement between the first and second rails is not resisted. A memory module is operable to record a user-selected position. The memory module is provided with a blocking mechanism adapted to prevent movement of the second rail in the aft direction past the user-selected position independent of the locking state of the track lock assembly. The memory module includes a memory wheel mounted relative to one of the second rail and first rail. The memory wheel includes a plurality of teeth adapted to engage openings in a track mounted relative to the other of the second rail and first rail when the memory module is operated. At least one of the plurality of teeth adapted to support a load to prevent rearward movement of the second rail past the user-selected position. The memory module includes a threaded axle attached to the memory wheel and a memory nut that includes a threaded opening adapted to engage the threaded axle. The memory nut moves axially along the threaded axle when the seat is moved away from the user-selected location. The blocking element comprises a first memory surface mounted relative to the memory nut and a second memory surface mounted relative to the memory wheel. The first memory surface and the second memory surface are adapted so that the first memory surface is engaged with the second memory surface when the seat is at the user-selected position. The first memory surface is also engaged with the second memory surface when the seat is a prescribed distance from the user-selected position.
[0007] Various aspects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a bucket-type seat.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a track assembly of the seat of FIG. 1 .
[0010] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the seat track assembly of FIG. 2 , showing a latch assembly and an easy entry assembly.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4 - 4 of FIG. 3 . FIG. 4 illustrates a track lock engaged and a memory module disengaged.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view similar to that shown in FIG. 4 . FIG. 5 illustrates the track lock disengaged and the memory module engaged.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view similar to that shown in FIG. 5 . FIG. 6 illustrates the memory module engaged and the seat moved forward of a memory point.
[0014] FIG. 7 is an exploded, perspective view of a portion of the memory module of FIGS. 4-6 .
[0015] FIG. 8 is an exploded, perspective view of a portion of the memory module of FIG. 7 , with the view taken from the opposite direction to illustrate details on the opposite sides of some components.
[0016] FIG. 9 is a side view of teeth of a memory wheel engaged with a track.
[0017] FIG. 10 is a side view similar to that shown in FIG. 9 , when the memory wheel has been moved relative to the track.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a perspective view of a bucket seat 10 . The illustrated bucket seat 10 is a type commonly installed in the front row of seats in passenger vehicles. The bucket seat 10 includes a seat portion 12 and a backrest 14 . The seat portion 12 and the backrest 14 are typically cushioned and upholstered for aesthetics and the comfort of seat occupants. The seat portion 12 and the backrest 14 may be upholstered with leather, fabric, or other desired materials. The bucket seat 10 is used for illustrative purposes only, and may be sized to accommodate any number of occupants or may be a bench-type seat.
[0019] Referring now to FIG. 2 , there is shown a track assembly 16 . The track assembly 16 includes a pair of first rails 18 and a pair of second rails 20 . The first rails 18 are secured relative to a floor or a frame of a vehicle (not shown). The second rails 20 are mounted relative to the seat portion 12 of the bucket seat 10 . The second rails 20 are attached to the first rails 18 in order to allow the second rails 20 to move relative to the first rails 18 in the directions indicated by arrows 30 and 30 a. This allows adjustment of the position of the bucket seat 10 in the vehicle. It should be appreciated that within the vehicle, this allows fore-and-aft movement of the second rails 20 relative to the first rails 18 . However, the track assembly 16 may be adapted to allow relative movement in some other direction, if desired.
[0020] The track assembly 16 includes a catch assembly, indicated generally at 22 , mounted relative to one of the second rails 20 . The seat track assembly also includes a catch and memory assembly, indicated generally at 24 , mounted relative to the other of the second rails 20 . The catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 are adapted to selectively lock or prevent movement of the respective second rail 20 relative to the respective first rail 18 , as will be described below. The catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 are operatively connected by a connection tube 26 . The connection tube 26 is adapted to help the catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 to selectively lock in unison.
[0021] The catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 are also operatively connected by a comfort adjustment bar 28 . The comfort adjustment bar is adapted to allow an occupant of the seat to selectively unlock or release the catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 in order to allow the occupant to adjust the position of the seat. The comfort adjustment bar 28 is a first actuator used to manually operate the catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 . The catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 will be described in detail below.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 3 , a detailed perspective view of the catch and memory assembly 24 is shown. The catch and memory assembly 24 includes a support bracket 32 . The illustrated support bracket 32 is made of steel and is welded to the second rail 20 ; however, the support bracket 32 may be made of other desired materials, and may be attached to the second rail 20 by other desired fasteners, such as by pins, rivets, adhesives, or threaded fasteners. The catch and memory assembly 24 also includes an activation bracket 34 . The activation bracket is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the support bracket 32 . The connection tube 26 is fixed relative to the support bracket 32 . The activation bracket 34 may be fixed to the connection tube 26 by any desired fasteners, including welding, pins, rivets, adhesives, or threaded fasteners. A spring 36 is adapted to provide a force to bias the activation bracket relative to the support bracket in the direction indicated by the arrow 38 .
[0023] The catch and memory assembly 24 also includes a track lock sled or a first sled 40 a and a memory lock sled or a second sled 40 b. The first sled 40 a and the second sled 40 b are mounted for sliding movement relative to the support bracket 32 . A first sled spring 42 a is adapted to bias the first sled 40 a relative to the support bracket 32 in the direction indicated by the arrow 44 . A second sled spring 42 b is adapted to bias the second sled 40 b relative to the support bracket 32 in the direction indicated by the arrow 44 .
[0024] The catch and memory assembly 24 is operatively connected to the backrest 14 by a Bowden cable 46 . The Bowden cable 46 is a second actuator used to operate the catch assembly 22 and the catch and memory assembly 24 . The Bowden cable 46 is supported by the support bracket 32 by a support flange 48 . When the backrest 14 is dumped, or pivoted from a generally upright use position to a more forward position in order to facilitate access to a space behind the bucket seat 10 , the Bowden cable 46 applies a force to the activation bracket 34 in the direction indicated by the arrow 50 . The force 50 applied by the Bowden cable 46 is sufficient to overcome the biasing force of the spring 36 . Therefore, when the backrest 14 is dumped, the activation bracket 34 is rotated in an activation direction, indicated by arrow 52 . The effects of this will be explained in reference to the following figures.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 4 , a cross sectional view of the catch and memory assembly 24 is shown. FIG. 4 illustrates the catch and memory assembly 24 when the backrest 14 is in its raised position. The activation bracket 34 is shown in a disengaged position. In addition to the components previously described, the catch and memory assembly 24 includes a track lock assembly, shown schematically at 54 . The track lock assembly 54 will not be described in detail, but may include any desired assembly that can releasably prevent relative movement between the first rail 18 and the second rail 20 . When the track lock assembly 54 is engaged, it prevents movement of the second rail 20 relative to the first rail 18 . The track lock assembly 54 includes a lock activation pin 56 . The lock activation pin 56 may be actuated to disengage the track lock assembly 54 . The track lock assembly 54 also includes a lock activation member 58 operatively connected to the comfort adjustment bar 28 . The lock activation member 58 may be actuated to disengage the track lock assembly 54 , thereby permitting fore and aft movement of the bucket seat 10 . The lock activation pin 56 and the lock activation member 58 are shown in their respective non-actuated positions in FIG. 4 . Therefore, the track lock assembly 54 is engaged in FIG. 4 and the second rail 20 is unable to move relative to the first rail 18 .
[0026] The catch and memory assembly 24 also includes a memory module, indicated generally at 60 . The memory module 60 includes a memory activation pin 62 . The memory activation pin 62 may be actuated to engage the memory module 60 . The operation of the memory module 60 will be described in detail below.
[0027] The catch and memory assembly 24 also includes a sled block 184 . The sled block 184 is mounted to pivot relative to the support bracket 32 about a block pivot 186 . A block spring 188 is adapted to bias the sled block 184 in a blocking direction, indicated by arrow 190 . A protrusion 192 on the sled block 184 is adapted to engage with the first sled 40 a in order to prevent movement of the sled block 184 in the direction indicated by arrow 190 beyond the position shown in FIG. 4 .
[0028] Referring now to FIG. 5 , a cross sectional view similar to that shown in FIG. 4 is illustrated. The catch and memory assembly 24 is shown in the configuration it is in when the backrest 14 has been dumped. As shown in FIG. 5 , the Bowden cable 46 has applied a force to the activation bracket 34 and the activation bracket 34 has been rotated in the activation direction 52 (as shown in FIG. 3 ). The activation bracket 34 is shown in an engagement position. The activation bracket 34 is adapted to engage the lock activation pin 56 when the activation bracket 34 is in the engagement position. Thus, the activation bracket 34 actuates the lock activation pin 56 causing the track lock assembly 54 to disengage.
[0029] The activation bracket 34 also includes a sled engagement surface 66 . The sled engagement surface 66 is adapted to move the first sled 40 a when the activation bracket 34 is in the engagement position. The sled engagement surface 66 applies a force to the first sled 40 a sufficient to overcome the biasing force of the first sled spring 42 a (shown in FIG. 3 ). Thus, the sled engagement surface 66 moves the first sled 40 a to a sled activated position, in the direction indicated by arrow 68 . The first sled 40 a is adapted so that when the first sled 40 a is moved to the activated position, is moves the second sled 40 b to an activated position, also in the direction indicated by the arrow 68 . It should be appreciated that the second sled 40 b is moved against the force of the second sled spring 42 b (shown in FIG. 3 ). The first sled 40 a and the second sled 40 b are shown in their respective activated positions in FIG. 5 .
[0030] The second sled 40 b includes a memory engagement surface 70 . The memory engagement surface 70 is adapted to engage the memory activation pin 62 when the second sled 40 b is in the activation position. When the memory activation pin 62 is engaged, the memory module 60 is moved to a memory activation position, in the direction indicated by arrow 72 . The operation of the memory module 60 will be described in detail below.
[0031] The second sled 40 b also includes a sled catch 74 . The sled catch 74 is adapted to interoperate with a sled lock 76 in order to releasably lock the second sled 40 b in the activated position. The illustrated sled catch 74 is an integral component of the plastic second sled 40 b and the illustrated sled lock 76 is a plastic piece that is fixed relative to the comfort adjustment bar 28 . It should be appreciated that the comfort adjustment bar is movable upwards and downwards (as viewed in FIG. 5 ) and is biased in the upwards direction, therefore, the sled lock 76 is also movable. The sled lock 76 may be made of other desired materials, such as metal, and may not be connected to the comfort adjustment bar 28 , if desired. The sled catch 74 and the sled lock 76 include cam surfaces adapted so that the sled lock 76 is pushed downward when the second sled 40 b moves in the direction indicated by the arrow 68 . This allows the second sled 40 b to move into the activated position. The sled catch 74 and the sled lock 76 further include engaging surfaces that prevent the second sled 40 b from moving away from the activated position. It should be appreciated that while one embodiment of the sled catch 74 and the sled lock 76 has been described, the sled catch 74 and the sled lock 76 may be made of other materials, and may be designed to interact in a manner other than that specifically illustrated, if desired.
[0032] When the first sled 40 a is in the activated position, the sled block 184 is no longer engaged with the first sled 40 a. The sled block 184 is therefore biased further in the direction indicated by the arrow 190 by the block spring 188 . The sled block 184 will move in the direction indicated by the arrow 190 until the sled block 184 engages with a memory nut 152 of the memory module 60 . The memory nut 152 will be described in detail below.
[0033] Referring now to FIG. 7 , there is shown an exploded, perspective view of the memory module 60 . The memory module 60 includes a memory mounting bracket 96 that is adapted to be attached to the second rail 20 by rivets 98 . The memory mounting bracket 96 may be attached to the second rail 20 by other desired fasteners, such as by pins, adhesives, threaded fasteners, or by welding. The memory module 60 also includes a memory arm 100 . The memory arm 100 is attached for pivoting movement relative to the memory mounting bracket 96 by a pivot shaft 102 . The memory module 60 includes a memory spring 104 that biases the memory arm 100 in a memory deactivation direction, indicated by the arrow 92 . The illustrated memory spring 104 is a coil spring disposed around a sleeve 108 that is placed around the pivot shaft 102 . It should be appreciated that the memory spring 104 may be any desired biasing member, such as a resilient member or a counter weight.
[0034] The memory activation pin 62 is attached to the memory arm 100 . It should be appreciated that when the second sled 40 b is moved to the activated position (as shown in FIG. 5 ) the memory arm 100 is moved to the memory activation position (as indicated by the arrow 72 in FIG. 5 ) over the biasing force of the memory spring 104 .
[0035] In further reference to FIG. 7 , the memory module 60 includes a memory wheel 110 . The memory wheel 110 is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the memory arm 100 . The memory wheel includes a plurality of teeth 112 . The illustrated memory wheel 110 is a metal wheel with a plastic over mold. It should be appreciated that the memory wheel 110 may be made of other desired materials.
[0036] The memory module 60 also includes a face place 114 . A first side 116 of the face plate 114 includes an axle 118 and a stub 120 . The axle 118 is adapted to be held in an axial opening 122 defined on the memory arm 100 . The stub 120 is adapted to be held in a stub opening 124 defined on the memory arm 100 . Therefore, the face plate 114 is fixed relative to the memory arm 100 .
[0037] A first side 126 of the memory wheel 110 includes a spring space 128 . A wheel hub 130 is located at the axis of the memory wheel 110 within the spring space 128 . As shown in reference to FIG. 8 , a second side 132 of the face plate 114 includes a face plate hub 134 . The face plate hub 134 is adapted to cooperate with the wheel hub 130 to allow the memory wheel 110 to rotate relative to the face plate 114 when the memory module 60 is assembled. The face plate 114 fits onto the memory wheel 110 such that the face plate 114 covers the spring space 128 .
[0038] The memory wheel 110 also includes a clock spring 136 . The clock spring 136 is located within the spring space 128 . The clock spring 136 includes a first end 138 and a second end 140 . The first end 138 of the clock spring 136 is fixed relative to the memory wheel 110 at a wheel attachment point 142 . The second end 140 of the clock spring 136 is fixed relative to the face plate 114 at a face plate attachment point 144 . The operation of the clock spring 136 will be described in detail below.
[0039] As shown in FIG. 8 , a second side 146 of the memory wheel 110 includes a threaded axle 148 . The threaded axle 148 is coaxial with the center of the memory wheel 110 . A second axle 118 a is located on the end of the threaded axle 148 , and is coaxial with the axle 118 . The second axle 118 a is adapted to be held by the memory arm 100 in order to allow rotation of the memory about the axle 118 and the second axle 118 a . Alternatively, the axle 118 and the second axle 118 a may be replaced by a single axle that passes through the memory wheel 110 . The second side 146 of the memory wheel 110 also includes a wheel end stop 150 . The wheel end stop 150 is a raised face generally perpendicular to the second side 146 of the memory wheel 110 . The wheel end stop 150 is generally parallel with the axis of the memory wheel 110 . It should be appreciated that the wheel end stop 150 may have a different configuration or orientation from that illustrated. Also, the memory wheel 110 may include more than one wheel end stop 150 . For example, there may be two wheel end stops located on the same diameter of the second side 146 but on opposite sides of the threaded axle 148 . The function of the memory wheel end stop 150 will be described below.
[0040] Referring back to FIG. 7 , the memory module 60 also includes a memory nut 152 . The memory nut 152 is a molded metal piece, but may be made of other desired material and methods. The memory nut 152 includes a threaded opening 154 that is adapted to fit onto the threaded axle 148 of the memory wheel 110 . The memory nut 152 also includes a stop hook 156 that is adapted to engage a stop shaft 158 . The memory nut 152 is able to slide freely along the stop shaft 158 . The stop shaft 158 is adapted to be fixed relative to the memory arm 100 at a stop mount 160 .
[0041] The memory nut 152 also includes a nut end stop 162 . The nut end stop 162 is a raised face generally perpendicular to memory nut 152 . The nut end stop 162 is generally parallel with the axis of the threaded opening 154 . It should be appreciated that the nut end stop 162 may have a different configuration or orientation from that illustrated. Also, the memory nut 152 may include more than one nut end stop 162 . There may be one nut end stop 162 to complement each wheel end stop 150 , although this is not required. The function of the nut end stop 162 will be described below.
[0042] When the memory module 60 is assembled, the face plate 114 is secured relative to the memory arm 100 by the axle 118 and the stub 120 . The memory wheel 110 is connected for rotational movement relative to the face plate 114 by the cooperation of the wheel hub 130 and the face plate hub 134 . An outer end 164 of the threaded axle 148 is supported by rotational movement by the memory arm 100 . The memory nut 152 is supported by the threaded axle 148 and the stop shaft 158 . It should be appreciated that the memory nut 152 is able to rotate relative to the threaded axle 148 , but the stop hook 156 will engage the stop shaft 158 to limit the range of motion of the memory nut 152 . The memory nut 152 includes a nut spring hole 170 that is adapted to hold one end of a nut spring 172 . The nut spring 172 is also attached to the memory arm 100 of the memory module 60 a at an arm spring hole 178 . The nut spring 172 provides a force that biases the memory nut 152 to rotate about the threaded axle 148 in a direction indicated by the arrow 180 . It should be appreciated that rotation of the memory nut 152 is prevented when the stop hook 156 engages with the stop shaft 158 .
[0043] The memory module 60 is configured so that, as the memory wheel 110 rotates, the memory nut 152 slides along the threaded shaft 148 and the stop shaft 158 . The memory nut will then move farther from or closer to the memory wheel 110 depending on which direction the memory wheel 110 is turning. The memory nut 152 is able to approach the memory wheel 110 until the nut end stop 162 engages the wheel end stop 150 . The engagement of these two faces prevents the memory nut 152 from moving any closer to the memory wheel 110 . It should be appreciated that this also prevents further rotation of the memory wheel 110 in the direction that would cause the memory nut 152 to approach the memory wheel 110 . Therefore, the memory nut 152 acts as a blocking mechanism to prevent rotation of the memory wheel 110 in a particular direction beyond a particular point. When the nut end stop 162 engages the wheel end stop 150 , the memory module 60 is said to be in the zero position. The clock spring 136 is pre tensioned when the memory module is in the zero position, although this is not necessary.
[0044] Referring back to FIG. 5 , when the memory module 60 is activated, the memory wheel 110 is moved so that at least one of the teeth 112 engages with openings in a track 166 . The location of the second rail 20 relative to the first rail 18 when the memory module 60 is activated is the memory point. When first rail 18 and the second rail 20 are in these relative positions, the memory module 60 is in the zero position. When the second rail 20 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 , the engagement of the teeth 112 with the track 166 causes the memory wheel 110 to rotate. The rotation of the memory wheel 110 causes rotation of the threaded axle 148 . The rotation of the threaded axle 148 will cause rotation of the memory nut 152 . The memory nut 152 will rotate along with the threaded axle 148 until the memory nut engages the memory arm 100 .
[0045] Referring to FIG. 9 , a side view of the teeth 112 engaged with the openings in the track 166 is shown. In the position shown in FIG. 9 , the memory module is in the zero position and at the memory point. As can be seen, one of the plurality of teeth 112 is a stop tooth 112 a. The stop tooth 112 a includes a tooth stop surface 194 that is adapted to engage with one of a plurality of track stop surfaces 196 on the track 166 . In the illustrated embodiment, the tooth stop surface 194 and the track stop surfaces 196 are planar surfaces; however, these surfaces may have other desired shapes. In the illustrated embodiment, only one of the plurality of teeth 112 is a stop tooth 112 a. The rest of the plurality of teeth 112 do not include the tooth stop surface 194 . Alternatively, more than one of the plurality of teeth 112 may include the tooth stop surface 194 , if desired. It should be appreciated that each track stop surface 196 corresponds to a position that may be the user-selected position. The spacing between the track stop surfaces 194 corresponds to the adjustment increment of the track lock assembly 54 . Therefore, in all positions that the track lock assembly 54 can lock the second rail 20 relative to the first rail 18 , one of the track stop surfaces 196 is available to engage the tooth stop surface 194 .
[0046] Referring to FIG. 10 , a view similar to that shown in FIG. 9 is illustrated, when the memory wheel 110 has been moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 . Each of the plurality of teeth 112 includes a leading edge 198 . As the memory wheel 110 moves, leading edge 198 engages with the track 166 , causing the memory wheel 110 to rotate. The clock spring 136 provides a biasing force on the memory wheel 110 in the direction indicated by the arrow 200 . As a result, only the leading edges 198 of the teeth 112 drive rotation of the memory wheel 110 . When the memory wheel 110 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 a, the leading edge 198 will remain engaged with the track 166 as the memory wheel 110 rotates. Referring back to FIGS. 7 and 8 , it should be appreciated that when the wheel end stop 150 engages the nut end stop 162 , the memory wheel 110 will no longer rotate, either due to engagement with the track 166 or due to the biasing force of the clock spring 136 . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9 , the tooth stop surface 194 will engage the track stop surface 196 as the memory wheel 110 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 a, and further movement of the memory wheel in the direction 30 a is prevented.
[0047] Referring now to FIG. 6 , a cross sectional view similar to that shown in FIG. 5 is illustrated. The catch and memory assembly 24 is shown in the configuration it is in when the second rail 20 have been moved relative to the first rail 18 a prescribed distance in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 . In this illustrated embodiment, the prescribed distance is within the range of approximately 3 millimeters to 6 millimeters. However, the prescribed distance may be greater or less, if desired. As shown, the rotation of the memory nut 152 allows the sled block 184 to be moved further in the direction indicated by the arrow 190 by the block spring 188 . The sled block 184 will move in the direction indicated by the arrow 190 so that the sled block 184 remains engaged with the memory nut 152 .
[0048] At this point, the memory nut 152 is unable to rotate further with threaded axle 148 . If the second rail 20 is moved relative to the first rail 18 in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 , the memory nut 152 will remain in its position relative to the memory arm 100 and will rotate relative to the threaded axle 148 . This will cause the memory nut 148 to move away from the memory wheel 110 , as previously described in reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 . It should be appreciated that the memory wheel 110 is also rotating relative to the face plate 114 . As a result, the clock spring 136 is wound more tightly as the memory nut 152 is moved further from the memory wheel 110 .
[0049] In the position illustrated in FIG. 6 , the backrest 14 of the seat 10 has been dumped, and the seat 10 has been moved in the forward direction in order to provide easier access to the space behind the seat 10 . As shown, the track lock assembly 54 remains disengaged because the activation bracket 34 continues to actuate the lock activation pin 56 . Thus, relative movement between the first rail 18 and the second rail 20 is possible. If the backrest 14 is raised when the catch and memory assembly 24 is in this position, then the Bowden cable 46 will no longer apply a force to the activation bracket 34 . However, the activation bracket 34 will remain in the position shown in FIG. 6 . Rotation of the activation bracket 34 relative to the support bracket 34 is constrained because the engagement surface 66 of the activation bracket 34 is engaged with the first sled 40 a. The first sled 40 a locked in the activated position by the sled block 184 . As shown, the protrusion 192 of the sled block 184 is engaged with the first sled 40 a, and prevents movement of the first sled 40 a away from the activated position. As a result, the activation bracket 34 remains in its activated position, and the track lock assembly 54 remains disengaged.
[0050] When the seat 10 is moved in the direction indicated by arrow 30 a back toward the memory point, the memory wheel 110 will be rotated in the opposite direction and the memory nut 152 will be moved back toward the memory wheel 110 . When the seat is approximately 3 to 6 millimeters from the memory point, the catch and memory assembly 24 will be in the configuration shown in FIG. 6 . It should be appreciated that at this point, the end stop 150 of the memory wheel 110 and the nut end stop 162 of the memory nut (seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 ) are in contact with each other. At this point, the memory nut 152 is unable to move any closer to the memory wheel 110 . As the seat 10 is moved further toward the memory point, the memory nut 152 therefore rotates along with the memory wheel 110 . The memory nut 152 rotates until the stop hook 156 engages the stop shaft 158 . At this point, the memory module 60 is in the zero position. It should be appreciated that when the memory nut 152 is rotated, it also rotates the sled block 184 to the position illustrated in FIG. 5 . At this point, the protrusion 192 of the sled block 184 is no longer engaged with the first sled 40 a, and the first sled 40 a may be moved away from the activated position in the direction 44 by the first sled spring 42 a (as described and shown above in reference to FIG. 3 ). Thus, the activation bracket 34 is also able to move out of its activated position, and will no longer actuate the activation pin 56 . Therefore, the track lock assembly 54 will engage and will prevent further relative movement between the first rail 18 and the second rail 20 . The seat 10 is now locked in the memory position.
[0051] It should be appreciated that the second sled 40 b remains in its activated position, due to the engagement of the sled catch 74 and the sled lock 76 . Therefore, the memory module 60 remains in its activated position.
[0052] The seat occupant may use the comfort adjustment bar 28 in order to adjust the position of the seat 10 in the vehicle. The comfort adjustment bar 28 is adapted so that use of the comfort adjustment bar will disengage the track lock assembly 54 . This allows the occupant to move the second rail 20 relative to the first rail 18 . The comfort adjustment bar 28 is also adapted so that use of the comfort adjustment bar will disengage the sled lock 76 and the sled catch 74 . Thus, the second sled 40 b is no longer locked in its activated position, and the second sled 40 b will be moved away from its activated position by the second sled spring 42 b (shown in FIG. 3 ). When the second sled 40 b is no longer in its activated position, it no longer engages the memory activation pin 62 and the catch and memory assembly is in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4 . The memory module is able to return to a non-activated state. Thus, the seat may be moved both forward and backward without being blocked by the memory module.
[0053] Operation of the bucket seat 10 will now be described in order to clarify the operation of the track assembly 16 and the catch and memory assembly 24 . An occupant of the bucket seat 10 may use the comfort adjustment bar 28 to release the track lock assembly 54 . Use of the comfort adjustment bar 28 also releases the second sled 40 b, and sets the memory module 60 to the zero position. This allows the occupant to move the bucket seat 10 fore and aft to a user-selected position. When the bucket seat 10 is at the user-selected position, the comfort adjustment bar 28 is released and the track lock assembly 54 engages.
[0054] As shown in FIG. 1 , the illustrated bucket seat 10 may include a number of handles 168 . The handles 168 are included for illustrative purposes only, and are representative of various non-limiting options for actuating the mechanism (not shown) used to move the backrest to the dumped position. When a user wishes to gain access to the space behind the bucket seat 10 , one of the handles 168 may be used to actuate the easy entry. The handle 168 releases the backrest 14 , allowing it to move from its use position to a more forward, easy entry position. It should be appreciated that using the handle may cause the backrest 14 to be dumped or biased toward the easy entry position, or may require the user to move it manually to the easy entry position. The movement of the backrest 14 to the easy entry position causes the Bowden cable 46 (shown in FIG. 3 ) to apply a force to the activation bracket 34 . This force causes the activation bracket 34 to rotate in the direction 52 .
[0055] Referring now to FIG. 4 , the activation bracket 34 is shown in this rotated state. Rotation of the activation bracket 34 depresses the lock activation pin 56 , which disengages the track lock assembly 54 . It should be appreciated that the bucket seat 10 may be biased in a forward direction, in order to facilitate access to the space behind the bucket seat 10 . Rotation of the activation bracket 34 also moves the first sled 40 a in the direction 68 to its activated position. The first sled 40 a in turn moves the second sled 40 b to its activated position. The second sled 40 b activates the memory module 60 and causes the memory wheel 110 to engage the track 166 . The activation of the memory module 60 records the user-selected position or the memory point of the bucket seat 10 . The bucket seat 10 may now be moved in the forward direction, indicated by arrow 30 .
[0056] It should be appreciated that the bucket seat 10 cannot be moved in the aft direction, because movement in that direction is blocked by the memory module 60 . If an attempt is made to move the bucket seat 10 in the rearward direction, the tooth 112 of the memory wheel 110 will engage with the track 116 , and a force will be applied to turn the memory wheel 110 . However, the end stop 150 of the memory wheel 110 is engaged with the nut end stop 162 of the memory nut. This acts as the blocking mechanism to prevent further rotation of the memory wheel 110 . Therefore, the memory module 60 prevents rearward movement of the bucket seat 10 . Because the teeth 112 of the memory wheel 110 are engaged with the track 166 , the rearward force will be supported by at least one of the teeth 112 of the memory wheel. It should be appreciated that the memory module 60 only prevents rearward movement past the user-selected position, and the bucket seat 10 may be moved forward of the user-selected position, and rearward up to the user-selected position, without that movement being prevented by the memory module 60 .
[0057] When it is desired to return the bucket seat 10 to its original posture, the backrest 14 is raised to its use position. When the backrest 14 is raised to its use position and the seat is returned to the memory point. At this point, the first memory sled is no longer held in its activated position by either the activation bracket 34 or the sled block 184 . Therefore, the first sled 40 a and the activation bracket 34 both move out of their respective activated positions and the track lock assembly 54 engages, preventing further movement of the bucket seat.
[0058] It should be appreciated that while the memory module 60 and the catch and memory assembly 24 have been described for use with a particular seat track assembly, the memory module 60 or the catch and memory assembly 24 may be used with any desired track assembly.
[0059] The principle and mode of operation of this invention have been explained and illustrated in its preferred embodiment. However, it must be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically explained and illustrated without departing from its spirit or scope. | An adjustable memory track assembly for a vehicle seat has a lower rail adapted to be secured relative to a vehicle frame, and an upper rail adapted to support the seat for fore/aft sliding movement relative to the lower rail. The adjustable memory track assembly also has a track lock assembly operable via a first actuator between a locked, engaged state wherein relative movement between the lower and upper rails is resisted, and an unlocked, disengaged state wherein the seat can be slid to and then locked in a user-selected position. A memory module is operable via a second actuator to record the user-selected position. The second actuator is also operatively connected to disengage the track lock assembly to allow forward movement of the seat from the user-selected location to a forward location, and thereafter allow rearward movement of the seat back to, but not past, the user-selected location. The adjustable memory track assembly is characterized in that the memory module is provided with a blocking element to prevent rearward movement of the seat past the user-selected position independent of the locking state of the track lock assembly. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices for treating material webs and in particular to devices for treating material webs having drying cylinders cooperating with treatment apparatus such as coating, pigment, or sizing applicators.
2. Description of Related Technology
In machines which include the in-line treatment of running webs of material, such as those equipped with coating devices for applying coatings, pigments, and/or sizing onto a web of paper or cardboard, it is desirable to have the flexibility to optionally direct the web of material through the machine so as to bypass a certain coating device or devices. It can be difficult to rebuild existing machines to provide for means to bypass coating devices because of lack of space, for example, where the coating device to be bypassed cooperates with a group of drying cylinders of a paper machine.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to overcome one or more of the problems described above. It is also an object of the invention to provide a space-saving device which allows for the bypassing of a coating application device. Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide such a device in which the bypass route is short and the bypassing means is simply constructed.
A device according to the invention for treating material webs comprises first and second neighboring drying cylinders separated by an intermediate space. The intermediate space has a length substantially equal to about twice the diameter of the first or second cylinder. The device includes at least a first deflecting roll disposed in the intermediate space and in a path of a material web conveyed through the device. The device further includes at least a second deflecting roll disposed below the coating device and above the intermediate space. The second roll is adapted to feed a web of material upwardly into the coating device.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawing and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a device according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A device according to the invention may suitably be incorporated into an existing machine having a group of drying cylinders and cooperating application devices. The inclusion of the inventive device into an existing machine results in only a slight increase in the entire machine length. A device according to the invention allows for the switching of a web conveyance path so as to bypass a coating application device. The means for bypassing the coating device is disposed in an area that corresponds at most to twice the diameter of a drying cylinder. The coating device is typically disposed above this intermediate space. Preferably, dryers are disposed downstream of the coating device which heat the material web utilizing infrared radiation or hot air. If an existing machine is altered to result in a device according to the invention, two neighboring drying cylinders merely must be removed to create the intermediate space and appropriate deflecting guide rolls may then be positioned in the intermediate space.
A device according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The device includes a drying group including a plurality of drying cylinders, preferably having about the same diameter, of which cylinders 46, 49, and 50 are shown. The circles shown in phantom and designated 47 and 48 represent two drying cylinders removed from an existing device to provide an intermediate space I for elements of a device according to the invention. The reference numerals 46-50 may also correspond to the continuous numbering of drying cylinders in a paper machine. The drying group shown in FIG. 1 includes two upper and lower rows of drying cylinders. The cylinders 46 and 50 are shown in the upper row and the cylinder 49 is shown in the lower row. An embodiment of the invention (not shown) may include an arrangement of the drying cylinders wherein the cylinder 46 is in the lower row and the cylinder 49 is in the upper row. With respect to the direction of conveyance of a material web through the machine, the cylinder 46 is upstream of the intermediate space I and the cylinder 49 is downstream of the intermediate space I.
A deflecting or guide roll 16 is disposed in the intermediate space I downstream of the drying cylinder 46, with respect to the direction of conveyance of a material web W through the machine. As shown in FIG. 1, a material web W may be conveyed from the drying cylinder 46 into the intermediate space I by the deflecting roll 16 and then by deflecting or guide rolls 18 and 19 to a coating device C. Alternatively, the web of material W may be conveyed from the drying cylinder 46 into the intermediate space I by the deflecting roll 16 and then by a another deflecting guide roll 17 also disposed in the intermediate space I to the drying cylinder 49, thus bypassing the coating device C. Preferably, a device described with respect to FIG. 1 is utilized with material webs made from paper or cardboard.
The coating device C preferably consists of two press-gap-forming press rolls, also known as web guide rolls 1 and 2. Coating application devices, generally 3 and 3', cooperate with the guide rolls 1 and 2, respectively. The application device 3 includes a coating blade or blade holder 5 attached to a bed support 7 which holds a doctor roll 6. A damping plate 8 is also mounted on the device 3 and is disposed in front of a surface of the press roll 1 upstream of the doctor roll 6. Coating material from a coating chamber 9 is applied to the cylinder 1 at a space formed between the damping plate 8 and the doctor roll 6. The coating material in the coating chamber 9 is preferably at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure.
The coating application devices 3 and 3' are substantially identically constructed in mirror-image fashion. Therefore, the elements of the application device 3' designated by the reference numerals 5', 6', 7', 8', and 9' are substantially identical in design and function to the elements 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the application device 3. Each web guide roll 1 and 2 rotates with the coating applied thereon by the application devices 3 and 3' being transported into the press-gap formed therebetween through which a material web is conveyed, thus coating the material web.
A plane running through a rotational axis of each web guide roll 1 and 2 preferably deviates at most 20° from the horizontal.
Downstream of the coating device C are heating installations 51, 52, and 53, which can operate based on infrared heating or with hot air.
Downstream of the heating installations are deflecting rolls 21, 22, and 23 which guide the coated and predried web W to the drying cylinder 50 and any other drying cylinders (not shown) required to completely dry the material web W.
The coating device C can only be utilized with a web of material that is substantially dry, i.e. at least 75%, and preferably at least 80% of the moisture should be removed from the material prior to coating. Moisture measuring equipment 40 is disposed between the guide rolls 16 and 18.
The coating device C is suitable for impregnating the web of material W with sizing or for coating with a pigment.
The rolls 1 and 2 of the coating device are preferably disposed on a higher machine floor or on a machine foundation which is on a higher tier than the drying cylinder group (rolls 46, 49 and 50).
A device according to the invention preferably provides a very short web conveyance path when bypassing the coating device because the distance between the drying cylinders at either side of the intermediate space I is at most two diameters in length, based on a series arrangement of the drying cylinders.
An advantage of the device according to the invention is that, when a web tears at the coating machine, it can be simply passed into a lower level of the machine before threading it in again. When an existing machine is rebuilt to provide a device according to the invention which allows for the bypassing of a coating machine, all that is lost is the heating performance of the two drying cylinders 47 and 48.
The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. | A device for treating material webs includes first and second neighboring drying cylinders separated by an intermediate space. The intermediate space has a length substantially equal to about twice the diameter of the largest of the first and second cylinders. The device includes at least a first deflecting roll disposed in the intermediate space and in a path of a material web conveyed through the device. The device further includes at least a second deflecting roll disposed below a coating device and above the intermediate space. The second deflecting roll is adapted to feed a web of material upwardly into the coating device. | 3 |
The priority benefit of the Apr. 14, 2000 filing date of U.S. provisional application No. 60/197,220 is hereby claimed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a local access network that links nodes with a free space optical channel. In particular, the invention relates to a network that brings telephony and data services to the home without a need for wire or fiber to the home.
2. Description of Related Art
Free space optical transmission links are known and can provide broadband service potentially superior to that of radio wireless services. However, the free space optical transmission links are degraded in adverse environment conditions. It has been a challenge to offer continued service when high data rate optical links are unavailable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Free space optical channels link together plural distributed switching nodes into a network. A central controller commands these nodes over a known radio telephone system to select alternative network routes to a destination that will bypass adverse environment conditions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a network with broadband performance even in the presence of adverse link conditions such as rain or fog. It is a further object of the present invention to provide 911 services and critical low speed data services in the presence of adverse link conditions.
These and other objects are achieved in a communication system that includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of point-to-point links that interconnect the plurality of nodes into a network. Each node includes an optical switch to controllably route a plurality of in-ports of the optical switch into a plurality of out-ports of the optical switch. Each point-to-point link includes a free space optical channel. A first free space optical channel couples to a first node through a receive path and through a transmit path. The receive path couples to a respective in-port of the optical switch of the first node, and the transmit path couples to a respective out-port of the optical switch of the first node.
These and other objects are achieved in an alternative embodiment of a communication hub that includes a plurality of neighborhood links to corresponding users, an optical switch coupled to the plurality of neighborhood links, and a trunk coupled between the optical switch and a free space optical channel link to the network.
These and other objects are achieved in a method of communicating in a network having plural links that includes sensing the presence of a received signal failure by monitoring channel losses in a first link, the received signal failure resulting from at least one of rain and fog. The method further includes sending data in a free space optical channel of the first link when the received signal failure is sensed due to rain and sending the data in an RF channel of the first link when the received signal failure is sensed due to fog.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in detail in the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a broadband local access communication system according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a metro communication network of the system of FIG. 1 according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a node of the metro communication network according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic of an outdoor unit (ODU) according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an alternative configuration to process an inbound optical WDM signal on a multi-mode fiber into an optical WDM signal on a single-mode fiber according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a local communication hub according to the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a demultiplexer for wavelength division multiplex signals as used in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, access communication system 1 includes metro grid communication system 10 as a first-level system, direct customer specific point-to-point links to customer sites 104 as a second-level system, and pole-to-home links to customers' homes 102 from a neighborhood pole 100 as a third-level system. Communication system 1 serves metropolitan areas characterized by tall buildings to support nodes of the system in metro grid 10 , and it extends to the limits of neighborhoods 2 or suburbs of the metropolitan area. Each link of metro grid 10 preferably supports an optical signal or channel 3 (as shown in FIG. 2) and an RF signal or channel 36 (as shown in FIG. 2) that may be selectively enabled depending on weather conditions.
Within neighborhood 2 , towers and/or poles 100 often serve to support nodes in the local neighborhoods. Services for the neighborhoods are wavelength multiplexed together (for optical signals) and/or frequency multiplexed together (for RF signals) and linked between neighborhood pole 100 and metro grid 10 .
Some sites, for example a business in either the metro area or the neighborhoods, may require a dedicated high-speed link. To serve this need, a customer-specific point-to-point link is established to customer site 104 . Such a point-to-point link typically carries a single wavelength optical signal and/or a single frequency RF signal.
Area communication system 1 is advantageously linked to other communications systems. For example, another communication system 5 might be linked via fiber link 6 to area communication system 1 , and communication system 5 might be, for example, a SONET ring system.
In FIG. 2, communication system 10 includes a plurality of nodes, depicted as nodes 12 , 14 , 16 and 18 , that are typically located on the top of buildings, at windows in buildings or on the outside walls of buildings in metropolitan areas and on towers elsewhere. Each node is coupled to a network control system that includes central controller 20 , land lines 22 and one or more radio towers 24 . Radio towers 24 communicate with the nodes over wireless links 26 . The control system may advantageously include a typical cellular telephone system, controller 20 (located at a convenient location) and cell phone transceiver 46 at each node to direct the operation of communication system 10 .
The nodes are configured into a network by a plurality of point-to-point links 30 of which link 32 is typical. Each link, as depicted by link 32 , includes a bidirectional (e.g., duplex) free space optical channel 34 . However, in any single link, there may be only a unidirectional channel. Furthermore, in an alternative embodiment of the invention as discussed below, one or more links, as depicted by link 32 , further includes radio frequency (RF) channel 36 . RF channel 36 and free space optical channel 34 complement each other. The RF channel propagates better than the optical channel through fog and the optical channel propagates better than a millimeter wave RF channel through rain.
Each node includes at least one outdoor unit 40 (hereinafter ODU), and typically a plurality of ODUs. For example, eight ODUs 40 are depicted in FIG. 2 on the top of a building at node 12 . Each ODU is coupled to switch circuit 42 through respective cables 44 . Each ODU couples free space optical signals received over link 30 into cable 44 , and propagates optical signals in a fiber in cable 44 as free space optical signals over link 30 . In some embodiments of the invention, each ODU also couples data from an RF path received over link 30 into cable 44 and propagates data over an RF path from cable 44 over link 30 . Typically, cable 44 includes two fibers to carry inbound and outbound optical signals and, if the respective link includes an RF channel, the ODU includes inbound and outbound RF cables (e.g., coax cables). Switch circuit 42 is controlled by controller 20 through cell phone transceiver 46 .
The free space optical channel (hereinafter FSOC) can transmit super high bandwidths that no other wireless technology can offer. However, the FSOC availability is degraded when fog sets in. A best way to harness the bandwidth offered by the FSOC technology is to use it in an “as available basis” and to have radio channels for backup and redundancy when the optical channel is unavailable. The drawback with a radio channel as a backup or for redundancy is that a radio channel cannot support the bandwidth that can be carried over an FSOC. However, a radio channel can continue to offer services at a lower data rate.
FIG. 2 shows four nodes in a network connected to each other. Fog cell 38 is shown in this figure to show that an FSOC can go out of service. Also shown are laser beams and their wavelengths connect the FSOC links. The radio frequency chosen for the backup link should have complementary characteristics or should be fade-free for the link under consideration. For example, the optical channel and the radio channel should not fade at the same time. The spectrum chosen for the radio link is either a 38 GHz radio or an ISM band spectrum (i.e., industrial, scientific and medical band including 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 960 MHz, 400 MHz and 200 MHz bands). The 38 GHZ radio (mm-wave) fades under rainy conditions and does not fade when there is fog. This is because the wavelength of the mm-wave is of the order of the size of raindrops. The converse applies to the optical beams, where the optical wavelength is of the order of the size of the water fog droplet. As a result, in fog the optical beam scatter, resulting in heavy attenuation to the optical beam. To transmit at mm-wave band, one needs to own a license for the frequency spectrum. An advantage of this is that no interference or jamming by other mm-wave users should occur.
With the growth in RF IC designs, there are radios available in the license-free ISM band. A 5 GHz radio in the UNII band is a good candidate for the redundant path since this offers good transmission characteristics, line of sight link and uses 802.11 as a standard. In addition to this backup radio link, cellular phone transceiver 46 is shown at each node. This may be a standard mobile cell radio connected to the FSOC controller 20 located at a network operation center or elsewhere. Controller 20 communicates with all the cellular radios to send commands and receive status information from all the nodes.
In FIG. 3, a portion of node 50 include ODUs 52 , 54 and 56 , cell phone transceiver 46 , switch 60 , optical-to-electrical-to-optical interfaces 62 , and cables 44 . Each ODU includes a telescope 74 , an RF unit 76 and an input/output interface 45 . Interface 45 enables the ODU to send outbound signal traffic from outbound fiber 78 selectably to either telescope 74 or RF unit 76 . Interface 45 also enables the ODU to receive inbound signal traffic on inbound fiber 79 selectably from either telescope 74 or RF unit 76 . The routing of interface 45 is controlled by signals from transceiver 46 .
Telescope 74 of ODU 56 focuses inbound optical signal 34 into a multi-mode fiber, and the inbound signal is routed through interface 45 to inbound single-mode fiber 79 . Optical-to-electrical-to-optical interfaces 62 include plural optical detectors 64 (e.g., photo diode, avalanche photo diode, photo transistor, etc.) to convert optical signals from, for example, inbound single mode fiber 79 into electrical signals on electrical bus 66 . Optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 also includes driver-amplifier and laser source 68 to provide an optical signal that is coupled through input single-mode fiber 70 into switch 60 . Local controller 58 under commands from cellular phone transceiver 46 controls switch 60 to reflect the optical signal into output single-mode fiber 72 . The optical signal passes through output single-mode fiber 72 , through single-mode fiber 78 , through interface 45 into telescope 74 of ODU 52 to transmit free space optical signal 34 outbound.
Add and/or drop multiplexers 84 from the building in which node 50 is located are coupled through electrical bus 82 and bus controller 80 into or from bus 66 . Add and/or drop fiber optic lines 88 from the building in which node 50 is located are coupled through converter 86 (e.g., having a fused biconic taper and detector on the optical receive side and a laser on the transmit side) through electrical bus 82 and bus controller 80 into or from bus 66 .
In the event that fog blocks the optical channel of the link served by ODU 52 , transceiver 46 communicates with controller 20 which in turn sends commands via radio link 26 or equivalent land line links to local controller 58 . Local controller 58 commands interface 45 so that optically converted inbound radio signal 36 is coupled from RF unit 76 , through interface 45 into inbound fiber 79 of cable 44 in the place of the optical signal from telescope 74 . In a variant, some or all of the ODUs include gimbles (one or two axes) and servo controllers commanded by cell phone transceiver 46 to repoint the telescope and RF unit.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a node, and it shows three FSOC link telescopes on which are mounted mm-wave or ISM band radio. Also shown in this figure is a cellular radio output connected to local controller 58 which, in turn, controls a MEMs (or other optical) switch. The MEMs switch provides the redirection (routing) of the optical beams, which is controlled by a local controller. The inputs to the local controller are from the cellular radio terminal, or the redundant radio link. There are three links at each node: first is an optical link for high-speed data transmission; second is a radio link for redundant lower speed data; and third is a cellular radio link for command and control. The command and control information on the cellular radio is preferably fed to the radio link to provide redundancy to the control data at nodes in cases when cellular link is not available. Additional redundancy is obtained by sending the data on the radio to the optical link either by FDM (frequency), TDM (time) or WDM (wavelength) on the optical wavelength.
The only elements of the link that need be on the roof, at a window or on a side of a building are the outdoor units (ODUs). In FIG. 4, an outdoor unit includes telescope 74 , rotation gimbal 47 , nod gimbal 48 , servo controller (not shown), the radio unit 76 and input/output interface 45 . The ODU interfaces with two optical connectors 78 , 79 that form cable 44 (see FIG. 3 ). The optical transmit signal is connected to the ODU by single-mode fiber 78 coming from the laser transmitter which is located in an indoor unit (IDU). The optical receive signal from interface 45 is connected to the IDU by single-mode fiber 79 . Interface 45 includes fiber optic splitter 45 - 1 to split the signal from fiber 78 into two optical signals carried on respective fibers to RF detector 76 - 1 and telescope 74 , respectively.
RF unit 76 includes optical detector 76 - 1 (e.g., a photodiode) and laser source 76 - 2 (e.g., a laser diode or an LED). Optical detector 76 - 1 converts an optical signal received from splitter 45 - 1 into an electrical signal to modulate the RF unit. Laser source 76 - 2 modulates an electrical signal received by RF unit 76 into an optical signal for transmission over a fiber to optical detector 45 - 2 . Interface 45 further includes optical to electrical converters 45 - 2 and 45 - 3 (also called detectors, e.g., photodiodes). Optical detector 45 - 2 receives the optical signal from laser source 76 - 2 (or RF unit 76 ), and optical detector 45 - 3 receives the optical signal from telescope 74 . Telescope 74 concentrates the received signal into a multi-mode fiber that is coupled to optical detector 45 - 3 . The electrical outputs from detectors 45 - 2 and 45 - 3 are provided to single-pole double-throw electrical switch 45 - 4 . Detectors 45 - 2 and 45 - 3 are also coupled to signal quality monitor 45 - 5 that is in turn coupled to control electrical switch 45 - 4 . Monitor 45 - 5 determines through which channel (optical or RF) the strongest signal is received, and then commands switch 45 - 4 to provide the strongest signal to laser source 45 - 6 . Laser source 45 - 6 converts the electrical signal into an optical signal on single-mode fiber 79 . In the IDU, as shown by FIG. 3, the optical receive signal from fiber 79 is converted to an electrical signal on electrical bus 66 by optical detector 64 (e.g., photodiode) and then re-modulated as an optical signal by laser source 68 (e.g., laser diode) and propagated over a single-mode fiber into MEMS switch 60 . Interface 45 is controlled by transceiver 46 to select either RF or optical duplex operation.
As shown in FIG. 3, co-located to the IDU is an electrical add-drop multiplexer (ADM) 84 and connection to a passive optical node (PON) network 88 . The optical beam received from a distant link is available at the output of the ODU, which is connected to the IDU by a multi-mode fiber. This allows all the active optical elements to be inside the building in a controlled environment for reliability and flexibility to operate.
Optical links are made out of the ODU and IDU. The IDU has the laser transmitters and optical receivers. The power output and wavelength is selected by the IDU. The output from the laser is fed to the MEMs optical switch for routing. The routed output of the MEMs switch is connected to the telescope in the ODU by a single-mode fiber. The optical receiver at the IDU is connected by a multi-mode fiber from the ODU. The optical receiver converts the optical signal into electrical. This allows the optical beam received through the free space to be converted to electrical by direct detection.
In FIG. 5, a variant circuit 140 as an alternative configuration includes a multi-mode wavelength demultiplexer 142 coupled between inbound multi-mode fiber 79 and optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 . Demultiplexer 142 separates the inbound WDM signal on single-mode fiber 79 into plural signals dependent on wavelength. In the figure, the inbound signal is separated by demultiplexer 142 into three optical signals, defined by wavelengths λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 , and the three single wavelength optical signals are provided on output multi-mode fibers 144 , 146 and 148 . The three single wavelength optical signals are processed through optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 and, from there, are provided on respective single-mode fibers 154 , 156 and 158 .
Optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 processes signals as discussed with respect to FIG. 3 . Optical detector 64 converts an optical signal on inbound multi-mode fiber (e.g., 144 ) into an electrical signal on electrical bus 66 , and laser source 68 (e.g., a laser diode) converts the electrical signal on electrical bus 66 into an optical signal on a single-mode fiber (e.g., 154 ). A function of optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 is to convert an optical signal carried in a multi-mode fiber into an optical signal carried on a single-mode fiber. A difference between single-mode and multi-mode fibers is the fiber diameter. For wavelengths in the 1550 nanometer band, a fiber having a diameter of from 9 to 12 microns will only support a single mode. However, if the diameter were larger (e.g., 60 microns or more), multiple modes could propagate within the fiber. An optical signal received by a telescope can be focused into a multi-mode fiber to achieve low coupling loss. Optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 detects the optical signal from a multi-mode fiber (e.g., 144 , 146 or 148 ) and reconstitutes the optical signal in a single-mode fiber (e.g., 154 , 156 or 158 ) at respective wavelengths λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 .
In FIG. 5, biconic taper fiber 152 (or similar functioning device) combines signals that are carried in single-mode fiber 154 , 156 and 158 and provides the combined WDM signal to optional optical amplifier 150 . Amplifier 150 is preferably an erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) but may be of other design. Amplifier 150 provides the amplified signal level that is provided to MEMS switch 60 (see FIG. 3 ).
Radio links of the system use LAN (10base-t or 100base-t) interface cards. The data field in the LAN has the address and status information of all the nodes in the network. This would allow any node in the network to know the status of any other node. By providing a dedicated data field in the LAN, it is possible to offer 911 services and a few voice calls. The rest of the data field is used for information transfer. When more than one branch fails, the “information data field” is shared by the failed branches as in the case of a LAN.
The purpose of the cellular link is to provide an interface to the remote controller to monitor and control the nodes. There is a cellular radio installed at each node that works with the local cellular radio provider. When the optical received signal strength falls below a certain level, it generates an alarm that the cellular radio transmits to the controller. The controller uses this information to send the required commands to the nodes for reconfiguration. The cellular radio has a data interface card to transmit locally generated alarms and status conditions and to receive commands from the remote controller.
The ADM and distribution cards are located at the IDU. The electrical signals generated by the optical receiver are used locally for distribution or regenerated if required and sent to a laser for routing through the links, or to a PON for distribution. The E bus shown in FIG. 3 has all the electrical signals obtained from the optical receivers.
In a second embodiment, this architecture has only two layers, optical and cellular without the radio layer. This would allow for cost reduction and spectrum unavailability for the radio link. In this architecture, the optical link provides the data throughput, and the cellular radio provides the monitoring, management of the network node and a 911 call capability.
As discussed with respect to FIG. 1, a customer specific point-to-point link to customer site 104 , for example a business, is typical of a site that may require a dedicated high speed link in either the metro area or the neighborhoods. To serve this need, a point-to-point link is established that typically carries a single wavelength optical signal and/or a single frequency RF signal (e.g., a 38 GHz radio). The optical and RF channels each serve as a back up link for the other based on weather where multiple broadband radio links are required at the subject node location. Cellular or other low data rate wireless links are used for monitoring, command and control.
In FIG. 6, local hub 100 is mounted on a neighborhood pole or suitable tall structure in the neighborhood to be served with “to the home” service. Local hub 100 includes optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface 62 , electro-optical switch 60 , and cellular phone transceiver 46 . The cellular phone transceiver controls the local hub by relaying commands received from radio tower 24 over wireless link 26 and reporting status to radio tower 24 over wireless link 26 . Control of local hub 100 by way of the radio link is the same as control of the network depicted in FIG. 2 .
Local hub 100 includes a WDM or DWDM fiber coupler 120 . Coupler 120 is a tree configuration providing for the multiplex and/or demultiplex of multiple wavelength optical signals in a fiber. FIG. 7 shows a 1×16 fiber-based coupler 120 where a single fiber carrying 16 wavelengths (λ 1 through λ 16 ) is demultiplexed into 16 individual fibers, each carrying a corresponding wavelength.
Local hub 100 further includes 1×2 electro-optical switch 116 . Hub 100 is connected through 1×2 electro-optical switch 116 to the network depicted in FIG. 2 over fiber links 114 or over free space optical channel (FSOC) link 112 . A wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical signal received from a network is demultiplexed in coupler 120 and routed appropriately through switch 60 and interface 62 . A demultiplexed optical signal of the appropriate wavelength may be routed to homes 102 over a distance of several hundreds of meters using FSOC telescopes mounted on the pole, tower or building on which the hub is mounted. When home 104 is too far from hub 100 , a length of optical fiber may be used to carry the signal to an FSOC telescope located closer to the home. When plural homes 105 are too far from hub 100 , a length of optical fiber is used to carry optical signals to an all-fiber-based optical coupler 106 , suitably located to broadcast via FSOC telescopes to homes 105 . Similarly, all-fiber-based optical coupler 106 separates other wavelengths and can deliver data on fiber cables 108 directly to one or more homes 107 without going through FSOC telescopes. In exactly the reverse direction, optical signals from homes 102 , 104 , 105 and 107 are transported to interface 62 and switch 60 and then to coupler 120 . Coupler 120 is coupled through switch 116 either to FSOC link 112 to the network of FIG. 2 or to optical fiber cables 114 to the network of FIG. 2 .
Routing of the data network through the FSOC link is shown in FIG. 6 . In this embodiment the optical and radio architecture is used for low cost wide distribution local access “pole to home”. In this arrangement a micro local hub is located at the base of a suitable structure (pole, tower or building), or similarly to the above embodiments, roof mounted. The local hub is designed to receive fiber fed optical signals that may be from a FSOC link or from fiber routed to the neighborhood. Optical signals entering the optical-to-electrical-to-optical transceiver interface will be in a single-mode format where possible, but in the case of the FSOC receiver interface, will be a multi-mode format until such time as a low loss multi-mode to single-mode conversion can be achieved.
The fiber and/or FSOC interface is routed through a 1×2 optical/electrical switch. Note that the multi-mode signal from the FSOC device is first electrically detected and converted back into a single-mode optical signal prior to going through the optical switch.
The optical signals are then fed to all-fiber-based couplers with a tree structure providing the multiplex of multiple wavelengths in a 1×2, 1×16 or 1×N configuration (providing customer wavelength selected allocation, see FIG. 7 ). Such devices allow customer data to be loaded onto a single wavelength. Standard wavelength non-specific all-fiber technology can be used in this application, but at the cost of significantly lowering the optical signal to noise ratio and a requirement that detectors at the customer end must receive and process all the transmitted wavelengths.
The wavelength selected individual fiber outputs are then directed to the network side of a MEMs-based or other optical switc, each with a 1×16 to 1×N selectable output. The presence of the switch is similar to the above-described MEMS switch embodiment in that it provides an overlaying RF cellular-based switch selection architecture for routing and restoration of customer channels; it also provides an added capability of service activation/deactivation via remote (cellular control of the switches' micro optical mirrors).
The single-mode specific wavelength optical signal output to the customer is fiber-fed to a dedicated ground-level local “fiber to the home” or a low cost FSOC device mounted on a suitable structure for short 100-200 meter transmissions to the customer premise. A number of optical, radio, fiber and cable “deployments to the home” scenarios are possible with this MEMs-based optical/RF hub application.
The return path is a single-mode signal for fiber-dedicated arrangements; but a multi-mode signal received from the FSOC bulk optics focal plane is electrically detected and converted back to a single-mode optical signal via a low cost single wavelength laser transmitter and launched back into the MEMs switch for return path routing. A more flexible embodiment would use wavelength selectable lasers for the return path located at the hub's customer-side optical-to-electrical-to-optical interface where by selection of suitable single-mode wavelengths that can be multiplexed back into the network fiber.
The MEMs switch channels the return path optical signal to a suitable receiver port on the network all-fiber couplers side of the MEMs switch. The all-fiber couplers multiplex the multiple single-mode wavelength return path signals, regenerate them if necessary, or launch them back into the neighborhood's return path fiber or roof-top FSOC device.
Having described preferred embodiments of a novel local access network (which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments of the invention disclosed which are within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Having thus described the invention with the details and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desired protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims: | A communication system includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of point-to-point links that interconnect the plurality of nodes into a network. Each node includes an optical switch to controllably route a plurality of in-ports of the optical switch into a plurality of out-ports of the optical switch. Each point-to-point link includes a free space optical channel. A first free space optical channel couples to a first node through a receive path and through a transmit path. The receive path couples to a respective in-port of the optical switch of the first node, and the transmit path couples to a respective out-port of the optical switch of the first node. In an alternative embodiment, a communication hub includes a plurality of neighborhood links to corresponding users, an optical switch coupled to the plurality of neighborhood links, and a trunk coupled between the optical switch and a free space optical channel link to the network. A method of communicating in a network having plural links includes sensing the presence of a received signal failure by monitoring channel losses in a first link, the received signal failure resulting from at least one of rain and fog. The method further includes sending data in a free space optical channel of the first link when the received signal failure sensed is due to rain and sending the data in an RF channel of the first link when the received signal failure sensed is due to fog. | 7 |
The present invention relates to a self-service terminal (SST), such as an automated teller machine (ATM). In particular, the invention relates to an SST adapted for bank note deposit as well as dispensing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When bank notes are deposited at an ATM it is necessary to determine if the notes are legal or counterfeit. One process used in this determination is the taking of an image of each deposited note. This is achieved using a high resolution, at 100 dots per inch (DPI) or greater camera system. In addition it is now a legal requirement, of some licensing authorities such as the European Central Bank, to be able to trace each deposited note back to the customer who deposited the note.
As every bank note carries a serial number, printed in substantially the same place with standard sized characteristics, it would seem ideal to use the imaging technology within the ATM to trace the notes. Each note can then be referred to the user who deposited the note. However, notes can be deposited, as customers demand, at very high speeds (greater than 5 notes per second). At this speed the recognition engine comprising the high resolution camera operates at closer to 40 DPI. This resolution is sufficient to recognize the image of a note, but it is not good enough to read a serial number off of a note.
Therefore, it would appear that in order to utilize imaging to trace notes to a user very much more expensive higher resolution cameras and optics will be required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is among the objects of an embodiment of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above disadvantage or other disadvantages of prior art self-service terminals.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a self-service terminal comprising: a fascia having a note entry/exit slot; and a note processing module for processing notes deposited via the slot, the note processing module including a note transport mechanism for transporting notes between the slot and a note imaging means, the imaging means being arranged to scan the notes at a first speed, the transport mechanism including a loop arranged to transport notes through the imaging means a second time at a second speed, said first speed being greater than said second speed.
Preferably, the terminal comprises means for making a determination as to the validity of the note prior to imaging the note for a second time and wherein only notes that are considered to be invalid are imaged a second time.
Preferably, the terminal comprises a storage bin transport means arranged to transport imaged notes to the storage bin.
Preferably, the terminal further comprises a reject bin and transport means arranged to transport an imaged note to the reject bin if a determination is made that the note is invalid.
Alternatively, the terminal comprises an exit chute and transport means arranged to transport an imaged note back to the user if a determination is made that the note is invalid and the terminal determines that the user who deposited the note is still operating the terminal.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a note processing module including a note transport mechanism for transporting notes between the slot and a note imaging means, the imaging means being arranged to scan the notes at a first speed, the transport mechanism including a loop arranged to transport notes through the imaging means a second time at a second speed, said first speed being greater than said second speed.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of depositing a bank note, the method comprising the steps of: transporting a bank note between an entrance slot and a note imaging means, utilizing the imaging means to scan the notes at a first speed, transporting said notes through the imaging means a second time at a second speed, wherein said first speed is greater than said second speed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specific description, given by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram of a self-service terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic sectional diagram showing a part (the deposit module) of the terminal of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a pictorial diagram of a part (the lower dispense area) of the terminal illustrated in FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in a deposit operation; and
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved in an alternative deposit operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference is first made to FIG. 1 , which illustrates a self-service terminal 10 in the form of a deposit ATM. The ATM 10 comprises a fascia 12 pivotably coupled to a chassis (not shown); an upper panel 14 mounted to the chassis and defining an aperture 16 through which a camera (not shown) images a user of the ATM 10 ; and a lower panel 18 hingeably coupled to the chassis (not shown) so that the lower panel 18 can be opened to reveal a safe (not shown) mounted in the chassis (not shown).
When the lower panel 18 is open, the fascia 12 can be pivoted upwards to reveal ATM modules mounted within the chassis (not shown).
The fascia 12 and lower panel 18 provide a user interface 20 for allowing a user to execute a transaction. The fascia 12 includes a handset 30 and a telephone keypad 32 for allowing a user to contact a remote operator (not shown) typically located in a call center (not shown). The fascia 12 also includes an encrypting keyboard 34 for allowing a user to enter transaction details, and a display 36 for presenting screens to a user.
The fascia 12 also defines eight slots for receiving and dispensing media items, and a tray 40 into which coins can be dispensed. The slots include: a money order printer slot 42 , a bunch note input slot 44 , a bunch note exit slot 46 , a statement output slot 48 , a cash dispense slot 50 , a card reader slot 52 , a card issue slot 54 , and a note input/output slot 56 . The slots 42 to 56 and tray 40 are arranged so that when the fascia 12 is closed, the slots and tray align with corresponding ATM modules mounted within the ATM's chassis (not shown).
The user interface features described above are all provided on an NCR PERSONAS™ 5878 financial services center ATM, available from NCR Financial Solutions Group Limited, Discovery Center, 3 Fulton Road, Dundee, DD2 4SW, Scotland.
However, in this embodiment of the invention an NCR PERSONAS™ 5878 ATM has been modified to include a lower dispense area 58 . The dispense area 58 is located beneath the note input/output slot 56 and is fed by a deposit module 60 located within the ATM chassis (not shown).
The deposit module 60 will now be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 . FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic sectional diagram (along line 2 - 2 in FIG. 1 ) showing part of the fascia 12 and lower panel 18 , and the main parts of the module 60 . FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the main elements in the module 60 .
The module 60 is a modified version of a conventional deposit module.
The module 60 comprises the following elements: a note input/output transport mechanism 70 including an alignment mechanism for aligning a note; a MICR head 72 for reading magnetic details on a code line of a note (if present); an imager 74 including an upper 74 a and lower 74 b CCD camera for capturing an image of each side of a note (front and rear); a printer 76 and a storage bin 78 for storing processed notes. The transport mechanism 70 includes two divert gates 80 a , 80 b for diverting notes to either a reject bin 82 or a chute bin 84 . The elements ( 70 to 82 ) are conventional and will not be described in detail herein.
The module 60 also includes a controller 86 for controlling the operation of the elements ( 70 to 80 ) within the module 60 .
The chute bin 84 includes a chute 88 in the form of a steep, sloping plastics guide arranged to deliver a note from the transport mechanism 70 to the dispense area 58 using the force of gravity.
The module 60 also includes an entrance shutter 90 for opening and closing the input/output slot 56 , and a dispense area shutter 92 for allowing user access to the chute 88 .
A typical transaction will now be described with reference to FIG. 4 , which is a flowchart illustrating the steps involved, in one embodiment, in depositing a note.
Initially, a user enters an account card into the card reader slot 52 , selects “deposit” from a list of transaction options presented on the display 36 , and inserts the note to be deposited through the input/output slot 56 (step 100 ).
The module controller 30 opens the slot shutter 90 to receive the note, and transports the received note (step 110 ) to the imager 74 where both sides of the note are imaged (step 112 ).
A determination is then made as to the validity of the note (step 114 ). If the note is not considered to be valid then the note is transported around the loop 70 A at a lower speed than previously (step 116 ), allowing the camera to re-image the note such that these images have a relatively higher resolution (e.g., 100 DPI) than the previous images. In this way a clear image of the serial number on the note can be obtained. The serial number can now be associated together with the user conducting the transaction, and both can be stored in an ATM transaction log (e.g., using the journal printer) to allow subsequent investigation of this transaction should such investigation be necessary (such as if the note is subsequently determined to be counterfeit).
As this re-imaging happens, the time taken does not impinge on deposit transaction times as witnessed by the user. During this process the same user can be accessing other ATM services or a subsequent user can be gaining access to the ATM services by entering his or her account card and PIN etc. in the usual manner. During this second scan the serial number of the note is imaged. After the first scan valid notes are transported to the storage bin 78 ( FIG. 2 ) (step 118 ).
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 the terminal is arranged to re-scan all deposited notes, without first making a determination as to the validity of the note. In all other ways the embodiment of FIG. 5 is the same as that of FIG. 4 .
Various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment within the scope of the invention. In addition, although the invention has been described in terms of bank notes other financial instruments such as checks can be deposited in the same manner and the term “note” in the invention as claimed is intended to cover that possibility. Also, this document and related drawings refer to a single note acceptor. However, the invention will also apply to a bunch note acceptor with an ESCROW or some means of storing the notes. | A self-service terminal ( 10 ) comprises: a fascia ( 12 ) having a note entry/exit slot ( 56 ); and a note processing module ( 60 ) for processing notes deposited via the slot. The note processing module ( 60 ) includes a note transport mechanism ( 70, 70 A) for transporting notes between the slot and a note imaging means ( 74 ) arranged to scan the notes at a first speed. The transport mechanism includes a loop ( 70 A) arranged to transport notes through the imaging means ( 74 ) a second time at a second speed, the first speed being greater than said second speed. | 6 |
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to an internal combustion engine having an exhaust driven turbocharger and more particularly to control a wastegate in response to pressure in an exhaust system.
BACKGROUND
Due to desired performance characteristics of internal combustion engines, exhaust gas driven turbochargers must be regulated to achieve desired charge-air pressures over a wide range of engine speeds. Charge air pressure is related to turbocharger speed and turbocharger speed is related to the flow of an exhaust gas stream through a turbine portion of the turbocharger. Many exhaust driven turbochargers include a wastegate that permits a portion of the exhaust gas stream of the engine to bypass the turbine portion.
Typical exhaust driven turbochargers have a pressure responsive canister control module that is operably connected to the wastegate. The canister control module includes a movable diaphragm (or piston) having a linkage and a spring or biasing member. The piston is exposed to atmospheric pressure and the spring on one side and a charge air pressure on the other side. As the charge air pressure increases beyond a predetermined value, the piston and linkage are moved toward the biasing member, causing the wastegate to open, in turn slowing the turbocharger.
However, some internal combustion engines, such as those used in some large work machines, are configured to operate in a manner that may prevent this type of control strategy from working well. One such example is, an internal combustion engine configured to have a high torque rise in relation to engine speed. In other words, the engine is configured so that as the engine speed is decreased, the output torque of the engine is increased at a faster than normal rate. To help increase the torque at a faster rate, the turbocharger is configured to provide higher charge air pressure at lower engine speed.
One disadvantage with this type of engine configuration is that the charge air pressure does not vary much over the normal operating range of engine speed. Due to the lack of charge air pressure variation, wastegate control strategies based on charge air pressure may not provide enough control of the turbocharger. This may cause the turbocharger to operate at extremely high speeds, resulting in damage or reduced turbocharger life.
One example of a control system that does not use charge air to control the wastegate is U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,125 issued to General Motors Corporation on Apr. 27, 1993. In this system the wastegate is controlled by the pressure of the exhaust pushing the wastegate open. Additionally, the wastegate assembly includes an adjustable biasing mechanism to control how much pressure is required to open the wastegate.
One possible problem related to using exhaust pressure to control the wastegate is that exhaust pressure fluctuates greatly as each exhaust valve opens. Also, the temperature of exhaust gas is much higher than that of charge air exiting the compressor portion. Existing canister control modules may not operate with the extreme temperatures of exhaust gas. Particulates in the exhaust gas may build up in a control mechanism and reduce dependability of the control system.
This invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above identified problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an aspect of the present invention, a mechanism is provided for controlling the wastegate of a turbocharger. The mechanism includes a canister control module, a conduit having a first end in fluid communication with an exhaust system and a second end in fluid communication with the canister control module. An actuator is positioned in the canister control module and is responsive to pressure from the exhaust system. The actuator being adapted to move the wastegate between a first and a second position, the first position allowing fluid communication between the exhaust system and a turbine portion of the turbocharger and the second position allowing partial bypassing of the turbine portion.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling a wastegate of a turbocharger is provided. The method includes directing a portion of exhaust gas from an exhaust system to an actuator, exerting a force with the portion of exhaust on the actuator and moving the wastegate to the open position when exhaust gas is above a predetermined pressure.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, is an internal combustion engine having a control mechanism for controlling the wastegate of a turbocharger. The control mechanism includes a canister control module having a pressure region, a conduit in fluid communication with the canister control module and an exhaust system, and an actuator positioned in said canister control module. The actuator is adapted to move the wastegate between a first and a second position, in the first position the wastegate allows fluid communication between an exhaust system and an inlet to a turbine in the turbocharger. In the second position the wastegate permits partial bypassing of the turbine portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an internal combustion engine having a turbocharger in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of a turbocharger and the interconnection of a canister control module of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a canister control module and related pressure communication components as embodied in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference to FIG. 1 an internal combustion engine 10 includes a conventional exhaust driven turbocharger 12 having a compressor portion 14 and a turbine portion 16 . The compressor portion 14 includes a compressor wheel (not shown) and the turbine portion 16 includes a turbine wheel (not shown). The compressor wheel and turbine wheel are rotatably coupled by a shaft 18 . The compressor portion 14 is fluidly coupled to an intake manifold 20 on the engine and the turbine portion 16 is fluidly coupled to an exhaust system 22 on the engine. The exhaust system 22 typically includes an exhaust manifold 23 and exhaust tube 24 .
With reference to FIG. 2 the turbocharger 12 includes a housing 25 surrounding the compressor portion 14 and a turbine portion 16 . The shaft 18 is disposed within the housing 25 . The compressor portion 14 further includes an air inlet 26 and an air outlet 28 . The air inlet 26 is open to the atmosphere, but an air filter system (not shown) may be provided near the air inlet 26 . The air outlet 28 is fluidly coupled to the intake manifold 20 . An aftercooler (not shown) may be provided at a location between the air outlet 28 and the intake manifold 20 . The turbine portion 16 further includes a turbine inlet 30 , a turbine outlet 32 and a conventional wastegate assembly 34 . Typically, the turbine inlet 30 is in fluid communication with the exhaust manifold 23 , and the turbine outlet 32 is coupled to the exhaust tube 24 .
The wastegate assembly 34 is pivotally mounted within the housing 25 on a pin 36 and is moveable between an first (open) position and a second (closed) position. The pin 36 extends outside of the housing 25 and a bell crank 38 is externally coupled to the pin 36 . The bell crank 38 includes a first bore 40 that engages the pin 36 and second bore 42 positioned at a predetermined distance from the first bore 40 . The bell crank 38 is movable between a first position 44 and a second position 46 . First position 44 relates to, wastegate assembly 34 closed, and second position 46 relates to wastegate assembly 34 open.
A canister control module 48 is mounted on the engine 10 or the turbocharger 12 . The canister control module 48 includes a body 50 , an actuator 49 or a piston 51 , a control linkage 52 attached to the piston 51 , and an inlet port 53 . The body 50 includes a cylindrical wall portion 54 , a first end 56 and a second end 58 . The first end 56 is closed and includes the inlet port 53 . The second end 58 is open to the atmosphere and may include a pair of mounting studs 60 . The mounting studs 60 are adapted to fasten to a common mounting bracket (not shown). It should be noted, that any conventional mounting arrangement may be substituted for the one described without departing from the scope of the present invention. The control linkage 52 extends through the second end 58 of the canister control 48 and is adapted on a first end 64 to pivotally engage the second bore 42 of the bell crank 38 .
With reference to FIG. 3, a sectional view of the canister control 48 is illustrated. The control linkage 52 has a second end 66 attached to the piston 51 . The piston 51 is disposed within the cylindrical wall portion 54 of the canister control 48 . The piston 51 is moveable between a first position 70 and a second position (not shown) near the second end 58 of the body 50 . A diaphragm 72 or seal is disposed between the piston 51 and the cylindrical wall portion 54 of the body 50 . The diaphragm 72 or seal isolates the first end 56 of the body 50 from the second end 58 . A spring 74 , or alternate biasing member, is positioned between the second end 58 of the body 50 and the piston 51 . The inlet port 53 of the canister control 48 is adapted to engage a hose 76 or tube in a conventional manner.
As shown in the previous figures, the inlet port 53 of the canister control 48 is fluidly coupled to a hose 76 or tube at a first end 78 . A second end 80 of the hose 76 is fluidly coupled to the exhaust system 22 .
Within the hose 76 , a replaceable porous filter 82 may be disposed. The porous filter 82 may be constructed of stainless steel, ceramic, or any other media capable of withstanding engine exhaust gases. Additionally, a dampening volume 84 and cooling apparatus 86 may be provided within the hose. The dampening volume 84 may be a cylindrical member 88 positioned between the first end 78 and second end 80 of the hose 76 . Alternately, the dampening volume 84 may consist of an enlarged diameter portion (not shown) of the hose 76 . The cooling apparatus 86 may be provided in a number of conventional manners. One example is through the use of a heat exchanger positioned in the hose, possibly in conjunction with the dampening volume 84 . The heat exchanger may be as simple as a tube connected to a supply of engine coolant at a first end and connected to a radiator return line at a second end. Alternately, the cooling apparatus may be provided by having an extended portion of the hose 76 or tube exposed to an air stream having a cool temperature relative to the exhaust. An orifice 90 is additionally positioned in line with the hose 76 , preferably located between the filter 82 and dampening volume 84 .
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
In operation, exhaust gas from the engine 10 is directed to the turbine portion 16 , additionally exhaust gas is directed to the canister control 48 by way of the hose 76 (or conduit). The exhaust gas enters the canister control 48 through the inlet port 53 and acts on the piston 51 . As the pressure of the exhaust gas increases sufficiently to overcome the combined force of the spring 74 and atmospheric pressure, the piston 51 moves toward the second end 58 of the canister control 48 . The control linkage 52 moves with the piston 51 and causes the bell crank 38 to rotate, which in turn opens the wastegate assembly 34 . Opening of the wastegate 34 allows a portion of the exhaust gas to bypass the turbine portion 16 , thus slowing the speed of the turbocharger 12 .
To compensate for fluctuations of exhaust gas pressure due to the opening of and closing of exhaust valves, an orifice 90 and dampening volume 84 may be included in the hose 76 between the exhaust system 22 and inlet port 53 . The orifice 90 acts to resist the fluctuations in exhaust gas pressure and the dampening volume 84 serves to absorb fluctuations.
The filter 82 is preferably positioned in the hose 76 nearest to the exhaust system 22 as reasonably possible, the filter 82 prevents particulate matter from entering and further restricting the orifice 90 or other components.
The cooling apparatus 86 functions to cool the exhaust gas temperature down stream of the cooling apparatus 86 . Reduced exhaust gas temperature may help prevent damage or wear to components such as the canister control 48 module. | Engines having turbochargers with a mechanically actuated wastegate typically control the wastegate in response to the air pressure at an outlet of a compressor portion of the turbocharger. Some engine configurations don't provide enough compressor outlet pressure variation to suitably control the wastegate. In the present invention, a control strategy is provided for opening and closing a wastegate based on exhaust gas pressure. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to processes for making polyamide fiber and more particularly to a process for making polyamide fiber which contains additives including catalysts, stabilizers or both and the products made thereby which are particularly useful as staple for papermaking machine felt.
Stabilizers are often added to polyamides such as nylon 66, poly(hexamethylene adipamide), and nylon 6, poly(ε-caproamide), for the purpose of reducing thermal degradation and chemical attack. High levels of such stabilizers are desirable when the intended use of such fiber is in an environment with particularly harsh conditions. One such use of polyamide fiber is as staple used as in papermaking machine felts. Such felts are often exposed to highly alkaline, oxidizing aqueous solutions which can seriously shorten the service life of the felt.
There are several known methods for adding the stabilizing agents to polyamides. One method is to introduce a solution of the stabilizer into an autoclave during the polymerization step. The amount of stabilizer which can be introduced by this method is limited, however, due to the violent foaming that occurs during autoclave polymerization when stabilizers are added in solution form. A similar reaction occurs when large amounts of stabilizer solutions are added to continuous polymerizers. The normal maximum concentration in polyamides on commercial autoclaves and continuous polymerizers using this method is typically 0.05 weight %.
For fiber to be used for papermaking machine felts, it is also desirable sometimes to spin polyamides which have a high formic acid relative viscosity to improve resistance to wear from flexing, impact and abrasion. It has been demonstrated that an increase in molecular weight of a polyamide will increase the toughness, modulus of elasticity, and impact resistance. However, when the polyamide supply for such fiber is polyamide flake, it is often difficult to obtain the desired high relative viscosity while maintaining polymer quality, i.e., low level of cross-branching. While it would be desirable to increase the relative viscosity in the flake by using a high quality of catalyst in an autoclave, it has been found that difficulties similar to those encountered with stabilizers can occur when attempting to add catalysts in high quantity. In addition, high quantities of catalyst in the autoclave can cause severe injection port pluggage and complications to injection timings during autoclave cycles. High quantities of catalysts injected into continuous polymerizers place stringent demands on equipment capability because of high levels of waterloading.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The invention provides a process for making polyamide fiber including:
melt-blending polyamide polymer comprising at least about 75% by weight of poly(hexamethylene adipamide) or poly(ε-caproamide) and having a formic acid relative viscosity of about 20 to about 50 with a polyamide additive concentrate comprising polyamide polymer and an additive selected from the class consisting of stabilizers, catalysts and mixtures thereof to form a molten polymer which contains about 0.05 to about 2 weight % of the additive; and
extruding the molten polymer from a spinneret to form a fiber having a denier per filament of 1 to 40.
In one preferred form of the invention, the additive is a catalyst selected from the class consisting of alkali-metal, alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphites; alkali-metal, alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphates; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphonic acids; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphinic acids; and mixtures thereof and the relative viscosity of the polyamide polymer is increased prior to extruding. Most preferably, the relative viscosity of the polymer is increased by at least about 30 units and is increased such that the residence time of the additive in the molten polymer before extruding is not more than about 60 minutes.
In another preferred form of the invention, the additive is a stabilizer selected from the class consisting of alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phenols; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphites; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphonates; and mixtures thereof.
The invention is capable of adding high amounts of stabilizers and/or catalysts to polyamides which could not be done effectively otherwise and is particularly desirable for polyamides being processed on single or twin screw-melter extruders. The invention is capable of increasing the relative viscosity of a polyamide while maintaining excellent polymer quality.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Polyamides used for the main polymer source in the process in accordance with the invention and which constitute the resulting fibers are at least about 75 weight % poly(hexamethylene adipamide) (nylon 66) or at least about 75 weight % poly(ε-caproamide) (nylon 6). Generally, for industrial use where strength and thermal stability are important, it is preferable for the amount of comonomers and other polyamides mixed with the poly(hexamethylene adipamide) or poly(ε-caproamide) to be less than about 5 weight %. Because of a balance of properties including dimensional stability which is imparted to the resulting fiber and reasonable melt-processing temperatures, homopolymer poly(hexamethylene adipamide) (6,6 nylon) is the most preferred polyamide for the main polymer source in the practice of the present invention. The formic acid relative viscosity of the main polyamide used is about 20 to about 50.
The additive concentrates useful in accordance with the present invention can contain one or more of a wide variety of generally linear, aliphatic polycarbonamide homopolymers and copolymers. For example, homopolymer poly(hexamethylene adipamide) (nylon 66), poly(ε-caproamide) (nylon 6), and poly(tetramethylene adipamide) (nylon 46) can be used. Other polyamides which may be used are poly(aminoundecanoamide), poly(aminododecanoamide), polyhexamethylene sebacamide, poly(p-xylylene-azeleamide), poly(m-xylylene adipamide), polyamide from bis(p-aminocyclohexyl)methane and azelaic, sebacic and homologous aliphatic dicarboxylic acids. Copolymers and mixtures of polyamides also can be used. It is preferable for the polyamide used in the concentrate to have a melting point not more than the melting point of the main polyamide and a similar melt viscosity to the main polyamide to facilitate the melt-blending step of the process which will be explained in more detail hereinafter.
When the fiber is for use as felt in a papermaking machine, it is preferable for both the main polyamide and the concentrate to be free of the copper (often added as CuI to polyamides for the purpose of ultraviolet radiation protection) since the presence of copper in the felt fiber catalyzes chemical degradation of the fiber when exposed to chemical compounds such as hypochlorite bleach used in the papermaking process.
The additive in the concentrate is a stabilizer, catalyst or mixture of a stabilizer and a catalyst. Preferred stabilizers are alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phenols; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphites; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphonates; and mixtures thereof. Preferred catalysts are alkali-metal, alkyl-substituted, and/or aryl-substituted phosphites; alkali-metal, alkyl-substituted, and/or aryl-substituted phosphates; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphonic acids; alkyl-substituted and/or aryl-substituted phosphinic acids; and mixtures thereof.
Most preferably, the additive is 1,3,5-trimethyl-2,4,6-tris (3,5-tertbutyl-4-hydroxybenzyl) benzene (sold by Ciba-Geigy under the trademark IRGANOX 1330), N,N'-hexamethylene bis (3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydro-cinnamamide) (sold by Ciba-Geigy under the trademark IRGANOX 1098, and tris (2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite (sold by Ciba-Geigy under the trademark IRGAFOS 168 in combination with IRGANOX antioxidants, e.g., IRGANOX B 1171 is a mixture of IRGAFOS 168 and IRGANOX 1098 in equal quantities by weight.) It should be noted that alkali-metal, alkyl-substituted, and/or aryl-substituted phosphites such as the compound tris (2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite (IRGAFOS 168) can operate as both a stabilizer and a catalyst and, if desired, a mixture of compounds can be used to provide both stabilizer and catalyst functions.
The additive concentrates are made from polyamide polymer and the additives using an intermixer such as a Hogarth blender or the components are melt-blended in a twin screw extruder or like device. The molten mixture is then cast as flake or pellets. Preferably, the amount of additive in the concentrate is about 1 to about 40 weight %.
The concentrate is melt-blended with polyamide from the main polymer source to form a molten polymer which contains about 0.05 to about 2 weight % of the additive, preferably, about 0.1 to about 0.7 weight %. This is preferably accomplished by mixing the polymer from the main source with the concentrate with both in solid particulate form to provide a particulate blend prior to melt-blending. The appropriate proportions of the main polyamide and the concentrate are provided by metering using a gravimetric or volumetric feeder for the concentrate which meters the concentrate through an opening into the main polymer flake supply chute supplying the feed zone of the extruder. A single or twin screw-melter/extruder is suitable for melt-blending. The resulting molten polymer is preferably directly supplied to the polymer transfer line piping for conveyance to the spinneret and, if desired, can be blended further in the transfer line there using inline static mixers such as those sold under the trademark KENICS or under the trademark KOCH, flow inverters or both.
Other methods for melt-blending can be used such as mixing molten polymer from the main source with a molten concentrate or any other appropriate method which provides a homogenous molten polymer mixture containing the additive.
After extrusion into the transferline, the polyamide mixture is supplied by metering pump to a spinneret and extruded and formed into fiber. This can be accomplished using techniques which are well known in the art. For use as staple for papermaking machine felt, the polymer is extruded then drawn as a multifilament yarn or tow and cut to form staple as is also known in the art. The resulting staple fiber can be used in the known manner, e.g., incorporated into a felt for a papermaking machine.
When the additive is a catalyst for the purpose of increasing the formic acid relative viscosity (RV), it is preferable for the relative viscosity to be increased by at least about 30 RV units. In addition, to minimize the opportunity for polymer degration, the melt blending should be performed in close proximity to said spinneret, e.g., just prior to the transfer line which supplies the polymer to the metering pumps for the spinnerets. Preferably, the average residence time of the catalyst in said molten polymer before extruding is not more than about 60 minutes. For the increase in relative viscosity to occur efficiently in the transfer line in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the polyamide has a low water content, preferably less than 0.03 weight % when the average hold up time in the transfer line is 5 to 7 minutes. It is possible to increase the relative viscosity to extremely high levels, e.g., from 60 RV to 216 RV with a under such conditions.
The relative viscosity increase can be controlled to a desired level by modifying the proportions of the supply polymer and concentrate, moisture level and concentration of catalyst in the concentrate. Moisture level can be controlled by flake conditioning before melt-blending and by venting during melt-blending. Because this form of the invention increases relative viscosity only in the transfer line, there is no need for specially modified separator/finisher equipment, etc. on continuous polymerizers or solid phase polymerization or additional flake conditioning capacity on flake-fed melt extruder systems.
Polyamide fiber in accordance with the invention is useful as staple for papermaking machine felt. The fiber denier per filament is 1 to 40 and comprises at least 75 weight % poly(hexamethylene adipamide) polymer. The polymer contains about 0.1 to about 2.0 weight % of a stabilizer selected from the class consisting of 1,3,5-trimethyl-2,4,6-tris (3,5-tertbutyl-4-hydroxybenzyl) benzene, N,N'-hexamethylene bis (3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydro-cinnamamide), and tris (2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite and mixtures thereof, the fiber being substantially free of copper. Preferably, the fiber contains about 0.1 to about 0.7 weight % of the stabilizer. In the fiber, the stabilizer is preferably thoroughly mixed with the polyamide in the fiber.
Preferably, the formic acid relative viscosity of the polyamide of the fiber is at least about 20, most preferably, at least about 35. The most preferred polyamide is at least about 95% poly(hexamethylene adipamide).
Fiber in accordance with the invention used as staple in the batt of papermaking machine felts provides increased service life when compared to conventional staple fiber.
TEST METHODS
Relative viscosity of polyamides refers to the ratio of solution and solvent viscosities measured in capillary viscometer at 25° C. The solvent is formic acid containing 10% by weight of water. The solution is 8.4% by weight polyamide polymer dissolved in the solvent.
Denier: Denier or linear density is the weight in grams of 9000 meters of yarn. Denier is measured by forwarding a known length of yarn, usually 45 meters, from a multifilament yarn package to a denier reel and weighting on a balance to an accuracy of 0.001 g. The denier is then calculated from the measured weight of the 45 meter length.
Tensile Properties: Tenacity and Elongation to break are measured as described by Li in U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,484 at col. 2, line 61 to col. 3, line 6. % Work to Break is the area under the stress-strain curve.
EXAMPLES
In the examples which follow, the additives are identified by their trademarks as indicated below:
1,3,5-trimethyl-2,4,6-tris (3,5-tertbutyl-4-hydroxybenzyl) benzene-IRGANOX 1330
N,N'-hexamethylene bis (3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydro-cinnamamide)-IRGANOX 1098
Tris (2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite in equal quantities with IRGANOX 1098-IRGANOX B 1171
EXAMPLE 1
The staple fibers shown in Table 1 were made by volumetrically metering concentrate pellets of 20% IRGANOX B 1171 co-melted with 80% mixed polyamide carrier (sold by Du Pont under the trademark ELVAMIDE) into the main polyamide flake (homopolymer nylon 66) feed at a rate such that the particulate mixture contains 0.4 weight % IRGANOX B 1171. The concentrate pellets and main polyamide were then melted-blended at 290° C. in a vented, twin screw extruder. The polymer was extruded into a transfer line with a 5 to 7 minute holdup time to a manifold feeding meter pumps at 80 pounds per hour per position. The polymer relative viscosity was 68-72 controlled by varying the vacuum on the barrel of the twin screw. The fiber was extruded through spinnerets in filament form, air quenched, coated with finish (1.0% to 1.5%) and partially drawn to 60 dpf. The spun fibers were then collected in tow form, drawn and crimped to 15 dpf using a 4.0 draw ratio on a draw crimper. The drawn/crimped fibers were crimp set in a steam autoclave at 135° C., dried, then cut as 3 inch staple using a lumus cutter. The fibers had a tenacity of 4.0 to 6.0 gpd and an elongation to break of 80%-100%. The same technique was used to make the different concentrations of IRGANOX 1330 and IRGANOX 1098 in nylon 66 shown in Table 1 except the stabilizer concentrate pellets were made by combining 20% stabilizer with homopolymer nylon 6 instead of the mixed polyamide carrier sold under the trademark ELVAMIDE.
Test fibers made as described above were exposed to 1000 ppm NaOCl @ 80° C., 72 hrs; 3% H 2 O 2 @ 80° C., 72 hrs; and dry heat @ 130° C. for 72 hrs. Denier, tenacity and elogation of each test fiber was checked before and after exposure to the chemical and dry heat tests. The % work to break (area under stress strain curve) change was determined and is an index of the increased protection provided by the addition of stabilizers in accordance with the invention compared with a control with no stabilizer. A summary of results is shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1______________________________________ Chemical Dry Heat Stability Stability15 dpf Nylon 66 % Retained % RetainedSample Work-To-Break Work-To-BreakDescription NaOCl H.sub.2 O.sub.2 130° C. 72 Hours______________________________________Control 9 23 20Nylon 66 27 61 91+0.4 weight %IRGANOX B1171Nylon 66 13 30 64+0.05 weight %IRGANOX 1330Nylon 66 9 22 54+0.2 weight %IRGANOX 1330Nylon 66 7 71 100+0.3 weight %IRGANOX 1098______________________________________
EXAMPLE 2
This example illustrates the significant increase in relative viscosity that is possible when a catalyst is used in a process in accordance with the invention. A 10 weight % concentrate of IRGANOX B 1171 in a mixed polyamide carrier (sold by Du Pont under the trademark ELVAMIDE) is melt-blended with homopolymer nylon 66 that has a weight % water of less than 0.03% in a twin screw extruder. The amount of water the nylon 66 is reduced prior to melt-blending by flake conditioning. As shown in Table 2, the relative viscosity is increased by the volumetric feeding of IRGANOX B 1171 concentrate pellets into the main nylon 66 flake feed when the weight % water in the polyamide flake is at the reduced level of less that about 0.03 weight %. Staple fiber was made as in Example 1. There was no increase in the level of machine breaks or broken filaments of the high relative viscosity test item compared to the control.
TABLE 2______________________________________Sample RVDescription RV Increase______________________________________Control 60 --Nylon 66, <0.3%Water With NoIRGANOX B 1171Test Item 70-75 9-15Nylon 66, <0.3Water + 0.1 weight %IRGANOX B 1171______________________________________ | The invention provides a process for making polyamide fiber with high molecular weight and/or chemical and thermal resistance using conventional single or twin screw extruders. The process includes melt-blending polyamide polymer comprising at least about 75% by weight of poly(hexamethylene adipamide) or poly(ε-caproamide) and having a formic acid relative viscosity of about 20 to about 50 with a polyamide additive concentrate comprising polyamide polymer and an additive selected from the class consisting of stabilizers, catalysts and mixtures thereof to form a molten polymer which contains about 0.05 to about 2 weight % of the additive and extruding the molten polymer from a spinneret and forming a fiber having a denier per filament of 1 to 40. Fibers made by this process have great utility in the batt of papermaking machine felts where they provide improved resistance to wear and/or chemical attack. | 3 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for measuring changes in length or position and for further providing multiple length or position measurements at a precise time. More particularly, the present invention provides enhanced certainty and accuracy in the determination of multiple dynamic positions by substantially reducing the data age differences.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of interferometry to measure changes in position, length, distance or optical length is well known, see for example "Recent advances in displacement measuring interferometry" N. Bobroff, Measurement Science & Technology, pp. 907-926, Vol. 4, No. 9, Sep. 1993 and commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,940 issued Aug. 25, 1987. Rapidly increasing demands and needs for higher accuracy determinations of the precise time at which multiple dynamic interferometric position measurements are taken have fueled numerous efforts to reduce and minimize the various sources of uncertainty that are inherent in currently known methods and apparatus. Prior art methods, e.g., commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,030 issued Sep. 28, 1993 achieve good accuracy for static measurements or for a single dynamic measurement. For many current applications, e.g., in the step-and-scan photolithography tools used to manufacture integrated circuits, many axes must be measured interferometrically so that all position measurements represent known instants of time. Prior art methods for dynamic measurements provide either paired time and position outputs, e.g., as described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,030, or interpolated simultaneous position outputs, e.g., the Hewlett-Packard HP 10897A High Resolution VMEBus Laser Axis Board. Both of these prior art methods suffer from differences in the fixed delays in the measurement and reference signal paths. The sources of the fixed delays are: cable lengths, optical path lengths, photoelectric detector delay (which may also vary with light level), circuit delay (which will vary with signal frequency), and phase meter offset, for example. The effects of these fixed delays are differences in the data age of the measurement, i.e., the elapsed time between the event representing the position measurement, and when the position data is available to the user. Compensation for these fixed delays by adjusting one or more of the same fixed delays is generally impractical. Compensation for these fixed delays in the prior art methods requires knowing the velocity of the object whose position is being measured as well as the delay in each measured axis. An inherent limitation with these prior art methods is that the velocity of the object whose position is being measured cannot be measured well enough if the object is moving at a high velocity or undergoing acceleration, e.g., for a measurement accuracy of ±1 nm, compensating for a delay of 50 ns with a position changing at 1 m/s requires an instantaneous velocity measurement accuracy of ±2%.
There is an unmet need for multiple dynamic interferometric distance or position measurements to be made with substantially reduced data age differences.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for compensating for time delays in the measurement or reference optical and electrical signal paths in an interferometer. The time delay compensation consists of either or both of two mechanisms. A fine adjustment is performed by adjusting the value representing the measured time of the measurement signal occurrence. A coarse adjustment is performed by increasing or decreasing the number of pipeline delay stages in the signal processing path.
In accordance with the present invention, the phase of the measurement signal with respect to a system clock signal is measured by a counter and delay line interpolator, or other means. The phase measurement mechanism provides a first value as an output representing a fraction of the system clock period where the fraction is usually less than one, although it can be one. Different portions of the processing may use different system clock frequencies related by rational constants, with corresponding changes in the interpretation of the phase measurement, as preferred by the particular implementation. A time delay in the measurement signal path may be canceled by addition of an equivalent negative first adjustment to the first value, producing a second value. A time delay in the reference signal path may be canceled by addition of an equivalent positive second adjustment to the second value, producing a third value. The first and second adjustments are preferably combined into a single third adjustment, resulting in the same third value. The first, second and third adjustments may represent times in excess of one system clock period. The third value represents an adjusted time value with an integer part and a fractional part, and may exceed one system clock period. The third value fractional part is used as the time value for further signal processing. The third value integer part is used to adjust the arrival time of the third value fractional part by logically inserting (for positive values) or deleting (for negative values) the same number of pipeline delay stages in the signal processing path. A constant offset may be added to the first, second, or third adjustment to adjust the range of the third value to be suitable for the range of delay adjustment provided in the signal processing path. These adjustments exactly compensate for the delays in the measurement and reference signal paths, independent of velocity.
Since the reference frequency is precisely known, the measured time intervals are converted to measured changes in phase by arithmetic manipulation. The changes in phase are then summed to provide measured position.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a presently preferred interferometer system utilizing the preferred data age compensation in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the preferred data age adjuster portion of the interferometer system of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an apparatus, preferably an interferometer system and most preferably a heterodyne interferometer system, which is operated for simultaneously measuring, for one or more measurement axes, at each sampling or measurement instant, with accuracy and certainty, both relative changes in position--as for example length or optical length--and the relative time when each sample or position measurement is taken.
With initial reference to FIG. 1, a preferred heterodyne interferometer system in accordance with the present invention is shown. A light source 12, such as, preferably, a frequency stabilized laser, generates a pair of substantially equal intensity, orthogonally polarized, optical beams 14, 16 that preferably differ in frequency from each other by f 0 . The optical beams 14, 16 are also, preferably, collinear although they are shown in FIG. 1, merely for clarity and convenience of illustration, as being slightly transversely displaced from each other. The light source may be, for example, as disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,030 with frequency f 0 being, by way of example, preferably on the order of 20 megahertz. The instant invention is not limited to this frequency and may use values substantially lower or substantially higher than the value used here by way of example without departing from the present invention.
The orthogonally polarized optical beams 14, 16 are preferably applied to the interferometer 18 which is preferably configured to measure the length or position of interest. By way of example, the interferometer 18 is shown as a simple linear displacement interferometer in FIG. 1 although the present invention is not limited to only this type of interferometer and can be used with a wide range of types of interferometers, such as, for example, plane mirror, differential, and multiple pass interferometers. In the interferometer 18 shown in FIG. 1, a polarization beamsplitter 20 reflects completely the s polarized light, i.e., light with its polarization vector perpendicular to the plane of incidence, of the incoming beam 14 which is, thereby, reflectedly directed defining beam 22 to a first retroreflector 24. The retroreflector 24 retroreflects the s polarized beam 22 back to the beamsplitter 20 defining beam 26, at which the beam 26 is once again reflected by the beamsplitter 20 to define the output beam 28. Retroreflector 24 is preferably positionally fixed relative to the beamsplitter 20 so as to define a fixed length path through the interferometer 18 that is traversed by beams 22 and 26.
The beamsplitter 20, correspondingly, completely transmits the p polarized light, i.e., light with its polarization vector in the plane of incidence, of the incoming beam 16 which is, thereby, passed through the beamsplitter 20 defining beam 30 to a second retroreflector 32. The retroreflector 32 retroreflects beam 30 defining beam 34 to return it to and once again through the beamsplitter 20 from which it emerges as output beam 38. The output beams 28 and 38 are, as the incoming beams 14, 16, preferably, collinear and orthogonally polarized. Preferably, the second retroreflector 32 is movable or displaceable relative to beamsplitter 20 and in the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1 so as to define a variable length path of the optical beams 30 and 34. Movement or displacement of retroreflector 32 varies the phase of the output beam 38 relative to output beam 28.
The output beams 28, 38 are directed to a conventional receiver 40 which preferably includes a mixing polarizer 35 that mixes the parallel and overlapping portions of the beams 28, 38 to provide each with a component of similar polarization 28a, 38a. The resulting similarly polarized beams 28a, 38a are applied to a photoelectric detector 37 such as a photodiode to produce an electrical measurement or interference signal 41. The electrical signal 41 from the photoelectric detector 37 passes through conventional signal amplification and conditioning circuitry 39 to produce a measurement signal 42 at the receiver 40 output. Preferably the measurement signal 42 has a frequency F M which is equal to f 0 plus the Doppler Shift frequency which is equal to ±nv/c, where v is the velocity of the interferometer element whose position is being measured, c is the velocity of light, and n equals 2, 4, etc. depending on the type of displacement interferometer used. In the example of FIG. 1, the Doppler Shift is produced by the movement of retroreflector 32, and n is equal to 2.
The reference signal 44 is preferably a constant frequency signal with a frequency F R typically equal to the optical beam difference frequency f 0 , although a higher or lower frequency which is a rational multiple of f 0 may be employed if desired. This signal may be derived from an electrical signal within the light source 12, or it may be generated by directing a portion of the light source 12 optical beams 14, 16 into a receiver similar to the measurement receiver 40.
The reference signal 44 is preferably applied to and used by a phase meter 46 to generate the system clock 48. The system clock 48 is preferably used by related circuitry comprising data age adjuster 56, accumulator 62, interpolator 66, and digital filter 70, to synchronously propagate the data through the various processing functions. Preferably the system clock frequency F C is a fixed frequency chosen to be greater than the maximum measurement rate of the phase meter 46, and is a rational multiple of f 0 . By way of example, the frequency F C may be 2·f 0 , i.e., on the order of 40 megahertz.
The measurement signal 42 is also preferably applied to the phase meter 46 which measures the time of occurrence of transitions of the measurement signal 42 relative to the system clock 48. Typically, preferably only one signal transition per signal period is measured, for example the rising edge transition, although measuring both transitions per signal period may provide some accuracy improvement and may be employed if desired.
Preferably, on every cycle of the system clock 48, phase meter 46 provides the measured edge qualifier value 50 and the measured time value 52. When a measurement signal 42 edge transition has been measured, the measured edge qualifier value 50 indicates an edge occurred, and the measured time value 52 represents the fractional position of the measured edge within the system clock 48 period. When the measured edge qualifier value 50 indicates an edge has not occurred, the measured time value 52 is irrelevant.
The measured edge qualifier value 50, the measured time value 52, and a data age adjustment value 54, are preferably applied to data age adjuster 56 which preferably produces, as described below, an adjusted edge qualifier value 58 and an adjusted time value 60. The adjusted values may be produced on the same system clock 48 cycle as the corresponding input values, or on a later system clock 48 cycle, as directed by the data age adjuster 56 as will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to Table 1. The adjusted edge qualifier logical value 58 is preferably applied to the accumulator 62, the interpolator 66, and the digital filter 70 to enable propagation of only qualified values. This data age adjustment of the measured time values exactly compensates for delays in the measurement or reference signal paths, independent of velocity.
Since physical position, optical phase, and electrical phase are related by known constants, this description will simply refer to position in the discussion that follows. The implemention may preferably use a convenient unit of electrical phase, e.g., 1/512 times the period of f 0 , as the fractional unit of position.
The adjusted time value 60 is preferably applied to the accumulator 62 which first converts it into a position difference value (not shown). The position difference value is, preferably, calculated from consecutive qualified adjusted time values 60 as shown in Equation 1.
ΔP=M-1-C+T.sub.1 -T.sub.2 Equation 1
Where ΔP is the position difference value, M is the ratio between the system clock 48 frequency, F C , and the optical difference frequency f 0 , T 1 is the previous qualified time value, T 2 is the current qualified time value, and C is the number of system clock 48 periods between the measurement of T 1 and the measurement of T 2 . The arithmetic manipulation to produce the position difference value may be done in any order, as chosen for the convenience of the particular implementation, i.e., as in the presently preferred embodiment described here, or as the equivalent method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,030, without departing from the present invention. The position difference values (not shown) are summed within the accumulator 62 to provide the summed position value 64 which represents the measured position at the instant the measured edge occurred.
The summed position value 64 is preferably applied to interpolator 66 which preferably adjusts the value to represent the measured position preferably at the center of the system clock 48 period, based on the adjusted time value 60 of the measurement and the velocity value 74. The adjusted time value 60 applied to the interpolator 66 is preferably interpreted as a signed fractional value with a range between -1/2 inclusive and +1/2 exclusive, thus reducing by one-half the effect of the uncertainty of the velocity value 74 on the interpolation when compared to an alternate method using a fractional value with a fractional range between zero inclusive and 1 exclusive. The velocity value 74 is preferably derived from the velocity output of the preferred implementation of digital filter 70, although other means of providing the estimated velocity may be used without departing from the present invention.
The digital filter 70 preferably smoothes the interpolated position values and provides a filtered position value 72 and a velocity value 74 on every cycle of the system clock 48. Selection of the appropriate constants within the digital filter allows adjusting the performance of the digital filter to suit the application. On a multi-axis system, the digital filter provides the advantage of exact matching of the dynamic response of the filters for all axes simply by selecting identical filter constants. The adjusted edge qualifier value 58 modifies the digital filter 70 operation during those cycles of system clock 48 when there is no new interpolated position value 68, e.g., in the presently preferred implementation, the feedback error value (not shown) within the digital filter is held at its previous value when there is no new interpolated position value 68. The digital filter 70 is preferably a conventional digital filter, such as preferably the type described in IRE Transactions on Automatic Control, July 1962. This filter 70 preferably has the desirable characteristic that there is zero delay between the input values and the output values when there is no acceleration. Other arrangements for digital filter 70 could also be used, if desired, to get equally useful results.
With reference to FIG. 2, the presently preferred data age adjuster 56 is shown. The system clock 48 is preferably applied to delay registers 86, 92, 96, 114 and 122. As shown and preferred, the data age adjustment value 54 is separated into a fractional part 80 and an integer part 112. Preferably, the fractional part 80 and the portion of the data age adjuster 56 representing fractional adjustment circuitry 130 are used to adjust the data age over a range of time less than one system clock 48 period. Preferably, the integer part 112 and the portion of the data age adjuster 56 representing integral adjustment circuitry 132 are used to adjust the data age over a range of time equal to an integral number of system clock 48 periods in integral steps. Preferably, together, the fractional adjustment circuitry 130 and the integral adjustment circuitry 132 allow adjustment of the data age over any desired range with a resolution equal to the measured time resolution. In the presently preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the time value applied to the data age adjuster 56 and the data age adjustment value are interpreted as unsigned positive values, simplifying the implementation and understanding of the function, however either or both of the values may be signed or negative values with suitable changes to the implementation without departing from the present invention.
The measured time value 52 and the data age adjustment fractional part 80 are preferably added together by an adder 82, which produces a sum value 84, and a carry value 90.
Delay registers 86 and 92 preferably retain the previous sum value 88 and the previous carry value 94 respectively. Delay register 96 preferably retains the previous measured edge qualifier value 98.
As further shown and preferred in FIG. 2, the current and previous edge qualifier logical values 50, 98 and the current and previous carry values 90, 94 are applied to control logic 102 which preferably produces the error signal 100, the intermediate edge qualifier value 104, and the output selector value 106.
The operation of the presently preferred data age adjustment fractional adjustment circuitry 130 is summarized in Table 1, with zero and one representing logical states and x representing a state which may be either a zero or a one. In this table and explanation, as an example, a qualifier value of 1 indicates a corresponding valid time value, and a qualifier value of 0 indicates no corresponding valid time value. Referring to lines 1 and 2 of Table 1, when the measured edge qualifier value 50 is 1, indicating a valid measured time value 52 and, therefore, a valid sum value 84; and addition of the time value 52 and the data age adjustment value 80 produces a carry value 90 of zero, indicating no arithmetic carry from the adder 82; the adjusted time value is within the same period of the system clock 48. In this instance, the control logic 102 outputs the intermediate edge qualifier value 104 as 1 to indicate a valid intermediate time value, and output selector 106 causes multiplexer 108 to select the current sum value 84 for output as an intermediate time value 110.
Referring to lines 3 and 4 of Table 1, when the previous edge qualifier value 98 is 1, indicating a valid time value 52 on the previous cycle of the system clock 48, and, therefore, a currently valid previous sum value 88; and the corresponding previous carry value 94 is 1, the adjusted time value during the previous cycle of the system clock 48 is within the current cycle of the system clock 48. In this instance, the control logic 102 outputs the intermediate edge qualifier value 104 as 1 to indicate a valid intermediate time value, and output selector 106 causes multiplexer 108 to select the previous sum value 88 for output as an intermediate time value 110.
Referring to line 5 of Table 1, when the conditions require simultaneous output of the previous time value and the current time value, as described above, an error condition is present. The control logic 102 preferably detects this condition and outputs an error signal 100. This error condition will not occur if the previously stated requirement that the system clock 48 frequency is higher than the highest phase meter measurement rate is met. Under this error condition, the intermediate edge qualifier value 104, the output selector value 106, and, therefore, the intermediate time value 110 are undefined.
Referring to lines 6, 7, 8 and 9 of Table 1, when the conditions described by lines 1 to 5 are not met, the control logic 102 outputs the intermediate edge qualifier value 104 as 0, and the output selector value 106, and, therefore, the intermediate time value 110, are undefined.
The integral adjustment circuitry 132 is preferably used to adjust the data age over a range of time equal to an integral number of system clock 48 periods. The intermediate time value 110 and the intermediate edge qualifier value 104 are preferably delayed by one system clock 48 period by delay registers 114 and 122, respectively, producing delayed values 116 and 124, respectively. The integral data age adjustment value 112 causes multiplexers 126 and 118 to select either the intermediate outputs, or the delayed intermediate values, producing adjusted edge qualifier value 58 and adjusted time value 60. For simplicity, the integral adjustment circuitry 132 is shown only for adjustment of time intervals of one system clock 48 period, although it should be recognized that the same method may be extended to any desired time interval, such as, for example, by cascading sections with delays equal to successive powers of two, i.e., 1 delay, 2 delays, 4 delays, and 8 delays.
While the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make the various modifications to the described embodiments of the invention without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. It is intended that all combinations of elements and steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same result are with the scope of the invention.
TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________ Previous Intermediate Intermediate Edge Edge Previous Edge Output Time Qualifier Qualifier Carry Carry Qualifier Selector ValueLine 98 50 94 90 104 106 110__________________________________________________________________________1 0 1 x 0 1 1 Current2 1 1 0 0 1 1 Current3 1 0 1 x 1 0 Previous4 1 1 1 1 1 0 Previous5 1 1 1 0 x x Error6 0 0 x x 0 x --7 1 0 0 x 0 x --8 0 1 x 1 0 x --9 1 1 0 1 0 x --__________________________________________________________________________ | An improved method and apparatus for compensating for differences in the data age of the measurements among measurement axes in an interferometer (18), such as a heterodyne interferometer, in which known values of time delay occur in the measurement (34, 38, 38a, 41 and 42) and reference signal (44) paths. A time value is measured (52) for the signal transmission over these paths for a given clock (48) period interval and the measured time value (52) is adjusted (56) for the given interval against the known time delay for compensating for the data age. The known time delay is subtracted from the measured time value for providing the adjusted time value (60) for the given interval. The adjusted time value (60) is converted into a phase measurement, and this phase measurement is converted into the dynamic interferometric position measurement (64, 68) for providing a position measurement (72, 74) independent of any velocity of movement of the object whose position is being measured and having reduced data age differences between the signal paths providing the measurement. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a semi-automatic demand activated mechanism for removing bottle caps from bottles prior to washing and refilling.
2. The Prior Art
Cylindrically-shaped five gallon/19 liter water bottles are ubiquitous throughout the world. These bottles have a cylindrical body with a narrow tapered neck and an opening at the top of the neck. They are found in virtually every office building and are generally used with water coolers or "dispensers" which are adapted to receive the inverted bottle. In the past, these bottles were made of heavy glass and were recycled by use of glass bottle cleaning technology. Glass bottles have in essence completely disappeared from the market having been replaced by lighter and far less breakable polycarbonate bottles. Such bottles are typically used by a customer, emptied, stored somewhere for awhile, and then picked up for re-use by a delivery person who brings new, full bottles for use by the customer. Water bottles need to be capped to seal the water in and prevent spillage and contamination. A conventional water cap 10 is shown in FIG. 1. Such conventional bottle caps are usually cylindrical and are generally made of a single piece of soft plastic which is press fit onto the water bottle after filling. The cap 10 is removed by a user pulling on tab 12 and tearing the plastic along scored line 14 so as to remove the cap. A common problem with conventional bottle caps is that when a user wants to place the water bottle on a water dispenser, the user must pull off the cap, invert the bottle, and engage it with the water dispenser. Unfortunately, water spills often result while the bottle is de-capped and inverted and not correctly positioned over the water dispenser.
Recently, new caps have been designed and marketed which reduce the spillage problem described above. Marketed under names such as "splash guard", "safegard cap" and "non-spill closure", these caps are designed to operate with a specially adapted water dispenser which engages a mechanism in the cap only when the bottle is inverted and the cap correctly positioned over the water dispenser. Only then is the cap rendered capable of passing water to the dispenser. A first such type of water bottle cap 16 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. An orifice 18 is provided in the bottle cap 16 and is capped by a valve mechanism 20. When stored, valve 20 is closed and water cannot leak out of the water bottle regardless of the orientation of the water bottle. When placed in an appropriate dispenser, a probe (such as a solid fixed metal rod) reaches up from the dispenser to push valve 20 up away from what is now bottom surface 22 of cap 16, opening valve 20 and allowing water from the water bottle to pass into the dispenser.
A second such type of cap 24 is shown in FIG. 4. In the cap of FIG. 4, an orifice 26 is provided in the bottom surface 28 of cap 24 as shown. The orifice includes a tubular portion 30 which is sealed with a small cylindrically shaped cap 32 which fits into tubular portion 30. A probe in the dispenser is adapted to push cap 32 out of the way and unseal the bottle as the bottle is positioned in the dispenser.
These new bottle caps pose a problem for water bottlers who take old bottles, wash them, refill them, and resell them. In the past, all bottles came back with their caps removed. With the new caps, many bottles come back with the caps still installed on the neck of the bottle. As a result, such water bottlers need to remove the old caps before the cleaning and refilling process can be conducted. Removing a large quantity of such bottle caps by hand would obviously be a highly undesirable and time consuming job for a human bottle loader.
To solve this problem, a number of companies have developed fully automatic and quite complex machinery designed to be integrated into a bottle washer and capper system. One such example is the "Decapper" sold by Blackhawk Molding Company, Inc. of Addison, Ill. The "Decapper" is a relatively sophisticated piece of industrial equipment designed to be placed in a bottle washer/capper line and take bottles on a conveyor belt, de-cap them, and pass them to the washing station. Such equipment is relatively expensive and requires integration into existing lines. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a relatively low cost stand-alone bottle cap remover which operates quickly and efficiently to remove bottle caps on demand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a bottle cap remover which is activated by inserting a bottle into an orifice. A detector adjacent the orifice detects the presence of the bottle and causes a linear actuator to drive a gripping device away from the top of the bottle where the cap is located. As the gripping device is moving away from the bottle cap, cam members direct hooked members of the gripping device around the bottle cap so that it is pulled off of and away from the bottle as the linear actuator drives the gripping device away from the bottle top. Once the bottle cap is removed, the linear actuator recycles to ready the bottle cap remover for the next bottle cap.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a semiautomatic mechanism for removing plastic bottle caps from bottles.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an on-demand semi-automatic mechanism for removing bottle caps which can stand alone from a bottle washing and filling system.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational drawing of a conventional water bottle cap according to the prior art.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational drawing of a valved water bottle cap according to the prior art.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a valved water bottle cap according to the prior art.
FIG. 4 is a side elevational drawing of a stoppered water bottle cap according to the prior art.
FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a mechanism for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a mechanism for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 6 of a mechanism for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a portion of a mechanism for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the frame and cover for a mechanism for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is perspective view of a stand for supporting the frame and cover for a mechanism for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 9.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons from an examination of the within disclosure. Like reference numbers are used throughout to denote like elements.
Turning now to FIG. 5, a side elevational view of a bottle cap remover mechanism 34 for removing water bottle caps according to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. Bottle cap remover 34 includes a frame 36. To frame 36 is attached a track member 38a, 38b supported, respectively, by track support members 40a, 40b. Slider 42a, 42b (collectively denoted 42 and sometimes referred to herein as a "pivot member") respectively engages track members 38a, 38b and is free to slide to the left and to the right on track members 38a, 38b as shown in FIG. 5. Track members 38a, 38b are preferably aligned parallel to an axis 43 as shown (i.e., the axis of rotation of the bottle, or the axis orthogonal to (or at least intersecting) the plane in which orifice 80, through which the bottle top passes, is disposed).
Turning to FIGS. 6 and 7, gripping mechanism 44 is shown. Gripping mechanism 44 is attached to slider 42 and operates as slider 42 moves back and forth on track members 38a, 38b. Gripping mechanism 44 includes a pair of arms 46a, 46b which are pivotally mounted to cross member 48 (part of slider 42) respectively at pivot points 50a, 50b. Cross member 48 is rigidly attached to slider 42 as shown. Arms 46a, 46b are respectively biased at rear portions 52a, 52b toward slider 42 and axis 43 by (first) biasing means 54a, 54b which may be any elastic member but is preferably a spring held in tension. Arms 46a, 46b are each provided with a hook-shaped member 58a, 58b designed to engage a bottle cap. When no countervailing force is applied to front portions 56a, 56b, arms 46a, 46b tend to position themselves so as to provide a maximum distance between hook-shaped members 58a, 58b. A countervailing force (second biasing means) is applied by cam rollers 60a, 60b (also referred to herein as "cam members") which act to bias front portions 56a, 56b of arms 46a, 46b toward axis 43 in accordance with the shape of arms 46a, 46b.
Cam rollers 60a, 60b are positioned on supports 62a, 62b so as to engage arms 46a, 46b as slider 42 travels to the right and left as shown in FIG. 6. When slider 42 moves to the right, the shape of an outer surface 63a, 63b of arms 46a, 46b is such that hook-shaped members 58a, 58b are forced closer together behind lip 64 of bottle cap 66 on bottle 68 so as to engage lip 64. As slider 42 continues its motion to the right, cap 66 is pulled off of bottle 68 and is free to fall downward. A sack or box (not shown) may be placed below the opening 70 to catch falling caps for disposal or recycling. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many possible shapes for outer surfaces 63a, 63b are possible as long as the function of closing hook-shaped members 58a, 58b is achieved before they pass beyond lip 64. Those of ordinary skill in the art will also realize that while cam rollers are presently preferred as cam members to bias or push against outer surfaces 63a, 63b of arms 46a, 46b, other devices could easily be substituted to accomplish the same task, such as rigid members and the like. Rollers are presently preferred in order to minimize friction and wear.
Turning now to FIG. 5, a mechanism for automatically activating the bottle cap remover 34 is shown. A trigger 72 is pivotally mounted to bracket 74 at pivot point 76. When no bottle 68 is present, spring 78 biases trigger 72 down into the path of bottle 68 through orifice 80. Many configurations other than that shown may be used as will readily appear to those of ordinary skill in the art. Electric eye-type mechanisms could also be used as those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate. When trigger 72 drops into the path of bottle 68, switch 82 becomes deactivated. When a bottle 68 is inserted in orifice 80, trigger 72 causes activation of switch 82. In a presently preferred embodiment, switch 82 is a pneumatic switch which directs air flow when closed to a first port 84 from air source 86 and when open to a second port 88. Corresponding ports 90, 92 in pneumatic air ram 94 control whether pneumatic air ram 94's linear actuator member 96 ("coupling") is extended to the left in FIG. 5 or retracted to the right in FIG. 5. Thus, when a bottle 68 is inserted in orifice 80, trigger 72 is pushed back and up, causing switch 82 to activate, pneumatic air ram 94 to retract, and linear actuator member 96 to move to the right. When bottle 68 is removed, trigger 72 is forced away from engagement with switch 82, the pneumatic air ram 94 air supply is reversed, and pneumatic air ram 94 extends, moving linear actuator member 96 to the left. Since linear actuator 96 is attached to slider 42, the motion of linear actuator 96 causes corresponding motion of slider 42 along track members 38a, 38b. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that an electrically operated solenoid of suitable power and size could be used to replace pneumatic air ram 94 and air operated switch 82 could similarly be replaced with a suitable electronic switch or photodetector arrangement.
Turning to FIG. 5, an ultra high density polymer (soft plastic) insert 98 surrounds orifice 80 so as to avoid marring the surface of bottle 68.
Turning now to FIG. 8, cam rollers 60a, 60b may be adjusted in position by set screws 100a, 100b as shown. This is achieved by mounting supports 62a, 62b to a hinged flap 102a, 102b having a hinge 104a, 104b as shown.
Turning now to FIG. 9, the housing 106 for the cap puller 34 is shown. To frame 36 is attached a top cover 108, a front cover 110 having an orifice 80 and a rear cover 112 and pneumatic air ram mounting bracket 114.
Housing 106 is in turn mounted on stand 116 shown in FIG. 10. Stand 116 is preferably mounted to a floor with mounting flanges 118a, 118b, 118c, 118d.
According to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, as pointed out above, all functions are powered by a source of compressed gas, preferably air, thus no electrical connections at all need to be made to or within bottle cap remover 34. This aids in the prevention of electrical shock injuries and failures due to short circuits.
Alternative Embodiments
Although illustrative presently preferred embodiments and applications of this invention are shown and described herein, many variations and modifications are possible which remain within the concept, scope, and spirit of the invention, and these variations would become clear to those of skill in the art after perusal of this application. The invention, therefore, is not to be limited except in the spirit of the appended claims. | A bottle cap remover is activated by inserting a bottle into an orifice. A detector adjacent the orifice detects the presence of the bottle and causes a linear actuator to drive a gripping device away from the top of the bottle where the cap is located. As the gripping device is moving away from the bottle cap, cam members direct hooked members of the gripping device around the bottle cap so that it is pulled off of and away from the bottle as the linear actuator drives the gripping device away from the bottle top. Once the bottle cap is removed, the linear actuator recycles to ready the bottle cap remover for the next bottle cap. | 1 |
This Application hereby claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/244,366 filed Oct. 30, 2000.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a flashlight mount, in general, and, in particular, to a mounting body and a combination clip and mounting body as for mounting a flashlight.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Police officers and other individuals who use guns in dark conditions often desire a portable light to illuminate their surroundings. A handheld light, such as a flashlight, can provide illumination, but it becomes unmanageable when the gun user must use both hands to control the gun. A light attached to a gun requires no use of the user's hands, but it adds unnecessary weight to the gun when the light is not in use. Therefore, it is desirable to have source of light that is easily detached when the light is no longer needed. In addition, it is desirable to have source of light that is easily attached to different objects once it is removed from the gun. In the latter instance, the individual may desire to clip the light to a belt, pocket or the like. As a result, there is a need for a device which can mount a light source onto a gun, permit easy detachment from the gun, and allow attachment of the light source to a different object.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention is a device for mounting a light source, such as a flashlight, to an object, such as a gun, weapon, tool or the like and alternatively for attaching the flashlight to a different article, such as a pocket or belt. The invention includes a clip and a detachable mounting body. The clip is adapted for attachment to a flashlight and includes a resiliently flexible arm having a latch. The mounting body is adapted for attachment to an object and has a channel that cooperates with the latch on the clip arm. The channel releasably receives the clip arm and has an engaging surface that releasably engages the latch on the clip arm to connect the flashlight to the object.
According to another aspect of the invention, a mount body is adapted for receiving a flashlight and includes a first engaging feature and a second engaging feature. The first engaging feature is configured to engage a first object, such as a gun, weapon, tool or the like. The second engaging feature is adapted for engaging a flashlight, so that the mount body connects the flashlight to the object.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side section elevation of a light mounting device in accordance with the invention mounted to a gun.
FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of the clip portion of the mounting device of FIG. 1 disassembled from the flashlight.
FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the clip portion of the mounting device of FIG. 1 assembled with the flashlight.
FIGS. 4A and 4B are isometric views from different perspectives of the mounting body shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of the mounting body of FIG. 1 disassembled from the flashlight and clip of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 6 is a side section elevation of the clip and mounting body of FIG. 1 fully assembled.
FIG. 7 is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the flashlight mounting device in accordance with the invention.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are isometric views from different perspectives of the clip portion of the mounting device of FIG. 7 .
FIGS. 9A and 9B are isometric views from different perspectives of the mounting body of the mounting device of FIG. 7 .
FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the assembled mounting device in FIG. 7 with the mounting ring disassembled.
FIG. 11 is a partial side section elevation of the assembled mounting device in FIG. 7 with the mounting ring disassembled.
FIG. 12 is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of a flashlight having a clip affixed to the flashlight housing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same components across the several views, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a flashlight mount 10 mounted on a gun 5 with a barrel end 6 . The flashlight mount 10 holds a generally cylindrical flashlight 15 having a head 16 , a tail end 17 , a cylindrical housing 18 and tapered neck 19 . When the flashlight 15 is mounted as shown, the longitudinal axis of the flashlight is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of gun 5 . In addition, the head 16 of flashlight 15 faces the barrel end 6 of gun 5 to direct light in the direction in which the gun is pointed.
Referring now to FIGS. 1-2, the flashlight mount 10 includes a clip 20 releasably attached to a mounting body 40 . The clip 20 includes a rounded nose 29 , a base 21 , a latch 28 and an elongated arm 26 that connects the base to the latch. Latch 28 includes a tip 27 and a tapered face 30 adjacent to the tip. The base 21 of clip 20 has a hollow cylindrical body 22 having a coaxial cylindrical bore or opening 23 axially spaced from the longitudinal axis of arm 26 and adapted to receive flashlight 15 . The cylindrical body 22 has an annular beveled edge 24 in its outer periphery that faces the latch 28 . A hole 25 is cut through the base 21 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of arm 26 and is adapted to receive a set screw 31 .
Referring now to FIGS. 2-3, the cylindrical body 22 forms a bore 23 adapted to receive the tail end 17 and housing 18 of flashlight 15 . The latch 28 is configured and positioned such that the latch tip 27 is proximal to, and preferably rests on, the flashlight housing 18 when the flashlight 15 is inserted through the cylindrical body 22 . The nose 29 on clip 20 is configured to bear against the tapered neck 19 of flashlight 15 when the flashlight is fully inserted into the cylindrical body 22 . Preferably, nose 29 is elliptical or rounded to cooperate with the tapered neck 19 of flashlight head 16 , thereby providing greater stability to the flashlight in the clip 20 . Once flashlight 15 is fully inserted into clip 20 , tip 27 of latch 28 is proximal to, and preferably rests on, flashlight housing 18 , as shown in FIG. 3 . The set screw 31 is of a sufficient length to extend through the set screw hole 25 to bear against the flashlight housing 18 and secure the flashlight within the cylindrical body 22 .
Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, clip 20 is preferably formed of a resiliently flexible material, such as nylon, nylon 6 , reinforced nylon or other plastic, which provides flexibility and resiliency to arm 26 . As used herein, “resiliently flexible” refers to the flexibility of arm 26 that allows it to deflect outwardly and away from housing 18 and return substantially to its original position, thereby imposing an inward force on the arm that permits clipping of flashlight 15 onto an object, such as a belt, pants pocket or mounting body 40 . When the clip 20 containing flashlight 15 is initially clipped onto an object, the object pushes against the tapered face 30 of latch 28 , displaces the latch and arm 26 , and wedges in between the arm and flashlight housing 18 . The resiliency of arm 26 biases the arm and latch tip 27 inwardly to clamp down onto the object and secure the flashlight 15 to the object. When the flashlight 15 and clip 20 are detached from the object, the flexibility of arm 26 allows the latch tip 27 to release the object, and the resiliency of the arm returns it substantially to its original position.
Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the mounting body 40 is shown with a forward end 60 and a rearward end 62 . Like the clip 20 , the mounting body 40 is preferably formed of a resiliently flexible material, such as nylon, nylon 6 , reinforced nylon or other plastic, but the mounting body need not be flexible or as flexible as the clip 20 . The mounting body 40 includes a sleeve 42 and a pair of pedestals 43 and 44 adapted to receive the clip arm 26 and latch 28 . The sleeve 42 defines a cylindrical aperture 47 and includes an annularly beveled edge 45 on the inward periphery of the forward end 60 . The beveled edge 45 is adapted to mate with the beveled edge 24 on the clip 20 . The cylindrical aperture 47 has a diameter similar to the outside diameter of flashlight housing 18 . The sleeve 42 also extends to define a suitable arrangement for attaching mounting body 40 to a gun or other implement.
An example of an attaching arrangement may include a pair of rails 50 and 51 separated by a channel 54 . Rails 50 and 51 include longitudinal grooves 52 and 53 , respectively, which face inward toward the channel 54 . Rails 50 and 51 also contain a pair of transverse slots 56 and 57 , respectively, that completely penetrate through the rails. Slots 56 and 57 are adapted to receive various means for securing the mounting body 40 to the gun 5 . For example, slots 56 and 57 may be adapted to receive a pair of locking pins, or may be aligned with holes in gun 5 to allow the mounting body 40 to be screwed to the gun.
Mounting body 40 includes an arrangement of features for engaging clip 20 . Pedestals 43 and 44 and a section of sleeve 42 between said pedestals extend to form an arc-shaped tongue 46 at the rearward end 62 of mounting body 40 . Pedestals 43 and 44 further define a groove or channel 49 on the exterior of mounting body 40 for receiving clip arm 26 . A notch 48 adapted to mate with latch 28 of clip 20 protrudes into the end of tongue 46 and is centered on the longitudinal axis of said tongue. Notch 48 provides an engaging face for engaging latch tip 27 . The exterior base of channel 49 forms a guide ramp that extends radially outwardly from the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, beginning at the forward end 60 of the mounting body 40 and expanding radially outwardly as it reaches the rearward end 62 of the mounting body. The gradual outward expansion of ramp 99 allows the arm 26 to initially engage the ramp surface with minimal deflection of the arm. As the arm 26 and latch 28 are slid further between the pedestals 43 and 44 , the contour of the ramp 99 gradually causes the arm and latch to deflect outward from the flashlight 15 . Once the latch 28 is slid beyond the end of the ramp and over the notch 48 , the resilient property of the arm 26 forces the latch back toward the flashlight 15 and into the notch 48 . Engagement of the latch 28 and latch tip 27 in notch 48 assists in minimizing lateral and longitudinal movement between the clip 20 and mounting body 40 , thereby holding light 15 in a desired position in relation to gun 5 .
The use of the flashlight mount 10 will now be described. Referring back to FIG. 2, the flashlight housing 18 is held in coaxial alignment with the bore 23 of clip 20 , such that the tail end 17 of flashlight 15 is adjacent to cylindrical body 22 . The tail end 17 of flashlight 15 is then inserted through bore 23 , followed by the flashlight housing 18 . The flashlight housing 18 is slid through bore 23 until nose 29 of the clip 20 abuts the tapered neck 19 of flashlight 15 , as shown in FIG. 3 . The set screw 31 is then rotated clockwise in the set screw hole 25 as needed to bear against the flashlight housing 18 and secure the flashlight 15 against the inside wall of the cylindrical body 22 . With the flashlight 15 inserted into the clip 20 , the flashlight can be clipped to an object or article of clothing.
To mount the flashlight 15 and clip 20 to a gun 5 , as shown in FIG. 1, the flashlight 15 is held in coaxial alignment with the mounting body 40 , such that the tail end 17 of the flashlight is adjacent to the cylindrical aperture 47 of the mounting body, as shown in FIG. 5 . The latch 28 and arm 26 of clip 20 are deflected outwardly from flashlight 15 in the direction marked A. Preferably, clip arm 26 is sufficiently flexible to permit manual deflection without the assistance of any leverage tools. The tail end 17 of flashlight 15 is then inserted into the aperture 47 , followed by the flashlight housing 18 . Once the housing 18 has entered the aperture 47 , the latch 28 and arm 26 are released so that the latch tip 27 rests on the guide ramp 99 of mounting body 40 shown in FIG. 4 B. The housing is then advanced through aperture 47 , with the latch tip riding along the contour of guide ramp 99 . As the latch tip 27 rides along the guide ramp 99 , the latch 28 and arm 26 deflect outwardly from the flashlight 15 . Once the latch tip 27 reaches the notch 48 in tongue 46 , the latch tip and arm 26 deflect back inwardly toward flashlight 15 . At that point, the annular beveled edge 45 of mounting body 40 mates with the beveled edge 24 of clip 20 so that the clip and mounting body are in cooperation, as shown in FIG 6 . Referring back to FIGS. 1, 4 A and 4 B, grooves 52 and 53 are mated with corresponding surfaces on gun 5 to slidably mount the flashlight 15 to the gun. The gun 5 may be one of a variety of types of guns, including handguns, long guns or shot guns.
Thus far, the preferred embodiment has been described as a device for mounting a flashlight 15 to a gun 5 . However, the present invention is adaptable to mount a flashlight to a variety of objects in addition to guns, including tools, tables and walls. Therefore, it is intended that the mounting device 10 be used for mounting lights to a variety of objects and structures.
Referring now to FIG. 7, an alternate embodiment of the invention is illustrated and designated generally 110 . The device 110 includes a clip 120 adapted to hold a flashlight 115 , a mounting body 140 and a metal mounting ring 170 fastened to the mounting body. The flashlight has a head 116 , a tail end 117 , a housing 118 and a tapered neck 119 . The clip 120 is releasably attachable to the mounting body 140 . A bore 171 through the center of ring 170 is adapted so as to allow the ring to be slipped over part of a gun, such as a gun barrel.
As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, clip 120 includes a base 121 , a hollow cylindrical body 122 and an elongated arm 126 extending from the base. The arm 126 has two ends: a flanged end 125 connected to the base 121 and a distal end 124 . The distal end 124 of arm 126 contains a latch 128 similar to the previous embodiment. The latch 128 includes a latch tip 127 and a tapered face 130 . A ridge 129 protrudes from the arm 126 on the side opposite of the latch 128 and extends along the longitudinal axis of the arm so as to bisect the arm. The ridge 129 is flush with the arm at the distal end and protrudes increasingly outwardly as it reaches the flanged end 125 to add proportional strength and stiffness along the length of the arm.
The cylindrical body 122 forms a bore 123 adapted to receive the tail end 117 and housing 118 of flashlight 115 . Bore 123 has a diameter that is similar to the outside diameter of housing 118 such that the outside surface of the housing is proximal to the inside surface of the cylindrical body 122 when the flashlight is inserted into the clip 120 . Similar to the previous embodiment, when the flashlight 115 is inserted into clip 120 , the latch tip 127 is proximal to, and preferably rests on, flashlight housing 118 . After the housing 118 has been inserted through cylindrical body 122 , the tapered neck 119 of the flashlight 115 prevents further insertion of the flashlight into the cylindrical body. The clip 120 is preferably formed of a resiliently flexible material, such as nylon, nylon 6 or reinforced nylon, providing flexibility and resiliency to arm 126 .
Referring now to FIGS. 9A and 9B, the mounting body 140 is shown with a forward end 160 and a rearward end 162 . The mounting body 140 includes a sleeve 142 that forms a rectangular channel 147 extending longitudinally from the forward end 160 to the rearward end 162 . The sleeve 142 flares outwardly at the forward end 160 to form a pair of wings 144 and 145 . A pair of rectangular grooves 152 and 153 extend longitudinally along the interior of wings 144 and 145 , respectively, and adjoin with rectangular channel 147 so as to form a polygonal aperture 148 at the forward end 160 . The polygonal aperture 148 is shaped to receive arm 126 and flange 125 of clip 120 .
The sleeve 142 contains means for attaching the mounting ring 170 to the mounting body 140 . As shown in FIG. 7, the mounting ring 170 includes an elongated bar 172 that secures the ring to the mounting body 140 . The bar 172 is attachable to the mounting body 140 in a number of ways, including screws, bolts, rivets or other fastening arrangements. The mounting ring 170 could also be molded with the mounting body 140 . In FIG. 7, the elongated bar 172 is shown as being riveted to the mounting body 140 with a pair of rivets, 174 and 175 . The mounting body 140 includes a pair of mounting slots 156 and 157 , shown in FIG. 9A, to allow the mounting ring 170 to be riveted to the mounting body. Referring to FIG. 9B, an access port 158 and arc-shaped groove 159 on the underside of the mounting body 140 allow a riveting tool or other tool to reach the slots 156 and 157 from the underside of the mounting body when fasteners are to be connected. Once the mounting ring 170 is connected to the mounting body 140 , the mounting ring can be slid around part of a gun, such as a gun barrel.
The mounting body 140 is also mountable directly to the stock of a gun without the use of the mounting ring 170 . After slots 156 and 157 are aligned with similar holes in the stock, screws or bolts are inserted through the underside of the mounting body 140 and screwed into the stock of the gun. The access port 158 and groove 159 provide clearance for a screwdriver in the event that screws are used.
The operation of flashlight mount 110 is similar to that of the previous embodiment. Referring to FIG. 10, the tail end 117 and housing 118 of flashlight 115 are inserted through the bore 123 of clip 120 . With the flashlight 115 inserted into clip 120 , the flashlight can be clipped to an object or article of clothing. To attach the clip 120 to the mounting body 140 , arm 126 is aligned with the aperture 148 at the forward end 160 of the mounting body. Once aligned, the distal end 124 of arm 126 is inserted into aperture 148 and advanced through the channel 147 so that the distal end emerges through the sleeve 142 at the rearward end 162 of mounting body 140 , as shown in FIG. 10 . During insertion of the arm 126 , the flange 125 slides into grooves 152 and 153 , thereby minimizing lateral movement of the arm within the sleeve 142 . Upon completion of the insertion of arm 126 through the sleeve 142 , the latch tip 127 passes over the tongue 146 so that the arm and latch 128 are flush with the tongue, as shown in FIG. 11 . Tongue 146 provides an engaging surface for engaging tip 127 . Contact between latch tip 127 and tongue 146 assists in minimizing longitudinal movement of the arm 126 within the sleeve 142 , and assists positioning light 115 in relation to an object to which it is mounted.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been herein illustrated and described, it is not intended to limit the invention to such disclosure, but changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto. For instance, flashlight 15 and clip body 22 have thus far been described as having a round or cylindrical shape. However, the flashlight housing 18 can also be polygonal, having one or more flat sides or an irregular cross-sectional shape that cooperates with an irregularly shaped bore in clip body 22 . One skilled in the art will also see that the flashlight 15 and clip 20 need not be separate and distinct components. Referring now to FIG. 12, a clip 220 can be affixed to a flashlight housing 218 so that the clip is an integral part of flashlight 215 . Clip 220 can be molded to flashlight 215 or attached to the flashlight using glue, bolts or any other common fastener. In such a case, the clip 220 does not require a cylindrical collar to secure the clip to the flashlight 215 . The cylindrical body 22 on clip 20 has been described herein as being a closed cylinder with no partition or break in the cylinder wall. However, the cylindrical body that receives the flashlight could also be an open or “C-shaped” cylinder with a cut through the wall. This opening would allow the cylinder to flexibly expand to accommodate flashlights of varying diameters. The cylinder could include a cut in its wall and an adjustable coupling fastened over the opening. The coupling could contain one or more screws to adjust the size of the bore, or could be resiliently flexible as needed to accommodate flashlights of different sizes.
As a result, the scope of the invention should be determined in accordance with the following claims. | A device is provided for mounting a light source to a gun and for alternatively attaching the light source to a second object. The device includes a clip and detachable mount. The clip connects to one of a variety of flashlights and is easily transported with the flashlight. The clip has a flexible clip arm that allows the flashlight to be clipped to a belt, a shirt pocket or other convenient location. The mount attaches to a gun, weapon, tool or other implement and cooperates with the clip arm on the clip so that the flashlight can be easily connected to the gun, weapon, tool or other implement when desired. The clip disconnects easily from the mount so that the flashlight and clip can readily be removed from the mount and clipped to another object. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to systems and procedures for chemical analysis, sequencing operations and synthesis. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and process for the automated synthesizing of proteins, especially peptides.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The accurate dissolution, dispensing and reaction of chemicals has numerous applications. These include analytical procedures such as, for example, the derivitization for HPLC determination of amino acid composition; sequencing operations such as in the Edman degradation procedure; and in synthesis of various substances, such as RNA, DNA, peptide and oligosaccharide assemblies.
Moreover, a growing number of research facilities, especially non-chemical laboratories, require synthetic peptides. In conventional practice, the production of synthetic peptides requires the work of chemists who are highly skilled in synthetic chemistry. This, and the necessity of exercising precise control of the chemicals to be added in a process, including quantity, sequence, timing, and the like, adds to the cost and time required to produce a given result, and may lead to inaccuracies.
Patents of interest which are exemplary of the state-of-the-art in this field are Verlander et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,699, issued Dec. 7, 1982, entitled "APPARATUS FOR HIGH PRESSURE PEPTIDE SYNTHESIS" and Bridgham et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,476, issued May 26, 1987, entitled "AUTOMATED POLYPEPTIDE SYNTHESIS APPARATUS", the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple and inexpensive automated system for the dissolution, dispensing and reaction of chemicals, especially for the synthesizing of peptides.
Another object of the invention is to provide a peptide synthesizer in which simplicity and low cost are achieved by utilizing fixed chemical protocols, pre-packaged Fmoc chemistry and a synthesis-dedicated computer.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel apparatus and method for the storage and delivery of amino acids in the synthesizing of peptides and proteins.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system for the automated control of analytical procedures, sequencing operations and synthesis of chemicals.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for the storage, dissolution and dispensing of a chemical, and its subsequent use as a pump in a reaction process involving the chemical.
An even further object of the invention is to provide a means for sequentially advancing containers of a chemical to a work station.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a unique, reusable reaction vessel having means permitting replacement of solid supports in the vessel.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved with an automated system including a synthesis apparatus and a computer-operated control. The apparatus includes a novel fluid transport system that incorporates a syringe-type amino acid dissolution and delivery system with a flow-through reusable reactor. The computer control utilizes a pull-down menu and requires a minimum of key-strokes, thus making possible operation by most, if not all, laboratory personnel.
For synthesis of peptides, the invention makes particular use of the fact that mixtures of solid Fmoc-protected amino acids and BOP (benzotriazolyloxytris-(dimethylamino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate, optionally with equimolar amount of HOBt (hydroxybenzotriazole), are stable when stored under dry conditions. When these are dissolved in activator (N-methylmorpholine in DMF), rapid formation of a highly active (greater than symmetric anhydrides) and long lasting intermediate occurs. The chemistry protocol follows the basic Fmoc deblock-couple cycle, but the long lived intermediate allows the coupling time for difficult sequences to be extended rather than resorting to the "double coupling" schemes used in the prior art.
The mixtures of amino acid, BOP and HOBt are provided in disposable syringe-type cartridges. The cartridges are loaded in a rotating carousel for sequential access under control of the automated system. The solid supports are loaded into the reusable reaction vessel, and prepared reagent solutions are stored and dispensed from a plurality of reservoirs contained within the apparatus. Bulk solvents and waste solutions are contained in suitable external reservoirs.
After entering a desired sequence at the computer work station with appropriately written software programs, the user can choose to have the apparatus calculate reagent requirements for the synthesis. These calculations can then be used as a guide in loading the reagents in the synthesizer.
The cartridge in which the amino acid powder is stored functions not only to preferably store the amino acid in a dry, hermetically sealed environment, but after connection to the fluid transport system, also functions as a syringe pump to draw solvents and reagents into the cartridge for dissolution and reaction of the contents when the syringe plunger is raised, and for then expelling the dissolved and reacted materials to a further reactor or reactors or analysis unit or units by depressing the plunger of the syringe. Following initial dispensation, the solution may be drawn back into the cartridge for subsequent delivery to further reactors or analysis units. In a particular application, e.g., peptide synthesis, the reaction solution can advantageously be reciprocated backwards and forwards between the reactor(s) and the cartridge, providing suspension and re-suspension of the synthesis support material(s), thereby assuring uniform and near quantitative reaction. The reciprocation further aids in dissolution of poorly soluble materials.
After dissolution and dispensation of its contents, the cartridge serves as a syringe pump for the metering, dispensation and mixing of other reagents and solvents accessible from the fluid system. Because of their accuracy and variable dispensation rates, syringe pumps are attractive for administering fluid dispensation in synthesis, sequencing and analytical instrumentation. However, they have not been widely used because of reliability problems. The disposable syringe of the present invention solves this problem since it can be, and preferably is, discarded after each cycle of operation.
The carousel in which the cartridges are carried and supported for sequential access has a plurality of radial slots in its periphery for receiving the cartridges and includes a clamping structure for securely clamping the cartridges in place. The carousel is indexed through predetermined arcs of movement to bring the cartridges into operative position for dissolution, reaction and dispensation of the contents of the cartridges. Indexing of the carousel is controlled by a motor operated in response to strategically placed sensors and the computer control system.
A plunger gripping and actuating device is positioned above the carousel in position to intercept and engage a flange on the cartridge plunger as the carousel is indexed, and thereafter to move the plunger up and down to draw a solvent and/or reagent into the cartridge to dissolve and dispense the contents into the fluid system for reaction with selected reagents contained in suitable reservoirs. Under control of the computer system, the plunger gripping and actuating device reciprocates the plunger to cause the cartridge and plunger to function as a syringe pump for mixing, etc., of the contents of the cartridge with other reagents, etc, contained in the fluid system.
The fluid system includes a plurality of valves which are operated in a predetermined sequence to introduce different materials, and/or to cause flow of the material(s) to and from different parts of the system.
A novel reactor column for containing the solid supports used in peptide synthesis, for example, has a snap-together body for access to the solid supports.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system used in the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged, longitudinal sectional view of the unique cartridge used in the system of the invention;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the cartridge and carousel, showing the manner in which the cartridge is gripped and held by the plates of the carousel;
FIG. 4 is bottom plan view of the carousel, with a portion thereof broken away, showing the slotted configuration and the relationship of the flange on the cartridge to the slotted carousel plates;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary top view of a portion of the plunger gripper, showing its relationship to a cartridge as the cartridge advances toward operative relationship with the gripper;
FIG. 6 is a side view in elevation, with portions broken away, of the carousel, gripper and fluid system connection used in the system of the invention; and
FIG. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the unique reactor column used in the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With more particular reference to the drawings, the system of the invention is indicated generally at 10 in FIG. 1. As defined hereinafter, the system is intended for synthesis of peptides, but, as noted earlier, it could also be used for other processes. The system includes a carousel 11 in which the cartridges 12 are supported; a linearly actuated gripper mechanism 13 for gripping and reciprocating the plunger 14 of a cartridge; a fluid transport system 15, including a fluid connector 16 and reactor column 17; and an electronic control including board 18.
The syringe-type cartridge 12 comprises a modified disposable syringe designed for automation. The cartridge is initially used for storage of the solid amino acid mixtures "M", and includes an elongate cylindrical body 20 having an open upper end 21 and a reduced diameter lower end 22 having a tapered bore 23 therein defining a friction fit female connection. The cartridge volume should preferably be about 5 ml. A diametrically enlarged gripping flange 24 is formed on the outside of the body near the lower end thereof. As seen best in FIG. 2, a foraminous block or frit 25 is secured within the body in the area of the flange 24 and defines a mechanical barrier against leakage of the solid reagents. The frit preferably has a filtration ability of about 125 microns for the materials described herein.
The plunger 14 is slidably sealed in the cylindrical housing or body, whereby the solid amino acid mixture "M" is confined within the cartridge body between the frit 25 and the plunger 14. The plunger has an enlarged flange 27 on its outer, free end, for a purpose to be later described, and as assembled and ready for use, is positioned about one-half the distance into the cartridge. Pumping action of the plunger in the cartridge is capable of drawing 2.5 ml of DMF (dimethyl formamide) and amino acid back through the reaction column 17 as well as pushing it forward through the column and is capable of moving a volume of 5 ml in either direction during a full stroke.
A hermetic seal 28 is secured across the lower end of the cartridge to prevent atmospheric contamination of the material M. A recessed area 29 is formed in the cartridge behind the seal to provide an area for receipt of the seal when it is ruptured by the male connector 50, to prevent interference with the liquid seal effected by the connector 50.
The cartridge and plunger are made from a suitable disposable material determined to be inert to the chemicals associated with peptide synthesis, such as Teflon, and, in a preferred embodiment, the cartridge body 20 will be injection molded from low-density polyethylene (LDPE), while the plunger 14 will be injection molded from polypropylene. The frit 25 is also manufactured from polypropylene and may be purchased from Porex Technologies, Stock No. X-5616. The seal 28 comprises a thermoplastic coated foil membrane and may be purchased from 3M and cut to size. The seal is applied to the cartridge body by induction heating using commercially available equipment (not shown or described).
The carousel 11 is removably supported on a bearing block 30 and is driven via belt 31 and pulley 32 by a motor 33. The carousel comprises a top plate 34 having a plurality of radial slots 35 in its peripheral edge, and a cartridge spring plate 36 engaged beneath the top plate. In use, the flange 24 on the cartridge 12 is engaged between the top plate 34 and spring plate 36, with the cartridge body extending through the slot 35 so that the lower end thereof with the female connector 23 is positioned below the spring plate and the upper end with the plunger 14 is positioned above the top plate (see FIGS. 1 and 6).
Suitable indicia 37 is provided on the bottom surface of the spring plate in a position to be detected by a position sensor S 1 , which controls operation of the motor 33 and defines a "parked" or home position for the carousel. Another sensor S 2 detects the position of the most recent "spent" cartridge 12A.
In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of slots 35, preferably 40, will be provided in the carousel for holding forty cartridges. The cartridges in the embodiment described herein are hand loaded into the slots in a predetermined order depending upon the intended use for the apparatus. After the cartridges have been loaded into the carousel, the carousel is placed in the apparatus and "home" position determined by the location of the indicia 37 and sensor S 1 . Alternatively, the carousel may be loaded when the carousel is in place on the bearing block 30.
The gripper mechanism 13 comprises a linear actuator 40 connected to an arm 41 midway between the ends of the arm. The arm has a slide 42 on one end riding on a track 43, and a plunger gripping slot 44 on its other end. Thus, operation of the actuator 40 causes the arm 41 to move up and down in a straight line or vertical path relative to the carousel and a cartridge 12 supported therein.
Upon initiation of a cycle of operation (via appropriate command given through the computer and the board 18) and loading of the carousel as described above, the gripper arm 41 is lowered in front of the next succeeding cartridge plunger flange 27 until the flange is directly in line with the gripper slot 44 on the arm 41. Optical or other suitable sensors detect and insure the precise location. The carousel is then advanced to engage the plunger flange 27 with the gripper slot 44.
The fluid connector 16 is positioned beneath the carousel in position to be in alignment with the lower end of a cartridge when the cartridge is positioned to engage the flange of its plunger with the gripper slot 44, as described above, and comprises a male connector 50 (see FIG. 2) having a tapered end 51 for piercing the foil seal 28 on the cartridge lower end and making a frictional engagement in the female recess. The male connector is mounted through a spring-loaded connection on a reciprocable member 52 operated by pneumatic motor 53 via valves V 1 and V 2 from unregulated supply line 54. The male connector 50 is connected with the fluid transport system 15 via a fluid line 55 extending between the connector and a valve V 3 . A fluid sensor S F is associated with line 55 to detect the presence of fluid in the line. Thus, when the cartridge has been advanced and its plunger flange engaged with the gripper slot 44, the male connector is actuated to pierce the seal 28 and establish fluid communication between the contents of the cartridge and the fluid system.
After connection of the cartridge to the fluid transport system, the gripper mechanism is raised, thereby raising the plunger and drawing solvent and reagent into the cartridge to be admixed with the amino acid mixture. Several different reservoirs R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 are provided, for containing one or more reagents. Each reservoir has a three-port, two-way valve connected with it, as at VR 1 , VR 2 , VR 3 , VR 4 and VR 5 , respectively. In addition, one of the reservoirs, R 6 , comprises an external, four liter bottle and there are three three-port, two-way valves VR 6 A, VR 6 B and 74 connected with it. As seen in FIG. 1, the valves VR 1 , VR 2 , VR 3 , VR 4 and VR 5 are arranged in two banks B 1 and B 2 associated with the reservoirs R 1 and R 2 , and with R 3 , R 4 and R 5 , respectively. External reservoir R 6 is connected via its valves to each of the banks.
A further three-port, two-way valve 60 is connected in a fluid conduit 61 extending between the two banks of valves, and two two-port valves 62 and 63 are interposed in this conduit between the valve 60 and each bank of valves.
A waste conduit 64 leads from the valve 60 to a suitable waste disposal site, and a two-port valve 65 is interposed in this conduit. A fluid sensor S F is associated with this waste conduit to detect the presence of fluid in the conduit.
Fluid conduit 61 and bank B 2 are connected to different ports of a three-port, two-way valve 70, which is, in turn, connected to the lower end of reactor column 17. A fluid sensor S F is associated with the conduit 71 leading from the valve 70 to the reactor column 17.
The upper end of the reactor column is connected via conduit 72 to series-connected three-port, two-way valves 73 and 74 and two-port valve 75. An outlet conduit 76 leads from valve 73 to waste, and a conduit 77 connects valve 74 with the reservoir R 6 . Valve 75 is connected via conduit 78 with a first manifold 79 for distributing pneumatic pressure to the system.
Manifold 79 is also connected via conduit 80 and two-port valve 81 with the first bank B 1 of valves, and via conduit 82 and two-way, two-position valve 83 to the bank B 2 of valves.
A second manifold 90 for distributing pneumatic pressure is connected via conduits 91, 92, 93, 94, 95 and 96 wit the respective reservoirs for pressurizing the contents of the reservoirs to assist in the movement of fluids through the system. Venting of all reservoirs is provided by a manual toggle 103. The line 93 to the piperidine deblock reservoir R3 is also equipped with a non-return check valve 106 to prevent contamination of other solvents and reagents by piperidine vapor.
The first manifold 79 is provided with regulated pressurized gas via conduit 100 and pressure regulator 101, while the second manifold 90 is provided with regulated pressurized gas via conduit 102, regulator 101 and three-port, three-way valve 103 operated either manually or by pressure switch 104.
Gas to the system is through flow meter 105 and, in a preferred embodiment, is at 30 psi, regulated to about 6 psi. Additionally, the gas is inert with respect to the various chemicals used in the process.
The valves are solenoid controlled, and with the fluid sensors and motor controls MC 1 and MC 2 are connected with controller 110, which is responsive to commands from the board 18 and computer (not shown). A communication port 111 is provided on the board for connection to the computer, and a suitable power supply 112 is also connected to the board.
The fluid conduits, valve components, manifolds, reservoirs and other components coming into contact with the fluids being handled by the system are made from a material inert to the fluids, such as Teflon, polypropylene, polyethylene and stainless steel. The gas used to provide pneumatic pressure in the system will be an inert gas, such as nitrogen, argon or helium. Selection of the gas will be determined by its mixing characteristics within the reactor column. Further, the cartridges may be provided with a bar code and a suitable reader 113 positioned to sense the bar code for confirmation of proper cartridge position and sequence.
The reagent reservoirs, valves and electronics are supported in a sheet metal housing. The electronics and pneumatics may be housed in a tray assembly that can be removed from the rear of the housing; and the carousel, gripper assembly and fluid connection structure comprise a single, replaceable assembly. A large door in the front of the housing permits access to the five fixed position reagent bottles. Most of the valves and the pneumatics are also accessible through doors in the rear of the housing.
Alongside the housing are three one gallon bottles: one for DMF and the other two for waste. Special vapor traps containing Dowex 50W-X8 ion exchange resin (sulfonic acid) allow the waste bottles to be vented directly into the laboratory.
In a typical setup for peptide synthesis, each cartridge will contain 0.5 mmol of Fmoc amino acid, HOBt and BOP. The plunger will be inserted halfway into the cartridge, defining a volume of 2.5 ml in which the dry mixture is stored. The three component amino acid mixture is activated by withdrawing the plunger, drawing activator into the cartridge. The amino acid is dissolved and activated simultaneously. It is then expelled from the syringe on the downward stroke of the plunger and directed into the reactor column. The porous frit in the bottom of the cartridge acts to prevent insoluble residues or reaction by-products from entering reaction and valving systems. By reciprocating the plunger, the amino acid solution, as well as up to 5 ml of other synthesis reagents may be continuously moved through the reactor column. The reciprocation further aids in the mechanical dissolution of poorly soluble materials.
The cartridges are designed to last for 200 pumping cycles. Each spent cartridge is replaced at the end of the coupling cycle by a fresh cartridge containing the next amino acid in the sequence.
To disengage the cartridge plunger, all fluid is first expelled from the cartridge. The fluid supply lines are then disconnected and the carousel is advanced until the gripper is clear of the plunger. The gripper is then fully raised and the carousel advanced to bring the next cartridge into operative position for engagement with the gripper, and the operation as described above repeated.
In a typical operation involving peptide synthesis, there are only two distinct procedures within the Fmoc coupling cycle: deblock and couple, separated by an efficient DMF wash, see, e.g., co-pending Hudson application Ser. No. 044,185, filed Apr. 30, 1987, and Melenhofer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,846, issued Aug. 22, 1978, and entitled "SOLID PHASE SYNTHESIS WITH BASE N ALPHA-PROTECTING GROUP CLEAVAGE", both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Synthesis is carried out on either Pepsyn K or polystyrene solid supports. Initial deblock of the resin is achieved with 30% piperidine in DMF for 10 minutes, followed by 6-10 washes with DMF. The cycle is then begun by activating and coupling the amino acid as follows: 0.5 mmol of the Fmoc-amino acid, BOP and HOBt mixture is dissolved in 2.5 ml of activator and coupled to 0.1 mmol of support. Reaction times of 20 and 40 minutes are used, with continual reciprocation of the reaction mixture achieving uniform and efficient reaction. Subsequent to coupling, washing of the reactor is performed with DMF, and the cartridge is deblocked with 30% piperidine in DMF for 10 minutes, followed by 6-10 washes with DMF to end the cycle. The cartridge is then disposed of and a new cartridge positioned to repeat the cycle.
The same apparatus can be used in DNA synthesis, with 50-100 micromoles of support. Amidite derivatives are placed in the cartridges and then dissolved and activated by the addition of tetrazole in acetonitrile. Since the amidites are stored as solids, the problem of decomposition is obviated. Large excesses, e.g., 20-50 fold, are currently used in DNA synthesizers. The efficient mixing, washing and lack of decomposition provided by the invention permits operation with only a five fold excess. Consequently, large amounts of DNA can be prepared rapidly and economically.
Typical control commands can be employed and other functions can be added or substituted in the foregoing system which alterations should be within the purview of one skilled in this art. In operation, typically, the following steps will be employed. Solid phase peptide synthesis with the Excell involves the following steps:
1. Insert sequence commands to computer control.
2. Place support material in the column reactor.
3. Load cartridges and verify correctness with bar-code reader.
4. Load reagents and solvents.
5. Start up synthesis consisting of priming lines and washing reactor column.
6. Fmoc-removal. A blank cartridge measures and mixes piperidine with DMF. The removal reagent is reciprocated between the reactor and the syringe. After 3 minutes, this reagent is replaced with freshly diluted solution and removal contained for another 7 minutes.
7. Syringe is washed and dispensed with.
8. Column is washed (by bi-directional flow) to remove all piperidine.
9. All lines blown dry with argon.
10. Activator solution admitted to next cartridge containing the Fmoc-amino acid, BOP and HOBt. This effects complete dissolution, rapidly converts the amino acid into a form which will couple, and is transferred to the reactor and reciprocated to achieve uniform and complete reaction.
11. After coupling, excess amino acids are washed out of the system.
This completes one cycle of addition, this process is continued until the desired sequence is assembled, then the support is removed and the peptide obtained by mild acid cleavage.
The following is a specific description of operation of the embodiment described for peptide synthesis. The processes described, including priming, washing, deblocking, purging and coupling are general for any synthesis application. Flow and control for other applications may be varied to suit a specific synthesis operation.
1. User sequence selection or entry.
2. Set up. The proper reagents and solvents are placed in the reservoirs according to amounts calculated by the controller. The amino acid cartridges are then placed in the carousel in the correct sequent to be assembled. A blank cartridge is placed in the first position. Loading can be prompted by a display on the computer controller. The carousel next rotates the cartridges past the bar-code reader before any operation of the machine to VERIFY that loading has been performed correctly. Unnatural acids, D-amino acids, and user specific amino acids can be accommodated by the bar-code system used. Operation in the absence of verification is also possible.
3. Start up. Upon commencing operation, all opening the valve and waste (e.g., Act 1 is primed by operating VR 7 , VR 1 , 65, 60, and 62 for 4 seconds). All priming routines by-pass the column.
4. Valve train wash. DMF is washed through the activator and reagent valve trains to remove contamination (VR 7 , VR 6 A, 65, 60, 62) followed by (VR 8 , VR 6 /B, 63, 65 and 60).
5. The column and its contents, the synthesis support, are next thoroughly washed. This process consist of: i) upward washing (opening valves 73, VR 8 , VR 6 /B, 70); ii) a pause (8 seconds); iii) downward washing through column 17 (74, 70, 63, 65, 60); and iv) emptying of column 17 (75, 70, 63, 65, 60) by argon. Steps i) to iv) are then repeated once.
iv) The lines and column are then purged of all fluid with argon.
6. Deblock reagent dilution. The gripper 13 engages the first EMPTY cartridge, completely depressed the plunger, and then partially raises the plunger to admit 3 parts of piperidine (VR 8 , VR 3 , VR 9 , 63, 62, V 3 ), the plunger is further raised to admit 7 parts of DMF (VR 8 , VR 6 /B, 63, 62, V 3 ).
7. Column deblocking, first treatment. The plunger is depressed delivering entire contents to column reactor (73, 70, 63, 62, V 3 ). After a pause (8 seconds), the deblocking mixture is drawn back into the syringe, then re-expelled. This process is continued for 3 minutes.
8. Column deblocking, second treatment. the contents of the syringe are dispelled to waste (plunger down, V 3 , 62, 60, 65). The processes described in 6 and 7 above are then repeated to dilute further piperidine to 30% and perform deblocking for a second period of seven minutes.
9. Syringe emptying and line purging with argon to displace most piperidine. Syringe then filled with DMF (VR 7 , VR 6 A, V 3 ) and left.
10. Column is washed 6 times with DMF as described in Section 5, i)-iv).
11. Syringe emptied to waste. Then filled with DMF through the column (74, 70, 63, 62, V 3 ) and emptied to waste (V 3 , 62, 60, 65). Repeated 4 times.
12. All lines and column are purged of fluid.
13. Gripper 13 disengages from spent cartridge. New cartridge is placed in position by advancing carousel and gripping plunger.
14. Plunger is depressed (V 3 , 62, 60, 65). Then withdrawn to admit 2.5 ml activator (0.3M N-methylmorpholine in DMF)(VR 1 , VR 7 , V 3 ).
15. Coupling is performed by expelling activated amino acid to column (73, 70, 63, 62, V 3 ), then reciprocating fluid to ensure mixing, uniform reaction and complete amino acid dissolution. The withdrawal step involves activation of valves 75, 70, 63, 62 and V 3 .
16. After adopted coupling time, the spent amino acid solution is displaced to waste. The cartridge is filled with DMF (VR 7 , VR 6 A, V 3 ) and left whilst the column is washed as in 5, i)-iv). Cartridge washing, as in 11, is then performed.
17. Fluid purging from system with argon.
18. Steps 6 and 7 are then repeated to assemble the desired sequence.
19. Final Fmoc group may be left on or removed.
20. Synthesis ends with methanol and methylene chloride washed and nitrogen purge through column.
21. Support removed from column and cleaved.
The foregoing system, system components, controls and method of operation are exemplary only and different synthesis, and equivalent apparatus, may be substituted for that disclosed, where appropriate, and still achieve the overall improvements taught herein. The scope of the invention is only limited by the claims and the applicable prior art. | A chemical processing system is disclosed for the automated dissolution, dispersing and reaction of chemicals, especially for synthesizing proteins. The system includes a plurality of storage cartridges containing a first chemical in fluid communication with a reservoir containing a second chemical to be reacted with the first chemical. Each cartridge includes a pump (e.g., a plunger) which operates by changing the internal volume of the cartridge. The pump permits bi-directional flow of the first chemical into and out of the reservoir and cartridge to promote mixing and reacting with the second chemical in the reservoir to produce a third chemical. | 1 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a moving image compression/decompression apparatus and method, and particularly to a moving image compression/decompression apparatus and method which use a wavelet transform technique so as to improve a compression rate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In recent years, there has been much transmission service of image data or audio data over the internet. Also, in the field of security system, there has been much research on a realtime transmission of stored data as well as data storage.
[0003] For this, methods for increasing a transmission rate of network or transmitting compressed data are proposed. However, in the former method, a transmission rate of network can not be increased to more than some extent. Moreover, since the transmission rate becomes to decrease even in the high speed network when users connected to the network increase, enormous cost and expense are consumed without remarkable effect. In the latter method, there are various standardized compression methods such as MJPEG(Motion JPEG), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or the like. VOD or realtime service are performed using the compression methods and buffering method, VOD service is not performed in realtime since it uses compressed and pre-stored data, and realtime service performed using buffering method has problems about system workability and stability when processing is delayed on the reception side or transmission rate of network decreases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving image compression/decompression apparatus and method for compressing moving image data in high compression rate and transmitting them in realtime through the practical network.
[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving image compression/decompression apparatus comprising a A/D converter for converting moving image data into digital data, a wavelet transformer for dividing the digital data converted by the AID converter into a plurality of level regions and wavelet-transforming the divided data, a quantizer for quantizing the data wavelet-transformed by the wavelet transformer with predetermined weight corresponding to each of the level regions, a SZT coder for performing a lossless OPCM coding with respect to the data quantized by the quantizer sequentially from high level region to low level region using a similarity between the level regions based on a predetermined SZT map, a Huffman coder for encoding the data subject to SZT coding by the SZT coder based on the probability of high frequency components which exist in each of the level regions, and a stream file generator for outputting the data encoded by the Huffman coder as bit stream.
[0006] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a moving image compression/decompression method comprising the steps of (a) converting moving image data into digital data, (b) dividing the digital data converted in the stop (a) into a plurality of level regions and wavelet-transforming the divided data, (c) a quantizer for quantizing the data wavelet-transformed in the step (b) with predetermined weight corresponding to each of the level regions, (d) performing a lossless DPCM coding with respect to the data quantized in the step (c) sequentially from high level region to low level region using a similarity between the level regions based on a predetermined SZT map, (e) encoding the data subject to SZT coding in the step (d) based on the probability of high frequency components which exist in each of the level regions, and (f) outputting the data encoded in the step (a) as bit stream.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The above object and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by describing in details a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
[0008] [0008]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing intra-frame encoder;
[0009] [0009]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing inter-frame encoder;
[0010] [0010]FIG. 3 is a view of three level regions in SZT coding;
[0011] [0011]FIG. 4 is a view of three level regions weighted with 1, 2 and 4, respectively, in quantization;
[0012] [0012]FIG. 5 shows a RLC(run-length coding) procedure in each level region in Huffman coding;
[0013] [0013]FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing intra-frame decoder: and
[0014] [0014]FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing inter-frame decoder.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] A moving image compression/decompression apparatus and method according to the present invention are based on a wavelet transform method which is being widely used as an image coding method having a good performance.
[0016] Wavelet transformation is a new theory which integrates individual technologies developed in the field of signal processing. The wavelet transformation has a large amount of arithmetic operation compared with DCT(Discrete Cosine Transform), but it has both time and frequency component, soalability characteristics, multi-resolution, zero tree coding and control function of quantization rate so as to realize high compression rate and high quality.
[0017] In the conventional method similar to the method supposed by the present invention, since significant map is created using self-similarity between wavelet-divided subbands (upper band and lower band) so as to transmit the data, all the wavelet-divided regions must be checked. However, in the method according to the present invention, a lossless DPCM(Differential Pulse Code Modulation) is performed with respect to the low frequency band having much image information while SZT coding is performed with respect to the other bands using level similarity. Also, a noise filter to remove a noise included in input image is provided so as to improve compression rate and quality.
[0018] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in details with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0019] The encoder according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The encoder as shown in FIG. 1 is a intra-trane encoder which allows a high capacity of data to be transmitted with high quality and high speed. The encoder as shown in FIG. 2 is a inter-frame encoder which allows a high capacity of data to be transmitted with high quality and high speed even in the network having low transmission rate.
[0020] Note that the same drawing number will be used with respect to the same block of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, input moving image data are supplied to an A/D converter 1 . The moving image data supplied to the A/D converter 1 are converted into digital data in the A/D converter 1 . The converted digital data are supplied to a wavelet transformer 2 . The wavelet transformer 2 performs wavelet transformation processing with respect to the digital data. Here, noise filters 8 , which are provided in an output terminal of the A/D converter 1 and the wavelet transformer 2 respectively, removes a noise included in the moving image data. The wavelet-transformed data are supplied to a quantizer 3 which quantizes them in predetermined method. The quantized data are subject to SZT(Simplified Zero Tree) coding in SZT encoder 4 which will be described later. Thereafter, the SZT coded data are supplied to an arithmetic coder 5 or a Huffman coder 6 which performs its corresponding coding with respect to the SZT coded data. Finally, the coded data are output as bit stream via stream file generator 7 and transmitted through the network or stored in predetermined medium.
[0022] In FIG. 2, input moving image data, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, are converted into digital data and wavelet-transformed by the A/D converter 1 and the wavelet transformer 2 , respectively. Also, the moving image data are subject to noise filtering by the noise filters 8 . Next, the wavelet-transformed data are supplied to a frame difference extractor 9 and compared with data stored in a first memory 10 which have been wavelet-transformed in previous stage. Difference data between the wavelet-transformed data and the data stored in a first memory 10 are stored in a second memory 11 and also are supplied to the quantizer 3 . When next wavelet-transformed data are supplied to the frame difference extractor 9 , the difference data stored in the second memory 11 are sent to the first memory 10 and compared with the next wavelet-transformed data. Then, other difference data between the next wavelet-transformed data and the difference data stored in the first memory 10 are stored in the second memory 11 and also are supplied to the quantizer 3 .
[0023] In such a method, difference data are sequentially output from the frame difference extractor 9 and the output difference data finally are transmitted or stored as bit stream via the quantizer 3 , the SZT coder 4 , the arithmetic coder 5 or the Huffman coder 6 , and the stream file generator 7 .
[0024] Since the inter-frame encoder in FIG. 2 compresses a moving image data by substantially one-third, it can transmit more data than the intra-frame encoder in the same transmission rate.
[0025] As described above, the encoders in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 output bit streams by iterating the above processing.
[0026] SZT coding executed in the SZT coder 4 will be described below with reference to FIG. 3.
[0027] When a moving image is input to the encoder, it is subject to the above processing, i.e. D/A conversion, wavelet transform and quantization, and then supplied to the SZT coder 4 . A SZT map for storing flag of zero tree is created before SZT coding is performed, for example, with respect to three level regions (level 1 to level 3 ) in the SZT coder 4 . At first, the SZT map has all “0”.
[0028] The level 3 has much information as a high level region which has LL band with high energy. First, a lossless DPCM coding is executed with respect to the level 3 using similarity with high frequency region. The SZT map changes the flag corresponding to coded pixel into “1”. At this time, since all the high frequency regions are subject to the lossless DPCM coding, the SZT map for level 3 becomes all “1”.
[0029] The coding for the level 2 is performed with respect to the pixels corresponding to those of the level 3 only when the SZT map for level 3 is “1”. All the pixels of the level 2 are coded since the SZT map for level 3 has all “1”. However, in the SZT map for the level 2 , when value of coded pixel is more than predetermined threshold, corresponding flag of the SZT map is changed into “1”, while that of the SZT map keeps “0” when value of coded pixel is less than predetermined threshold. Accordingly, the SZT map for the level 2 has “0” and “1”, so that coding with respect to the level 1 is performed in two ways.
[0030] When the SZT map for the level 2 is “0”, in accordance with similarity with the level 2 , coding is not performed with respect to the corresponding 4 times pixels. On the other hand, when the SZT map for the level 2 is “1”, coding is performed in the same method to the above level 2 .
[0031] The SZT coding is executed by decreasing the number of pixels to be coded using similarity and multi-resolution. In other words, when the SZT map for upper level is “0”, corresponding 4 pixels of current level is not coded. Then, in the next level, corresponding 16 pixels of current level is not coded. Although the number of levels is three in the embodiment of the present invention, the more the number of levels increases, the more the number of pixels not to be coded increases.
[0032] In the intra-frame encoder, after wavelet-transformed data are quantized in the quantizer 3 , the quantized data are subject to the SZT coding. In the inter-frame encoder, after difference data are quantized in the quantizer 3 , the quantized difference data are subject to the SZT coding.
[0033] The quantizer 3 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a scalar quantizer, and performs dead zone quantization wherein dead zone is two times of step size. Here, a quantization coefficient is as follows.
X q - sign ( X ) · | X | δ
[0034] The quantization coefficient is weighted in accordance with the characteristics of wavelet transform. In other words, for example the level 3 is weighted with 1; the level 2 with 2: the level with 4, as shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, a substantial quantization coefficient is as follows.
X q ′ = sign ( X ) · | X | weight · δ = X q weight
[0035] The data subject to SZT coding are supplied to the arithmetic coder 5 or the Huffman coder 6 . Here, Description for the arithmetic coder 5 is omitted, and the only Huffman coder 6 will be described below.
[0036] SZT coded data supplied to the Huffman coder 6 are subject to RLC(run-length coding) as a previous processing before Huffman coding In a conventional method, Z-type method is used in level 3 as shown in FIG. 5, while other method may be used in each level considering the characteristics of wavelet transform in the present invention. In FIG. 5, most of level 1 is composed of high frequency components so that the SZT map for level 1 has substantially “0”. Also, each of “LL”, “LH” and “HH” in the level 1 has its different characteristics of high frequency component. For example, since the “HH” band of the level 1 has substantially “0” an existence probability for “0” is set to high value so as to encode the data in shortest length. That is, if the existence probability for “0” is 15% in one band, data are encoded into “000” and if 60%, data are encoded into “10”. This method obtains a compression efficiency more than 50% compared with the conventional method. In this case. coded data form is managed corresponding to the level so that coded data are subject to decoding processing in the reception side also corresponding to the level. In the level 2 or 3 , the same processing is performed and the only existence probability for “0” is different. Accordingly, the each Huffman probability table is created and managed corresponding to the level. In decoding, the Huffman probability table is used corresponding to each level. In the present invention, RLC procedure before the Huffman coding may be peformed from left toward right as shown in the level 1 of FIG. 5 including Z-type method.
[0037] The compressed moving image data through the above processing are formed of a bit stream format which supports time search function using time information included therein as data format used in program such as Window Media Player.
[0038] [0038]FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 is a block diagram of intra-frame decoder and inter-frame decoder according to the present invention, respectively. Inverse processing of the above coding, that is decoding is performed using the same method in the intra-frame decoder and inter-frame decoder.
[0039] In FIG. 6, compressed moving image data received from the transmission side or stored in predetermined medium are supplied to a stream file analyzer 20 which determines the coding format of bit stream(compressed moving image data). When the coding format of compressed moving image data is arithmetic coding, the data are supplied to a arithmetic decoder 21 . On the other hand, when the coding format of compressed moving image data is Huffman coding, the data are supplied to a Huffman decoder 22 .
[0040] The data decoded in the arithmetic decoder 21 or Huffman decoder 22 are decompressed by the inverse procedure of the coding via a SZT decoder 23 , inverse quantizer 24 , inverse transformer 25 and D/A converter 26 .
[0041] In FIG. 7, compressed moving image data received from the transmission side or stored in predetermined medium are supplied to a stream file analyzer 20 which determines the coding format of bit stream. Then, the data are supplied to the arithmetic decoder 21 or the Huffman decoder 22 .
[0042] The data decoded in the arithmetic decoder 21 or Huffman decoder 22 are supplied to a frame difference adder 27 via the SZT decoder 23 and the inverse quantizer 24 . The data supplied to the frame difference adder 27 are simultaneously stored in a second memory 28 . The frame difference adder 27 adds data pre-stored in a first memory 29 to the data supplied from the inverse quantizer 24 and outputs the result data to the inverse wavelet transformer 25 . At the same time, the data stored in the second memory 28 are sent to the first memory 29 . The inverse wavelet transformer 25 performs a inverse transform with respect to the result data and outputs digital moving image data. The output digital moving image data are converted into analog moving image data in the D/A converter 26 .
[0043] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it should be understood by those skilled in the art that other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
[0044] According to the present invention, there are provided a moving image compression/decompression apparatus and method which can transmit or store the data 3 to 6 times or more.
[0045] In other words, since compression rate increases by minimum 3 times to maximum 6 times or more compared with the conventional method, the compression/decompression apparatus and method according to the present invention are widely applied to the system requiring a large quantity of data such as internet TV, internet video mailing, DVR(digital video recording) or on-line conference system. | A moving image compression/decompression apparatus and method that uses, for example, a wavelet transform technique in order to improve a compression rate is disclosed. The moving image compression/decompression apparatus includes an A/D converter for converting moving image data into digital data. The digital data is divided into a plurality of level regions using a wavelet transformer. The apparatus also includes a quantizer for quantizing the data that has been transform with a predetermined weight that corresponds to each of the regions. The apparatus also includes an SZT coder for performing a lossless DPCM coding with respect to the data quantized sequentially form a high level region to a low level regionusing a similarity between the level regions based on a predetermined SZT map. A Huffman coder for encoding the data subject to SZT coding by the SZT coder based on the probability of high frequency components which exist in each of the level regions, and a stream file generator for outputting the data encoded by the Huffman coder as bit stream. | 7 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
There are no current co-pending applications.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The presently disclosed subject matter is directed to note-taking devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dry-erase board/paper pad for facilitating listing and purchasing of grocery items and that is movable from ferro-magnetic surfaces to a grocery cart handle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many households employ a variety of different methods of keeping track of items to be purchased at a grocery store. Some people rely upon a detailed list kept on a piece of paper. However, such paper can be easily lost or misplaced. Others rely upon memory, which leads to purchasing items that are not needed or forgetting to purchase items that are. Others rely on dry-erase boards that are kept in the kitchen and which allow adding items to be purchased to a list. However, dry-erase boards usually require a shopper to transfer notes to a piece of paper before going to the store. This obviously takes additional time and can result in transcription errors.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which grocery store lists can be easily updated at home then used at the store. Preferably such a means would be directly movable from a fixed location such as on a refrigerator onto a shopping cart. Ideally a device would not require memory, would not require re-writing items to be purchased, would provide a stable writing surface, and could simply be wiped clean when done or as items are collected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The principles of the present invention provide for a dry-erase board with a paper pad that can be easily updated at home and then used at the store. The dry-erase board with a paper pad can be directly moved from a fixed location such as on a refrigerator onto a shopping cart. The dry-erase board with a paper pad does not require memory, does not require re-writing items to be purchased, provides a stable writing surface, and can simply be wiped clean when done or as items are collected.
The principles of the present invention provide for a clipboard having both a dry-erase board and a pad of paper and which is held within a frame. The clipboard incorporates magnets for sticking to a ferro-magnetic surface such as a refrigerator and a shopping cart clip for attaching to the handle of a shopping cart. The frame has a slot for a conventional dry-erase marker and another for a pen or pencil. A user writes down grocery items that need to be purchased during the next store visit either on the dry-erase board or on the pad of paper. When going shopping the clipboard is removed from the metallic surface, carried to a store, and then snapped onto the handle of a common shopping cart using the shopping cart clip. The shopping cart clip is configured to rotate on the shopping cart handle from ninety to one hundred-eighty degrees (90°-180°). As the user collects items on the list the items can be crossed off or erased.
A clipboard that is in accord with the present invention includes a dry-erase board having a retention clip, an upper board connected to the dry-erase board by a board hinge, a holder on the dry-erase board for retaining a marker, a cart clamp attached to the top of the upper board, a cart clamp magnet mounted to the cart clamp, and a central magnet that is attached to the rear of the dry-erase board. The central magnet is located and configured such that it sticks to the cart clamp magnet when the upper board is pivoted fully backward on the board hinge.
Beneficially the retention clip retains at least one (1) piece of paper; the marker holder is beneficially comprised of back-to-back tubular members and includes a holder for retaining an ink pen. Preferably the dry-erase board includes a plurality of rear surface magnets. Also preferably the upper board is trapezoidal-shaped, the cart clamp includes a stationary clamping jaw, a movable clamping jaw that is attached to the stationary clamping jaw by a clamp hinge, and at least one (1) clamp spring that biases the movable clamping jaw toward the stationary clamping jaw. The clamp spring may be an internal torsion spring while the cart clamp may include an integral cart clamp actuator for rotating the movable clamping jaw away from the stationary clamping jaw. The clamping jaws should have inner gripping surfaces and the movable clamping jaw and the stationary clamping jaw may be dimensioned to clamp onto a shopping cart handle.
An alternative clipboard that is in accord with the present invention includes a dry-erase board having a board clip for retaining at least one (1) piece of paper, an upper board that is connected to the dry-erase board by a board hinge, a marker holder that is attached to the dry-erase board, a cart clamp that is attached to the top of the upper board, a cart clamp magnet that is mounted on the back of the cart clamp, and a central magnet attached to the rear of the dry-erase board. The central magnet is located and configured such that the central magnet sticks to the cart clamp magnet when the upper board is pivoted fully backwards.
Beneficially the marker holder is beneficially comprised of back-to-back tubular members that are dimensioned to retain a dry-erase marker and an ink pen. Preferably the dry-erase board includes a plurality of rear surface magnets. Also preferably the upper board is trapezoidal-shaped, the cart clamp includes a stationary clamping jaw, a movable clamping jaw that is attached to the stationary clamping jaw by a clamp hinge, and at least one clamp spring that biases the movable clamping jaw toward the stationary clamping jaw. The clamp spring may be an internal torsion spring while the cart clamp may include an integral cart clamp actuator for rotating the movable clamping jaw away from the stationary clamping jaw. The clamping jaws may be dimensioned to clamp onto a shopping cart handle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following more detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an clipboard 10 that is in accord with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 a is a side view of the clipboard 10 shown in FIG. 1 on a refrigerator 95 ;
FIG. 2 b is another side view of the clipboard 10 shown in FIG. 1 but attached to a shopping cart handle 100 ;
FIG. 3 a is a rear view of the clipboard 10 of FIG. 1 configured to attach to a refrigerator;
FIG. 3 b is a rear view of the clipboard 10 configured to attach to a shopping cart handle 100 ;
FIG. 4 is a side view of a cart clamp 44 used with the clipboard 10 shown in FIG. 1 ; and,
FIG. 5 is a close-up view of the cart clamp 44 shown in FIG. 4 .
DESCRIPTIVE KEY
10
clipboard
20
dry-erase board
22
paper clip
23
actuator lever
25a
marker holder
25b
pen holder
27
marker
29
pen
31
pad of paper
40
upper board
42
board hinge
44
cart clamp
46
first clamp jaw
47
second clamp jaw
49
gripping surface
52
cart clamp actuator
53
spring
54
cart clamp hinge
60a
cart clamp magnet
60b
central magnet
62
surface magnet
95
refrigerator
100
shopping cart handle
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The best mode for carrying out the invention is presented in terms of its preferred embodiment, herein depicted within FIGS. 1 through 5 . However, the invention is not limited to the described embodiment, and a person skilled in the art will appreciate that many other embodiments of the invention are possible without deviating from the basic concept of the invention and that any such work around will also fall under scope of this invention. It is envisioned that other styles and configurations of the present invention can be easily incorporated into the teachings of the present invention, and only one particular configuration shall be shown and described for purposes of clarity and disclosure and not by way of limitation of scope.
The terms “a” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one (1) of the referenced items.
FIG. 1 presents a front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, an attachable clipboard 10 . The clipboard 10 can be selectively configured to attach to a refrigerator or other ferro-magnetic surface and to a shopping cart 100 (see FIG. 5 ). The clipboard 10 provides both a flat dry-erase board 20 and a pad of paper 31 . As notations to purchased items can be made to either or both the dry-erase board 20 and the pad of paper 31 the clipboard 10 is highly useful for facilitating the purchasing of groceries and the like.
Still referring to FIG. 1 , the clipboard 10 also includes a dry-erase marker 27 and an ink pen 29 . The dry-erase marker 27 and the ink pen 29 respectively attach to the dry-erase board 20 via a marker holder 25 a and a pen holder 25 b . The marker holder 25 a and the pen holder 25 b are attached to the outer edge of the dry-erase board 20 and are beneficially configured as back-to-back plastic tubular members that are dimensioned to respectively hold the marker 27 and the pen 29 until needed. In practice the marker holder 25 a and the ink holder 25 b will be adhesively bonded to or otherwise permanently affixed to the outer edge of the dry-erase board 20 .
Still referring to FIG. 1 , the clipboard 10 includes a hinged, trapezoidal-shaped upper board 40 that is hinged to the dry-erase board 20 by a board hinge 42 . The board hinge 42 is configured such that the upper board 40 can fold back to meet with the dry-erase board 20 . As described in more detail subsequently the upper board 40 is configured to enable quick conversion from a refrigerator-mounted device to a shopping cart attachable device.
Turn now to FIGS. 2 a , 2 b , 3 a , and 3 b , respectively two side views, a rear view, and a front view of the clipboard 10 . As shown the upper board 40 includes a cart clamp 44 having a cart clamp magnet 60 a on its rear surface. The dry-erase board 20 includes a central magnet 60 b that is located on the back of the dry-erase board 20 . The cart clamp magnet 60 a and the central magnet 60 b are located and configured such that when the upper board 40 is folded all the way back on the board hinge 42 that the cart clamp magnet 60 a sticks to the central magnet 60 b . In addition, the dry-erase board 20 includes a plurality of surface magnets 62 that are located around the outer edges of the dry-erase board 20 . The magnets 60 a , 60 b , 62 provide coincident magnetic adhesion to an existing refrigerator 95 or other ferro-magnetic surface.
During use, a user magnetically attaches the clipboard 10 to the refrigerator 95 using the magnets 60 a , 60 b , 62 to enable listing various grocery or other store items to be purchased on the dry-erase board 20 . When a user goes to the store the clipboard 10 is removed from the refrigerator 95 , the upper board 40 is pivoted back on the board hinge 42 until the cart clamp magnet 60 a and the central magnet 60 b stick together. This retains the upper board 40 such that the integral cart clamp 44 is behind the dry-erase board 20 . The clipboard 10 is then taken to the store and attached to the handle of a shopping cart 100 using the cart clamp 44 (described in more detail subsequently). After shopping the clipboard 10 is wiped clean and the process starts over again. The magnets 60 a , 60 b , 62 are preferably adhesively bonded to the clipboard 10 .
The clipboard 10 also enables a user to create a written grocery list using the pen 29 and the pad of paper 31 . To that end the clipboard 10 includes a metal or plastic paper clip 22 that is integrally-molded or otherwise permanently attached to the front of the dry-erase board 20 , just below the upper board hinge 42 . The paper clip 22 can clamp a single sheet or an entire pad of paper 31 . This allows a user to make notes of items in a similar manner as the previously described dry-erase board 20 and marker 27 . The paper clip 22 uses a common spring-type hinge and has an outwardly-extending paper clip actuator lever 23 which enables loading/unloading the paper 31 .
The dry-erase board 20 and the upper board 40 are envisioned as being made using injection-molded plastic materials and plastic or metal clamps and hinges. The dry-erase board 20 and the upper board 40 are envisioned as being available in various attractive colors. Beneficially the dry-erase board 20 is approximately twelve inches (12 in.) wide and eighteen inches (18 in.) long. Furthermore, while the previously approximated size of the clipboard 10 is preferred it should be understood that the dry-erase board 20 and the upper board 40 may be made available in various length and width sizes. Thus the preferred size should not be interpreted as a limiting factor of the clipboard 10 .
FIGS. 4 and 5 provide close-up views of the cart clamp 44 . The cart clamp 44 is a spring-loaded clamping device having an arcuate first clamp jaw 46 and a second clamp jaw 47 . The first clamp jaw 46 is a stationary-mounted member that is beneficially integrally-molded with the upper board 40 . The second clamp jaw 47 is a rotating member that is affixed to the first clamp jaw 46 by a joining cart clamp hinge 54 . The cart clamp hinge 54 is biased-closed via at least one (1) internal torsion spring 53 . The cart clamp 44 may be opened by a user by applying force to the protruding integral cart clamp actuator 52 . This causes the second clamp jaw 47 to rotate away from the first clamp jaw 46 , allowing the cart clamp 44 to attach to a shopping cart handle.
The jaws 46 , 47 of the cart clamp 44 have inner gripping surfaces 49 (see FIG. 5 ) beneficially comprised of an adhesively bonded rubber or soft plastic textured contact layer that provides a high-friction grip for the cart clamp 44 on the shopping cart handle. The cart clamp 44 may be selectively rotated on the shopping cart handle 100 during installation prior by releasing the cart clamp actuator 52 . This can be used to provide a desired viewing or writing angle, reference FIG. 4 . As the user walks through the store he simply marks off shopping items as they are added to the cart.
It is envisioned that other styles and configurations of the present invention can be easily incorporated into the teachings of the present invention, and while only one particular configuration is shown and described that is for purposes of clarity and disclosure and not by way of limitation of scope.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention can be used by a common user in a simple and effortless manner with little or no training. After initial purchase or acquisition of the clipboard 10 it would be installed as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 4 .
The method of installing and using the clipboard 10 may be achieved by performing the following steps: procuring a model of the clipboard 10 having a desired color and a dry-erase board 20 with a desired size; pivoting the upper board 40 to an upward and coplanar position; attaching the clipboard 10 to a refrigerator 95 using the magnets 60 a , 60 b , 62 ; installing the marker 27 and pen 29 into the respective holders 25 a , 25 b ; noting various grocery and other items which need to be purchased on the dry-erase board 20 using the dry-erase marker 27 ; removing the clipboard 10 from the refrigerator 95 by detaching the magnets 60 a , 60 b , 62 .
Next, preparing the clipboard 10 for attachment to a handle by pivoting the upper board 40 back and down until the cart clamp magnet 60 a and the central magnet 60 b stick to each other; pressing the cart clamp actuator 52 to open the cart clamp 44 ; lowering the jaws 46 , 47 of the cart clamp 44 around the handle; pivoting the clipboard 10 upward and downward to obtain a desired writing/reading angle of the dry-erase board 20 ; releasing the cart clamp actuator 52 to secure the clipboard 10 to the handle; checking-off or erasing items written upon the dry-erase board 20 as they are added to the cart until all items have been gathered.
The method of using the paper 31 and ink pen 29 of the clipboard 10 to create a hand-written list may be achieved by performing the following steps: securing paper 31 onto the dry-erase board 20 by inserting and clamping the paper 31 into the paper clip 22 ; affixing the clipboard 10 to the refrigerator 95 as previously described; writing down various grocery and other items onto the paper 31 using the pen 29 ; removing the clipboard 10 from the refrigerator 95 ; and, using the clipboard 10 on a cart handle to enhance shopping as previously described.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. | A clipboard for keeping lists of items for purchases is described. The clipboard includes a dry-erase board, a paper pad, a holder for a dry-erase marker, a holder for an ink pen, a plurality of magnets for holding the clipboard to a ferro-magnetic surface, and a folding board having a clip for attaching to the clipboard to a shopping cart handled. The clip is configured to enable tilting the clipboard with mounted on a shopping cart handle. The clipboard can be moved from a refrigerator, carried to a store, and then clipped onto a shopping cart. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,684 teaches protective paintlike coatings containing powdered zinc and partially hydrolyzed tetraethyl orthosilicate. The partial hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate is carried out by dissolving tetraethyl orthosilicate in an organic solvent, adjusting the pH of the solution to a range of 1.5 to 4.0 by the addition of a conventional acid and adding a quantity of water, such quantity being less than an equivalent weight with respect to the quantity of tetraethyl orthosilicate present. Typically, the conventional acids used as catalysts are mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. As a result of using the amount of a conventional acid necessary to effectively catalyze the reaction, there is a residual acidity which may create stability problems with the hydrolyzed ethyl silicate or pot life stability problems after the zinc powder is added.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention describes a method of preparing stable hydrolyzed alkyl silicate binders useful for producing protective coatings such as zinc-rich coatings. The method utilizes an ion exchange resin as a catalytic source of hydrogen ion instead of conventional acid catalysts. The ion exchange resin is removed after hydrolysis thereby greatly reducing the residual acidity. Lower residual acidity tends to reduce instability of the hydrolyzed alkyl silicate binders and increase the pot life of protective coatings made from the hydrolyzed alkyl silicate.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention describes a process of preparing partially hydrolyzed alkyl silicate so that a product of particularly good stability is obtained. The source of the good stability is related to the catalyst used in the preparation.
Generally the process involves dissolving an alkyl silicate in an organic solvent containing a strong acid form ion exchange resin and then slowly adding a quantity of water being in the range of 0.25 to 0.95 of an equivalent weight with respect to the quantity of alkyl silicate, or an amount sufficient to provide 0.125 to 0.475 mole of water for each alkoxy group carried by the alkyl silicate. When a partially hydrolyzed alkyl silicate is used in place of alkyl silicate the quantity of water must be adjusted so as not to exceed the equivalent weight of the unhydrolyzed alkyl silicate.
The alkyl silicates that may be employed in the present invention are alkoxy silicates such as tetraalkoxysilicate where the alkyl groups range from 1 to 4 carbon atoms such as methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl. The most preferred silicate is tetraethyl orthosilicate.
Partially hydrolyzed alkyl silicates may be used in place of the alkyl silicate when a higher degree of hydrolysis is desired. Commercially available partially hydrolyzed ethyl silicates such as Ethyl Silicate-40 (ES-40) manufactured by the Union Carbide Corporation are particularly preferred.
Organic solvents which may be used are monoalkylene glycol monoalkyl ethers, dialkylene glycol monoalkyl ethers, dialkylene glycol dialkyl ether and monoalkylene glycol dialkyl ether wherein the alkyl groups range from 1 to 6 carbon atoms and the alkylene groups range from 2 to 4 carbon atoms. Cellosolve (trademark of Union Carbide Corporation for ethylene glycol monoethyl ether) is a preferred solvent. Aliphatic ketones and alkanols of from 1 to 6 carbon atoms are additional solvents which may be used. Ethanol and isopropanol are particularly preferred solvents.
Ion exchange resins having strong acid functional groups capable of giving up their labile hydrogen are desired. In addition, the ion exchange resins should be anhydrous and insoluble in organic solvents, therefore readily removable by filtration when the reaction is essentially complete for the desired level of hydrolysis. Amberlyst-15 (trademark of Rohm & Haas Company) has been found to be a particularly preferred ion exchange resin. On the other hand, Dowex 50W-X8 (trademark of Dow Chemical Company), is not a suitable ion exchange resin for this process. Dowex is not anhydrous and has beads which are swelled with water. It is not certain why the swollen beads do not work, but even removal of the water does not make them suitable. In addition to Dowex, Amberlite IR-120 Plus (Rohm & Haas Company) was found to be an unsuitable ion exchange resin for this process and Duolite C3 (Diamond Shamrock Company) did not work when added in an amount containing an equivalent level of hydrogen ions as in an effective amount of Amberlyst-15.
The amount of ion exchange resin added should be sufficient to effectively catalyze the hydrolysis reaction. Since the quantity of available hydrogen ions differ among resins the amount of resin added will vary depending upon the resin which is used. When Amberlyst-15 was used to hydrolyze Ethyl Silicate-40, approximately 1% by weight of the final binder solution was used, or 1.5% the weight of the Ethyl Silicate-40. This resulted in a hydrolysis of approximately 80-95% of the ethyl silicate depending upon the amount of water added.
The following two examples illustrate the improvement over the prior art which is described in this invention. Example 1 describes the method of manufacturing hydrolyzed ethyl silicate using a conventional acid catalyst. Example 2 describes the method of manufacturing hydrolyzed ethyl silicate using an anhydrous strong acid form ion exchange resin as the catalyst. Example 2 should not be considered to limit the scope of this invention, but is provided to illustrate a specific process of this invention which can be compared to the prior art process.
EXAMPLE 1
A reaction vessel is flushed with dry inert gas. To the vessel are added 2300 grams of Ethyl Silicate-40 and 600 grams of anhydrous isopropanol. Agitation is then begun. A solution of 1.79 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid in 261 ml of water is then added to the vessel over a two hour period, with continuous agitation under the inert gas. The product is stirred for an additional hour and then filtered. The final product was 90% hydrolyzed ethyl silicate.
EXAMPLE 2
A reaction vessel is flushed with dry inert gas. To the vessel are added 2300 grams of Ethyl Silicate-40, 600 grams of anhydrous isopropanol and 36 grams of Amberlyst-15. Agitation is then begun. 261 ml of water is then added over a two hour period, with continuous agitation under the inert gas. The product is stirred for an additional hour and then filtered to remove the Amberlyst-15. The final product was 90% hydrolyzed ethyl silicate.
Hydrolyzed ethyl silicate samples made by the methods of the above Examples were tested for stability. Stability data are presented in the following tables.
TABLE 1______________________________________ Shelf StabilityAcid Residual Gel Time (sec)Catalyst Percent Acidity 3 Day 60 DayType Hydrolysis (ppm as HCl) Reading Reading______________________________________1. HCl 82.5 200 115-120 75-802. A-15 82.5 30-60 165 1003. HCl 90.0 200 43 164. A-15 90.0 40-50 48 26______________________________________
HCl is hyrochloric acid. A-15 is Amberlyst-15. Samples 1 and 3 were made according to the prior art method and samples 2 and 4 were made according to the present invention.
PerCent hydrolysis of the ethyl silicate is determined by the amount of water used in the hydrolysis reaction.
Residual acidity was measured by potentiometric titration with standard alcohol solution of base.
Gel time test consists of placing the sample of hydrolyzed ethyl silicate in a viscosity tube, adding a specific amount of morpholine, closing the tube and then turning the tube up, then down so that the air bubble moves up the length of the tube. This is continued until the air bubble essentially stops moving. This time period is called the gel time and is usually expressed in seconds. Morpholine acts as a base for this test, and the further hydrolysis of the ethyl silicate is greatly acclerated in the presence of base.
The data presented in Table 1 illustrates the gel time of each sample when tested after three and 60 days after manufacture. The test is a standard method of testing for gel time, or instability. The following tables illustrate gel time (instability) as determined by the observation of the samples under differing conditions of temperature, time and pot life of the final zinc-rich product.
TABLE 2______________________________________Acid Residual Heat StabilityCatalyst Percent Acidity Days till Gelled @Type Hydrolysis (ppm as HCl) 120° F. 140° F.______________________________________1. HCl 82.5 200 >60 40-602. A-15 82.5 30-60 >60 50-603. HCl 90.0 200 30 214. A-15 90.0 40-50 43-56 34______________________________________
A sample of hydrolyzed ethyl silicate was prepared according to the process of Example 2. After straining out the ion exchange resin, half of the product (Sample A) was aged without any additional catalyst, and the other half (Sample B) had concentrated hydrochloric acid added to raise the acid content to near 200 ppm. A third sample (Sample C) was hydrolyzed according to the process of Example 1. The samples were placed on a shelf and their stability was judged by the amount of time necessary to gel the silicate.
TABLE 3______________________________________ Acid Content Room TemperatureSample (ppm as HCl) Stability (Days)______________________________________A 26 249B 172 147C 188 150______________________________________
The final zinc-rich product typically contains various pigments in addition to the zinc dust and the silicate binder. Many different pigments such as metal oxides are commercially available. Pigments are added to provide color and hiding and also some cost reduction. In addition suspending agents such as waxes and clay may be added to provide proper pigment dispersion and rheology. Table 4 provides data on stability (measured by pot life) of pigmented zinc-rich coatings using hydrolyzed ethyl silicate binders.
TABLE 4______________________________________Acid Residual Pot Life AfterCatalyst Percent Acidity Activation of FreshType Hydrolysis (ppm as HCl) PHES with Zinc______________________________________1. HCl 82.5 200 9-12 Days2. A-15 82.5 30-60 25-30 Days3. HCl 90.0 200 6 Days4. A-15 90.0 40-50 9-10 Days______________________________________
PHES is pigmented hydrolyzed ethyl silicate. The pigmented hydrolyzed ethyl silicate is mixed with the proper amount of zinc dust and the time period until gellation is reported in Table 4. The rows numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Tables 1, 2 and 4 represent data from several experiements. Stability data may be averages of several experiments using the same system, or whenever possible, may be expressed as a range. | An improved method of preparing hydrolyzed alkyl silicate binders useful in manufacturing protective coatings, i.e., zinc-rich coatings, is described wherein the hydrolysis is catalyzed in the presence of a strong acid form ion exchange resin instead of a conventional acid catalyst. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a bearing device for a threaded spindle, in particular, of a machine-tool, comprising a bearing housing having at least one receptacle which receives a bearing part of the threaded spindle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Threaded spindles of machine tools are known which are received with their ends in bearing devices and on which, for example, carriages are movable which are seated with at least one rotatably driven threaded nut on the threaded spindle. Upon longer operation of the machine tool, the threaded spindle will heat up so that longitudinal extensions occur which result in an impermissibly high loading or even damage of the bearing device.
Therefore, one end of the spindles is received in a fixed or locating bearing and the other end is received in a floating or non-locating bearing. Further measures include mechanical (spring) or fluid-operated pretensioning devices. These bearing arrangements, however, reduce as a whole the stiffness of the spindle which results in a tendency to vibrate and in loss of precision. Moreover, the systems are cost-intensive and complex with regard to their configuration and reduce the permissible operational load of spindles and bearings by the amount of pretensioning.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bearing device of the aforementioned kind with which damages as a result of longitudinal extensions of the threaded spindle can be reliably prevented and which, during operation, exhibit the physical conditions of a spindle secured or fixed on both ends.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that the receptacle for the bearing part of the threaded spindle is a clamping bushing which for clamping the bearing part of the threaded spindle can be loaded by electro-mechanical or fluid-operated elements.
In the bearing device according to the invention the bearing part of the threaded spindle is clamped by a clamping bushing. The clamping bushing is loaded by electro-mechanical elements or fluid-operated elements so that it secures the bearing part and thus the threaded spindle by a frictional connection in the axial direction. The pressure medium in the clamping bushing is relieved pursuant to a temporal sequence or according to signals of a measuring device for measuring length changes or tension changes. This cancels the frictional connection between the clamping bushing and the bearing part of the threaded spindle. The extension which is caused by heating of the threaded spindle can thus be compensated. As soon as this length compensation has taken place, the pressure medium of the clamping bushing is again pressurized so that the high frictional connection acting in the axial direction between the clamping bushing and the bearing part of the threaded spindle is reinstated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the drawing:
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a first embodiment of a bearing device according to the invention for a threaded spindle;
FIG. 2 shows an illustration corresponding to FIG. 1 of a second embodiment of the bearing device according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The threaded spindle according to FIG. 1 is provided according to the disclosed embodiment on a machine tool and has a narrow or tapered end portion 2 with which the threaded spindle 1 is received in a bearing device 3 . Advantageously, the other end of the threaded spindle 1 , not illustrated in the drawing, is received in a bearing arrangement which is known from the prior art.
The two bearing devices, however, can also be of the same configuration. This results in the possibility of compensating the length changes partially by one bearing device and partially by the other bearing device and to thus divide the length changes symmetrically.
The bearing device 3 has a bearing housing 4 which is detachably connected, for example, on a machine table or machine frame 5 . The bearing housing 4 has a receiving opening 6 in which a hydraulic clamping bushing 7 is arranged. It has a radially elastically deformable cylindrical wall 8 which surrounds the end portion 2 of the threaded spindle and which delimits radially inwardly an annular hydraulic chamber 9 . The chamber is closed off at both ends and connected by a bore 10 with a hydraulic source (not illustrated). The bore 10 penetrates the bearing housing 4 radially and is provided at its radially outer end with a connector for a pressure medium supply line.
The hydraulic clamping bushing 7 is known in the art and is therefore only described briefly in this context. It has at one end a radially outwardly oriented flange 11 through which screws 12 or similar means are guided for attachment of the clamping bushing 7 in the bearing housing 4 . The receiving opening 6 of the bearing housing 4 is widened at one end for receiving the clamping bushing flange 11 . The flange 11 of the clamping bushing 7 in a mounted position rests on the bottom 13 of the widened receiving portion 14 . The clamping bushing 7 is positioned seal-tight in the receiving opening 6 . Advantageously, the flange 11 of the clamping bushing 7 is arranged countersunk in the widened receiving portion 14 . The heads of the fastening screws 12 are also countersunk within the flange 11 . The clamping bushing 7 can be easily mounted and also exchanged.
Initially, both ends of the threaded spindle 1 are clamped fixedly. On the threaded spindle 1 a carriage of the machine tool is moved by means of at least one rotatably driven spindle (not illustrated). When operated for an extended period of time, the threaded spindle 1 will heat up. The extension of the threaded spindle 1 as a result of heat generation results in high loading of the bearing device 3 . In order to reduce the high loading, during functional operation of the machine the hydraulic chamber 9 is relieved during an unloaded phase of the spindle in certain time intervals or when reaching certain tensions so that the clamping of the end portion 2 of the threaded spindle 1 is released. The length changes of the spindle 1 caused by heat can be compensated by an axial movement of the threaded spindle 1 in the direction of the double arrow 15 . After length compensation has occurred, the clamping bushing 7 is again loaded with hydraulic medium so that the end portion 2 is fixedly clamped.
The occurrence of length changes of the threaded spindle 1 , respectively, of the end portions 2 can be measured with a fine measuring device. Such devices are well known in the art. This measuring device sends a signal to a control unit (not shown, but well known in the art) upon surpassing a preset length change which control unit then returns the hydraulic medium 9 of the clamping bushing 7 to the tank so that the length compensation of the threaded spindle 1 can be performed. Subsequently, the hydraulic medium is pressurized again by the control unit so that the clamping bushing 7 again clamps the end portion 2 of the threaded spindle 1 .
Instead of using the longitudinal changes, it is also possible to provide the control signal based on tensile stress or compression strain.
The other end of the threaded spindle 1 which is not illustrated in FIG. 1 is secured in a fixed or locating bearing which can have any suitable configuration.
FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the threaded spindle 1 , in contrast to the previous embodiment, is rotatable about its axis. In order to enable this, between the stationary clamping bushing 7 and the threaded spindle 1 a radially and axially acting bearing 16 , preferably a rolling bearing, is mounted. The end portion 2 of the threaded spindle 1 supports in this connection an inner ring 17 of the bearing 16 in a fixed connection for common rotation while the outer ring 18 is received in a flange or guide bushing 19 . The flange or guide bushing 19 rests against a bottom 20 of an end-face depression 21 of the flange bolt 22 to which it is connected by means of screws 23 . The depression 21 is provided in an end portion 24 of the flange bolt 22 having a larger outer diameter. A cylindrical bearing part 25 is provided adjoining the end portion 24 . The bearing part 25 has a smaller outer diameter in comparison to the end portion 24 and is connected within the clamping bushing 7 either slidingly or fixedly. The flange bolt 22 is secured by at least one rotational securing device 26 against rotation. The rotational securing device in the shown embodiment comprises a pin projecting into an aligned blind bore opening 27 , 28 in the end portion 24 of the flange bolt 22 and in the bearing housing 4 . The end portion 24 has such an axial spacing from the bearing housing 4 and the blind bore opening 28 in the bearing housing is so deep that the threaded spindle 1 together with its bearing 16 can carry out the length compensation when the clamping bushing 7 is relieved in the manner described.
The described bearing device 3 which can be switched between fixed and floating bearing arrangement makes possible a simple, and particularly, inexpensive way of compensating the longitudinal changes resulting during operation of the threaded spindle 1 so that damage to the bearing device 3 and/or the threaded spindle 1 is reliably prevented and the physically advantageous conditions of a fixedly clamped spindle are present during operation of the machine.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. | A bearing device for a threaded spindle has a bearing housing with at least one receptacle configured to receive a bearing part of the threaded spindle. The at least one receptacle is a clamping bushing securing the bearing part by electromechanical elements or fluid-operated elements. The clamping bushing has a wall that is elastically deformable by a pressure medium. The wall and the bearing housing define an annular chamber configured to receive the pressure medium. A control unit is provided to control the pressure of the pressure medium and thus the clamping action of the clamping bushing. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communications system in particular a telephone system, for connecting mobile subscriber terminal devices, and is more particularly concerned with the connection of the mobile subscriber terminal devices via radio connections, wherein, at a central and/or a sub-central location, there are arranged storage devices which, for all users, each have stored an item of information concerning the relevant location of a user, and wherein the stored item of location information in question is used to control the switching through of a connection which is to be established to the mobile user in question.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conveyance systems, for example mass transit systems such as railroads, ships, overland buses, aircraft and the like, subscriber terminal devices, for example telephone stations, are required both for operational purposes and for the conveyance of passengers. Separate systems for user devices for the operating personnel on the one hand, and for the passengers who are to be transported, on the other hand, amount to a multiple expense with respect to supplies, space, administration and servicing of such devices. Moreover, the loading of such systems generally is not optimum. A substantial increase in the use facilities and the user comfort would avoid, on the one hand, the technical and operational disadvantages of separate systems and, on the other hand, would also offer a high degree of comfort for private users. This comfort could consist, for example, in the possibility of automatic call establishment from a traveler to a remote subscriber, or vice-versa, and, for example, the possibility of non-cash charge input.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a communications system by way of which both the operating personnel of a mass transit vehicle and also the passengers who are to be transported can use incoming and outgoing communications connections, in particular telephone connections. Furthermore, the object of the invention includes facilitation of non-cash charge input for the use of the communications system. A further object of the invention is that the users of the communications system can establish communication connections from one or more arbitrary members of the plurality of subscriber terminal devices which can be installed in a mass transit vehicle, or can enter into incoming communications.
In order to realize the above objects, a communications system, in particular a telephone system, is proposed for connecting mobile subscriber terminal devices, in particular mobile subscriber terminal devices connected via radio connections, wherein at a central and/or a sub-central location, there are arranged storage devices which, for all of the users, each have stored an item of information concerning the relevant location of a user and wherein the particular stored item of location information is used to control the switch-through of a connection to be established to the mobile user in question. The proposed communications system is characterized, according to the present invention, in that a mobile terminal switching device or a mobile concentrator is provided for establishing and disconnecting connections, for the storage and preliminary processing of switching technology data, and for the combined execution of organization functions such as, for example, transfer functions, for a plurality of subscriber terminal devices which fundamentally enjoy equal priority, and are installed in a conveyance composed of at least one unit, for example, a rail-based mass transit vehicle. Each subscriber terminal device has provided therein an identification read-out device which makes it possible to read a user identification which is available to the individual user and which contains at least one item of information relating to a user call code. The subscriber terminal device is assigned the user call code assigned to the user identification in question where a plurality of user identifications can be input and where the subscriber terminal device can also be permanently assigned an individual subscriber terminal device call code. An optical display is provided which can be accompanied by acoustic signal generators which are in each case arranged in a subscriber terminal device and/or at the place of sojourn of the user.
The present invention offers the advantage that a standard system is available for use by the operating personnel and by the passengers who are to be transported, wherein particular user comfort is provided in that the users can employ, in the outgoing and incoming direction, anyone of the plurality of subscriber terminal devices installed in a mass transit vehicle, and that non-cash charge input is facilitated by an automatic accounting process employing data stored on the user identification, which may be a card.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention, its organization, construction and operation will be best understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, on which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a mass transit vehicle V, for example a railway train, and a land-base, central or sub-central radio connection station having a storage device SI which is likewise illustrated schematically;
FIG. 2 schematically illustrates, in a open plan view, a unit of the vehicle V of FIG. 1, that is a railway car, showing installation points of various mobile components of the communications system;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the subscriber terminal device T having an identification read-out device L, likewise illustrated schematically, and having a terminal device storage unit TSP and a user identification card A which is to be inserted into the identification read-out device L; and
FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of that component which is essential to the invention of the communication system, comprising a central data bus B, a mobile terminal switching device EM and a mobile concentrator KM, a plurality of subscriber terminal devices T, a plurality of optical displays AO each accompanied by acoustic signal generators S, and a central or sub-central, land-based storage device SI which is connected via a radio link.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As already explained above, FIG. 1 illustrates, in a schematic perspective view, a mass transit vehicle V, namely a railway train, and a land-base, central or sub-central radio connection station having a likewise schematically illustrated storage device SI. Again, as mentioned above, FIG. 2 schematically illustrates, in an open plan view, a unit of the vehicle V, namely a railway car, indicating installation points of various mobile components of the communications system. These components comprise a mobile terminal switching device EM and a mobile concentrator KM. A subscriber terminal device T has installed therein an identification read-out device L and a terminal device storage unit TSP. A plurality of optical displays AO are installed in the railway car compartment, preferably above the door to the corridor and each preferably assigned an acoustic signal generator S. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the central data bus B extends in the longitudinal direction of the railway car and is arranged so as to be able to be extended beyond the ends of the car so that corresponding mobile devices can be connected, in the illustrated manner, in other cars of the train. The mobile terminal switching device EM and the mobile concentrator KM are generally provided only once, in respect of each vehicle V and can be accommodated at a suitable position, preferably in the engine. As can be seen, more optical displays AO, together with their acoustic signal generators S, are provided than subscriber terminal devices T. Generally speaking, the installation of a single subscriber terminal device in a railway car of conventional construction and size should be adequate. The subscriber terminal device T is advantageously installed, for example, in the region of the corridor or in the region of the railway car doors. The optical displays AO with the accompanying acoustic signal generators S are preferably arranged in the compartment for reasons of comfort. Their function is to arouse the attention of the travelers and to indicate thereto that a communication request exists and to indicate for which of the travelers the call is intended.
The mobile terminal switching device EM and the mobile concentrator KM serve to establish and disconnect connections, to store and preliminarily process items of switching data, and for the combined execution of organization functions such as, for example, transfer functions, for a plurality of subscriber terminal devices which fundamentally enjoy equal priority and are installed in a vehicle V which comprises at least one unit. Instead of a railway train, as indicated in the present exemplary embodiment, the conveyance V can also, of course, comprise a ship, an aircraft, an overland bus or the like. In accordance with the invention, each of the installed subscriber terminal devices T comprises an identification read-out device L (FIG. 3) into which a user identification card A can be inserted through a slot provided in the housing wall of the subscriber terminal device. The user identification card A bears at least one item of information which relates to a user call code KB which can be read by the identification read-out device L. The user identification card A can comprise a magnetic data carrier, but it could also comprise a holographic data carrier. Furthermore, as known per se, it is also possible to design the user identification card A as a data carrier which has a structured surface, in which case the information is contained in the surface structure. The subscriber terminal device T, into whose identification read-out device L a user identification card A is inserted, automatically accepts the user code KB which is assigned to the user identification card A in question. However, in accordance with the invention, a plurality of user identification cards A can be input into the subscriber terminal device T. The subscriber terminal device T also includes its own individual subscriber terminal device call code KT which can be permanently assigned to this subscriber terminal device T. The input user call code KB is transmitted to a terminal device storage unit TSP individually assigned to the subscriber terminal device T, where the same is stored. As also illustrated in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device storage unit TSP is preferably installed in the subscriber terminal device T. The input user call code KB, preferably together with a location code KS, assigned to the location of the identification read-out device L being used, is transmitted to a central or sub-central, land-based storage device SI which communicates with the vehicle V via a radio link, where such information are stored. At the same time these two codes are also transmitted to the mobile terminal switching device EM assigned to the vehicle V in question, and to the mobile concentrator KM where they are likewise stored. However, a mode of operation is possible in which these two codes are transmitted exclusively to the mobile terminal switching device EM or to the mobile concentrator KM. The location code KS can also be selectively determined the identification of the data source in question and, together with the user call code KB, can be stored in the central or sub-central, land-based storage device SI and/or in the mobile terminal switching device EM assigned to the vehicle V or in the mobile concentrator KM.
Once a location code KS has been input, it can be automatically overwritten in the storage positions in question by a new location code KS, in that the information content of the user identification card is input into another identification read-out device L. In this case, the central or sub-central, land-based storage device SI or the mobile terminal switching device EM assigned to the vehicle V or the mobile concentrator KM transmit an erasing command either to the mobile terminal switching device EM, the mobile concentrator KM or to the relevant terminal device storage unit TSP, whereby the location code KS is erased together with the user call code KB or else only the user call code KB is erased. An assignment of the user call code KB to the relevant subscriber terminal device T which has been effective by the storage of the user call code KB in that storage position within the storage device SI assigned to the subscriber terminal device T, possibly even in the subscriber terminal device T itself, is canceled in that the storage contents in question is erased by a control procedure at the subscriber terminal device T. This assignment can also be automatically canceled in that an item of information which has been previously input at the time of the input process and which characterizes the arrival time is used to form a difference with an item of information corresponding to the current time and in the event of identity or a positive difference, an erasing criterion is obtained by means of which an erasing process is initiated. The function of both erasing processes is to cancel the aforementioned assignment when the user in question has left the vehicle. A general erasure is also possible in that all of the user call codes KB in all the storage devices assigned to the vehicle V are automatically erased in that when the vehicle V has reached its end station, a control procedure is implemented at a control point provided for this purpose. An advantageous further development of the invention provides that the assignment of the user call code KB to the relevant subscriber terminal device T which has been effected by the storage of the user call code KB in that storage position in the storage device SI assigned to the subscriber terminal device T, possibly even in the subscriber terminal device T itself, is automatically canceled in that an item of information which has been previously input at the time of the input process and which characterizes the target station is used to effect a comparison with an item of information which corresponds to the target station which has been reached and which has been automatically or manually input into the communications systems, and in the event of the identity of the two items of information an erasing criterion may be formed by means of which an erasing process is initiated.
In accordance with a further development of the invention, the user call code KB which has been input can be additionally stored in the subscriber terminal device T and can be used to effect user-related switching and/or checking procedures. As a rule, the user call code KB is assigned exclusively to a single user identification card A. Moreover, in accordance with a further development of the invention, it is advantageous to assign the user call code KB exclusively to the user identification card A, thus facilitating a relatively simple administration of the user call code KB.
An advantageous further development of the invention provides that specific operators of the vehicle V or persons having specific functions have priority access to the communication system in that a priority code is stored on the user identification card A, which priority code can be read by the identification read-out device L and by means of which the priority control unit in the communications system can be activated.
In the event that the vehicle V comprises a plurality of units, for example a plurality of railway cars, these units can be connected to one another in order that all of the subscriber terminal devices may be connected to the mobile terminal switching device EM or the mobile concentrator KM via the central data bus B illustrated in FIG. 4.
The method of installing the various mobile devices of the communications system illustrated in FIG. 2 is particularly advantageous as, on the one hand, telephone conversations are generally of a private confidential nature and, on the other hand, other travelers could suffer disturbance if a subscriber terminal device were accommodated, for example, in each compartment. However, it is advantageous to install optical displays AO with the accompanying acoustic signal generators S in all of the compartments of a car or at a plurality of locations of a dining car, should this be provided, and if necessary in the laboratories of the car.
The proposed communications system has the advantage that the users of this system can be charged without the use of cash by means of the user identification cards. A further advantage of the communications system, according to the present invention, is that each traveler who so desires and who is in possession of the user identification card, can be passively reached at any time in the vehicle in question, provided he has inserted his user identification card in one of the identification readout devices. Therefore, it is also possible to establish an incoming connection to the subscriber in a mass transit vehicle.
Although I have described my invention by reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. I therefore intend to include within the patent warranted hereon all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of my contribution to the art. | A communications system, in particular a telephone system, is provided for the connection of mobile subscriber terminal devices via radio links, in which a central and/or sub-central location there are arranged storage devices which, for all of the users, each store an item of information concerning the relevant location of a user. The particular stored item of location information is used to control the switch-through of a connection to be established to the mobile user. The subscriber terminal devices include identification read-out devices for reading user identification cards. The subscriber terminal device temporarily receives the user call code stored on the user identification card which provides the facility of passive access to the user. Facilities are also provided for automatic charge accounting. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing a cordierite honeycomb structural body used as a catalyst carrier for an exhaust gas purification catalyst in an automobile engine such as an internal combustion engine, and to a molding aid used for molding of the honeycomb structural body.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the toughening of exhaust gas standards for automobile engines in recent years, there has been a demand for more rapid activation of exhaust gas purification catalysts in order to reduce hydrocarbon emissions immediately after engines are started. One means of rapid activation of catalysts that has been considered is to lower the heat capacity by reducing the thickness of the cell walls in cordierite honeycomb structural bodies acting as catalyst carriers, but with narrowing of the cell walls, an inconvenience has resulted as the cell walls break during extrusion molding of the honeycomb structural body. This occurs because coarse grains in the starting material of the honeycomb structural body clog the lattice-like slits or introduction port of the extrusion mold for molding, thus inhibiting provision of the starting mixture, and this requires prior removal of the coarse grains in the starting material.
As concerns the particle size of the starting material powder, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-112528 teaches that lattice defects of molded bodies can be reduced by limiting the ratio (maximum particle size of starting material powder)/(slit width of extrusion mold for molding) to ⅓. However, because honeycomb structural bodies formed under these conditions have low void volume, the effect of reduced heat capacity is less significant, while the catalyst carrier property is also weaker. In addition, because of a larger thermal expansion coefficient, there is also a problem of lower thermal shock resistance.
Narrowing the cell walls of a honeycomb structural body also tends to result in molding defects known as cell wrinkles in the honeycomb structural body. These will be explained below. When a honeycomb structural body is extrusion molded, the starting mixture is first molded into a round bar form, and the round bar is extrusion molded into a honeycomb form. A screw-type tug mill such as shown in FIG. 1A is usually used for the round bar molding, in order to obtain a homogeneous round bar of the starting mixture for molding. A screw-type tug mill has upper and lower level screws 1 , 2 , and is provided with a vacuum chamber 3 and a strike-through roller 4 between the upper level screw 1 and the lower level screw 2 . A resistance plate 5 is fitted in front of the lower level screw to create a uniform flow of the starting mixture and, as shown in FIG. 1B, the resistance plate 5 has a structure with a plurality of round holes 5 opened in a disk. The starting mixture which is kneaded by the upper and lower screws 1 , 2 and passes through the resistance plate 5 is thus converted into a plurality of bar-shaped bodies which are introduced into a round bar mold 6 and are bonded together into a round bar as the cylinder size of the mold 6 narrows toward the tip.
The starting mixture used for molding of the round bar has conventionally been a cordierite-converted starting material of talc, kaolin, etc. with a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol added as a molding aid, but the cohesion is insufficient between the starting mixture after it has passed through the resistance plate 5 of the screw-type tug mill, and a starting mixture interface corresponding to the shape of the resistance plate 5 is formed on the round bar. This starting mixture interface presents almost no problem when molding a ceramic honeycomb structural body with a cell wall thickness of 100 μm or greater, and causes no visible molding defects. When the cell wall thickness is less than 100 μm, however, it has been found that cell wrinkles are generated at the sections corresponding to the starting mixture interface, wherein the cells of the ceramic honeycomb structural body ripple in the direction of extrusion. It is thought that this is caused because the thin cell wall results in a higher molding pressure, leading to precipitation of moisture, etc. at the starting mixture interface and greater flowability of the starting mixture near the interface; thus the difference in the flowability at the other sections where the flowability of the starting mixture does not change produces a change in the cell formation rate of the ceramic honeycomb structural body, thus leading to generation of the cell wrinkles.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-138076 discloses a method of adding emulsified wax and methyl cellulose, as molding aids for reduced frictional resistance between the starting mixture and the mold wall surface, to improve molding defects such as stripping of the outer perimeter surface or cell wrinkles in ceramic honeycomb structural bodies. With this method, however, it has not been possible to eliminate the starting mixture interfaces on round bars, and thus a difference in flowability between the starting mixture interface and the other sections is produced. Consequently, while some effect of fewer cell wrinkles is seen by lowering the frictional resistance between the starting mixture and the mold wall surface, it is not possible to completely eliminate cell wrinkles.
The prior art processes, therefore, have been associated with the problem of molding defects such as cell breakage and cell wrinkles when the cell wall thicknesses of cordierite honeycomb structural bodies are reduced. It has also been necessary to position the catalyst carrier as close as possible to the engine in order to take advantage of the engine exhaust gas temperature for rapid activation of the catalyst. However, positioning the catalyst carrier close to the engine leads to the problem of cracking due to thermal shock as the catalyst carrier is exposed to sudden temperature variations. Improving the thermal shock resistance of the catalyst carrier requires a reduction in its thermal expansion coefficient, and specifically, to prevent cracking near the engine it is necessary for the cordierite honeycomb structural body to have a thermal expansion coefficient of 1.0×10 −6 /° C. or smaller.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obtain a honeycomb structural body with a low cell wall thickness, with good moldability, wherein cell breakage is prevented without reducing the void volume and cell wrinkles caused by the starting mixture interface formed on the round bar are prevented, and to obtain a honeycomb structural body with excellent thermal shock resistance having a thermal expansion coefficient of 1.0×10 −6 /° C. or smaller.
The first aspect of the invention, designed to solve the problem of cell breakage when the cell wall thickness has been reduced, is a process for producing a honeycomb structural body composed mainly of cordierite which comprises adding a molding aid to a powder of a cordierite starting material, kneading the mixture and extrusion molding it with an extrusion molding die with honeycomb-shaped slits, and then firing it, the process being characterized in that the maximum particle size of the powder of the cordierite starting material is limited to no greater than 85% of the slit width of the extrusion molding die, at least talc is used as the cordierite starting material, and the mean particle size thereof is 5 m or greater.
If the maximum particle size of the cordierite starting material is smaller than the slit width of the extrusion molding die the starting material particles should not clog between the slits or at the slit introduction port; however, clogging in fact occurs if it is only slightly smaller than the slit width. The present inventors have found cell breakage due to clogging of the starting material particles can be eliminated if the particle size of the starting material is restricted so that the maximum particle size is no greater than 85% of the slit width. However, if the particle size of the starting material is simply reduced, the void volume is also smaller and an effect of lower heat capacity by thickness reduction cannot be achieved. For a lower heat capacity it is preferred for the void volume to be greater than 30%, and according to the first aspect talc with a mean particle size of at least 5 μm is used for this purpose. Talc forms voids by being melted during firing, thus providing an effect of increased void volume. Thus, while talc with a small particle size will disappear by contraction during the firing, if the mean particle size of the talc is at least 5 μm the disappearance of voids can be prevented, to give a honeycomb structural body with a void volume of greater than 30%.
In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient of the cordierite honeycomb structural body can be controlled by utilizing the orientation of the plate-crystal talc particles lined up along the cell walls of the honeycomb during molding of the honeycomb, and it has been found that a larger mean particle size results in easier orientation and a smaller thermal expansion coefficient. Specifically, if the mean particle size of the talc is at least 5 μm, it is possible to limit the thermal expansion coefficient of the cordierite honeycomb structural body to no greater than 1.0×10 −6 /° C., to thus provide increased thermal shock resistance.
Thus, according to the process of the first aspect, it is possible to avoid cell breakage without reducing the void volume, while it is also possible to lower the thermal expansion coefficient to 1.0×10 −6 /° C. or smaller. It thus becomes possible to obtain an easily moldable honeycomb structural body with thin cell walls, a good catalyst carrying property, a low heat capacity and excellent thermal shock resistance.
A lubricant/humectant is preferably added as a molding aid at 2-5 wt % to 100 wt % of the cordierite starting material. Addition of a lubricant/humectant further improves the effect of preventing cell breakage. This is because insertion of a substances with low frictional resistance between the starting material particles increases the distance between the starting material particles, having the effect of lowering the frictional resistance and preventing clogging of the starting material particles in the slits, and therefore the lubricant/humectant is preferably added at a total of 2 wt % or greater. However, if the amount of the lubricant/humectant added is too great the hardness of the starting mixture will be lowered, thus rendering it difficult to maintain the shape of the molded honeycomb structural body. Thus, a range of 2-5 wt % is best to achieve both lower frictional resistance and shape retention.
It is preferred to add a binder as the molding aid at 3-9 wt % to 100 wt % of the cordierite starting material. Addition of a binder will also provide an effect of reducing the frictional resistance to prevent clogging of the starting material particles and thus prevent cell breakage, similar to addition of the lubricant/humectant. The binder may be added in an amount in the range of 3-9 wt % to achieve this effect with shape retention.
The molding aids used to overcome the problem of cell wrinkles when the cell wall thickness is reduced are preferably a mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol, and they are preferably added so that the mixing ratio is represented by the following equation:
mixing ratio=polyhydric alcohol/(water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative+polyhydric alcohol) is in the range of 0.895-0.995.
Addition of the mixture of the water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and the polyhydric alcohol with this mixing ratio to the cordierite starting material will improve the cohesion of the starting mixture when shaping the round bar for molding of the honeycomb structural body. It will thus become possible to eliminate the starting material interface in the round bar to prevent generation of cell wrinkles caused thereby. The mixing ratio may be at least 0.895 in order to achieve this effect, but if the mixing ratio exceeds 0.995 the hardness of the starting material will be lowered thus reducing the shape retention property which holds the shape, and leading to generation of warps and the like; the mixing ratio should therefore be in the range of 0.895-0.995.
Thus, according to the method of using a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol in this proportion, it is possible to eliminate the starting material interface in the round bar and to mold a honeycomb structural body with a narrow cell wall thickness without producing cell wrinkles.
The second aspect of the invention is a molding aid added to the starting material for a honeycomb structural body during molding of the honeycomb structural body, characterized by comprising a mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol such that the mixing ratio represented by the following equation:
mixing ratio=polyhydric alcohol/(water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative+polyhydric alcohol) is in the range of 0.895-0.995.
By using a molding aid containing the mixture of the water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and polyhydric alcohol for molding of a honeycomb structural body, such as a cordierite honeycomb structural body, it is possible to improve the cohesion of the starting material for molding of the honeycomb structural body and prevent generation of cell wrinkles caused by the interface of the starting mixture on the round bar. If the mixing ratio of the water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and polyhydric alcohol is within the range specified above, it is possible to eliminate the interface of the starting mixture on the round bar and thus prevent generation of cell wrinkles in the honeycomb structural body in cases where the honeycomb structural body has narrow cell walls.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a full cross-sectional view of the structure of a tug mill, and FIG. 1B is a front view of the structure of the resistance plate.
FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the mean particle size of talc and the thermal expansion coefficient.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of moldings and cell breakage.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the mixing ratio and the starting mixture hardness.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of a method of evaluating the starting material hardness.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention will now be explained in detail. A honeycomb structural body fabricated according to the invention has a theoretical composition represented by 2MgO·2Al 2 O 3 ·5SiO 2 , and it usually contains, as the main component, cordierite with a composition comprising a ratio of 49.0-53.0 wt % SiO 2 , 33.0-37.0 wt % Al 2 O 3 and 11.5-15.5 wt % MgO. The cordierite honeycomb structural body is obtained by adding and kneading the aforementioned molding aids with the cordierite starting mixture prepared with the desired cordierite composition, and then molding and firing it in a honeycomb shape.
Here, at least talc (Mg 3 Si 4 O 10 (OH) 2 ) is used as the cordierite starting material and, in particular, if its mean particle size is at least 5 μm, the void volume of the honeycomb structural body can be increased to over 30%. If the mean particle size of the talc is smaller than 5 μm the voids formed by melting of the talc during firing will disappear by contraction during the firing, making it impossible to obtain an effect of increased void volume. Also, if the mean particle size of the talc is 5 μm or greater it is possible to limit the thermal expansion coefficient of the cordierite honeycomb structural body to no greater than 1.0×10 −6 to thus provide improved thermal shock resistance.
Cordierite starting materials other than talc are not particularly restricted, and kaolin (Al 2 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 ), alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH) 3 ) and the like are suitable for use. In addition to these there may also be used Mg-based, Al-based and Si-based oxides, hydroxides and chlorides. Such compounds include serpentine (Mg 3 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 ), pyroferrite (Al 2 Si 4 O 10 (OH) 2 ) and brucite (Mg(OH) 2 ).
When these cordierite starting materials are used to fabricate a cordierite honeycomb structural body, the talc is first combined with the other cordierite starting materials to the desired cordierite composition. According to the invention, the maximum particle size of the cordierite starting material powder containing talc is controlled to be no greater than 85% of the slit width of the mold for extrusion molding. This can prevent clogging of the starting material particles at the slit introduction port or inside the slits, as well as occurrence of cell breakage during extrusion molding.
Next, the molding aid is added to and kneaded with the cordierite starting material to prepare a starting mixture for extrusion molding. It is generally preferred to use a screw-type tug mill, as shown in FIG. 1, for the kneading and for molding into a round bar shape. The starting mixture shaped into a round bar is further extrusion molded into a honeycomb shape using a publicly known mold for extrusion molding. The molding aid used may be a common lubricant/humectant, or a binder, etc. Specifically, as lubricant/humectants there may be mentioned waxes, water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivatives, surfactants, etc. and as binders there may be mentioned methyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol and the like.
According to the invention it is possible to minimize cell breakage during extrusion molding by adding the molding aids within specified ranges. Specifically, the lubricant/humectant may be added in a range of 2-5 wt %, and the binder in a range of 3-9 wt %, to 100 wt % of the cordierite starting material. When added to the cordierite starting material, the lubricant/humectant or binder is dispersed between the starting material particles, thus reducing the frictional resistance to provide an effect of preventing clogging of the starting material particles in the slits. This effect is not achieved if the lubricant/humectant is added at less than 2 wt % or the binder is added at less than 3 wt %. However, if the lubricant/humectant or binder is added in too great an amount the hardness of the starting mixture will be lower, making it difficult to retain the shape of the molded honeycomb structural body, and therefore they are preferably not added in excess of the ranges specified above. A lubricant/humectant and binder may be used in combination, and an excellent effect against cell breakage can be achieved when each is within the ranges specified above.
According to the invention, a mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol may be used as a molding aid. For example, as a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative there may be mentioned polyalkylene glycol, etc. and as polyhydric alcohols there may be mentioned glycerin, diethylene glycol, etc. In particular, the starting mixture can be given an improved cohesive property if the water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and polyhydric alcohol are used in such a combination that the mixing ratio as represented by the following equation:
mixing ratio=polyhydric alcohol/(water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative+polyhydric alcohol) is in the range of 0.895-0.995. This provides an effect which prevents formation of a starting mixture interface during molding of the round bar for molding of a honeycomb structural body, or generation of cell wrinkles during the honeycomb molding.
If the aforementioned mixing ratio is smaller than 0.895, the cohesive property of the starting mixture as it passes and is pressed through the resistance plate of the tug mill will be insufficient, thus leaving a starting mixture interface in the round bar. A mixing ratio of greater than 0.895 can eliminate the starting mixture interface, but if the mixing ratio is greater than 0.995 the hardness of the starting mixture is reduced, resulting in lower shape retention leading to warping, etc. In other words, if the mixing ratio is in the range of 0.895-0.995 it is possible to eliminate the starting mixture interface while maintaining shape retention, so that it is possible to prevent cell wrinkles caused by the interface.
A mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol mixed in the aforementioned mixing ratio also has an effect as a lubricant/humectant, and can therefore be used as a lubricant/humectant. In this case, the mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol as a lubricant/humectant may be added in the range of preferably 2-5 wt % to 100 wt % of the cordierite starting material to effectively prevent both the cell breakage and cell wrinkles described above.
The honeycomb-shaped mold obtained in this manner is then fired at above the firing temperature of cordierite to obtain a cordierite honeycomb structural body. According to the process of the invention it is possible to fabricate a cordierite honeycomb structural body with thin cell walls, without resulting in cell breakage or cell wrinkles.
The case described above was a molding aid for the first aspect comprising a mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol, used for molding of a cordierite honeycomb structural body; however, the molding aid is not limited to a cordierite honeycomb structural body and can of course be used for molding of other ceramic honeycomb structural bodies (second aspect).
Examples 1 and 2, Comparative Examples 1 to 3
A cordierite starting material was prepared by mixing 38 wt % of talc, 42 wt % of kaolin, 5 wt % of alumina and 15 wt % of aluminum hydroxide, and then 2.8 wt % of a lubricant/humectant, 5.5 wt % of a binder and a suitable amount of water were added to 100 wt % of the cordierite starting material and kneaded to obtain a starting mixture. The mean particle size and maximum particle size of the talc and the maximum particle size of the other starting materials were as shown in Table 1. Here, a 5% aqueous solution of polyalkylene glycol was used as the lubricant/humectant, and methyl cellulose was used as the binder.
The resulting starting mixture was extrusion molded using an extrusion mold with honeycomb-shaped slits. The slit width of the extrusion mold used was 75 μm. The resulting molded product was then fired in an electric furnace at 1390° C. in an air atmosphere to fabricate a cordierite honeycomb structural body. The void volume and presence or absence of cell breakage in each of the resulting cordierite honeycomb structural bodies are listed in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Mean
Thermal
particle
Maximum particle size
expansion
Void
size (μm)
Aluminum
Cell
coefficient
volume
Talc
Talc
Kaolin
Alumina
hydroxide
breakage
(× 10 −6 /° C.)
(%)
Comp. Ex. 1
17.6
60.2
67.5
26.1
6.7
yes
0.39
35.9
Comp. Ex. 2
17.6
60.2
51.5
65.8
6.7
yes
0.36
35.6
Example 1
17.6
60.2
51.5
26.1
6.7
no
0.38
34.3
Example 2
6.1
45.3
51.5
26.1
6.7
no
0.89
31.6
Comp. Ex. 3
4.2
30.9
51.5
26.1
6.7
no
1.11
27.4
In Examples 1 and 2 wherein the maximum particle size of the starting material was no greater than 63 μm and the mean particle size of the talc was at least 5 μm as shown in Table 1, no cell breakage was observed and the void volume exceeded 30%. In contrast, cell breakage was observed in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 wherein the maximum particle size of the kaolin and alumina in the cordierite starting material was larger than 85% of the slit width of the extrusion mold (63 μm). In Comparative Example 3 wherein the maximum particle size was less than 63 μm, no cell breakage was observed but the mean particle size of the talc was smaller than 5 μm, and the void volume was less than 30%. In Comparative Examples 1 and 2 wherein the mean particle size of the talc was greater than 5 μm, the void volume was greater than 30%. It was thus demonstrated that cell breakage can be prevented without reducing the void volume, if the maximum particle size of the starting material is no greater than 85% of the slit width and the mean particle size of the talc is at least 5 μm.
The thermal expansion coefficients of the obtained cordierite honeycomb structural bodies were also measured, and are listed in Table 1. Table 1 shows that in Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 wherein the mean particle size of the talc was as large as 17.6 μm, the thermal expansion coefficients were small values under 0.4×10 −6 /° C. Example 2 wherein the mean particle size of the talc was as small as 6.1 μm had a thermal expansion coefficient of 0.89×10 −6 /° C. which was larger than Example 1, but this was smaller than the usable limit of 1.0×10 −6 /° C. However, in Comparative Example 3 wherein the mean particle size was 4.2 μm, or smaller than 5 μm, the thermal expansion coefficient was 1.11×10 −6 /° C. which exceeded the usable limit of 1.0×10 −6 /° C., and resulted in poor thermal shock resistance of the cordierite honeycomb structural body. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the mean particle size of the talc and the thermal expansion coefficient, based on the results given above, and it shows that with a talc mean particle size of 5 μm it is possible to limit the thermal expansion coefficient to no greater than 1.0×10 −6 /° C. for improved thermal shock resistance.
Next, talc, kaolin, alumina and aluminum hydroxide with the same mean particle size, maximum particle size and weight ratios as in Example 1 were used as cordierite starting materials (see Table 1), changing the amount of lubricant/humectant added and the amount of binder added to 100 wt % of cordierite starting material according to (condition 1) to (condition 5) listed in Table 2, and the effects thereof were examined.
TABLE 2
Amount added (wt %)
Lubricant/humectant
Binder
∇:
Condition 1
1.8
2.7
⋄:
Condition 2
1.8
5.5
Δ:
Condition 3
4.2
2.7
∘:
Condition 4
2.8
5.5
:
Condition 5
5.2
9.5
FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the number of moldings and the cell breakage when the resulting starting mixture was extrusion molded into a 155-mm long honeycomb mold using an extrusion mold with a slit width of 75 μm.
The results shown in FIG. 3 show that when the amount of lubricant/humectant added is less than 2 wt % and the amount of binder added is less than 3 wt % (condition 1), no cell breakage is observed with up to 2 moldings, but some cell breakage is observed with 3 or more. When the amount of lubricant/humectant added is less than 2 wt % and the amount of binder added is 3-9 wt % (condition 2), or the amount of lubricant/humectant added is 2-5 wt % and the amount of binder added is less than 3 wt % (condition 3), no cell breakage is observed with up to 4 moldings, but some cell breakage is observed with 5 or more. When the amount of lubricant/humectant added is 2-5 wt % and the amount of binder added is 3-9 wt % (condition 4), absolutely no cell breakage is observed with up to 6 moldings. When the amount of lubricant/humectant added is greater than 5 wt % and the amount of binder added is greater than 9 wt % (condition 5), no cell breakage was observed with up to 6 molded rods, but the starting mixture becomes soft, and this led to easier deformation of the molded honeycomb structural body.
Thus, it is preferred for the amount of lubricant/humectant added to be in the range of 2-5 wt %, and the amount of the binder added to be in the range of 3-9 wt %, for an excellent effect of preventing cell breakage. It is also clear that cell breakage is even further minimized if the lubricant/humectant and the binder are used in combination in the ranges specified above.
Examples 4 to 6, Comparative Examples 4 to 8.
An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of using mixtures of water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivatives and polyhydric alcohols as molding aids with cordierite starting materials. The cordierite starting materials used were talc, kaolin, alumina and aluminum hydroxide with the same mean particle sizes, maximum particle sizes and weight ratios as in Example 1 (see Table 1), and then 2.8 wt % of a lubricant/humectant, 5.5 wt % of methyl cellulose as a binder and a suitable amount of water were added to 100 wt % of the cordierite starting material, and kneaded to prepare a round bar-shaped starting mixture. The lubricant/humectant used was a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and polyhydric alcohol, or either alone, with the different mixing ratios listed in Table 3. A 5% aqueous solution of polyalkylene glycol was used as the water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative, and glycerin or diethylene glycol was used as the polyhydric alcohol.
Each of the resulting round bars was extrusion molded using a mold for extrusion molding with a 75 μm slit width, to obtain a honeycomb structural body. The presence or absence of starting mixture interfaces on the round bars and the shape retentions were examined, giving the results listed in Table 3. Here, the presence or absence of starting mixture interfaces on the round bars were evaluated based on whether or not non-continuous sections of the starting mixture were present when a 10-mm thick disk sliced from the round bar was bent. Samples with interfaces are indicated by “B”, and those without by “G”. The shape retention was evaluated by the state of peripheral deformation when the honeycomb structural body was molded. Samples with no deformation are indicated by “G” and those without by “B”.
TABLE 3
Ceramic
starting
Methyl
Water-soluble polyhydric
Polyhydric
Mixing
Shape
material
cellulose
alcohol derivative
alcohol
ratio
Interface
retention
Comp. Ex. 4
100 wt %
5.5 wt %
5 wt % aqueous solution of
—
0.000
B
G
polyalkylene glycol
derivative
2.80 wt %
Comp. Ex. 5
″
″
5 wt % aqueous solution of
glycerin
0.870
B
G
polyalkylene glycol
0.70 wt %
derivative
2.10 wt %
Comp. Ex. 6
″
″
5 wt % aqueous solution of
diethylene
0.870
B
G
polyalkylene glycol
glycol
derivative
0.70 wt %
2.10 wt %
Example 3
″
″
5 wt % aqueous solution of
glycerin
0.896
G
G
polyalkylene glycol
0.84 wt %
derivative
1.96 wt %
Example 4
″
″
5 wt % aqueous solution of
glycerin
0.979
G
G
polyalkylene glycol
1.96 wt %
derivative
0.84 wt %
Example 5
″
″
5 wt % aqueous solution of
diethylene
0.979
G
G
polyalkylene glycol
glycol
derivative
1.96 wt %
0.84 wt %
Example 6
″
″
5 wt % aqueous solution of
glycerin
0.994
G
G
polyalkylene glycol
2.52 wt %
derivative
2.80 wt %
Comp. Ex. 7
″
″
—
glycerin
1.000
G
B
2.80 wt %
Comp. Ex. 8
″
″
—
diethylene
1.000
G
B
glycol
2.80 wt %
In Comparative Example 4 wherein the 5% aqueous solution of polyalkylene glycol was added at 2.8 wt % and no polyhydric alcohol was added, with a mixing ratio of 0 as shown in Table 3, the shape retention was satisfactory but the presence of an interface resulted in cell wrinkles at the sections corresponding to the interface. In Comparative Example 5 wherein the 5% aqueous solution of polyalkylene glycol was added at 2.1 wt % and glycerin at 0.7 wt % as the polyhydric alcohol, with a mixing ratio of 0.870, the round bar interface was reduced but was not sufficiently minimized, and cell wrinkles corresponding to the interface were observed in the honeycomb structural body molded using the round bar.
In contrast, in Example 3 wherein the 5% aqueous solution of polyalkylene glycol was added at 1.96 wt % and glycerin at 0.84 wt %, with a mixing ratio of 0.896, no non-continuous sections were found in starting mixture upon bending of a disk sliced from the round bar, and the interface in the round bar disappeared. Also, no cell wrinkles corresponding to the interface were observed when the round bar was used for a honeycomb structural body. Examples 4 and 6 wherein the mixing ratio was from 0.895 to 0.995 also exhibited no cell wrinkles corresponding to the round bar interface, and shape retention was maintained.
However, when the mixing ratio exceeded 0.995, for example in Comparative Example 7 with a mixing ratio of 1 wherein no 5% aqueous solution of polyalkylene glycol was used and glycerin was added 2.8 wt %, no cell wrinkling was observed corresponding to the round bar interface, but the starting mixture was soft resulting in low shape retention, and therefore deformation occurred in the honeycomb structural body. FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the mixing ratio and the starting mixture hardness, where it is seen that a larger mixing ratio with glycerin results in a gradually softening starting mixture hardness, but with a mixing ratio of greater than 0.995 it becomes drastically softer, contributing to lower shape retention of the honeycomb structural body. The hardness of the starting mixture was determined, as shown in FIG. 5, by filling a holder 11 having an inner diameter of 24 mm and a depth of 25 mm with about 20 g of the starting mixture, completely burying a steel ball having a diameter of 4 mm attached to the tip of a push-pull gauge 13, moving the holder in the direction of the steel ball at a rate of 2 mm/min with a micro feeder, not shown in the figure, to thereby press the starting material to the steel ball, and then reading the starting mixture hardness as the load indicated by the gauge after one minute.
The same results for the mixing ratio with polyalkylene glycol, the presence or absence of the round bar interface and changes in the shape retention of the honeycomb structural body were obtained even when diethylene glycol was used instead of glycerin as the polyhydric alcohol (Example 5, Comparative Examples 6 and 8). | There is provided a process for obtaining a cordierite honeycomb structural body with thin cell walls and no molding defects such as cell breakage or the like. Cell breakage is prevented by limiting the maximum particle size of the cordierite starting material powder to no greater than 85% of the slit width of the extrusion molding die so that the starting material particles will not clog inside the slits or the introduction port of the slits. As one cordierite starting material, talc with a mean particle size of 5 μm or greater is used to give a honeycomb structural body with a void volume of greater than 30%, for production of a honeycomb structural body, with good moldability, having a small thickness and a low heat capacity. It is preferred to add to the starting material at least a lubricant/humectant, a binder and/or a mixture of a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol derivative and a polyhydric alcohol. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid laser amplifier, a solid laser unit and a solid laser excitation method, capable of generating a high output and high quality laser beam.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 8 is a side view of a conventional semiconductor-laser excited solid laser unit (hereinafter, simply referred to as solid laser) disclosed, e.g., in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-240786. At the rear of a total reflection mirror 4 on the base 8, the solid laser unit comprises a diode 1, a semiconductor 2 and a semiconductor laser emitter section 3 as shown in FIG. 8. The photodiode 1, disposed at a position close to the semiconductor laser emitter section 3, comprises three types of photodiode regions 1a, 1b and 1c having predetermined different band-pass filter characteristics. The semiconductor laser 2 is provided on a temperature controller 7 for controlling its temperature. In front of the total reflection mirror 4, the solid laser unit comprises a solid laser medium 5 and a partial reflection mirror 6. The total reflection mirror 4 is so arranged as to have a high transmittance for the excitation light 9 emitted from the semiconductor laser emitter section 3 but almost totally reflect a laser beam 10.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the comparison of the respective band-pass filter characteristics in the photodiode regions 1a, 1b and 1c with the absorption spectrum of a solid laser medium, e.g., made of Nd:YVO4. In FIG. 9, the respective band-pass filter characteristics in the photodiode regions 1a, 1b and 1c are indicated by broken lines, whereas the absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium is indicated by a solid line. As evident from FIG. 9, the wavelength regions of three types of band-pass filters are so designed as to overlap with the absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium. To be specific, the respective wavelength regions of three types of band-pass filters are allotted to the photodiode regions 1a, 1b and 1c from the short wavelength side and the peak of the filter of the photodiode region 1b among them in the wavelength region is so designed as to coincide with the peak wavelength of the absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium.
The conventional solid laser unit is so constituted as mentioned above wherein the excitation light 9 emitted from the semiconductor laser emitter section 3 is introduced into the solid laser medium 5 to convert the solid laser medium 5 into a laser amplification medium by exciting it. The natural emission light generated from the laser amplification medium is amplified while travelling and returning between the light resonator comprising a total reflection mirror 4 and a partial reflection mirror 6 to form a directional laser beam 10, and is emitted outward as laser beam 11 when its energy reaches or exceeds a predetermined magnitude.
Setting the oscillation wavelength of the semiconductor laser 2 can be accomplished by the temperature control of the semiconductor laser 2. Thus, with the conventional solid laser unit, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-240786, by monitoring the currents of the photodiode regions 1a, 1b and 1c while controlling the temperature of the semiconductor laser 2 with a thermocontroller 7 and maximizing the monitor current of the photodiode region 1b in which the peak of the band-pass filter in wavelength region is so designed as to coincide with the peak wavelength of absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium 5, the wavelength peak of oscillation of the semiconductor laser 2 and the peak wavelength of the absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium 5 are made coincident with each other.
With the conventional solid laser unit, as mentioned above, by an arrangement of setting the oscillation wavelength of the peak of the semiconductor laser in such a manner as to coincide with the peak wavelength of absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium 5, the excitation efficiency of the solid laser medium 5 is elevated.
With such an arrangement, however, excitation by a large power semiconductor laser to obtain a high output would lead to a strong excitation near the end face of the solid laser medium 5, thereby causing a phenomenon that the intensity distribution of light in the solid laser medium becomes nonuniform and the shape of a laser beam is broken. Consequently, the conventional arrangement had a problem that a high power and high quality beam could not be generated even though a higher excitation efficiency was possible.
Furthermore, since the monitor currents from three photo diodes 1a, 1b and 1c were compared and the thermocontrol of the semiconductor laser 2 was performed in such a manner that the monitor current of the photo diode 1b is maximized as mentioned above, the conventional solid laser unit also had problems that the need for constructing a complicated thermocontrol system did not only complicate the unit arrangement but raised the cost.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has an object of providing a high quality and high power laser amplification medium by enabling the solid laser medium to be uniformly excited. Another object of the invention is providing a solid laser amplifier and a solid laser unit capable of generating a high power and high quality laser beam inexpensively in a simple arrangement.
A photexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention comprises: a solid laser medium containing active solid media; cooling means for cooling this solid laser medium; and an excitation light source for exciting this laser medium and emitting light having a wavelength that lies within the absorption spectrum range of said solid laser medium and is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be uniformly excited and enabling a solid laser amplifier for generating a high power and high quality laser beam to be obtained inexpensively in a simple arrangement.
With such an arrangement, the excitation light emitted from the excitation light source becomes a light having a wavelength that lies within the absorption spectrum range of said solid laser medium but is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak and such a light excites the solid laser medium. The component not generating a laser light among the light absorbed in the solid laser medium is converted into heat and the solid laser medium heated by this heat is so arranged as to be cooled by cooling means, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be cooled.
And, a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention comprises: a solid laser medium containing active solid media; cooling means for cooling this solid laser medium; an excitation light source for emitting a ray of light exciting the laser medium; and wavelength setup means for setting the wavelength of light emitted by this excitation light source in such a manner as to lie within the absorption spectrum range of the above solid laser medium and not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be uniformly excited and providing a solid laser amplifier for generating a high power and high quality laser beam.
With such an arrangement, the wavelength setup means sets the wavelength of the light emitted by the excitation light source in such a manner as to lie within the absorption spectrum range of the above solid laser medium and not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak. The light emitted by the excitation light source excites the solid laser medium. Among the light absorbed in the solid laser medium, the component not generating a laser light is converted into heat and the solid laser medium heated by this heat is so arranged as to be cooled by cooling means, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be cooled.
And, a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention has cooling means for cooling the solid laser medium composed of a flow tube allowing a cooling medium to flow, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be cooled.
With such an arrangement, among the light absorbed in the solid laser medium, the component not generating a laser light is converted into heat and the solid laser medium heated by this heat is so arranged as to be cooled with the cooling medium flowing in the flow tube disposed around it, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be cooled.
And, a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention comprises a condenser disposed in such a manner as to surround the solid medium and an opening provided thereon for introducing a light for exciting the solid laser medium, thus enabling the light emitted from the excitation light source to be introduced into the condenser with hardly any loss and moreover a high quality laser amplification to be fulfilled at a high efficiency by reflecting the light of the excitation light source in the condenser.
With such an arrangement, the light emitted from the excitation light source is introduced into the condenser through the opening of the condenser disposed in such a manner as to surround the solid medium and excites the solid laser medium. The light not absorbed by the solid laser medium is reflected on the internal surface of the condenser and excites the solid laser medium again.
And, a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention has the inside surface of said condenser composed of a light diffuse reflection surface.
With such an arrangement, the light emitted from the excitation light source is introduced into the condenser through the opening of the condenser disposed in such a manner as to surround the solid medium and excites the solid laser medium. The light not absorbed by the solid laser medium is diffusely reflected on the internal surface of the condenser and excites the solid laser medium again, so that the light of the excitation light source can be reflected more uniformly in the condenser to excite the solid laser medium in an extremely uniform manner, thus enabling a further higher quality laser amplification to be fulfilled at a high efficiency.
And, a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention is so arranged as to employ a semiconductor laser as the excitation light source, thus permitting a high power light to be generated at a high efficiency from a compact excitation light source and enabling a solid laser amplifier for generating a high quality and high power laser beam at a high efficiency to be obtained in a compact arrangement.
With such an arrangement, a semiconductor laser emits a ray of light for exciting the solid laser medium containing active solid medium.
Furthermore, a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to the present invention comprises a optical resonator for taking out a light from said solid laser medium, thus permitting a high quality and high power laser beam to be generated.
With such an arrangement, the optical resonator takes out a light from said solid laser medium, thus permitting a high quality and high power laser beam to be generated.
Yet further, a solid laser excitation method according to the present invention excites a solid laser medium by using a ray of light having a wavelength that lies within the absorption spectrum range of a solid laser medium and is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be excited uniformly.
With such an arrangement, a light ray of light having a wavelength that lies within the absorption spectrum range of a solid laser medium and is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak excites the solid laser medium, thus permitting the solid laser medium to be excited uniformly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are structural drawings of a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are graphs illustrating the operation of a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the operation of a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C are structural drawings of a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;
FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C are structural drawings of a photoexcitation solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a structural drawing of a photoexcitation solid laser unit according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;
FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are structural drawings of a photoexcitation solid laser unit according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a structural drawing of a conventional photoexcitation solid laser unit; and
FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating the operation of the conventional photoexcitation solid laser unit of FIG 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiment 1
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are structural drawings showing a semiconductor laser excitation solid laser amplifier in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, where FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are a transverse sectional view and a horizontal sectional view, respectively.
In these sectional views, portions 8 and 9 are the same as with the conventional unit shown in FIG. 8. The solid laser medium 5A containing active solid laser media is made, for example, of Nd:YAG (Nd:Yttrium Aluminum Garnet), the section of which assumes the shape of a circular rod. On both ends of the base 8, cooling plates 7A for cooling the semiconductor laser array mentioned later are provided, on which a semiconductor laser array 12 equipped with a light emitter section 13 is provided. And, on the solid laser medium 5A, a flow tube 14 is provided in such a manner as to envelop it, while a cooling medium 24 is allowed to flow between the flow tube 14 and the solid laser medium 5A.
The flow tube 14 and the solid laser medium 5A are supported by a support mechanism 15. The support mechanism 15 is provided with a side board having a mechanism for introducing the cooling medium 24 from outside the unit into the flow tube 14. The cooling plate 7A is also provided with a mechanism for causing the cooling medium 24 to flow therethrough and the cooling medium 24 is circulated by the cooling medium circulator 23 equipped with the thermocontrol mechanism thereof (not shown).
Incidentally,the portion 22 is a power source for letting an electric current flow through the semiconductor laser array 12.
In the solid laser amplifier composed above, the cooling medium circulator 23 controls the temperature of the cooling plate 7A by controlling that of the cooling medium 24 to a set value in such a manner as that the peak wavelength of an excitation light 9 emitted from the light emitter section 13 of the semiconductor laser array 12 is not coincident with that of absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium 5A within the absorption spectrum range (absorption characteristics relative to wavelength) of the solid laser medium 5A containing active solid laser media and moreover lets the cooling medium 24 flow in the flow tube 14 via the support mechanism 15. The solid laser medium 5A is excited by the excitation light 9 from the flank to become a laser amplification medium for amplifying a laser beam.
The setup (target) temperature of the cooling medium 24 controlled by the cooling medium circulator 23 can be determined in advance as one example as follows.
First, an absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium 5A is measured with a spectrophotometer or the like. When a solid laser medium SA whose absorption spectra are known, such as, e.g., Nd:YAG to be used in embodiments of the present invention, is employed, this step can be omitted. Next, the relation among operating current (output) of the semiconductor laser array 12, temperature of the cooling medium 24 (can be set with the cooling medium circulator 23) and wavelength of an excitation light emitted from the semiconductor laser array 12 is determined by measurements. The wavelength of an excitation light can be measured with a spectrometer, optical spectrum analyzed or the like.
When the operating current of the semiconductor laser array 12 and the temperature of the cooling medium are determined, the operating temperature of the semiconductor laser array 12 is determined and consequently the semiconductor laser array 12 comes to emit an excitation light having a certain definite wavelength. Thus, determining the operating current of the semiconductor laser array 12 to a certain value enables the temperature of the cooling medium to be determined in such a manner that the wavelength of an excitation light emitted therefrom is not coincident with the peak wavelength of absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium 5A. Like these, the cooling medium circulator 23, cooling medium 24 and cooling plate 7A constitute wavelength setup means of the present invention.
Meanwhile, among the light 9 absorbed in the solid laser medium 5A, the components not converted into a laser beam are converted into heat and the solid laser medium SA heated by this heat is cooled with the cooling medium 24 flowing in the flow tube 14 disposed around it.
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are graphs showing the relation between the absorption spectrum of a solid laser medium and the wavelength distribution of excitation light, where FIGS. 2A and FIG. 2B show one example of relation between the absorption spectrum of a solid laser medium according to Embodiment 1 and the wavelength distribution of excitation light and the relation between the absorption spectrum of a solid laser medium according to a comparative example and the wavelength distribution of excitation light, respectively. In this embodiment, the peak wavelength of an excitation light lies within the absorption spectrum range of a solid laser medium and is not coincident with the peak wavelength of the absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium. On the other hand, in the comparative example, the peak wavelength of an excitation light is coincident with the peak wavelength of the absorption spectrum of the solid laser medium.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the spontaneous emitted light intensity distribution in the perpendicular direction to the axes of solid laser media according to Embodiment 1 and Comparative Example, where the solid and broken lines correspond to the intensity distribution of Embodiment 1 and Comparative Example, respectively. In the spontaneous emission intensity distribution of Embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 3, the wavelength peak of excitation light for a Nd atomic density of 1.1% is set to 803.4 nm, shifted by 5.1 nm, that for a Nd atomic density of 1.0% is set to 803.7 nm, shifted by 4.8 nm, that for a Nd atomic density of 0.8% is set to 804.6 nm, shifted by 3.9 nm and that for a Nd atomic density of 0.6% is set to 806.4 nm, shifted by 2.1 nm from the peak wavelength of 808.5 nm in the absorption spectrum of Nd:YAG, where the extinction coefficient of excitation light in the solid laser medium becomes 2 cm -1 , whereas Comparative Example uses Nd:YAG as the solid laser medium 5A having a Nd concentration of 1.1 at. % to obtain a spontaneous emission intensity distribution that the wavelength peak of excitation light and the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak of the solid laser medium are coincident with each other and the extinction coefficient of excitation light in the solid laser medium is set to 4.1 cm -1 .
In Comparative Example, since the wavelength peak of excitation light and the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak of the solid laser medium are coincident with each other, the excitation light is strongly absorbed near the flank of the solid laser medium and the absorption ratio near the center decreases, that is, the portion near the flank is strongly excited and the portion near the center is excited to a lesser degree, so that the spontaneous emission intensity becomes high near the flank and low near the center of the solid laser medium. On the other hand, in Embodiment 1, since the wavelength peak lies within the absorption spectrum range of the above solid laser medium and is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak, the absorption ratio of excitation light is almost equal for the portion near the flank and for the portion near the center of the solid laser medium. To be concrete, since the excited ratio of the solid laser medium becomes almost equal for the portion near the flank and for the portion near the center, the spontaneous emission intensity distribution is almost uniform in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the solid laser medium.
Incidentally, Embodiment 1 has an arrangement wherein two pieces of semiconductor laser arrays 12 are disposed on the flank, but the present invention is not limited to two array. The number of laser arrays may be one or not less than three and the disposed positions thereof may be selected from among the positions at which the excitation light 9 emitted from the emitter section 13 of the semiconductor laser array 12 is incident to the solid laser medium 5A.
As mentioned above, since the wavelength peak of excitation light was set in such a manner as to lie within the absorption spectrum range of the above solid laser medium but not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak, the semiconductor laser excited solid laser amplifier can uniformly excite the solid laser medium and fulfill a high quality amplification.
Embodiment 2
FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C are structural drawings of a semiconductor laser excited solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, where FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are transverse and longitudinal sectional views and FIG. 4C is a side view with the condenser viewed from the side. In FIGS. 4A to FIG. 4C numeral 16 denotes a condenser so disposed as to enclose the solid laser medium 5A and so arranged that the inside surface reflects an excitation light 9, on which an opening 17 for introducing the excitation light 9 emitted from the emitter section 13 of the semiconductor laser medium 12 to the interior is provided. In Embodiment 2, the condenser 16 is made, for example, by having the inside surface of metal ground in a mirror surface or the inside surface of glass subjected to a total reflection coating for excitation light 9. The semiconductor laser array 12 is disposed with the emitter section 13 brought close to the opening 17 so that the excitation light emitted from the emitter section 13 can be introduced through the opening 17 made on the condenser 16 to the interior thereof with hardly any loss.
In the semiconductor laser excited solid laser amplifier composed as mentioned above, as with Embodiment 1, setting of a wavelength is accomplished by controlling the cooling plate 7A in temperature with the aide of the cooling medium together with the cooling medium circulator not shown of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B in such a manner that wavelength peak of excitation light 9 emitted from the emitter section 13 of the semiconductor laser array 12 lies within the absorption spectrum range of the above solid laser medium and is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak. The solid laser medium 5A is excited from the flank by an excitation light 9 introduced without loss into the condenser 16 through the opening 17 and becomes a laser amplification medium for amplifying a laser beam.
In the above arrangement, the excitation light 9 not absorbed in the solid laser medium 5A is so arranged as to be reflected from the inside surface of the condenser 16 after passing through the solid laser medium 5A and to uniformly excite the solid laser medium 5A again, so that the solid laser medium 5A can be excited uniformly and efficiently and a high quality laser amplification can be efficiently carried out.
According to the arrangement shown in Embodiment 2, since the excitation light 9 not absorbed in the solid laser medium 5A is so arranged as to be reflected from the inside surface of the condenser 16 after passing through the solid laser medium 5A and to uniformly excite the solid laser medium 5A again, the solid laser medium 5A can be excited uniformly and efficiently and a further higher quality laser amplification can be efficiently carried out.
Embodiment 3
FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C are structural drawings of a semiconductor laser excited solid laser amplifier according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, where FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are transverse and longitudinal sectional views and FIG. 5C is a side view with the diffuse reflection condenser viewed from the side. In FIG. 5, numeral 18 denotes a diffuse reflection condenser so disposed as to enclose the solid laser medium 5A and having the inside surface comprising a diffuse reflection surface, on which an opening 17A is bored. Numeral 19 denotes an optical waveguide element for guiding an excitation light 9 made of rod-shaped, for example, sapphire, undoped YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) or glass having a high refractory index for the excitation light 9 and disposed in the opening 17A. The semiconductor laser array 12 is so placed with the emitter section 13 brought close to the flank of the optical waveguide element 19 so that the excitation light 9 emitted from the emitter section 13 can be introduced through the end of the optical waveguide element 19 to the interior thereof with hardly any loss.
In the semiconductor laser excited solid laser amplifier composed as mentioned above, as with Embodiment 1, setting of a wavelength is accomplished by controlling the cooling plate 7A in temperature with the aide of the cooling medium together with the cooling medium circulator 23 in FIG. 1 in such a manner that wavelength peak of excitation light 9 emitted from the emitter sections 13 of the semiconductor laser array 12 lies within the absorption spectrum range of the above solid laser medium 5A yet is not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak. A nonreflection coating for excitation light 9 is applied to the flank of the optical waveguide element 19, and the excitation light is guided into the optical waveguide element 19 with hardly any loss. The optical waveguide element 19 is made of, e.g., sapphire, undoped YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) or glass having a high refractive index for the excitation light 9. Because of as large a refractive index as 1.7 to 1.8, the excitation light 9 obliquely incident to the optical waveguide element 19 is totally reflected on the bottom and top surfaces of the optical waveguide element 19 and is guided into the diffuse reflection condenser 18 without loss. The solid laser medium 5A is excited from the flank by the excitation light 9 introduced into the diffuse reflection condenser 18 without loss from the opening 17 and becomes a laser amplification medium for amplifying a laser beam.
In the above arrangement, the excitation light 9 not absorbed in the solid laser medium SA is diffusely reflected from the inside surface of the diffuse reflection condenser 18 after passing through the solid laser medium 5A to uniformly excite the solid laser medium 5A again.
According to the arrangement shown in Embodiment 3, since the excitation light 9 not absorbed in the solid laser medium 5A is so arranged as to be diffusely reflected from the inside surface of the diffuse reflection condenser 18 after passing through the solid laser medium 5A to uniformly excite the solid laser medium 5A again, the solid laser medium 5A can be excited uniformly and efficiently and a further higher quality laser amplification can be efficiently carried out.
Embodiment 4
For all of the above embodiments, the arrangement as solid laser amplifier was described. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, if a semiconductor laser excited solid laser amplifier having the same structure as Embodiment 3 shown in FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C is used and an optical resonator is constructed by installing a total reflection mirror 4A and a partial reflection mirror 6 in the front and rear of the solid laser medium 5A containing active solid laser media, spontaneous emitted light generated by the excited solid laser medium 5A is amplified while travelling and returning between the optical resonator comprising the mirror 4A and mirror 6 to become a directional laser beam 10A, and can be taken out as laser beam 11A to outside when reaching to or exceeding a predetermined magnitude, so that this arrangement can be employed as a semiconductor laser excited solid laser unit and a high quality laser beam can be obtained at high efficiency.
Embodiment 5
In Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 4, a solid laser medium, a flow tube and a condenser having a circular section and a diffuse reflection condenser having a circular section of the inside surface were described, but the section is not limited to a circle in any of them and may be, e.g., a rectangle, a ellipse or any other shape. And an arrangement of cooling the solid laser medium with a cooling medium flowing in the flow tube is employed but the cooling means of the present invention is not limited to this and any cooling means may be available. As shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B for example, if a rod-shaped solid laser medium SA having a square section is so arranged as to be placed on a cooling plate 20, the solid laser medium 5A can be cooled in a simpler arrangement.
Furthermore, in the above embodiments, a temperature control arrangement composed of a cooling medium circulator, a cooling plate, a cooling medium and so on was shown as wave setup means, but an electronic cooling element such as Peltier element can be also applied instead to the cooling plate or the like. Also in this case, by determining the temperature of an electronic cooling element, i.e., the drive current thereof, as in Embodiment 1, the setup of the wavelength of excitation by the semiconductor laser array can be performed.
Embodiment 6
In any of the above embodiments, an example of employing a semiconductor laser as excitation light source to set the peak wavelength of excitation light through aids of thermocontrol (such as cooling medium circulator or electronic cooling element) as wave setup means in such a manner as to lie within the absorption spectrum range of a solid laser medium containing active solid laser media and to be not coincident with the wavelength of the absorption spectrum peak of the solid lasermedium was shown, but the wavelength means of the present invention is not limited to these, but other variable wavelength lasers such as, e.g., titanium sapphire laser may be employed as excitation light source and the wavelength of this excitation light may be changed by using e.g., an optical birefringence element or other optical elements such as etalon plate to one not coincident with that of the absorption spectrum peak of the solid laser medium within the absorption spectrum range.
Or, without the provision of such wavelength setup means, it is only necessary to employ other fixed-wavelength lasers such as, e.g., solid laser or ion laser as excitation light source which oscillates at a wavelength not coincident with that of the absorption spectrum peak within the absorption spectrum range of the solid laser medium.
Incidentally, in any of the above embodiments, an example of employing Nd:YAG (Nd:Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) as solid laser medium was shown, but the present invention is not limited to this and is applicable to another solid laser medium so long as it is capable of photoexcitation. | To inexpensively and in a simple configuration provide a solid laser amplifier and a solid laser unit capable of generating a high output and high quality laser beam, the unit includes a solid laser medium 5A containing active solid media; a flow tube 14 or the like allowing a cooling medium 24 for cooling the solid laser medium 5A; and a laser array 12 so controlled in temperature as to emit an excitation light 9 for exciting the solid laser medium 5A, the wavelength of which lies within the absorption spectra of a solid laser medium 5A yet does not coincide with that of the absorption spectrum peak of a solid laser medium 5A. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/669,971 filed on Sep. 24, 2003. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to prosthetic implants. In particular, the present invention relates to a humeral resurfacing implant.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The humerus is the longest and largest bone of the human upper extremity. It is divisible into a body and two extremities. The upper extremity comprises a head that is joined to the body by a constricted portion generally called the neck. The head is nearly hemispherical in form and articulates with the glenoid cavity of the scapula or shoulder blade. The humerus is secured to the scapula by the rotator cuff muscles and tendons.
[0004] It is not uncommon for the exterior surface of the humeral head to be damaged or defective. Conventionally, a variety of humeral head resurfacing implants exist for repairing humeral head surfaces. While conventional humeral head resurfacing implants are suitable for their intended uses, such implants are subject to improvement.
[0005] Conventional humeral head resurfacing implants fail to accommodate patients having inadequate rotator cuff muscles. Specifically, conventional implants do not permit articulation between the implant and the concave undersurface of the coracoacromial arch of the scapula, the coracoacromial arch being a structural component of the shoulder comprising the coracoacromial ligament, coracoid process, and acromion. Thus, there is a need for a humeral head resurfacing implant that permits articulation with the coracoacromial arch in patients having inadequate rotator cuff muscles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In one embodiment, the present invention provides for a resurfacing implant comprising a head and an extended articulating surface protruding from a portion of the head operable to articulate with at least one of a bone and a ligament. The head has an exterior articulating surface, an interior surface opposite the exterior articulating surface, and an anchoring device extending from the interior surface.
[0007] In another embodiment, the present invention provides for a humeral head resurfacing implant comprising a humeral head having an articulating surface, an engagement stem extending from the head, and an extended surface protruding from the head operable to articulate with at least one element of a coracoacromial arch.
[0008] In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides for a method for resurfacing a humeral head of an implant site. The method comprises preparing the humeral head and implanting an implant at the humeral head. The implant has an exterior articulating surface, an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, a stem extending from the interior surface, and an extended articulating surface operable to articulate with at least one element of a coracoacromial arch.
[0009] Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an implant according to the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is bottom view of the implant of FIG. 1 ;
[0013] FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3 - 3 of FIG. 2 ;
[0014] FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional side view of the implant of the present invention according to an additional embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a typical implantation site prepared to receive the implant of FIG. 1 ;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the implant of FIG. 1 implanted at the implantation site of FIG. 4 ;
[0017] FIG. 6 represents a monolithic implant according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0018] FIGS. 7A-7D represent a modular prosthetic head;
[0019] FIGS. 8A-8D represent an alternate modular prosthetic;
[0020] FIGS. 9 and 10 represent an alternate modular prosthetic utilizing a snap-ring fixation mechanism;
[0021] FIG. 11 represents a tool for use to implant the prosthesis shown in FIGS. 7A-10 ; and
[0022] FIGS. 12-22 represent the preparation of a humerus to accept the implant shown in FIGS. 7A-10 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
[0024] With initial reference to FIGS. 1 through 3 , a resurfacing implant according to the present invention is illustrated and identified at reference numeral 10 . The implant 10 is typically divided into, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , a lateral region A and a medial region B, which is in relation to the implant position in the patient. The implant 10 generally includes a resurfacing head 12 , an anchoring device or stem 14 , and an extended surface 16 . The extended surface 16 may be located in the lateral region A, as illustrated, or at any other position about a periphery of the head 12 . The head 12 includes an exterior surface 18 and an interior surface 20 opposite the exterior surface 18 . The exterior surface 18 is generally convex, or dome-shaped, and smooth. The interior surface 20 is generally concave.
[0025] The interior surface 20 is also generally dome-shaped and substantially mirrors the exterior surface 18 . The interior surface 20 is generally concave. The interior surface 20 may be smooth or may include features, such as pores or coatings that facilitate bonding of the interior surface 20 to a resurfaced implant site. The interior surface 20 may be bonded to the implant site with or without bone cement. The interior surface 20 optionally terminates at an annular rim 24 .
[0026] The stem 14 extends from the interior surface 20 . The stem 14 may optionally be tapered such that the diameter of the stem 14 is at its greatest at the interior surface 20 . To facilitate cooperation between the stem 14 and the implant site, the stem 14 may optionally include one or more details, such as flutes 26 . In addition to or in place of flutes 26 , the stem 14 may include surface features, such as pores or coatings, to enhance the creation of a bond between the stem 14 and the implant site.
[0027] In some applications, the extended surface 16 is located in the lateral region A to engage a surface or bone, such as at least one portion of the coracoacromial arch. However, the extended surface 16 may be located at any other position about the rim 24 to engage a variety of different bones and/or ligaments. The extended surface 16 is generally comprised of an outer surface 28 , a base surface 30 , and an inner surface 32 . The outer surface 28 is typically a continuation of the exterior surface 18 . The outer surface 28 may be of any suitable shape or configuration, however, in many instances, the outer surface 28 is curved or rounded to follow the general shape of the exterior surface 18 . The outer surface 28 extends about a portion, but less than an entirety of the annular rim 24 . The extended surface 16 generally extends beyond an equator of the hemispherical head 12 , which is generally defined by the rim 24 . As seen in FIG. 3A , the extended surface 16 extends from the head 12 in a planar and/or cylindrical manner.
[0028] The base surface 30 generally extends from the outer surface 28 toward the stem 14 at approximately a right angle to the outer surface 28 . The base surface 30 may be generally planar or may include various surface features to enhance interaction between the base surface 30 and the implantation site. The base surface 30 is typically shaped to accommodate the curvature of the annular rim 24 . The length of the base surface 30 determines, in part, the width of the extended surface 16 .
[0029] The inner surface 32 extends from the base surface 30 toward the interior surface 20 . The inner surface 32 extends from the base surface 30 at an approximate right angle to the base surface 30 . The inner surface 32 may be of any suitable shape but is typically shaped to generally accommodate the curvature of the annular rim 24 . In some applications, the inner surface 32 may be wedged shaped, typically in the shape of a “V”, to generally facilitate interaction between the implant 10 and the implantation site by providing a surface that matches the shape of a prepared bone that is to receive the implant 10 . The shape of the inner surface 32 , such as the wedge shape, may be used to act as a further aide to maintain the implant 10 in its desired position and prevent rotation of the implant 10 at the implantation site.
[0030] If the extended surface 16 is of a relatively small width, the inner surface 32 may be an extension of the interior surface 20 ( FIG. 3A ). As illustrated in FIG. 3B , if the extended surface 16 is of a relatively large width, the inner surface 32 is not a continuation of the interior surface 20 , but is connected to the interior surface 20 by an upper surface 34 . The upper surface 34 runs generally parallel to the base surface 30 and may be, for example, planar or curved. The upper surface 34 forms a step on the extended surface 16 .
[0031] The implant 10 may be made of any suitable biocompatible material, but is typically made from a metal such as cobalt chrome or titanium. The interior surface 20 may be coated with a suitable material, such as titanium plasma spray or hydroxyapatite, to enhance the adhesion of the interior surface 20 to the implantation site or to enhance the effectiveness of any material, such as bone cement, that may be used to affix the interior surface 20 to the implantation site. The stem 14 may optionally be provided with a blasted finish, with or without hydroxyapatite, or a micro-bond finish, with or without hydroxyapatite. As a further option, bone cement may be used as an aide to retain the implant 10 in position.
[0032] The implant 10 may be of various different sizes and dimensions depending on the sizes and dimensions of the implant site. For example, to accommodate patients having large humeral heads, the implant 10 may be of a greater overall size than that required to accommodate patients having smaller humeral heads. Further, the shape of the exterior surface 18 may be customized to insure proper articulation at the implant site. Implants 10 of various different shapes and sizes may be packaged together and sold in a single kit.
[0033] With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 , the implantation and operation of the implant 10 will be described in detail. While the implant 10 is generally described as a humeral head resurfacing implant, it must be noted that the implant 10 may be used in a variety of different applications. The implantation site generally includes a humerus 36 and a shoulder blade or scapula 38 . The humerus 36 is generally comprised of a head 40 , a neck 42 , and a stem 44 . The scapula 38 is generally comprised of a glenoid cavity 46 that receives the head 40 , a coracoacromial arch 48 , and a coracoid process 50 .
[0034] To receive the implant 10 , a portion of the exterior surface of the humeral head 40 is resurfaced and/or removed to accommodate the resurfacing head 12 of the implant 10 such that, when implanted, the implant head 12 does not generally increase the overall dimensions of the humeral head 40 . The head 12 is further resected at 52 to accommodate the extended surface 16 . This resection at 52 may be performed with or without the use of a resection jig. To minimize bone loss, the resection at 52 often takes the shape of a “V”, however, the resection 52 may be of various other shapes or configurations. The “V” shape may also prevent rotation of the head 12 , even though the interaction between the stem 14 and the implant site is more than adequate to secure the head 12 into position.
[0035] To receive the stem 14 , which is generally referred to as a short stem 14 , a peg hole 54 is formed within the head 40 using conventional instruments and techniques. The hole 54 is formed with dimensions substantially similar to the dimensions of the stem 14 and is positioned such that when the stem 14 is seated within the hole 54 , the exterior surface 18 closely approximates the outer surface of the humeral head 40 . The hole 54 extends generally only through a portion of the humeral head 40 and does not necessarily extend to the stem 44 or within the intramedullary canal of the humerus. To ensure proper placement of the implant 10 , a trial implant (not shown) may be positioned at the implantation site before the implant 10 is implanted.
[0036] The trial implant is substantially similar to the implant 10 . A stem of the trial implant is placed within the hole 54 and the shoulder joint is reduced. If necessary, the head 40 is reamed to better approximate the size and shape of the interior surface 20 . After the proper position of the trial implant is noted, the trial is removed and the stem 14 of the implant 10 is seated within the hole 54 . The implant 10 is then positioned such that it is in substantially the same position as the trial implant. The particular size of the implant 10 is chosen according to the size and dimensions of the patient's humeral head 40 and scapula 38 . It must be noted that typically the stem 14 only extends through a portion of the head 40 and does not enter, or replace, the natural stem 44 of the humerus 36 .
[0037] As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the implant 10 is orientated at the humeral head 40 such that the extended surface 16 is positioned at or near the coracoacromial arch 48 . The extended surface 16 may either abut, or closely abut, the coracoacromial arch 48 . When the patient's rotator cuff muscles are inadequate, the extended surface 16 typically contacts the coracoacromial arch to provide metal on bone articulation with the coracoacromial arch 48 . However, the extended surface 16 may be rotated to any other position to engage other bones, ligaments, or surfaces other than, or in addition to, the coracoacromial arch 48 .
[0038] While interaction between the stem 14 and the hole 54 is typically suitable to secure the implant 10 within the hole 54 , the stem 14 may optionally be secured within the hole 54 using a suitable adhesive, such as bone cement 56 . The optional bone cement 56 may be inserted within the hole 54 , typically before the implant 10 is placed within the hole 54 . The flutes 26 of the stem 14 assist in forming a cement mantle between the stem 14 and the hole 54 to receive the bone cement 56 . The optional tapered configuration and blasted finish of stem 14 further enhances the bond between the implant 10 and the head 40 by providing a mechanical interface. To still further secure the implant 10 to the head 40 , a suitable adhesive, such as bone cement, may be placed between the interior surface 20 and the head 40 and various coatings may be applied to the interior surface 20 , such as titanium plasma, to create a bond between the interior surface 20 and the head 40 .
[0039] With the implant 10 in place upon the humeral head 40 , patients with inadequate rotator cuff muscles are provided with a device that permits articulation between the humerus 36 and the coracoacromial arch 48 . This articulation between the humerus 36 and the coracoacromial arch 48 enhances range of motion in the patient's shoulder and reduces patient discomfort.
[0040] FIG. 6 represents a monolithic resurfacing implant according to the teachings of an alternate embodiment. The implant 60 includes a resurfacing head 62 , an anchoring device or stem 64 and an extended bearing member 66 . The head 62 has a generally spherical articulating bearing surface 68 and an interior coupling surface 70 .
[0041] The stem 64 is coupled to the interior surface 70 and can have various surface features 72 to facilitate the coupling of the implant to a resected humerus. Disposed between the articulating surface 68 and the internal surface 70 of the implant 60 is a base surface 71 . The base surface 71 is congruent with the base surface 73 of the bearing member 66 . The internal surface 70 defines a generally spherical surface 74 , which seats against a resected spherical bearing surface 76 of the humerus. Additionally, the interior surface 70 defines three flat intersecting surfaces 78 A-C. Optionally, the surfaces 78 A and B intersect with surface 78 C at obtuse angles. The surfaces 78 A-C are supported by the corresponding resected surfaces in the humeral head.
[0042] As shown in FIGS. 6 , 7 A- 7 D and 8 A- 8 D, the extended surface can vary in radial width W and length L. As shown in FIG. 7A-8D , the extended surface can be an additional modular component 80 , which can be coupled to the head using varying fixation mechanisms 81 . In this regard, the fixation mechanism can optionally take the form of a pair of interference fit members, such as a Morse taper. Additionally, as shown in FIGS. 8B-8D , the fixation member can be a fastener such as a screw.
[0043] As shown in FIGS. 7A-7D , the modular component 80 has an exterior articulating surface 84 which can have varying radii of curvature which are congruent with the articulating surface 68 . The modular component 80 can have a male or female Morse taper which corresponds with a complimentary structure on the interior coupling surface 70 . Additionally shown is an anti-rotation member 86 in the form of a pin. As shown in FIGS. 8A-8D , the additional modular components 80 can be coupled to the implant 60 via the threaded bore 89 . The threaded bore 89 can optionally be parallel or perpendicular to the fixation stem 64 .
[0044] FIGS. 9 and 10 represent cross-sectional and exploded views of an alternative prosthetic. The additional modular component 80 is coupled to the interior coupling surface 70 via a ring lock 87 . The ring 87 is configured to couple the annular modular component 80 ′ using the groove 88 defined on the bearing surface 68 , and a groove 90 defined on an interior surface 92 of the modular component 80 ′.
[0045] FIG. 11 represents a cutting guide 98 which allows for the preparation of the humerus. In this regard, the cutting guide 98 allows for the removal of tuberosities to make room for an extended implant. The cutting guide 98 has a main body 100 and a cannulated handle 102 . The underside 104 of the main body has a spherical concave surface 108 that relates to the spherical radius of a spherical cutter 109 used to prepare the humerus. The guide 98 is configured to be fully seated on the resurfaced humeral head 76 . A plurality of slots 106 are formed within the main body 100 for viewing the resurfaced head to determine if the guide is well seated. Additional holes 107 are formed in the guide main body 100 , which accept a plurality of guide pins 110 . These pins 110 prevent the rotation of the cutting guide 100 during the resection of the humerus.
[0046] Further defined in the cutting guide main body 100 are a plurality of angled cutting slots 112 , which are configured to match the flats 78 A- 78 C created on the inner surface on the resurfacing implant. In this regard, the angled slots 112 can form compound angles with respect to each other. Additional groups can be formed on an exterior peripheral surface of the main body to facilitate the removal of material. To insure the cutting guide is properly oriented, markings 114 can be formed on the outside surface of the cutting guide. These markings are intended to allow the relative rotation and placement of the cutting guide with respect to predetermined or known anatomical locations, such as the bicipital groove.
[0047] The handle 102 defines a through passage 116 or aperture, which is configured to slidably accept a Steinmann pin 118 . It is envisioned that the handle can be removable from the body portion to facilitate the resection through the number of slots in the main body.
[0048] FIGS. 12-22 represent the preparation of the humerus to accept any of the aforementioned prosthetics. FIG. 12 represents the first step in inserting the extended articulating surface humeral resurfacing head. First, a drill guide 120 is used to locate the center of the humeral head. The drill guide 120 has a generally spherical concave inner surface 122 , which is configured to conform to the generally spherical surface of the humeral head. The drilling guide has a cannulated handle 124 , which is used to direct the placement of the Steinmann pin 118 .
[0049] As shown in FIG. 12 , the Steinmann pin 118 is disposed through the guide to mark the location of the center of the head. As also shown in FIG. 13 , a spherical surface cutter 126 is placed over the Steinmann pin and used to ream the surface of the head to remove a predetermined amount of biological tissue (see FIG. 14 ). Optionally, the reaming continues until bone is shown coming through a plurality of holes 128 within the cutter.
[0050] The cutting guide 100 , as shown in FIG. 16 , is placed over the Steinmann pin 118 . The cutting guide 100 is rotated so that the marking 114 on the exterior surface of the cutting guide is lined up with the bicipital groove. The additional guide pins 110 are then placed through the guide holes 107 in the guide to prevent relative rotation of the cutting guide 100 with respect to the humerus during the resection of the humeral head.
[0051] At this point, a rotational or reciprocal cutting tool 130 is placed within the cutting grooves 112 formed in the cutting guide 100 . This tool is used to form a plurality of flat surfaces 132 on the humerus. At this point, the anti-rotation pins and cutting guide are removed from the resected humerus. A spade bit 134 is placed over the Steinmann pin 118 and rotated until a stop ledge 136 touches the humeral head. Both the spade bit 134 and Steinmann pin 118 are removed from the humerus. A trial head (see FIG. 19 ) is then placed onto the resurfacing bone and used to check the full range of motion and correct soft tissue tensioning. Lastly, the final prosthetic is placed onto the bone and impacted into place.
[0052] FIGS. 20-22 represent the placement of the prosthetic 60 onto the prepared humerus. As can be seen, the exterior portion 66 is positioned to allow proper articulation of the repaired joint. A trialing head 60 ′ is positioned to the prepared humerus. The head 60 is then coupled to the resected humerus as previously described.
[0053] The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A resurfacing implant comprising a head and an extended articulating surface protruding from a portion of the head operable to articulate with at least one of a bone and a ligament. The head has an exterior articulating surface, an interior surface opposite the exterior articulating surface, and an anchoring device extending from the interior surface. | 0 |
This is a division of application Ser. No. 07/959,941, filed Oct. 9, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,781 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/793,873, filed on Nov. 18, 1991, abandoned.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a way to produce anthracyclines useful in the treatment of cancer by modifying the biosynthesis of daunorubicin so as to improve the production of daunorubicin from carminomycin in streptomycetes other than Streptomyces peucetius 29050 and in bacterial cell extracts or by purified enzymes derived therefrom.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The anthracyclines of the daunorubicin group, such as doxorubicin, carminomycin and aclacinomycin, are among the most widely employed agents in antitumoral therapy [F. Arcamone, Doxorubicin, Academic Press, New York, 1981, pp 12-25; A. Grein, Process Biochem, 16:34 (1981); T. Kaneko, Chimicaoggi May:11 (1988)]. Improved derivatives of daunorubicin and doxorubicin have been made by chemical synthesis to enhance their antitumor activity, particularly by the oral route of administration, and to combat the acute toxicity and chronic cardiotoxicity associated with the use of these drugs in the treatment of cancer [Penco, Process Biochem, 15:12 (1980); T. Kaneko, Chimicaoggi May:11 (1988)]. 4-Epidoxorubicin (Epirubicin®) and 4-demethoxydaunorubicin (Idarubicin®) are examples of such analogs.
These naturally occuring compounds are produced by various strains of Streptomyces (S. peucetius, S. coeruleorubidus, S. galilaeus, S. griseus, S. griseoruber, S. insignis, S. viridochromogenes, S. bifurcus and Streptomyces sp strain C5) and by Actinomyces carminata. Doxorubicin is only produced by S. peucetius subsp. caesius but daunorubicin is produced by S. peucetius as well as the other Streptomyces described above. The type strains S. peucetius subsp caesius IMRU 3920 (this strain is the same as ATCC 27952 and hereinafter is abbreviated to "S. peucetius 3920") S. peucetius ATCC 29050 ("S. peucetius 29050"), and S. peucetius subsp. caesius ATCC 27952 ("S. peucetius 27952") are publically available and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,028. S. peucetius 29050 and 27952 have been deposited at the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md. USA, receiving the index number ATCC 29050 and 27952.
The anthracycline doxorubicin (2) is made by S. peucetius 27952 from malonic acid, propionic acid, and glucose by the pathway shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings ε-Rhodomycinone (4), carminomycin (3) and daunorubicin (1) are established intermediates in this process [Grein, Advan. Appl. Microbiol. 32:203 (1987), Eckardt and Wagner, J. Basic Microbiol. 28:137 (1988)]. Two steps in this pathway involve the O-methylation of discrete intermediates: the conversion of aklanonic acid to methyl aklanonate and carminomycin (3) to daunorubicin (1). Cell-free extracts of S. peucetius 29050, S. insignis ATCC 31913, S. coeruleorubidus ATCC 31276 and Streptomyces sp. C5 have been shown to catalyze the latter step in the presence of S-adenosyl-L-methionine [Connors et al., J. Gen Microbiol, 136:1895 (1990)], suggesting that all of these strains contain a specific carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase (COMT protein).
Genes for daunorubicin biosynthesis and daunorubicin resistance have been obtained from S. peucetius 29050 and S. peucetius 27952 by cloning experiments [Stutzman-Engwall and Hutchinson, Proc Natl. Acad. Sci, USA 86:3135 (1988); Otten et al., J. Bacteriol. 172:3427 (1990)]. These studies have shown that, when introduced in Streptomyces lividans 1326, these cloned genes confer the ability to produce ε-rhodomycinone and to become resistant to daunorubicin and doxorubicin to this host. In subsequent work we examined whether these clones could confer the ability to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin when introduced into S. lividans. We have now isolated a 1.6 kilobase (kb) DNA segment that incorporates the carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase gene, which hereinafter will be abbreviated as "dnrK".
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides DNAs having the configuration of restriction sites shown in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings or a restriction fragment derived therefrom containing a gene, dnrK, coding for carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase. For convenience, the DNA segment shown in FIG. 2 is called here "insert DNA" and is further defined by the DNA sequence shown in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings. The invention also provides:
(1) recombinant vectors that are capable of transforming a host cell and that contain an insert DNA of a restriction fragment derived therefrom containing the dnrK gene;
(2) recombinant vectors that are able to increase the number of copies of the dnrK gene and the amount of its product in a strain of Streptomyces spp. producing daunorubicin;
(3) recombinant vectors that are able to express the dnrK gene in Escherichia coli so as to enable the production of the purified carmnomycin 4-O-methyltransferase enzyme;
4) a microbial source of carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase for the bioconversion of carminomycin into pure daunorubicin.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a summary of the doxorubicin biosynthetic pathway.
FIG. 2 is the restriction map analysis of the first DNA of the invention. This is an insert in recombinant plasmid pWHM902 that was constructed by insertion of a 1.6 kb Sphl/Pvull DNA fragment containing the carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase (dnrK) gene, which was obtained from recombinant plasmid pWHM901 by its digestion with Sphl and Pvull, into the Sphl/Smal sites of the pWHM3 plasmid, an Escherichia coli-Streptomyces shuttle vector [Vara et al., J Bacteriol. 171:5872 (1989)]. The map shown in FIG. 2 does not necessarily provide an exhaustive listing of all restriction sites present in the DNA segment. However, the reported sites are sufficient for an unambiguous recognition of the segments.
FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c are a schematic illustration of a nucleotide sequence of the dnrK DNA segment which corresponds to that encoding carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase. This covers the region between the Sphl and the Pvull restriction sites of pWHM902 and shows the coding strand in the 5' to 3' direction. The derived amino acid sequence of the translated open reading frame encoding carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase is shown below the nucleotide sequence of the dnrK gene. (SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:2)
FIG. 4 is the restriction map analysis of the second DNA of the invention. This is an insert in recombinant plasmid pWHM903 that was constructed by insertion of a ≈1.4 kb Ndel/EcoRl DNA fragment, obtained from the 5.8 kb Sphl DNA fragment of pWHM901 by site-directed mutagenesis, into the Ndel and EcoRl sites of the pT7--7 E. coli expression plasmid vector [Tabor and Richardson, Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:1074 (1985)]. The map shown in FIG. 4 does not necessarily provide an exhaustive listing of all restriction sites present in the DNA segment. However, the reported sites are sufficient for an unambiguous recognition of the segments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The insert DNAs and restriction fragments of the invention contain a gene (dnrK) coding for carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase. For such a gene to be expressed, the DNA may carry its own transcriptional control sequence and, in particular, its own promoter which is operably connected to the gene and which is recognised by a host cell RNA polymerase. Alternatively, the insert DNA or restriction fragment may be ligated to another transcriptional control sequence in the correct fashion or cloned into a vector at a restriction site appropriately located neighboring a transcriptional control sequence in the vector.
An insert DNA or restriction fragment carrying a carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase gene may be cloned into a recombinant; DNA cloning vector. Any autonomously replicating and/or integrating agent comprising a DNA molecule to which one or more additional DNA segments can be added may be used. Typically, however, the vector is a plasmid. A preferred plasmid is the high copy number plasmid pWHM3 or plJ702 [Katz et al., J. Gen. Microbiol. 129:2703 (1983)]. Other suitable plasmids are plJ385 [Mayeri et al., J. Bacteriol. 172:6061 (1990)], plJ680 (Hopwood et al., Genetic manipulation of Streptomyces. A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985), pWHM601 [Guilfoile and Hutchinson, Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:8553 (991)] or pPM927 [Smokina et al., Gene 94:52 (1990)]. Any suitable technique may be used to insert the insert DNA or restriction fragment thereof into the vector. Insertion can be achieved by ligating the DNA into a linearized vector at an appropriate restriction site. For this, direct combination of sticky or blunt ends, homopolymer tailing, or the use of a linker or adapter molecule may be employed.
The recombinant vector is used to transform a suitable host cell. The host cells may be ones that are carminomycin- or daunorubicin-sensitive, i.e., cannot grow in the presence of a certain amount of carminomycin or daunorubicin, or that are carminomycin- or daunorubicin-resistant. The host may be a microorganism. Strains of S. peucetius, in particular S. peucetius 29050, and other strains of Streptomyces species that produce anthracyclines or do not produce them may therefore be transformed. Transformants of Streptomyces strains are typically obtained by protoplast transformation. The dnrK gene may also be incorporated into other vectors and expressed in non-streptomycetes like E. coli. The COMT protein obtained by the transformed host may be employed for bioconverting carminomycin to daunorubicin. This method would allow the preparation of highly pure daunorubicin starting from a cell extract produced by a fermentation process and containing the undesired intermediate carminomycin besides the daunorubicin.
The bioconversion process can be carried out either by using directly the free or immobilized transformed cells or by isolating the COMT protein, which can be used in the free form, immobilized according to known techniques to resins, glass, cellulose or similar substances by ionic or covalent bonds, or grafted to fibers permeable to the substrate or insolubilized by cross-linkage. The COMT protein may also be used in the raw cellular extract.
The recombinant vector of the present invention may be also used to transform a suitable host cell, which produces daunorubicin, in order to enhance the bioconversion of carminomycin and to minimize the presence of said unwanted intermediate into the final cell extract. The host cells may be ones that are carminomycin, daunorubicin or doxorubicin-resistant, i.e., can grow in the presence of any amount of carminomycin, daunorubicin or doxorubicin. Strains of S. peucetius, in particular S. peucetius 29050, and other strains of Streptomyces species that produce anthracyclines may therefore be transformed. Transformants of Streptomyces strains are typically obtained by protoplast transformation. Daunorubicin can be obtained by culturing a transformed strain of S. peucetius or another Streptomyces species that does not contain a dnrK gene and recovering the daunorubicin or related anthracyclines thus-produced.
The insert DNAs are obtained from the genomic DA of S. peucetius 29050. This strain has been deposited at the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md., USA under the accession number ATCC 29050. A strain derived from S. peucetius 29050, like S. peucetius 227952, may also be used, which typically will also be able to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin. Insert DNAs may therefore be obtained by:
(a) preparing a library of the genomic DNA of S. peucetius 29050 or a strain derived therefrom;
(b) screening the library for clones with the ability to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin;
(c) obtaining an insert DNA from a recombinant vector that forms part of the library and that has been screened as positive for the ability to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin; and
(d) optionally, obtaining from the insert DNA a restriction fragment that contains a gene coding for carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase.
The library may be prepared in step (a) by partially digesting the genomic DNA of S. peucetius 29050 or a strain derived therefrom. The restriction enzyme Mbol is preferably used. The DNA fragments thus obtained can be size fractionated; fragments from 3 to 5 to kb in size are preferred. These fragments are ligated into a linearized vector such as pWHM3 or plJ702. Host cells are transformed with the ligation mixture. Typically, the host cells can not produce carminomycin or daunorubicin and can be carminomycin- or daunorubicin-sensitive, for example, sensitive to 10 microgram or less of carminomycin or daunorubicin per ml. For example, S. lividans Jl1623protoplasts (Hopwood et al., Genetic manipulation of Streptomyces, A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985) may be transformed.
In step (b), the transformants thus contained are screened for the ability to take up carminomycin, convert it to daunorubicin, and excrete daunrorubicin. Clones able to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin are identified by chromatographic analysis of extracts of a culture medium containing carminomycin for the presence of daunorubicin. Such clones are isolated and recombinant vectors contained therein are extracted. On digestion of the recombinant vectors with suitable restriction enzymes in step (c), the S. peucetius 29050 DNA inserted into each vector may be identified, sized and mapped. In this way, it may be checked that the vector contains an insert DNA of the invention.
Further, two or more overlapping inserts may be isolated that are wholly or partly embraced within the DNA of the invention. These may be fused together by cleavage at a common restriction site and subsequent ligation to obtain a DNA of the invention, pared in length using appropriate restriction enzymes if necessary. Restriction fragments of an insert DNA that contains a gene coding for the COMT protein may be obtained in step (d) also by cleaving an insert DNA with an appropriate restriction enzyme.
DNA of the invention may be mutated in a way that does not affect its ability to confer the ability to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin. This can be achieved by site-directed mutagenesis for example. Such mutated DNA forms part of the invention.
The DNA of the invention may also be incorporated into vectors suitable for expression of the dnrK gene in a non-streptomycete host like E. coli.
The following examples illustrate the invention.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Bacterial strains and plasmids: E. coli strain DH5α, which is sensitive to ampicillin and epramycin, is used for subcloning DNA fragments and E. coli K38/ Russel & Modet, J. Bacteriol. 159:1034 (1984) / is used for expression of the S. Peucetius dnrK gene, E. coli JM105 is used for making single stranded DNA for sequencing the DnK gene.
Media and buffers: E. coli DH5α is maintained on LB agar (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989). When selecting for transformants, ampicillin or epramycin are added at concentrations of 50 μg/ml and 100 μg/ml, respectively. E. coli JM105 is maintained on M9 minimal agar medium (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989), and a colony is transferred to LB medium and grown overnight at 37° C. to obtain the bacteria used in the preparation of single stranded DNA. H agar (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989) is used to plate E. coli DH5α transformed with the replicative form of M13 DNA [(Yansch-Perron et al., Gene 33:103 (1985)]. S. lividans is maintained on R2YE agar (Hopwood et al., Genetic Manipulator, of Streptomyces, A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985) for the preparation of spores as well as for the regeneration of protoplasts.
Subcloning DNA fragments: DNA samples are digested with appropriate restriction enzymes and separated on agarose gels by standard methods (Saybrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989). Agarose slices containing DNA fragments of interest are excised from a gel and the DNA is isolated from these slices using the GENECLEAN device (Bio101, La Jolla, Calif.). The isolated DNA fragments are subcloned using standard techniques (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. 1989) into E. coli and E. coli/Streptomyces shuttle vectors for biotransformation and expression experiments, respectively, and into M13 vectors [(Yansch-Perron et al., Gene 33:103 (1985)] for sequencing.
DNA sequencing: After subcloning DNA fragments of interest into an m13 vector, single stranded DNA is prepared by standard techniques (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989) and used in sequencing. DNA sequence data are obtained using a Sequenase version 2.0 sequencing kit (U.S. Biochemicals, Cleveland, Ohio) according to the manufacturers suggestions. 7-Deaza dGTP is used instead of dGTP to avoid compressions. Initially, an universal primer of the M13 vector is used to obtain the sequence of the first 200-250 bases, then from these sequence data, and 17-mer oligoncleotide is synthesised using an Applied Biosystems 391 DNA synthesizer according to the manufacturer's directions and used as a primer to continue DNA sequencing until the complete DNA sequence data are obtained.
Transformation of Streptomtces species and E. coli; Competent cells of E. coli are prepared by the calcium chloride method (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989) and transformed by standard techniques (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989). S. lividans TK24 mycelium is grown in YEME medium (Hopwood et al., Genetic Manipulation of Streptomyces, A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985) and harvested after 48 hr. The mycelial pellet is washed twice with 10.3% sucrose solution and used to prepare protoplasts according to the method outlined in the Hopwood manual (Hopwood et al., Genetic Manipulation of Streptomyces, A laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985). The protoplast pellet is suspended in about 300 microliters of P buffer (Hopwood et al., Genetic Manipulation of Streptomyces. A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985) and a 50 microliter aliquot of this suspension is used for each transformation. Protoplasts are transformed with plasmid DNA according to the small-scale transformation method of Hopwood et al. (Hopwood et al., Genetic Manipulation of Streptomyces, A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985). After 17 hr of regeneration of R2YE medium at 30° C., the plates are overlayed with 50 μg/ml of thiostrepton and allowed to grow at 30° C. until sporulated.
Bioconversion of carminomycin to daunorubicin: S. lividans transformants harboring different plasmids are inoculated into liquid R2YE medium (Hopwood et al., Genetic Manipulation of Streptomyces. A Laboratory Manual, John Innes Foundation, Norwich, UK, 1985) containing 5 μg/ml of thiostrepton. After 2 days of growth at 30° C., 2.5 ml of this culture is transferred to 25 ml of Strohl medium [(Dekleva et al., Can J. Microbiol, 31:287 (1985)] containing 20 μg/ml of thiostrepton. Cultures are grown in baffled Erlenmeyer flasks on a rotary shaker at 300 rpm at 30° C. for 72 hr, after which carminomycin (as a solution in water at a concentration of 10 milligrams/ml) is added to cultures to give a final concentration of 5 μg/ml. After 24 h of further incubation on the shaker, the cultures are incubated in a water bath at 60° C. for 45 min after the addition of 150 milligrams/ml of oxalic acid to hydrolize the glycosidic forms of the anthracycline metabolites. The metabolites are extracted from the cultures with 15 ml of chloroform after adjusting the pH of cultures to 8.4-8.6. The chloroform solution is filtered through a 0.45 μm Acrodisc CR filter (Gelman Sciences, Ann Arbor, Mich.) and 100 microliters of this filtrate is analyzed by HPLC on a Waters Nova-Pak C 15 cartridge (8 mm×10 cm) with a mobile phase of methanol-water (85:15) adjusted to pH 2.5 with phosphoric acid a; a flow rate of 3 ml/min. The column output was monitored using Waters 6000 solvent delivery system, a 441 UV detector operated at 254 nm, and a 740 data module. Carminomycin and daunorubicin (10 μg/ml in methanol) were used as external standards to quantitate the amount of these metabolites isolated from the cultures.
EXAMPLE 1
Cloning of the dnrK Gene Encoding Carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase
Several of the cosmid clones described by Stutzman-Engwall and Hutchinson [(Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:3135 (1989)], representing approximately 96 kb of S. peucetius 29050 genomic DNA, are transformed into S. lividans TK24 and the transformants are analysed for the bioconversion of carminomycin to daunorubicin according to the method described in the materials and methods section. Cosmid clone pWHM339 [Otten et al., J. Bacteriol. 172:3427 (1990)] bioconverts 22% of added carminomycin to daunorubicin. A 11.2 kb EcoRl fragment from the insert in pWHM339 is subcloned into the cosmid vector pKC505 (Richardson et al., Gene 61:231 (1987)] to yield plasmid pWHM534. S. lividans TK24 transformed with pWHM534 shows a 25 to 60% bioconversion of added carminomycin to daunorubicin. A 5.8 kb Sphl fragment from pWHM534 is subcloned in the Sphl site of the high-copy number plasmid pWHM3 to yield the plasmid pWHM901. S. lividans transformed with pWHM901 exhibits a 50 to 85% bioconversion of carminomycin to daunorubicin. A 1.6 kb Sphl/Pvull fragment is cloned from pWHM901 first into the Sphl/Smal sites of pUC19 [Yansch-Perron et al., Gene 33:103 (1985)], then the 1.6 kb DNA fragment is subcloned from the latter plasmid as an HindIII/EcoRI fragment into the HindIII/EcoRI sites of pWHM3 to yield plasmid pWHM902 (FIG. 2). S. lividans transformed with pWHM902 bioconverts 100% of the carminomycin added to the culture to daunorubicin.
DNA Sequence of the Region Containing the dnrK Gene
Sequencing a 2.5 kb DNA segment of the 5.8 kb Sphl fragment in pWHM901 is carried out by subcloning 0.4 kb Spnl/Xhol, 0.7 kb Xhol/Sstl, 0.6-kb Sstl/Sall, and 0.8 kb Sall/Xhol fragments from pWHM902 into M13mp18 and -mp19 vectors [Yansch-Perron et al., Gene 33:103 (1985)] to obtain both orientations of each DNA segment. DNA sequencying of the resulting four clones is performed as described in the materials and methods section. The resulting DNA sequence of a 1.6 kb DNA fragment containing the dnrK gene, and the amino acid sequence of the COMT protein deduced by analysis of this DNA sequence with the CODON PREFERENCE program described by Devereux et al. [Nucl Acics Res. 12:387 (1984)], are shown in FIG. 3. The dnrK open reading frame identified by CODONPREFERENCE and TRANSLATE analysis [Devereux et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 12:387 (1984)] codes for the COMT protein.
EXAMPLE 2
Construction of a Vector for Expression of the dnrK Gene in E. coli
An approx. 1.6 kb Sphl/Pvull DA fragment containing the entire dnrK open reading frame along with some flanking sequence (FIG. 3) is subcloned into Sph/l and Smal-digested pUC19 [Yansch-Perron et al., Gene 33:103 (1985) to give the plasmid pWHM904 (not shown). The following two oligodeoxynucleotide primers, corresponding to sequences on either side of the dnrK-containing fragment to be amplified, are synthesized with an Applied Biosystems 391 DA synthesizer according to the manufacturer's directions:
__________________________________________________________________________XbaIBamHIrbsNdeIGGG TCTAGA GGATCC AGGAG CAG CATATG ACC GCT GAA CCG ACC GTC GCG GCCCGG CCG CAG CAG AT - 3': Primer #1 (SEQ ID NO:3)SphIPstIAC CGC TAG CCT GAC GAG CTC CTC CGTACG GACGTC CCC - 5': Primer #2 (SEQ IDNO:4)__________________________________________________________________________
The third position of second, third and sixth codons (indicated by bold face letters) of the dnrK gene is changed by using primer #1 to reflect the most frequently used codon in highly expressed E. coli genes as a menas to enhance the expression of the dnrK gene in E. coli:
__________________________________________________________________________ATG ACC GCT GAA CCG ACC GTC GCG GCC CGG CCG CAG CAGA: Mutated sequence(SEQ ID NO:5)ATG ACA GCC GAA CCG ACG GTC GCG GCC CGG CCG CAG CAGA: Wild type sequence(SEQ ID NO:6)__________________________________________________________________________
These two primers are used to amplify the dnrK sequence of pWHM904 from nucleotides 205 (the beginning of the dnrK orf) to 445 of FIG. 3 by standard methods for the polymerase chain reaction with Streptomyces DNA [for example, see Guilfoile and Hutchinson, J. Bacteriol. 174:3659 (1992)]. From the amplified product, an 88 bp Ndel/Ncol fragment is excised and ligated to a 1.3 kb Ncol/EcoRl fragment (obtained from pWHM902), containing the remaining dnrK gene (FIGS. 2 and 3), and Ndel/EccRl-digested pT7--7 [Tabor and Richardson, Proc. atl. Acad. Sci. A 82:1074 (1985)], which results in the fusion of the dnrK orf to the T7 gene 10 promoter of this E. coli expression vector. Competent cells of E. coli DH5α are transformed with the ligated DNA and transformants were screened for pT7--7 with dnrK. The resulting plasmid is designated pWHM903 (FIG. 4). cl Expression of the DnrK Gene in E. coli
Competent E. coli celis containing the plasmid pGP1-2 [Tabor and Richardson] were selected on LB agar (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989) containing ampicillin (100 μg/ml) and kanamycin (50 μg/ml) after growth at 30° C. The procedure for preparing competent cells of E. coli containing pGP1-2 is the same as that for any other E. coli strain, except that the cultures are maintained at 30° C. instead of 37° C. Competent cells of E. coli containing pGP1-2 are prepared from cells grown at 30° C. to a OD 550 of 0.5 to 0.6 in LB medium containing kanamycin. It is very important to maintain strains containing pGP1-2 at 30° C. for routine maintenance and pre-induction growth to avoid over expression of T7 RNA polymerase which might otherwise result in a mutated plasmid.
A single transformant harboring both pGP1-2 and pWHM903 is inoculated into 25 ml of 2×YT medium (Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1989) containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin and 50 μg/ml kanamycin and grown overnight at 30° C. with vigorous agitation. The next morning cultures are heat shocked at 42° C. for 30 min in a shaking water bath and then transferred back to 30° C. After 90 min further incubation, one ml of the culture is centrifuged at 14,000 rpm in a microcentrifuge for 1 min, the supernatant is discarded, and the cell pellet is resuspended in 100 microliters of Laemmli buffer [Laemmli, Nature (London), 227:680 (1970)] and boiled for 5 min. The proteins contained in the boiled sample are analyzed on a 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gel using standard methods [Laemmli, Nature (London), 227:680 (1970)] by comparison with the proteins obtained from the cell extract of E. coli transformed with the pt7--7 vector that does not contain the dnrK gene. The COMT protein migrates at M r 38,700.
EXAMPLE 3
Conversion of Carminomycin to Daunorubicin by a Cell Containing the COMT Protein
A single E. coli transformant harboring both pGP1-2 and pWHM903 was inoculated into 25 ml of 2×YT medium containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin and 50 μg/ml kanamycin and grown overnight at 30° C. with vigorous agitation. The next morning cultures are heat shocked at 42° C. for 30 min in a shaking water bath and then transferred back to 30° C. after adding 5 μg/ml of carminomycin. The cultures are allowed to grow for additional 90 min, after which the anthracycline metabolites are isolated using standard methods and analysed on HPLC. Comparison of the relative areas of the signal peaks for carminomycin and daunorubicin in the HPLC chromatogram indicates that 75 to 80% of the carminomycin added to the culture medium is converted to daunorubicin.
__________________________________________________________________________SEQUENCE LISTING(1) GENERAL INFORMATION:(iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 6(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 1632 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: double(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (genomic)(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: CDS(B) LOCATION: 204..1271(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:GCATGCCGGCAACCGGGCGCCGGTTCTCCGGTGAGCAGATCCACCTCATCCGCATCGTCG60ACGGCAAGATCCGCGATCACCGCGACTGGCCCGACTACCTCGGCACCTACCGCCAGCTCG120GCGAGCCCTGGCCCACCCCCGAGGGCTGGCGCCCCTGACCCCCCATCACCCCGCCGACGC180CACGACAGGAGCACGGACACACCATGACAGCCGAACCGACGGTCGCGGCC230MetThrAlaGluProThrValAlaAla15CGGCCGCAGCAGATCGACGCCCTCAGGACCCTGATCCGCCTCGGAAGC278ArgProGlnGlnIleAspAlaLeuArgThrLeuIleArgLeuGlySer10152025CTGCACACGCCCATGGTCGTCCGGACGGCCGCCACCCTGCGGCTCGTC326LeuHisThrProMetValValArgThrAlaAlaThrLeuArgLeuVal303540GACCACATCCTGGCCGGGGCCCGCACCGTGAAGGCCCTGGCGGCCAGG374AspHisIleLeuAlaGlyAlaArgThrValLysAlaLeuAlaAlaArg455055ACAGACACCCGGCCGGAAGCACTCCTGCGACTGATCCGCCACCTGGTG422ThrAspThrArgProGluAlaLeuLeuArgLeuIleArgHisLeuVal606570GCGATCGGACTGCTCGAGGAGGACGCACCGGGCGAGTTCGTCCCGACC470AlaIleGlyLeuLeuGluGluAspAlaProGlyGluPheValProThr758085GAGGTCGGCGAGCTGCTCGCCGACGACCACCCAGCCGCGCAGCGTGCC518GluValGlyGluLeuLeuAlaAspAspHisProAlaAlaGlnArgAla9095100105TGGCACGACCTGACGCAGGCCGTGGCGCGCGCCGACATCTCCTTCACC566TrpHisAspLeuThrGlnAlaValAlaArgAlaAspIleSerPheThr110115120CGCCTCCCCGACGCCATCCGTACCGGCCGCCCCACGTACGAGTCCATC614ArgLeuProAspAlaIleArgThrGlyArgProThrTyrGluSerIle125130135TACGGCAAGCCGTTCTACGAGGACCTGGCCGGCCGCCCCGACCTGCGC662TyrGlyLysProPheTyrGluAspLeuAlaGlyArgProAspLeuArg140145150GCGTCCTTCGACTCGCTGCTCGCCTGCGACCAGGACGTCGCCTTCGAC710AlaSerPheAspSerLeuLeuAlaCysAspGlnAspValAlaPheAsp155160165GCTCCGGCCGCCGCGTACGACTGGACGAACGTCCGGCATGTGCTCGAC758AlaProAlaAlaAlaTyrAspTrpThrAsnValArgHisValLeuAsp170175180185GTGGGTGGCGGCAAGGGTGGTTTCGCCGCGGCCATCGCGCGCCGGGCC806ValGlyGlyGlyLysGlyGlyPheAlaAlaAlaIleAlaArgArgAla190195200CCGCACGTGTCGGCCACCGTGCTGGAGATGGCGGGCACCGTGGACACC854ProHisValSerAlaThrValLeuGluMetAlaGlyThrValAspThr205210215GCCCGCTCCTACCTGAAGGACGAGGGCCTCTCCGACCGTGTCGACGTC902AlaArgSerTyrLeuLysAspGluGlyLeuSerAspArgValAspVal220225230GTCGAGGGGGACTTCTTCGAGCCGCTGCCCCGCAAGGCGGACGCGATC950ValGluGlyAspPhePheGluProLeuProArgLysAlaAspAlaIle235240245ATCCTCTCTTTCGTCCTCCTCAACTGGCCGGACCACGACGCCGTCCGG998IleLeuSerPheValLeuLeuAsnTrpProAspHisAspAlaValArg250255260265ATCCTCACCCGCTGCGCCGAGGCCCTGGAGCCCGGCGGGCGCATCCTG1046IleLeuThrArgCysAlaGluAlaLeuGluProGlyGlyArgIleLeu270275280ATCCACGAGCGCGACGACCTCCACGAGAACTCGTTCAACGAACAGTTC1094IleHisGluArgAspAspLeuHisGluAsnSerPheAsnGluGlnPhe285290295ACAGAGCTCGATCTGCGGATGCTGGTCTTCCTCGGCGGTGCCCTGCGC1142ThrGluLeuAspLeuArgMetLeuValPheLeuGlyGlyAlaLeuArg300305310ACCCGCGAGAAGTGGGACGGCCTGGCCGCGTCGGCGGGCCTCGTGGTC1190ThrArgGluLysTrpAspGlyLeuAlaAlaSerAlaGlyLeuValVal315320325GAGGAGGTGCGGCAACTGCCGTCGCCGACCATCCCGTACGACCTCTCG1238GluGluValArgGlnLeuProSerProThrIleProTyrAspLeuSer330335340345CTCCTCGTCCTTGCCCCCGCGGCCACCGGCGCCTGACACACGAGGTACGGGAA1291LeuLeuValLeuAlaProAlaAlaThrGlyAla350355GGGTTCATCAGCAATGCCGACACGCATGATCACCAACGATGAGGTGACCCTGTGGAGCGA1351AGGGCTCGGCGATCCGGCCGACGCCCCGTTGCTCCTGATCGCCGGCGGCAACCTCTCGGC1411CAAATCGTGGCCGGACGAGTTCGTCGAACGCCTGGTCGCGGCCGGGCACTTCGTGATCCG1471CTACGACCACCGGGACACCGGGCGCTCCTCCCGGTGCGACTTCGCGCTCCACCCCTACGG1531CTTCGACGAGCTGGCCGCCGACGCGCTGGCCGTCCTGGACGGCTGGCAGGTCCGCGCCGC1591CCATGTGGTGGGCATGTCGCTGGGCAACACCATCGGCCAGC1632(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 356 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:MetThrAlaGluProThrValAlaAlaArgProGlnGlnIleAspAla151015LeuArgThrLeuIleArgLeuGlySerLeuHisThrProMetValVal202530ArgThrAlaAlaThrLeuArgLeuValAspHisIleLeuAlaGlyAla354045ArgThrValLysAlaLeuAlaAlaArgThrAspThrArgProGluAla505560LeuLeuArgLeuIleArgHisLeuValAlaIleGlyLeuLeuGluGlu65707580AspAlaProGlyGluPheValProThrGluValGlyGluLeuLeuAla859095AspAspHisProAlaAlaGlnArgAlaTrpHisAspLeuThrGlnAla100105110ValAlaArgAlaAspIleSerPheThrArgLeuProAspAlaIleArg115120125ThrGlyArgProThrTyrGluSerIleTyrGlyLysProPheTyrGlu130135140AspLeuAlaGlyArgProAspLeuArgAlaSerPheAspSerLeuLeu145150155160AlaCysAspGlnAspValAlaPheAspAlaProAlaAlaAlaTyrAsp165170175TrpThrAsnValArgHisValLeuAspValGlyGlyGlyLysGlyGly180185190PheAlaAlaAlaIleAlaArgArgAlaProHisValSerAlaThrVal195200205LeuGluMetAlaGlyThrValAspThrAlaArgSerTyrLeuLysAsp210215220GluGlyLeuSerAspArgValAspValValGluGlyAspPhePheGlu225230235240ProLeuProArgLysAlaAspAlaIleIleLeuSerPheValLeuLeu245250255AsnTrpProAspHisAspAlaValArgIleLeuThrArgCysAlaGlu260265270AlaLeuGluProGlyGlyArgIleLeuIleHisGluArgAspAspLeu275280285HisGluAsnSerPheAsnGluGlnPheThrGluLeuAspLeuArgMet290295300LeuValPheLeuGlyGlyAlaLeuArgThrArgGluLysTrpAspGly305310315320LeuAlaAlaSerAlaGlyLeuValValGluGluValArgGlnLeuPro325330335SerProThrIleProTyrAspLeuSerLeuLeuValLeuAlaProAla340345350AlaThrGlyAla355(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 67 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:GGGTCTAGAGGATCCAGGAGCAGCATATGACCGCTGAACCGACCGTCGCGGCCCGGCCGC60AGCAGAT67(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 38 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:ACCGCTAGCCTGACGAGCTCCTCCGTACGGACGTCCCC38(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 40 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:ATGACCGCTGAACCGACCGTCGCGGCCCGGCCGCAGCAGA40(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 40 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:ATGACAGCCGAACCGACGGTCGCGGCCCGGCCGCAGCAGA40__________________________________________________________________________ | The ability to convert carminomycin to daunorubicin can be conferred on a host by transforming the host with a recombinant vector comprising a DNA having the configuration of restriction sites shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 and a nucleotide sequence shown in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings or a restriction fragment derived therefrom containing a gene coding for carminomycin 4-O-methyltransferase. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a thrust spacer positioned between two relatively rotating parts and more particularly to a thrust spacer used within an agitator in an automatic washer.
A one way clutch mechanism for a dual action agitator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,769 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In that patent, oscillatory motion of a drive shaft is translated into unidirectional intermittent rotary motion of an upper agitator part through the use of a one-way clutch mechanism. The upper agitator part is rotatingly carried a the lower agitator part which oscillates with the drive shaft. The lower agitator part is fastened directly to an extension of the drive shaft by a bolt which also clampingly captures a cam forming a part of the clutch. The upper agitator part has an interior annular mounting ring 52 which merely rests on a bearing surface of the lower agitator part, but is not otherwise held vertically in place. The cam is spaced vertically above the mounting ring which permits some vertical movement of the upper agitator portion. It is of course necessary that the upper agitator portion not be firmly clamped because it must rotate relative to the lower agitator portion in order to provide the desired function. Further, due to manufacturing tolerances, it cannot be assured that there will be no vertical play of the upper agitator part support ring between the lower agitator part bearing surface and the cam. The vertical movement possible by the upper agitator does cause some excessive wear on the cam and also causes a chattering as the upper agitator part bounces vertically during an agitate portion of the wash cycle. Therefore, it would be advantageous if a means were provided to prevent vertical movement of the upper agitator part while still permitting relative rotary motion between the upper agitator part and the lower agitator part.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an expandable means for completely filling, in at least one dimension, a gap between two relatively rotatable parts so as to prevent or inhibit movement between those parts in the dimension filled while permitting relative motion therebetween in a different dimension.
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for preventing free vertical movement between an upper agitator portion and a lower agitator portion in a dual action agitator while still permitting relative rotary motion about a vertical axis between the two agitator parts.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a device for filling the vertical space between the lower agitator bearing surface and the cam not occupied by the upper agitator part support ring, which device compensates for manufacturing variations in the parts sizes within acceptable tolerance levels.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a thrust spacer between the support ring on the upper agitator portion and the bearing surface on the lower agitator portion, which thrust spacer substantially fills the vertical space between the support ring and bearing surface and provides a bias against the support ring to urge it into firm contact with a bearing surface of the cam member.
These and other objects are achieved by the present invention, where, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a thrust spacer is provided in the form of a ring having a cylindrical sidewall and an outwardly extending flange-type top wall, the top wall being positioned in the gap between the upper bearing surface of the lower agitator portion and the lower surface of the upper agitator portion support ring. The top flange wall portion of the thrust spacer has a plurality of tabs bent upwardly therefrom which are formed of the same material as the thrust spacer, preferably a plastic material such as DuPont Delren II, which is resilient, thus providing a spring force to the tabs and therefore being an expandable means to fill the gap between the two relatively moving parts. The tabs are formed to have a natural height greater than the maximum space between the bearing surface of the lower agitator portion and the support ring when the support ring is held up against the clutch cam at a maximum tolerance variance, so that the tabs will be maintained in a slightly compressed state, to continuously bias the support ring against the clutch cam.
The thrust spacer is concentrically positioned on the lower agitator portion by the cylindrical sidewall and is held against rotation relative to the lower agitator portion by a plurality of arms which extend upwardly and outwardly from the thrust spacer cylindrical wall to support the top flange wall. These support arms are received within slots in the lower agitator portion and therefore the thrust spacer rotates with the lower agitator portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a washing machine, partially cut away to illustrate a dual-action agitator utilizing a one-way clutch mechanism and thrust spacer incorporating the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross section through the tub, basket and agitator of the washing machine shown in FIG. 1 to illustrate the particulars of the clutch mechanism and agitator thrust spacer.
FIG. 3 is a cross section through the upper agitator barrel in FIG. 2 along lines III--III to show the one-way clutch.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of an individual dog of the one-way clutch.
FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partially in cross section of the dog shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the clutch and thrust spacer portion within the agitator.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the thrust spacer incorporating the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the thrust spacer of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a partial side elevational view of the thrust spacer taken generally along the line IX--IX of FIG. 7.
FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the thrust spacer in place between the lower agitator portion and the upper agitator portion.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the thrust spacer taken generally along the XI--XI of FIG. 10.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention finds particular utility in a two-piece vertical agitator, although the invention is not limited to such an embodiment and environment. However, to provide a detailed description of the invention, it will be disclosed in the form of this particular embodiment.
In FIG. 1 there is a shown an automatic washing machine generally at 20 including a cabinet 22 having an openable door 24 in a top panel 26 thereof and a control console 28 along a back portion thereof including a plurality of presetable controls 30 for automatically controlling selected laundering cycles having washing, rinsing and drying periods in a program. A washing tub 32 is mounted within the basket 22 and includes an interior perforate basket 34 forming a treatment zone and a dual action agitator 36 driven by a motor and transmission 38 all of which is mounted on a support frame 40. The agitator 36 includes a lower portion 42 having a skirt 43 and radial fins 44 and an upper portion 46 in the form of a barrel having an auger-like vane 48 helically arranged at an exterior surface thereof.
As seen in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 6 a drive shaft 50 extends upwardly from the motor into the center of the wash tub 32 and the perforate basket 34 to support and drive the agitator 36. The lower agitator portion 42 has a vertical cylindrical portion 52 on which the upper agitator barrel 46 is mounted. An upper end 54 of the drive shaft 50 includes a splined connector 56 on which is mounted a splined opening 58 that is formed in the lower agitator portion 42. The lower agitator portion 42 has a top cylindrical extension 60 which extends upwardly within the upper agitator portion 46 and which terminates in a top bearing surface 62. A thrust spacer 64 incorporating the principles of the present invention is placed over the top of the cylindrical extension 60. The upper agitator portion 46 is fitted over the cylindrical walls 60 and 52 of the lower agitator portion 42 and is supported by an interior annular support ring 66 which rests on the top of the agitator thrust spacer 64. The upper agitator portion 46, thus, is rotatable independently of the lower agitator portion 42.
A clutch mechanism substantially similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,769 is used to provide unidirectional rotation of the upper agitator portion 46 by means of oscillatory input from the drive shaft 50. The description of the clutch mechanism of U.S. Pat. 4,719,769 is incorporated herein by reference and will be briefly described as follows:
A cam member 68 is fastened to the lower agitator portion 42 by means of a bolt 70 clamping the cam 68 and the lower agitator portion 42 together between the bolt head and the upper end of the drive shaft 50. An upper portion of the drive cam 68 extends radially outwardly and downwardly over the support ring 66 of the upper agitator portion 46. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 6, the cam 68 carries a plurality of dogs 74 (FIGS. 4 and 5) in a pivotal manner, each of the dogs having a tooth 76 formed thereon, the tooth being engagable with a row of teeth 78 formed on an interior surface of the upper agitator portion 46. As the drive shaft 50 rotates in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 3, the teeth of the dogs engage wi±h the teeth 78 of the upper agitator portion and cause the upper agitator portion to rotate. When the drive shaft 50 rotates in the counter-clockwise direction, the dogs pivot in the cam such that the teeth 76 of the dogs move away from the teeth 78 of the upper agitator portion 46 and permit the lower agitator portion to rotate relative to the upper agitator portion which in turn remains stationary relative to the washer. A bottom surface 79 of each dog lies on an upper surface 80 of the support ring 66. The upper surface 80 also rides against a lower bearing surface 82 of the cam 68.
The thrust washer 64 is provided to prevent vertical motion of the upper agitator portion 46 by filling all of the vertical space between the lower agitator bearing surface 62 and the lower bearing surface 82 of the cam 68 not occupied by the support ring 66. The thrust washer 64 is positioned between the lower agitator bearing surface 62 and the support ring 66 (FIGS. 10 and 11) thus urging the support ring up against the bearing surface 82 of the cam. As best seen in FIGS. 7-9, the thrust spacer is in the form of a ring having a top flange wall 90 with a plurality of tabs 92 projecting upwardly therefrom, the tabs being integrally formed at one end with the flange and each tab 92 overlying an opening 94 at least equal in size to the tab. The tabs 92 are formed to project upwardly to a height greater than a maximum vertical spacing within maximum tolerance levels between the lower agitator portion 42 and the support ring 66 (FIGS. 10 and 11) so that a restoring spring force of the tabs will continuously urge the upper agitator portion upwardly against the bearing surface 82 of the cam 68. The openings 94 in the flange wall 90 permit the flanges to be compressed into a position planar with the flange in a minimum clearance situation within acceptable tolerance levels.
The thrust spacer also includes a cylindrical wall 96 which depends downwardly from the flange. The cylindrical wall fits between the upper cylinder portion 60 of the lower agitator portion and the cam 68 to ensure concentricity of the spacer on the lower agitator bearing surface 62.
To keep the thrust spacer from rotating, a plurality of diagonal arms 100 are provided which extend from the top flange 90 to ribs 102 extending the vertical height of the side wall 96. The angled arms 100 are received in slots 104 (FIG. 6) in the cylindrical extension 60 of the lower agitator portion 42 and thus the thrust spacer is caused to rotate with the lower agitator portion.
The cylindrical wall 96 of the thrust spacer also has a pair of opposed vertical slots 106 which provide clearance for a pair of diametrically opposed inwardly projecting ribs 108 (FIG. 11) formed on an interior surface of the cylindrical extension 60 of the lower agitator part, which ribs also extend into slots 112 of the cam 68 to further ensure that the cam and thrust spacer will rotate with the lower agitator portion 42.
Thus, it is seen that the present invention provides an expandable means, in the form of a thrust spacer with flexible angularly upstanding tabs, for completely filling that part of a vertical gap or space in a second part, being the space between the overlying cam portion and the lower agitator bearing surface, not already filled by a first part, being the support ring of the upper agitator portion, while permitting relative rotational motion between the parts.
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 preceding 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 thrust spacer having resilient, upwardly angled tabs is provided to act as a variable spacer within a two-piece agitator, between an upper agitator portion and a lower agitator portion to prevent relative vertical movement between the two portions while permitting relative rotational movement therebetween. Each of the tabs is positioned adjacent to an opening larger than the tab to permit the tab to be compressed into the opening to provide a large degree of variability in the height of the tabs. The spacer also includes angled arms which engage with slots in the lower agitator portion to cause the spacer to rotate with the lower agitator portion. | 3 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a light beam deflection apparatus which incorporates a polygon mirror and is employed for, e.g., a laser printer, a bar-code reader, a laser copier, etc.
In the conventional light beam deflection apparatus, the polygon mirror rotates at a high rate, by means of a rotating disk linked to the polygon mirror. The rotating disk includes permanent magnets arranged on it and is driven by driving coils fixed on a base plate. The rotational torque of the polygon mirror is generated by the magnetic forces between the permanent magnets and the driving coils.
In the abovementioned apparatus, however, since the rotating disk, on which the permanent magnets and the polygon mirror are mounted, is joined to a rotatable axis, the reference surface on which the polygon mirror is attached is liable to be distorted when the permanent magnets are mounted on the rotating disk. Owing to this shortcoming, the distortion and/or an inclination of the polygon mirror surface has been relatively high.
To prevent the distortion of the polygon mirror, it is required to employ an adhesive which causes little distortion of the polygon mirror when the permanent magnets are adhered onto the rotating disk. Generally speaking, however, an adhesive causing little distortion is liable to be lower in the reliability of its adhesion, due to the weakness of its adhesive force.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is attained in view of the above-described situations, and the object of the present invention is to provide a light beam deflection apparatus in which the distortion of the polygon mirror is reduced at a minimum level by preventing propagation of the distortion caused by the adhesive process of the permanent magnets, and in which the mounting accuracy of the polygon mirror is improved by strengthening the joint to the rotating axis.
To overcome the cited shortcomings, the abovementioned object of the present invention can be attained by a light beam deflection apparatus, comprising:
a base plate;
a coil being stationary relative to the base plate; and
a mirror unit being rotatable with respect to the base plate, wherein the mirror unit is comprised of
a polygon mirror,
a rotating disk to mount the polygon mirror,
a rotating yoke fixed to the rotating disk,
a magnet attached to the rotating yoke and located opposite the coil and
a buffer member inserted into a gap between the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke.
Further, in order to solve the above-described problems and to attain the abovementioned object, the following features of light beam deflection apparatus are desirable embodiments of the present invention.
(1) A light beam deflection apparatus in which,
permanent magnets fixed on the rotating yoke are arranged opposite the coil fixed on the base plate to generate torque for rotating the polygon mirror, and
the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk so that an end surface of the polygon mirror contacts the reference surface of the rotating disk, and
a buffer member is inserted between the other end surface of the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, fixed to the rotating disk, so that the polygon mirror is rotatable with the rotating disk.
Since the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk by contacting an end surface of the polygon mirror to the reference surface of the rotating disk and inserting a buffer member between the other end surface of the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, it is possible to prevent the propagation of the distortion, caused by adhesion of the magnets, not only during the initial period after assembly, but also in the high temperature atmosphere generated during the actual operation. Further, since the magnets are not directly adhered to the rotating disk having the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror, distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets does not occur in the rotating disk. Therefore, it becomes possible to employ an adhesive having a strong adhesive force and suitable adhesive conditions without considering the distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets.
(2) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (1) in which,
the buffer member is an elastic material.
According to the above, the elastic material can surely prevent distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets from transmitting to the polygon mirror.
(3) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (2) in which,
the buffer member is either a leaf spring or a rubber.
According to the above, a leaf spring can be surely prevent distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets, from transmitting to the polygon mirror, without being influenced by the high heat generated during actual operation. In case of employing a rubber, the propagation of the distortion would be surely prevented as well, since the rubber would equally absorb the distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets.
(4) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (1) in which,
the rotating yoke is fastened to the rotating disk by means of fastening members.
According to the above, it becomes possible to firmly fix the polygon mirror onto the rotating disk in a simple structure using only the fastening members.
(5) The light beam deflection apparatus in which,
permanent magnets fixed on the rotating yoke are arranged opposite the coil fixed on the base plate to generate torque for rotating the polygon mirror, and
the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk so that an end surface of the polygon mirror contacts the reference surface of the rotating disk, and
the buffer member is inserted between another end surface of the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, fixed to the rotating disk, so that the polygon mirror is rotatable with the rotating disk, and
the rotating disk is jointed to the rotating axis.
Since the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk by contact to the reference surface of the rotating disk which is jointed to the rotating axis and by inserting the buffer member between the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, it is possible to improve the inclination angle of the polygon mirror.
(6) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (5) in which,
A shrinkage fitting method is employed for joining the rotating disk to the rotating axis.
Since the rotating disk is jointed to the rotating axis by a shrinkage fitting process, it becomes possible to surely improve the accuracy of inclination angle of the polygon mirror.
(7) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (5) in which,
an adhesion method is employed for joining the rotating disk to the rotating axis.
Since the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis by an adhesion process, it becomes possible to improve the accuracy of the inclination angle of the polygon mirror in a rather simple way.
(8) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (5) in which,
a method of adhesion after the shrinkage fitting is employed for joining the rotating disk to the rotating axis.
Since the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis by adhesion after the shrinkage fitting process, it becomes possible to surely improve the accuracy of the inclination angle of the polygon mirror.
(9) The light beam deflection apparatus of items (5) through (8) in which,
the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror is formed by a cutting process.
Since the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror is formed by a cutting process after the joining process, any distortion of the rotating disk caused by the joining process does not influence the accuracy of the reference surface.
(10) The light beam deflection apparatus in which,
permanent magnets fixed on the rotating yoke are arranged opposite the coil fixed on the base plate to generate torque for rotating the polygon mirror, and
the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk so that an end surface of the polygon mirror contacts the reference surface of the rotating disk, and
the buffer member is inserted between the other end surface of the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, which is fixed to the rotating disk, so that the polygon mirror is rotatable with the rotating disk as a unit, and
the rotating disk comprises a flange section on which the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror is formed and also a sleeve section to which the rotating axis is joined.
Since the rotating disk comprises a flange section on which the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror is formed and also a sleeve section to which the rotating axis is joined, and the strength of the joint between the rotating disk and the rotating axis can be improved by the sleeve section which also serves as an attaching reference for the rotational center of the polygon mirror, it is possible to improve the centering accuracy of the polygon mirror.
(11) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (10) in which,
the sleeve section of the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis.
Since the sleeve section of the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis, the strength of the joint between the rotating disk and the rotating axis is improved.
(12) The light beam deflection apparatus of item (10) in which,
the rotating yoke is fastened to the rotating disk by means of fastening members.
Since the rotating yoke is fastened to an end surface of the sleeve section of the rotating disk by means of the fastening members, the pressing force of the leaf spring, etc., applied to the polygon mirror, can be stabilized. Therefore, it becomes possible to firmly fix the polygon mirror onto the rotating disk without generating any distortions on it and without influenced by any shocks, in a simple structure using only the fastening members.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon further reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows a lateral cross-sectional view of a light beam deflection apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the following, an example of a light beam deflection apparatus, embodied in the present invention, will be described, referring the drawing. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a light beam deflection apparatus 1 . To deflect a laser beam in accordance with the rotation of a polygon mirror 16 , the light beam deflection apparatus 1 , which is incorporated in a laser printer, a bar-code reader, a laser copier, etc., is fixed on the apparatus main frame.
The polygon mirror 16 is inserted into the rotating disk 15 , in such a manner that an end surface 16 a of the polygon mirror 16 contacts a reference surface 15 a 1 of the rotating disk 15 , while the other end surface 16 b of the polygon mirror 16 is pressed by a buffer member 20 mounted on a rotating yoke 6 , so that those can rotate integrally. The rotating yoke 6 is fastened to the rotating disk 15 by means of fastening members 21 such as screws, etc., and the rotating disk 15 is joined to a rotating axis 12 . Thus, a mirror unit 100 is assembled as an integral unit.
The mirror unit 100 is inserted into an axial section 2 a of the base plate 2 , associating with a lower thrust 10 and an upper thrust 11 , and is rotatably mounted on the base plate 2 by means of screw 14 inserted through a plate 13 .
A stationary yoke 50 and a substrate 3 , on which coils 4 are attached, are mounted on the base plate 2 . Magnets 5 are adhered to concave holes 6 a formed on the disk-shaped rotating yoke 6 with adhesion layers 7 . The magnets 5 are arranged opposite the coils 4 so as to generate a torque for rotating the mirror unit 100 . Iron, aluminum, etc. can be employed for the material of the rotating yoke 6 , and it is also applicable to insert a rotor (not shown) made of iron, etc. between the magnets 5 and the rotating yoke 6 .
The rotating axis 12 is comprised of an inner sleeve 12 a fastened by the screw 14 and an outer sleeve 12 b which rotates on the inner sleeve 12 a . The rotating disk 15 is joined to the outer sleeve 12 b so that the mirror unit 100 rotates on the rotating axis 12 . Incidentally, the bearing structure of the present embodiment is a dynamic pressure bearing composed of the lower thrust 10 , the upper thrust 11 , the inner sleeve 12 a and the outer sleeve 12 b . In this structure, it is applicable that grooves, for generating the dynamic pressure, are formed on the lower thrust 10 and/or the outer surface of the inner sleeve 12 a . Further, the scope of the applicable bearing, in the present invention, is not limited to the structure shown in the present embodiment. A dynamic air pressure bearing, a dynamic oil pressure bearing, a ball bearing, etc. are applicable as well.
The rotating disk 15 comprises a flange section 15 a on which the reference surface 15 a 1 for attaching the polygon mirror 16 is formed, and also a sleeve section 15 b to which the outer sleeve 12 b of the rotating axis 12 is joined. It is possible to improve the centering accuracy of the polygon mirror 16 , since the strength of the joint between the rotating disk 15 and the rotating axis 12 can be improved by joining the sleeve section 15 b to the outer sleeve 12 b , and the sleeve section 15 b also serves as an attaching reference for the rotational center of the polygon mirror 16 .
A shrinkage fitting method is employed for joining the sleeve section 15 b to the outer sleeve 12 b . Alternatively, either a single adhesion method or a method of adhesion after the shrinkage fitting can be also employed for the same purpose. By applying one of the above methods, the inclination angle accuracy of the polygon mirror 16 can be surely improved.
After joining the sleeve section 15 b to the outer sleeve 12 b , the reference surface 15 a 1 for attaching the polygon mirror 16 is formed on the sleeve section 15 b by a cutting process. Next, the polygon mirror 16 is inserted into the sleeve section 15 b , in such a manner that the end surface 16 a of the polygon mirror 16 contacts the reference surface 15 a 1 . As mentioned above, since the reference surface 15 a 1 is formed by a cutting process after the joining process, any distortion of the rotating disk 15 caused by the joining process does not influence the accuracy of the reference surface 15 a 1 .
A propagation of distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets 5 , from the rotating yoke 6 to the other end surface 16 b of the polygon mirror 16 , can be surely prevented by employing an elastic material such as a leaf spring, a rubber, etc., for the buffer member 20 which is inserted between them. In the present embodiment, a leaf spring is employed for the buffer member 20 to surely prevent the propagation of distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets 5 , without being influenced by the high heat generated during actual operation. In case of employing a rubber, the propagation of the distortion would be surely prevented as well, since the rubber would equally well absorb distortion caused by adhesion of the magnets 5 .
Further, since the rotating yoke 6 is fastened to an end surface 15 b 1 of the sleeve section 15 b of the rotating disk 15 by means of the fastening members 21 such as screws, etc., the pressing force of the leaf spring, applied to the polygon mirror 16 , can be stabilized. Therefore, it becomes possible to firmly fix the polygon mirror 16 onto the rotating disk 15 without generating any distortions and without being influenced by any shocks, by means of a simple structure using only the fastening members 21 .
Since the end surface 16 a of the polygon mirror 16 contacts the reference surface 15 a 1 and the buffer member 20 is inserted between the polygon mirror 16 and the rotating yoke 6 to which the magnets 5 are adhered, it is possible to prevent the propagation of distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets 5 , not only at the initial period after the assembling, but also in a high temperature atmosphere generated during the actual operations. Further, since the magnets 5 are not directly adhered to the rotating disk 15 having the reference surface 15 a 1 for attaching the polygon mirror 16 , the distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets 5 do not occur in the rotating disk 15 . Therefore, it becomes possible to employ a strong adhesive and create suitable adhesive conditions with no need to consider distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets 5 .
Furthermore, it is also possible to improve the inclination of the polygon mirror 16 , since the polygon mirror 16 is attached to the reference surface 15 a 1 of the rotating disk 15 , jointed to the rotating axis 12 , with the buffer member 20 inserted between the polygon mirror 16 and the rotating yoke 6 .
As described above, according to the present invention, the following advantages will be attained.
(1) Since the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk by contacting an end surface of the polygon mirror to the reference surface of the rotating disk and by inserting the buffer member between the other end surface of the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, it is possible to prevent the propagation of distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets, not only at the initial period after the assembling, but also in a high temperature atmosphere generated during the actual operations. Further, since the magnets are not directly adhered to the rotating disk having the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror, distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets do not occur in the rotating disk. Therefore, it becomes possible to employ a strong adhesive and create suitable adhesive conditions with no need to consider distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets.
(2) A propagation of distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets to the polygon mirror can be surely prevented by means of an elastic material.
(3) A propagation of distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets to the polygon mirror can be surely prevented by means of a leaf spring, without being influenced by the high heat generated during actual operations. In case of employing a rubber, the propagation of distortions would be surely prevented as well, since the rubber would equally well absorb any distortions caused by adhesion of the magnets.
(4) It becomes possible to firmly fix the polygon mirror onto the rotating disk in a simple structure using only the fastening members.
(5) Since the polygon mirror is attached to the rotating disk by contacting the reference surface of the rotating disk, which is joined to the rotating axis, and by inserting the buffer member between the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke, it is possible to improve the inclination angle of the polygon mirror.
(6) Since the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis by a shrinkage fitting process, it becomes possible to surely improve an accuracy of inclination angle of the polygon mirror.
(7) Since the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis by an adhesion process, it becomes possible to improve an accuracy of inclination angle of the polygon mirror in a simple way.
(8) Since the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis by an adhesion process after the shrinkage fitting process, it becomes possible to surely improve accuracy of the inclination angle of the polygon mirror.
(9) Since the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror is formed by a cutting process after the joining process, distortions of the rotating disk caused by the joining process does not influence the accuracy of the reference surface.
(10) Since the rotating disk comprises a flange section on which the reference surface for attaching the polygon mirror is formed and also a sleeve section to which the rotating axis is joined, and the strength of the joint between the rotating disk and the rotating axis can be improved by the sleeve section which also serves as an attaching reference for the rotational center of the polygon mirror, it is possible to improve the centering accuracy of the polygon mirror.
(11) Since the sleeve section of the rotating disk is joined to the rotating axis, the strength of the joint between the rotating disk and the rotating axis is improved.
(12) Since the rotating yoke is fastened to an end surface of the sleeve section of the rotating disk by means of the fastening members, the pressing force of a leaf spring, etc., applied to the polygon mirror, can be stabilized. Therefore, it becomes possible to firmly fix the polygon mirror onto the rotating disk without generating any distortions of it and without being influenced by any shocks, in a simple structure using only the fastening members. | There is described a light beam deflection apparatus in which the distortion of the polygon mirror is reduced, and the mounting accuracy of the polygon mirror is improved. The light beam deflection apparatus includes a base plate, a coil being stationary relative to the base plate and a mirror unit being rotatable with respect to the base plate. The mirror unit includes a polygon mirror, a rotating disk to mount the polygon mirror, a rotating yoke fixed to the rotating disk, a magnet attached to the rotating yoke and located opposite the coil and a buffer member inserted into a gap between the polygon mirror and the rotating yoke. | 6 |
This is a division of application Ser. No. 653,680, filed Sept. 21, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,651.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid fuel burner and furnace construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, various furnace constructions having been advanced for burning solid fuel, including coal. Many have also used stepped burner grates, but the problems with complex drives, complex mounting, and inadequate movement of the grates have continued to limit their success. For example, in the prior art, a typical stoker-actuated coal burning apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,697 which utilizes a furnace cabinet having a burner with a rotating disk thereon. This shows a heat exchanger that provides for a curved path for the heated products of combustion and a separate burner blower.
U.S. Pat. No. 945,469 issued to Mapel on Jan. 4, 1910 shows a stepped grate in an automatic stoker apparatus wherein the grate assembly is mounted on wheels that can be moved in and out of the furnace, and includes a crank mechanism which has a double-acting lever arrangement to reciprocate the adjacent stepped grates in opposite direction when the crank rotates. However, the drive requires a complex lever system and the grate plates themselves are supported only on the lever arrangement, thus increasing wear on the actuating members, and tending to cause jamming and excessive loads in the heated, ash-filled environment in which the grates must work.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,644,953 issued to Seyboth on Oct. 11, 1927 is typical of a number of patents in the prior art which show a stepped grate where every other grate plate is fixed, and then the intermediate plates or bars forming the steps are driven to reciprocate. Very complex gear drives are utilized, and the grates are separated into sections for movement, resulting in the need for a large number of links, bell cranks, and levers.
U.S. Pat. No. 505,748 issued to Campbell on Sept. 26, 1983 shows a grate assembly that has a plurality of bars that are mounted on side plates and which interfit between stationary bars and reciprocate as a unit. The unit is mounted on roller-type bearings, and all of the movable grate bars thus reciprocate as a unit relative to the interfitting stationary bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,137,158 to Douglass issued Nov. 15, 1938 shows a "clinker cooling" arrangement using stepped grates and having reciprocating step members with a cooling fluid going through the plates. Every other grate bar is fixed. The unit is used primarily for cooling Portland cement clinkers.
U.S. Pat. No. 795,388 issued to Googins on July 25, 1905 shows a reciprocating terraced furnace grate, and in particular in FIGS. 9 and 11, the end edges of the grates are shown to be tapered. However, the grate bars also appear to be supported on lower rollers of car-type structures so that the grate bars on one of the cars interfit or interleaf with the grate bars of the other car, and then they are oscillated in opposite directions as they are used. The grate bar surfaces incline slightly downwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,627 to Mainka issued Aug. 1, 1978 shows a grate construction which has reciprocal grate members made up into individual sections that are pivotally mounted to their supporting members. Some of the grate bars reciprocate relative to other grate bars.
The use of holes or openings through burner grates is also shown in the prior art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,137,158 mentioned above, illustrates holes in the grates, but tapered in opposite direction from those disclosed in the present application. U.S. Pat. No. 1,403,609 issued to Leonard et al on Jan. 17, 1922 also shows reciprocating grates with tapered holes, but which are mounted in a substantially different manner than the present device. The grates in U.S. Pat. No. 1,403,609 do not reciprocate although pusher members are provided between the vertically spaced grates. U.S. Pat. No. 703,068 issued to King on June 24, 1902 illustrates a mechanism for driving sliding grate members from a type of feed auger, as does U.S. Pat. No. 2,119,937 issued to Banfield on June 7, 1938. In the Banfield Patent a rotating grate is driven from the stoker auger.
U.S. Pat. No. 527,453 issued to Richards on Oct. 16, 1894 shows a traveling floor furnace where there are elongated grate members which move, and which are inclined rather than stepped.
U.S. Pat. No. 804,457 issued to Cox on Nov. 14, 1905 shows an ash conveyor for furnaces which uses reciprocating stepped members, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,186,971 issued to Davis on June 13, 1916 shows a grate member that has plates that tilt under mechanical action to move materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,294,269 issued to Bennett on Aug. 25, 1942 shows a stepped, movable, water-cooled stoker having plates that slide relative to support shelves, but designed to include the water cooling for absorbing heat quickly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,425 issued to Sheridan on Oct. 30, 1979 shows an incinerator that has movable members for transferring waste through the incinerator, but not a stepped grate construction such as the present invention, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,938 issued to Dvirka on Dec. 3, 1968 shows another form of a stepped grate member where the material is primarily moved by pushing grates against the material to cause it to move downwardly as it is burned.
The prior art, while showing a wide variety of stepped grates and furnace constructions, fails to teach or suggest a unit arranged with the stepped grate construction of the present invention in a furnace cabinet that provides for a high efficiency of air flow and heat exchange.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a furnace construction for solid fuel burning, such as coal, including a furnace housing that is designed to maximize efficiency in heat transfer and preheating of the blower air including a stepped grate burner construction where the individual grate plates are reciprocated in opposite direction to the next adjacent plates to provide a thorough movement of the burning mass downwardly across the grate plates.
The grate plates are supported in a manner that eliminates excessive wear and jamming with ashes and clinkers, and yet requires low power consumption for the movement so that the grate unit can be operated from the drive used for supplying the solid fuel. In the form shown, a stoker auger is utilized for feeding coal to the burner, and the drive for the oscillation of the grate plates is from this stoker auger drive.
Each of the grate plates is individually supported on rolling washers which tend to be self-cleaning to prevent jamming or sticking of the plates, even under high temperature gritty and sooty conditions.
The plates are also designed with edges that prevent jamming along the side walls of the burner assembly, and they have apertures so that the burner air is forced upwardly through the grate plates to provide for efficient combustion of the solid fuel moving downwardly over the plates as the plates reciprocate.
The products of combustion pass through a heat exchanger assembly in the form shown which provides for a curved or tortuous path so that the air has to serpentine across surfaces that provide for heat exchange. Intake air ducts leading to the blower compartment carrying intake air to the blower pass through heated products of combustion to preheat the intake air and in general provide for additional efficiency with this preheating. Space in the combustion chamber which would normally be unavailable for direct heat exchange in any useful manner is thus made available by having the conduits carrying the blower intake air heated by the hot gases.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a furnace made according to the present invention including a stepped reciprocating grate for solid fuel burning also made according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1 with parts in section and parts broken away;
FIG. 3 is a framentary sectional view taken generally along line 3--3 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a burner assembly used with the furnace of the present invention showing the grate plates drive arrangement with one of the side plates removed;
FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the device of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of a typical step plate for the grate of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken along line 7--7 in FIG. 4 showing a typical support arrangement for the device of the present invention; and
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a typical drive link schematically shown for operating the device of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1 a furnace indicated generally at 10 includes an outer jacket 11, which surrounds enough of the furnace so that adequate heat exchange is made with the hot outer bodies of the inner burner housing 12.
The exact construction of the outer jacket is a matter of desired design, the exact details of the passageways and the like are not shown in any detail in that they can be of any desired type. A hot air plenum 9 is thus formed between the housings 11 and 12 which supplies air to ducts, such as duct 8, which leads to the building heat ducts.
The inner burner housing 12 as shown includes a plurality of walls and a divided into two main compartments, including an intake or return air chamber 13 that is formed with a slanted wall 14 dividing the fire box or burner chamber 15 from the compartment or chamber 13. Additionally, the return air plenum chamber 13 is separated from a blower outlet passageway 16 leading to chamber 9 with a vertical wall 17 that has an opening for the outlet of a blower 18 of conventional design. Blower 18 is mounted in the plenum chamber 13 and is driven with a suitable motor 19. The blower outlet opens into the chamber 16, and chamber 16 is open ends to the hot air or supply plenum 9 formed between the outer wall 11 and the burner housing wall 12, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.
The chamber 15 as shown includes a burner assembly 25 adjacent one wall, and a suitable access opening 26 that can be in any form desired, and in addition, an inclined partition or flow control wall 30 is mounted between the opposite side walls 12A and 12B of the burner compartment, but is spaced upwardly from the bottom wall. The lower wall 12C of the burner compartment is flat and wall 14 intersects and is sealed to the lower wall 12C so that the blower outlet is sealed from the burner chamber 15.
Divider wall 30, as shown schematically, forms a path for heated products of combustion from the burner 25, indicated by the arrows 31 which will go directly upwardly from the burner, and then curve downwardly to the lower side of the divider wall 30, and then up through a portion 15B of the chamber 15 closed off by the upper wall 12E of the burner chamber through a stack 33 leading in a suitable manner to the exterior of the building. The stack is surrounded by an intake air duct 34 that has suitable walls 35 that surround the stack 33. The stack passes out through the walls 35, and is sealed with respect to these walls. The intake air duct 34 opens to a source of intake air, such as a return plenum or return ducts from a building to be heated. The return air duct 34 is closed off from the passageway 23 with suitable wall members, but opens to the upper surface of the upper wall 12E of the burner compartment. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper wall 12E, which is partially broken away in FIG. 4, has a pair of ducts that have triangular shaped cross sections as and are indicated at 40 and 41, respectively. These openings are the ends of walls forming triangular intake ducts which, as shown in FIG. 1, pass through the second porition 15B of the heated chamber 15 carrying the products of combustion and are sealed therefrom and then opened through suitable openings in the plate 14 to the plenum chamber 13. The ducts 40 and 41 are also sealed with respect to the plate 14 around their perimeter, but open through the plate 14 so that air indicated as flowing by the arrow 44 will pass through these ducts and into the plenum chamber 13. The intake air then will be taken into the blower 18 in a normal manner and exhausted out through the passageway 16 to plenum 9 around the heat exchange chamber comprising the walls 12 of the burner housing 12 and then out through duct 8 from the chamber 9 through the outer wall of the housing 11 in a normal manner.
An ash auger 46 is positioned in the burner compartment and is accessible and operable from the exterior of the furnace for removing ashes that drop to the bottom of the furnace chamber. If desired, other vertical divider walls also can be used in the heat exchange chambers for forming longer paths to be made for the products of combustion before they are exited through the stack 33.
As shown in FIG. 1, a suitable coal stoker auger 51 is provided from a coal source, illustrated only schematically at 50 in FIG. 1, will auger coal through a screw conveyor tube 52 is is provided for feeding material to the burner assembly 25, and a blower 53 can be provided for combustion air through a suitable duct 54 to the interior of the burner housing.
Additionally, as will be explained, a drive link is connected to the motor indicated at 56 that is used for driving the coal stoker auger to provide reciprocal motion of the burner plates as will be explained.
Referring specifically to FIGS. 4 and 5 in particular, the burner assembly indicated generally at 25 is shown. The burner assembly includes a backing plate 60 that is made to fit into an opening in the front plate of the burner housing 30 in a suitable manner and be supported thereon. The burner assembly 25 further includes a pair of side plates 61, 61 which are spaced apart as shown in FIG. 5, and form side plate guides for a stepped grate assembly indicated generally at 62. The coal auger housing 52 opens through the front plate 60 and discharges coal against a guide deflector plate 63 and through an opening 65 defined by the plate 63 that overlies the opening of the auger. The plate 63 extends all the way between the side plate 61 so that as the material comes in from the round opening of the auger it tends to spread out along a support shelf 64.
The plate 63 as shown restricts the opening from the auger in vertical height relative to the plate 64. The plate 64 also extends between the side plate 61 so that the restricted opening 65 spreads coal out along substantially the entire width of the burner between the side plates 61. A fixed first grate plate 66 joins the shelf or plate 64 and forms an inclined surface over which the coal coming from opening 65 will slide onto the uppermost portion of the movable grate assembly 62.
Also as shown, the air intake opening indicated at 70 is connected to the blower combustion air duct so that air comes in underneath the shelf 64 (which is solid, that is, with no air holes) and the plate 62 so that the air is directed toward the movable grate assembly 62.
The grate assembly 62 is made up of a plurality of three or more grate plates in order to give the necessary vertical height and also proper operation of the plates. As shown, there are two sets of grate plates, each with three plates. A first set of grate plates is indicated generally at 71 and includes plates 71A, 71B and 71C. These plates 71A, B and C are all made so that they are independently supported on the side plate 61 as will be explained, and also are fastened together so that they will be reciprocated simultaneously with each other.
A second set of grate plates indicated at 72 comprise plates 72A, 72B and 72C. These plates 72A, B and C are interleafed with the plates 71, and are also supported independently, as will be explained. The plates 71A, B and C each have a link attached thereto at the rear edges and in the center portions of the plates, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. The plate 71A has a link 73A attached thereto; the plate 71B has a link 73B attached thereto; and the plate 71C has a link 73C attached thereto. The link 73C has an upwardly inclined portion indicated at 73D, which is aligned with and is fixed to the end of the link 73B as shown. The link portion 73D extends upwardly toward the link 73A as shown, and the link 73A and the link portion 73D are mounted with a common pivot pin 75 to a pivoting lever 76 that is pivotally mounted on a suitable pivot pin 77 that is fixed to the side plates 61. The pin 77 may be suitably supported in brackets on the side plates 61 to carry the loads during operation.
The lever 76 has a portion which extends downwardly from the pivot pin 77 and is pivotally mounted with a suitable pin 80 to an elongated drive link 81. The pivot pins 77 and 81 can be provided with suitable bushings that will withstand high temperatures as needed.
Each of the grate plates in the second set 72 also is provided with drive links. The plate 72A for example, has a link 82A attached thereto at the rear side and extending vertically downward and is fixed to the link 81. Likewise, the link 72B has a link 82B attached thereto with a vertical portion fixedly connected to the drive link 81.
The plate 72C has a link 82C attached thereto and also fixedly attached to the end of the drive link 81 so that these links 82A, 82B and 82C move directly with the drive link 81.
The plate sets 71 and 72 are each individually supported in the manner shown in FIG. 6, where the plate 72C is shown typically.
Each of the plates, at its opposite ends, as shown, has a beveled or tapered end surface 84, the upper edge of which is closely spaced from the adjacent side plate 61. The edge surfaces provide a cleaning action as the plates move relative to the side wall 61 so that things will not jam down into the space between the plates on the side walls. Additionally, each of the plates at each of its ends has a retaining track formed in the shape of an angle iron, indicated at 85, welded thereto, so that the lower leg of the angle extends to form a track receptacle 86.
The side walls 61 are provided with support shafts or bolts clamped to the side plates 61 and indicated at 90. These bolts 90 have end portions extending under the grate plates and in the form shown are clamped to the side walls 61 with a nut 91 threaded thereto to clamp the bolt tightly. The bolts have a shank portion having a head 92. A plurality of spaced, disc washers 93 are rotatably mounted on the shaft portion of each of the bolts and are indicated at 93 in FIG. 6. The washers are of a size so that they will rotate on the bolts and form roller supports for the grate plates. There will be some space between the washers as shown. They are free to rotate on the shaft portion of the respective bolt 90.
Each end of the grate plates contacts and is supported by two of the sets of washers or rollers, as shown in FIG. 4, so that the plates will roll on the washers and be stably supported throughout the reciprocal movement of the grate plates.
The drive link 81 extends out of the burner compartment to a reciprocating bell drive indicated at 101 in FIG. 8 partially schematically. The reciprocating drive may be of any desired type, but as shown it is driven from a gearbox 102 that is driven with the motor 56 used to rotate a shaft 104 which is coupled to drive the stoker screw conveyor or auger 51 used for conveying coal (or other fuel) to the burner. The motor 56 drives the gears in the gearbox 102 and rotates the shaft 104 in conventional manner. The gearbox output shaft 104 also has an end 104 which extends out through the gearbox wall. The shaft 10 is mounted on suitable bearings in the gearbox in a conventional manner and the end 104A opposite from the auger 51 has a crank arm 105 at its outer end. The crank arm 105 has a crank pin which mounts a connecting rod 106 that will reciprocate up and down in direction indicated by arrow 107 as the shaft 104 rotates. The reciprocating drive 101 as shown includes a bell crank 108 which is pivoted on a pivot pin 110 to a support member 111 connected to the gearbox 102. The bell crank 108 has an outwardly extending actuator arm portion 112 that is pivotally connected to an opposite end of the connecting rod 106 from the crank 105. Rotation of the crank 105, and the reciprocation of the connecting rod 106 will cause the lever 112 to move up and down, and the end portion 113 of the bell crank will pivot around the pivot pin 110 to move back and forth generally as indicated by the arrow 114. This in turn will reciprocate the drive link 81, and the movement of the drive link 81 will cause movement of the second set of grate plates 72 in a first direction as the drive link moves back and forth, as indicated by the arrow 114 in FIG. 4, and at the same time the lever 76 will be pivoted by the drive link portion 81 about the pivot pin 77. This means that when the drive link 81 is moving in direction away from the burner support plate 60, the upper end pin 75 on the lever 76 will be moving in the opposite direction from the link 81, causing the links 73A, 73B and 73C to be moved in opposite direction from the link 81 and thus in opposite direction from the grate plates 72A, 72B and 72C. The grate plates 71A, 71B and 71C thus move oppositely from the second set of grate plates 72. Then when the bell crank 108 starts to move in the reverse direction, the second set of grate plates 72 will move directly with the link 81 and the first set of grate plates 71 will move in opposite direction to give a countermovement of the adjacent grate plates of the grate assembly and cause the solid fuel on the grates to be agitated as it burns.
In the opposite position of lever 76, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4, the grate plates will still overlap along their edges so that there will not be any space for material to fall downwardly into the plenum chamber underneath the grate plates.
The burner assembly 25 has a bottom plate 120 that closes off the chamber below the grate plates so that the combustion air will be forced upwardly through the openings in the plates 71 and 72, which are indicated typically in FIG. 7 at 121. As shown in FIG. 6, the openings 121 are tapered in narrowing direction from the bottom surface of the respective plates upwardly to provide for the ability of any materials that tend to pass through such openings on the top of the grate plate to fall through, if it gets through the upper end of the openings on the top surface of the plate. This prevents jamming, and also aids in air flow as the venturi effect tends to increase the velocity of the air through the openings 121 at the narrower end which is at the top surface.
The bottom plate 120 extends in fore and aft direction along the side plates 61, and at the outer or lowermost end of the grate assembly 65 there is a fixed transfer plate 125 that extends between the side plates 61 and has openings therethrough as well, across which the burned materials will slide down into the ash receptacle at the bottom so that the auger can be used for conveying these ashes outwardly.
The burner grate assembly provides a unique burning operation in connection with the overall furnace, to ensure that adequate combustion is done efficiently, and with little problems with clinkers and residues in the burner compartment.
The time allowed for movement of the material over the stepped grate plates is kept sufficiently high so that adequate combustion takes place, and while the device is simply and easy to use, it ensures that clinkers will not form and that any ashes and other materials will be agitated sufficiently and moved down into the ash receptacle.
The grate plates move relatively slow and reciprocate about two or three times per minute, so the amount of movement is not a problem.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A solid fuel furnace having an oscillating grate plate solid fuel burner therein wherein the grate plates are in a stepped arrangement and every other plate moves together, in an opposite direction from the adjacent plates so that the solid fuel is kept moving down the step grate positively. Additionally, the solid fuel burner is mounted in a furnace housing which is designed to utilize the hot combustion gases to preheat incoming or makeup air for a blower used for supply air flow for heating. Baffles are used to provide a substantially elongated path for the combustion gases to ensure adequate heat exchange in a compact space. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The bench press is one of the most universally used barbell exercises. This exercise is used by both genders to increase muscular tone and strength in the upper body for better appearance as well as greater performance in athletic competition. Traditionally, a bench press exercise is performed while lying face up on a flat bench and gripping a weighted bar or barbell with both hands spaced about shoulder width apart. The barbell, whose weight can be varied by addition or removal of weights on each end, is first held at arm's length, lowered to the chest and then raised back to the starting position. This movement constitutes one repetition.
For convenience most conventional benches upon which bench press exercises are to be performed have integral uprights which support the barbell at a level slightly less than arm's length above the bench when the exercise is not being performed. To perform an exercise "set", the exerciser raises the barbell off of the standards, performs a variable number of repetitions and then places the barbell back on the vertical supports.
Even though the bench press has tremendous functional benefits and is therefore very popular, by its very nature it is one of the most dangerous of all barbell exercises. In the starting position, the exerciser holds a weight above his chest, neck and head. Momentary loss of balance, consciousness or strength can result in injuries ranging up to permanent disabilities. Cases have been reported in which an exerciser has sustained critical injuries to the head or neck from barbell impact.
Even if the weighted barbell is not dropped, an error in judgment in the weight attempted or the onset of fatigue can result in the inability of the exerciser to raise the weight off his chest. At this point, he becomes "trapped" under the barbell. If the weight is sufficiently light, the barbell can be rolled down the chest and abdomen to a position on the hips and legs where it can then be removed by the lifter first sitting and then standing up. However, this procedure could be injurious to the lifter if the barbell weighs in excess of 200 lbs. Therefore, under these conditions he must wait for another person to remove the weight from his chest.
In order to reduce the risk of being trapped or injured by a weight, most well run exercise facilities require close supervision of those persons using the bench press. This is usually accomplished by a "spotter" or lifting companion, coach or weight training adviser. The spotter must have comparable strength to that of the lifter and be willing to be attentive to the person carrying out bench press exercises. Unfortunately, a conscientious spotter is not always available. Although the absence of a spotter should preclude doing bench presses, it usually means the exerciser will perform bench presses alone, always running the risk of sustaining a serious injury. This is problematic in a commercial exercise facility where questions of liability can be raised.
In addition to providing safety for the lifter, a spotter may also extend the normal limits of exercise of the lifters. For example, the spotter can provide assistance in completing additional repetitions in an exercise at a point where the lifter is fatigued. Exercises carried out at this point are called "forced repetitions" and enhance the lifter's capability to gain strength by his maximum exertion during these movements.
A spotter can also assist in so called "negative repetitions". These repetitions are performed in a reverse direction than normal with a weight greater than can be lifted. That is, the weight is lowered to the chest in a controlled fashion. Since the weight exceeds the capacity of the lifter, a spotter must be present to raise the barbell back to the starting position. The advantage of this movement is that maximal effort is used in each repetition just to control the barbell's descent.
It is evident that heretofore in order to maximize both performance and safety in the bench press, a spotter must be present. However, even under the best conditions, assistance and supervision from a spotter is not perfect. If an injury is incurred during a heavy lift, it is very difficult for the spotter to react quickly enough to catch the weight. Moveover, the spotter is usually in a mechanically disadvantaged position to control the barbell and must rely almost totally on arm strength. Accordingly, a need exists for an exercise bench for carrying out bench press exercises and which may be used for bench press exercises with considerably greater safety to the exerciser.
Examples of various different forms of bench press apparatuses including some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,959, 4,249,726, 4,252,314, 4,253,662 and 4,256,301.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The exercising apparatus of the instant invention is specifically designed to enable an exerciser to perform bench press exercise with maximum safety functionality. A generally horizontal bench is provided for receiving the exerciser in supine position and the head end of the bench includes laterally spaced opposite side uprights from which followers are guidingly supported. The followers include horizontal front-to-rear extending bars for supporting the opposite ends of a weighted bar and the foot end of the bench includes foot support structure mounted therefrom for movement toward and away from the head end of the bench. Motion transmitting structure is operatively connected between the foot support structure and the followers whereby the latter are displaced upwardly responsive to movement of the foot support structure away from the head end of the bench. Thus, the strength of the legs of an exerciser is always available to him for assisting his arms in upwardly displacing a weighted bar away from his chest.
Further, the motion transmitting structure has releasable ratchettype latch structure operatively associated therewith to selectively terminate downward movement of the followers and the latch structure includes latch operator structure selective foot operation to selectively actuate and release the latch structure.
The main object of this invention is to provide a bench press exercising apparatus incorporating safety which will enable the user of the bench to use the strenght of this legs in assisting movement of a weighted bar away from the user's chest.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a bench press exercising apparatus includng latch structure operative to latch weighted bar supporting followers against movement toward the exerciser's chest.
A further object of this invention is to provide a bench press execising apparatus which will enable partial lighting movements to be carried one with great safety.
Still another important object of this invention is to provide the latch structure mentioned immediately above with operator structure under the control of the feet of the user of the bench press exercising apparatus, whereby the latch structure may be actuated and released momentarily as desired or needed by a person using the bench press exercising apparatus.
A final object of this invention to be specificaly enumerated herein is to provide a bench press exercising apparatus in accordance with the preceding objects and which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparatus reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exercising apparatus of the instant invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon a plane indicated by the section line 4--4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 5--5 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 6--6 of FIG. 5; and
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the shoulder abutment component of the exercising apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the exercising apparatus of the instant invention. The apparatus 10 includes a pair of upstanding opposite side side members 12 and 14 interconnected a spaced distance above their lower extremities by a main transverse brace frame 16 and also interconnected at their upper ends by a transverse bracing bar 18. The main brace frame 16 includes a central longitudinal portion 20 thereof defining foot and head ends 22 and 24 and the foot end 24 includes depending opposite side legs 26.
The side members 12 and 14 each include front and rear upstanding members 28 and 30 interconnected at their upper ends by a brace 32 and the lower ends of the side members 12 and 14 have inner and outer cover plates 34 and 36 secured between the front and rear upstanding members 30 and 28 thereof to define hollow compartments 38 in the lower portions of the side members 12 and 14. A transverse shaft has its opposite ends journalled from the cover plates 34 and 36 and a pair of large sprocket wheels 42 are mounted on the remote ends of the shaft 40 within the compartments 38. The central portion of the shaft 40 has a small diameter sprocket wheel 44 mounted thereon. Each of the side member front upright members is hollow and includes first and second upper and lower sprocket wheels 46 and 48 journalled therein and each of the rear upstanding members 30 is also hollow and includes a pair of upper and lower sprocket wheels 50 and 52 journalled therein. The upright members 28 and 30 define rearwardly and forwardly opening channel members, respectively, and each pair of corresponding front and rear upstanding members 28 and 30 guidingly engages the front and rear ends of a front-to-rear extending follower bar 54 therefrom. The front and rear ends of each bar 54 have corresponding ends of a pair of link chain sections 56 anchored relative thereto as at 58 and the link chain sections 56 extend upwardly from the bar 54, over the sprocket wheels 46 and 50, downwardly and toward and beneath the sprocket wheels 48 and 52 and are then meshed with the large sprocket wheel 42 and anchored relatively thereto as at 60.
The longitudinal portion 20 is separable from the main transverse base frame 16 and includes a pair of opposite side underside flanges 62 from which guide rollers 63 are journalled. A follower 64 is guidingly supported from the rollers 63 for longitudinal shifting along the longitudinal portion 20. The longitudinal portion 20 includes an abutment flange 66 to which one end of an expansion spring 68 is anchored as at 70 and the other end of the expansion spring is anchored as at 72 to an opposing flange 74 of the follower 64.
The follower 64 includes a rack gear 76 anchored relative thereto and extending longitudinally therealong and the front end of the rack gear 76 has one end of a link chain 78 anchored relative thereto. The other end of the link chain 78 is trained about the sprocket wheel 44 and anchored relative thereto as at 80. In this manner, rearward movement of the rack gear 76 causes counterclockwise rotation of the sprocket wheel 44 and the ends of the link chain sections 56 anchored relative to the sprocket wheels 42 to be wound thereon. This, of course, causes the follower bars 54 to be pulled upwardly toward the braces 32.
The lower ends of the legs 26 support the opposite ends of the transverse shaft 82 therefrom and a lever assembly referred to in general by the reference numeral 84 has one end thereof oscillatably supported from the shaft 82, the lever assembly 84 including a pair of interconnected opposite side levers 86 and a center lever 88. The center lever 88 is tubular and rotatably journals a pair of opposite end transverse pulleys 90 and 92 therefrom and the central portion of the rear end of the longitudinal portion 20 journals a pulley 94 therefrom. In addition, the end of the lever assembly 84 remote from the shaft 82 oscillatably supports a foot treadle assembly 96 therefrom as at 98 and the foot treadle assembly 96 includes a center anchor portion 100 spaced radially outwardly of the axis of oscillation of the foot treadle assembly 96.
A wedge block 102 and shaft guide sleeve 104 are supported from the underside of the longitudinal portion 20 and a latch operating shaft 106 is slidable through the sleeve 104 and has a latch dog 108 pivotally supported on its end adjacent the wedge block 102. In addition, a compression spring 110 is disposed about the latch operating shaft 106 between the latch dog 108 and the sleeve 104 and yieldingly biases the latch operating shaft 106 to the right as viewed in FIG. 5, thereby tending to displace the latch dog 108 upwardly along the wedge block 102 for engagement of the tooth 112 of the latch dog 108 between adjacent teeth 114 on the rack gear 76. One end of a pull cable 116 is adjustably anchored to the shaft 106 as at 118 and the cable 116 passes about the pulleys 94, 82 and 90 and is anchored to the center anchor portion 100 of the foot treadle assembly 96 as at 120. In addition, a connecting link 122 is pivotally connected at its opposite ends to the rack gear 76 and an anchor 124 carried by the center leg 88. Accordingly, upon movement of the foot treadle assembly supporting end of the lever assembly 84 away from the front end of the apparatus 10, the rack gear 76 will be moved rearwardly against the tension of the spring 68 and a rearward pull will be exerted on the adjacent end of the link chain 78 to thereby cause the bars 54 to be raised. Also if the foot treadle assembly 96 is angularly displaced in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the compression spring 110 yieldingly biases the latch dog 108 upwardly along the wedge block 102 in order to engage the tooth 112 between adjacent teeth 114 on the rack gear 76. Thus, the follower bars 54 are prevented from downward movement along the upstanding members 28 and 30.
The head end 24 supports a shoulder abutment assembly 128 therefrom for guided shifting therealong and the shoulder abutment assembly 128 includes a downwardly displaced transverse handgrip 130. In addition, the assembly 128 includes a rear transverse brace 132 including an upstanding flange portion 134 and a lever 136 underlies the head end 24 and has its forward end pivotally supported from the head end 24 as at 138. The lever 136 includes longitudinally spaced downwardly opening notches 140 therein and the flange portion 134 may be selectively engaged in one of the notches 140 in order to retain the longitudinally shiftable shoulder abutment assembly 128 in adjusted position longitudinally of the apparatus 10. The apparatus 10 includes an elongated pad assembly 142 which overlies the longitudinal portion 20 and the center area of the main transverse base frame 16 and the shoulder abutment assembly 128 includes braced opposite side upstanding supports 144 from whose upper ends suitable pads 146 are supported. The pads 146 may be engaged with the shoulders of a person disposed on the pad assembly 142.
The front upstanding members 28 include opposite side reinforcing plates 150 supported therefrom and the plates 150 include vertically spaced horizontally registered pairs of bores 152 formed therethrough. In addition, a U-shaped slide 154 is provided on each front upstanding member 28 and includes apertures 156 formed therein selectively registrable with the vertically spaced pairs of bores 152. In addition, a pair of lock pins 158 are provided and may be passed through registered bores 152 and apertures 156 in order to retain the slides 154 in vertically adjusted positions on the reinforced vertical midporportions of the front upstanding members 28. The slides 154 define rearwardly and upwardly projecting hook portions 160 from which the opposite ends of the weighted bar 162 may be stationarily supported. The slides 154 are vertically adjustable on the forward upstanding members 28 in order that the weighted bar 162 may initially be supported in predetermined spaced position above the cushion or pad assembly 142.
In operation, the height of the slides 154 are adjusted as desired prior to use of the apparatus by a person wishing to carry out bench press exercises and the shoulder abutment assembly 128 is also adjusted as desired by upwardly displacing the rear end of the lever 136 and slidably shifting the assembly 128 to the position desired, after which the lever 136 may be allowed to drop downwardly to engage the flange portion 134 in one of the notches 140. Then, with a person to carry out bench press exercises disposed on the cushion or pad assembly 142 in the manner illustrated in phantom lines in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the feet of the user may be engaged with the foot treadle assembly 96. The user then may extend his hands upwardly to engage the bar 162 after the follower bars 54 have been vertically adjusted to a position slightly above the chest of the user. After the follower bars 54 have been adjusted, the toe portion of the foot treadle assembly 96 is angularly displaced rearwardly toward the left as viewed in FIG. 2 of the drawings in order to enable the compression spring 106 to displace the latch dog 108 to the right as viewed in FIG. 5 and position the tooth 112 between adjacent teeth 114 on the rack gear 76. Engagement of the tooth 112 between adjacent rack gear teeth 114 locks the rack gear 76 against displacement to the right as viewed in FIG. 5 and thus prevents the bars 54 from being lowered. Then, the user of the apparatus 10 may engage the bar 162 and lift it from the hook portions 160 for the purpose of carrying out bench press exercises.
If at any time during the exercise period, the user cannot return the bar 162 to the rest position thereof supported from the slides 154, the exerciser may exert a rearward push upon the foot treadle assembly 96 whereupon counterclockwise angular displacement of the lever assembly 84 as shown in FIG. 2 will result in the rack gear 76 being pulled to the left and thus a pull to be exerted on the link chain 78. A pull to the left on the link chain 78 causes the sprocket wheels 142 to be angularly displaced in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings and the follower bars 54 to be elevated for contact with the bar 162. At this point, combined arm and/or leg strength of the user may be used to displace the bar 162 upwardly to a level above the hook portions 160 after which the bar 162 may be rolled forwardly along the bars 54 and subsequently lowered into hooked support with the slides 154.
It may thus be seen as long as the user of the apparatus 10 properly initially elevates the bars 54 to a position above the chest of the user, the bar 162 cannot contact the chest of the user, even though the bar 162 might be dropped. The chains 56 and 78 are utilized to support the follower bars 54 in order to insure sufficient strength to overcome the force of impact should a heavily weighted bar 162 be dropped.
The shoulder abutment assembly 128 may be adjusted as desired and the expansion spring 68 serves to return the cantilever supported lever assembly 84 back toward its uppermost position.
It is to be noted that although the cushion or pad assembly and bench structure are substantially horizontally disposed, an inclined position of up to 75° could be utilized. In such case, the longitudinal portion 20 would be provided with a seat. By inclining the bench and cushion or pad assembly to an angle of approximately 60° different combinations of muscles may be exercised.
Further, each of the side members 12 and 14 defines a window opening therethrough above the corresponding bar 54 through which a weight bar end may be inserted. Also, the upstanding members include removable abutment pins which are disposed at a preselected elevation and are abuttingly engageable by the opposite ends of the bars 54 to limit downward movement of the bars 54 to a level which will prevent the bar 162 from contacting the chest, neck or head of the user. In such case it is not necessary for the user to otherwise adjust the height of the bars 54 before beginning bench press exercises.
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. | An elongated bench support including head and foot ends is provided for disposition in generally horizontal or inclined position and against which a person wishing to carry out bench press exercises may repose on his or her back. Upstanding guide structure is disposed adjacent the head end of the bench support and follower structure is mounted thereon for guided movement therealong. The follower structure includes weight bar supporting structure for supporting a weighted bar therefrom and a foot engageable support is mounted from the foot end of the bench support for guided movement generally longitudinally of the bench support. Motion transmitting structure operatively connects the foot engageable support and the follower structure for raising and lowering the latter responsive to movement of the foot engageable support away from and toward the head end of the bench. Further, releasable ratchet-type latch structure is operatively associated with the follower structure for releasably latching the follower structure against downward movement relative to the guide structure. The foot engageable support includes latch operator structure shiftably supported therefrom for selectively actuating and releasing the latch structure. | 0 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-260696 filed Nov. 23, 2010. The entire content of the priority application is incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention relates to a data processor and a data processing program.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Personal computers have conventionally used various types of display data for displaying documents and Web pages, on a monitor, for example, in a form that the user can browse. Often images are laid out in the display data. Conventional technologies for printing Web pages allow the user to print just the image portions of the Web page without the background colors and text portions.
SUMMARY
[0004] In many cases, the images laid out in the display data are reduced in size to fit within defined layout areas. When documents including images are printed using the above conventional technology, the subject matter in the printed images can be difficult to discern because the images are printed at reduced sizes. However, the user most likely desires clearer printing results, particularly when printing only the image portions of the display data. Consequently, printed images that are barely legible do not meet the user's expectations.
[0005] In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide a data processor and a data processing program capable of printing images contained in display data in a more legible form.
[0006] In order to attain the above and other objects, the invention provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a set of program instructions installed on and executed by a computer. The set of program instructions includes (a) acquiring a layout image size that is a size of a layout image where the layout image is generated based on an original image data, the size of the layout image is specified by base data, and the base data represents graphical image in which the layout image is arranged and includes location data that specifies a location at which the original image data is stored, (b) acquiring an original image size that is a size of an original image represented by the original image data, (c) determining whether the original image size is greater than the layout image size, (d) setting the original image as a print target when the original image size is greater than the layout image size, (e) generating a print instruction instructing to print the original image set as the print target in a size larger than the layout size, and (f) outputting the print instruction.
[0007] According to another aspect, the invention provides a data processor. A data processor includes a processing unit, and a non-transitory medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to function as a layout image size acquiring part, an original image size acquiring part, a determining part, a setting part, and a generating part. The layout image size acquiring part acquires a layout image size that is a size of a layout image. The layout image is generated based on an original image data. The size of the layout image is specified by base data. The base data represents graphical image in which the layout image is arranged and includes location data that specifies a location at which the original image data is stored. The original image size acquiring part acquires an original image size that is a size of an original image represented by the original image data. The determining part determines whether the original image size is greater than the layout image size. The setting part sets the original image as a print target when the original image size is greater than the layout image size. The generating part generates a print instruction instructing to print the original image set as the print target in a size larger than the layout size. The outputting part outputs the print instruction.
[0008] According to another aspect, the invention provides a method. The method includes (a) acquiring a layout image size that is a size of a layout image, where the layout image is generated based on an original image data, where the size of the layout image is specified by base data, where the base data represents graphical image in which the layout image is arranged and includes location data that specifies a location at which the original image data is stored, (b) acquiring an original image size that is a size of an original image represented by the original image data, (c) determining whether the original image size is greater than the layout image size, (d) setting the original image as a print target when the original image size is greater than the layout image size, (e) generating a print instruction instructing to print the original image set as the print target in a size larger than the layout size, and (f) outputting the print instruction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The particular features and advantages of the invention as well as other objects will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general electrical structure of a personal computer in which an EMF creating program is installed and a printer connected to the personal computer;
[0011] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating samples of printing results acquired when the personal computer executes a Web page printing process;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating steps in a Web page printing process executed by a CPU 11 of the personal computer; and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an image verification process executed by the CPU.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general electrical structure of a personal computer 10 (hereinafter “PC 10 ”), and a printer 20 connected to the PC 10 . An Enhanced MetaFile (EMF) creating program 14 b installed on the PC 10 is an embodiment of the data processing program according to the invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the PC 10 and the printer 20 are interconnected via a local area network (LAN) 4 . The LAN 4 is further connected to Internet 8 via a router (not shown). The PC 10 is configured to control the printer 20 to print images arranged on a Web page in a more legible form. This process will be described later in greater detail.
[0015] The PC 10 primarily includes a CPU 11 , a ROM 12 , a RAM 13 , a hard disk drive 14 (hereinafter HDD 14 ), a LAN interface 16 , an input device 17 , and a liquid crystal display (LCD) 18 . The above components are interconnected via a bus line 19 .
[0016] The CPU 11 controls each component connected to the bus line 19 according to fixed values and programs stored in the ROM 12 and the HDD 14 . The ROM 12 is memory that serves to store programs and the like for controlling operations of the PC 10 . The RAM 13 is writable memory that functions to temporarily store data and the like required for processing by the CPU 11 . The RAM 13 is provided with an image list 13 a, and a print target list 13 b. The image list 13 a is a list of file paths for image data representing images laid out on a Web page, size data specifying the sizes of images laid out on the Web page, and the like. The print target list 13 b is a list of images arranged on the Web page that meet a prescribed condition and are thus recorded as print targets.
[0017] The HDD 14 is provided with a Web browser 14 a, a EMF creating program 14 b, a printer driver 14 c, and image data memory 14 d. When the Web browser 14 a is executed, the PC 10 accesses a server (not shown) on the Internet 8 , acquires Web page data in the HTML format, i.e., the source code for the Web page, and stores the acquired data in the RAM 13 , for example. The PC 10 subsequently interprets this Web page data, creates a Web page, and displays the Web page on the LCD 18 .
[0018] The EMF creating program 14 b is a plug-in installed in the Web browser 14 a. When the EMF creating program 14 b is executed, the PC 10 creates Enhanced MetaFile (EMF) format data as an intermediate file for creating print data. The PC 10 subsequently outputs the EMF data to the printer driver 14 c.
[0019] The printer driver 14 c is a program used to control the printer 20 . When the printer driver 14 c is executed, the PC 10 creates print data from the EMF data and outputs the print data to the printer 20 . The LAN interface 16 functions to connect the PC 10 to the LAN 4 . The input device 17 enables the user of the PC 10 to input instructions and data into the PC 10 . The LCD 18 displays various information, including Web pages.
[0020] The image data memory 14 d is memory for storing original image data that the PC 10 acquires from the Internet 8 . Original image data will be described later with reference to FIG. 2 .
[0021] The printer 20 primarily includes a CPU 21 , a ROM 22 , a RAM 23 , a LAN interface 24 , operating keys 25 , an LCD 26 , and a printing unit 27 . The above components are interconnected via a bus line 28 .
[0022] The CPU 21 executes various processes according to programs stored in the ROM 22 . The ROM 22 is memory functioning to store programs and the like used to control operations of the printer 20 . The RAM 23 is memory for temporarily storing data and the like required in processing by the CPU 21 .
[0023] The operating keys 25 enable a user to input instructions and data into the printer 20 . The LCD 26 displays various information. The printer 20 drives the printing unit 27 based on print data inputted from the PC 10 via the LAN interface 24 to print images on paper.
[0024] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating samples of printing results acquired when the PC 10 executes a Web page printing process described later with reference to FIG. 3 . In FIG. 2 , a Web page 30 denotes a Web page displayed on the LCD 18 , while a Web page P 30 denotes a Web page printed on a sheet of paper P. When the PC 10 receives a print command from a user to print the Web page 30 , the PC 10 controls the printer 20 to print the Web page P 30 , and also controls the printer 20 to print images in the Web page 30 that meet a prescribed condition on separate sheets of paper P from the Web page P 30 . This process will be described later in greater detail.
[0025] The HTML data for a Web page that the PC 10 acquires from the Internet 8 includes file paths and size data. File paths are data indicating the storage locations on the Internet 8 for image files in the JPEG or the bitmap format. An image file that can be acquired from the storage location indicated in a file path will hereinafter be referred to as original image data. The size data indicates the sizes of layout images 32 arranged in the Web page 30 . The Web browser 14 a analyzes Web page data, creates layout images 32 of a size specified by the size data based on the original image data specified by the file paths, and lays out the layout images 32 in the Web page 30 .
[0026] In the embodiment, the “image size” is expressed by the number of pixels in the width direction by the number of pixels in the height direction. In some cases, the size of an original image represented by the original image data differs from the size of the corresponding layout image 32 laid out on the Web page 30 . For example, if the size of an original image represented by the original image data is 400×300 and the size of the corresponding layout image 32 specified by the size data is 200×150, the PC 10 executes a reduction process well known in the art on the original image data in order to create the layout image 32 at the size of 200×150 by reducing the original image by 50%, and lays out the layout image 32 in the Web page 30 . In this way, layout images 32 can be laid out on the Web page 30 at sizes specified by the creator of the Web page, regardless the sizes of the original images.
[0027] In order to control the printer 20 to print the Web page P 30 , the EMF creating program 14 b creates EMF data constituting write commands based on the Web page 30 and transfers this data to the printer driver 14 c. The printer driver 14 c creates print data from the EMF data and outputs the print data to the printer 20 . When the layout images 32 laid out in the Web page 30 were generated by reducing the original images, it is unlikely that the corresponding images in the printed results will be clearly recognizable because the EMF data was created based on layout images 32 that lost a portion of the image data during the reduction process, i.e., layout images 32 having a smaller number of pixels than the original images.
[0028] In addition to the creation of the EMF data to print the Web page P 30 , the PC 10 according to the embodiment creates EMF data using the original image data for an original image that is larger than the corresponding layout image 32 . Therefore, the PC 10 can control the printer 20 to print the original image at a larger size than the corresponding layout image 32 in a form that is more legible. For example, if the original image is 400×300 in size and the layout image 32 is 200×150 in size, it is possible to obtain a 400×300 printed image simply by enlarging the Web page 30 that includes the layout image 32 by a printing magnification of 200%. However, this method simply stretches the 200×150 layout image 32 to a size of 400×300 and cannot compensate for the data lost when the original image was reduced. In contrast, the PC 10 according to the embodiment creates EMF data using the original image data that has not undergone the reduction process, thereby enabling the printer 20 to print an image at a size greater than the layout image 32 that is clearer and more legible.
[0029] In order to differentiate the original image printed on a sheet of paper P from the original image represented by original image data, a reference number will be assigned to the original image printed on the paper P in the following description. Specifically, the printed original image will be referred to as an original image 34 . No reference number will be assigned to the original image represented by the original image data. The size of the original image 34 printed on a sheet of paper P is adjusted based on various print settings, such as the printing magnification. Therefore, the size of the original image 34 printed on paper P may in some cases be different from the size of the original image represented by the original image data.
[0030] For example, if the original image has the size 400×300 and the printing magnification is set to 200%, then the PC 10 can create EMF data using the original image data after enlarging the original image data by the printing magnification of 200%, thereby controlling the printer 20 to print an 800×600 original image 34 . Further, one of the print settings that may be possessed by the Web browser 14 a is the option “Scale to paper size.” When this option is selected, the EMF creating program 14 b automatically enlarges or reduces the image data to be printed based on the selected paper size and printing resolution when creating the EMF data. For example, if the selected paper size is 3R (L in Japan; 89×127 mm) and the printing resolution is set to 300 dpi, there are approximately 1051×1500 printable pixels on the 3R sheet of paper P. Therefore, if the original image represented by the original image data has a size of 200×300 and the option “Scale to paper size” has been selected, the EMF creating program 14 b creates EMF data using the original image data after enlarging the data by the printing magnification of 500%, for example, thereby controlling the printer 20 to print a 1000×1500 original image 34 that matches the 3R paper.
[0031] Various print settings, such as printing magnification, paper size, and printing resolution, are similarly reflected in the results of printing the Web page P 30 . Accordingly, the Web page P 30 printed by the printer 20 is not necessarily the same size as the Web page 30 displayed on the LCD 18 . However, for the sake of simplification, the following description of this process will assume that the Web page P 30 printed by the printer 20 is the same size as the Web page 30 displayed on the LCD 18 and that the original images 34 printed by the printer 20 are the same size as the corresponding original images represented by the original image data.
[0032] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating steps in a Web page printing process executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 10 . The Web page printing process is executed to control the printer 20 to print the Web page P 30 and the original images 34 and is executed when the user inputs a print command on the input device 17 to print the Web page 30 while the Web page 30 is displayed in the Web browser 14 a. The CPU 11 of the PC 10 executes this process according to the EMF creating program 14 b. The following description also assumes that the user has already configured print settings before the process is initiated.
[0033] In Step S 302 at the beginning of the process in FIG. 3 (hereinafter “Step” will be omitted), the CPU 11 acquires Web page data for the Web page 30 displayed on the LCD 18 . The Web page data is the source code of the Web page 30 being processed. The Web page data includes the file paths for original image data and size data for the layout images 32 , as described above, as well as various information regarding the images, such as the format of the original image data.
[0034] In S 304 the CPU 11 extracts the information on the image from the Web page data and in S 306 determines whether the Web page 30 includes images. The CPU 11 can determine whether the Web page data includes image data based on the format of the image files (JPEG or bmp, for example). If the CPU 11 determines that the Web page data does not contain any image data and thus that the Web page 30 does not include any images (S 306 : NO), in S 326 the CPU 11 creates EMF data based on the Web page 30 , and subsequently advances to S 328 described later.
[0035] However, if the CPU 11 determines that the Web page data includes image data and hence that the Web page 30 includes at least one image (S 306 : YES), then in S 307 the CPU 11 acquires a file path for each set of original image data and size data for each layout image 32 in the Web page 30 and records this data in the image list 13 a. Here, file paths for original image data are recorded in the Web page data in association with size data for the layout images 32 laid out based on the original image data. Accordingly, in S 307 the CPU 11 records the associated file paths and size data acquired from the Web page data in the image list 13 a, while maintaining the associations.
[0036] In S 308 the CPU 11 downloads original image data on which the layout images 32 are based from the Internet 8 . The CPU 11 downloads original image data for all layout images 32 in the Web page 30 . More specifically, the CPU 11 acquires the original image data from storage locations on the Internet 8 indicated by the file paths recorded in the image list 13 a and stores this original image data in the image data memory 14 d. Depending on the specifications of the Web browser 14 a, the CPU 11 may instead display the layout images 32 on the Web page 30 rather than downloading the original image data. However, since the Web page printing process of the embodiment is provided with Step S 308 , the CPU 11 of the PC 10 can first reliably acquire original image data on which the layout images 32 are based before advancing to the subsequent processes.
[0037] In S 310 the CPU 11 selects original image data for any single original image from among the data downloaded in S 308 . In S 312 the CPU 11 executes an image verification process to verify whether the original image represented by the selected original image data is a print target and to record the original image in the print target list 13 b when determining that the image is a print target. The image verification process will be described later in greater detail with reference to FIG. 4 . Although not illustrated in the drawings, the CPU 11 sets a flag for the original image data that has been subjected to the image verification process in order to distinguish verified original image data from unverified original image data.
[0038] In S 314 the CPU 11 determines whether the image verification process has been performed for all original image data. In other words, the CPU 11 determines whether flags indicating that original image data has been verified have been set for all sets of original image data. When the CPU 11 determines that there remains unverified original image data (S 314 : NO), in S 316 the CPU 11 selects original image data for another original image from among the unverified original image data and repeats the image verification process in S 312 .
[0039] After repeatedly performing the image verification process until all original image data has been verified (S 314 : YES), in S 318 the CPU 11 determines whether the print target list 13 b is empty. If the print target list 13 b is found to be empty (S 318 : YES), in S 326 the CPU 11 creates EMF data based on the Web page 30 , and subsequently advances to S 328 described later.
[0040] However, if any original images have been recorded in the print target list 13 b (S 318 : NO), in S 320 the CPU 11 creates a selection list (not shown) of thumbnails or other data for specifying each of the original images recorded in the print target list 13 b and displays this list, as distinction information, on the LCD 18 together with the Web page 30 . Here, reduced image data needed to display the thumbnails may be obtained by reading such data stored in the header of the original image data or may be created from the original image data. The selection list displayed on the LCD 18 enables the user to distinguish between those original images that have been selected as print targets and those that have not been selected as print targets from among the original images on which all layout images 32 in the Web page 30 are based. Accordingly, the user can see which of the images can be printed in a more recognizable form. For example, the user can learn whether images can be printed at a larger size based on the original image data when the layout images 32 based on these original images were reduced in size to be displayed in the Web page 30 . Next, the user can select desired original images from the original images that the CPU 11 of the PC 10 has set as print targets.
[0041] In S 322 the CPU 11 waits for user input and receives the selections for original images to be printed. The PC 10 may clear the selection list from the LCD 18 after the user has finished selecting original images. Further, although the PC 10 is configured to display the selection list after verifying all original image data in the embodiment, the PC 10 may be configured to display the selection list together with the Web page 30 upon receiving a print command from the user to print the Web page 30 and to add a thumbnail or other data to the displayed selection list each time an original image is set as a print target in the image verification process of S 312 in order to specify the original image newly set as a print target.
[0042] In S 323 the CPU 11 determines whether one or more original images were selected in S 322 . If no original images were selected (S 323 : NO), in S 326 the CPU 11 creates EMF data based on the Web page 30 and subsequently advances to S 328 described later.
[0043] However, if at least one original image was selected (S 323 : YES), in S 324 the CPU 11 creates EMF data based on the Web page 30 displayed by the Web browser 14 a and in S 325 creates EMF data for printing the selected original images at a size larger than the corresponding layout images 32 using the original image data stored in the image data memory 14 d. If a plurality of original images was selected in S 322 , the CPU 11 creates EMF data for each original image. Here, EMF data is created so that the Web page P 30 and each of the original images 34 are printed on different sheets of paper P.
[0044] After creating EMF data for printing the Web page P 30 and the original images 34 in S 324 and S 325 or after creating EMF data for printing the Web page P 30 in S 326 , in S 328 the CPU 11 outputs the EMF data, as print instruction, to the printer driver 14 c, and subsequently ends the Web page printing process. Thereafter, the printer driver 14 c creates print data from the EMF data and outputs this print data to the printer 20 to be printed.
[0045] Through the Web page printing process described above, the PC 10 can control the printer 20 to print original images 34 at a larger size than the corresponding layout images 32 in addition to printing the Web page P 30 . Further, since the PC 10 controls the printer 20 to print the Web page P 30 and each of the original images 34 on different sheets of paper P, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the user has the added convenience of being able to use the Web page P 30 and the original images 34 separately.
[0046] Further, since the Web page printing process allows the user to select original images from those that have been specified for printing, the PC 10 can output EMF data to print those images that the user desires.
[0047] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps in the image verification process of S 312 executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 10 . The image verification process serves to identify original images that are print targets.
[0048] In S 402 at the beginning of the image verification process in FIG. 4 , the CPU 11 acquires the size of the original image represented by the original image data stored in the image data memory 14 d. Specifically, the CPU 11 reads the size (i.e., number of pixels in the width direction and number of pixels in the height direction) for the original image from properties recorded in the header of the selected original image data. In this way, accurate sizes of the original images can be acquired since the data is read from the properties of the original image data.
[0049] In S 404 the CPU 11 acquires the size of the layout image 32 laid out in the Web page 30 based on the selected original image. That is, the CPU 11 acquires size data recorded in the image list 13 a in association with the file path for the selected original image data and extracts (i.e., reads) the size of the layout images 32 specified in the size data. When the Web page data is in the HTML format and a “%” is attached to the size data, the size data specifies the ratio of the size of the layout image 32 to the size of the Web page 30 . In other words, the size data denotes the relative size of the layout image 32 . However, if a “%” is not attached to the size data, then the size data denotes the number of pixels in the layout image 32 (number of pixels in the width direction and number of pixels in the height direction), i.e., the absolute size of the layout image 32 .
[0050] In S 406 the CPU 11 determines whether the selected original image is larger than the layout image 32 arranged in the Web page 30 based on the selected original image. Specifically, the CPU 11 determines whether the number of pixels for the selected original image in the width direction and the height direction is greater than the number of pixels for the corresponding layout image 32 in the width direction and height direction. When the size of the layout image 32 is expressed as a relative size, the CPU 11 makes a negative determination in S 406 and proceeds to S 408 . When the size data specifies the absolute size of the layout image 32 , the CPU 11 reaches a negative determination in S 406 if the layout image 32 has a size greater than or equal to the size of the original image.
[0051] If the selected original image is not larger than the corresponding layout image 32 (S 406 : NO), in S 408 the CPU 11 determines whether the size of the layout image 32 is expressed as a relative size. If the size of the layout image 32 is not expressed as a relative size (S 408 : NO), the CPU 11 ends the image verification process. In this case, the CPU 11 does not set the original image expressed by the selected original image data as a print target.
[0052] However, when the original image is larger than the layout image 32 (S 406 : YES), the CPU 11 advances to S 410 to check other conditions.
[0053] First, in S 410 the CPU 11 determines whether the aspect ratio of the original image represented by the selected original image data is equivalent to the aspect ratio of the layout image 32 that is located in the web page 30 based on this original image data. If the aspect ratios are not equivalent (S 410 : NO), the CPU 11 ends the image verification process. In this case, the CPU 11 does not set the original image represented by the original image data as a print target. The CPU 11 does not select the original image when its aspect ratio differs from that of the layout image 32 because printing an image of higher clarity using the original image data for this original image is not likely to yield the desired printing results since the aspect ratio of the printed image will differ from the image that the user is viewing.
[0054] However, when the aspect ratio is equivalent to the aspect ratio of the layout image 32 (S 410 : YES), in S 412 the CPU 11 determines whether the ratio of the size of the selected original image to the size of the layout image 32 that is located in the Web page 30 based on the selected original image is at least a prescribed ratio (1.5, for example). If the ratio of sizes is greater than or equal to the prescribed ratio (S 412 : YES), in S 416 the CPU 11 records the original image in the print target list 13 b and subsequently ends the image verification process.
[0055] However, if the ratio of the size of the selected original image to the size of the layout image 32 is less than the prescribed ratio (S 412 : NO) or if the CPU 11 determines in S 408 that the size of the layout image 32 is represented as a relative size (S 408 : YES), in S 414 the CPU 11 determines whether the size of the original image represented by the selected original image data is at least a prescribed value (200×150, for example). If the size of the original image is greater than or equal to the prescribed value (S 414 : YES), in S 416 the CPU 11 records the original image in the print target list 13 b and subsequently ends the image verification process. However, if the CPU 11 determines in S 414 that the size of the original image is less than the prescribed value (S 414 : NO), the CPU 11 ends the image verification process. In the latter case, the CPU 11 does not select the original image represented by the selected original image data as a print target.
[0056] Through the image verification process of S 312 , the PC 10 can set original images as print targets when the creation of EMF data based on the original image data for the original image is likely to benefit the user. That is, EMF data created based on original image data for an original image will have a great effect on improving the legibility of the printed result when the size of the original image relative to the size of the layout image 32 exceeds a prescribed ratio. Consequently, the PC 10 sets these types of original images as print targets in the image verification process of the embodiment.
[0057] The PC 10 also determines that an original image should be printed when the image is larger than the corresponding layout image 32 and when the size of the original image exceeds a prescribed value. Since the user will not likely need images, such as buttons and banners in the Web page 30 , to be printed on separate sheets of paper P, this process can limit the number of such images that are set as print targets.
[0058] Further, when the size data denotes the relative size of the layout image 32 , the PC 10 sets an original image as a print target only when the size of the original image exceeds a prescribed value, regardless of whether the original image is larger than the layout image 32 . Therefore, the PC 10 can determine whether an original image should be printed, even when the size of the layout image 32 is expressed as a relative size.
[0059] While the invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments thereof, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0060] The data processor of the invention may be implemented by other devices, such as the printer 20 or a mobile phone.
[0061] While the Web page P 30 and the original images 34 are printed on separate sheets of paper P in the embodiment, the data processor may be configured to print the Web page P 30 and the original images 34 on a single sheet of paper P when it is possible to arrange all images on the sheet. In this case, the data processor creates EMF data for printing the targeted original images and the Web page P 30 on different pages and controls the printer 20 to print a plurality of pages worth of images (i.e., the original images and the Web page P 30 ) together on a single sheet of paper P.
[0062] Further, while Web page data is used in the embodiment as an example of target data processed by the data processor of the invention, various other data may serve as the target data, including document files and spreadsheet files. Document files and spreadsheet files may be targeted for processing by the data processor because images are laid out in display data displayed based on such files when either images are embedded in the files or the files contain links specifying images to be laid out therein.
[0063] In the embodiment described above, the EMF creating program 14 b executes the Web page printing process and outputs EMF data created in this process to the printer driver 14 c. However, when the printer 20 is capable of processing EMF data, the EMF creating program 14 b may be configured to output the EMF data directly to the printer 20 .
[0064] Further, while EMF data is used as print instruction, in the embodiment, the invention may be applied, to cases in which PostScript data or data in other formats is created as a print command. The invention is also applicable to a configuration in which the CPU 21 of the printer 20 acquires Web page data and original image data from the Internet 8 and/or the PC 10 , generates EMF data, as an example of the print instruction, based on this data, and outputs the print command to the printing unit 27 .
[0065] In the embodiment described above, a selection list is displayed together with the Web page 30 as “differentiation information” for showing a distinction between original images set as print targets and original images that are not set as print targets. As an alternative, the differentiation information may be configured of marks displayed next to those layout images 32 in the Web page 30 based on original images that have been set as print targets, for example. There is no particular restriction on the format of this differentiation information. Further, while thumbnails are displayed in the selection list in the embodiment described above, the filenames of the original image data or other data that can convey to the user which original images have been set as print targets may be displayed in the selection list.
[0066] In the embodiment described above, the data processor determines that the original image is larger than the layout image when the numbers of pixels in the original image in the width and height directions are greater than the numbers of pixels in the layout image in the width and height directions. However, the data processor may instead determine that the original image is larger than the layout image when the number of pixels in the original image is greater than the number of pixels in the layout image in at least one of the width direction and the height direction.
[0067] An additional step may be provided in the Web page printing process of the embodiment ( FIG. 3 ) prior to S 325 for comparing the size of an original image with the size of the paper loaded in the printer 20 . If the PC 10 determines that the original image does not fit within the size of the paper, the PC 10 may be configured to perform a reduction process on the original image data so that the original image will fit within the paper, and subsequently may create EMF data, as an example of print instruction, using the reduced original image data. The PC 10 may also be configured to change the orientation of the original image relative to the paper so that the image can fit within the specified paper size.
[0068] In the Web page printing process of the embodiment, the PC 10 controls the printer 20 to print the Web page P 30 and the original images 34 upon receiving a print command for printing the Web page 30 . Alternatively, or in addition, the PC 10 may be configured to execute a Web page printing process for creating a print instruction using the original image data on which a layout image 32 of the Web page 30 is based upon receiving EMF data, as an example of print instruction, for this layout image 32 , and may control the printer 20 to print an original image 34 that is larger than the layout image 32 .
[0069] In S 412 of the image verification process according to the embodiment ( FIG. 4 ), the PC 10 determines whether the size of the original image relative to the size of the layout image 32 exceeds a prescribed ratio. When this “prescribed ratio” is set to a value greater than “1”, the process in S 412 may be used to determine whether the size of the original image is greater than the size of the layout image. In this case, the process of S 406 for determining whether the size of the original image is greater than the size of the layout image 32 may be eliminated, and the process may advance to S 410 upon reaching a negative determination in S 408 (S 408 : NO).
[0070] The image verification process described in FIG. 4 according to the embodiment may be modified to set an original image as a print target under the condition that the ratio of the size of the original image to the size of the layout image based on this original image is greater than or equal to a prescribed ratio (0.9, for example), or that the size of the original image is greater than or equal to a prescribed value, regardless of whether the original image is larger than the layout image, by eliminating the determinations in S 406 , S 408 , and S 410 and advancing directly to the determination in S 412 after completing S 404 . This variation is also convenient for the user since images in the display data that meet the prescribed condition can be printed on separate sheets.
[0071] While the condition for selecting original images to be printed in the image verification process of the embodiment is that the aspect ratio of the original image is identical to that of the layout image, the invention may be implemented without this condition. | A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a set of program instructions installed on and executed by a computer. The set of program instructions includes (a) acquiring a layout image size where the layout image is generated based on an original image data, the size of the layout image is specified by base data, and the base data represents graphical image in which the layout image is arranged and includes location data that specifies a location at which the original image data is stored, (b) acquiring an original image size, (c) determining whether the original image size is greater than the layout image size, (d) setting the original image as a print target when the original image size is greater than the layout image size, and (e) generating a print instruction instructing to print the original image set as the print target in a size larger than the layout size. | 7 |
DEDICATORY CLAUSE
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for Governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalties thereon.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For certain applications in chemical lasers, there is a need for optical resonators which have different magnifications (and other properties) along orthogonal (x and y) axes perpendicular to the propagation direction. For example, there is such a need in connection with high-energy chemical lasers in which the gain region is much shorter along the x-axis (flow direction) than along the y-axis. Such asymmetric-magnification resonators may be constructed with non-spherical mirrors, but acceptable non-spherical mirrors are much more difficult to fabricate than mirrors with a spherical configuration. Also, the use of spherical mirrors in conventional orientation such as in the confocal unstable resonator, requires the mirror normal to be along (or nearly parallel to) the propagation direction. A resonator of this type has larger diffraction spillage losses in the short or x direction. Therefore, there is a need for an optical resonator with simple mirror arrangements which overcome difficulties encountered in previous resonator schemes.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide tilted spherical mirror resonator arrangements which have means for varying the resonator mode volume and asymmetric magnification in a continuous fashion to match the chemical gain medium and thereby maximize laser extraction efficiency.
Another object of this invention, is to provide asymmetric-magnification resonators which are fabricated using spherical mirrors and roof top mirrors and avoiding non-spherical mirror arrangements. A further object of this invention is to provide spherical-mirror resonators which achieve desired asymmetric-magnification by utilizing configurations such that the normal to the spherical-mirror surfaces are rotated through rather large angles with respect to conventional orientation in which mirror normals are parallel or substantially parallel to the propagation direction.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a ring resonator that utilizes tilted spherical-mirror surfaces.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in this art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, resonators are provided that utilize spherical-mirror surfaces that are tilted at substantial angles and utilized in an arrangement such that they have phase mixing across center line axis per each round trip, or asymmetric magnification without phase mixing. These arrangements allow asymmetric M X and M Y in orthogonal directions perpendicular to the propagation direction by utilizing a standing wave arrangement or a travelingwave arrangement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a traveling wave tilted spherical mirror ring resonator in accordance with this invention,
FIG. 2 is a standing wave tilted spherical mirror resonator in accordance with this invention,
FIG. 3 is another embodiment of a standing wave tilted spherical mirror resonator in accordance with this invention,
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration with tilted spherical mirrors illustrated in the opposite sense and with reflection of a collimated beam,
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration with tilt angles in the same sense of the mirrors and illustrate a collimated beam reflection relative to the spherical mirrors, and
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view looking in the direction of line 6--6 of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a traveling wave resonator in accordance with this invention which includes spherical mirrors 10 and 12 which are mounted on opposite sides of laser cavity 14 that has a laser medium with gain generated therein about a center line axis or optical axis 16 of the laser medium. Spherical mirrors 10 and 12 are each tilted a substantial angle of about 10 degrees to about 70 degrees relative to center line axis or optical axis 16 to produce the desired asymmetric magnification (M x ≠M y ) output 18 when mirror means such as mirror flat 20 is provided for completing the optical path of the traveling wave resonator. In this resonator, with spherical mirrors 10 and 12 tilted relative to the center line axis or optical axis 16 and with flat mirror 20 for returning the reflected laser beam, phase mixing across the center line axis or across axis 16 is accomplished per round trip around the traveling wave resonator as illustrated. Laser chamber 14 is a conventional type laser chamber with a conventional type chemical laser output in which it is desired to obtain an asymmetric magnification output therefrom. Output 18 of this resonator has a generally rectangular shape as illustrated in FIG. 6 in which h x has a much shorter dimension than dimension h y . The shadow of mirror 10 is illustrated at the center of FIG. 6.
Referring now to FIG. 2, another embodiment of this invention is illustrated and includes elements 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 that are the same as those of FIG. 1, but in this embodiment a standing wave tilted spherical resonator results by using roof top mirrors 20 and 22 for reflecting the laser beam back on itself in a standing wave fashion. Mirrors 24 and 26 of roof top 20 have the reflective surfaces located 90° apart to reflect the beam back and mirror 22 likewise has similar surfaces to that of mirror 20 with mirror 22 being rotated 90° from that of mirror 20 to cause phase mixing across the center line axis or optical axis 16 similar to that of FIG 1. If phase mixing across the center line axis is not required or desired, plain flat mirrors can be substituted for roof top mirrors 20 and 22 and still produce asymmetric magnification at output 18.
Referring now to FIG. 3, another embodiment of this invention is illustrated in which items 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 are the same as those in FIG. 2, but with spherical mirror 12 tilted in an opposite direction to form a Z type configuration. In this type arrangement, mirrors 20 and 22 can be of the roof top as illustrated with the structure as defined for FIG. 2 herein above or these mirrors likewise can be plain flat mirrors if phase mixing across the center line per round trip is not desired.
As can be seen, in operation, each of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3 produce an asymmetric magnification output 18 from laser cavity 14 with the magnification having phase mixing across the center line axis when a traveling wave arrangement is provided as illustrated in FIG. 1 or when roof top mirrors are used for the mirror means in the arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Phase mixing has two advantages for these tilted spherical mirror resonators: first, the effects of laser active medium inhomogeneities are minimized, and, secondly, it reduces the small inherent aberrations produced solely by the tilted spherical mirrors.
A theoretical and experimental analysis relative to the tilting of the spherical mirrors and the differential magnification is set forth herein below. With the advent of chemical lasers of rectangular geometry, a need arose for resonators with magnification M x in the shorter (flow) dimension which was substantially smaller than the magnification M y in the other transverse dimension. Applicants achieve the desired asymmetric magnification property with spherical mirrors by tilting the mirrors at substantial angles. In accomplishing this, applicants first carried out a low-order theoretical analysis which ignored aberrations, then an experimental examination. Assuming aberrations to be suitably controlled, this invention has the further advantage of adjustability or of experimental flexibility in that different combinations of magnification M x and M y can be obtained with one set of tilted mirrors. This is accomplished by adjustably tilting the spherical mirrors relative to each other and adjusting the separation between the spherical mirrors for given tilt angles.
Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, two spherical mirrors 10 and 12 are tilted at substantial angles in the y-z plane. It is known that the effective focal lengths of tilted spherical mirrors are
F.sub.y (θ)=(R/2) cos θ, (1)
F.sub.x (θ)=(R/2) sec θ, (2)
where θ is the angle between incident beam and mirror normal (bending angle is 20).
For purposes of discussion it is sufficient to limit attention to the portion of the resonator in which a collimated beam is incident on convex mirror 10 at an angle θ 1 (See FIG. 4). The beam expands (by different amounts along x and y transverse dimensions) and strikes concave mirror 12 located a distance L away at an angle θ 2 such that the beam emerging from the second mirror is again collimated. There are two choices for the relative senses of angles θ 1 and θ 2 , as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. The following design equations are the same for the two relative senses of tilt (but the aberrations are less in the arrangement of FIG. 5. It is necessary to complete the optical path to produce a resonator. This is accomplished in either a ring-resonator fashion as illustrated in FIG. 1 or by returning the beam on itself in standing-wave fashion as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The following analysis is most directly applicable to the ring-resonator case of FIG. 1. It is also applicable to the standing-wave case of FIGS. 2 and 3 if distances between spherical mirrors and associated turning flats are small in comparison to spherical mirror separation. A factor of two reduction in effective focal lengths is included to allow for double reflection from each spherical mirror in the standing-wave case. A large distance between the turning flats and the associated spherical-mirrors allows useful changes to be made in the resonator geometric output coupling.
The basic confocality equations are:
R.sub.1 cos θ.sub.1 +R.sub.2 cos θ.sub.2 =2L, (3)
R.sub.1 sec θ.sub.1 +R.sub.2 sec θ.sub.2 =2L, (4)
where R 1 +R 2 are the radii of curvature of spherical mirrors 10 and 12: The associated magnifications are given by ##EQU1## For comparison, the magnification M of a conventional untilted resonator is given by ##EQU2##
If M x and M y are considered as given quantities, the following equations are obtained: ##EQU3## It is noted that the product of the two magnifications is independent of tilt i.e.,
M.sub.x M.sub.y =M.sup.2. (10)
Thus, the geometric outcoupling fraction is independent of tilt and is the same as for a conventional resonator.
For a given pair of spherical mirrors, R 1 and R 2 (and hence M) are known. If θ 1 is then considered an independent variable, one can obtain the value of M x from ##EQU4## The value of M y is then determined by Eq. (10). The magnitude of the appropriate value of θ 2 is then given by Eq. (9), while the separation L is determined from either Eq. (3) or Eq. (4).
Table I herein below presents values of angles, magnifications, and mirror separations for a pair of resonator mirrors which were used in experimental studies. Note that the required mirror separation L is reduced only moderately by the effects of tilt and that θ 2 is somewhat less than θ 1 .
Experiments were carried out for a range of tilt angles θ 1 up to 70 deg and included both types of arrangements indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Required mirror separations L and values of θ 2 for specified θ 1 are in agreement with the predictions.
TABLE I______________________________________Predicted Values of θ.sub.2, M.sub.x, M.sub.y, and L and MeasuredValues of θ.sub.2,M.sub.y /M.sub.x of a Collimated Output-Beam Tilted Spherical-MirrorResonator for Several Values of θ.sub.1. - Theory Experimentθ.sub.1 θ.sub.2 L θ.sub.2(deg) (deg) M.sub.x M.sub.y (cm) (deg) M.sub.y /M.sub.x______________________________________ 0 0 2.3276 2.3276 192.5010 6.56 2.3073 2.3480 192.4920 13.19 2.2465 2.4116 192.3430 19.96 2.1446 2.5261 191.64 20.045 30.73 1.9147 2.8294 187.57 30.5 1.4450 34.62 1.8180 2.9799 184.54 34.4 1.6355 38.76 1.7121 3.1644 180.01 38.4 1.8960 43.25 1.5977 3.3909 173.34 43.1 2.1765 48.23 1.4767 3.6688 163.5570 53.92 1.3518 4.0076 149.16 53.2 2.93______________________________________ NOTE: Mirror curvatures are taken to be R.sub.1 = -290 cm, R.sub.2 = 675 cm. The geometric mean of M.sub.x and M.sub.y is the ordinary magnification M = 2.3276. The measured values were found by minimizing the shearing interferometric fringe pattern by adjusting θ.sub.2. | Tilted spherical mirrors are used as a means of achieving asymmetric magnification (M x ≠M y ) in collimated-output unstable resonators which obviate fabrication difficulties associated with non-spherical mirrors. By suitable choice of rather large tilt angles of spherical mirrors and mirror separation, simultaneous "confocality" can be achieved in x-z and y-z planes to the lowest order. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to electrical connectors. In some aspects, the present invention relates to electrical connectors having an inner or “center” conductor (i.e., a conductor surrounded by a dielectric and housed within a connector housing).
[0003] 2. Discussion of the Background
[0004] In conventional electrical connectors having a center conductor, a dielectric (e.g., a polymer or other dielectric) mechanically supports the center conductor within a connector housing. A challenge to designers is how to design the connector to maintain critical interface dimensions and conductor path integrity during printed-circuit-board (PCB) wave solder and reflow, where temperatures can exceed 260 degrees Celsius.
[0005] During this extreme heating that occurs during the process of connecting the connector to a printed-circuit-board (PCB), both the dielectric and connector housing expand. However, the dielectric typically expands at a rate significantly greater than the housing resulting in applied mechanical stresses on the conductor as well as changes in the final location of a contact socket interface after heating. The goal of any designer is to mitigate applied mechanical forces during the high temperature excursion and to hold within tolerance all critical contact and interface dimensions.
[0006] As a specific example, consider an electrical connector having a brass housing, a Teflon® member housed within the brass housing, and a center conductor supported and surrounded by the Teflon member. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of Teflon is 122 μin/° F. and that of C160 brass is 11.1 μin/° F. Since the CTE of Teflon in the temperature range to which the connector will be subjected is an order of magnitude greater than that of the brass body that encapsulate it, there is a danger that the stresses induced by the expanding and contracting Teflon member will move the center conductor out of the desired position (i.e., displace the center conductor).
[0007] In fact, after temperature cycling, the center conductor may translate toward the front of the connector resulting in a significant dimensional change at the mating interface (about 0.020 in). This shifting of the contact also appears to generate stresses on the solder joint, which can cause the rear contact, which is normally perpendicular to the plane of the PC board, to lean at an angle of between 1 and 1.5° of normal.
[0008] The conductor displacement problem is exacerbated when lead-free solder is used as PCB connection means because using lead-free solder requires exposing the connector to a higher temperature during the solder reflow process, and exposing the connector to a higher temperature causes greater expansion of the dielectric member, which leads to a more noticeable displacement of the inner conductor.
[0009] What is desired, therefore, is an electrical connector that does not suffer the above-described conductor displacement problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It was discovered that the above described conductor displacement problem is particularly noticeable when an end of the dielectric body abuts a wall during assembly and the heating process. When subjected to high heat, the dielectric body moves away from this immovable surface, taking the center contact with it. As the connector cools, the dielectric body contracts symmetrically. The net affect is a translation of the center contact away from the wall equal to one-half the axial expansion of the dielectric body, and an air gap between the wall and the end of the body also equal to one-half the axial expansion of the body.
[0011] Accordingly, the present invention provides an electrical connector having a center conductor and means for helping prevent displacement of the center conductor during a solder reflow process.
[0012] In one embodiment, instead of positioning the dielectric body so that its end abuts the wall, the body is positioned so that a gap exists between the wall and the end of the body.
[0013] In the same or another embodiment, a securing means for securing the dielectric body within the housing is used. The securing means may include a rib projecting outwardly from the dielectric body and a corresponding groove in the housing for receiving the rib. The securing means may also include one or more fasteners.
[0014] The above and other features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of preferred embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, help illustrate various embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.
[0016] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional, side view of a connector according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional, side view of a connector according to another embodiment of the invention.
[0018] FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional, side views of a connector according to another embodiment of the invention.
[0019] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process according to an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] Referring now to FIG. 1 , FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional, side view of a connector according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , connector 100 includes a housing 102 having a cavity 111 and a dielectric body 104 and a conductor or “contact” 106 housed in cavity 111 of housing 102 . More specifically, dielectric body 104 supports and electrically insulates conductor 106 from housing 102 . Housing 102 and conductor 106 may be made from brass and/or other electrically conducting material, and dielectric body 104 may comprise Teflon® and/or other dielectric materials.
[0021] As further shown in FIG. 1 , conductor 106 has a first end section 152 , a second end section 154 and an interim section 156 . Interim section 156 of conductor 106 is embedded within dielectric body 104 , while end sections 152 and 154 are not disposed within dielectric body 104 .
[0022] As further shown in FIG. 1 , connector 100 includes features that when used together or alone help prevent conductor 106 from being displaced during heating and subsequent cooling of connector 102 . For example, dielectric body 104 has a male member 130 projecting from a top surface thereof (male member 130 is referred to herein as “rib 130 ”) and body 102 has a corresponding female groove 132 for receiving rib 130 . Rib 130 may be machined into dielectric body 104 or otherwise attached thereto. Groove 132 is formed in the inner surface of housing 102 . In this embodiment, the location of rib 130 on dielectric body 104 is preferably at or near a first end 181 of dielectric body 104 . Rib 130 and groove 132 function to secure body 104 within cavity 111 .
[0023] During assembly, dielectric body 104 is positioned such that rib 130 is located securely in groove 132 . Preferably, dielectric body 104 is positioned such that a gap 160 exists between a second end 182 of dielectric body 104 and a wall 170 of housing 102 that faces the second end 182 of dielectric body 104 . Wall 170 projects inwardly from the inner surface of housing 102 . Preferably, wall 170 is generally perpendicular to the inner surface of housing 102 . The length (L) of gap 160 is preferably about equal to or greater than the total amount of expected longitudinal expansion of dielectric body 104 . The expected longitudinal expansion of dielectric body 104 (“delta-L”) can be calculated using the following formula:
delta− L =( CTE )( T 2− T 1)( L i ),
where CTE is a known constant, T2 is the temperature at which the dielectric will be heated, T1 is the temperature of the dielectric prior to heating (e.g., room temperature) and L i is the length of the dielectric at temperature T1.
[0024] As connector 100 is heated, rib 130 provides a “pivot point.” That is, rib 130 provides a means for retaining the expanding dielectric body 104 and affecting the direction of the expansion of the dielectric body 104 . For example, rib 130 forces dielectric body 104 to expand longitudinally into gap 160 , since most of the expanding mass of dielectric body 104 is located between gap 160 and rib 130 . Further, as dielectric body 104 cools, rib 130 provides a point around which dielectric body 104 contracts, allowing dielectric body 104 and the embedded conductor 106 to return, as nearly as possible, to their initial position. In this manner, conductor 106 will not be displaced due to the expansion and contraction of body 104 due to the heating and subsequent cooling of connector 100 .
[0025] As shown in FIG. 1 , interim section 156 of conductor 106 may have a retention barb 192 on a surface thereof, which barb 192 functions to limit longitudinal movement of conductor in a direction away from wall 170 .
[0026] Referring now to FIG. 2 , FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional, side view of a connector 200 according to another embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , rib 130 is located generally midway between ends 181 and 182 .
[0027] Preferably, contact 106 is designed such that when contact 106 is fully seated, retention barb 192 is concentric to the rib 130 ; i.e., barb 192 is in the same longitudinal position as rib 130 at assembly. The design intent is to affix dielectric body 104 such that, even during heating and cooling, it maintains its longitudinal position in the body. Expansion and contraction are allowed to take place symmetrically about rib 130 thus insuring that contact 106 undergoes no translations that might induce stress to the solder joint or otherwise affect the reference (mating) surfaces.
[0028] Referring now to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional, side view of a connector 300 according to another embodiment of the invention. Connector 300 is similar to connectors 200 and 100 , with an exception that rib(s) 130 and groove(s) 132 are replaced with fasteners 301 a and 301 b . In the embodiment shown, fasteners 301 are both placed at or near end 181 of dielectric body 104 . However, it is contemplated that, like the connector shown in FIG. 2 , fasteners 301 may be located at a point midway between ends 181 and 182 of body 104 . Fasteners 301 provide the same functionality as the rib and groove combination. That is, fasteners help prevent conductor 106 from moving out of its initial position when body 104 expands and contracts due to heating and then subsequent cooling. Like ribs 130 and grooves 132 , fasteners 301 provide the “pivot point” functionality described above.
[0029] Preferably, fasteners 301 are moveable from a first position to a second position. Placing fasteners 301 in the first position, which position is illustrated in FIG. 3 , facilitates positioning body 104 within cavity 111 of housing 102 . Placing fasteners 301 in the second position, which position is illustrated in FIG. 4 , facilitates fastening body 104 within cavity 111 of housing 102 . As illustrated in FIG. 4 , fasteners 301 may be in the shape of a pin and may penetrate body 104 when moved from the first position to the second position. While only two fasteners 301 are shown, a housing 102 have more than two fasteners 301 is contemplated.
[0030] Referring now to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process 500 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 500 may begin in step 502 , where a connector housing, like housing 102 , is obtained. In step 504 , a dielectric body is obtained (e.g., dielectric body 104 ). The dielectric body surrounds an interim portion of a contact (e.g., contact 106 ).
[0031] In step 506 , an expected longitudinal expansion of the dielectric body when the body is heated at a pre-determined temperature for a pre-determined amount of time is determined. The pre-determined temperature generally ranges between 150 and 300 degrees Celsius and the pre-determined amount of time generally ranges between ten seconds and ten minutes.
[0032] In step 508 , dielectric body 104 , which houses the contact 106 , is placed in cavity 111 formed by a wall or walls of housing 102 . As discussed above, body 104 may be positioned in cavity 111 so that a gap 160 exists between end 182 and wall 170 . Preferably, the length (L) of gap 160 is about equal to or greater than the determined expected longitudinal expansion of body 104 .
[0033] In step 510 , dielectric body 104 is secured within cavity 111 . Body 104 may be secured by fitting rib 130 into groove 132 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or by moving fasteners 301 from the first position to the second position, as described above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4 .
[0034] In step 512 , the assembly is heated at a temperature between about 150 and 300 degrees Celsius for an amount of time between about ten seconds and ten minutes.
[0035] While various embodiments/variations of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. For example, depending on the specific requirements of a particular connector design, features of one or both of the above described embodiments may be employed to null the affects of dielectric expansion/shrinkage during heating.
[0036] Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. | In one aspect, the present invention provides an electrical connector having a center conductor and means for preventing displacement of the center conductor, which displacement typically occurs in conventional connectors when the connector is heated and then cooled. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a broadbrand electric field controlled switching circuit and in particular, to such circuit having two or more electric field controlled switch elements coupled in series between an input and an output of the circuit.
Electric field controlled switching elements, such as field effect transistors (FET's) are generally utilized in switching applications where a desired high on/off resistance ratio and zero DC offset is required. The major factor which limits the use of FET switch elements in broadband applications is the trade-off required between obtaining low values of feedthrough impedance Rds(on) between the drain and source when the switch is in the on mode and obtaining high values of feedthrough impedance in the off mode. The major contributors to the value of off mode impedance are parasitic capacitances primarily between the drain and gate (Cdg) and between the source and gate (Csg) which affect signal feedthrough and bypass in the off mode. There also is a small parasitic capacitance between the drain and source (Cds).
Current art favors the use of FET's with low parasitic capacitances and high Rds(on) (above 50 ohms). These FET's can be used to pass a broadband signal when used as a series switch between a low impedance signal source and a low impedance load (less than 100 ohms). However, the signal losses in Rds(on) compromise switch performance as the series Rds(on) results in the loss of a large portion of the signal. Also this loss varies with Rds(on) which value in turn varies over a wide range with commercial FET's. Because of this signal loss, additional amplification circuitry and an individual gain calibration control may be required.
As the frequency of the transmitted signal increases, feedthrough impedance in off mode decreases, thus making a single FET incapable of providing sufficient isolation between the input and output. Multiple FET's can then be arranged in networks which generally are referred to by names suggestive of the shape of the interconnecting active elements. These networks conventionally include an "L" section where a parallel or shunt-to-ground FET is added before or after the basic series off/on FET and controlled in opposite on/off conductance manner. Another conventional configuration is to have a "T" network which includes two series FET switches and a shunt FET switch connected between the two interconnected switches and ground. The shunt FET conventionally provides a low impedance bypass when the series switches are in an off mode. However, at higher frequencies, the parasitic capacitances in this shunt circuit provide increasingly lower impedances when the series FET's are in an on mode, thereby increasing the signal loss in the circuit. While at low frequencies these networks offer satisfactory performance, in broadband applications extending into the VHF region, performance becomes marginal due to previously described signal losses and gain variation inherent to all FET's in the circuit.
In multichannel applications utilizing two or more parallel signal channels, for example in a signal multiplexer or demultiplexer, where each channel has conventional series FET switches and FET shunt elements, two control voltages are required for each channel. That is, when the series switches are on, the shunt switch or switches must be off, and vice versa. It is therefore desirable to provide switch control using a single control voltage polarity per channel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention utilizes series electric field controlled switches having improved isolation in off state at high frequencies and yet having reduced loss and gain variation as a function of frequency. The invention also provides a switch control having improved high-frequency bypassing when in off state. When utilized in multichannel switching applications, switch control is simplified by requiring only a single control voltage polarity per channel.
More specifically, the circuit of the present invention has two or more series connected, electric field controlled switches. The respective junctions between these switches are coupled to a virtual ground through a lossy, passive shunt element. In the preferred embodiment the invention contemplates a switch control network which provides an improved feedthrough bypass when in the off mode.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly understood from a consideration of the drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified circuit diagram of a switching circuit in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a simplified circuit diagram showing an alternative embodiment of the circuit of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a simplified circuit diagram of a channel multiplexer in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram showing two channels of a multiplexer in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1, a switching circuit 10 made according to the present invention is shown. Circuit 10 provides switching between an input circuit 11, represented by voltage source 12 and series resistor 13 and an output load 14.
Switching circuit 10 includes a pair of series connected electric field controlled switches 15, 16, preferably field effect transistors (FET'S). The junction 8 between the two switches is connected to a ground or virtual ground through a passive lossy shunt element 17. Element 17 preferably includes a resistor 18. Resistor 18 may also be connected in parallel with a capacitor 19, or in series with an inductor 20. Alternatively, the parallel combination of resistor 18 and capacitor 19 may be connected in series with inductor 20, as shown by dashed lines in FIG. 1.
Element 17 is a lossy element. Thus, the reactive portion of the impedance of element 17 is less significant than the resistive portion over the applicable frequency range. The impedance value of the lossy element is preferably selected to have approximately a 10 to 1 ratio to the impedance measured at the junction 8 in the on state throughout the operating bandwidth.
The operation of FET's 15, 16 is controlled by control circuits 21, 22, respectively, which will be described in further detail with reference to FIG. 4.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a switching circuit 23 is shown which may be utilized to replace switching circuit 10 in the circuit of FIG. 1. Switching circuit 23 includes three series connected FET's 24, 25, 26 with shunt elements 27, 28 (like element 17 in FIG. 1) connected to the junctions 8 and 9 between FET's 24, 25 and 25, 26, respectively. In fact, this ladder-like network can be extended with additional switches and lossy shunt elements, so long as a shunt element exists between each pair of adjacent series connected switches. Each additional switch and shunt element further improve the isolation in off state allowing operation at higher frequencies.
FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which the switching circuit of FIG. 1 (or 2) is used in a multichannel switching circuit 29. Circuit 29 provides switching between a plurality of input channels, identified as voltage sources, 32, 34 which are connected to separate, but identical, channel switching circuits 10 through corresponding series resistances 36, 38, respectively. The channels, of which only two are shown, are selectively connected to output load 14. During normal operation the two switches associated with a single channel are closed, that is in on state, while the remaining switches of the other channels are open, that is in off state so that only a single channel is connected to load 14 at a time. Preferably, all virtual grounds, such as the ones to which the shunt elements are connected, are interconnected, as represented by lead 40, to eliminate DC offset between the channel switches.
Referring now to FIG. 4 a multichannel switching circuit 30 is connected between a plurality of input terminals, including terminals 42, 44 and an output terminal 46. It will be appreciated that in the circuit of FIG. 4 the switching circuits associated with the input terminals are identical. Therefore, only the channel associated with input terminal 42 will be described, with the understanding that the description associated with that channel will also apply to the other channels.
Input terminal 42 is connected through an input circuit, such as a buffer amplifier 50, to an AC coupling capacitor 52. This capacitor is connected to switching circuit 10 through a series input resistor 54. The junction between capacitor 52 and resistor 54 is connected to virtual ground through a high impedance shunt resistor 56. The input side of capacitor 52 is also connected to a negative voltage through a resistor 55. Resistor 54 is connected to the source of an FET 58 having, preferably, a low Rds(on) for example 15 to 20 ohms. FET 58 is connected to a junction 48 connecting each of the channels through another series FET 60. FET's 58 and 60 have preferably similar characteristics. The junction 8 between the FET's 58 and 60 is connected to virtual ground through a shunt resistor 62 (the simplest form of shunt element 17).
The resistor 62 has a high impedance relative to Rds(on) but a low impedance when compared to the drain to source impedance in off mode. The gate of FET 58 is connected to switch control circuit 21 including a control voltage source V1 at a terminal 64 and a P-I-N diode 66. The cathode of diode 66 is connected to ground through a bypass capacitor 70. As it is well known, the P-I-N diode 66 produces a very high resistance with zero or reverse bias. When forward bias is applied, the P-I-N diode exhibits a low resistance. The P-I-N diode has a lower resistance at high frequencies than a conventional diode. The junction between the gate of FET 58 and the anode of diode 66 is connected to a reference voltage source Vref at terminal 6 through a resistor 68.
When the control voltage V 1 at 64 is high, the diode 66 is reverse biased and therefore it has a very high impedance. Consequently, the reference voltage V ref is applied via resistor 68 to the gate of FET 58, thereby turning the FET 58 on. When the control voltage V 1 is low, the diode 66 is forward biased and has a low impedance. It applies the low voltage V 1 to the gate of FET 58, thereby turning it off. As previously described, in the off mode the undesirable feedthrough signal is bypassed by the diode 66 and capacitor 70 to ground.
FET 60 is controlled by a control circuit 22 similar to that for FET 58, which includes a gate resistor 72 connected to reference voltage V ref at terminal 7 and a P-I-N diode 74. Preferably the reference voltage V ref is applied from a common reference voltage source (not shown) to all FET's in the circuit. In the preferred embodiment the reference voltage V ref is at ground potential. It is understood that when V ref is at ground potential, the control voltages V 1 , V 2 will have a negative value to obtain an off state of the FET's 58, 60.
Junction 48 is preferably connected to virtual ground through a high impedance resistor 76. This resistor maintains the DC value on capacitor 78 when all the channels are off. Consequently, resistor 76 is not required if during operation all the channels are not off at the same time. Junction 48 is also connected to output terminal 46 through an AC coupling capacitor 78 in series with a common-base transistor 80 forming part of an output amplifier, not otherwise shown. The collector of transistor 80 is connected to output terminal 46, and the emitter is connected to capacitor 78, as shown. This circuit provides current summing between the different channels.
AC coupling capacitors 52, 78 and shunt resistors 56, 62, and 76 ensure that all signal lines remain at a common virtual ground potential, thereby preventing any switching offset. As mentioned previously, all virtual grounds are preferably interconnected between the channels. Further, it can be seen that the switching of all FET's within each channel 10 is controlled by a single control voltage source Vl, V2, respectively. It is thus only necessary to coordinate these control voltage sources between channels, and not within channels.
The first order FET parasitic impedances associated with switching circuits 10 include relatively high (approximately 10 pF) parasitic capacitances between the gate and each of the source (Csg) and drain (Cdg) and a relatively low (approximately 0.2 pF) parasitic capacitance between the source and drain (Csd). Thus, when the FET is in the off mode, at relatively high frequencies, there is a relatively low impedance path from the source to the drain via the gate.
At high signal frequencies the gate is connected via a very low impedance path to AC ground, that is through diode 66 and capacitor 70 for bypassing the feedthrough signal in the off state. The shunt element 62 between each pair of series-connected FET's forms a voltage divider to reduce the feedthrough. Thus, the channel remains, when in an off mode, substantially isolated from output junction 48 through the use of the two FET's, and through the use of low impedance gate control circuits which bypass feedthrough currents caused by the relatively low parasitic impedances of the FET's. Further, as has been mentioned, the P-I-N diode is forward biased in the off mode and functions similar to a normal diode at low frequencies. At high frequencies it provides a significantly lower resistance due to intrinsic layer effects, to further decrease the impedance between the gate and AC ground.
The parasitic impedances existing in the FET in an on mode are similar to those described with reference to the off mode except that the capacitances between the gate and source and are higher and there is a low resistive impedance between the source and drain, previously described as Rsd(on). Thus, at high frequencies, there can be a substantial bypass to the gate. Such bypassing is substantially eliminated by the gate control circuit which has a high impedance to ground when the FET is in the on mode as previously described. It follows from the above description that the present invention provides a particular advantage at high frequencies since there is less parasitic shunt impedance associated with shunt resistor 62 as there would be if it was an active element.
Further, though all shunt networks are shown connected to ground, it will be appreciated that the ground connections can be replaced with a low impedance interconnection bus or virtual ground which is AC grounded. It will further be seen that the present invention makes it possible to use FET's which have lower Rsd(on) values and higher parasitic capacitances. The series loss resulting from the plurality of series elements is thus less than with FET's designed to have low parasitic capacitance.
Although the FET's described are N-channel junction FET's, it will also be appreciated that MOS devices or other active devices with similar properties may also be used.
When switching circuit 10 is used in a multi-pole switch or multiplexer, such as multiplexing circuit 30, a means of summing the channels is provided. In the preferred embodiment, the channels are tied together and fed into a current summation junction in the output amplifier. This type of connection greatly reduces the interaction between channels and also reduces the bandwidth reduction which would result in the conducting channel from the large capacitance between the drain and gate of the channels in off mode. The series resistances, such as resistor 54, which are used to establish and stabilize the voltage-to-current conversion gain, are located between the input and the first series FET.
As has been described, the switching apparatus of the present invention does not introduce significant DC offset. However, it is likely that the input signals will contain such offsets. This is the case when signals arrive at the switch via coaxial cables which are terminated and buffered by emitter followers. These offsets can cause problems in an AC coupled system following switched transitions as the differential offset appears as a pulse of long duration added to the AC signal. The preferred embodiment of the present invention prevents this problem by providing AC coupling at the inputs and output. The shunt resistors maintain the offset correction in the input coupling capacitors when the channels are in the off mode.
It will be understood that while certain features of the present invention have been described with reference to the multichannel circuit of FIG. 4, such as utilizing a P-I-N diode in the switching control circuits 21, 22 or AC coupling at the input and output terminals, these features may be utilized with the above described single channel embodiments as well.
It will be appreciated that, while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described herein, variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. | A broadband switching circuit has two or more field controlled switch elements coupled in series between an input terminal and an output terminal. A passive, lossy network is coupled between a junction of consecutive switch elements and a virtual around. The off state isolation of the switch elements is improved and signal losses are reduced significantly. When utilized in multichannel switching circuits, only a single switching voltage polarity per channel is required. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor memory cells and more particularly to a memory cell that uses an integrated PNP-NPN device for storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stored charge memory cells of various types are known to the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,719 describes a storage cell uses a PNP-NPN combination coupled together, similar to a silicon controlled rectifier circuit, but biased such that the combination is prevented from latching so that data may be stored on the inherent capacitance of the collector-base PN junctions of both the NPN and PNP transistors. The data is detected at the emitter of the NPN device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,483 also describes a PNP-NPN cell in which both collector-base junctions act to provide a capacitor for capacitive charge storage and the data is detected at the base of the PNP transistor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,962 also discloses a two device cell with the information being stored on both base-collector junctions of both devices with the data being sensed at the base of the PNP transistor.
All the above prior art device thus rely on the base collector junction of both the PNP and the NPN to store data.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a more efficient bipolar dynamic cell especially useful as a Random Access cell.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dynamic cell that has a larger storage capacitance by using the base node of the PNP transistor.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a dynamic cell that has a wider and better amplitude output signal, ratio between a stored 1 and 0.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a dynamic cell with a more uniform output signal and less signal loss.
It is another object of the present invention to improve the cell such that the cell is relatively unaffected by capacitive tolerances in the devices due to fabrication techniques.
It is still another object of the invention to reduce the required read currents.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cell which when created in present day integrated circuit form will result in improved density.
All of these features and advantages are realized in a dynamic Bipolar memory cell which has the read and write transistors reversed from those shown in the prior art. By so reversing the roles of the transistors the cell can be made to employ the base capacitance of the read transistor as the storage node without increasing any parasitic capacitances, present in the cell, thus improving signal ratios and obtaining greater contrast between 0 and 1 signals than could be obtained by known prior art cells.
The cell comprises, in schematic form, a PNP read transistor coupled to an NPN write transistor with the data being stored at the base of the PNP transistor and being sensed at the collector of the PNP transistor.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the surface of a cell built, in accordance with the present invention, in integrated circuit form.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the cell of FIG. 1 taken along the lines 2--2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic of the cell of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 in a simple array.
FIG. 4 shows the various voltage pulses applied to the cell in order to read and write the cell.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning now to the figures a full description of the cell of the invention and its mode of operation will be given.
Turning first to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 there is shown a single isolated cell 10 created using well known integrated circuit techniques. A substrate 11 of P-type material having a resistivity of about 10 ohm-cm is treated with known diffusion techniques such that there is formed therein an N+ subcollector 12. Following creation of this subcollector 12 an N-type epitaxial layer 13 is grown on the substrate.
Once this layer 13 has been grown to the desired thickness, i.e., usually about 5 micron thick, the unit is treated using well known techniques such as diffusion, ion implantation and the like to create a P-type isolation region pattern 14. Thus formed isolation region is such that it penetrates the entire thickness of the epitaxial layer 13 to merge with the P-type substrate 11 so as to completely surround and isolate the formed subcollector region 12 and to isolate and define an island 13a in the epitaxial layer 13 overlying the subcollector region 12.
This defined island and subcollector combination is thus completely enclosed by a PN junction 29 which lies between the isolation region and island 13a and the subcollector 12 and substrate 11.
Subsequently two P-type regions 15 and 16 are formed in the upper surface of island 13a. Region 15 forms a PN junction 26 with the underlying epitaxial island 13a. Region 16 forms a similar PN junction 27 with the island 13a. Thereafter an N-type diffusion 17 is formed inside the perimeter of P-type diffusion 16 to form a PN junction 28 with region 16. Once these diffusions are complete the surface of the device is provided with a layer 18 of a silicon dioxide approximately 3000 A thick. Through this layer three different windows or via holes 19, 20, and 21 are formed over the respective diffusions 15, 16, and 17. Conductive material, i.e, aluminum dots 22, 23, and 24, is then placed in the windows to make contact with the underlying regions 15, 16, and 17.
The PNP transistor 30, shown schematically in FIG. 3 is thus comprised of region 15, which serves as an emitter, region 13a serves as a base, and region 16 serves as a collector.
The NPN transistor 31 is defined by region 17 which serves as an emitter, region 16 which functions as a base region and region 13a which together with subcollector 12 functions as a collector.
When the cell is to be operated in an array it is necessary that a first driver circuit WP be coupled through a read line to the contact 22. This is shown schematically in FIG. 3 where the contact 22 is shown as a node and serves as a read line contact. A second driver circuit WN is coupled through a write line to the contact 24 which now serves as a write line contact. These driver circuits may be any known prior art circuits capable of applying suitable voltage pulses to the respective read and write lines. Thus the PNP transistor 30 is used as a read transistor and the NPN transistor is used as the write transistor. A known sense amplifier/bit driver circuit BL is coupled to the contact 23 which functions as a bit line contact.
The capacitor C1 shown across the emitter and base of the PNP transistor 30 illustrates the junction capacitance of the PN junction 26. The capacitor C2 shown across the base and collector of the NPN transistor 31 illustrates the junction capacitance of PN junction 27. The capacitance C3 illustrates the junction capacitance of PN junction 29 which encloses the subcollector 12 and the island 13a. The substrate 11 is coupled to a fixed potential illustrated by battery 35. Each of these capacitors C1, C2 and C3 thus enjoys a common reference point, i.e., the defined epitaxial island 13a. In the present invention, it is this region 13a in which the information is stored.
Capacitance C1 and C2 are both small with respect to capacitor C3. Capacitor C3 is typically 4 to 5 times larger than capacitor C1. Capacitance C1 and C2 track one another, i.e., have the same relative characteristics because both are depletion capacitance between simultanously diffused P regions 15 and 16 and the defined N-type epitaxial island 13a.
This region 13a in which charge storage occurs is illustrated schematically at the common juncture SN of the three capacitors C1, C2, and C3.
The use of this region of the cell as the storage node has a number of significant advantages not shown or taught in, or obvious from the prior art.
Thus because capacitor C3 is larger than either capacitor C2 or C1 the device has a better output signal amplitude ratio between a 0 and a 1. The device has a smaller bit line capacitor CBL and less signal loss.
Also because the cell uses the PNP as the read device and during the read 1 operation both capacitor C2 and capacitor C3 act in parallel, a significantly larger sense signal can be realized from the cell of the present invention than could be obtained from the prior art cells. Additionally, this use of the PNP as the read device requires less charge in turn on the PNP and once it turns on more charge is realized at the bit line Sense Ampifier BL. This occurs because the ratio of C1 to (C2+C3) is small and once the PNP read transistor turns on the voltage across capacitor C1 no longer changes due to the character of the emitter base junction 26 of the PNP. Thus during reading of the cell capactor C1 virtually disappears and does not affect the operation of the cell.
Moreover it is because the NPN transistor is used as a write transistor that faster writing of this cell, compared to prior art cells, is realized, because NPN transistors have a significantly better frequency response compared to PNP transistors.
Because the read operation in this cell is destructive, i.e., the data is reset to a 0 regardless of its previous condition, it is necessary to regenerate or write the cell after every read operation.
Turning now to FIG. 4, taken in conjunction with the other figures, a description of the read and write operations of the cells will be given.
Initially it will be assumed for purposes of illustration only, that the storage node SN is at 0.9 V, that is the storage node is effectively discharged. Because the read operation is destructive a read operation will be performed before any write operations are performed to assure that the cell is in a known state.
During reading driver WP is caused to rise from ground or zero volts to 4.0 volts thus applying a positive 4.0 volts pulse 40 to the node 22 and the emitter of the PNP transistor 30. Simultaneously the driver WN is held at its quiescent voltage of 1.3 volts. These applied voltages turn on the PNP transistor 30 and charge flows through the PNP emitter-base junction and causes the storage node SN to charge, from its discharged state of 0.9 volts, to its charged state of 3.2 volts. This change is shown as pulse 41. Since the read pulse 40 remains at 4.0 volts after the storage node SN reaches 3.2 volts, transistor 30 remains on and charge flows through the collector of the PNP transistor 30 to charge the bit line from 1.1 volts to 1.2 volts as indicated by pulse 42. This voltage change on the bit line is detected by the bit line sense amplifier BL. Because the charge flow across the emitter-base junction of the PNP transistor is equal to the value Beta of the PNP transistor times the charged transferred to its base, the cell can be made smaller. Although the capacitances are also made smaller, this Beta amplification assures that a detectable signal level can be realized. This read period is terminated by terminating pulse 40 by bringing the driver circuit WP back to zero volts. The write 1 operation is initiated by holding WP at zero volts and setting the bit line to 0.8 volts by the bit driver portion of the circuit BL and pulling WN down from its quiescent voltage of 1.3 volts to a level of 0.1 volts shown by pulse 43 causing the transistor 30 to conduct and storage node SN to be discharged to 0.9 volts shown by pulse 44. When the pulse 43 terminates and the write driver WN returns to its quiescent voltage of 1.3 volts the bit line voltage is reset to 1.1 volts indicated by step 46 by bit driver BL. By discharging the storage node, a 1 has been written into the cell.
Following this writing of a 1 in the cell it may be read by applying a 4.0 pulse 47 from the read driver WP while holding the write driver at its quiescent voltage of 1.3 volts. Once again this causes the storage node SN to charge and it rises to 3.2 volts. Simultanously the bit line BL begins to charge to 1.2 volts. This 0.1 voltage change on the bit line, detected by the bit line sense amplifier, indicates a 1 was stored therein.
Because this read pulse is destructive and causes the storage node to charge to 3.2 volts it effectively writes a 0 into the cell. However, because of design considerations it is necessary to perform a write cycle sequential to a read cycle. In this case, called for convenience, a write 0, the read driver WP is held at zero volts, the write driver WN is pulled down to 0.1 volts as indicated by pulse 49. In this instance, however, because the bit line is held at 0.1 volts by the bit driver (pulse 50) the NPN transistor 31 is prevented from conducting and there is no change in the state of the storage node SN because it was previously charged by the read 1 cycle and it remains at 3.2 volts. It is necessary to pull the bit line down to 0.1 volts to assure that the NPN transistor 31 is not turned on and a 1 is not inadvertently written into the cell. When the write driver pulse 49 terminates the bit line BL is restored to the normal level of 1.1 volts by the bit driver circuit portion of the bit line sense amplifier/bit driver circuit BL.
Again to read the stored zero the read driver WP is raised to 4.0 volts (pulse 51). However, because the storage node SN is fully charged, transistor 30 does not turn on and no change in the state of the storage node or in the state of the bit line BL occurs indicating that a 0 has been stored in the storage node of the cell.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes made be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. | This describes a novel bipolar dynamic cell especially useful as a Random Access Memory Cell. In the described cell a PNP transistor drives an NPN transistor so that information is stored at the base node of the PNP transistor. By using the PNP transistor as a read transistor and the NPN as a write transistor the cell, when made in integrated form, utilizes the cell isolation capacitance to enhance the stored information without increasing the parasitic capacitances in the cell thereby obtaining greater contrast between 0 and 1 signals than can be obtained in prior art cells. This cell is especially useful in memory arrays. | 6 |
The invention relates to a revolving door.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Revolving or rotating doors are used as a particularly impressive, eye-catching embodiment for an entryway into a building. These revolving or rotating doors can be installed frontally, outside a facade wall, inside the wall, or in the middle of the wall.
They form a passageway with bow-shaped dram walls provided at the entry on the left and right of the entrance, between which a rotor revolves.
One revolving door of this generic type has been disclosed by British Patent BR-A 187 740. This revolving door includes four door wings offset circumferentially by 90°. In the usual operating position, all four door wings are aligned radially, so that the door wings each come to rest opposite their pivot axis in the region of the central axis or axis of symmetry that is free of rotational axis bodies and that penetrates the passageway. In order to unblock the passageway as generously as possible, for instance in the event of danger, two door wings can be pivoted in pairs toward one another and thus toward the lateral outer walls of the passage that define the passageway.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,202,801 discloses a largely similar revolving door. This previously known revolving door includes four door wings with external pivoting axes, which wings are disposed offset from one another by 90°. In order to be able to unblock the passageway in the event of an emergency, it is possible to pivot the individual door wings in succession in the direction of escape on their external pivot axes.
The object of the present invention, therefore, is to produce an improved revolving door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention creates an embodiment, which is highly attractive aesthetically as well, for unblocking a wide passageway in the event of panic or for transposing goods through the revolving door. It is in fact provided according to the invention that the door wings comprise sliding door elements. This offers the opportunity of shortening the effective length of the individual door wings by moving the sliding door elements toward one another when the door pivots outward to unblock the passageway. This also avoids having the door wings overlap when pivoted into the open position, as is the case in the prior art.
In principle, Geman Patents DE-PS 161 780 and DE-PS 164 248 have likewise disclosed a revolving door. These known revolving doors, though, address a completely different stated object. These disclosures, published prior to the filing date of the present application, provide that at the entry and exit respectively of the passageway embodied by the revolving door, the door wings can be folded around an external pivot axis into a closed position. In other words, the pivoting wings then act like normal swinging doors at the entry and exit of the revolving door passageway. To that end, each of the wing doors is divided in two. Each door wing is comprised of two articulatingly connected individual wings, which can be laid against each other. The shorter door wing section can be folded so that at the entry and exit of the passageway, these door wings can then be used as normal swinging doors. As a result, the passageway is closed off evenly by two pairs of swinging doors disposed one behind the other and is not unblocked and opened in accordance with the invention.
In a particularly preferred embodiment form of the invention, the respectively cooperating pairs of wing doors are coupled to each other and can be adjusted commonly between their open position and their operation which allows the normal operation of the revolving door.
In a particularly preferred embodiment form, the sliding door elements, which are disposed on the inside in the closed position, are each coupled to a cooperating pair of wing doors, for example articulatingly coupled. This reveals the possibility that both cooperating pairs can each be pivoted between their closed and open position via a single drive mechanism, which can is disposed preferably in the coupling region.
To increase stability, the ends of the door wings can be embodied in the central and symmetry axis region so that when the door wings are closed, their free ends at least interlock with one another and are therefore supported.
In a particularly preferred embodiment form, it is further provided that during a rotation of the revolving door, the outer sliding door elements, which are disposed offset toward the outside of the central or symmetry axis, follow a curved path, which is arbitrary over a wide range. In other words, during a rotation, the outer limiting edge of the sliding doors is correspondingly retracted and extended again in the radial direction, controlled in an automatic or targeted manner. As a result, the previously unforeseen possibility arises that the wing length as a whole can be altered during a rotation. The desired curved course of the outer edge of the pivoting door construction is thus achieved by means of a corresponding overlapping of the rotation movement of the wings with a corresponding radial retracting and extending motion of the pivoting door elements. As a result the surprising possibility arises of embodying a passageway which is embodied not as a cylinder, but as a straight extending passageway, for example.
It is equally possible, though, that based on this principle, the so-called shearing effect is prevented. To that end, namely in the preselected manner, the respective sliding door or doors of a wing are retracted inward until between the outer edge of the furthest out sliding door and the entry edge of the beginning passage limiting wall, there is a sufficiently large safety spacing for a partial rotation, which reduces to zero any danger of jamming.
Further advantages, details, and characteristics of the invention ensue below from the exemplary embodiment shown from the drawing. In particular,
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary embodiment of the revolving door according to the invention;
FIG. 2 shows a schematic vertical section through the central or symmetry axis, viewing two door wings in the closed state, which are disposed offset by 180°;
FIG. 3 shows a depiction corresponding to FIG. 1 of the revolving door in the open position;
FIG. 4 shows a further depiction corresponding to the above depictions for the manner of function in the event of an emergency; and
FIG. 5 shows a detailed depiction to explain a reciprocal anchoring and support function of the closed wing doors;
FIG. 6 shows a schematic top view of a further exemplary embodiment modified from FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 shows a schematic top view of a modified exemplary embodiment; and
FIG. 8 shows front view, which is modified from FIG. 2 and corresponds to the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 8.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of a first exemplary embodiment of a revolving door according to the invention.
The revolving door is installed in a passageway 1 forming two opposite entry openings 3a and 3b and in the exemplary embodiment shown has two lateral passage limiting walls 5, which are disposed offset by 180° and in the exemplary embodiment shown are embodied as dram walls, which are bow-shaped when viewed from above.
What is known per se and not depicted in the drawing is that for example at an entry opening 3a, which is disposed outside the housing, can be provided with door elements, which are shaped like partial arcs when viewed from the top, which are pivoted into their outward pivot position when the revolving door is unblocked and are pivoted toward each other in the closed position so that toward the outside, the actual entry opening 3a is closed in drumlike fashion.
In the exemplary embodiment shown, the revolving or rotating door shown includes a rotor or a rotor apparatus, which revolves around its central or symmetry axis 9, which runs perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The rotor 7, though, is embodied as having no axis body in the region of the central or symmetry axis 9 to make possible a clear passageway.
FIG. 2 describes a schematic, vertical, diagonal section depiction, leaving out a wing, which protrudes perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. It is obvious from this that on both passage limiting walls 5, resting on a circular path 10, which revolves above the entry opening 3a and 3b, for example a rotor cross 14, which is supported via rollers 12 and can be driven via a drive mechanism 16, is rotated in the operation of the revolving door. The drive unit 16 can be supported and secured to a ceiling 20 via a support structure 18 for example.
In the floor region for example--which is gone into further below--in the central, middle section, a support disk 22, which turns along with the wings, can be mounted in the floor so that it can rotate with them, and as a result the door wings are supported in the middle in their closed state.
In the exemplary embodiment, the rotating device of the revolving door, i.e. the rotor apparatus, includes four wings 15, which are disposed offset in the circumference direction by 90° and which are also described below as wing doors 15.
The wing doors 15 are each disposed so that they can pivot around an outer pivot axis 17. The pivot axis 17 can be embodied spaced apart slightly from the outer dram wall, with the rotor rotating along with a vertically extending door carder 19.
Finally, it is obvious from FIG. 1 that each of the wings or the wing doors 15 is embodied as a sliding door, which includes two sliding door elements 15' and 15", which can move relative to each other. The two sliding door elements 15' and 15" can be moved from their maximal longitudinal extension position, shown in FIG. 1, into a retracted position, shown in FIG. 3, which has a shorter overall length.
In the exemplary embodiment shown, each outer sliding door element 15', which can pivot around the pivot axis 17, is provided with an internal pocket-shaped receiving space 20, into and out of which the radially internal sliding door element 15" can be retracted and extended in telescope fashion.
Lastly, in the exemplary embodiment shown, the two respective radially inner sliding door elements 15" of a cooperating pair of wing doors 15 are connected or coupled to each other, for example by means of an articulated connection 21.
As is obvious from FIGS. 1 and 3, a drive mechanism 23 for adjusting the wing doors can in particular engage on or be affixed at least indirectly to the articulated connection 21 or to another suitable place on at least one of the wing doors 15, which cooperate respectively in pairs. In the exemplary embodiment shown, this drive mechanism is disposed preferably in the direction of the angle bisecting line of two cooperating wing doors 15 and is mounted so that it can rotate along with the entire rotor apparatus and the wings. The drive and transmission mechanism or assembly 23' is thus disposed rotated by 45° from the door wings 15, which are aligned in a cross.
In standard use and operation, the wing doors 15 are disposed in their closed position shown in FIG. 1. Via the entry opening 3a, a passer-by can enter the open chamber pointing toward him in order to then cross through the passageway in a known manner in a continuously rotating chamber, for example in a revolving door which rotates counterclockwise.
If however, as is shown in FIG. 3, a transport of goods, for example, needs to be carded out through the revolving door, for example a new car needs to be driven into a showroom, when the revolving door is stationary, that is when the rotor is not rotating and thus the wing doors are not turning, the wing doors 15 are pivoted into their open position shown in FIG. 3. The pivoting is preferably carried out in the alignment position shown in FIG. 3, in which the two pivot axes 19 of two wing doors 15 each come to rest adjoining the entry openings 3a, 3b (FIG. 3).
Then for example, the pivoting doors 15, which are shown in FIG. 3 adjoining the left passage limiting wall 5, are pivoted toward each other by means of the drive mechanism 23, which can be switched on. At the same time, the outer wing door elements 15", which are coupled to each other and can move in the longitudinal direction of the wing doors 15, are retracted into the respective outer sliding door element 15'. By continuously shortening the overall length of both wing doors 15, which cooperate as a pair, the entire pivoting takes place until they reach the end position shown in FIG. 3, in which both wing doors 15, which cooperate as a pair, are preferably aligned in a flush plane to each other.
The adjusting process preferably takes place at the same time as and correspondingly with regard to the two cooperating wing doors 15 disposed on the fight in FIGS. 1 and 3.
As a result, in the final open position, the clear passageway shown in FIG. 3 is produced. The two wing doors 15, which adjoin the left passage limiting wall 5 come to rest parallel to the two wing doors 15, which adjoin the fight passage limiting wall 5, which produces a straight passageway.
It is noted only for the sake of completeness that the wing doors can naturally be pivoted toward the outer passage limiting walls 5 still further than is shown in FIG. 3. However, since the narrowest passage is defined by the space between two pivot axes 17 or the pivot projections 19 adjoining the entry openings 3a or 3b, only the middle passage region would be enlarged by means of this, which is not absolutely necessary.
In FIG. 2, it is only schematically depicted that the drive mechanism 23 and the transmission device or the drive assembly 23' can be mounted disposed above a revolving door cover 27. The revolving door cover 27 is disposed immediately above the upper limit of the door wings 15 and rotates along with the entire rotor apparatus. This revolving door cover 27 can simultaneously also be used as another supporting and carrying device for the door wings 15. In FIG. 2, it is only schematically depicted that also in the region of the end of the door wings opposite the pivot axis 17, in the region of the upper revolving door cover 27, an additional guiding and supporting function can also be provided (in FIG. 2, for example, by a guide roller, which engages a groove, not shown, in the revolving door cover), via which the pivoting movement of the revolving door from the normal operating position shown in FIG. 1 into the open position shown in FIG. 3 can be carried out by exerting supporting and carrying forces. For example a longitudinal slot or a longitudinal joint can be provided in the revolving door cover 27 along and for example beneath the transmission and drive mechanism 23', by means of which slot or joint a slaving catch or transmission bolt 24 (FIG. 2) protrudes downward from the drive mechanisms, which catch or bolt is connected to the door wing, preferably in the inner region (in FIG. 2, the catch bolt 24 engages on the inner end region of the inner sliding door element 15'). Then the two respective cooperating wing doors are pivoted into their open position by the radial, outward travel of the catch 24. As a result, it is also obvious that the radial joint mentioned, which is penetrated by the catch bolt 24, should extend radially outward at least until it reaches a straight lin that connects the respective pivot axes 17 of the cooperating wing doors. By actuating the drive mechanism in the reverse direction, the door wings are returned to their normal operating position.
The slaving connection can for example be carried out via the drive mechanism 23 in such a way that a belt, which turns along the route 23 (transmission device 23), is used; the catch bolt is fastened respectively to a drum of the belt. Depending upon the direction of movement of the drive belt in the open or closed position, the adjusting movement of the doors is carried out into the closed or open position, depending on the alterative feed motion of the belt.
The described revolving door can also be used equally advantageously in the event of an emergency, as is described from FIG. 4.
For example in the event of an emergency, if a large number of people should need to escape from the inside of the building to the outside via the entry opening 3b, then in a corresponding normal positioning of the revolving door, the wing doors 15, which cooperate in pairs, are pivoted once again into the open position shown in FIG. 3.
If there are still people in the respective chambers 29 running adjacent to the passage limiting walls 5, then an additional escape door 25 is provided in the passage limiting wall, which can be opened from the inside at any time, in order to exit this otherwise closed chamber.
Diverging from the exemplary embodiment shown, wing doors 15 can be embodied not only with two, but also if need be with three sliding door elements, which can move relative to one another in their longitudinal direction.
As is revealed from the previous description alone, after the motorized change-over of the door wings into the open position, they are also fixed in their open position according to FIG. 3 by the motorized drive mechanism. This incidentally reveals the possibility that with a further rotation movement of 90° with regard to the depiction in FIG. 3, e.g. generally in a position rotated 90° from FIG. 3, the door wings, which are pivoted toward each other into a plane and preferably are disposed flush to one another, come to rest with the correspondingly retracted sliding door wing elements each perpendicular to the entry openings 3a and 3b. In this way, both of the entryways 3a and 3b are closed firmly. In particular when the motorized drive mechanisms 23 are blocked, the passage as a whole can be closed and bolted, in the doubled sense in fact, by the two door wing pairs closed behind one another. Additional bolting measures are naturally also possible.
In order to produce a particularly favorable function mechanism, it can furthermore be provided that in the middle of the passageway a further support disk 22 is provided, which rotates in slaved fashion, as revealed in particular in the vertical section depiction according to FIG. 2. This support disk 16 can have 90° angle recesses, which are offset to each other by 180°, by means of which a slight step shoulder of for example only 1 cm is formed, against which the wing doors 15 abuttingly contact in their closed, cross-like position by their lateral adjusting region.
In a detail, FIG. 5 shows that the door wings 15 can be provided with a corresponding formation 33 or bolting device 35 disposed opposite from their pivot axes so that they are mutually supported and bolted in their cross-wise, bolted position (that is, in normal operation of a revolving door). This can be embodied according to the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 5 by means of a corresponding angular shape of the face edge. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the face edges are each embodied in the manner of a protruding, 90° sector so that the four related door wings in the exemplary embodiment shown are mutually supported on their face edges.
As a result, an additional centering is achieved for the ends of the wing doors 15 disposed in the region of the central or symmetry axis 9, which contributes to increasing stability.
Finally, only for the sake of completeness, FIG. 6 is referred to, in which four sliding door-like wings 15 are provided. As is obvious from the dashed line depiction, each door wing 15 can be pivoted not only in one direction, but also in the opposite direction. Therefore in this exemplary embodiment, there is no firm association with a respective second door wing since even in a position of the revolving door, which is rotated 90° further than FIG. 6, each door wing can be pivoted either to the left or fight so that it comes to rest adjoining the adjacent passage limiting wall 5. Also in this embodiment form, the inner ends of the wing door elements 15", though, can each be equipped so that they can be coupled with a second, positionally correctly associated wing door element to produce a secure and common pivoting motion so that at least the respective pivot movement into the open position can be carried out jointly and in a coupled manner.
In the exemplary embodiment shown, the vertical pivot axes are provided as far outside as possible. Preferably the pivot axes are disposed at a minimum spacing of 70%, preferably 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, or even 95% of the maximal possible radial length of the door wing 15, measured outward from the midpoint, i.e. from the central or symmetry axis 9. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, this corresponds to the spacing from the central or symmetry axis to the drum-shaped passage limiting walls 5.
Below, FIGS. 7 and 8 will be taken into consideration, in which a modified exemplary embodiment is shown.
The exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 7 and 8 differs from the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2 in that viewed from above, a circular passageway with cylindrical, lateral passage limiting walls 5 is not provided, but rather an essentially straight passageway.
The rotor apparatus explained intrinsically in terms of its principle in FIG. 1 and 2, by using a four winged arrangement without a rotor axis body, is of such a kind during a rotation that corresponds to the arrow depiction, the outer sliding door elements 15" are retracted and extended relative to the inner sliding door elements 15' so that the overall length of the wings 15 changes during a revolution.
In the exemplary embodiment shown according to FIGS. 7 and 8, the apparatus is of such a kind that above the vertical door carrier 19, a further guide roller 41 is respectively provided, which rotates around a vertical axis and is guided in a groove-shaped guide device 43 (which for example is embodied on and secured to the ceiling 20). Door carriers 19 have a gallows-shaped carrying structure, whose upper horizontal carrier 45, which is supported via the horizontal rollers 12, can be retracted and extended in telescope fashion in a telescoping guide 47 connected to the motor 16.
In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 8, the guide rollers 41, which engage in the guide device 43 and are equipped with a vertical axis, are disposed in the immediate vertical extension of the door carrier 19 or the pivot axis 17 embodied on it. The guide rollers 41 and the guide device 43, though, can also be disposed offset from it.
This embodiment reveals that in a rotation of the revolving door according to FIG. 7 by means of the correspondingly extending guide device 43, the guide rollers 41 and hence for example the pivot axis 17, which is flush with it when viewed from above, follow the guide path 49, which is shown in FIG. 7 with dashed lines. This means that during a rotation of the wings, the respective outer sliding door elements 15' are retracted and extended with regard to the inner sliding door elements 15" so that the overall width of the wings changes during a rotation. In the diagonal direction, the wing width (i.e. the wing length) assumes the greatest value, while in a position perpendicular to the passage limiting wall 5, which runs straight, the relative width of the door (i.e. its length) is at its lowest.
The guide path can naturally be arbitrary. It is quite possible to embody the passage limiting walls in undulating fashion. The guide device can also be correspondingly undulating, so that with the guide device explained, the effected retracting and extending movement of each outer sliding door element in relation to the respective inner one during a rotation can be more complex and can diverge from the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 8.
For example, it is also possible that the sliding door elements in the entry and exit region 3a, 3b are guided so that they follow a circular path, and only follow each lateral passage limiting wall 5 when they are adjacent to it.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, this kind of overlapping relative movements during a rotation of the revolving door for example also reveals the advantage that the risk of jamming (shearing) which exists in conventional revolving doors is prevented. This is because, as is depicted in FIG. 1 with dashed lines, each outer sliding door or outer sliding door element 15' can be retracted inward so that for example the outer edge 51 describes the curved path 53 shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1. In other words, for example at the beginning of the entry edge, a preselectable spacing of the outer edge 51 of the outer sliding door element 15" at for example 15-25 cm can be set in order to reliably prevent any shearing effect here at the beginning of the passage limiting wall 5. Upon continuous rotation of the revolving door, then the sliding door element 15" can be slid into its further outward position again, in which the outer edge 51 follows the passage limiting wall 5.
The exemplary embodiment explained from FIGS. 7 and 8 and the specific sliding of each outer sliding door element 15' in the region of the entry edge according to the dashed curved path 53 in FIG. 1 has been explained in terms of compulsory guidance using guide rollers 41, which engage in a guide device 43 and via this, control the retracting and extending movements of the respective outer sliding door elements 15'.
Diverging from this exemplary embodiment, a corresponding curved path course 53 in FIG. 1 or a guide path 49 in FIG. 7 can also be brought about by means of a separate control device not shown in the drawings, via which each individual wing or each pair of wings is separately retracted and extended or even, via compulsory guidance, a plurality of wings are jointly retracted and extended. That is, a drive mechanism is provided for the wings, which retracts and extends the outer sliding door element 15' in the radial direction during a rotation movement of the revolving door, depending on the desired curved path.
It is mentioned only for the sake of completeness that a further modification is also possible to the extent that the respective outer sliding door elements 15' are guided via a guide device to produce a rotation path that deviates from a normal circular path, with which device, though, the rotation movement of the wings is carried out supplementally or alone by means of a revolving drive belt or a drive mechanism similar to a drive belt. The drive belt is restrictively guided for example in a guide path 49 along a guide device 43. That is, the individual wings are coupled via the drive mechanism, which is similar to a drive belt, and are restrictively guided via it so that in turn, depending upon the guide path 49, the desired retracting and extending movement of each outer sliding door element with regard to the respective inner one can be carried out.
Also in the latter exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 7 and 8 as well as the further explained modifications thereto, naturally the other pivoting mechanism for unblocking the passageway is likewise changed. That is, even in the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 7 and 8, for example preferably in the position of the wings which corresponds to FIG. 1, the respective pairs of wings adjacent to the limiting walls 5 are pivoted in opposite directions around their pivot axes 17 toward the limiting wall 5 so that the plane of the wings is disposed respectively parallel to the limiting wall 5. This produces a completely clear, unblocked passageway through the doorway. | Revolving door having at least four variable length door wings extending radially into a passageway, and being offset from one another in the direction of rotation about a central axis. Each door wing includes at least two sliding door elements slidingly movable relative to each other to vary the radial length of the door wings. Each door wing has a pivot axis disposed radially outwardly from the central axis. Adjacent door wings are pivotable about their respective pivot axes from an operating position in which the door wings extend radially into the passageway to an open position in which the sliding door elements slide relative to each other to shorten the radial length and unblock the passageway. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The field of the present invention relates to a clamp for attaching a device to a cylindrical object. In particular, the invention relates to a clamp for attaching a filter and matte box assembly to the iris rods of a motion picture or video camera.
As set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,411, it is conventional for a filter and matte box assembly to be provided with a clamping mechanism built into the assembly. This clamping mechanism is sized to fit a specific size of iris rod, which projects from the front of the camera. The filter and matte box assemblies have been made to fit different sized iris rods so that when one assembly is used with a particular sized iris rod clamp and then a new camera is used having a different iris rod size, a new filter and matte box assembly was required because of the clamp no longer fitting the iris rod on the new camera. In the alternative, the clamp on the assembly may be replaceable, which requires a selection of clamps.
Since different camera manufacturers use different sized iris rods on their cameras, switching the entire filter and matte box assembly or the clamps to fit the different iris rods when changing cameras is an undesirable step. Also, this requires a camera rental company to maintain a large inventory of different sizes of clamps. Thus, it has been desirable to have a filter and matte box assembly that has a clamp that can fit varying sizes of iris rods to avoid having to replace the entire filter and matte box assembly. Having a clamp that can fit varying sizes of iris rods is also desirable because it is less expensive than having a number of filter and matte box assemblies or clamps. Therefore, a filter and matte box assembly that is capable of clamping to iris rods of several different sizes would be more economical and efficient and would reduce the number of matte box assemblies required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved clamp for attaching objects to cylindrical objects of varying diameters. The multi-jaw clamp of the present invention includes two housings connected by a hinge for holding a pair of multi-jaw cylinders. The multi jaw cylinders contain at least two curved sections to attach around at least two different diameters of cylindrical objects, such as iris rods. The multi-jaw cylinders can be rotated to fit different diameters of cylindrical objects. The housing is locked into place around the cylindrical object by a locking mechanism attached at the free ends of the housings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the multi-jaw clamp according to the present invention and diagrammatically illustrating the camera with the iris rods and the matte box assembly;
FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the multi-jaw clamp with the matte box assembly mounted on the clamp;
FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the back of the clamp with the clamp in the open position;
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the front of the clamp with the clamp in the open position;
FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the multi-jaw cylinder;
FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of the clamp in the closed position;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the clamp in the closed position;
FIGS. 8A-8C are plan views of the multi-jaw cylinders juxtaposed in three different positions for fitting three different sizes of iris rods;
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 9 — 9 in FIG. 7 and showing the clamp in the closed position around a rod; and
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 10 — 10 in FIG. 9 and showing the clamp in the closed position around a rod.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. To facilitate the description, a reference numeral representing an element in one figure will represent the same element in any other figure.
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the multi-jaw clamp 10 according to a preferred embodiment mounted to a camera 12 on an iris rod 14 projecting forwardly of the camera 12 with a matte box assembly 16 attached to the clamp. Of course, a camera may be provided with two iris rods and such case there will be two clamps 10 . The multi jaw clamp 10 includes a threaded hole 18 (best viewed in FIG. 9) for mounting the matte box assembly to the clamp so that the matte box is positioned in front of the camera lens 20 . The multi-jaw clamp 10 includes a hinge assembly 22 that permits the clamp to open and close around the iris rod 14 as viewed in FIG. 2 .
Details of the multi-jaw clamp are set forth in FIGS. 3-10. The clamp 10 is provided with two housings 30 and 32 that are connected by the hinge assembly 22 , which allows the housings to open and close around the iris rod 14 . The hinge assembly 22 includes the hinge section 34 of housing 30 and the hinge section 36 of housing 32 , each of which hinge sections have holes through them to accommodate the hinge pin 38 extending the length of the hinge assembly 22 . The ends of each of the hinge sections 34 and 36 are curved to accommodate the opening and closing of the clamp. Any mechanism similar to a hinge that will allow relative movement of housings 30 and 32 in the unlatched condition, as described below, but prevents separation in the latched condition may be used in place of hinge assembly 22 .
The housing 30 , as shown in FIG. 3, is generally rectangularly shaped and has a semi-circular channel 40 cut into the long side of the housing and runs the length of the short side of the housing. The housing 30 also contains a cylindrical hole 42 (best viewed in FIGS. 6 and 10) in the housing on the side opposite the hinge section 34 and cuts through the semi-circular channel 40 . The cylindrical hole 42 does not penetrate through the side of the housing adjacent to the hinge section 34 . The cylindrical hole 42 is sized to receive the multi-jaw cylinder 50 (best viewed in FIG. 10 ). The housing 30 also contains a rectangular shaped protrusion 52 on the side opposed to the semicircular channel 40 that contains a threaded hole 18 (shown in FIG. 9) for attaching a matte box assembly 16 or other items to the housing.
The housing 32 as shown in FIG. 3, is also generally rectangular in shape and has a semi-circular channel 54 , similar to channel 40 , cut into the long side of the housing, which hole runs the entire length of the short side of the housing. The housing 32 also contains a cylindrical hole 42 (the same as hole 42 in housing 30 ) in the housing on the side opposed to the hinge section 36 and cuts through the semi-circular channel 54 . The cylindrical hole 42 does not penetrate through the side of the housing adjacent to the hinge section 36 . The cylindrical hole 42 is sized to receive another multi-jaw cylinder 50 (best viewed in FIG. 10 ).
Referring now to FIG. 4, on the free ends of housings 30 and 32 cover plates 58 and 56 , respectfully, are threadably connected to the housings. The plates cover cylindrical holes 42 in both housings. Cover plate 56 contains a hole that runs along the vertical length of the plate and opens toward housing 30 . The hole is sized to receive a threaded bolt 60 so that the bolt can pass through the plate 56 and extend beyond the end of the plate. The side of the bolt opposed to housing 30 contains a handle 62 so that the bolt can be easily turned by hand. Cover plate 58 contains a threaded hole 59 that opens toward housing 32 and is sized and threaded to receive the end of bolt 60 that extends past cover plate 56 . When bolt 60 is inserted into the hole in cover plate 58 , the bolt can be turned using handle 62 , which will close the free end of the clamp about a rod and secure it in place.
Referring now to FIG. 5, the multi-jaw cylinder will now be described. Each multi-jaw cylinder 50 is sized to fit within the cylindrical hole 42 in housings 30 and 32 . The cylinder 50 contains a stem 64 protruding from one end to receive a selector 66 after the cylinder is placed in the housing. The stem 64 contains a square-shaped end for attaching the selector 66 to the stem. The cylinder, as shown in the preferred embodiment, has three curved sections 68 cut into the sides of the cylinder approximately 120° apart. The cylinder could be made with as few as two curved sections and could be made with more than three curved sections. Each curved section 68 on the cylinder has a different radius, so that when they are placed in the housing, they can be rotated into one of three positions to precisely fit one of three different diameters of rods. Aligned with the center of each of the curved sections is a size indicator 70 marked on the end of the cylinder containing the stem 64 . Adjacent the size indicator is a v-shaped notch 72 that runs along the side of the cylinder from the end containing the stem to the curved section 68 .
Referring now to FIG. 6, the clamp is shown in the closed position with the multi-jaw cylinders 50 inside the housings 30 and 32 . The multi-jaw cylinders 50 are shown with the selectors 66 attached to the stem 64 . Housings 30 and 32 contain holes 74 in the sides opposite the cover plates 56 and 58 sized to receive the stems 64 of the cylinders 50 . The curved sections 68 , in the preferred embodiment, will have diameters of approximately 0.591 in, 0.622 in. and 0.748 in to fit on conventional iris rods of those diameters. The diameters of the curved sections, however, can be of any size as needed to accommodate the size of the rods that the clamp will be attached to. The diameter of the semi-circular channels 40 and 54 will be larger than the largest diameter of the curved sections 68 on the multi-jaw cylinders 50 to insure that the curved sections 68 extend into the curved channels 40 and 54 for the multi-jaw cylinders to engage the iris rod 14 without the iris rod engaging the housings.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the top view of the clamp is shown. Adjacent to the hole 74 in each of the housings is a hole 76 so that the size indicator 70 is visible. As the selector 66 is turned, each of the three size indicators comes into view through the hole 76 , which indicators may be numbers, letters or colors. Once the desired diameter is selected and the size indicator is viewable through hole 76 , the multi-jaw cylinder is precisely located and inhibited from further rotation by a ball and spring detent mechanism 78 in which the ball engages the v-shaped notch 72 on the multi-jaw cylinder 50 . The mechanisms 78 are located and retained by setscrews 79 in threaded holes 80 , which are located in the housings 30 and 32 . The hole 80 is located so that the ball of the mechanism 78 will engage the v-shaped notch 72 that is aligned with the curved section 68 that is adjacent to the curved section currently selected. As the setscrew 79 is rotated, it comes into contact with the spring for adjusting the resilient force applied to the ball and, in turn, on the v-shaped notch 72 on the cylinder and inhibits the cylinder from further rotation. As an alternative to the ball and spring detent mechanism, the setscrew, 79 may be longer and directly engage the cylinder 50 , with or without a notch 72 .
FIGS. 8A-8C diagrammatically indicate the various matching positions of the multi-jaw cylinders 50 apart from the housings 30 and 32 . In FIG. 8A, the two cylinders 50 are in positions so that smallest radius curved sections 68 on the multi-jaw cylinders are aligned. In this position, the multi-jaw clamp would engage with the smallest diameter rod. In FIG. 8B, the two cylinders 50 are in positions so that the largest radius curved sections 68 are aligned. In this position, the multi-jaw clamp would engage with a rod with the largest diameter. In FIG. 8C, the two cylinders 50 are in positions so that the intermediate curved sections 68 are aligned. In this position, the multi-jaw clamp would engage with a rod with the intermediate sized diameter that the clamp could engage.
Referring to FIG. 9, a cross-section of the clamp in the closed position taken along line 9 — 9 in FIG. 7 is shown. In use, the multi-jaw clamp 10 is slid onto or hinged open and placed on the iris rod 14 . The multi-jaw cylinders 50 are shown in each housing with an iris rod 14 engaged between the cylinders. Threaded bolt 60 is threadably engaged with the threaded hole 59 to lock the clamp in the closed position and tightly on the iris rod in the desired axial position. Also visible is the threaded hole 18 in the protrusion 52 on housing 30 that can be used to attach a matte box 16 or other items. FIG. 10 also shows a cross sectional view of the clamp taken along line 10 — 10 in FIG. 9 . The cylindrical hole 42 to receive the multi-jaw cylinders 50 also are shown.
While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the claims that follow. | A multi-jaw clamp capable of attaching to various sized cylindrical objects such as iris rods of a professional movie camera. The multi-jaw clamp includes two housings that each hold a cylinder with at least two circular sections in the sides of the cylinders that are rotatable to change the size of the circular opening for the circular object to which the clamp can attach. The two housings contain hinge means for opening and closing the clamp and at each free end of the housings is a means for closing the clamp and locking the clamp in position around the cylindrical object. | 5 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This patent claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 (e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/810,387 entitled “Differential Outputs in Multiple Motor MEMS Devices” filed Apr. 10, 2013, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This application relates to MEMS devices and, more specifically to MEMS devices that utilize differential amplifiers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) microphones have been used throughout the years. These devices include a back plate (or charge plate), a diaphragm, and other components. In operation, sound energy moves the diaphragm, which causes an electrical signal to be created at the output of the device and this signal represents the sound energy that has been received.
These microphones typically use amplifiers or other circuitry that further processes the signal obtained from the MEMS component. In some examples, a differential amplifier is used that obtains a difference signal from the MEMS device.
In these applications, the Signal-To-Noise ratio (SNR) is desired to be high since a high SNR signifies that less noise is present in the system. However, achieving a high SNR ratio is difficult to achieve. For example, different sources of noise are often present (e.g., power supply noise, RF noise, to mention two examples). In systems that use differential amplifiers, it is possible to reduce correlated (common mode) noise as well as increasing signal to noise ratio via the subtraction of the signals from the differential pair.
In previous systems, various attempts to negate noise in have generally been unsuccessful. As a result, user dissatisfaction with these previous systems has resulted.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more complete understanding of the disclosure, reference should be made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 comprises a block diagram of a system that has two single ended inputs on two chips to an external differential stage according to various embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 2 comprises a block diagram of a system that has single ended inputs on two chips to an external differential flipped motor according to various embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3 comprises a block diagram of a system that has single ended inputs in a single chip to internal differential stage according to various embodiments of the present invention; and
FIG. 4 comprises a block diagram of a system with single ended inputs to one ASIC to internal differential stage flipped motor according to various embodiments of the present invention.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present approaches provide MEMS microphone arrangements that eliminate or substantially reduce common mode noise and/or other types of noise. By “common mode noise,” it is meant noise that is common to both devices feeding the inputs of the differential stage. Common mode noise is unlike the intended signal generated by the devices because it is in phase between devices. The presented approaches may be provided on single or multiple substrates (e.g., integrated circuits) to suit a particular user or particular system requirements.
When these approaches are provided on a single substrate or integrated circuit, less elimination of common mode noise is typically provided, but this allows that the provision of an integrated amplifier and microphone assembly that it is more economical and user friendly than approaches are not provided on the single substrate or integrated circuit.
In some aspects, two MEMS devices are used together to provide differential signals. The charge plate of the one MEMS device may be disposed or situated on the top, the diaphragm on the bottom, and the charge plate supplied with a positive bias. Alternatively, the charge plate of the same MEMS device may be disposed on the bottom, the diaphragm disposed on the top, and the diaphragm supplied with a negative bias. These two arrangements will supply the same signal that is 180 degrees out of phase with a second MEMS device that has a diaphragm on the top, a charge plate on the bottom, and the diaphragm being positively biased.
As has been mentioned, the MEMS motors could be disposed on one substrate (e.g., an integrated circuit or chip) or on multiple substrates. “Bias” as used herein is defined as the electrical bias (positive or negative) of diaphragm with respect to the back plate. By “MEMS motor,” it is meant a compliant diaphragm/backplate assembly operating under a fixed DC bias/charge.
Referring now to FIG. 1 , a system 100 includes a first MEMS device 102 (including a first diaphragm 106 and a first back or charge plate 108 ) and a second MEMS device 104 (including a second diaphragm 110 and a second back or charge plate 112 ). The diaphragms and charge plates mentioned herein are those that are used in typical MEMS devices as known to those skilled in the art and will be discussed no further detail herein.
The output of the MEMS devices 102 and 104 is supplied to a first integrated circuit 114 and a second integrated circuit 116 . The integrated circuits, can in one example be application specific integrated circuits (ASICS). These circuits perform various processing functions such as amplification of the received signals.
The integrated circuits 114 and 116 include a first preamp circuit 118 and a second preamp circuit 120 . The purpose of the preamp circuits 114 and 116 is to provide an extremely high impedance interface for a capacitive transducer which is generally high impedance source in the bandwidth of interest.
The outputs of the circuits 114 and 116 are transmitted to an external differential stage 122 (that includes a difference summer 124 that takes the difference of two signals from the circuits 114 and 116 ). In one example, the external differential stage 122 is either an integrated circuit on a microphone base PCB, or external hardware provided by the user.
A positive potential is supplied to first diaphragm 106 and a negative potential is applied to the second diaphragm 110 . This creates a differential signal at leads 126 and 128 as illustrated in graphs 150 and 152 . The differential signals in these graphs and as described elsewhere herein are out of phase by approximately 180 degrees with respect to each other. An output 130 of stage 122 is the difference between signals 127 and 129 and is shown in graph 154 .
Common mode noise of the whole system is rejected by the stage 122 . Common mode noise occurs between both of the MEMS motors and both ASICs in the example of FIG. 1 . As can be seen in the graphs, an increased SNR is achieved at the output 130 and as mentioned, common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated. Both of these aspects provide for improved system performance. Common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated in the example of FIG. 1 because the common noise components are subtracted from one another. Because they have 0 degree phase difference, the differential amplifier will reject some or all of the common mode signal.
Referring now to FIG. 2 , a system 200 includes a first MEMS device 202 (including a first diaphragm 206 and a first back or charge plate 208 ) and a second MEMS device 204 (including a second diaphragm 210 and a second back or charge plate 212 ). The output of the MEMS devices 202 and 204 are supplied to a first integrated circuit 214 and a second integrated circuit 216 . The integrated circuits, can in one example be application specific integrated circuits (ASICS). These circuits perform various processing functions such as amplification of the received signals.
The integrated circuits 214 and 216 include a first preamp circuit 218 and a second preamp circuit 220 . The purpose of the preamp circuits 214 and 216 is to provide an extremely high impedance interface for a capacitive transducer which is generally high impedance in the bandwidth of interest. A difference between the circuits 214 and 216 is in regard to the diaphragm/back plate orientation (i.e., one circuit 214 or 216 is “upside down,” thus causing 180 degree phase shift without negative bias).
The outputs of the circuits 214 and 216 are transmitted to an external differential stage 222 (that includes a difference summer 224 that takes the difference of two signals from the circuits 214 and 216 ).
A positive potential is supplied to the first diaphragm 206 . A positive potential is applied to the second back plate 212 . This creates a differential signal at leads 226 and 228 as illustrated in graphs 250 and 252 . Here, the second diaphragm and second back plate are flipped mechanically as compared to the example shown in FIG. 1 . This creates signals that are 180 degrees out of phase with respect to each other. An output 230 of stage 222 is the difference between signals 227 and 229 and is shown in graph 254 .
Common mode noise of the whole system is rejected by the stage 222 . Common mode noise occurs between both of the MEMS motors and both ASICs in the example of FIG. 2 . As can be seen in the graphs, an increased SNR is achieved at the output 230 and as mentioned, common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated. Both of these aspects provide for improved system performance. Common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated in the example of FIG. 1 because the common noise components are subtracted from one another. Because they have 0 degree phase difference, the differential amplifier will reject some or all of the common mode signal.
Referring now to FIG. 3 , a system 300 includes a first MEMS device 302 (including a first diaphragm 306 and a first back or charge plate 308 ) and a second MEMS device 304 (including a second diaphragm 310 and a second back or charge plate 312 ). The output of the MEMS devices 302 and 304 are supplied to an integrated circuit 314 . The integrated circuit, can in one example be application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). These circuits perform various processing functions such as amplification of the received signals.
The integrated circuit 314 includes a first preamp circuit 318 and a second preamp circuit 320 . The purpose of the preamp circuits 318 and 320 is to provide an extremely high impedance interface for a capacitive transducer which is generally high impedance in the bandwidth of interest.
The outputs of the preamps 318 and 320 are transmitted to a difference summer 324 that takes the difference of two signals from the preamps.
A positive potential is supplied to first diaphragm 306 . A negative potential is applied to the second diaphragm 310 . This creates a differential signal at leads 326 and 328 as illustrated in graphs 350 and 352 . An output 330 of ASIC 314 is the difference between signals 327 and 329 and is shown in graph 354 .
Common mode noise of the system in FIG. 3 is rejected by the summer 354 . Common mode noise occurs between the two MEMS motors in the example of FIG. 3 . As can be seen in the graphs, an increased SNR is achieved at the output 330 and as mentioned, common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated. Both of these aspects provide for improved system performance. Common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated in the example of FIG. 1 because the common noise components are subtracted from one another. Because they have 0 degree phase difference, the differential amplifier will reject some or all of the common mode signal.
Referring now to FIG. 4 , a system 400 includes a first MEMS device 402 (including a first diaphragm 406 and a first back or charge plate 408 ) and a second MEMS device 404 (including a second diaphragm 410 and a second back or charge plate 412 ). The output of the MEMS devices 402 and 404 are supplied to an integrated circuit 414 . The integrated circuit, can in one example be an application specific integrated circuits (ASIC). The integrated circuit can perform various functions such as signal amplification.
The integrated circuits 414 include a first preamp circuit 418 and a second preamp circuit 420 . The purpose of the preamp circuits is to provide an extremely high impedance interface for a capacitive transducer which is generally high impedance in the bandwidth of interest. The outputs of the circuits 414 that takes the difference of two signals from the preamps 414 and 418 .
A positive potential is supplied to first diaphragm 406 . A positive potential is applied to the second back plate 412 . This creates a differential signal at leads 426 and 428 as illustrated in graphs 450 and 452 . An output 430 of ASIC 414 is the difference between signals 427 and 429 and is shown in graph 454 .
Common mode noise of system of FIG. 4 is rejected by the ASIC 414 . Common mode noise occurs between the two MEMS motors in the example of FIG. 4 . As can be seen in the graphs, an increased SNR is achieved at the output 430 and as mentioned, common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated. Both of these aspects provide for improved system performance. Common mode noise is significantly reduced or eliminated in the example of FIG. 1 because the common noise components are subtracted from one another. Because they have 0 degree phase difference, the differential amplifier will reject some or all of the common mode signal.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. It should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplary only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. | An the acoustic apparatus comprising a first MEMS motor that includes a first diaphragm and a first back plate, and a second MEMS motor that includes a second diaphragm and a second back plate. The first motor is biased with a first electrical polarity and a second motor is biased with a second electrical polarity such that the first electrical polarity and the second electrical polarity are opposite. At the first motor, a first signal is created that is representative of received sound energy. At the second motor, a second signal is created that is representative of the received sound energy. A differential output signal that is the representative of the difference between the first signal and the second signal is obtained. In obtaining the differential output signal, common mode noise between the first motor and the second motor is rejected. | 7 |
This is a continuation of Ser. No. 694,650, filed Jan. 24, 1985, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to wide bandgap materials, particularly for solar cells.
In the case of solar cells, photosensitive material such as silicon is deposited on or associated with a transparent conductive oxide. In many cases there can be an undesirable interaction between the silicon and the transparent conductive oxide. A common transparent conductive oxide is tin oxide which, with respect to silicon, is thermodynamically unstable. In particular, the free energy of formation for tin oxide is about -124 kilocalories per mole at standard temperature and pressure (STP), while the free energy for formation of silicon dioxide at STP is about -192 kilocalories per mole. The rate of interaction between the silicon and the transparent conductive oxide depends upon temperature. At elevated temperatures (above about 300 degrees C. to 400 degrees C.), the rate of interaction is fast and, in the case of tin oxide and silicon, leads to a chemical reduction of the transparent conductive layer. There is also the oxidation of the silicon layer in the vicinity of the tin oxide layer and the diffusion of elemental tin into the silicon layer. As a result the transparent conductive oxide loses its transparency, as well as its conductivity. An insulating silicon oxide layer forms and tin diffuses throughout much of the silicon layer.
For an amorphous silicon solar cell having the structure glass/tin oxide/p-i-n/metal, where the p, i and n denotes p-type, intrinsic, and n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon, respectively, it is desirable for the p-type layer to have a wide optical bandgap in order that most of the incident light can be absorbed in the photovoltaically active i-layer of the device. Such wide gap doped layers are practically non-absorbing for visible light and are called window layers. The bandgap of a semiconductor is defined as the energy gap between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band.
A common technique for the formation of semiconductive materials involves the use of plasma deposition or plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. Unfortunately, these techniques involve both "energetic" particles and atomic hydrogen which may increase the degree of interaction between the semiconductor layer and associated transparent conductive layers. For example, in the plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) on tin oxide, tin has been observed well into the silicon layer using elemental depth profiling techniques (
Appl. Phys. Lett. 43, 101-1983).
The bandgap of intrinsic (undoped) a-Si:H is typically 1.75 eV. When a-Si:H is doped p-type the bandgap usually shrinks to about 1.4 eV and the material becomes strongly absorbing. For this reason the source materials for the doped semiconductive p-type layer often include carbon in an attempt to widen the bandgap. Unfortunately, the presence of carbon in intrinsic (i) layers of hydrogenated amorphous silicon has been reported to cause impairment in the quality of the layer (J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 66, 243-1984). Accordingly, although carbon is commonly employed in wide bandgap materials, it may be desirable in many situations to achieve such bandgaps without the employment of cabon--thus reducing the possibility of subsequent carbon contamination of the i-layer.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to facilitate and improve the production and utilization of wide bandgap materials. For wide gap hydrogenated amorphous silicon, the bandgap should exceed about 1.9 eV. A related object is to achieve wide bandgap materials which avoid many of the disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to realize wide bandgap materials which can be employed in conjunction with other associated materials without cross contamination. A related object is to increase the compatibility between transparent conductive oxides, used, for example, in the fabrication of solar cells, and associated semiconducting layers. Another related object is to increase the compatibility between tin oxide and an associated silicon material used in the manufacture of solar cells.
Still another object of the invention is to achieve wide bandgap materials without the creation of excessively energetic particles such as ions or electrons. An associated object is to provide alternative techniques for the realization of wide bandgap materials without the employment of plasma or plasma-assisted deposition. A closely related object is to achieve a wide bandgap p-layer at the low temperature (180 degrees. C.-300 degrees C.) used in plasma-assisted deposition but without the plasma or energetic ions or electrons.
Still another object of the invention is to obtain wide bandgap materials which are practically transparent to the desired optical energy. A related object is to obtain wide bandgap materials with and without carbon alloying.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accomplishing the foregoing and related objects, the invention provides a method for the fabrication of wide bandgap materials by decomposing one or more gaseous phase, higher order silanes in the presence of a dopant. The dopant can be used to produce a p-type material or an n-type material.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the dopant for p-type material is a boron contributor such as diborane. The diborane has a catalytic effect on the thermal decomposition of the silane gases and consequently permits realization of the desired bandgap material at a lower temperature (e.g. at 180-300 degrees C., instead of 400-500 degrees C.). The consequence of using the lower temperature is that there is less interaction between the depositing p-type material and the material it is deposited on, e.g. tin oxide.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the decomposition of the higher order silanes takes place at a temperature in the range from about 180 degrees to about 300 degrees C. due to the catalytic effect of an appropriate dopant, e.g. diborane. In some cases, e.g. where the material is not deposited on tin oxide, the temperature can range as high as 470 degrees C. and nevertheless produce a desirable product. The pressure range extends from about 1 to about 50 Torr and the gas-phase residence time (the time the gases reside in the deposition chamber) of the gases involved in the decomposition is in the range from about 1 to about 500 seconds.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, n-type dopants can be employed such as phosphorus containing materials like phosphine. However, in this case carbon alloying is necessary to achieve a window layer since a low deposition temperature (below about 400 degrees C.) is not possible. An appropriate carbon contributor is acetylene.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the invention, semiconductor devices are realized by a plurality of semiconductive layers, at least one of which is formed by the pyrolysis of one or more higher order silanes. The pyrolytically formed layer may be supplemented by one or more pyrolytically formed layers or by layers formed in other ways, including glow discharge and glow discharge-assisted pyrolysis. The devices can include transparent conductive oxide layers which are of tin oxide or of indium oxide or indium tin oxide.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other aspects of the invention will become apparent after considering several illustrative embodiments, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:
FIG. 1A is a schematic view of an illustrative solar cell in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 1B is a schematic view of an alternative illustrative solar cell in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2A is a graph illustrating the optical properties of various semiconductive layers in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of relative positions of band edges relative to Fermi levels of various layers. Examples C and D are in accordance with the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference to the drawings, FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells in accordance with the invention.
A cell 100 of FIG. 1 includes a glass support 10 through which sunlight passes to the interior of the cell in order to produce the desired conversion of sunlight into electrical energy. A transparent conducting oxide 20, such as doped tin oxide, is used to provide electrical contact to the doped a-Si:H layer. The underlying p-layer 40 of a-Si:H is prepared in accordance with the invention to eliminate the extent of reaction between it and the overlying transparent conductive oxide layer 20. The remaining layers 50 and 60, respectively of intrinsic (i) a-Si:H and n-type a-Si:H, can be deposited in a wide variety of ways. Suitable techniques include plasma and plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD). In addition, CVD or pyrolysis may be employed alone, provided the deposition temperature of the i and n layers do not substantially exceed that of the p-layer. The final layer in FIG. 1A is a metallic layer 70 to provide electrical contact to the overlyihng amorphous silicon layers. A diffusion barrier or other layer may be included between layer 70 and the adjoining amorphous silicon layer 60 in order to increase stability.
In the alternative cell 100' of FIG. 1B, a stainless steel support 80 is used instead of a glass plate 10 for the cell 100 of FIG. 1A. The transparent conductive oxide layer 20 can be of indium oxide or indium tin oxide in place of tin oxide.
The apparatus used for the solar cells 100 and 100' of FIGS. 1A and 1B can include glow discharge apparatus where the discharge is not used for the low temperature, thermally deposited p-layer.
In order to produce the p-layers 40 of FIGS. 1A and 1B, a catalytic dopant such as diborane is employed. It is known that diborane catalyzes the thermal decomposition of monosilane (M. Hirose, et al., J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 35-36, 297-1980). M. Hirose and his colleagues employed a deposition temperature of 550 degrees C. with diborane to produce p-layers and 650 degrees C. without diborane when the dopant was phosphine. Although the p-layers may have a dark conductivity on the order of 10 -2 to 10 -4 reciprocal ohm centimeters, they are highly absorbing of visible light and produce low open circuit voltages when use in solar cell configurations. Consequently, these films make very poor p-layers for solar cell devices.
In accordance with the present invention for making p-layers, disilane (or higher silane) is substituted for monosilane and a temperature below which disilane (or the higher silane) decomposes is used, and the result is a wide bandgap material. When the resultant material is used in a device, it produces a larger open circuit voltage than comparable layers produced from monosilane.
In addition, when the diborane is mixed with additional silanes, such as trisilane and even higher silanes, pyrolytic decomposition produces an even larger open-circuit voltage. In one example, a suitable silane mixture was analyzed by gas chromatography and indicated 15 percent monosilane, 15 percent disilane and 70 percent trisilane, with an undetermined amount of tetrasilane and still higher silanes.
Using the thermal pyrolysis of diborane and mixtures of silanes including significant amounts of trisilanes, p-type material has been produced in the temperature range from about 180 degrees C. to 300 degrees C. Deposition pressures between about 1 and 20 Torr have also been used successfully. Above a few Torr, roughly 5 Torr, depending upon the gas composition and flow rate, undesirable powder byproducts may be produced. A useful ratio of diborane to silanes concentration for p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (to be used in solar cells) is 0.5×10 -2 to 3×10 -2 . The diborane is typically diluted by an inert gas carrier, for example 1 percent diborane in helium. At 200 degrees C. and a pressure of 2 Torr, flow rates such that the gas-phase residence time is about 2 seconds is also desirable. By varying deposition conditions, the boron concentration of the film varies from below the Auger detection limit, i.e. less than about 1 atomic percent, to about 10 atomic percent.
The optical bandgap, as measured on thin film (0.1 to 0.2 microns) can be varied over a wide range, for example from 1.7 to 2.4 electron volts (See FIG. 2A and TABLE I). Thus the properties of the p-layer can be tailored largely to meet the needs of the device to be produced. As the bandgap increases, the resistivity of the film also increases. In solar cell applications, the maximum usable bandgap is about 2 electron volts where the activation energy of the dark conductivity has been measured on one sample to be about 0.4 electron volts. Consequently, the properties of the p-layer in accordance with the invention are similar to those obtained for plasma-assisted CVD of boron doped silicon carbon alloys. However, in the case of the invention, they are obtained without the use of carbon and without the use of energetic ions, electrons or photosensitization.
The wide optical bandgap is a consequence of the low deposition temperature and higher silane gases that are employed. Below about 370 degrees C., thermal decomposition of higher silanes is negligibly slow and there is insufficient thermal energy to break unstressed silicon-hydrogen bonds. The deposition of the boron doped hydrogen amorphous silicon film is initiated by the decomposition of diborane into reactive intermediates which subsequently react with the higher silanes to produce silicon and boron containing intermediates from which the film is grown. For appropriate gas mixtures at low deposition temperatures, the resulting films have a high hydrogen concentration (based on SIMS--Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry--analysis, which for sample 935 shows 26 atomic percent hydrogen). Because the silicon-hydrogen bond is stronger than the silicon-silicon bond, the presence of the high hydrogen concentration greatly increases the optical bandgap of the material or, equivalently, reduces the absorption of visible light within the material.
Solar cells produced in accordance with FIG. 1A, i.e. using the wide bandgap layer 40 of the invention, have resulted in a suitably high short-circuit current density, about 20 percent higher than typically observed in prior cases. This result indicates that there is little absorption of visible light in the wide bandgap p-layer and there is little, if any, diffusional contamination between the transparent conductive oxide and the i-layer. The latter would degrade the i-layer and thus reduce the short-circuit current. Solar cells in accordance with FIG. 1A have also yielded relatively high open-circuit voltages, e.g. up to 0.83 volts.
In the foregoing experiment, the p-layer was deposited in a reactor without any glow discharge. The same reactor was subsequently used with glow discharge to produce the intrinsic and the subsequent n-layer. Thus, multiple deposition chambers are not necessary for the practice of the invention.
It is also possible, in accordance with the invention, to produce hybrid p-layers in which the first half of the layer is produced in accordance with the invention so that no plasma interacts with transparent conductive oxide, but the second half of the p-layer can be produced in accordance with any of the known techniques of the prior art which would be objectionable if there would be contact with the transparent conductive oxide but which are unobjectionable for contact with other amorphous silicon layers.
In the pyrolysis of diborane and trisilane (containing some disilane and tetrasilane), the boron/silane ratio in the film was about 2 to 4 times largeer than the initial diborane/silane gas phase ratio for deposition temperatures between 200 degrees C. and 470 degrees C. In the p-layer of device 902 (See TABLE I) the boron/silicon ratio of the p-layer is about 4 percent according to the Auger analysis.
With reference to TABLE I, there is a trend of increasing open-circuit voltage with increasing silane order and decreasing temperature. For diborane/trisilane mixtures at 200 degrees C. to 280 degrees C., an open-circuit voltage of 0.70 to 0.72 volts is obtained for all CVD devices. For a fixed boron concentration, as the temperature decreases the bandgap increases. This is believed to be a consequence of high hydrogen concentration.
It is further believed that there are two principal mechanisms for the loss of hydrogen from silicon-hydrogen bonds. The first occurs in both the gas phase and solid phase and is the hydrogen loss induced by the decomposition of diborane and the subsequent reaction. The second occurs in the solid phase and is the hydrogen loss associated with reducing stress by bond rearrangement. At 200 degrees C. there is not much energy available for bond rearrangement. A SIMS analysis of sample 932 in TABLE II indicates about 26 percent atomic percent hydrogen based upon comparison with a 17 atomic percent amorphous silicon hydride standard.
With reference to TABLE II, it is to be noted that at 200 degrees C. the dark conductivity increases and the optical bandgap decreases in the diborane/silane ratio increases, or equivalently, as the concentration of boron in the film increases.
At low diborane to disilane ratios, it is possible to produce wide bandgap material with disilane, and it is to be expected that an open-circuit voltage similar to that obtained from trisilane may be possible for disilane.
FIG. 2A and TABLE II show that the bandgap may be increased at high temperatures by adding acetylene to the silane/diborane mixture. At 470 degrees C. no deposition from acetylene on glass or crystalline/silicon is obtained. The carbon in the film arises from the interaction of acetylene with active silicon and boron containing intermediates. From TABLE II it appears that the low temperature wide bandgap silicon p-layer and the high temperature wide bandgap silicon/carbon p-layer can be deposited with similar properties. In fact, plots of the temperature dependence of the dark conductivity of samples 907 and 851 are similar. However, only the low temperature p-layer is useful in amorphous silicon solar cells, since at 440 degrees C. to 470 degrees C. with acetylene/silane ratios from about 0.3 to about 0.5, the open circuit voltage obtained used the carbon containing p-layer is only between 0.5 and 0.56 volts. The largest open-circuit voltage is obtained at the low acetylene/silane ratio.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________Representative p-layers as a function of temperature, pressure, ratio ofinitial diborane to silane concentration, and gas-phase residence time(r.sub.t) inall CVD diagnostic Au/pin/ss devices illuminated by an ELH lamp at 100mW/cm.sup.2.For comparison, the V.sub.oc of Au/in/ss Schottky diodes is 0.45-0.50volts. T.sub.sub /T.sub.wall ##STR1##Sample Silane (°C./°C.) Press. (Torr) (%) R.sub.t (Sec) Time (Sec) V.sub.oc (Volts)__________________________________________________________________________793 Monosilane 470.sup.a /400.sup. 20 0.7 13 45 0.36791 Monosilane 470/400 2.2 0.7 1.5 60 0.40774 Trisilane.sup.b 470/400 0.6 0.6 2.6 60 0.37783 Trisilane 470/400 1.0 3.5 0.9 60 0.43794 Monosilane 340/300 20 0.7 16 40 0.53795 Monosilane 300/280 20 0.7 17 90 0.54800 Monosilane 280/270 20 0.4 13 180 0.57801 Monosilane 280/260 20 0.3 11 120 0.55860 Trisilane 280/275 21 0.5 20 30 0.70862 Trisilane 260/240 20 0.8 20 30 0.70863 Trisilane 240/220 23 0.8 24 30 0.71864 Trisilane 220/200 21 0.8 23 30 0.68925 Disilane 200/180 2.3 1.5 3.2 120 0.62866 Trisilane 200/180 20 0.8 25 60 0.71868 Trisilane 200/180 10 0.8 20 90 0.71869 Trisilane 200/220 6 0.8 7 120 0.72902 Trisilane 200/180 2.5 1.5 3.5 120 0.70873 Trisilane 200/180 2 0.8 2.4 120 0.72870 Trisilane 200/180 1 0.8 1.1 150 0.66.sup. 867.sup.c Trisilane 175/160 22 0.8 26 60 0.70__________________________________________________________________________ .sup.a This is the temperature of the stainless steel substrate holder. The actual substrate temperature is, in general, slightly cooler. .sup.b The silane designated "trisilane" consists of a mixture of higher silanes, including disilane and tetrasilane, where trisilane is the major component. .sup.c This run resulted in a poor device. It is possible that the player did not contact the ilayer well.
TABLE II__________________________________________________________________________Optical and electronic properties of CVD p-layers. R.sub.t is thegas-phase residence time. The dark conductivity,o.sub.d, and the activation energy, E.sub.a, are room temperature values;and the bandgap, E.sub.g, and the slope aremeasured in the usual way from (hv).sup.0.5 vs. hv. T.sub.sub /T.sub.wall Press. ##STR2## R.sub.tSample Silane (°C./°C.) (Torr) (%) (Sec) σ.sub.d (n-cm).sup.-1 E.sub.a (eV) E.sub.g (eV) Slope (cm-eV).sup.-0.5__________________________________________________________________________785 Monosilane 470.sup.a /405.sup. 2.5 0.7 1.6 4 × 10.sup.-2 1.32 867799 Monosilane 280/260 20 0.4 13 1-2 × 10.sup.-4781 Trisilane.sup.b 470/400 0.8 2.5 1.3 7 × 10.sup.-3 0.20 1.50 659782 Trisilane 470/400 0.9 3.7 0.9 1 × 10.sup.-2850 Trisilane.sup.c 470/400 10 5.0 14 3 × 10.sup.-3 1.43 660851 Trisilane.sup.d 470/400 10 5.0 13 2 × 10.sup.-7 0.37 1.91 763849 Trisilane.sup.e 470/400 10 5.0 13 9 × 10.sup.-10 1.94 787848 Trisilane.sup.f 470/400 10 5.0 12 4 × 10.sup.-10 2.06 996927 Disilane 200/180 2.7 1.5 6.8 .sub. 1.87.sup.g 840928 Disilane 200/180 2.6 3.0 8.2 2 × 10.sup.-5935 Disilane 200/180 50 0.04 610 9 × 10.sup.-10 .sub. 2.46.sup.g 968907 Trisilane 200/180 2.4 1.9 6.9 5 × 10.sup.-7 0.37 .sub. 2.16.sup.g 1100__________________________________________________________________________ .sup.a This is the temperature of the stainless steel substrate holder. The actual substrate temperature is, in general, slightly cooler. .sup.b The silane designated "trisilane" consists of a mixture of higher silanes, including disilane and tetrasilane, where trisilane is the major component. .sup.c-f Acetylene is added to the higher silane mixture. The respective acetylene to silane ratios are: 0.13, 0.48, 0.66. and 1.1. Auger analysis of sample #851 shows Si:C:B = 48:45:7. .sup.g These films are only about 0.2 microns thick, The bandgap, as measured above, is thickness dependent. Thus, for comparison with the other films about 0.1-0.2 eV should be subtracted.
As acetylene is added to the gas-phase mixture for low temperature p-layers where diffusion of boron is not expected, the open-circuit voltage decreases. However, the addition of sufficient acetylene to the silane/phosphine mixture at 470 degrees C. to increase the bandgap of an n-layer by 0.2 to 0.3 electron volts and the substitution of the new n-layer in a P-I-N device does not decrease the open-circuit voltage. To the contrary, the built-in voltage is slightly larger. At low temperatures the open-circuit voltage tends to be the built-in voltage since the reverse dark saturation current is reduced. For a low temperature p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon layered on an intrinsic and n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon, and for a low temperature p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon layered on an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon and further layered on an n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide, with measurements made near the temperature of liquid nitrogen, the respective open-circuit voltages are 0.99 volts and 1.05 volts.
Assuming that the different open-circuit voltages result from differences in built-in voltage, for a given bandgap and activation energy, a smaller work function is suggested in the n- and p-type layers made from acetylene/trisilane mixtures. As acetylene is added to the higher silanes, the bandgap of the resulting film increases at least in part by the shifting of the conduction band edge closer to the vacuum level as shown in FIG. 2B. This type of wide bandgap n-layer has potential use in many devices. In addition, a smaller acetylene silane ratio is needed to produce an n-layer of the same bandgap as a p-layer.
When the invention is used in the range from about 200 degrees C. to about 300 degrees C. with higher order silanes to deposit a wide bandgap p-layer without carbon, and incorporated into an all pyrolytically formed device, a typical open-circuit voltage is between 0.7 and 0.72 volts. In the case of a solar cell of indium tin oxide-PIN-stainless steel, the external solar energy efficiency is greater than 3 percent.
Low temperature wide bandgap pyrolytically produced p-layers are useful in hybrid CVD-glow discharge devices as, for example, discussed above regarding FIG. 1A. In a structure formed by glass/doped tin oxide/pyrolytically formed p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon/glow discharge intrinsic and n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon/metal, the tin oxide, amorphous silicon interface is thermodynamically unstable. For the same deposition temperature, without energetic electrons and ions, and without atomic hydrogen that is probably present in glow discharge, there may be less reduction of tin oxide and hence less tin diffusion into the hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers with a pyrolytically formed p-layer. Since the pyrolytically formed p-layer does not use a carbon source there is less likelihood of contamination in the i-layer, expecially near the p-layer/i-layer interface. As expected, the open-circuit voltage for hybrid structures is larger than for all CVD devices since glow discharge intrinsic layers have a significantly lower defect density and a slightly larger optical bandgap. In a recent test a hybrid device had an open-circuit voltage of 0.83 volts.
Another device with a low temperature pyrolytically formed p-layer exhibited an AM1 short-circuit current density 1-2 milliamperes per square centimeter higher than that obtained in devices employing a glow discharge hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide p-layer with a bandgap of 1.85 electron volts.
The results of the experimental effort (excluding the hybrid device work) are summarized in TABLES I and II. In TABLE I representative p-layers are shown as a function of temperature, pressure, ratio of initial diborane to silane concentration and gas-phase residence time (R t ). The devices are formed by pyrolytic decomposition to form a PIN structure upon a stainless steel substrate and overlaying with a semitransparent gold contacting film. These devices were illuminated by a ELH lamp at 100 milliwatts per square centimeter. For comparison the open-circuit voltage of a Schottky diode in the form of gold/IN/substrate is 0.45 to 0.50 volts.
In TABLE II are set forth the optical and electronic properties of pyrolytically formed p-layers. R t is the gas-phase residence time. The dark conductivity is σ d and the activation energy is E a . The dark conductivity and the activation energy are room temperature values. The bandgap, E g , and the slope are measured from a plot as shown in FIG. 2A of the square root of the product of the absorption coefficient times the photon energy versus photon energy.
In FIG. 2A, there is a plot of square root of the product of the absorption coefficient and the photon energy against the photon energy for representative p-layers that are formed by pyrolytic conversion.
In FIG. 2B, there are shown schematic diagrams of relative positions of band edges (E v and E c and the Fermi level E f ) between a reference intrinsic layer (A), a high temperature formed p-layer (B), a low temperature pyrolytically formed p-layer (C), and a high temperature pyrolytically formed silicon-carbon alloy p-layer (D). The diagram has been constructed on the assumption that the different open circuit voltages observed in devices using these p-layers arise mainly from the position of the Fermi level.
Given the foregoing disclosure, other aspects of the invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. | A method of depositing wide bandgap p type amorphous semiconductor materials on a substrate without photosensitization by the decomposition of one or more higher order gaseous silanes in the presence of a p-type catalytic dopant at a temperature of about 200° C. and a pressure in the range from about 1-50 Torr. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to an adapter for a telephone holder of a hands-free device, specifically, for a telephone holder mounted in a vehicle.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Telephone holders for cellular telephones, in particular those installed in vehicles, already exist. In light of the fact that many countries have passed legislation requiring the use of hands-free systems in vehicles so as to keep distraction of the driver to a minimum when the telephone is used, there exists a multiplicity of telephone holders for installation in vehicles. Usually, these telephone holders may be employed with only one type, or a few types, of cellular telephones since new products usually have altered dimensions or different connecting elements. Since cellular telephones are usually replaced after only a few years, while a vehicle has a much longer service life, a new telephone holder is acquired simultaneously with the purchase of the new cellular telephone—a requirement that is inconvenient and expensive. In addition, in the case of users such as married couples, for example, who own different types of cellular telephones, only one cellular telephone may be used in the installed telephone holder.
[0005] The goal of the invention is therefore to eliminate the above disadvantages by creating an adapter for a telephone holder of a hands-free unit, by which adapter the telephone holder may be employed with different types or new types of cellular telephones, thereby eliminating the requirement of replacing telephone holders when a new cellular telephone is purchased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] This goal is achieved by an adapter for the telephone holder of a hands-free device, which adapter has the features indicated in claim 1 .
[0007] As a first feature according to the invention, the adapter has a locking mechanism to detachably lock the adapter to the telephone holder, thereby engaging contact elements of the telephone holder through a contact strip on the adapter. In addition, a cellular telephone may be inserted into the adapter, which phone is detachably connectable to the adapter through additional locking elements, a connection being created in the inserted position between contact elements on the cellular telephone and contact elements on the adapter so that the cellular telephone is held by the adapter on the telephone holder in order to retain its functionality. As a result, such cellular telephones may be used on the telephone holder of the hands-free device which were not actually designed for use on this telephone holder. This capability applies both to new cellular telephones as well as to cellular telephones of a different type, or from a different manufacturer. The adapter may be purchased as an accessory component for a cellular telephone or for a telephone holder, thus allowing different cellular telephones to be employed in succession on the telephone holder. The great advantage for the user is the fact that no new telephone holder or new hands-free device need be acquired or installed; instead, the only requirement is that an adapter be inserted in the telephone holder by a few effortless procedures. Another advantage is that the frequently long delivery times for hands-free devices compatible with cellular telephones are significantly reduced since as a single component the adapter is able to be supplied within significantly shorter time periods.
[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a circuit board is interconnected between the contact elements on the adapter and the contact strip, by which circuit board the requisite adaptations are implemented in regard to transmitting signals and power. Since specific cellular telephones here have different requirements, this adaptation is implemented automatically by the circuit board. In addition, the adapter may be provided in the form of a compact unit by accommodating the circuit board in a plastic case. To this end, the adapter is preferably of a box-like shape and comprises a holding fixture which partially encloses a cellular telephone.
[0009] According to one advantageous embodiment of the invention, lateral recesses are provided on the adapter into which locking elements may be inserted to secure the adapter. In order to facilitate insertion of the adapter, support strips are preferably provided on the telephone holder so that the adapter can be slipped on via projections.
[0010] To provide a secure connection between the contacts, the box-shaped adapter includes contact strips on the end face by which the adapter may be slipped on or pivoted on to the contact elements of the telephone holder. To enable the pivoting-on procedure, recesses are preferably provided adjacent to the contact strips, which recesses engage projections on the telephone holder, so that the adapter is first inserted into the telephone holder, then pivoted down so as to effect locking. In addition, a projecting antenna plug may be provided in the base of the telephone holder, which plug is insertable into a jack facing the telephone holder such that the antenna plug has both a locking function as well as a transmitting function.
[0011] A pocket-shaped holding fixture is preferably provided to securely accommodate the cellular telephone, in which fixture clamping elements are provided to secure the cellular telephone, and contact elements are provided to connect the cellular telephone. In order to ensure that the cellular telephone remains fixed in position even during travel involving significant vibration, latching elements and clamping elements are provided within the holding fixture.
[0012] In addition, a communications unit is provided comprising a telephone holder and an adapter according to the invention inserted into the telephone holder. As a result, adaptation to a specific cellular telephone may be implemented immediately when the telephone holder is purchased.
[0013] Alternatively, the communications unit comprises a cellular telephone and an adapter to accommodate the cellular telephone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The following discussion explains the invention in more detail based on three embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
[0015] [0015]FIG. 1A is a top view of a commercially available telephone holder;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 1B is a side view of the telephone holder of FIG. 1A;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 2A is a top view of a telephone holder including an adapter according to the invention in a first embodiment FIG. 2B is a side view of the telephone holder with the adapter of FIG. 2A;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 2C is a perspective view of the adapter in FIG. 2A;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 3A is a top view of a telephone holder including an adapter according to the invention in a second embodiment;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 3B is a side view of the telephone holder with the adapter as seen in FIG. 3A;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 4A is a top view of a telephone holder including an adapter according to the invention in a third embodiment;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 4B is a side view of the telephone holder with the adapter as seen in FIG. 4A; and
[0023] [0023]FIG. 5 is a top view of an antenna element for an adapter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0024] A telephone holder 1 of a hands-free device shown in FIGS. 1A through 1C includes multiple contact pins 10 and 11 , the function of which is to enable the cellular telephone to be charged and signals to be transmitted. Telephone holder 1 has a shell-like base unit, an antenna plug 12 being provided in the upper region of the bottom of this base unit. Antenna plug 12 is connected to an antenna cord 14 , while contact pins 10 and 11 are connected to a transmission cord 13 . A specific type of cellular telephone may be connected to telephone holder 1 .
[0025] Adjacent to side the side walls 19 , locking elements 15 are provided to effect mechanical locking of a cellular telephone or adapter, the elements being located above a support strip 17 . One section of support strip 17 here is configured to be pivotable at the top. When an object is pressed onto the pivotable section of strip 17 , this section moves downward and aligns with strip 17 integral with side walls 19 . The downward pivoting motion laterally pivots locking element 15 inward from the side wall which, as a result, is able to engage a recess in a cellular telephone or other object. A button 16 is provided to release the locking mechanism, which button releases the engaged locking elements 15 and uses a spring to enable the pivotable section of strip 17 to pivot back into the starting position. In addition, projections 18 are molded on to telephone holder 1 which facilitate locking of the cellular telephone or adapter and prevent these items from slipping out of the lock at the top.
[0026] [0026]FIGS. 2A through 2C show telephone holder 1 including an adapter 2 according to the invention. Adapter 2 includes a contact strip 20 which is able to engage contact elements 10 and 11 of telephone holder 1 . Adapter 2 is has essentially a box-like shape, a circuit board being enclosed within the plastic case of the adapter in the rear side facing telephone holder 1 . In addition, a jack 22 is provided in adapter 2 , into which jack antenna plug 12 may be inserted. In the opposite side walls of adapter 2 , recesses 23 are provided which locking elements 15 of telephone holder 1 are able to engage. The rear side of adapter 2 has a support strip 29 which is able to rest on strip 17 of telephone holder 1 . A recess 24 is then provided adjacent to contact strip 20 ; projections 18 of telephone holder 1 are able to engage said recess. In order to insert adapter 2 , the contact strip is first placed onto contact elements 10 and 11 such that projections 18 engage recesses 24 . Adapter 2 is then pivoted downward until strip 29 rests on strip 17 , and locking element 15 laterally engages and latches into the respective recess 23 of adapter 2 . In this pivoted-down position, adapter 2 is thus secured within telephone holder 1 , while the contact elements engage each other.
[0027] Adapter 2 comprises side walls 26 and a pocket-shaped holding fixture 27 into which a cellular telephone may be inserted. In one part of pocket-shaped holding fixture 27 , a plug element 21 is provided into which the cellular telephone may be inserted. To secure the cellular telephone, brush elements 25 may be provided at the base of adapter 2 and along side walls 26 , which elements effect clamping forces to hold the cellular telephone within adapter 2 . The adapter 2 shown includes only one plug 21 to connect cords for charging and to connect the requisite channels for the transmission of data.
[0028] Adapter 2 may optionally be left in telephone holder 1 and the cellular telephone may be plugged into adapter 2 when needed so that telephone calls may be placed via adapter 2 and telephone holder 1 . Whenever telephone holder 1 is to be used for other types of telephones, adapter 2 may easily be removed by pressing button 6 and telephone holder 1 may be utilized in other ways.
[0029] [0029]FIGS. 3A and 3B show a second embodiment of an adapter 3 according to the invention. Adapter 3 essentially has a box-like shape and includes a contact strip 30 and an antenna jack 32 which are positioned as in the previous embodiment so as to connect to telephone holder 1 . The mechanical attachment means used to lock in telephone holder 1 are also of a similar design, recesses 33 being provided into which locking element 15 may be inserted. Locking and connection of adapter 3 are effected in a manner similar to that of the previous embodiment.
[0030] A pocket 35 is formed within adapter 3 to accommodate a cellular telephone 50 . Cellular telephone 50 is retained by projecting side walls 34 , brush surfaces being provided along the side walls and at additional locations on adapter 3 which utilize friction to reliably secure cellular telephone 50 . Additional means of securing cellular telephone 50 may be provided as well. In order to connect cellular telephone 50 , pins 31 are provided within holding fixture 35 , which pins may be plugged into cellular telephone 50 . Cellular telephone 50 is thus connected to telephone holder 1 through plug contacts 31 , a circuit board not shown, contact strip 30 , and contact elements 10 and 11 , and is therefore functional. In the event cellular telephone 50 requires a different configuration in terms of transmission signals and power, an adaptation may be effected via the circuit board located in adapter 3 .
[0031] [0031]FIGS. 4A and 4B show a third embodiment of an adapter 4 according to the invention. Adapter 4 includes a shell insertable into telephone holder 1 , on which a contact strip 40 , a jack 42 , and lateral recesses 43 are provided to enable adapter 4 to be connected to and engaged with telephone holder 1 in a manner similar to the previous embodiments.
[0032] To connect a cellular telephone 51 , a holding fixture 45 is provided in which a plug strip 41 is mounted. Cellular telephone 51 may be slipped onto plug 41 by guiding it along the side walls 44 . In the embodiment shown, holding fixture 45 is pivotably mounted so as to allow insertion of cellular telephone 51 only in the pivoted-open position. To lock in cellular telephone 51 , the holding fixture along with cellular telephone 51 is pivoted downward until an antenna jack of cellular telephone 51 engages an antenna plug 46 on adapter 5 . In this case, an antenna is mounted in a holding fixture 48 , the antenna being accommodated in a protective manner by a side wall 47 . Engagement of holding fixture 45 to cellular telephone 51 is effected by latching elements, not shown, beneath a switch 49 . Pressing switch 49 retracts these latching elements, thus allowing holding fixture 45 to pivot upward by spring force.
[0033] The adapters 2 , 3 , and 4 shown have only a small selection of possible configurations for the adapter according to the invention. All of the adapters are able to be connected to an existing telephone retaining device 1 , whereby the user has the option of removing the cellular telephone from the adapter or adapter from the telephone holder. In addition, when a new cellular telephone is purchased, one need only acquire an adapter additionally to be able to continue using an existing telephone retaining device.
[0034] The latching and locking means shown represent only a small selection of possible means of attachment. Any other type of clamping connection, latching connection or other quick-connection means may be utilized.
[0035] In the embodiments presented, one antenna plug 12 , 46 is provided. In place of an antenna plug, or in addition to such a plug, an antenna element 60 may be enclosed in the adapter so as to be invisible from outside.
[0036] An antenna element 60 of this type is shown in FIG. 5. Antenna element 60 has a plate-like shape and has three conducting surfaces 61 , 62 , and 63 which are made of a thin metal layer, for example copper. Conducting surfaces 61 , 62 , and 63 are arranged on a plate composed of a plastic material so as to be fixed and separated from each other. Each conducting surface 61 , 62 and 63 is connected through a terminal to a conductor of a cord 64 . Cord 64 in turn is connected to a plug 65 which is connectable to a plug of telephone holder 1 . Conducting surfaces 61 , 62 , 63 enable the reception of the cellular telephone to be improved since the path from the vehicle interior through cord 64 to telephone holder 1 and an antenna is bridged. The connection between antenna element 60 and the directly adjacent cellular telephone is subject to significantly less interference than the path from the cellular telephone extending out of the vehicle without antenna element 60 . As a result, it is possible to have the cellular telephone obtain good reception without the contact of a plug, and to keep the radiation load within the vehicle low.
[0037] Antenna element 60 thus allows a kind of inductive antenna to be created. Antenna element 60 is accommodated within the adapter and may be enclosed within this adapter by cementing it in place, or encapsulating it by a foam or injection-molding process. | The invention relates to an adapter for a telephone holder, especially for a telephone holder mounted in a vehicle. Said adapter comprises a locking mechanism for locking the adapter to the telephone holder in a detachable manner, and a contact bank which can be brought into contact with contact elements provided on the telephone holder. A mobile telephone can be inserted into the adapter and can be detachably connected to the same by means of locking elements. In the inserted position, a connection is established between the contact elements on the mobile telephone and the contact element on the adapter, the mobile telephone being held on the telephone holder in an operational manner by means of the adapter. The inventive adapter enables existing telephone holders to receive different mobile telephones or new mobile telephones. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present utility patent application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 61/459,895 filed Dec. 20, 2010.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disaster prevention system for offshore oil wells and in particular to a supplemental disaster preventive system to provide means to insure human, equipment and environmental safety and associated cost avoidance during the offshore well drilling process under all conceived/feasible accidents/failures conditions. The overall system design concept, related procedures/processes and many associated system components to provide major cost reduction benefits for the entire life cycle (drilling, completion, production and abandonment) for both accident/failure and normal/uneventful operations.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Shortly after the 2010 offshore oil well catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, it became obvious that British Petroleum (BP), the entire oil industry, and/or the US Government were unprepared to effectively stop the gushing oil or the means to clean it up.
Throughout the first two plus months of the disaster numerous re-sealing, capturing, clogging, killing and capping techniques were unsuccessfully attempted and several high risk/cost ‘normal’ well drilling processes were brought to light.
The successful 20 July re-seal, capture and cap ‘Rube Goldberg’/‘Kluge’ (said with admiration) was a simplistic but effective temporary solution for the catastrophic symptoms of the problem—where the primary operative phrase is ‘temporary solution for the catastrophic symptoms’.
The enormous somewhat/sometimes unquantifiable costs of the (or of a future) incident includes:
Human Life
Environment
Drilling platform Well (the equipment and the associated labor and its potential production) Equipment and labor associated with the numerous re-seal, capture, and cap ‘quick fixes’ Equipment and labor associated with the relief/kill wells Gulf clean-up Tourist and fishing industry Local community Public opinion relating to the oil industry and the government Nation and international financial markets
The prior art ‘blowout prevender’ (BOP) is intended to close off the well in case of an uncontrolled/emergency condition (blowout). It's a multi mega-buck, multi-ton device installed on the seafloor having various means/methods, with the design intent of closing a well. The most technically difficult is if/when a pipe and/or pipes (drill, casing, etc.) are within the well. The BOP must ‘ram’ through the pipe(s) and close off the well. That seems difficult, but add the extreme water pressure and low temperatures, the more extreme oil pressure and high temperatures and the prior art BOP is likely not going to work. After the Macondo's well was finally closed, the BOP was pulled up and evaluated—it was functional but did not do the job.
As offshore oil drilling/production continues in the future it seems only rational that the government as well as oil industry itself would demand, as a prime priority the development of improved equipment/systems and processes.
Whatever the cause(s) (human neglect/error, equipment failure, etc.) of the 2010 oil well disaster and whatever means are developed to insure no such similar failure and/or related impacts reoccurs, there are potentially more likely and more damaging events—specifically natural disasters and (accidental or deliberate) human intervention that must also be addressed.
The focus of the ‘quick fix’ was to stop/control the symptoms of the immediate catastrophe—the gushing oil.
What is needed is an overall systems design and implementation approach that provides the means to reduce/eliminate the causes and impacts of any conceived/realistic threats to oil wells in the future and further provides more reliable, practical and cost effective means to accomplish the oil well drilling task.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary design objective of the present invention was to provide an offshore oil well improvement system using an overall systems design and implementation approach that provides the means to reduce/eliminate the causes and impacts of any conceived/realistic threats to oil wells in the future and further provide more reliable, practical and cost effective means to accomplish oil well drilling.
As the present invention design evolved it became apparent that many related procedures/processes and many associated system components provide major cost reduction benefits for the oil well's entire life cycle (drilling, completion, production and abandonment) in either problem or normal operations.
The present invention is composed of two functional and physically integrated subsystems, the Multi-Function Well Subsystem (MFWS) and the Intrusion Detection and Response Subsystem (ID&RS).
The MFWS is presented in two basic configurations, the ‘Fundamental’ & the ‘Advanced’. Both configurations modify the sea-floor and in-well equipment to provide maintenance access and unique tools to provide the means to: cap the well, seal/re-seal the well, drill/re-drill the well, kill the well from the top, improve BOP reliability, add BOP functional redundancy, improve the cementing process, incorporate a sea-floor pressure relief/diversion function and improves the well's life cycle safety.
The Advanced MFWS includes a unique dome top cylindrical sidewall structure enclosing the well's sea-floor equipment providing improved structural strength as well as passive protection from natural/human induced disasters.
The ID&RS provides the means to detect, track and classify the 3D aspects of air/surface/sub-surface objects about a specific oil well or group of oil wells and provides the means to evaluate and eliminate threats.
As all elements are based on existing simplistic proven technology, the development cost risk is minimum.
As the system design includes a major focus on the physical implementation and operation, the implementation and operational cost risk is minimum
Considering the pure human and environmental safety, the pure dollar and cents (or multi-million/billion dollar) cost avoidance and/or the potential cost savings/reductions (for any or all such reasons) it is a significant understatement to suggest that features of the present invention should be integrated with other planned improvements, and incorporated on all oil wells.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other details of the present invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention.
The drawings are intended to provide an introductory overview of major system/system elements that along with other unique system supporting devices are comprehensively defined in the ‘Detailed Description Of The Invention’.
FIGS. 1 A through 1 C present an overview of existing in-well monitoring and control interface devices. These are presented as background supporting rationale of the proposed subsystem. FIGS. 1B and 1D support the description of the proposed subsystem.
FIG. 1A depicts an independent data cable interface. The sensor and control data cable ( 1 ) is shown extending from a processor and monitor unit ( 5 ) to the sensor ( 2 ), passing through the drill platform ( 4 ), the drill pipe return ( 8 ), the seabed drilling equipment ( 3 ), the stud ( 9 ), the drilled well bore ( 7 ) and the casing ( 6 ) and passing by the sea surface ( 10 ) and the seabed ( 11 ).
The primary affective use of this configuration is in obtaining/verifying down-well formation conditions.
Although the data line is capable of bandwidths well beyond any present or projected need, the configuration is not compatible with dynamic drilling and it is operationally costly (the drill bit & the entire drill pipe run must be extracted for the sensor to access the bore).
FIG. 1B depicts a basic overview of a drill pipe data cable interface. The sensor and control data cable ( 21 ) is physically attached/embedded in/on the drill pipe and the sensor ( 24 ) and controlled tool ( 23 ) devices are coupled to the data cable. The data cable could be an electrical or fiber optics conductor.
The data path is similar to that of FIG. 1A with the exception that; multiple sensor and control tool devices could be utilized, the drill pipe ( 22 ) and the drill bit ( 26 ) is shown in the well bore, the data cable ( 21 ) is re-identified (reflecting the significantly increased and diverse data), the processor and monitor ( 5 ) depicted on FIG. 1A is newly identified as a remote monitoring and control unit ( 25 ) (reflecting the significantly increased and diverse data) and the drill platform is re-identified as ( 28 ) to reflect a proposed option, (a data cable slip ring coupling device shown later on FIG. 2H ).
( FIGS. 3A & 3B further detail the sensor and controlled tool devices operations).
This interface is compatible with dynamic drilling and provides bandwidths well beyond any present or projected needs.
The major issue associated with this configuration is depicted as item 27 , the pipe joints.
Pipe joints every drill pipe length (totaling 500-1500 joints for a deep well), where any conductivity fault of any single joint renders the entire link useless.
( FIGS. 2A-2D further depict/address this issue, FIGS. 2E-2G address a resolution).
FIG. 1C depicts a mud-pulse telemetry sensor and control data interface.
Basically the command data is transmitted via a processor and monitor unit ( 5 ), converted to acoustic by data transmitter ( 33 ) installed in the mud, acoustics is transmitted through the mud and sensed by a sensor ( 35 ) or controlled tool ( 34 ). The acoustic commands are detected (by a sensor or controlled tool device), converted to electronic data and acted upon. The sensors detected data is converted in format and transmitted through the mud to the acoustic data receiver ( 33 ). The controlled tool data is converted to drive a mechanism within device. ( FIGS. 3C & 3D further detail the sensor and controlled tool devices operations).
Note that; the sensors and control tools ( 35 and 34 ) identifications have changed from the prior configuration reflecting the acoustic front end changes of the receivers and transmitters. The processor and monitor ( 5 ) and the data cable ( 31 ) are also re-identified from the prior configuration to reflect the significantly lower bandwidths and associated decreased data rates.
The basic problem with this configuration is that the bandwidths are extremely low and significantly decrease as the distance of the platforms acoustical data receiver/transmitter and the sensor/controlled tools devices increases. The reliable bandwidths are so low for deep well it renders this configuration near useless.
Techniques to resolve this basic problem include acoustic receiver/transmitter relay/repeater(s) along the drill pipe. Although this does indeed reduce the transmission path length if implemented to operate in time sequence it/they will not increase the bandwidth, if impended to operate simultaneously using different carrier frequencies presents significant other data transmission issues particularly when multiple devices are employed.
FIG. 1D depicts the modified mud-pulse telemetry interface. Basically the only difference between this configuration and the prior is the physical location of the acoustic data receiver/transmitter ( 33 ). Installing this device at the deepest practical point significantly increase the bandwidth (although still low—usable for deep wells).
Installing this unit below the first or second casing sections could half the distance.
Installing an acoustic data receiver/transmitter relay/repeater on/in the casing or drill pipe, down-bore, could again effectively reduce the distance by half.
FIGS. 3C & 3D detail the sensor and controlled tool devices operations and FIG. 3C also depicts processing that significantly reduces the required sensor bandwidth—the bandwidth requirements for a controlled tool devices is minimal.
Note that; the remote monitoring and control unit ( 25 ) is re-identified because of the added capabilities of this configuration (vs. the prior) and the sensor and control tool devices are re-identified ( 45 & 44 ) reflecting that this configuration could operationally implement several of these devices.
FIGS. 2A-2D present an overview of the pipe to pipe joint connection issue and
FIGS. 2E-2G present the proposed solution.
FIG. 2A depicts a mechanical pipe joint and serves as an introductory reference to FIGS. 2B-2G . It shows a drill pipe female section ( 60 ), male section ( 61 ), pipe sidewall ( 62 ), mating surfaces ( 63 ), pipes interior section ( 64 ) and the pipe threaded area ( 65 ).
FIG. 2B depicts the pipe joint contact connections for an electrical insulated conductor ( 70 ) showing a spring-loaded male connector ( 71 ) and a female connector ( 72 ).
It is difficult to envision how the mechanical pipe threading and the male and female electric connectors are aligned, but it is assumed the lower connectors could be replaced by circular conductive surfaces on mating surface.
It is also difficult to project confidence in the integrity of such a data link path, as it transitions through hundreds of such joints—particularly as the joints are assembled in a (non-ideal) drilling environment.
FIG. 2C depicts the pipe joint interface utilizing inductive coupling. Basically this approach modifies the prior approach by changing electrical connectors to a male coil ( 81 ) and a female coil ( 82 ).
It is similarly difficult to envision how the mechanical pipe threading and the male and female inductive coupling coils align, but assuming there is some practical manner to ensure such alignment, again it is also difficult to project confidence in the integrity of such a data link path, as it transitions through hundreds of such joints—particularly as the joints are assembled in a drilling environment. The confidence of the integrity of such a run is also questioned from an impedance (build-up) standpoint.
FIG. 2D depicts a pipe joint fiber-optic interface where the two electrical conductors are replaced by a single fiber-optic conductor ( 90 ). The electrical contacts/inductive electrical coupling elements are replaced by fiber-optic O-rings ( 91 ) that are compressed together as the pipe is mechanically joined—forming a fiber-optic conductive path. Although this method provides several technical advantages and therefore provide improved confidence in the integrity of such a data link path (as it transitions through hundreds of such joints—particularly as the joints are assembled in a drilling environment), although the confidence is significantly improved it falls short of being acceptable.
FIG. 2E depicts the pipe joint fiber optics interface incorporating an external passive/active redundancy feature that incorporates a second set of fiber-optic O-rings ( 101 ) installed on the exterior surface of the drill pipe and connected to the embedded fiber-optic cable via. fiber-optic couplers ( 100 ).
It is noted that the circuit utilizes standard off-the-shelf fiber-optic/electronic component and further noted that although the figures/discussion specifically identify fiber optics, the design could be modified and made applicable for a wired conductor configuration.
FIG. 2F depicts the external coupling device used to provide (redundant) conductivity for the exterior drill pipe fiber-optic O-rings.
A mechanical pipe clamp housing ( 103 ), associated hinge ( 104 ) and associated mechanical clamp connectors ( 105 ) are shown along with an upper and lower fiber optic conductors ( 106 ) attached to the interior of the mechanical pipe clamp housing device.
An active/passive coupling device ( 108 ) is attached to these upper and lower fiber-optic conductors. The passive element of item ( 108 ) is strictly a fiber-optic conductor, while the active element is a bidirectional fiber-optic sensing, amplifying in-line driving optical coupling device depicted on FIG. 2G . The fiber-optic connectivity is obtained as the clamp connector ends are mechanically secured and compress the clamps conductors into the pipes exterior O-rings.
It is noted that the circuit utilizes standard off-the-shelf fiber-optic/electronic component and further noted that although the figures/discussion specifically identify fiber optics, the design could be modified and made applicable for a wired conductor configuration.
FIG. 2G depicts a bi-directional fiber-optic coupling device. The circuit utilizes standard off-the-shelf fiber-optic and electronic components. The device is optically or physically coupled to items ( 106 ). The upper circuits input are connected to a signal and amplitude detector ( 110 ) that monitors for the presents and for the signal strength of the input. If any signal is present the (yes) output will be set high and the (no) output will be set to zero (or the inverse). If the signal is detected and it is below a predetermined threshold the (low) output will be set high (or the inverse). If both (yes) and (low) are high, ‘and gate’ ( 111 ) will pass the high to a latch ( 112 ) and a bit timer ( 113 ), the latch will hold the signal high until the bit timer sends a reset (r), the bit timer clock is set at one data bit rate (therefore the latch outputs the high one data bit long), the latch output goes to ‘or gate’ ( 114 ) and the lower optical driver ( 116 ) that sends a ‘normal’ (amplified) level signal to the lower external optical O ring via item ( 106 ). If the signal amplifier and detector detects a signal presence that is not (low), ‘and gate’ ( 111 ) will not pass the signal to the bit timer or latch, but the (yes) will enter ‘and gate’ ( 115 ). If the lower signal and amplitude detector does not detect a signal at this time, the lower signal and amplitude detector will set (x′) high that is sent it to ‘and gate’ ( 115 ) that sends the signal to ‘or gate’ ( 114 ) that will pass the signal to the lower o ring via items ( 116 & 106 ). Although not shown—the lower unit 110 outputs of ‘no’ and ‘low’ are feed into an ‘or gate’ that develops the (x′) signal. The lower circuit shown on FIG. 2G is a mirror image of the upper circuit and acts in identical fashion monitoring the lower input.
It is noted that the circuit utilizes standard off-the-shelf fiber-optic/electronic component and further noted that although the figures/discussion specifically identify fiber optics, the design could be modified and made applicable for a wired conductor configuration.
FIG. 2H depicts an optical slip ring coupling device providing the means to interface the in well data cable during actual drilling operations. The data cable from/to unit 25 is shown with three items in series with the fiber-optic O-ring ( 101 ) (connected to the fiber-optic cable ( 90 ). The first item is simply a coiled cable ( 120 ) that would expand as the drill pipe is lowered/drill in the well. The second is a bi-directional receive/transmit non-contact optical coupler device ( 121 ) and the third item ( 122 ) is a depiction of the non-contact (optical) coupling area. A drill pipe adapter ( 123 ) includes a center hole that incorporates a circular cut-out raceway ( 124 ). The adapter screws into the drill pipe via drill pipe and adapter threads. A coupler housing ( 125 ) incorporates a circular protrusion slightly smaller in diameter than the adaptor's center hole. The said protrusion incorporates spring-loaded ball bearings ( 126 ) that snap into the adapter's raceway and secure the housing to the adapter and allow for a mechanical slip ring connection. (The housing will follow the drill pipes vertical motion but will be isolated from its circular motion—except for friction). The housing will further contain a guide hole where a vertical pipe guide ( 127 ) secured to the drilling structure limiting the housing's rotational motion.
It is noted that the circuit utilizes standard off-the-shelf fiber-optic/electronic component and further noted that although the figures/discussion specifically identify fiber optics, the design could be modified and made applicable for a wired conductor configuration.
FIGS. 3A and C presents the sensor digital interfaces for fiber optics and mud-pulse telemetry respectfully. FIGS. 3B and D presents the controlled tool data interfaces for fiber optics and mud-pulse telemetry respectfully and FIG. 3E presents the digital timing sequence associated with these interfaces. The digital timing sequence supports the understanding of the descriptions associated with FIGS. 3A-3D .
It is noted that the circuit utilizes standard off-the-shelf fiber-optic/electronic component and further noted that although the figures/discussion specifically identify fiber optics, the design could be modified and made applicable for a wired conductor configuration.
FIG. 3A depicts a fiber-optic sensor digital interface. The fiber-optic data cable ( 130 ) is monitored and its input feeds fiber-optic to digital circuit converter ( 131 ). One of the outputs of unit ( 131 ) is sent to a sync and reset code detector ( 132 ) that is also fed by a bit rate timer ( 133 ) that outputs timing pulses at the systems bit rate. When the sync and reset code detector receives a unique sync code from the system it sets the matched synchronization, (ms) high, that is sent to a dual latch ( 134 ) and an address window counter ( 136 ). The counter counts the bit rate timers input and outputs a signal after the time reflecting the bit width of address codes. This output resets the dual latch. Prior to the latch being reset the latch output enables ‘and gate’ ( 135 ) (that also receives the input data from ( 131 )). The output of the ‘and gate’ (represents the next element of the data block—the address code) that is sent to an address code detector ( 137 ). The address code detector also inputs a selectable identification code for the device via a code set circuit ( 138 ). The address code detector looks for a match (with respect to the code set and the input data during the address window period). If the address code detector detects a match (m) sets latch ( 139 ) high enabling ‘and gate’ ( 140 ) to pass sensor data from sensor front end ( 141 ) via. data formatted by ( 142 ) to fiber-optic data cable/line via line driver ( 143 ). The sensor data continues to pass to the data cable until the sync and reset code detector detect a system reset code. When that code is detected a match reset (mr) is generated and resets latch ( 139 ) and latch ( 134 )—if necessary. The circuit than waits for new sync code detection.
FIG. 3B depicts a fiber-optic control tool digital interface that basically functions in an identical manner to the prior/sensor interface except, latch ( 139 ) enables a mode window gate in command generator ( 150 ) that looks at the input data during a command window. And if commanded, transfers the command to a data converted and driver ( 151 ) that drives control tool ( 152 ) to the commanded mode/configuration. The controlled tool reports its new configuration and any relatable data to the data cable via data converter ( 142 ) ‘and gate’ ( 140 ) and driver ( 143 ).
FIG. 3C depicts a mud-pulse telemetry sensor digital interface that basically functions in an identical manner to the prior sensor interface ( FIG. 3A ) except; the input include an acoustic to digital converter ( 156 ) and the output includes a digital to acoustic converter ( 157 ). The sensor front end data ( 141 ) is similarity passed to data converter ( 142 ) but then processed by data level detector and/or a pre-processing function and/or a data compression function ( 158 ) and then passed to the data link via ‘and gate’ ( 140 ) and digital to acoustic converter ( 157 ). As another means to compensate for the low bandwidth of the mud-pulse configuration, the address code could be modified so that some or all sensors sequentially report their data in one control and reporting data block, as depicted on FIG. 3E . The acoustic to digital converter ( 156 ) also includes an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit that monitors signal strength of a sample of the input acoustic signal and adjust the gain of its front end to compensate for low to excessively high input signal strength. Although not shown, this AGC is sent to the output digital to acoustic converter ( 157 ) that adjusts the acoustic signal level output accordingly.
FIG. 3D depicts a mud-pulse telemetry controlled tool digital interface. The input & output links are basically identical to the prior circuits ( FIG. 3C ) operations and the output processing is identical to the fiber optics controlled tool digital interface ( FIG. 3B ).
FIG. 3E depicts digital timing sequence indicating the different aspects of the control and reporting a block of streamed data.
FIG. 4 depicts the remote monitoring and control subsystem interface. The drawing reflects the basic purpose/intent of the subsystem (integrating all relevant/relatable information associated with the status of the well drilling operation into one data base) where the data is stored, analyzed with respect to norms, and generate status reports, alerts, recommendations/automatic controls.
The subsystem further interfaces with all relevant/relatable control devices bringing all such controls to a central controlling device.
As the interrelationship of the information becomes complex and as some situations require rapid/timely responses, a processor/computer and associated software programs are required.
The means to monitor and control in-well sensor and controlled tool devices is the very title of this divisional patent, but the specification's detailed description of this invention specifically identifies numerous other sensors and control subsystems/devices including those that are part seabed equipment. One can not effectively/properly utilize the in-well controlled devices without knowledge of the seabed's equipment/status nor could one utilize the seabed equipment without knowledge of the in-well's status. Coordinated actions must be taken with knowledge of all related conditions. The Platform equipments relate to this to the same extent, as well as information from external sources.
This subsystem identifies means to integrate & utilize the in-well senses and control devices as well as the seabed equipment's sensor and control devices and the platform's equipment, as well as information from external sources.
The in-well sensor and control devices and related interface is defined in detail throughout this specification. The in-well interface device ( 170 ) is discussed within this patent as part of the remote monitoring and control unit ( 24 ). Item 170 is separated on this diagram (using artistic license) with the intent of depicting uniformity with the seabed equipment and platform devices/subsystems. Item 170 is basically a bidirectional data formatter interfacing device interfacing with the in-well sensor and controlled devices and a remote monitoring and control unit ( 24 ). Item 171 represents various devices/subsystems on the seabed. The BOP is presently the only controlled device being utilized. The adjunctive BOP (identified in this patent specification) serves as a functionally redundant BOP. The capture and recovery (and diversion) subsystem (identified in this patent) could serve as a supporting element to control a blowout. The ‘other’ is shown to reflect future to be developed/determined items. The interface path between items ( 24 and 171 ) shows the seabed interface device ( 172 ). This device provides an alternative path to the various switching and monitoring devices presently employed and provides analog-to-digital, digital-to-analog, data formatting and line drivers.
Item 173 represents various devices/subsystems on the platform that are directly part of the drilling operations (such as drilling motors, pipe lifts, etc.), those that directly relate to the drilling operations (such as mud pumps, mud monitors, mud tank closing device, etc.) and those that indirectly relate (such as radar, weather conditions/predictions, sea conditions, formation data, etc.).
The interface path between items ( 24 and 173 ) shows the platform interface device ( 174 ).
This device is similar to item 172 and provides an alternative path to the various switching and monitoring devices presently employed and provides analog-to-digital, digital to analog, data formatting and line drivers. Item 175 identifies an external data link that provides information/control to/from off-platform sources.
FIG. 5A depicts a controlled check valve installed within the drill pipe ( 8 ) that allows for bi-directional flow of liquid/gas in the pipe until it is activated/enabled, when activated it allows flow one direction only.
Basically a plunger ( 202 ) capable of closing on a valve seat ( 200 ) and O-ring ( 201 ) is connected to a shaft ( 203 ). The shaft is held by shaft guides ( 205 ). A shaft ring ( 204 ) is mechanically connected to shaft. A spring ( 206 ) is installed between the lower shaft guide and the shaft ring—attempting to push the plunger into its valve seat. The shaft further includes a horizontal hole where in electro-mechanical drive device ( 207 ) that provides the means to mechanically move pin ( 209 ). The pin initially extends into the shaft hole disabling the shifts upward motion. Upon a digital activate command from the in-well control data cable interface, the electronic control unit ( 208 ) senses the command and enables/drives electro-mechanical drive device to pull the pin clear of the shift and enables the plunger to operate as a check valve.
It is noted that: a) the internal mechanism could be altered using numerous known designs—the unique factor is the remote electronic/FO. control, b) The presented design allows activation but does not allow for deactivation—this design limitation was intentional—to emulate the functionality of the existing in-use check valve that is mechanically activated by increasing mud pressure, c) The design of a device capable of both activating and deactivating could be derived from the presented design (or many other known designs—such as one based on a toilet tank valve, where the pull-chain (controlling a flapper type valve) is controlled by a in-out drive motor/solenoid.
FIG. 5B depicts a matching/mating pair of coupling/de-coupling pipes.
Items 220 are the upper end & lower end of the upper & lower coupling pipes. These ends have standard pipe to pipe coupling means. Item 221 (in dashed lines) indicates the inside wall. Item 222 is the smaller diameter upper pipe coupling surface that fits within the lower coupling pipe as indicated by the dashed lines of Item ( 223 ). Item 224 depicts a tapered bottom portion of the upper pipe, allowing it to initially align/fit into the lower section. Item 225 is the upper pipe's mounting flange & gasket that mates to the lower pipes mounting flange item 226 . Item 227 is a unique threaded element in the interior sidewall of the lower pipe. The ‘unique’ threads have a stepping characteristic as shown on Detail ‘B’ item 228 . The widths of the individual steps are slightly larger than the width of the remote controlled Spring Loaded Grabbing Device (SLGD), item 229 . Items 229 are installed on the upper coupling pipe via Pivots ( 230 ) and normally extend out from the sidewall via its internal spring. When compressed the SLGD fits into the pipe's sidewall per item 231 . Detail ‘A’, item 232 indicates a sloped mating (mating the slope of item 228 ) of the SLGP. As the upper & lower sections are joined the SLGDs compress into the sidewall and springs in & out of the different levels of the stepped threaded element. When the mounting flanges bottom-out the upper pipe is turned clockwise (where it ratchets into, further tightens and locks into the threaded—stepped element. The pipes de-couple via energizing the SLGD remote control mechanism, item 233 where the SLGD is pulled into its sidewall unlatching/freeing the two pipe sections.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The system of the present invention comprises two functional and physically integrated subsystems, the Multi-Function Well Subsystem (MFWS) and the Intrusion Detection and Response Subsystem (ID&RS).
Both MFWS configurations (Fundamental and Advanced) utilize ‘other’ (not shown on Figures) unique support devices including:
Production Hard Cap (PHC)
Remote Monitor and Control Unit (RM&CU)
Re-Case End Pipe (R-CEP)
Re-Case Pipe (R-CP)
Bottom Kill End Pipe (BKEP)
Kill Pipe (KP)
Modified Conversion Float Valve (MCFV)
Modified Casing (MC)
Modified Reamer Shoe/Drill Shaft (MRS/DS)
Modified Drill Bit (MDB)
The Production Hard Cap (PHC) is a simplistic device. It is round as viewed from the top and has a mounting surface compatible with both the Production Valves and the Production Ports. The PHC is utilized to provide means to cap each individual unused Production Port and/or Valve.
The Remote Monitor and Control Unit (RM&CU) is a platform mounted specialized device associated with the Multi-Function Well Subsystem (MFWS).
The RM&CU will provide the surface platform to sea-floor and in-well equipment man-machine monitor & control interface. The RM&CU will include processing capability to provide operator recommendations and warnings, as well as an automatic mode to control the sea-floor and in-well equipment for critical/emergency situations. Although specific operational displays, modes, functions or controls are not specified in detail at this time, it is assumed the RM&CU equipment (such as monitors, computers and interface devices) matching/exceeding the system requirements are commercially/off-the-shelf available. The Re-Case End Pipe (R-CEP) is a pipe section smaller in diameter than the installed well pipe/casing in need of repair when the drill pipe is not in the well. It will have a remotely controlled initially closed bottom end valve, a remotely controlled expandable ‘o-ring’/gasket around its outer circumference near the closed end. It will further have a remotely controlled sidewall gate valve located slightly above the said gasket. Prior to installing the R-CEP the number of sections of Re-Casing Pipe (R-CP) required to repair the well must be determined. At a point above where the existing well pipe is in need of repair but below the BOP, a pair of remotely controlled Coupling/De-Coupling Pipes shall be joined, followed by additional sections of R-CP from above the bottom of the BPO to the surface platform. The R-CEP and R-CP would be lowered through the ‘normal outer/return drill pipe’ to the desired location. The R-CEP gasket would be energized sealing/closing/choking the pipe to pipe area. The sidewall remotely controlled gate valve will be opened and mud followed by concrete would be pumped directly into the re-casing pipe. The mud/concrete flows through the opened gate valve and into the pipe/casing in need of repair to seal the pipe to pipe/casing area. The concrete will flow through said area until cement is detected in the pipe to pipe area above the last (highest) section of well pipe that needed repair. The concrete pumping will stop, the sidewall gate valve will be closed and the concrete will be removed from the interior of the Re-Case Pipe. The bottom remotely controlled closed end valve will then be opened. The concrete is let to set between the pipe to pipe areas. The Re-Case Pipe (below the BOP and above the well pipe that require repair) will be uncoupled via the Coupling/De-Coupling Pipe (or will be cut and extracted).
The Re-Case Pipe (R-CP) is similar to the lowest section of the installed faulty well pipe/casing except:
Smaller in diameter.
Selected sections (the uppermost as a minimum) shall incorporate remotely monitored exterior pressure, oil, water, mud and concrete sensors.
The Bottom Kill End Pipe (BKEP) is similar to the R-CEP except:
The ‘initially’ closed bottom end will also have a permanently closed section above it.
The volume between the initially and permanently closed portions will contain pre-loaded ‘junk’, along with a remotely controlled means to open the bottom and release the ‘junk’.
The ‘junk’ will be of various size material, flexible, buoyant (in oil) and capable of withstanding well pressures and temperatures.
Will not include the remotely controlled circular hydraulic controlled gasket around its outer circumference near the closed end, but instead will include a large expandable remotely controlled end plug (similar to an expandable pipe plug). The ‘large’ plug will be capable of expanding to the diameter of the well bore. The large plug will be set below the well casing and the plug would be expanded. The initially closed bottom end will be opened releasing the junk further sealing/clogging/choking the well. Mud followed by concrete would be pumped through KP in a similar manner as the Re-Case Pipe except the concrete will also flow into the well bore and the concrete will not be evacuated from the pipes interior. The upper sections of pipe will be removed in a similar manner as the Re-Case Pipe.
The Kill Pipe (KP) is similar to the R-CP except the ‘selected sections’(the uppermost as a minimum) shall incorporate remotely monitored interior (as well as exterior) pressure, oil, water, mud and cement sensors.
The Modified Conversion Float Valve (MCFV) changes the release method/mechanism from the present dropped ball, semi obstructing the flow through a pipe holding the valve opened causing a delta pressure. When/if the delta pressure and flow meet a pre-selected criterion, the said pipe releases and converts the device to a one-way valve.
The modification converts the valve to an electrical remote controlled device—activating a solenoid. The opening valve will further be spring loaded and its opening will be sensed and reported and remotely monitored as flow-rate.
The Modified Casing (MC) incorporates remote controlled sidewall gate valves near the top of the casing. Although the MC is primarily intended for the lower most casing, it could be desirable for other casing sections as well. The said valves would be initially being held closed. Upon command the valves will allow one-way flow, from the pipe into the well-bore. This will allow cementing from the top of the casing to the bottom, reducing the required pressure and further provides a more positive void/bore fill.
The Modified Reamer Shoe/Drill Shaft (MRS/DS) modifications combine the functional elements of the R-CEP and the BKEP with the following alterations:
The ‘large’ ‘plug’ element of the BKEP is incorporated on the lower part of the shaft/collar slightly above the shoe or drill bit to seal/clog/choke the well bore to drill shaft/collar.
Incorporates a remotely controlled gate valve device internal to the pipe, just above the drill bit to restrict flow through the drill bit.
The remotely controlled ‘o-ring’ pipe to pipe sealing gasket around the pipes circumference incorporated on the R-CEP shall be re-located to above the controlled gate valve. The intent of the MRS/DS is:
Similar to the BKEP by providing the means to kill the well below the last pipe in the well bore, but with the reamer/drill shaft in the well.
Similar to the R-CEP by providing reliable means to re-case (specifically the pipe to pipe cementing process), but with the drill shaft/collar and/or the Reamer Shoe in the well
To provide improved reliable means to cement the last pipe to the well bore.
The ‘Fundamental’ MFWS provides maintenance access, redundancy, sea-floor pressure relief/diversion means and utilizing common unique and in-use apparatus and tools, used in conjunction with a newly devised oil well access to provide the means to:
Cap the well
Seal/re-seal the well
Drill/re-drill the well
Kill the well (at the bottom from the top)
Improve BOP(s) reliability
Improve means to end casing
The ‘Advanced’ MFWS includes all the features of the above, and further includes a unique dome top, cylindrical sidewall assembly/structure enclosing the well's sea-floor equipment providing improved structural strength and protection from natural/human induced disasters.
Either the Fundamental or Advanced MFWS configurations could be modified to include an additional Adjunctive BOP/Access Valve Assembly (AVA) installed below the BOP providing further redundancy.
MFWS Detail Design Notes/Information
The dome's size is determined by the wells characteristics. The primary factor is the height of the wells above sea-floor equipment (Marine Riser and BOP and newly installed adaptors/assemblies—OPA, PMA, and AVA and P-WIA) followed by the margin of safety associated with the:
The lateral stability of the DA (diameter to height ratio).
The sidewall strength beyond that required to support the top members—where the ‘beyond’ is the strength to compensate for falling objects/underwater blasts
The height and width of the required maintenance area (ROV workspace) The overall ‘Dome Assembly’ size shall be as small as possible but its sidewall height shall be greater than the existing wells sea-floor equipment (Marine Riser and BOP—(generic/ball-park height>60′). The sidewall diameter will provide lateral stability of the Dome Assembly and have a surface area compatible with all required dome top ports. (>two third the height, generic/ball-park diameter>40′) The initial (pre-cementing) weight of the Dome Assembly shall be slightly greater than the weight to sink it to the sea-floor, But if prior to its installation, the well head is opened and under pressure and can not be controlled/stopped, then weight must be added to overcome the well pressure. The added weight shall be determined assuming all top ports/valves opened (the said ports/valves would be opened during the normal installation/setting process). The top domed member (dome top and interior plate forming the reservoir) shall be made of material and joined in a manner to withstand greater than two times the wells' anticipated pressure. The cylindrical sidewall of the dome is fabricated with material and supporting braces capable of supporting the top (domed) structure and act as a concrete form to structurally connect the dome top section to a concrete floor pad. The center interior will include installation positioning/guide braces about the locations of Marine Riser, BOP and BOP Output Pipe Adaptor. The sidewall may be made of two or more vertical separable sections enabling sea-floor equipment changes for the completion-production phases (if/as desired). The exterior of the sidewalls will include a minimum of three horizontally extending ‘L’ brackets. The brackets will support remotely controlled leveling jacks capable of lifting/leveling the pre cemented Dome Assembly. The dome top to sidewall mechanical interface shall include lifting hooks/eye-bolts and shall be capable of supporting the DA's initial (pre-cemented) weight. After the DA is set (positioned and leveled) on the sea-floor, pressure relief vent pipes (approximately 3-4 feet long) will be vertically set in the sea-floor having the vent pipes be semi-evenly spaced in the floor and encompassing an area approximately five percent of the total sea-floor area, and a concrete floor (approximately 3 feet deep) will be poured (structurally connecting the Well Stud to the sidewall). The cylindrical sidewall will include an opening the size compatible with passing through a ‘typical’ off-shore oil well's ROV. The opening will be enclosed by a door. The door will include pressure relief/venting means allowing higher internal pressure to be released, while sealing the interior from higher external pressure. The center of the dome top will house a large access port. ‘Large’ is defined as the area capable of passing through a device the size of an ROV. The port will be initially used to access the interior of the dome during installation and latter for repair/replacement on assemblies within the dome. The exterior of this port area will include guide-pins and bolt studs to mechanically secure an Access Port Adaptor (APA). The APA reduces the port size and is used to connect various assemblies/adaptors for well pipe drilling, sealing repair and abandonment processes (killing), Off-center of the access port will include several production sized ports. The exterior of these ports will include the means to secure a Pressure Relief/Diversion Valve, Production Valves or Production Hard Caps. These mounting elements (pins and bolt studs) shall be identical (size, spacing and pattern) on all Production Ports. These ports/valves will be initially opened (as well as the Access Port) during the Dome Assembly (DA) installation (lowering and positioning). The ports/valves are initially used for pressure relief/venting and latter used for production—or will be capped. The Dome Assembly will include numerous standard (non-unique) remotely monitored/controlled equipment such as:
Levels.
Internal and external closed circuit T.V. (s) and associated lights.
Pressure sensors.
Oil, water and gas detectors
All assemblies/adaptors/tools shall include the following where applicable: Be made of material capable of withstanding greater than twice the well's pressure Supporting means compatible with lifting, lowering and positioning the unit from the surface platform and ROV(s) Top and bottom mounting surfaces' compatible (size and shape) with the units they physically interface with Top and bottom mounting hardware (bolt studs, guide-pins) and compatible (size and pattern) holes and captivated securing components with the units they physically interface with:
Mounted gaskets compatible with the size and shape of the unit and the unit it physically interface with
The means to remotely remove and replace all internal functional elements by a ROV(s)
Remotely controllable devices shall be designed using electrical, fiber-optics, mechanical, hydraulic and/or pneumatic means with connections compatible with a ROV(s) capability to install/remove.
There are many different ‘working’ pipe sizes and the expandable seals of the P-WIA will likely not be capable of handling, therefore different sized P-WIA s' or inserts must be provided.
Varying levels of pressure could be applied to the P-WIA's seals allowing for a fully opened, to fully a hard sealed, as well as intermediate levels allowing for rotating and vertical pipe movement as well as sequencing the said pressure from the upper & lower seals as the pipe joints pass thru the unit.
The functionally/performance of numerous MFWS unique equipment/tools require or would be enhanced with the addition of an ‘in-well’ monitoring & control interface. Numerous interface structures could be employed to provide this function. Although the intent of this document is to provided a ‘system level’ design the following is provided as design information/specifications/requirements for this interface as follows:
Design. The enabling interface design of the monitoring and control subsystem is proposed as two unique alternatives. The first being an attached/embedded fiber-optic cable in/on the drill pipes sidewall and the second is an attached/embedded data cable in/on the casing pipes sidewall.
Embedded Fiber-Optic (FO) cable within the drill pipe sidewall.
Compression pipe to pipe FO connections.
Directly connect sensors and controlled devices attached to the drill pipe to the said cable.
Sensors and controlled devices not directly attached to the drill pipe interface via non-physical contact means of coded Light/IR/RF and/or acoustic interface devices (such as a garage door opener or ‘Easy-Pass’ type device).
Sensor and controlled devices powered by batteries.
Controlled devices using hydraulics would use battery power to activate (in-well) pumps with initial pressure equalization means.
Notes/Requirements:
The FO bandwidth is orders of magnitude greater than required (but provides a convenient bi-directional capability)
The sensors will include addresses (digital/frequency codes) capable of any future conceivable need.
The following define the minimum required simultaneous functionally, which basically defines/limits the requirements of the controlling/monitoring unit.
25 discretes—yes/no (such as sensed gas)
15 levels indicators with ten to the 5.sup.th dynamic range (such as well pressure)
15 controls (such as turn on/off)
15 control status/feedback.
Embedded data cable in/on the casing pipes side wall further incorporates a transmitter/receiver interface device that communicates via electrical contact, fiber-optics and/or acoustics to similar receiver/transmitter devices on the drill pipe and/or to lower sections of casing pipes.
The receiver/transmitter device(s) on the drill pipe connect (via conditioning/formatting circuits) to sensors/control devices in/on the drill pipe.
Sensor devices in/on the drill pipe that provide significant data may further include electronic circuits to store the data, compression the data and the means to transmit the data at a modified/lower data rate.
The sequence of operations of the Pipe Cutter Mechanism will be initiated by an operator at the Remote Monitor and Control Unit (RM&CU). In the automatic operational mode, after being ‘initiated’, an embedded micro-processor and program in the RM&CU will control and perform the cutting process described below. In a manual mode the operator will perform the steps below:
1. An operator at the RM&CU will initiate a pipe cut defining a given size pipe.
2. The Circular Saws and Lateral Drive Devices drives, with minimum torque contacts the pipe to confirm the designated pipe size. If different informs the operator.
3. If the pipe designated is confirmed the proper size, the saw motors are turned on and laterally driven into the pipe until either the thickness of the pipe-wall is penetrated or the saw motor speed decreases greater than 20%. If the latter occurs see * (below).
4. When the pipe-wall is penetrated, the Turn-Table Motor turns on and continues to cut the pipe until either the Turn-Table turns to where the pipe is cut by each saw 110 degrees or the saw motor speed decreases greater than 20%. If the latter occurs see * (below).
5. When three saws have cut the pipe 110 degrees, Circular Saws and Lateral Drive Devices retract the saw blades and: The Turn-Table is positioned at 120 degrees.
6. The Wedges' Lateral Drive Devices is activated pressing the wedges into the pipe cut.
7. The Circular Saws' Lateral Drive Devices is again activated to drive the saw blade towards the pipe until either the thickness of the pipe-wall is penetrated and the pipe is fully cut or the saw motor speed decreases greater than 20%. If the latter occurs see * (below).
8. Once the pipe is fully cut it must be extracted. If another pipe needs to be cut, the first pipe must be pulled clear of the pipe cutting lateral drive mechanism. *If any of the saws speed decreases greater than 20% from its unloaded speed, the appropriate drives will be backed-off until the no-load speed is obtained. The drives will then proceed to the continuing cutting process.
The objective of the Intrusion Detection and Response Subsystem (ID&RS) is to protect the surface and underwater oil well elements from deliberate human intervention. It is assumed a 3D restrictive zone will be established about an individual or group of oil wells.
The ID&RS provides the means to detect, track and classify the 3D aspects (bearing, range, and depth) of air/surface/sub-surface objects about a specific oil well or group of oil wells. It also provides the means to evaluate potential threats and ‘Hard and/or Soft Kill’ threats.
The ID&RS elements are identified in four categories as follows:
1. Major existing military type platform equipment that provides short range AAW, ASUW and ASW capability including such items as:
Radars (search and fire control).
IFF
ESM
Sonar
Active and Passive Decoys (Acoustic, RF and IR).
Hard Kill Weapons (guns, missiles, torpedoes and depth charges).
2. Major existing military/commercial type equipment such as:
LAMPS Helicopter
ROV s
3. Unique equipment such as:
Array(s) of sea surface tethered remotely controlled RF and IR generators/decoys.
Array(s) of below sea tethered remotely monitored Passive Acoustic Sensors (PAS) and a platform mounted PAS.
Remotely controlled acoustic generators/decoys and remotely controlled acoustic corner reflectors.
Interface, Processing and Display Monitor and Control.
4. Trained Operator(s).
Many of the terms such as ‘short range’ and ‘weapons’ are quite subjective and since the primary threat is considered to be quite rudimentary the following are identified as design guidance:
A Radar (search, fire control and integrated IFF) capability such as the MK92 CAS.
Weapons such as the Standard Missile, Harpoon and Mk46 Torpedoes would work but have a significant over kill for the anticipated threat.
Hard Kill weapons could include such items as a MK15 CIWS, a 3″ gun, SUBROC and Helicopter launched depth charges and shoulder type fire and forget anti-air and anti-surface missiles.
ID&RS Detail Design Notes/Information
The acoustic sensors and arrays are conceptually based on USN ASUW and ASW detection and processing techniques. The subsurface piggy-back depth angle sensor and the related arrays depth determination is unique but based on the triangular processing of the bearing and range. It is anticipated the sensed ‘depth angle’ will be compromised by sea-floor and surface reflections/bounce, but it is assumed that integrating over time and averaging the three differently located sensors data will provide tangible results. The tracking, classification, threat analysis and threat response recommendations are also based on USN processing.
The RF, IR and acoustic generators and corner reflector(s), and their associated array, are conceptually based on USAF and USN air tactical counter-measures (stand-off jammers and gate stealers) and USN submarine counter-measures (decoys).
The Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) operations are based on the USN LAMPS MK111 ASW and ASUW techniques.
The following describe a single well installation utilizing a USN or USCG Ship for the ‘Major existing military type platform equipment that provides short range AAW, ASUW and ASW capability’.
It is assumed alternative interfaces, operations and array configurations could be derived for well platform based equipment and/or multiple well implementations.
The Radar and associated IFF and Electromagnet (passive detection) Sensor (EMS) are the ‘eyes’ for above the surface, while the passive acoustic sensors are the ‘eyes’ for below the surface.
The acoustic sensor array provides subsurface and surface detection data and the means required to triangulate the sensors detections to determine Bearing, Range and Depth.
The outputs of the acoustic sensors* and control signals for all generators (RF, IR and acoustical) interface with (via cable) an Array Distribution Unit (ADU). The ADU (data/controls) interfaces (via cable) with to the Data and Signal Formatter (D&SF). D&/SF on a (oil well) platform digitizes and serializes the signals. The digitized and serialized signal is sent to the platforms RF Data Link and then the ship's RF Data Link. The data is then sent to the Processor where is processed for display monitoring and display interface, detection support (bearing, range and depth determination for acoustic contacts) and tracking, classification, threat analysis and related recommendations, as well as historical storage for air, surface and subsurface contacts.
The processed data and information is then sent to the Display Monitor and Control Unit. A trained Operator views/reviews the data and information and determines and initiates appropriate actions.
The processing will include an operator selectable auto threat-quick reaction ‘soft-kill’/decoy mode, allowing the program to automatically control the RF, IR, acoustical generators and corner reflectors.
The controls are sent to the appropriate selected unit(s) (specific sensor and/or generator) via the Processor, RF Data Link, Data Formatter, Array Distribution Unit and then to the appropriate unit. LAMPS Helicopter interfaces via its own data link.
If ROV actions are required, a stand alone interface, monitor and control system identical to the existing ROV's will be used.
If the Ship has a sonobuoy receiver system compatible with the number and type of sonobuoys in the array the sensors could directly (via RF) interface with the ship.
It is assumed the sensor (RADAR, IFF, and ESM etc.) and weapons on a USN or USCG Ship identified as short range AAW, ASUW and ASW capable would well serve this mission, particularly as supplemented.
The RF and IR Generators/Decoys are standard simplistic active noise or repeater source similar to numerous such devices used by the USN and USAF. The device shall be externally stimulated and controlled by the Processor to produce outputs capable of:
Being totally silent.
Producing broadband continuous wave frequencies over the entire spectrum of anticipated homing devices, at power levels greater than the anticipated homing device's transmitter.
Producing a controlled variable delayed pulsed repeater outputs compatible with the pulse-width and spectrum of an anticipated active pulsed homing device. The controlled variable delay shall have a minimum range from; <1 us to greater than 10 ms. The repeater will further have controlled power levels from a maximum equaling the anticipated power of a homing device's transmitter, to minimum power level of zero.
The Passive Acoustic Sensor (PAS) is derived from a modification of the standard AN/SSQ 53 Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (DIFAR) Sonobuoy.
The low-tech modifications include:
Providing an external power source via cable (vs. internal battery power).
Removing the antenna output interface and utilize output via cable interface format.
Mounting two unit's piggy back on different axis (one producing bearing angle and the other depth angle).
Increase buoyancy to insure unit with attached cable (and attached Acoustic Generator has significant positive buoyancy.
The Acoustic Generator (AG) is a simplistic active acoustic noise source similar to numerous such devices used by the USN.
The device shall be externally stimulated and controlled by the Processor to produce outputs capable of:
Being totally silent.
Emulating the acoustic signature of an oil well's sea-floor and platform, with power levels equal to ten times the said well.
Producing broadband continuous wave acoustic frequencies over the entire spectrum of anticipated homing devices, at power levels greater than an anticipated homing device's transmitter.
Producing a controlled variable delayed pulsed repeater output compatible with the pulse-width and spectrum of an anticipated active pulsed homing device. The controlled variable delay shall have a minimum range from; less than 10 us to greater than 10 ms. The repeater will further have controlled power levels from a maximum equaling the anticipated power of a homing device's transmitter, to a minimum power level of zero.
The Acoustic Corner Reflector (ACR) is a simplistic passive decoy type device. It is basically composed of two flat acoustical reflective crossing plains (crossing in the center) at 90 degrees that reflects an acoustical signal back in the same angle it was received. The ACR further includes a remote controlled element that rotates (from the center) one of the plains to form a dual flat surface. The ACR is deployed with weighs on the sea-floor and/or tethered at different depths.
The PAS and AG units will be connected (via cable or be physically joined) and typically deployed in functional sets of three or four typically @ equal distance from each other and equal distance about a specific well (or in other functional sets about a group of wells).
Each of the PAS, AG and/or ACR units will be tethered from the sea-floor to predetermined depths. The RF & IR generators will be tethered to the sea surface.
The said tethered cables could include various combinations of sensors/decoys. The sea-floor will hold the tethered cable with weights capable of insuring it does not change its position (depth, lat. and long.). The cable length from the tethered weight to the sea-floor to platform shall be the planned distance plus about one and a half times the sea depth (for future recovery/maintenance). A single (non-joined) AG will be mounted on the underside of the surface platform providing the means to calculate (via the processor) the exact position and aspect of the joined PAS and AG devices.
The ROV(s) is identical to such devices used by the oil industry for deep off-shore drilling but this unit's interface cables will be lengthened so it can travel greater than two miles from the platform. The ROV(s) provide the means to view, evaluate and move delayed fused under-sea explosives.
The Array Distribution Unit (ADU) function only acts as a convenient physical wire/cable distribution center.
The Data and Signal Formatter (D&SF) is an active electronic data and signal formatting device located on the platform.
The ‘formatting includes:
Analogue to Digital conversion
Digital to Analogue conversion
Multiplexing and De-multiplexing into and from a single serial digital data interface cable. The D&SF will have the minimum through-put capacity (bandwidth) to simultaneously handle:
From Sensors:
Acoustic outputs of eight type AN/SSQ-53 Sonobuoys.
Plus 50% (control, feedback, status, etc.).
To Sensors and Generators:
Approximately 25% of the ‘from sensors’ bandwidth
It is assumed devices matching/exceeding these requirements are available ‘off-the shelf’ (from Industry/US Government). The RF Data Link is a common device used by industry and the government. The device converts serial (cable media) electronic data/signals to RF for transmission to another location via an antenna and likewise receives RF and converts it to serial electronic data/signals.
The capacity (bandwidth) must be compatible with the required data/signals of the system, as identified for the D&SF.
It is assumed devices matching/exceeding these requirements are available ‘off-the shelf’ (from Industry/US Government).
*The above assumes a separate in-place ship to helicopter (LAMPS) data link.
The Processor includes a computer and specialized computer programs. The Processor provides critical functions related to the surface/sub-subsurface objects:
Detection
Position
Tracking
Classification
Threat Analysis
Related recommendations
The processor also provides interface for the Display Monitor and Control Unit. The processor further provides for sensor position and aspect calibration, operator training via simulation and historical operational recording.
It is assumed the computers are in-place on the ship, or a computer matching/exceeding the required process capacity and speed are available ‘off-the shelf’ commercially.
The ‘specialized computer programs would have to be developed, but the USN utilizes similar functional software for their AAW, ASUW and ASW mission. If such were made available the development (time, cost and risk) would be reduced by an order of magnitude.
The Display Monitor and Control Unit (DM&CU) provides for the operator to system interface.
The Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) is identical to that used by the USN for surface and sub-surface detection, localization and engagements.
Although specific operational displays, modes, functions or controls are not specified in detail at this time, it is assumed the DM&CU is in-place on the ship or a unit matching/exceeding the requirements is commercially available—large touch-screen monitor would well serve the all requirements.
It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed. | This subsystem is an element of an oil well improvement (disasters preventive) system for offshore wells. This subsystem modifies existing in-well; data transmission equipment, data formatting & processing, and further modifies the processing of the existing sensors and remote controlled devices to provide enhanced capacity, reaction time & reliability for dynamically monitoring & controlling in-well resources. This sensor data and controlled tool status is further integrated into a single data base along with all seabed & platform devices and all related information (formation survey, drill plan, etc). The subsystem processes this data and develops instant status of operational conditions and provides recommendations/alerts/automated controls. Although the primary objective of the subsystem focuses on reducing/eliminating the disastrous effects of blowout, the subsystem also provides the means to alter/improve the normal/uneventful well drilling processes. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/691,300, filed Jun. 16, 2005.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the use of nanosized metal and metal oxide particles in building materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to the use of nanosized metal and metal oxide particles as biocides in coatings that are used on roofing products for protection against bacteria (particularly cyanobacteria), fungi, molds, algae and other bio-organisms known to deface and/or adversely affect such materials.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Asphalt roofing shingles and other roofing products are frequently subject to the growth of cyanobacteria, often referred to as fungus or blue-green algae. Such bacteria growth is often discoloring, unsightly and hastens product deterioration. Early on it was found that the presence of some metals and metal oxides, such as copper, zinc, nickel, lead, iron and zinc oxide reduced or eliminated cyanobacterial growth on roofing shingles. In some instances, metals were placed as strips on the roof or incorporated into ceramic granules already a component of the roof shingles.
[0004] Because prior art metal granules were relatively large in size, they often changed the appearance of the roofing shingles they were added to. For instance, dark colored copper granules mixed in with light colored ceramic granules changed the shingle's overall color in an undesirable way. In addition, such large copper or zinc granules did not make efficient use of the metal or metal oxide's biocidal activity.
[0005] Metals and metal oxides have recently been commercially reduced to nanosize (10-100 nanometer diameter) particles. When nanosized particles are used, because of their extremely small size, the total surface area is maximized, resulting in the highest possible effect per unit size. As a result, nanosized particles of copper oxide and/or zinc oxide provide more efficiency than larger particles used in concentrations many times greater. Such nanoparticles, when used as additives in coatings, are often transparent, allowing the esthetics of the coated substrates to remain unchanged. Bio-organisms treated by these particles do not acquire resistance to the metals or metal oxides. Therefore, in coatings, the biocidal metals and metal oxides have advantages over the conventional biocides (such as organic biocides) which often cause the selection of biocide-resistant microorganism.
[0006] Although nanosized metal and metal oxides have truly demonstrated many broad applications, they have not yet been utilized as biocides in roofing materials. Roofing materials are subjected to attack by numerous biological organisms, including various molds, fungus and cyanobacteria.
[0007] Prior art biocides in coatings for roofing materials include organic biocides such as 2-octylthiazol-3-one (Skane M8), Rozone 2000, Rozone 2002, Rocima 63, Rocima 65 (from Rohm & Haas Co., Philadelphia, Pa.) or zinc omadine (Arch Chemicals, Inc., Norwalk, Conn.) and others. Such prior art coating biocides have several disadvantages. First, prior art biocides are not active against all organisms that might attack roofing or building products, at the dosages used. Second, some have toxicities that may be harmful to workers during manufacture. Finally, some of the prior art biocides require relatively high amounts of biocide and their use can be very expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention relates to the use of nanosized metal and/or nanosized metal oxide particles, such as, for example, nanocopper oxide or nanozinc oxide, as components in a coating for roofing products, including, but not limited to, asphalt shingles; concrete tiles; thermoplastic and thermoset shakes, slates and tiles; wood shakes; metal shakes and panels; and fiber cement shakes, slates and tiles; single ply membranes such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic olefin (TPO), EPDM and neoprene rubber, hypalon and similar membranes, polymer modified bitumen); build-up roofing (BUR) systems; and roof accessories.
[0009] The invention also includes treatment of wood shakes used in roofing or siding with nano metal and nano metal oxide containing coatings or saturants. Such materials could be applied with or without pressure treatment.
[0010] The invention also relates to the use of nanosized metal and/or nanosized metal oxide particles added to clear and opaque coating applied to steep or low slope roofing materials. Such coatings could be aqueous or non-aqueous and could be applied during or after manufacture or after the roof is applied. Along with resistance to molds, fungus, algae and bacteria, such coatings can impart greater durability and better esthetics.
[0011] Furthermore, the invention is directed to nano metal and nano metal oxide materials in coatings which we show to impart anti-biocidal and anti-microbial activity to roofing and similar building materials for protection against bacteria (particularly cyanobacteria), fungi, molds, algae and other bio-organisms known to deface and/or adversely affect such building materials.
[0012] The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular device embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] In accordance with the present invention, nanosized particles, particularly nanocopper-oxide, nanozinc-oxide and combinations of the two are added to the formulation of a coating used on asphaltic roofing shingles, to form a fungus, algae or cyanobacteria resistant product. The coating is also effective in killing and/or preventing the growth of mold fungus, algae or bacteria. The coating may be aqueous or solvent based, but aqueous latex is preferred. Coating can be unfilled forming a clear coat or filled (such as with one or more fillers or pigments) and contain common additives known to those skilled in the art.
[0014] The substrates in accordance with the present invention may be, but are not limited to, any roofing or similar use building product commonly used in the industry.
[0015] The nanosized metal and nanosized metal oxide containing coating according to the present invention does not require the use of substantial quantities in order to function effectively. As such, the coating of the present invention has the significant advantage of low cost while not adversely affecting any of the product's other properties. Furthermore, the nanoparticle coating used in its normal small quantities, does not discolor the coating, allowing significantly enhanced esthetics.
[0016] Advantageously, the nanoparticle coating of the present invention is considered fairly non-toxic.
[0017] While nanocopper-oxide and nanozinc-oxide have been described with regard to the biocidal formulation of the present invention, the invention is not limited only to those metal oxides and other nanosized metal and nanosized metal oxides and/or ions thereof, such as nanosilver, nanolead, and nanoiron, for example, are also contemplated by the present invention.
[0018] In one embodiment, the effective amount of nanosized metal or metal oxide level in the biocidal coating is in the range of approximately 0.05%-10.0% of the coating by dry weight.
[0019] The nanosized metal and/or nano metal oxide particle-containing coating is preferably applied during factory manufacture of the roofing product but may also be sprayed, dipped, rolled or brushed on in the field (e.g., on the roof).
[0020] The coating of the present invention may also contain some or all of the following: filler(s), surfactant(s), UV stabilizer(s), thermal stabilizer(s), pigment(s), other co-biocides, fibrous reinforcements, strength additives, compatibilizers, water repellants, and/or fire retardants.
[0021] The nanosized metal and/or nanosized metal oxide particles in accordance with the present invention may be prepared by any methods commonly known to those skilled in the art, including but not limited to, the use metal powders, crystalline metal nanoparticles, metal complexes or nanosized metal and nanosized metal oxide fixed on zeolite, ceramic, metal or other base particles. Similarly, nanosized metal and nanosized metal oxide oxides may be prepared from metals or metal oxides by known techniques such as, but not limited to plasma generation flame pyrolysis, milling, and sol-gel generation.
EXPERIMENTAL
[0022] According to one example of the invention, laboratory samples of acrylic latex coatings were prepared and applied to asphalt roofing shingles. Coatings contained either nanozinc oxide, nanocopper oxide, a combination of nanozinc- and nanocopper-oxide, or traditional biocides such as Rocima 63, Rocima 65, Skane M8, Rozone 2000 (all manufactured by Rohm & Haas) or Nuocide 2002 (manufactured by ISP Corp., Wayne, N.J.). Control shingles were uncoated.
[0023] Table 1 below illustrates the Algae Resistance (AR) rating (rated 1-10, where 1=no algae growth and 10=most algae growth) of the coated shingles according to ASTM D5589. Samples 7 and 8 were coated with coatings containing nanocopper-oxide and nanozinc-oxide, respectively. Samples 7 and 8 were among the lowest (best) ratings when compared to traditional biocides and control (non-coated shingles). Samples were aged for at least three months.
TABLE 1 AR SHINGLES WITH VARIOUS COATINGS AND BIOCIDES RATINGS After After After SAMPLE 1 month 2 months 3 months INGREDIENTS C 2 3 5 CONTROL C 3 4 4 CONTROL 1 0 1 2 Latex + Skane M8 + Nuo2002 + DC777 2 0 1 3 Latex + Skane M8 + Nuo2002 + DC777 3 0 1 2 Latex + Skane M8 + Nuo2002 + Wet Care 4 1 1 3 Latex + Rocima 65 5 3 3 3 Latex + Rocima 65 6 2 3 3 Latex + Rocima 65 C 0 4 6 CONTROL 7 0 1 2 Latex + BYK LPX 20832 8 0 1 2 Latex + BYK LPX 20704 9 0 1 3 Latex + Rocima 63
[0024] Common acrylic latex carriers used for the coating study included: Acronal 310 (optive), NX 4787x, AC 2438, ML200, AC 264, AC 630, AC 2438, E-3494, JTC 2228A, LT 2949, AC 98B. R&H and BASF are the common latex manufacturers. These acrylics are typical acrylic/styrene copolymers with varying glass transition temperatures (T g ).
[0025] Optionally, a water repellant may be added to the shingle which causes water to bead and shed from the roofing substrate. “DC 777” from Ciba may be used at 1% wt.
[0026] Nanocopper oxide and nanozinc oxide were obtained from BYK-Chemie GmbH, at 44% and 50% concentration respectively, in pre-dispersed solution (water).
AR 7 Ideal Wet Compound Formula Weight(g) H 2 O 60.50% 60.5 E-3494 36.00% 36 BYK-LP × 20832 = ZnO 3.50% 3.5 Total 100.00% 100
[0027] AR 8 Wet Compound Formula Weight(g) H2O 60.50% 60.5 E-3494 36.00% 36 BYK-LP × 20704 = CuO 3.50% 3.5 Total 100.00% 100
Procedure for Preparing Nanosized Metal Coating
1. Under a low shear mixture the nanosized copper is slowly added to the latex. 2. Mixing continues until they become homogenous; 3. The mixture is then added to water under low shear; 4. The mixture is agitated for 20 mins to make sure the nano particles stay suspended in solution. This allows the nanosized metal to attach to the latex functional groups. 5. The above process is repeated for nanosized zinc.
[0033] After mixture is blended it is subjected to 5 minutes in the microwave. No difference was seen as a result of microwaving.
[0000] Conditions for Testing
[0034] The total inoculation time for the test was 6+ weeks, during which an alga usually forms within this period.
[0035] Settings:
T=30° C. Humidity=50% Light Cycle=10 Hr on/14 Hr off Media=Allens
[0040] Types of Algae grown:
Gloeocapsa sp (Blue Green Algae) CaloThrix sp (Blue Green Algae) Chlorella sp (Green Algae)
ASTM 5589 was used for the testing protocol.
[0044] While there has been shown and described what is considered to be one preferred embodiment of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims. | Nanosized metals and metal oxides for incorporation in biocidal coatings for application upon building materials and products and which are effective in protecting the building product against bacteria (particularly cyanobacteria), fungi, molds, algae and other bio-organisms known to deface and/or adversely affect such building materials. A method of coating roofing products with the biocidal coatings are also disclosed. | 2 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and, more particularly, the present invention concerns a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for processing the surface of a semiconductor substrate using a reactant gas, the processing including etching and film formation.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. A semiconductor substrate 2 fixed to a holder 3 is disposed within a generally cylindrical chamber 1. A reactant gas supplied to the interior of the chamber 1 through a gas supply pipe 4a from a gas supply port 4, flows within the chamber 1 in the directions indicated by arrows 6, and then reaches the surface of the substrate 2. The reactant gas which has not been used for reaction is discharged to the outside of the chamber 1 from a discharge port 5. A valve for controlling the amount of exhaust, e.g., an exhaust automatic adjusting valve 7, is provided in an exhaust pipe 7a connected to the discharge port 5.
The thus-arranged conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus will be operated in the manner described below. First, the substrate 2 is set on the holder 3 within the chamber 1. Next, after the interior of the chamber 1 has been filled with an inactive gas such as N 2 , a reactant gas is supplied into the chamber 2 from the gas supply port 4 at a predetermined flow rate. A mixture of HF gas and N 2 gas may be used as a reactant gas. If the process is etching, the reactant gas is used an etching gas. At this time, the pressure in the chamber 1 is continuously detected by a sensor (not shown) so that the interior of the chamber 1 can be maintained at a predetermined pressure by the exhaust automatic adjusting valve 7. After the passage of a predetermined time, a substituting gas, e.g., N 2 gas or air, is supplied from the gas supply port 4 to substitute for the reactant gas remaining in the chamber 1. The reaction of the reactant gas that takes place on the surface of the substrate 2 starts immediately after the supply of the reactant gas into the chamber 1, and continues until the discharge thereof by the supply of the substituting gas. The substrate 2 is taken out of the chamber 1 after the reactant gas has been completely discharged out of the chamber 1.
In the thus-arranged semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, since the chamber 1 is provided with only one gas supply port for supplying the reactant gas and the substituting gas as well as only one discharge port 5 for discharging the gases, the reactant gas may flow within the chamber 1 at a non-uniform flow rate or in non-uniform directions, depending on the overall shape of the chamber 1, the mounting positions of the gas supply port 4 and the exhaust port 5 and so on. This non-uniformity of the flow rate and the direction of the reactant gas varies the amount of reactant gas that reaches the surface of the substrate 2, making highly accurate processing of the surface of the substrate 2 impossible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the aforementioned problem of the related art, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for uniformly supplying a reactant gas onto the surface of a substrate to ensure that the surface of the substrate is processed with a high degree of accuracy.
To this end, the present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which comprises: a chamber; means for supporting a semiconductor substrate disposed within the chamber; gas supply means disposed in the chamber opposed to the substrate for uniformly supplying gas into the chamber; a first rectifying means disposed between the gas supply means and the substrate for dividing the interior of the chamber, the first rectifying means making the flow rate and the direction of the gas supplied from the gas supply means constant; a discharge means disposed on the opposite side of the substrate from the first rectifying means for uniformly discharging the gas from the interior of the chamber; and second rectifying means disposed between the gas discharge means and the substrate for dividing the interior of the chamber to make the flow rate and the flow direction of the reactant gas constant.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a gas supply nozzle and a gas discharge nozzle which are employed in the apparatus of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the same reference numerals are used to denote parts which are the same as or which correspond to those of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. A semiconductor substrate 2 supported by a holder 3 is disposed in the lower portion of the interior of a chamber 1A having, for example, a cylindrical form. The upper portion of the chamber 1A is provided with a gas supply port 4 through which a gas including a reactant gas (which may be HF gas or N 2 gas, as an etching gas) and a substituting gas is supplied into the chamber 1A from a gas supply pipe 4a. To this gas supply port 4 is connected a gas supply means, e.g., a gas supply nozzle 10, for uniformly supplying the gas into the chamber 1A. The gas supply nozzle 10 has a plurality of gas venting holes 11 at the top or upper portion thereof and which extend over a length larger than the width of the substrate 2. The gas venting holes 11 are holes having a diameter from 100 μm to 10 mm which are formed to uniformly vent the gas into the chamber 1A. Since the substrate 2 has a disk-like form, it is preferable that the gas supply nozzle 10 have a spiral form such as that shown in FIG. 3. The gas is injected toward the ceiling of the chamber 1A from the gas venting holes 11 of the gas supply nozzle 10. A filter 8a, as a first rectifying means, is disposed between the gas supply nozzle 10 and the substrate 2 for dividing the interior of the chamber 1A. The filter 8a is made of an anti-corrosive material such as Teflon. Further, a filter 8b, as a second rectifying means, is disposed on the opposite side of the substrate 2 from the filter 8a for dividing the interior of the chamber 1A. The chamber 1A includes a gas supply portion A, a substrate-processing portion B, and a gas discharge portion C, all defined by the filters 8a and 8b. Below the filter 8b is disposed a discharge means, e.g., a discharge nozzle 12, connected to a discharge port 5. Preferably, the discharge nozzle 12 has the same configuration as that of the gas supply nozzle 10. That is, the discharge nozzle 12 has a plurality of upwardly directed discharge holes 13. The discharge holes 13 have preferably the same diameter as that of the gas venting holes 11.
In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus arranged in the above-described manner, first, the substrate 2 is set on the holder 3 in the chamber 1A, and the interior of the chamber 1A is then filled with an inactive gas such as N 2 gas. Thereafter, the reactant gas is supplied into the chamber 1A from the gas supply port 4. Normally, the reactant gas is supplied at room temperature. The reactant gas which is supplied is vented into the chamber 1A substantially uniformly from the plurality of gas venting holes 11 which are directed upward. The reactant gas strikes the ceiling of the chamber 1A, thereby losing its uniformity of direction. Since a static pressure generated by the reactant gas is applied to the portion of the interior of the chamber 1A disposed above the filter 8a, the reactant gas flows downward through the filter 8a owing to the pressure difference between the chamber 1A and portion B. This allows the reactant gas to be supplied onto the surface of the substrate 2 in a uniform direction at a uniform flow rate. It is preferable for the pores formed in the filter 8a to have a size ranging from 0.01 μm to 100 μm. Since the filters 8a and 8b also remove dust from the reactant gas, the smaller the size of the pores, the better. However, excessively small pores increase the pressure loss of the reactant gas that passes through the pores, so the size of the pores should not be less than 0.01 μm. Further, the size of the pores should not exceed 100 μm, because pores having a size larger than 100 μm do not ensure a gas flow which is uniform flow rate and direction. More preferably, the size of the pores range between 0.05 μm and 10 μm.
The reactant gas that does not reach the surface of the substrate 2 passes through the filter 8b, and is then discharged outside of the chamber 1A through the discharge nozzle 12 connected to the discharge port 5. The filters 8a and 8b in combination make the flow rate and the direction of the gas flow more uniform. The size of the pores formed in the first and second filters 8a and 8b is preferably the same. However, the pores may vary within the above-described range.
The above-described embodiment employs the spiral gas supply nozzle 10 and the spiral gas discharge nozzle 12. However, a gas supply nozzle 10 and a gas discharge nozzle 12 having other forms may also be used. Further, the plurality of gas venting holes 11 and the plurality of discharge holes 13 are respectively formed in the top of the gas supply nozzle 10 and the discharge nozzle 12. However, they may also be formed in the side or bottom of the gas supply nozzle 10 and the discharge nozzle 12. Furthermore, the substrate 2 may be rotated by a driving means 3a shown in FIG. 2 for processing the surface of the substrate 2 more uniformly. The pores formed in the end portions of the filters 8a and 8b may be closed. The filters 8a and 8b should have pores over at least an area thereof which is larger than that of the substrate 2.
In the above-described embodiment, the gas supply nozzle 10 is disposed in the upper portion of the interior of the chamber 1A, while the discharge nozzle 12 is disposed in the lower portion thereof. However, the gas supply nozzle 10 may be disposed in the lower portion of the interior of the chamber 1A, while the discharge nozzle 12 may be disposed in the upper portion thereof. | A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes members for uniformly supplying a reactant gas into a chamber and uniformly discharging it from the chamber, and two rectifying members disposed on opposite sides of a substrate for making the flow rate and the direction of the reactant gas constant. This arrangement ensures that the surface of the substrate is processed with a high degree of accuracy. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/289,202, filed May 7, 2001 now abandoned; and 60/312,420, filed Aug. 15, 2001; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC
The present application includes a Sequence Listing filed on one CD-R disc, provided in duplicate, containing a single file named PB0120.ST25.txt, having 32 kilobytes, last modified on May 6, 2002, and recorded on May 6, 2002. The Sequence Listing contained in said file on said disc is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of using artificial genes as controls in gene expression analysis systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of producing Controls for use in gene expression analysis systems such as macroarrays, real-time PCR, northern blots, SAGE and microarrays, such as those provided in the Microarray ScoreCard system.
2. Description of Related Art
Gene expression profiling is an important biological approach used to better understand the molecular mechanisms that govern cellular function and growth. Microarray analysis is one of the tools that can be applied to measure the relative expression levels of individual genes under different conditions. Microarray measurements often appear to be systematically biased, however, and the factors that contribute to this bias are many and ill-defined (Bowtell, D. L., Nature Genetics 21, 25-32 (1999); Brown, P. P. and Botstein, D., Nature Genetics 21, 33-37 (1999)). Others have recommended the use of “spikes” of purified mRNA at known concentrations as controls in microarray experiments. Affymetrix includes several for use with their GeneChip products. In the current state of the art, these selected genes are actual genes selected from very distantly related organisms. For example, the human chip (designed for use with human mRNA) includes control genes from bacterial and plant sources. Affymetrix sells mRNA corresponding to these genes for spiking into the labeling reaction and inclusion in the hybridization reaction.
Each of the prior art controls includes transcribed sequences of DNA from some source. As a result, that source cannot be the subject of a hybridization experiment using those controls due to the inherent hybridization of the controls to its source. What is needed, therefore, is a set of controls which do not hybridize with the DNA of any source which may be the subject of an experiment. More desirably, there is a need for a control for gene expression analysis which does not hybridize with any known source.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, this invention provides a process of producing controls that are useful in gene expression analysis systems designed for any species and which can be tested to insure lack of hybridization with mRNA from sources other than the control DNA itself.
The invention relates in a first embodiment to a process for producing at least one control for use in a gene expression analysis system. The process comprises selecting at least one non-transcribed (inter- or intragenic) region of genomic DNA from a known sequence, designing primer pairs for said at least one non-transcribed region and amplifying said at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA to generate corresponding double stranded DNA, then cloning said double stranded DNA using a vector to obtain additional double stranded DNA and formulating at least one control comprising said double stranded DNA.
The present invention relates in a second embodiment to a process of producing at least one control for use in a gene expression analysis system wherein testing of said at least one non-transcribed region to ensure lack of hybridization with mRNA from sources other than said at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA is performed.
The present invention in a third embodiment relates to said process further comprising purifying said DNA and mRNA, determining the concentrations thereof and formulating at least one control comprising said DNA or of said mRNA at selected concentrations and ratios.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a control for use in a gene expression analysis system comprising a known amount of at least one DNA generated from at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA from a known sequence, or comprising a known amount of at least one mRNA generated from DNA generated from at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA from a known sequence. The present invention may optionally include generating mRNA complementary to said DNA and formulating at least one control comprising said mRNA, by optionally purifying said DNA and mRNA, determining the concentrations thereof and formulating at least one control comprising said DNA or of said mRNA at selected concentrations and ratios.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a control for use in a gene expression analysis system wherein a known amount of at least one DNA sequence generated from at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA from a known sequence, a known amount of at least one mRNA generated from DNA generated from at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA from a known sequence is included, and the aforementioned control wherein, said DNA and mRNA do not hybridize with any DNA or mRNA from a source other than the at least one non-transcribed region of genomic DNA.
The present invention, relates to a method of using said control, as a negative control in a gene expression analysis system by adding a known amount of said control containing a known amount of DNA, to a gene expression analysis system as a control sample and subjecting the sample to hybridization conditions in the absence of complementary labeled mRNA and examining the control sample for the absence or presence of signal.
Further, said controls can be used in a gene expression analysis system by adding a known amount of a said control containing a known amount of DNA to a gene expression analysis system as a control sample and subjecting the sample to hybridization conditions, in the presence of a said control containing a known amount of labeled complementary mRNA, and measuring the signal values for the labeled mRNA and determining the expression level of the DNA based on the signal value of the labeled mRNA.
Additionally, said controls may be used as calibrators in a gene expression analysis system by adding a known amount of a said control containing known amounts of several DNA sequences to a gene expression analysis system as control samples and subjecting the samples to hybridization conditions in the presence of a said control containing known amounts of corresponding complementary labeled mRNAs, each mRNA being at a different concentration and measuring the signal values for the labeled mRNAs and constructing a dose-response or calibration curve based on the relationship between signal value and concentration of each mRNA.
Also, the present invention relates to a method of using said controls as calibrators for gene expression ratios in a two-color gene expression analysis system by adding a known amount of at least one of said controls containing a known amount of DNA to a two-color gene expression analysis system as control samples and subjecting the samples to hybridization conditions in the presence of a said control containing known amounts of two differently labeled corresponding complementary labeled mRNAs for each DNA sample present and measuring the ratio of the signal values for the two differently labeled mRNAs and comparing the signal ratio to the ratio of concentrations of the two or more differently labelled mRNAs.
A further embodiment of the present invention is a process of producing controls that are useful in gene expression analysis systems designed for any species and which can be tested to insure lack of hybridization with mRNA from sources other than the synthetic sequences of DNA from which the control is produced.
One or more such controls can be produces by a process comprising synthesizing a near-random sequence of non-transcribed DNA, designing primer pairs for said at least one near random sequence and amplifying said non-transcribed DNA to generate corresponding double stranded DNA, then cloning said double stranded DNA using a vector to obtain additional double stranded DNA and formulating at least one control comprising said double stranded DNA.
The process can also be used to produce at least one control for use in a gene expression analysis system wherein testing of said sequence of non-transcribed synthetic DNA to ensure lack of hybridization with mRNA from sources other than said sequence of non-transcribed DNA is performed.
Additionally, mRNA complementary to said synthetic DNA can be generated and formulated to generate at least one control comprising said mRNA.
DNA and mRNA can be subsequently purified, the concentrations thereof determined, and one or more controls comprising said DNA or said mRNA at selected concentrations and ratios be formulated.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a control for use in a gene expression analysis system produced by the process comprises synthesizing a near-random sequence of DNA, designing primer pairs for said synthetic DNA and amplifying said DNA to generate corresponding double stranded DNA, then cloning said double stranded DNA using a vector to obtain additional double stranded DNA and formulating at least one control comprising a known amount of at least one said double stranded DNA or a known amount of at least one mRNA generated from said DNA, and optionally, wherein, said DNA and mRNA do not hybridize with any DNA or mRNA from a source other than said DNA sequence of non-transcribed DNA.
The present invention, additionally, relates to a method of using said controls containing a known amount of DNA, as a negative control in a gene expression analysis system including adding a known amount of said control containing a known amount of DNA to a gene expression analysis system as a control sample, and subjecting the sample to hybridization conditions in the absence of complementary labeled mRNA and examining the control sample for the absence or presence of signal.
Further, said controls may be used in a gene expression analysis system wherein a known amount of a said control containing a known amount of DNA is added to a gene expression analysis system as a control sample and subjecting the sample to hybridization conditions in the presence of a said control containing a known amount of labeled complementary mRNA and measuring the signal values for the labeled mRNA and determining the expression level of the DNA based on the signal value of the labeled mRNA.
The present invention, also relates to a method of using said controls as calibrators in a gene expression analysis system including adding known amounts of a said control containing known amounts of several DNAs to a gene expression analysis system as control samples and subjecting the samples to hybridization conditions in the presence of a said control containing known amounts of corresponding complementary labeled mRNAs, each mRNA being at a different concentration and measuring the signal values for the labeled mRNAs and constructing a dose-response or calibration curve based on the relationship between signal value and concentration of each mRNA.
The present invention, additionally, relates to a method of using said controls as calibrators for gene expression ratios in a two-color gene expression analysis system comprising adding a known amount of at least one of said controls containing a known amount of DNA to a two-color gene expression analysis system as control samples and subjecting the samples to hybridization conditions in the presence of a said control containing known amounts of two differently labeled corresponding complementary labeled mRNAs for each DNA sample present and measuring the ratio of the signal values for the two differently labeled mRNAs and comparing the signal ratio to the ratio of concentrations of the two or more differently labeled mRNAs.
Further embodiments and uses of the current invention will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
FIG. 1 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR1;
FIG. 2 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR2;
FIG. 3 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR3;
FIG. 4 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR4;
FIG. 5 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR5;
FIG. 6 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR6;
FIG. 7 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR7;
FIG. 8 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR8;
FIG. 9 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR11;
FIG. 10 presents the control nucleotide sequences of YIR19;
FIG. 11 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR1s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 12 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR2s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 13 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR3s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 14 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR4s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 15 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR5s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 16 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR6s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 17 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR7s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 18 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR8s used in a spike mix;
FIG. 19 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR11s used in a spike mix; and
FIG. 20 presents the nucleotide sequences of YIR19s used in a spike mix.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention teaches Controls for use in gene expression analysis systems such as microarrays. Many have expressed interest in being able to obtain suitable genes and spikes as controls for inclusion in their arrays.
An advantage of the Controls of this invention is that a single set can be used with assay systems designed for any species, as these Controls will not be present unless intentionally added. This contrasts with the concept of using genes from “distantly related species.” For example, an analysis system directed at detecting human gene expression might employ a Bacillus subtilis gene as control, which may not be present in a human genetic material. But this control might be present in bacterial genetic material (or at least, cross hybridize), thus it may not be a good control for an experiment on bacterial gene expression. The novel Controls presented here provide an advantage over the state of the art in that the same set of controls can be used without regard to the species for the test sample RNA.
The present invention employs the novel approaches of using either non-transcribed genomic sequences or totally random synthetic sequences as a template and generating both DNA and complementary “mRNA” from such sequences, for use as controls. The Controls could be devised de novo by designing near-random sequences and synthesizing them resulting in synthetic macromolecules as universal controls. Totally synthetic random DNA fragments are so designed that they do not cross-hybridize with each other or with RNA from any biologically relevant species (meaning species whose DNA or RNA might be present in the gene expression analysis system). The cost of generating such large synthetic DNA molecules can be high. However, they only need to be generated a single time. Additionally, fragment size can be increased by ligating smaller synthetic fragments together by known methods. In this way, fragments large enough to be easily cloned can be created. Through cloning and PCR sufficient quantities of DNA for use as controls can be produced and mRNA can be generated by in vitro transcription for use in controls.
A simpler approach is to identify sequences from the non-transcribed regions of genomic DNA from an organism, and use these as a template for synthesis via PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Ideally, sequences of around 1000 bases (could range from 500 to 2000 bases) are selected based on computer searches of publicly accessible sequence data. The criteria for selection include:
1. The sequence must be from a non-transcribed region (intergenic or intronic region); and 2.The sequence must not have homology with or be predicted to hybridise with any known/published gene or expressed sequence tag (EST).
PCR primer pairs are designed for the selected sequence(s) and PCR is performed using genomic DNA (as a template) to generate PCR fragments (dsDNA) corresponding to the non-transcribed sequence(s) as the control DNA. Additional control DNA can be cloned using a vector and standard techniques. Subsequently, standard techniques such as in vitro transcription are used to generate mRNA (complementary to the cDNA and containing a poly-A tail) as the control mRNA. Standard techniques are used for purifying the Control DNA and Control mRNA products, and for estimating their concentrations.
Empirical testing is also performed to ensure lack of hybridization between the Control DNA on the array and other mRNAs, as well as with mRNA from important gene expression systems (e.g., human, mouse, Arabidopsis , etc.).
The above approaches were used to generate ten control sequences from intergenic regions of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. Specifically, using yeast genome sequence data publicly available at The Saccharomyces Genome Database web page maintained by the Department of Genetics at the School of Medicine, Stanford University, intergenic regions approximately 1 kb in size were identified. These sequences were BLAST'd and those showing no homology to other sequences were identified as candidates for artificial gene controls. Candidates were analyzed for GC-content and a subset with a GC-content of ≧36% were identified. Specific primer sequences have been identified and synthesized. PCR products amplified with the specific primers have been cloned directly into the pGEM™-T Easy vector (Promega Corp., Madison, Wis.). Both array targets and templates for spike mRNA have been amplified from these clones using distinct and specific primers.
To maximize the chances of identifying 10 control sequences, a greater number of intergenic regions have been cloned for testing. All candidate sequences were spotted on glass microarray slides and hybridized with each candidate spike mRNA independently to identify those that cross-hybridize. Ten candidates exhibiting specific hybridization were chosen to form the specific set of controls. When used as controls, all of the ten yeast intergenic regions (YIRs) were generated by PCR with specific primers (Table 1), using 5 ng of cloned template (plasmid DNA) and a primer concentration of 0.5 μM in a 100 μl reaction volume, and cycled as follows: 35 cycles of
TABLE 1 Primers used for amplification of controls. Target Forward Primer Reverse Primer YIR1 TTCGTTGGATTGAGTAAGAA SEQ ID NO: 21 GCACTTCTAGTAAGCACATG SEQ ID NO: 31 YIR2 GCGAATAACCAAAACGAGAC SEQ ID NO: 22 GCACTAAACTAAAACCGTGA SEQ ID NO: 32 YIR3 TGTTTTTGCTATATTACGTGGG SEQ ID NO: 23 CCAGCGAACACAATTCAAAA SEQ ID NO: 33 YIR4 TTTCGGTAGTGAGATGGCAG SEQ ID NO: 24 TGTACCACTTTTGCACCATA SEQ ID NO: 34 YIR5 TTAGTTTGGAACAGCAGTGT SEQ ID NO: 25 GTTTCCTCGCTCATACCCTA SEQ ID NO: 35 YIR6 AATGAGTTACCGTCTGTTAC SEQ ID NO: 26 AGTAAAGTCATGGTGGATTG SEQ ID NO: 36 YIR7 TCCTAGAGTAGCGATTCCCC SEQ ID NO: 27 GCACCTATCGTCATTGTCTT SEQ ID NO: 37 YIR8 TAGTTGGAGGTTGGTGAGTA SEQ ID NO: 28 CTTCAACTCGTACGTGATGG SEQ ID NO: 38 YIR11 CCATTCATATCATTTAGTGC SEQ ID NO: 29 CCATTCCAGTTCATATTGAA SEQ ID NO: 39 YIR19 GATTTAATACAGTACCTTTCTTCGC SEQ ID NO: 30 CCACTTTGATGGACTATTATGTATG SEQ ID NO: 40
94° C. 20 sec., 52° C. 20 sec., 72° C. 2 min., followed by extension at 72° C. for 5 min.
All YIR control mRNAs for the spike mix are generated by in vitro transcription. Templates for in vitro transcription (IVT) are generated by amplification with specific primers that are designed to introduce a T7 RNA polymerase promoter on the 5′ end and a polyT (T21) tail on the 3′ end of the PCR products (see Table 2). Run-off mRNA is produced using 1 μl of these PCR products per reaction with the AmpliScribe system (Epicentre, Madison, Wis.). IVT products are purified using the RNAEasy system (Qiagen Inc., Valencia, Calif.) and quantified by spectrophotometry.
FIG. 1 through FIG. 10 presents the nucleotide sequences of the ten YIR controls, while FIGS. 11 through 20 presents the nucleotide sequences of the ten YIRs (‘s’ for spike mix) as used in a spike mix. The primer sequences used for amplifying the controls were listed in Table 1, the primer sequences used for amplifying spike mix templates were listed in Table 2. These sequences are further presented in the Sequence Listing, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, as follows:
SEQ ID NO: 1-8
nt, control nucleotide sequences
YIR1 through YIR8;
SEQ ID NO: 9
nt, control nucleotide sequences
YIR11;
SEQ ID NO: 10
nt, control nucleotide sequences
YIR19;
TABLE 2
Primers used for amplification of in vitro
transcription targets.
Template
Forward Primer
Reverse Primer
YIR1
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 41
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTGAA
SEQ ID NO: 51
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGAAATGTC
TACTTCCACTTTGGTGC
GATACTGTGTTACG
YIR2
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 42
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAAT
SEQ ID NO: 52
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGATTTCTT
ATGCGGCTGCGCTAAAA
TTTCCCTATTTCTCACTGG
YIR3
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGPAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 43
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAGT
SEQ ID NO: 53
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGAACTGTA
CGGTAATTTCTTTCTGG
TATAAAAGAGGACTGC
YIR4
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 44
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCCA
SEQ ID NO: 54
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGAATAATA
CCATGACGTCATTAACTTAAAT
ACTTCTGGCTTTTCGC
YIR5
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 45
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
SEQ ID NO: 55
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGAAGATAC
AAAGGTATCATCCCTGT
CGTCCTTGGATAGA
YIR6
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 46
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTGCC
SEQ ID NO: 56
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGATTGGGA
GGACCTTTCAAGCATAA
CGGTTTTTGCACTAAGAA
YIR7
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 47
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCAT
SEQ ID NO: 57
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGATTCGCG
AATTAGGGGTTCTGATA
TATTCTTACATCTT
YIR8
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 48
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCAT
SEQ ID NO: 58
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGACCAGAT
GTTAGACTGAAAGCAAA
TGCTTACAAAAGAA
YIR11
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 49
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTATT
SEQ ID NO: 59
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGATTATGG
AAATCTCGGCTAGCCAC
CTACTTTTCATTCC
YIR19
GCATTAGCGGCCGCGAAATTAATA
SEQ ID NO: 50
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTAGC
SEQ ID NO: 60
CGACTCACTATAGGGAGAGCTAGG
ATAAAACCTCAGCTTTA
ATCTATATGCGAAT
SEQ ID NO: 11-18
nt, spike mix nucleotide sequences
YIR1s through YIR8s;
SEQ ID NO: 19
nt, spike mix nucleotide sequence
YIR11s;
SEQ ID NO: 20
nt, spike mix nucleotide sequence
YIR19s;
SEQ ID NO: 21-28
nt, forward primer sequences for
amplification of controls YIR1
through YIR8;
SEQ ID NO: 29
nt, forward primer sequence for
amplification of control YIR11;
SEQ ID NO: 30
nt, forward primer sequence for
amplification of control YIR19;
SEQ ID NO: 31-38
nt, reverse primer sequences for
amplification of controls YIR1
through YIR8;
SEQ ID NO: 39
nt, reverse primer sequence for
amplification of controls YIR11;
SEQ ID NO: 40
nt, reverse primer sequence for
amplification of controls YIR19;
SEQ ID NO: 41-48
nt, forward primer sequences for
amplification of in vitro
transcription templates YIR1s through
YIR8s;
SEQ ID NO: 49
nt, forward primer sequence for
amplification of in vitro
transcription templates YIR11s;
SEQ ID NO: 50
nt, forward primer sequence for
amplification of in vitro
transcription templates YIR19s;
SEQ ID NO: 51-58
nt, reverse primer sequences for
amplification of in vitro
transcription templates YIR1s through
YIR8s;
SEQ ID NO: 59
nt, reverse primer sequence for
amplification of in vitro
transcription templates YIR11s;
SEQ ID NO: 60
nt, reverse primer sequence for
amplification of in vitro
transcription templates YIR19s;
The following examples demostrate how these Control DNA and Control mRNA are then used as controls in microarray gene expression experiments:
1. Control DNA included in the array, but for which no complementary artificial mRNA is spiked into the RNA sample, serves as a negative control; 2. Several different Control DNA samples may be included in an array, and the complementary Control mRNA for each is included at a known concentration, each having a different concentration of mRNA. The signals from the array features corresponding to these Controls or Calibrators may be used to construct a “dose-response curve” or calibration curve to estimate the relationship between signal and amount of mRNA from the sample; 3. In two-color microarray gene expression studies, it is possible to include different, known, levels of Control mRNA complementary to Control DNA in the labeling reaction for each channel. Comparing the ratio of signals for the two dyes from that gene can be compared to the ratio of concentrations of the two Control mRNA molecules. This can serve as a test of the accuracy of the system for determining gene expression ratios. 4. Mixtures of several different Control mRNA species can be prepared (spike mixes) at known concentrations and ratios to simplify the experimental protocol while providing a comprehensive set of precision and accuracy information. Table 3 demonstrates one embodiment of this concept. The presence of the dynamic range controls (those included in the labeling reaction at a ratio of 1:1) allows the user to determine the sensitivity of the system. They are also useful for demonstrating the precision of the normalisation method used. For the ratio controls, individual mRNAs are spiked into the two labeling reactions at different concentrations, such that a specific sequence is represented at different levels in each color.
The above examples illustrate specific aspects of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof in any respect and should not be so construed.
Those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings of the present invention as set forth above, can effect numerous modifications thereto. These modifications are to be construed as being encompassed within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.
TABLE 3
Suggested Control mNRA spike mix composition for
two-color gene expression ratio experiments.
Target
Conc. In mix
Cy3:Cy5
(pg/5μl mix)
Relative
Control
Ratio
Cy3
Cy5
abundance*
YIR1s
1:1
33 000
33 000
3.3%
YIR2s
1:1
10 000
10 000
1%
YIR3s
1:1
1 000
1 000
0.1%
YTR4s
1:1
330
330
0.033%
YIR5s
1:1
100
100
0.01%
YIR6s
1:1
33
33
0.0033%
YIR7s
1:3
1 000
3 000
NA
YTR8s
3:1
3 000
1 000
NA
YTR11s
1:10
1 000
10 000
NA
YIR19s
10:1
10 000
1 000
NA
*For the labeling reactions, add 5 μl of the appropriate spike mix per microgram of Control mRNA. Use the spiked Control mRNA in the first-strand cDNA synthesis reaction. The spiked Control mRNA can be labeled using oligo dT and/or random primers. | Method of producing controls for use in gene expression analysis systems such as macroarrays, real-time PCR, northern blots, SAGE and microarrays. The controls are generated either from near-random sequence of DNA, or from inter- or intragenic regions of a genome. Ten specific control sequences are also disclosed. Also presented are methods of using these controls, including as negative controls, positive controls, and as calibrators of a gene expression analysis system. | 2 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/864,740, filed on Aug. 12, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of skid-steer work vehicles, such as trenchers or vibratory plows.
SUMMARY
[0003] A vehicle comprising a frame, a trencher, an auger, a first ground engaging assembly and a second ground engaging assembly. The trencher is connected to the frame and has a rotatable digging chain. The auger defines an auger axis and is connected to the frame. The first ground engaging assembly movably supports the frame and defines a first surface contact area. The second ground engaging member movably supports the frame and defines a second surface contact area. The second surface contact area is smaller than the first surface contact area. The auger axis extends above the first surface contact area but does not extend above the second surface contact area.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] FIG. 1 is a right rear view of the tracked vehicle of the present invention.
[0005] FIG. 2 is a left-front perspective view of the tracked vehicle of FIG. 1 .
[0006] FIG. 3 is a front view of the tracked vehicle of FIG. 1 with the trencher digging chain removed.
[0007] FIG. 4 is a side view of a wheeled vehicle in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION
[0008] With reference now to FIG. 1 , shown therein is a vehicle 10 having a frame 12 and a motive force system 14 . The frame 12 comprises an operator station 16 and a work attachment 18 . The operator station 16 is configured for an operator walking behind the tracked vehicle 10 . Ride-on platform and seated operator station 16 configurations are also contemplated. As shown, the work attachment 18 is a trenching boom, but alternative work attachments such as plows, buckets, excavators, microtrenching blades, and others are anticipated. The motive force system 14 comprises a first ground engaging assembly illustrated as a first track system 20 and a second ground engaging member, which is illustrated as a second track system 22 . Each of the first track system 20 and the second track system 22 comprise an endless track 24 and a corresponding track support structure 26 . The endless track 24 provides a surface-engaging area or contact area between a surface of the ground and the vehicle 10 .
[0009] A first endless track 24 A of the first track system 20 has a larger surface-engaging area between the ground and the endless track than a second endless track 24 B of the second track system 22 . The overall length of the first and second endless tracks 24 A, 24 B may differ, or they may be the same, but the contact surface is adjusted by the geometries of the first track system 20 and second track system 22 . For example, the first track system 20 may provide for a “low track” while the second track system 22 provides a “high track” having a triangular profile. Alternatively, the first and second track systems 20 , 22 may have similar geometries but different lengths, as shown in FIG. 1 . The second track system 22 may comprise a surface-engaging area that is 75% or less than the surface-engaging area of the first track system 20 . Additionally, the invention could be utilized where the second ground engaging member comprises one or more wheels (not shown) used in place of the second endless track 24 B. The endless tracks 24 A, 24 B may be adjustable to tension the endless tracks about their corresponding track support structure 26 .
[0010] The track support structure 26 of each track system 20 , 22 comprises a drive sprocket 28 and a bogey wheel 30 . The drive sprocket 28 is powered by a motor (not shown) to drive the endless track 24 A, 24 B. The drive sprocket 28 of each track system 20 , 22 may be powered by a separate motor. The bogey wheels 30 provide support and shape for the endless track 24 A, 24 B as it is driven by the sprocket 28 .
[0011] The vehicle 10 further comprises a fuel tank 32 for storing fuel such as gasoline, diesel, and other liquid fuels for operation of the vehicle and its components. The fuel tank 32 comprises a handle 34 for removal of the fuel tank and storage at a location away from the vehicle 10 . A fuel tank tray 36 allows the fuel tank to be removed from the frame 12 for refueling purposes.
[0012] With reference now to FIG. 2 , the vehicle 10 is shown from the side of the second track system 22 . The work attachment 18 shown comprises a trencher 40 and auger 42 . The trencher 40 comprises a boom 44 , an endless digging chain 46 , and a sprocket 48 . The digging chain 46 comprises a plurality of teeth 50 for digging a trench when the chain is rotated. The sprocket 48 is powered by a motor 52 and causes the digging chain 46 to rotate about the boom 44 . A cylinder 53 is hydraulically powered and controlled at the operator station, and causes the trencher boom 44 to pivot such that the digging chain 46 can engage the ground and create a trench.
[0013] The auger 42 is either independently powered or powered by the same motor 52 as the sprocket 48 . As shown, the auger 42 comprises a blade 54 and a shaft 56 having an auger axis 58 . The blade 54 is attached to the shaft 56 such that rotation of the shaft 56 about the auger axis 58 causes the blade to move spoils from proximate the trencher 40 away from the vehicle 10 . The trencher boom 44 may pivot about the auger axis 58 due to operation of the hydraulic cylinder 53 . Alternatively, the trencher boom 44 may pivot at a different location. The auger axis 58 , when extended in both directions to infinity, will extend above a surface contact area of the first track system 20 , but will not extend above a surface contact area of the second track system 22 , allowing the auger 42 to remove spoils from proximate a trench created by the trencher 40 but outside of the profile of the vehicle 10 .
[0014] As shown in FIG. 2 , the auger axis 58 and the sprocket 48 are in front of the second endless track 24 B but not in front of the first endless track 24 A. As the second track structure 22 shown is a “low track” system, the sprocket 28 is located proximate the back of the vehicle 10 . One of ordinary skill will appreciate that this sprocket 28 may be placed at any point with a long contact profile with the endless track 24 B, and that a “high track” system may have a sprocket at an apex of a triangular profile (not shown).
[0015] Controls 60 are provided at the operator station 16 for controlling the track systems 20 , 22 and work attachment 18 of the vehicle 10 . As shown, the controls 60 comprise a first track throttle 62 and a second track throttle 64 . The first track throttle 62 controls the first track system 20 , while the second track throttle 64 controls the speed of the second track system 22 . One of skill in the art will appreciate that for track systems 20 , 22 of differing lengths to operate at the same speed, a hydraulic control system, gear differential, hydrostatic motors, an electric control system or other means for controlling the throttle (not shown) may be utilized for ease of control of the motive force system 14 . For example, when the first track throttle 62 and second track throttle 64 are fully open, the endless tracks 24 A, 24 B should provide the same motive forces, even if the power required to achieve the force is different for each track.
[0016] Alternatively, the controls 60 may comprise a multi-axis joystick (not shown) for controlling the first track system 20 and second track system 22 . The multi-axis joystick directs the motive force system 14 to cause the vehicle 10 to move in forward, reverse, or turn based on the two-dimensional actuation of the joystick.
[0017] All of the components of the vehicle 10 may be powered by one engine 70 mounted on the frame; however, separate motors may be utilized for each of the work attachment 18 , first track system 20 and second track system 22 .
[0018] With reference now to FIG. 3 , the vehicle 10 of FIG. 2 is shown from the front with the digging chain 46 removed so that the auger 42 is clearly shown in front of the second track system 22 .
[0019] With reference to FIG. 4 , a wheeled embodiment of the vehicle 10 is shown therein. The motive force system 14 comprises a first drive wheel 80 , a second drive wheel 82 , and a roller wheel 84 . The first and second drive wheels 82 provide motive force to the vehicle 10 . As shown, the first and second drive wheels 80 , 82 are the same size and offset relative to the frame 12 . Alternatively, the first and second drive wheels 80 , 82 may be of differing sizes. The roller wheel 84 is disposed on the same side of the frame as the first drive wheel 80 and provides stability but no motive force. One of ordinary skill can appreciate that an additional drive wheel could be used in place of roller wheel 84 . As with respect to the first and second track systems 20 , 22 described above, the drive wheels 80 , 82 may be powered by separate motors.
[0020] Together, first drive wheel 80 and roller wheel 84 form a first ground engaging assembly with a surface contact area greater than the surface contact area of the second drive wheel 82 . The auger axis 58 ( FIG. 2 ), when extended in both directions to infinity, will extend above a surface contact area defined by the region where the first ground engaging assembly (the first drive wheel 80 and roller wheel 84 ) contacts the ground, but will not extend above a surface contact area of the second drive wheel 82 , allowing the auger 42 to remove spoils from proximate a trench created by the trencher 40 but outside of the profile of the vehicle 10 .
[0021] Various modifications can be made in the design and operation of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the first drive wheel 80 and roller wheel 84 of FIG. 4 may be used with the second track system 22 of FIG. 2 . Thus, while the principle preferred construction and modes of operation of the invention have been explained in what is now considered to represent its best embodiments, which have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described. | A vehicle having a long track or wheel-trail wheel combination on one side and a smaller ground engaging member, such as a short track or wheel on the other. The vehicle has a work attachment on one end of its frame, which is provided clearance on the side of the vehicle with the short track or wheel. A control system is provided to allow an operator to properly control a direction of the vehicle despite the fact that different forces may be required to operate the long track and the short track or wheel. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Priority is hereby claimed to U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/512,652, filed 20 Oct. 2003.
Incorporated herein by reference is my U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/512,652, filed 20 Oct. 2003.
This is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/RU2003/00178, filed 18 Apr. 2003, priority of which is hereby claimed.
Incorporated herein by reference is my International Application No. PCT/RU2003/00178, filed 18 Apr. 2003.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
Technology Field
The invention relates to electric motors, primarily for vehicles, in the form of motor-wheels, and is intended for use in electrically propelled bicycles, wheelchairs, scooters, motorcycles, buses, and also winches, cranes, etc.
2. General Background of the Invention
Technology Level
Collector motor-wheels with no reduction gear, in which the rotation of the wheel is brought about directly by the electromagnetic interaction of magnetic stator-and-rotor system, are known (SU 628008 A, Oct. 15, 1978; SU 910480 A, Mar. 7, 1982; SU 1725780 A3, Apr. 7, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,623 B1 Nov. 17, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 6,492,756 B1, Dec. 10, 2002-all references mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference).
The closest analogue to the proposed invention is an electric motor for a vehicle, containing a stator with an even number of permanent magnets located in a circle at uniform pitch, a rotor with electromagnets, a distributing collector having conducting plates round its circumference, combined in a set order into groups with positive and negative polarity, connected to a direct current supply and separated by dielectric gaps, and also brushes contacting the said collector, connected to the windings of the electromagnet coils (U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,496 B1, May 7, 2002). A significant fault of this motor is its low torque, which severely limits its field of practical application.
It should be noted that various technical solutions for increasing the torque of motor wheels are already known; however, they involve the use of high-voltage power supplies and complex control circuits, so that they are difficult to produce and not very reliable in use.
While certain novel features of this invention shown and described below are pointed out in the annexed claims, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details specified, since a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. No feature of the invention is critical or essential unless it is expressly stated as being “critical” or “essential.”
BRIEF SUMMARY
An object is to improve the technical characteristics of an electric motor of the type under consideration, primarily to increase its torque.
Another object is to provide increased torque without significant complication of the design or use of the motor.
In a preferred embodiment it has been established experimentally by the author of the invention that a solution to this problem can be found by selecting a specific ratio, and corresponding disposition of the number of electromagnets in the stator, the permanent magnets in the rotor and the collector plates, and their position relative to each other, and also by a specific way of connecting the electromagnet coils to the supply.
In a preferred embodiment the coils of adjacent electromagnets in the rotor, are connected in pairs, in series aiding, and to the coils of a pair of diametrically opposite electromagnets, in series opposing; the leads of their windings, connected to the corresponding brushes, are shunted by capacitors, so that each two pairs of diametrically opposite electromagnets, together with the capacitor, form a resonant circuit. The number (n) of permanent magnets in the stator and the number (m) of the said resonant circuits are determined from the equations n=10+k, m=2+k, where k is a whole number (k=0,1,2,3 . . . ), the number of plates in the distributing collector is taken as equal to n, and the axial lines of the dielectric gaps in the distributing collector are aligned along the axial lines of the permanent magnets in the stator.
Such a relation of the number of electromagnets, permanent magnets and collector plates, and such an electromagnet commutation circuit containing capacitors, provides resonance of currents in the low frequency circuits formed by the pairs of diametrically opposite electromagnets and the capacitors connected to them. The rating of the capacitors should be coordinated with the number of coil windings shunted by these capacitors.
It was unexpectedly discovered that the resonance phenomena are amplified in the event of the number of loops in the coil windings electrically connected to each other (diametrically opposite electromagnets) differing from each other by an integral multiple.
In a preferred embodiment the ratio between the numbers of loops in the windings of the one and the other diametrically opposite electromagnets in each pair should be 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, or 1/4.
The rotor can be located outside or inside the stator.
The brushes may be able to be displaced round the circumference relative to the collector in order to adjust the commutation of the electromagnet coils. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention is an electric motor, containing:
a stator with a circular magnetic conductor, to which an even number of permanent magnets is attached at uniform pitch; a rotor, separated from the stator by an air gap and carrying electromagnets interacting with the permanent magnets in the stator; a distributing collector, fixed to the body of the stator and having current conducting plates round its circumference, connected at alternating polarity to a direct current supply and separated by dielectric gaps; brushes, connected to the rotor, which are able to contact the collector plates and are connected to electromagnet coil windings, wherein the coil windings of adjacent electromagnets are connected in pairs in series aiding, and to the windings of the coils of a pair of diametrically opposite electromagnets in series opposing, with capacitors connected to the leads of the windings connected to the brushes to form resonant circuits, the number (n) of the permanent magnets of the stator and the number (m) of the resonant circuits being determined from the equations n=10+4k, m=2+k, where k is a whole number (k=0,1,2,3 . . . ), the number of plates in the distributing collector is equal to the number of magnets in the stator, and the axial lines of the dielectric gaps in the distributing collector are aligned along the axial lines of the permanent magnets of the stator. Preferably, the number of loops in the coil windings of diametrically opposite electromagnets is different, the difference being 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 or 1/4. Preferably, the rating of the capacitor connected to the electromagnet coil windings is proportional to the total number of loops in these windings. In one embodiment, the rotor is located outside the stator, although the rotor could be located inside the stator. Preferably, the brushes are able to be adjusted in position on the circumference relative to the collector.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages of the present invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, read in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and wherein:
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a side view of an electric motor made in accordance with the invention for two possible versions: with an external rotor ( FIG. 1 ) and an internal rotor (FIG. 2 ).
FIG. 3 shows a graph of the voltage in the leads of the electromagnet coils connected to each other, forming a resonant circuit with the capacitor connected to them.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Detailed descriptions of one or more preferred embodiments are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in any appropriate system, structure or manner.
As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2 , in a preferred embodiment the electric motor can contain a shell ( 1 ), serving as a casing, a stator ( 2 ) and a rotor ( 3 ). In FIG. 1 the rotor ( 3 ) is located outside the stator, and in FIG. 2 , inside the stator. In the structure of the motor-wheel, the rotor can be connected to the rotated wheel (not shown) and a direct connection with no reduction gear is advisable. The electric motor stator ( 2 ) can have a cylindrical magnetic conductor ( 4 ), to which permanent magnets ( 5 ) of alternating polarity are fixed.
The electric motor rotor ( 3 ) can carry electromagnets ( 6 ), the coils of which, when the motor is running, receive direct current from a DC supply (not shown) via the collector distributor ( 7 ) and the brushes ( 8 ). The collector distributor ( 7 ) can be fixed, but the brushes ( 8 ) can be connected to the rotor, and as it rotates, they are displaced relative to the conducting plates ( 9 ) of the collector distributor. The said plates can be connected to the DC supply with alternating polarity and can be separated from each other by dielectric gaps ( 10 ).
The principle of operation of an electric motor made in accordance with this invention is no different from normal. The change of polarity of the rotor electromagnets as the brushes connected to them are displaced relative to the collector plates connected alternately to different poles of the DC supply, with the alternating polarity of the permanent magnets in the stator, creates an attraction of each electromagnet of the rotor to the magnet of the stator nearest to it in the direction of rotation of the rotor, and a repulsion from the preceding one.
The novelty of the electric motor made in accordance with this invention lies in the strictly determined ratio of the number of stator magnets, rotor electromagnets and conducting collector plates, and also in the manner in which the electromagnet coils are connected up. The coils of two adjacent electromagnets are connected to each other in series aiding (in FIGS. 1 and 2 , this corresponds to the connection from the beginning of the winding, denoted by “H”, to the end, denoted by “K”), but to the pair of coils of the electromagnets located diametrically opposite, in series opposing (from the end “K” to the beginning “N”); the ends of the windings not connected to each other (the “free” ends) are connected to the brushes ( 8 ) and are simultaneously shunted by capacitors ( 11 ) to form a resonant circuit.
The set number of permanent magnets in the stator must be compatible with the set number of pairs of such circuits. Thus, the variant of the motor in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2 with two resonant circuits must have a stator with 10 permanent magnets and with precisely the same number of conducting plates ( 9 ) of the collector distributor. The overall relationship of the ratios of resonant circuits and number of permanent magnets is determined from the equations n=10+4k, m=2+k, where n is the number of magnets, m is the number of circuits and k is a whole number (k=0,1,2,3 . . . ). On the basis of these equations, for 14 stator magnets, there should be three resonant circuits, and so on.
The number of conducting plates of the collector distributor must be equal to the number of permanent magnets in the stator, and the axial lines of the dielectric gaps ( 10 ) between the plates must coincide with the axial lines of the permanent magnets. As can be seen from the voltage graph shown in FIG. 3 , the way that each of the circuits is connected up in turn via the brushes connected to the rotor to the different-polarity collector plates as the rotor rotates creates alternating current in them, as a result of which current resonance occurs in the circuit, thus increasing the torque created by the motor. This effect is enhanced by the different number of loops in the coil windings.
The number of loops in the coils of the diametrically opposite electromagnets differs between them by 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 and in certain cases 1/4.
If, for example, in one of the pairs of series-wired coils, the number of loops is 128, the number in the second pair (diametrically opposite) must be 124, which is a ratio of 1/32, or 120 for a ratio of 1/16 and so on.
The rating of the capacitor ( 11 ) depends on the total inductance of the series-wired windings shunted thereby.
Industrial Applicability
Since the motor in accordance with the invention can achieve high torque for relatively low voltage supply rating, and is simple in design, it has a wide range of possible applications.
A prototype motor made in accordance with the invention, with the parameters:
diameter - 400 mm weight - 16 kg power - 5.5 kW voltage - 48 V
creates torque of up to 500 Nm. The motor has 22 permanent magnets in the stator and five resonant circuits. The electromagnet windings are calculated for the ratio 1/16.
All measurements disclosed herein are at standard temperature and pressure, at sea level on Earth, unless indicated otherwise.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention set forth in the appended claims. The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims. | An electric motor includes a stator which carries permanent magnets, and a rotor which carries electromagnets. A particular arrangement of connecting up the windings of the electromagnets to the distributing collector and the selection of the ratio of stator magnets to rotor electromagnets enable higher torque to be achieved. The main field of application is in motor-wheels of vehicles. | 7 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to suction catheters, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for keeping them clear so that effective suctioning can be maintained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the use of endotracheal tubes, regardless of whether passed through the mouth or through a tracheotomy, there are times when lung secretions are too thick and sticky to be easily extracted through a suction catheter. Dilution helps thin the secretions and irrigate the catheter lumen so good vacuum flow is maintained, thereby promoting removal of lung secretions which must be removed from the lung.
The current practice of irrigation uses syringes or compressable vials as means of instilling the irrigation solution into the lung along the exterior of the catheter or through a lumen inside the wall of the catheter in order to promote dilution. This practice requires more than two hands or the interruption of the suction flow in order to instill the irrigating fluid into the system. A break in the suction flow may cause the secretion pool to be incompletely removed. Also, there is the possibility that the volume of irrigation fluid from the single loaded syringe or vial may not be adequate and will require a reload effort.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Described briefly, according to a typical embodiment of the present invention, a thumb or finger operable pump is located near the patient end of the suctioning catheter assembly. This pump receives the irrigation fluid from a comparatively large reservoir and can withdraw the fluid from the reservoir and pump it into an irrigation supply channel in the suction catheter on an as-needed basis during suctioning. Thus, the one hand of the administrator can both stabilize the junction piece at the patient end of the suction catheter and operate the irrigator while the other hand controls vacuum flow and catheter location as needed for the suctioning function.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The single FIGURE of drawing is a schematic illustration of a cased suction catheter situated for use through a tracheotomy and employing irrigation according to the method and apparatus of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
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.
Referring now to the drawing, a cased suction catheter assembly 11 of the general type shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,893, issued Jun. 30, 1992, is provided with a four-way junction or cross piece 12 at the patient end (where the tee piece 17, shown in FIG. 1 of that patent, was located in the patent) and to which is connected an endotracheal tube 13 entering the trachea (not shown) through a tracheotomy 14 in the neck 16 of the patient. The flexible sheath 17 is connected and sealed to a sleeve 21 received on the end of the cross piece opposite the endotracheal tube. The distal end of the sheath is connected and sealed to the manifold 18.
A catheter tube 19 is fixed in the manifold 18 but slidably received in the sleeve 21 which may have a valve in it (such as valve 23 shown in FIG. 1 in the above-mentioned patent). The catheter tube 19 has an internal lumen 22 which is like and has the same purpose as the lumen 29 in the catheter tube 20 of the aforementioned patent. The patient end of the catheter tube is open at 23 and the lumen 22 opens in the side of the catheter at the patient end at opening 24 from which irrigation fluid can be discharged into the lung around the catheter.
The lumen 22 communicates with the irrigation fluid supply tube 26 connected to the manifold 18. A suction tube 28 is connected to the manifold 18 and through it to the catheter tube 19. However, this suction line is independent of and isolated from the lumen 22 and associated tube 26. A manually operable vacuum control valve 29 is associated with the vacuum line 28 at the manifold. The valve is normally closed but can be opened by the thumb 31 of the administrator. The line 28 is connected to a suction source 32.
An air/oxygen ventilating machine 33 is connected through hose 34 to the bottom stem 36 of the cross fitting 12. According to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a self-priming pump assembly 37 is connected to the top stem 38 of the cross fitting. The intake port 39 of the pump is connected to a comparatively large reservoir such as an IV infusion bag 41 which can be hung on arm 42A of an IV stand 42 by means of the eyelet 41E at the top of the bag. The outlet line 43 of the bag is connected to the inlet port 39 of the pump assembly 37. The discharge port 44 of the pump is connected through the tube 46 to a Y-connector 47 which is, in turn, connected to the tube 26. A needle pierceable cap 48 is provided at the upper end of the other branch of the Y-fitting 47 for addition of material to the irrigation system from a syringe if, and when, desired. An overcap 49 on a flexible hinge 51 is provided on the upper end fitting of tube 26 to close that tube if the Y-connector 47 is removed from it. Similarly, hinged overcap 50 is provided at the upper end of the tube 27.
Two one-way valves shown schematically at 45A and 45B are provided between the inlet and outlet ports 39 and 44 of the pump assembly 37. Thus, irrigating fluid can be drawn from line 43 through valve 45A into the pump bellows, and squeezed out by pressure from the thumb of one hand of the administrator and through the one-way valve 45B into the line 46 and thereby through the tube 26 and lumen 22 and out through the opening 24 when in the patient's lung 52, as indicated by the dotted line in the drawing.
OPERATION
As one hand 53 stabilizes the cross fitting 12 and is in position for operation of the pump with the thumb 54 when irrigation is needed, the catheter tube 19 is pushed down into the lung by advancing the other hand 56 forward in the direction of arrow 57. Suctioning can be increased or decreased by decreasing or increasing the opening in vacuum inlet valve 29 by operating the thumb 31. Irrigation is applied as needed by operating the pump 37 by pushing and releasing the upper end of the bellows with the thumb 54.
The pump, being securely attached to the patient end of the cased suction catheter assembly at the cross piece 12, allows the hand that stabilizes the cross piece to also activate the pump which refills automatically, thus permitting fluid irrigation as long as is needed. The other hand controls the vacuum flow as needed to complete the treatment.
Although the above-described and illustrated pump system lines 46, 26 communicate with an in-the-wall lumen 22 in the catheter, the pump system and line 46 may be connected to line 27 for down-the-catheter lumen purge of the catheter 19 itself in those types of cased catheters which irrigate the interior of the catheter tube itself rather than irrigating at the tip of the catheter. Alternatively or in addition, the irrigation line 46 can be at the patient connector for external wash of the catheter itself. An example would be connection to port 55 of the catheter assembly shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,762 issued Nov. 16, 1976 to Radford.
If there is any concern about possible confusion between IV lines and bottles with the irrigation system lines and bottles, the apparatus may be sized and/or color coded, and the spike for entering the fluid bag would not have a drip chamber. Similarly, the distal fitting that enters the irrigation sites can be sized or keyed to prevent connection with an intravenous needle or IV lines.
The pump bellows illustrated, or cylinder if a piston pump is used, can be filled from the bag many times by simply releasing thumb pressure from the valve button and without letting go of the catheter system at all. If a piston/cylinder pump is used, the piston pressure of the pump can be changed by the amount of thumb pressure on it. For different situations where nominal thumb pressure might be needed to produce more or less pressure, the amount applied by a given amount of force on the thumb can be determined by selection of appropriate piston diameter. Since it is preferred that the pump be self-priming, the reservoir need not be an elevated bag, but can simply be a bag or other container resting on a surface in the patient area.
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. | A cased suctioning catheter assembly with a protective flexible sheath around the catheter tube, has a thumb or finger operable pump located near the patient end of the catheter assembly. This pump receives irrigation fluid from a bag hanging on an IV stand and, when operated, pumps it into an irrigation lumen in the suction catheter on an as-needed basis during suctioning. Thereby one hand of the administrator can both stabilize the cross piece at the patient end of the suction catheter assembly and operate the irrigator, while the other hand controls vacuum flow as needed for the suctioning function. | 0 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a monitoring process on machine assemblies of rotary printing presses with central lubrication, with such machine assemblies being, for example, printing units. Such machine assemblies have a multiplicity of bearing points, engaging teeth, crank drives and similar structures, which, during operation, are supplied with the necessary quantity of lubricating oil in accordance with a specific lubrication schedule. Owing to the supply of oil to the individual lubrication points, often at pinpoint locations, only a relatively small quantity of lubrication oil is needed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Normally, the supply of lubricant is usually slightly greater than the demand, which may possibly only be in the order of a few drops of lubricating oil. The demand will depend on the particular requirement of the lubrication point, such as a bearing. This slight oversupply of oil drips or flows away from the individual lubrication points and is collected in oil channels or other oil-collection reservoirs. Since, however, in certain machine assemblies in rotary printing presses, e.g. in printing units, there may be a system for the cooling of rollers in the associated inking unit. Therefore, the possibility cannot be discounted that leakage losses of the coolant from supply lines occur. If water is used as a coolant, the possibility cannot safely be ruled out that, for example, at a rotary connector for the supply of coolant, a few drops of water may escape after the machine has been in operation for some period of time. Unless the water is able to evaporate, these drops often may enter the lubrication oil as it flows or drips away from the mechanisms being lubricated and are collected together with the lubrication oil. There, then, is the danger that, when the collected oil flows from oil collection reservoirs into the supply tank of the central lubrication system, the drops of water will also flow to a lubrication point. In such a case, the machine part that is to be lubricated may be damaged during machine operation by the water that has been supplied to it via the lubricating system. Conventionally, the only reliable method of preventing contamination of the lubricating oil has been either to clean the collected oil or to totally remove the collected oil. The cleaning of the oil, or the discarding thereof, often represents a considerable cost factor for the operation of a rotary printing press.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
Proceeding from these circumstances, the object of the present invention is to monitor the lubrication oil collected from the lubrication points and returned by the central lubrication system for water content and then allow only that portion of the oil to be reused that does not contain water. This process should be executed at minimum cost and without creating the risk of bearing damage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is achieved in that the lubrication oil supplied from a central oil supply and, hence, escaping from the bearing points is collected at the machine assemblies and is fed to a relatively large oil-collection tank. The collected oil is then fed to the oil-collection tank where the oil is initially directed to a smaller oil tank, from which, after this smaller tank has been filled, the oil overflows therefrom into the large tank. A sensor is provided in the smaller tank for generating a signal if there is water in the oil fed into said smaller oil tank. The oil that has flowed into the larger tank is then supplied by a pump to the central oil supply. Such a monitoring process with a central collection tank has the advantage that the printer need only collect lubrication oil in one location, that being the oil-collection tank. The passing of the oil, first of all, into a smaller oil tank in which a sensor is located, has the advantage that, if water contamination occurs in the lubricating oil, a signal is generated, which results in the contaminated oil not being fed to the central oil supply for further use. Oil collected in the larger tank is supplied by a pump to the oil tank of the central lubrication system, if the collected oil is not contaminated, with the result that this oil can be used, without risk, for the supplying of oil to the points to be lubricated on the printing press.
Because of a removable mounting of the small oil tank in the larger tank, if water occurs in the collected lubrication oil in the small tank, only a small quantity of make-up oil is needed to replace the used-oil for recycling. Since the water collects in the lower part of the smaller oil tank and, due to gravity, the oil always floats on the water, the present invention provides an assurance that, generally, no water can escape from the smaller oil tank into the larger tank.
The signal supplied by the sensor in the smaller oil tank can advantageously be used to disable the drive to the pump which pumps oil from the oil collecting tank to the central oil supply, with the result that no additional oil will be fed from the collection tank to the central lubrication system. Moreover, a warning signal can be generated to alert an operator of the printing press, who can then locate and seal the leakage point in the coolant line or system. Since a float is preferably provided in the larger tank, it is possible to switch on the pump, thereby, pumping oil from the collection tank to the central oil supply for a short time only when the oil level in the oil-collection tank has reached a defined maximum mark or level.
In summary, the present invention is directed to a process for monitoring the presence of appreciable water in a central lubricating system of a rotary printing press. Oil that escapes from bearings of the press is collected and fed to a small tank which, when filled, flows into a large tank. In the small tank, there is a water sensor that functions to disable a pump that returns oil from the large oil tank to the central lubrication system. Provided in the large tank is, preferably, a float that is adapted to turn on the oil pump when a certain level of oil is reached in the large tank. When the oil is pumped from the large tank, the float falls and thus turns off the pump.
The water sensor is preferably mounted in the small tank in a manner which permits easy removal from the tank so that the sensor can be cleaned and quickly reinstalled in the small tank.
In summary, one aspect of the invention resides broadly in a process for monitoring lubricating oil for water in a rotary printing press, supplying the oil to rotary printing presses from a central supply of the oil, collecting the oil escaping from the bearing points of the printing press, feeding the oil to the connecting lines to large oil collection tanks. The large collection tanks contain a small tank which is located for receiving the oil from the printing presses. When filled with oil, the oil from the small tank overflows into the large tank. A water sensor is provided in the small tank for generating a signal which disables the pump and generates an alarm when water in the small tank reaches a defined level. When water in the small tank has not reached the defined level, a pump is provided for pumping the oil in the large tank to the central supply of oil. A float is used in the large tank to start the pump when the oil in the large tank reaches a defined level.
Another aspect of the invention resides broadly in a process for monitoring lubricating oil for water content in a rotary printing press including feeding the oil from a supply of oil for the rotary printing press to the bearings of the rotary printing press and directing the oil that escapes from the bearings of the rotary printing press to a first tank. When the first tank receives a predetermined amount of oil, it is transferred into a second tank where it is pumped to the supply of oil in which a warning signal is generated if water is sensed in the predetermined amount of oil in the first tank.
Yet another aspect of the invention having apparatus for monitoring oil for water content in a rotary printing press is a central supply of oil for supplying oil to a plurality of locations of the rotary printing press, connecting the supply of oil for the rotary printing press to bearings of the rotary printing press and directing the oil escaping from the bearings to a first tank. In the first tank, there is means for sensing water which generates a signal indicating if a predetermined amount of water is in the first tank. The second tank receives oil from the first tank when the first tank receives a predetermined amount of oil. A pump for pumping oil in the second tank to the central supply of oil has a means for curtailing the pumping of the oil into the second tank upon receipt of the signal which indicates a predetermined amount of water is in the first tank.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A specimen embodiment of the invention is diagrammatically represented in the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows an arrangement for monitoring water in lubricating oils in accordance with principles of the invention;
FIG. 2 is the arrangement of FIG. 1 showing, in addition, electrical circuit components and connections for effecting oil pumping disabling and alarm functions of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a diagram of a threshold circuit employed in the invention; and
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of rotary printing presses having bearing points supplied with oil.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, an oil-collection tank 1 is provided, for example, preferably, on the operator side of a rotary printing press preferably in the region of the printing units. This oil-collection tank is supplied via a connection line 2 with the lubrication oil that escapes from bearing points in the printing press. In the embodiment of the invention shown, in FIGS. 1 and 2, a smaller oil tank 3 is provided inside oil-collection tank 1. The oil supplied via the connection line 2 flows into the smaller oil tank 3. The small oil tank is removable from the oil-collection tank 1, for which purpose a lid 4 is provided. Connection line 2 is attached to this lid 4 by means of a suitable connector sleeve 5. After the lid 4 is removed from connection line 2, the smaller oil tank 3 can be taken out in order to clean and remove water from the smaller oil tank 3.
The oil supplied by connection line 2 fills the small oil tank 3 until the latter overflows. The oil that overflows from the small oil tank 3 is then collected by larger oil-collection tank 1. Supported in the cover 6 of tank 1 is preferably a float 7 or some other level detection arrangement. As shown, the float 7 has an upper switching position 8 and a lower switching position 9. When the oil in the tank 1 rises and float 7 makes contact with the upper switching position 8, an electrical signal is generated, which is supplied through a signal box 10 to a control device in a motor 11. This device switches on a motor 11, which drives a pump 12. By means of a continuous pumping suction line 13, the pump 12 pumps the oil out of the tank 1 until the level of oil in the tank lowers to float 7 and thereby making contact with the lower switch position 9. Consequently, the motor 11 is switched off as a result of a further signal generated by the lower switch position 9. A line 14 conducts the oil pumped out of tank 1 to a central oil-supply system 30 (FIG. 2).
Should the lubrication oil supplied through the connection line 2 contain water, which might happen, for example, as a result of a leak in a cooling-water line, the water will collect in the lower region of the oil tank 3. If the leak entails just a few drops of water, these drops may remain in the oil tank 3 over a lengthy period of time without there being any detriment to the system. If, however, the quantity of water in the oil tank 3 rises to a predefined level, a sensor 15 generates a signal that disables the circuit of the motor 11 (as discussed below) and that simultaneously generates a warning signal, e.g., preferably, in the machine-operator area, so that the printer, or other personnel, is able to detect and remedy the potentially damaging situation in the water supply. The small oil tank 3 is then emptied and the system is returned to normal operation.
Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a suitable sensor for detecting the presence of water in tank 3 comprises two concentrically located spaced apart tubes connected to the respective poles of a low voltage power supply, to provide a low voltage differential between the tubes. When water rises in tank 3 to a height that reaches the lower end of the concentric tubes, current begins to flow between the tubes. As the water rises above the lower end of the tubes, current flow reaches a threshold value sufficient to operate a sensor circuit 32. Sensor circuit 32 is connected to operate a relay or switch 34 to open the circuit that otherwise energizes motor 11 when signal box 10 calls for pump 12 to pump oil from large tank 1. Sensor circuit 32 also, preferably, operates to simultaneously energize an alarm device 36.
FIG. 3 diagrammatically depicts a sensor circuit 32. More particularly, sensor circuit 32 comprises an amplifier 40, a threshold circuit 42 and a second amplifier 44. The signal from the sensor 15 in large tank 1 is directed to the amplifier 40. Amplifier 40 then amplifies the signal to insure proper operation of the threshold circuit 42. The threshold circuit 42 is designed and constructed to output a signal when the current signal from the sensor 15 reaches a predetermined level. As discussed earlier, the amount of current flow in sensor 15 depends on the amount of water in small tank 3.
When threshold circuit 42 produces an output signal, amplifier 44 amplifies this signal to insure a signal level is available sufficient to operate relay 34 and alarm 36.
Water sensing devices in smaller tank 3 other than that of sensor 15 can be used, such as shown in Massagatti U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,440. What is generally provided in the present invention is, however, the ability to disable the circuit that delivers the energizing output of signal box 10 to motor 11 and provide an alarm.
When sensor 15 in the small tank is not activated, and the oil in the large tank 1 causes the float to rise to upper switch position 8 and energize signal box 10, oil is pumped by pump 12 into conduit 14. Conduit 14 is connected to the central oil supply 30, as shown in FIG. 2 and discussed above. From the central oil supply, oil is pumped to collection exemplary points 50, 52, 54 and 56 (FIG. 4) that direct the oil to bearings and other components of rotary printing presses 20 that need lubrication. Such printing presses are shown and discussed in German Pat. No. 27 28 738, published Jan. 11, 1979. As explained earlier, any substantial amount of oil escaping from the bearings of the presses is directed to small tank 3 via conduit 2.
FIG. 4 of the drawings shows four oil supply lines 60, 62, 64 and 66 feeding oil to the exemplary collection points of the rotary printing presses. From the bearings and other components, oil is collected and fed to small tank 3 by means well known in the prior art.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the sensor 15 is shown attached to a bracket 16, which, in turn, is disposed by means of a pin 17 on the oil-collection tank 1 and into which the bracket 16 is to be mounted with the sensor 15. Consequently, the sensor 15 can easily be removed, for example for cleaning.
One feature of the invention resides broadly in a monitoring process on machine assemblies with central lubrication in rotary printing presses, characterized in that the lubrication oil supplied from the bearing points is collected at the machine assemblies and is fed by connecting lines 2 to an oil-collection tank 1. The oil, however, is first conducted into a smaller oil tank 3, from which, after the latter is filled, overflows into tank 1. Means for supplying a signal is provided in the smaller oil tank 3 if there is an occurrence of water in the oil fed to the smaller oil tank. The oil that has overflowed into the tank 1 is supplied by a connecting line 14 to the central oil supply 30.
Another feature of the invention involves implementation of the water monitoring process for machine assemblies, characterized in that a central oil-collection tank is assigned to a rotary printing press, with a smaller oil tank 3 being located in the central tank in oil-collection tank 1. A sensor 15 for water detection is provided in the smaller oil tank and a pump 12 is employed to pump oil from the oil-collection tank.
Yet another feature of the invention uses sensor 15 to withhold a signal until a defined level of water has been reached in small oil tank 3. When the signal is produced it disables the circuit of pump 12 and simultaneously generates a warning signal for the operator.
A further feature of the invention includes a float 7 provided in oil-collection tank 1, said float switching on pump 12 when a defined level of oil has been reached in tank 1.
All, or substantially all, of the components and methods of the various embodiments may be used with at least one embodiment or all of the embodiments, if any, described herein.
All of the patents, patent applications, and publications recited herein, if any, are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.
The invention as described hereinabove in the context of the preferred embodiment is not to be taken as limited to all of the provided details thereof, since modifications and variations thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | The invention relates to a monitoring process on machine assemblies with central lubrication in rotary printing presses, with such machine assemblies possibly being, for example, printing units, which have a multiplicity of bearing points, engaging teeth, crank drives and similar. Via a central lubrication system, the lubrication points are supplied with lubrication oil, which is then collected and is checked in a central oil-collection tank for the possible occurrence of water, before being supplied to the central lubrication system. | 5 |
SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
This material is based in part upon work supported by the Texas Advanced Research (Advanced Technology/Technology Development and Transfer) Program under Grant Nos. 004949-076 and 004949-065.
REFERENCE TO COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX
Appendix A includes a printout of a computer program entitled “registration.cpp”, “registration.h”, and “regtable.m”, which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to confocal microscopy. More particularly, the invention relates to increasing the scanning rate capability of confocal microscopes.
2. Description of Related Art
Confocal microscopy is a technique that allows visualization of small structures in light scattering material such as brain slices. It accomplishes this by combining point illumination with point detection. The point detection is achieved by using a pinhole in an image plane that serves to filter light from out-of-focus planes above and below the area of interest thereby creating an optical section of a relatively thick specimen.
The main limitation of confocal microscopes is the speed of image acquisition, since every image is reconstructed on a point-by-point basis. Typical commercial systems, which rely on relatively slow galvanometer-driven mirrors to position the point illumination, have frame rates of approximately 1 Hz. Even the fastest systems, which scan several illumination spots simultaneously, can only record at approximately 200 Hz. One way that the slower systems are used for faster recording is by only collecting data from the pixels lying on a single line, but even this line-scan technique, which sacrifices flexibility in picking sites-of-interest, only boosts the effective frame rate to approximately 400 Hz. With the majority of current systems, faster imaging time is directly related to shorter dwell times at each site-of-interest, which reduces the achievable signal-to-noise ratio. To achieve the frame rate necessary for making functional recordings at several user-selected sites-of-interest, it is beneficial to have an addressable system that can selectively visit several sites on a specimen without spending any time scanning over areas that do not contain structures of interest.
The use of acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) can increase the speed at which the point illumination may be positioned and allows for random access scanning at user-selected sites-of-interest. However, the use of AODs necessitates a path of light returning from the specimen that is different than the illumination path and thus prevents the use of a stationary pinhole. This in turn requires a pinhole or filter that is spatially and temporally synchronized with the scanning excitation spot. Although there are existing systems that utilize an AOD, those systems only utilize an AOD to reposition the illumination point in one dimension. The deflection of the illumination point in the second dimension is accomplished by a relatively slow galvanometer-driven mirror such as one used on typical confocal microscopes. In addition, the existing systems that utilize an AOD employ a slit in the direction that the AOD deflects the illumination point, rather than a pinhole, thereby preventing true confocal imaging.
There exists, therefore, a need for a confocal microscope that permits flexibility in selecting sites-of-interest with increased scanning and recording rates for observing high-speed phenomena without reducing dwell time at each site-of-interest. Furthermore, to enable accurate site selection, the same system should be able to collect full frame confocal images.
SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a random-access confocal microscope. Such a device is necessary for scanning only selected sites-of-interest in a specimen without the time requirements of scanning many sites and only using the results from the sites-of-interest. In order to achieve a faster sampling rate, it is advantageous to only scan selected sites-of-interest. Additionally, by only scanning at selected sites-of-interest, the dwell time at each site is much longer for a given frame rate than with a system that must scan the entire field. Further, such high speed scanning is necessary to observe some phenomena. One example of such phenomena is signal processing and transmission in neurons, although the present invention will have useful application in other fields involving high-speed phenomena as well.
The present microscope comprises a light source, a high-speed light deflector, a central processing unit (CPU), and an addressable spatial filter. The light source may be any collimated light source used for such a microscope, such as a laser. The high-speed light deflector preferably is an acousto-optic deflector (AOD); however, a spatial light modulator such as the digital micromirror device (DMD) from Texas Instruments may also be used. The AOD allows a higher proportion of the source light to be directed to the site-of-interest and thus is preferred. The AOD is connected to the CPU, such that the CPU determines where a beam of light from the light source is directed. The CPU may be any conventional processor that is capable of transmitting controlling signals to the high-speed light deflector and the addressable spatial filter. The addressable spatial filter is controlled by the CPU and is synchronized with the high-speed light deflector to allow simultaneous illumination and detection of a site-of-interest.
The addressable spatial filter may comprise a variety of arrangements that allow random-access detection of a point site-of-interest. The sites may be specified by a user after viewing a full frame confocal image of a specimen. The addressable spatial filter is not necessarily a physical pinhole, as commonly used on previous confocal microscopes. In one embodiment, the addressable spatial filter is comprised of a DMD and a separate photodetector (such as a photodiode or photomultiplier tube). In a second embodiment, the addressable spatial filter is comprised of a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera. The DMD provides an array of microscopic mirrors that can be actuated individually, allowing actuation of only mirrors corresponding to the location of the site-of-interest. The actuation of these mirrors will direct the returning fluorescence, reflection, or transmission of light from the sites-of-interest in the focal plane to the photodetector. Alternatively, a CMOS camera is capable of reading only designated pixels corresponding to sites-of-interest. Additionally, the CMOS camera allows individual pixel readout without the time delay of conventional imaging systems such as CCD cameras. Both the DMD and CMOS embodiments camera allow high-speed random access imaging of all sites-of-interest at greater than or equal to 1 kHz.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for acquiring optical recordings. The method comprises selecting at least one site-of-interest, configuring a high-speed light deflector to illuminate the at least one site-of-interest, configuring an addressable spatial filter to record the fluorescence, reflection or transmission of light from the at least one site-of-interest, and recording the light from the at least one site-of-interest.
The method may further comprise sequentially selecting and illuminating a plurality of sites-of-interest. The method may still further comprise repeating the previous steps at a frequency greater than or equal to 500 Hz per frame.
In still another alternate embodiment, the present invention comprises optical recordings created using the previously described apparatus and method for acquiring an image.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more detailed understanding of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying Figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a confocal microscope constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention utilizing a DMD as an addressable spatial filter in conjunction with a separate photodetector;
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a DMD with mirrors in a first angular position that reflects light away from a photodetector and a second angular position that reflects light towards a photodetector;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a confocal microscope constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention embodiment utilizing a CMOS camera as both an addressable spatial filter and photodetector;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the electronic components in a first embodiment utilizing a DMD as an addressable spatial filter in conjunction with a separate photodetector;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the electronic components in a second embodiment utilizing a CMOS camera as both an addressable spatial filter and photodetector;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the optical components in a first embodiment utilizing a DMD as an addressable spatial filter in conjunction with a separate photodetector; and
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the optical components in a second embodiment utilizing a CMOS camera as both an addressable spatial filter and photodetector.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the optical components in a third embodiment utilizing a DMD as both a high-speed light deflector and an addressable spatial filter.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of optical components in a third embodiment utilizing a DMD as both a high-speed light deflector and an addressable spatial filter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring initially to FIG. 1 , a random access high-speed confocal microscope 5 includes a laser 10 that emits a light beam 15 . Light beam 15 is rapidly redirected by an acousto-optic deflector 20 . The new position of light beam 15 is shown in FIG. 1 as a light beam 16 , which is reflected by a beam splitter 50 (such as a dichroic mirror in the case of fluorescence) as a light beam 17 onto a specimen 30 . After light beam 16 is directed onto the specimen 30 , a light beam 25 may be fluoresced, reflected, or transmitted by the specimen 30 . The manner in which light beam 25 is produced will depend upon the composition of the specimen and any exogenous optical indicators that might be in use. Light beam 25 from the specimen 30 passes through a beam splitter 50 (such as a dichroic mirror in the case of fluorescence) and to a digital micromirror device (DMD) 60 . A central processing unit (CPU) 40 is connected to AOD 20 and sends an electronic signal 41 to control where light beam 15 from laser 10 is directed. CPU 40 also controls the angular position of individual micromirrors in DMD 60 by sending an electronic signal 45 . Light beam 25 from a site-of-interest 35 is reflected by the DMD 60 as a light beam 27 to a photodetector 70 . Site-of-interest 35 preferably lies on focal plane 34 within specimen 30 .
AOD 20 allows for almost instant positioning of light beam 15 emitted from light source 10 because AOD 20 does not have the inertia associated with typical galvanometer-driven mirrors used in conventional confocal microscopes. This increases the speed at which specimen 30 can be scanned for sites-of-interest 35 . The scan rate is much higher than typical confocal microscopes, because both AOD 20 and DMD 60 do not have the inertia associated with conventional mirrors and can therefore move directly from one site to the next without scanning over intervening sites.
FIG. 1A illustrates schematically how DMD 60 functions as an addressable spatial filter. DMD 60 is preferably an electro-opto-mechanical chip made by Texas Instruments and consists of an array of micromirrors 201 , 202 , and 203 . Micromirrors 201 - 203 are in a first angular position 210 unless a signal 45 is sent from CPU 40 causing one or more of the micromirrors to change to a second angular position 220 . In FIG. 1A , micromirror 202 has been moved to angular position 220 in response to a signal 45 sent by CPU 40 . Micromirrors 201 - 203 are extremely small squares (approximately 16 μm, or 0.000016 meters per side). This allows micromirrors 201 - 203 to change from first angular position 210 to second angular position 220 very quickly (approximately 20 μs, or 0.000020 seconds). When micromirror 202 is in second angular position 220 , light beam 25 from a site-of-interest 35 on specimen 30 is reflected as a light beam 27 to photodetector 70 . In the process of focusing light beam 17 onto a site-of-interest 35 in FIG. 1 , some light shines on areas above and below the site-of-interest 35 . These areas are illustrated as sites-of-non-interest 36 and 38 in FIG. 1A . Micromirrors 201 and 203 remain in angular position 210 and reflect light beams 26 and 28 from sites 36 and 38 that are not of interest. In angular position 220 , micromirrors 201 and 203 reflect light beams 27 and 28 away from photodetector 70 . CPU 40 synchronizes DMD 60 and AOD 20 so that only micromirror 202 corresponding to a site-of-interest 35 illuminated by light beam 17 (shown in FIG. 1 ) will reflect a light beam 25 to the photodetector 70 . The computer program listing appendix includes programs for synchronizing DMD 60 and AOD 20 .
Numerous sites-of-interest 35 may be selected and scanned sequentially while sampling all the sites-of-interest 35 at greater than or equal to 500 Hz. The sampling rate may be as low as the video rate of 20-30 Hz, but preferably it is higher, such as 3 kHz, and more preferably 4 kHz. Most preferably, the sampling rate is 25,000/n, where n is the number of sites-of-interest 35 . Thus, for 6 sites-of-interest 35 , the sampling rate is 4.167 kHz. This number is based on the demonstrated ability of the present invention to sample a site-of-interest 35 every 40 μs. Furthermore, the system is adaptive so that the number of sites studied simultaneously can be optimized to the type of signal. To study fast signals, fewer sites-of-interest 35 can be selected and to study slower signals, more sites-of-interest 35 can be simultaneously studied.
A second embodiment of the present invention is shown schematically in FIG. 2 . The random access high-speed confocal microscope 7 shown in FIG. 2 utilizes a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera 80 in place of the DMD 60 and photodetector 70 used in FIG. 1 . In FIG. 2 , laser 10 emits light beam 15 , which is rapidly re-directed by AOD 20 . The new position of light beam 15 is shown in FIG. 2 as light beam 16 , which is reflected by beam splitter 50 as light beam 17 onto specimen 30 . Light beam 25 from a site-of-interest 35 on specimen 30 passes through beam splitter 50 and to CMOS camera 80 . As in the first embodiment, central processing unit (CPU) 40 is connected to AOD 20 and sends electronic signal 41 to control where light beam 15 from laser 10 is directed. CMOS camera 80 , which functions as an addressable spatial filter, is also connected to CPU 40 . CMOS camera 80 is synchronized with AOD 20 to allow simultaneous illumination and detection of a site-of-interest 35 on specimen 30 . Light beam 25 from specimen 30 is received by CMOS camera 80 , which is comprised of multiple pixels 85 , 86 , and 88 . CMOS camera 80 allows for individual pixel readout without the time delay of conventional imaging systems. CPU 40 sends an electronic signal 47 to CMOS camera 80 to read only pixels corresponding to a site-of-interest 35 . Therefore, only pixel 85 that corresponds to light beam 25 from site-of-interest 35 will be read by CPU 40 . Pixels 86 and 88 , which correspond to light beams 26 and 28 from sites 36 and 38 that are not of interest, will be ignored by CMOS camera 80 . Because only pixel 85 corresponding to site-of-interest 35 is read by CMOS camera 80 , the rate at which specimen 30 may be scanned is increased.
FIG. 3 illustrates schematically a more detailed layout of electronic components utilized in one embodiment in which the addressable spatial filter comprises DMD 60 and a signal photodiode 71 . This configuration is merely one example of numerous variations of electronic components that may be utilized in the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In addition to CPU 40 and DMD 60 , an electronics rack 100 is shown to include several components. CPU 40 contains a parallel port 260 , a parallel port 270 , a digital input/output card 280 , an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) controller 290 , a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 300 , and a frame grabber 310 . A video camera 320 is preferably connected to frame grabber 310 . Video camera 320 is utilized for visualization of the specimen and for rough alignment of the components, while frame grabber 310 is used to display images from video camera 320 . Electronics rack 100 preferably contains a parallel port breakout 110 , a digital input/output breakout 120 , a DMD control 130 , a trigger doubler 140 , a voltage amplifier 150 , an ADC converter 160 , a multiplexer 170 , a DAC breakout 170 , and an analog signal conditioner 190 . In addition to signal photodiode 71 , there is a reference photodiode 75 . The output of signal photodiode 71 is sent to a current-to-voltage converter 200 , while the output of reference photodetector 75 is sent to a separate current-to-voltage converter 210 . There are also two separate AODs, 240 and 250 , for deflection of the illumination beam (light beam 15 in FIG. 1 ) in both the x- and y-axes. AOD 240 is controlled by AOD driver 220 and AOD 250 is controlled by AOD driver 230 . Finally, a stepper motor controller 330 is used for controlling the position of the focal plane 34 within the specimen 30 (both shown in FIG. 1 ).
Various inputs and outputs of the components are illustrated in FIG. 3 . Included below is a summary of the components and the functions served by each. DAC 300 is used to send addresses of the position of light beam 15 (shown in FIG. 1 ) to AOD 240 and AOD 250 . Analog signal conditioner 190 is used to make the voltage output range of DAC breakout 180 optimally match the necessary inputs for AOD driver 220 and AOD driver 230 . Parallel port 260 sends addresses for all sites-of-interest 35 (shown in FIG. 1 ) to DMD 60 . Digital input/output 280 controls cycling of the DAC addresses 180 and DMD 60 from one site-of-interest to the next site-of-interest and generates triggers for ADC 160 . As illustrated in FIG. 1 , light beam 25 from specimen 30 is received by photodetector 70 (shown as photodiode 71 in FIG. 3 ). In addition, noise from laser 10 is measured with reference photodetector 75 . The output signal from signal photodiode 71 passes through current-to-voltage converter 200 and the output signal from reference photodetector 75 passes through current-to-voltage converter 210 . The outputs of signal photodiode 71 and reference photodetector 75 are then amplified by voltage amplifier 150 . Multiplexer 170 (with sample and hold function capability) is then used to simultaneously sample signal photodiode 71 output and reference photodetector 75 output, which is then sent to ADC 160 . Trigger doubler 140 is used to generate two ADC 160 triggers for each given pulse. ADC 160 uses the first trigger to digitize the output from signal photodiode 71 and the second trigger to digitize the output from reference photodetector 75 and then store the results in CPU 40 . The signal photodetector output 70 can then be divided by the reference photodetector output 75 to remove the effects of noise from laser 10 . Finally, parallel port 270 sends an output to stepper motor controller 330 (used for focusing) and a reset of trigger doubler 140 .
FIG. 4 illustrates schematically another example of the electronic components utilized in an embodiment incorporating a CMOS camera 80 in place of DMD 60 and signal photodiode 71 (shown in FIG. 3 ). This configuration is merely one example of numerous variations of electronic components that may be utilized in the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Because the CMOS camera 80 does not need a separate photodetector, signal photodiode 71 is eliminated, as well as current-to-voltage converter 200 . An additional difference between the components utilized in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 is that CMOS camera 80 is controlled by digital input/output 265 , instead of parallel port 260 . All other electronic components shown in FIG. 4 (and their functions) correspond to those described in FIG. 3 .
FIG. 5 illustrates a view of the optical components utilized in another embodiment of the present invention incorporating an addressable spatial filter comprising DMD 60 and signal photodiode 71 . In this figure, laser 10 emits light beam 15 . A beam aligner 350 centers light beam 15 before light beam 15 passes through beam expander 360 and AOD 240 and AOD 250 . AOD 240 and AOD 250 position light beam 15 , and light beam 16 exits AOD 240 and 250 . Beam aligner 370 then directs light beam 16 into demagnification bench 375 , which controls the range of scanning for AOD 240 and AOD 250 and the final size of light beam 17 on specimen 30 . Light beam 16 is directed to beam splitter 50 , which reflects the short wavelength light beam 16 but passes the longer wavelength light beam 25 from the specimen 30 . If the wavelengths of light beam 16 and light beam 25 are the same (such as when light beam 25 is reflected from the specimen 30 rather than fluoresced), a polarizing filter and quarter wave plate (not shown) may be used in place of the beam splitter 50 to separate illumination beam 16 from reflected beam 25 .
Light beam 16 is reflected by beam splitter 50 as light beam 17 , which is focused by objective lens 77 onto specimen 30 . A portion 18 of light beam 16 passes through beam splitter 50 and is used to measure fluctuations in the power output of laser 10 with reference photodiode 75 . Light beam 25 from specimen 30 is collected by objective lens 77 , passes through beam splitter 50 and is received by DMD 60 . As shown in FIG. 1A , light beam 25 is reflected off DMD 60 as light beam 27 to photodetector 70 . In FIG. 5 , a signal photodiode 71 , which is used to make optical recordings, is shown as one example of a photodetector 70 . In addition, a switch mirror 390 can direct light beam 27 away from signal photodiode 71 and to a video camera 320 , which can be used for visualization of specimen 30 and rough alignment of the components. Emission filters 380 ensure that only the desired wavelengths of light beam 27 are detected.
FIG. 6 represents a view of the optical components in an embodiment utilizing a CMOS camera 80 as both an addressable spatial filter and photodetector. In FIG. 6 , the CMOS camera 80 has replaced DMD 60 , signal photodiode 71 , and video camera 320 . All other optical components remain identical to those found in FIG. 5 .
FIG. 7 represents a view of the optical components in an embodiment utilizing a DMD 60 as both a high-speed light deflector and an addressable spatial filter. In FIG. 7 , the AODs 240 and 250 (shown in FIG. 5 and 6 ) have been eliminated because DMD 60 is now used to position light beam 17 , which is focused by objective lens 77 onto specimen 30 . In FIG. 7 , laser 10 emits a light beam 15 via fiber optic cable 11 . Light beam 15 first passes through a collimator 361 and then beam expander 360 . Light beam 15 then hits a first mirror 51 and is directed to a beam splitter 52 , a third mirror 53 , and DMD 60 . A portion of the microscopic mirrors (not shown) in the DMD 60 are turned on so that some amount of the light from light beam 15 is re-directed as short-wavelength light beam 19 to the specimen 30 and a site-of-interest 35 . As best illustrated in FIG. 8 , it should be noted that mirror 53 is not on the sane elevation as DMD 60 and specimen 30 . Therefore, light beam 19 bypasses mirror 53 . A portion 21 of light beam 19 is diverted by a beam splitter 76 and is used to measure fluctuations in the power of laser 10 with reference photodiode 75 . Light beam 25 from specimen 30 also bypasses mirror 53 and is received by DMD 60 . As shown in FIG. 1A , light beam 25 is reflected off DMD 60 as light beam 27 . In FIG. 7 , light beam 27 is directed downward to mirror 53 (into the plane of the paper as drawn FIG. 8 ) and then reflected so that it passes through beam splitter 52 and to a photodetector. In FIG. 7 , a signal photodiode 71 , which is used to make optical recordings, is shown as one example of a photodetector 70 . In addition, a switch mirror 390 can direct light beam 27 away from the signal photodiode 71 and to a video camera 320 , which can be used for visualization of the specimen and rough alignment of the components. Emission filters 380 ensure that only the desired wavelengths of light beam 27 are detected.
FIG. 8 represents a front view of DMD 60 , mirror 53 , and specimen 30 (as shown in FIG. 7 ). From this view, it is clear that DMD 60 and specimen 30 are arranged so that light beams 19 and 25 bypass mirror 53 and do not pass through mirror 53 .
The above discussion and Figures are meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. For example, by placing the point detection components (i.e. CMOS 80 or DMD 60 and photodetector 70 ) on the side opposite the specimen 30 from the illumination beam of light 17 , the amount of light transmitted and absorbed by the specimen 30 may be observed. The present invention may also be used in aspects of high-speed imaging other than signal processing and transmission in neurons. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications. Sequential recitation of steps in the claims is not intended to require that the steps be performed sequentially, or that one step be completed before commencement of another step.
The present disclosure hereby incorporates by reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,832 (Krause), U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,008 (Horikawa), U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,226 (Houpt et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,746 (Hornbeck), U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,229 (Pace et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,125 (Goldstein) in their entirety, except to the extent they conflict with the present disclosure.
The present disclosure also hereby incorporates by reference, except to the extent that it conflicts with the present disclosure, the paper entitled “A High-Speed Confocal Laser-Scanning Microscope Based on Acousto-Optic Deflectors and a Digital Micromirror Device” by V. Bansal, S. Patel, P. Saggau. This paper was presented and published at the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (held Sep. 17-21, 2003). | Disclosed herein is a confocal imaging system for imaging a specimen. The system comprises a light source, a light deflector capable of positioning a beam of light produced by the light source at one of a series of predetermined points on the specimen, an addressable spatial filter capable of selectively filtering light from the specimen, and a central processing unit capable of providing selective position control to the light deflector and the addressable spatial filter. | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The subject matter of the present invention generally relates to mining industry. In particular, the present invention relates to development of deposits and more efficient extraction of high-viscosity and other oils, bitumens, shale oils from kerogens, gas condensates, shale gases and gases from oil, gas and coal layers, and development of other mineral resources.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A method is known that comprises layer hydraulic fracturing to improve productivity of wells and to increase its debit or intake capacity while watering the oil layers. Herein a single crack that is long enough is created within individual uniform layers to carry out a single or a multiple fracturing of the layer. At multi-layer accumulations, consisting of layers suit that has a weak hydrodynamic interconnection in between, an intervallic hydraulic fracturing of layers (directed hydraulic fracturing) is to be carried out. Operational liquid to be used for hydraulic fracturing of a layer is pumped into the layer via the tubing production string with a packer at the end to be further separated into the three kinds: the fracturing liquid, the sand carrier liquid, and the displacement fluid. (Suchkov B. M. Intensifying Oil Wells Output—Moscow—lzhevsk: Scientific Research Center “Regular and chaotic dynamics”; Computer research institute, 2007, pp. 396-410). Shutoff valves on well mouths and operational column are replaced with a special head for the hydraulic fracturing. As an operational liquid, there may be used technical layer water, salt and acid solutions (for carbonate basins), crude oil, etc. To decrease pressure losses (to 75%) high molecular weight polymers are added therein. To keep them open, the opened cracks besides the operational liquid are filled with some propping material, like glass sand, glass and metal balls and other mechanical materials sized 0.5 -1.5 mm. With the intervallic hydraulic fracturing at each particular layer of a suit comprising many layers those operations are carried out in conjunction with the processed interval isolation via the packer, sand and clay plug and special high-density liquids. The operational liquid pumping pressure exceeds ground pressure and overcomes strength properties of the layer processed.
The following describes main disadvantages of such a method of a force impact upon layers. High expenses in materials and power, and substantial time to be consumed, are needed to prepare the work that includes dismounting of the production well permanent equipment to install the replacing equipment to carry out the hydraulic fracturing. The industrial implementation must be preceded by technical and economic feasibility study for the method. Upon hydraulic fracturing completion, wells are to be deployed and shaken via regular methods for treating near-mine zones, thus requiring additional expenses and time to be consumed. A hydraulic fracturing crack relatively quickly is compressed by the ground pressure, despite the propping material therein. It is impossible to determine the crack fracturing formation direction together with its spatial location configuration within a layer, thus resulting in unexpected water and gas breaking into the wells. This method is quite sophisticated and it does not allow simultaneous treatment of even smaller area fields, as well as an entire field, thus remaining suitable only for individual wells.
A method is also known for electro-dynamic cleaning of a near-well zone off contaminants (Suchkov B. M. Intensifying Oil Wells Output—Moscow—lzhevsk: Scientific Research Center “Regular and chaotic dynamics,” Computer research institute, 2007, pp. 282-283), based upon simultaneous impact upon the near-well layer zone via raised depression and high-intensity direct-current electric field. At the contaminated near-well zone, it results in hydraulic fracturing of capillary sheaths within fine-pored slice due to electro-osmotic effect, thus resulting in appearance of electrochemical, electro-kinetic, thermal and other factors within the capillary environment. Depending on the sign of an electric charge at the well electrode, an acid or an alkaline environment is to be formed, the temperature would rise for 10-20degrees Celsius, superficial inter-phase tension is decreased, volume flow rate for fluid displacement towards the well would increase. This provides for the oil industrial income to be initiated from the production layer via influencing it simultaneously with decreasing pressure and the direct current electric field with varying polarity. The electrode is first is charged with negative charge to call for the clay mud infiltrate from the near-well zone. Later on, when hydrocarbons appear, their income is intensified via substituting the electrode charge sign with a positive one.
The disadvantages of this method include limited scope of use, lower efficiency, higher implementation cost and lower maintainability.
A method is further known for developing and increasing oil, gas and other mineral resources rate of extraction from the earth interior (RU 2102587) that is designated as a prototype. According to the prototype, wells are sealed with packers on the layer cap level and solid electrodes are preliminarily placed therein, with high-voltage alternating current put therethrough to initiate an electric arc while melting a fuse link between pairs of solid electrodes or electrodes contacts separation, or by discharging through the intervals between solid electrodes of two neighbor wells under electrical voltage increased therein. An electric arc is to strike through the most conductive slice within the layer that has sufficient natural electric conductance, arising during oil and gas field formation, between solid electrodes of two neighbor wells by preheating natural conductive slice of layer with subsequent discharge of intervals through the same layer slice. Then, in order to move electric arcs within in-situ space in necessary order and sequence, the striking voltages are applied to electrodes of new neighbor wells at the field and those wells where arcs had already burned are de-energized.
The method has a number of disadvantages. First, is low reliability of discharge and initiating the electric arc under the most conductive natural slice to be found within the layer, as its conductivity may change on different sites of the field due to rock property change therein as well as their permeability and fracturing, as well as due to composition change in layer waters, gases, oils and other factors that affect the conductivity. Another disadvantage is providing reliable contacts with natural conductive slices of layers while using solid electrodes with small areas of contacts with conductive slices in layers, may be complicated. Yet another disadvantage is high cost of method implementation due to necessity of substantial power consumption and creating high voltages to heat and discharge natural conductive slices in oil and gas layers and initiating electric arcs between neighbor wells resulting from non-uniformity and non-constancy of natural conductive slices conductivity and small area of solid electrodes contacts with them.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Technical result of the invention is the most complete and effective extraction from oil and gas, coal, shale layers under most common conditions of all types of oils, bitumens, shale oils from kerogens, gas condensates, and gases via artificial creating within layers, rocks, and other geological formations of mineral resources at the fields of slices, zones and areas with raised electrical conductivity and initiating electric arcs therein to treat mineral resource fields.
Using the technology that is proposed by the invention results in substantial profit resulting from most complete extraction of oils and gases out of layers, to substantially improve ecology at territories comprising the fields, preventing oil spills from old wells remaining after developing fields with incompletely extracted resources from under the ground, to prevent blow-out of methane and other gases contained in oils into the atmosphere, that cause greenhouse effect. This method also allows destroying subsurface disposals waste and mortuaries with harmful radioactive and chemical substances via burning and evaporating it under the ground within electric arcs plasma without oxygen access, and also provides for melting into subsurface workings from ore bodies, veins, lens of metals, i.e. such as copper, nickel, aluminum, silver, gold and many other with very high electrical conductivity. Due to intensive extraction of oil, gas and other mineral resources time to develop the field would be reduced to obtain additional profit and without ecological harm for neighbor territories around the field.
Technical result of the invention is achieved by implementation of the method to develop fields for the most complete extraction of high-viscosity and shale oils, bitumens, gas condensates, shale gases and gases from oil, gas and coal layers, according to which pumping of various the operational liquids is carried out through wells, drilled at the fields, under various pumping pressures into layers, to place solid electrodes into them, with alternating current applied, electric arcs are initiated either between the solid electrodes of the two neighbor wells when oil and gas layers comprise natural electric conductive slices or between the pairs of solid electrodes within one well during separation thereof, or during melting the fuse link between them, move electric arcs within natural electric conductive slices within in-situ space between several neighbor wells of fields in necessary order and sequence, according to the invention, an operational liquid to be pumped under maximum pressures for particular conditions is electroconducting liquid with low viscosity, high electrical conductivity and density, are artificially created slices, zones and areas with raised electrical conductivity after pumping in individual oil and gas, coal and shale layers, and with suit of multiple layers either electrical conductivity of those slices is improved, or electrical conductivity of water-bearing slices or water-bearing horizons accompanying layers and located at their foot is raised, located next to layers in a suit and electroconducting liquid pumped therein from neighbor heating wells towards each other under maximum pressures for its penetration to maximum depth under particular conditions, liquid electrodes are connected in circuit of alternating-current sources of high-voltage from electroconducting liquid within heating wells and super capacitors on the surface to accumulate and fast discharge of substantial electromagnetic energy as high-power impulses of alternating current to artificially created conductive slices, zones and areas in layers and rocks, to further increase the voltage at liquid electrodes out of electroconducting liquid within heating wells, to carry out heating to get included micro-emulsions, chemical components and interacting therewith highly conductive materials micro-particles.
At new fields all newly drilled wells cased with mass-produced insolating glass-reinforced plastic pipes that are as durable as metallic ones, but have multiple advantages necessary to implement the method-such glass-reinforced plastic pipes are more flexible and have better thrust capacity, to withstand hydraulic impacts and pressure, to be efficient during electromagnetic well logging, they are not vulnerable to corrosion, resistant to aggressive environments, have more reliable pipe junctions, connection threads can be used many times, high temperature resistance, with absence of paraffin deposits of oils due to improved inner surface quality and properties of glass-reinforced plastic (its heat conductivity is 120 times less than the same for a metal). Pumping and compression pipes and other well equipment, except pumps, are also produced of glass-reinforced plastic that is a reliable insulator for equipment of wells to protect people working at the surface from electric current hazard and also to prevent leakages, influences and other risks. At fields in operation, where the metal casing pipes and well equipment were installed earlier and have high electrical conductivity, the equipment at the surface and workers are protected against electric current and high voltage hazard via additional installation of special insolating collars at casing pipes, pumping and compression pipes, in wells and in other appropriate locations at well mouths, that are also mass-produced by industry in various sizes to reliably insulate equipment used at the surface and to protect service workers from electricity hazard. At new and at long-in-operation fields, the heating well walls are not fixed with casing pipes throughout the entire layer thickness independent of durability characteristics of rocks, coal and shale, or other mineral resources to provide the most reliable contacts with liquid electrodes of electroconducting liquid and to improve its infiltration into the artificially created, after its pumping into layers and mountain rock array, slices, zones and areas with raised electrical conductivity. Should there, within weak and unstable oil and gas layers or coal and shale layers, well walls be partly damaged with the diameters being reduced, influenced by ground pressure, it does not affect the reliability of liquid electrodes contacts with artificially created, within layers and within mountain rock arrays, slices, zones and areas with raised electrical conductivity, after pumping the electrical conductivity liquid therein. In case of a long operation of heating wells, with multiple treatments their in-layer spaces via electric arc plasma, as necessary, the wells are repeatedly re-drilled to increase their diameters at unfixed throughout the entire layer thickness sites, step by step at a specified value via specialized hole openers to improve filtration into layers of the electroconducting liquid, upon completion the full cycle of layers treatment, rotation of heating wells is to be carried out to be used as production ones, to subsequent production of oil and gas from the same wells with the increased diameter after re-drilling and with improved filtration, and also increased oil and gas inflow resulting from substantial increase of their diameters (increased inflow cross-section) and due to the fact that the well walls, with increased diameters, are cleaned off mud cake resulting from drilling mud that penetrated during the initial wells drilling, while cracks and pores of the near-mine zone of layers, adjacent to wells, are cleaned off the sealing asphalt-resin-paraffin sediments, that remain therein during oils outflow into wells. Wells diameters increasing operations while re-drilling via specialized hole openers restore natural filtration and layers permeability. Specialized hole openers are mass-produced and have different designs either to mechanically destroy the mountain rock, or may be built to order as combined type, when the mountain rocks are destroyed by high temperature impact via electric arc that is initiated at the specialized opener tip that destroys the rock, during contacts separation, in conjunction with mechanical rotation impacting the rocks that are already destroyed by high temperature, to provide the wells re-drilled with necessary diameters and ultimate shape. The design of such specialized openers allows moving it compact through the wells, like umbrellas, to gradually open it, as necessary, at the rocks and layers sites re-drilled. This operation takes place after determined time intervals and, as necessary, after sufficient squeezing of wells by mountain pressure resulting in substantial decreasing diameters and filtration degradation both for electroconducting liquid into layers, and oil and gas thereof into wells upon completion the full cycle of treatments and rotation of heating wells to be used as production ones. Resulting from such rotation of heating wells, and especially at final stages of fields developments new macro-systems that drain and filter oil and gas are formed, to allow extracting the entire movable oil and gas, including those from the beyond perimeter spaces of oil reservoirs that are considered non-extractable, and even from nonreservoir rocks with very low permeability in case of cross-flow and large contact areas of layers reservoirs with good permeability therewith, when preliminarily treated with electric arc plasma and with large diameters of wells drilled therethrough, especially inclined and horizontal ones, making it the most efficient during development of suits of many layers with differing thickness and with sophisticated geological formation conditions: float-overs, dropdowns, layers continuity breaks and other difficulties. All this results in a more efficient usage of earth interior to extract oil and gas out of fields to the maximum extend.
While drilling the geological survey wells at fields, a mandatory electromagnetic well-logging is carried out throughout the entire geological section of the mountain rock array to determine the thickness of the layers entered, various slices of rocks, water-bearing slices and horizons, suits of multiple layers, their separation distance from each other, and to reveal the slices within rocks and layers that have differing electrical resistance to determine, within the mountain rock, the slices with the least specific electric resistance, that means in other words having the best natural electrical conductivity, and it is within this subset one can select the most suitable slices to be used to implement the method proposed, via artificial raising their electrical conductivity even further, after pumping them with the electroconducting liquid under the maximum pressures suitable for particular field conditions towards maximum depth possible, between the neighbor heating wells. Usually the best electrical conductivity is possessed by water-saturated slices, consisting of different rocks within layers with good permeability and porosity, the water-bearing slices with underground waters containing large amount of the salts dissolved therein with different concentrations, and, in most cases, located at the foot of the layers and other mineral resources, as well as water-bearing horizons that are located near the layers, or the suits of multiple layers, as well as other geological formations within the mountain rock arrays, such as ores rich in metals.
In rare cases of very low permeability and porosity of mountain rocks and layers, as well as if water-bearing slices or horizons are absent nearby, as well as other slices with properties suitable to implement the method proposed, then between the two neighbor heating wells at sites not fixed with casing pipes and through the layers, towards each other, long drill holes are drilled having small diameters, i.e. 20-40 mm or more, to the distance of 30-80 m or more, via dedicated direct drilling devices with flexible glass-reinforced plastic pipes. Batches of several long drill holes that are drilled from neighbor heating wells towards each other, can cross and disperse with their bottoms within layers space from dozens of centimeters to some meters. During pumping therein the operational electroconducting liquid under maximum pressure, that is suitable for the conditions, from neighbor heating wells towards each other, the separating walls between the drilled holes would be destroyed to form a single electro-conducting slice with small thickness to be filled with the electroconducting liquid and suitable to her and discharge such layers and rocks and to initiate electric arcs therein for their further treatment.
When a field contains oil and gas, coal or shale layers with substantial thickness, the operational electroconducting liquid is pumped into several slices, that are most suitable to treat such layers, and that are located at different distances, and the in-layer treatment with electric arcs is carried out stage-wise, either downwards throughout the layers thickness or, oppositely, upwards, depending on particular conditions of their location. When the field contains suits of multiple layers, either electrical conductivity if each layer within the suit is to be increased to be further treated with electric arc plasma, or a single layer is selected to be adjacent to several other layers or in between within the suits, or located either higher or lower thereof, and repeated treatment with electric arc plasma is carried out for the layer selected to improve oil and gas production efficiency, also from neighbor layers, resulting from the interference. After the abovementioned treatment procedure, the stressed-deformed state within closely located higher or lower neighbor layers is changed, and the ground pressure thereon by upper mountain rock thickness is lowered due to formation, via high temperature influence upon the layer within the suit treated, of large in size caves, oil and gas cross-flow channels as well as additional cracks systems at layer sites treated with electric arc plasma, during the evaporation of the substance that makes the rocks, coals, shales, oils, layer waters and other mountain rock components. After lowering the ground pressure to create substantial mountain rock array dislocation in between the closest neighbor layers within suits, permeability and crack and pores opening amount is increased within layers rocks, coals and shales, as well as other mineral resources. New crack systems and oil and gas cross-flow channels also result from dislocations within mountain rocks, as well as from high temperature influence upon layers. Herein oil and gas cross-flow takes place via these formed additional cracks and channels from the neighbor layers within suits, happened to be within treatment influence range of only one layer in between, at production wells at neighbor layers that are not treated yet with electric arc plasma, that are located within suits lower and higher from the close layer already treated. The same effect would take place should there, instead of one layer within a suit, a water-bearing slice or a water-bearing horizon with artificially raised electrical conductivity be treated-with electric arc plasma, after pumping them under pressure with electroconducting liquid, located close to layers or between them within suits of multiple layers, or located adjacent, either higher or lower, to individual layers with different thickness within mountain rocks. The abovementioned operations significantly reduce development time for all layers within suits at fields thus significantly reducing power consumption resulting in valuable profit after developing the suits of multiple layers independently of geological conditions of their formation and tectonic location complications resulting therefrom.
Should there be a more reliable electric arc ignition between the liquid electrodes a neighbor heating wells, that form a single electric circuit after pumping the electroconducting liquid into layers and rocks, due to good contacts in between, voltage value and power consumption may be reduced for heating, discharge, and electric arc ignition within slices, zones and areas of artificially created within layers and rocks. To increase alternating current impulses power during the electric arc ignition, the high voltage alternating current circuit is connected to powerful supercapacitors at the surface (it is also possible to connect large impedance reactive coils together with super-capacitors] to accumulate and release fast substantial electromagnetic power as powerful alternating current impulses into artificially created electricity conducting slices, zones and areas within layers and rocks.
After electric arcs ignition at predetermined field sites, they are moved within the space of layers and mountain rock arrays containing mineral resources, in order and sequence as appropriate, and to proceed this way, the electric arcs ignition voltage is applied to the liquid electrodes of other neighbor heating wells at the fields, while cutting off the voltage between those heating wells, where electric arcs had already burnt, and the process can be repeated many times. Order and sequence of connecting the new wells to the electric arcs burning process within layers, rocks, ore bunches, ledges and lenses is determined considering steady treatment of either the entire area of mineral resources field or only the particular sites area, to achieve maximum effect resulting from treating the mountain rock arrays that contain mineral resources with electric arc plasma.
Electric arc plasma treatment time for rock, ore and in-layer spaces at different fields would differ depending on physical and mechanical properties thereof, as well as chemical compositions and types of the mineral resources within the mountain rock arrays, their stressed-deformed state, geological conditions for location and a number of other factors. For every particular situation such time is determined experimentally depending on necessary temperatures and pressures to achieve under particular conditions to maximize the effect and the extraction extend for mineral resources of the field. The experimental results make it possible to carry out mathematical and computer three-dimensional modeling to determine optimal location of heating and production wells as well as order and/or sequence for field development within the shortest time and with maximum efficiency and minimum expenses and costs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The subject matter is accompanied with a drawing, where FIG. 1 represents the scheme of implementation for the method to develop fields and providing for the most complete extraction of oils-especially high viscosity, shale from kerogens, bitumens, gas condensates, gases from oil and gas and coal layers, shales and other mineral resources.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 depicts a mountain rock section that shows one exemplary possible scheme of location, within its suit mass, that has two thick layers comprising high viscosity oil, with gas dissolved therein, with the first layer I, located higher relatively the earth surface, and the second layer II, that is located lower relatively the earth surface. Suit layer thickness is changed from 20 to 65 meters, while the distance in between them within the suit varies from 5 meters to 10 meters. The upper portion 8 of the first layer I is the thickest, its thickness reaches 35 meters and it has a low permeability reservoir that contains high viscosity oil. Towards the suit, consisting of the two oil and gas layers, vertical and horizontal-inclined wells 5 are drilled from surface, that are filled with operational electroconducting liquid under pressure, with carbon contacts 6 located therein at the well mouths. The electroconducting liquid in wells 5 contacts at sites 12 of the wells (points of possible pumping of electroconducting liquid into the slice 9 in the first layer I and into the water bearing slice 11 at the second layer II, as well as into the water-bearing horizon 15 ) with slices having the best natural electricity conductivity in rocks and layers, as revealed during the electromagnetic well logging survey:
with water-saturated rock slice 9 and satisfactory permeability and porosity, that is located approximately in a middle of the first oil and gas layer I; with water-bearing slice 11 located at the foot of the second oil and gas layer II; with water-bearing horizon 15 with thickness from 1 to 2 meters located above the suit of layers close to the first oil and gas layer I at the distance from 1.5 to 3 meters.
Under natural conditions of layers and rocks bedding, the specific electrical resistivity of reservoir rocks, that are included into both layers, such as sandstones and clay shales, is changed from 200 to 600 Ohm and more, water-bearing rock slice 9 may change from 40 to 70 and more, water-bearing slice 11 located at the foot of the second oil and gas layer II and water-bearing horizon 15 may be from 8 to 20 and more. Upon pumping it with electroconducting liquid, their specific electrical resistivities may be decreased by orders, and their electrical conductivity would significantly improve, thus simplifying their heating to a discharge and electric arcs ignition.
Between heating wells 5 , at optimal distance therefrom, from surface, vertical and inclined-horizontal production wells 4 are drilled to the same oil and gas layers within the suit, the walls of which are cased with glass-reinforced plastic pipes, to reliable isolate well-control equipment and shutoff valves 3 at the well surface from influence by high voltage and electric current. Pumping and compression pipes and other well equipment, except pumps, are also produced of glass-reinforced plastic. Inclined horizontal production wells are drilled in a way, that their main holes are located at the thickest part 10 of the second oil and gas layer II, while lateral holes 7 of the same production wells are drilled towards the first oil and gas layer I of the suit that consists of the two thick layers with stratified poorly-permeable reservoirs and high-viscosity oils. Such disposition allows saving on drilling the wells to gain oil and gas simultaneously from two layers, thus improving the production efficiency via treating layers with electric arcs plasma to reduce the time needed for development.
Heating wells 5 at surface are connected to a source of high voltage alternating current 1 , the circuit of which includes powerful super-capacitors to accumulate energy 2 , coupled with large impedance inductive coils to accumulate electric energy at surface to release powerful impulses of high voltage alternating current to the artificially created electricity conducting slices within layers and rocks of the field to treat it (after heating and discharge) with burning electric arcs plasma. The super-capacitors are mass produced to be used under wide range of temperatures (from +70 to −50 degrees Celsius), and their resource significantly exceeds 10 million charge-discharge cycles, they are recharged fast to release energy fast. From super-capacitors 2 with inductivity coils, the powerful impulses of high voltage alternating current are delivered by wires to the carbon contacts 6 placed within electroconducting liquid, at the mouths of the heating wells 5 that are filled with the operational electroconducting liquid under high pressure. Arrows at the scheme show electric arcs 14 ignited within water-saturated rock slice 9 with good permeability and porosity, located at the first oil and gas layer I, after pumping electroconducting liquid therein to raise electricity conductivity of the slice, and also electric arcs 13 within the water-bearing slice 11 , located at the foot of the second oil and gas layer II, and electric arcs 16 , ignited within the water-bearing horizon 15 , that is located at close distance from the first oil and gas layer I within the suit, after pumping it with electroconducting liquid at sites 12 (at pumping points) of heating wells 5 to improve its electricity conductivity. Pumping the electroconducting liquid into the water-bearing horizon 15 to improve its electricity conductivity and to create an artificial electrically conductive slice for heating, discharge and ignition electric arcs therein would be carried out only in a situation, when it turns out that such treatment with electric arcs of the inlayer space of the first oil and gas layer I via artificially created electrically conductive slice 9 with raised electricity conductivity resulting from the pumping of the electroconducting liquid therein, would be insufficient to completely extract oil and gas from the upper portion 8 of the substantially thick (changing up to 35 m) oil and gas layer I, to necessitate additional impact after treating, with electric arcs, the water-bearing horizon 15 , to influence after the treatment this portion of the layer downwards, via closely located thereto water-bearing horizon 15 with good permeability and electrical conductivity.
To ignite electric arcs between neighbor heating wells 5 of the field, voltages are increased at liquid electrodes of electroconducting liquid within those wells to heat slices 9 and 11 within layers I and II, as well as water-bearing horizon 1.5, and after the preliminary heating and rising the temperature to the value suitable for a discharge at both layers by slices with artificially increased electricity conductivity after pumping it as well as water-bearing horizon 15 with electroconducting liquid, electric arcs are ignited between the neighbor heating wells 5 to treat with plasma their in-layer and rock spaces with plasma temperature therein reaching tens of thousands degrees Celsius depending on rated current values and the necessary voltage values supported. The voltage rising speed, as well as its maximum value, depends on electric circuit parameters, while presence of super capacitors within this circuit simplifies electric arcs ignition. The more is the distance between neighbor heating wells 5 , the more would be maximum value for the voltage able to restore the arc, thus, the distance between wells should be optimal, considering the costs of drilling and expenses to maintain the necessary voltage. With increasing pressure within in-layer and rock spaces, during electric arcs treatment thereof, the plasma temperature rises. At current values up to 10000 A the arc would burn diffused, and that would be the best to treat the in-layer and rock spaces within mountain arrays, while at higher current values it would burn compressed. The electric arc is one of the discharge types in gases or vapors, characterized by high current density, small voltages fall in the arc stem and high temperature. Because any electric circuit has both inductivity and capacity, the inclusion of additional large capacity/impedance, and compact enough to be moved on trucks at surface, super capacitors and inductivity coils into the circuit, results in accumulating substantial electromagnetic energy to be released upon appearance of electric arcs after pre-heating and discharge within mountain rock and layers to be transmitted into the heat, while some portion thereof turns into other types of energy, and the electric arc-emerged, as well as the environment around are both energy sinks. A discharge by artificially created electricity conducting slices, zones and areas within layers and rocks after rising voltages between neighbor heating wells, for the most imaginary comparison and understanding thereof, is close, by nature, to the discharge of lightning in the air resulting from the discharge of the electrical field energy accumulated in atmosphere, with thunder clouds enormous capacity involved.
Within the environment around the arc, evaporated are both liquid and solid components of layers and rocks, within relatively short time periods, under very high temperature. All this results in substantial increase of the in-layer pressure to further increase plasma temperature within the arc burning, thus within layers and mountain rocks arcs burn with very high pressure and temperatures, that move within the in-layer space by artificially created slices with increased electricity conductivity after pumping electroconducting liquid therein, with order and sequence as appropriate, to develop the entire or only some part of the field, resulting in fast change of temperature and stressed-deformed state of layers incorporated into rocks, ore bunches, ledges and lenses, and other mineral resources. Crack and pore systems change to create new cracks and channels, caves and free spaces within layers and incorporating rocks or ores of mountain arrays due to evaporation of solid and liquid phases and other components, that upon extinguishing arcs results in multiple rearrangements of tensions by ground pressure, positively affecting oil and gas inflows into production wells. Oil and bitumen viscosity would be significantly reduced, under high temperature, kerogens would be converted into shale oil, while layer and rocks permeability would improve, resulting in the inflow thereof, to simplify, under significant pressure rise, the extraction from layers. The shale gas, located within shale layers at multiple close caves of different sizes, would also be completely extracted, because the walls between individual caves would be destroyed after high temperature treatment of layers with electric arcs plasma. Treating shale layers with electric arcs would result in virtually complete extraction of shale oils from kerogens, as well as shale gases from these layers, thus being an ecologically friendly method, in comparison to currently used technologies that contaminate and poison territories around fields.
High temperature treatment of oil and gas, coal and shale layers with electric arc plasma may be considered, due to ground pressure drop, an even more efficient method, than underground development of protection layers at coal fields, when a neighbor layer is freed from tension resulting from ground pressure to simplify its degassing, and development after close neighbor protection layer withdrawal, yet it has a number of advantages due to creation of high temperature and pressure that contribute into complete extraction of any oils and gases under most conditions existing.
As a result, after treatment of oil and gas, coal and shale layers of fields with electric arc plasma, the extraction of oils and gases therefrom improves significantly, while shale oils and gas may be extracted completely from fields that are currently mothballed because of suitable extraction methods missing, yet have enormous potential that exceeds several times overall reserves of oil and gas layers Worldwide. The method discussed allows, without ecological issues, redevelopment of long time ago abandoned fields, provided they still have some not extracted oils and gas to approach complete extraction of those resources from fields, both old or long in operation, and new ones, due to heating and treating layers and rocks on fields with electric arcs by electricity conducting slices that are artificially created therein, multiple times with necessary time intervals.
Thus, the method proposed allows the most complete extraction of oil and gas out of oil and gas and shale layers of fields to obtain significant profit, resulting from its usage, and also this method is ecologically friendly. Besides extracting oil and gas out of oil and gas and shale layers the method may be successfully used for underground coal layer gasifying thus significantly increasing extraction of coal, and products derivative thereof, from earth interior, providing for significant decrease of environment contamination with harmful wastes of oil and gas extraction and mining industry (chemical substances, waste rock, extracted underground waters from wells and mine workings with high concentration of sulfur, hydrogen sulfide and other poisonous contaminants that reach rivers and water pools] to improve ecology of territories containing deposits of oil, gas and other mineral resources. In addition, this method allows destroying underground landfills with hazardous wastes of radioactive and chemical industries, via burning and evaporating it underground by means of electric arc plasma. This method also allows melting, into underground workings, from ore bunches, ledges and lenses, of metals, for example, such as iron, copper, nickel, aluminum, silver, gold, as well as rare-earth metals from high viscosity oils and others with high electrical conductivity. | A method for developing deposits and extracting oil and gas from formations is provided including pumping electrically conductive fluid under pressure into a first heating well and a second heating well, creating an electrically conductive zone between the first heating well and the second heating well, positioning at least one first electrical current source into the first well and at least one second electrical current source into the second well such that the first and second electrical current sources come into contact with the electrically conductive fluid, applying alternating current to the at least one first electrical current source and the at least one second electrical current source, and generating an electric arc in the electrically conductive zone. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device in which a field-effect transistor (FET) having a silicon oxide interlayer film is formed on a compound semiconductor substrate, and more particularly to a method of evaluating the interlayer film in order to control the degradation of FET power characteristics due to electron trapping.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] When a high-output compound semiconductor FET is driven for an extended period of time, its power output degrades due to the effect of electrons trapped in the interlayer film, or between the compound semiconductor substrate and the interlayer film. A description of this effect is given in “Relationship between gate lag, power drift, and power slump of pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors,” Solid-State Electronics 43 (1999), pp. 1325-1331 (hereinafter, Reference 1).
[0005] One method of assessing the degradation of the interlayer film employs Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-221150 (hereinafter, Reference 2). In this method, the change in the FT-IR spectrum of an interlayer oxide film before and after operation of the FET is measured, and the degradation of the interlayer film is determined from the change.
[0006] Reference 1 deals with mitigation of the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output compound semiconductor FET having a silicon nitride film, but does not address the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output FET having a silicon oxide film formed on a compound semiconductor substrate.
[0007] Since the method described in Reference 2 requires measured data to be obtained after operation of the FET, degradation evaluation takes time. This method is not suitable for use during mass production of semiconductor devices.
[0008] It would be desirable to have a more practical method of controlling the degradation of power characteristics of high-output compound semiconductor FETs having a silicon oxide interlayer film.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and quick method of evaluating and controlling the degradation of power characteristics of a FET having a silicon oxide interlayer film during the film fabrication process.
[0010] The invention provides a method of evaluating a silicon oxide film formed on a compound semiconductor substrate. The method includes obtaining an FT-IR spectrum of the silicon oxide film, and estimating the quantity of silicon-silicon bonds operating as electron traps in the silicon oxide film from a peak with a wave number of 880/centimeter (880 cm −1 ) in the FT-IR spectrum, this peak being an indicator of silicon-silicon stretching vibration.
[0011] The quantity of silicon-silicon bonds may be estimated directly from the area of the 880 cm −1 peak, or by comparing this area with the area of another peak in the FT-IR spectrum, the other peak indicating silicon-oxygen stretching vibration.
[0012] The invention also provides a method of fabricating a semiconductor device including a FET having a silicon oxide interlayer film formed on a compound semiconductor substrate. The method includes analyzing the silicon oxide interlayer film by FT-IR spectroscopy and estimating the quantity of silicon-silicon bonds as described above, determining a fabrication process condition for forming the silicon oxide film so as to reduce the quantity of silicon-silicon bonds, and forming the interlayer silicon oxide film according to this fabrication process condition. The estimated quantity of silicon-silicon bonds provides an index of expected power performance degradation during operation of the FET, so fabricating the semiconductor device under a condition that reduces the estimated quantity of silicon-silicon bonds reduces the expected power degradation, without the need for actual measurement of the power degradation.
[0013] In an alternative method of fabricating a semiconductor device the estimated quantity of silicon-silicon bonds operating as electron traps in the interlayer film is used as an index of expected power performance degradation during operation of the FET. For example, the fabricated semiconductor devices can be graded according to the estimated quantity of silicon-silicon bonds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] In the attached drawings:
[0015] [0015]FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a high-output FET having a silicon oxide interlayer film formed on a compound semiconductor substrate;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the operation of the high-output FET in FIG. 1;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the electron hot-carrier effect during the operation of the high-output FET in FIG. 1;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 4 shows an FT-IR spectrum obtained from a silicon oxide film deposited on a gallium-arsenide (GaAs) wafer substrate by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD);
[0019] [0019]FIG. 5 shows an enlargement of the FT-IR spectrum in FIG. 4 between 700 cm −1 and 950 cm −1 , showing two separate peaks with wave numbers of 810 cm −1 and 880 cm −1 ;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 6 illustrates how the ratio between the areas of the two peaks at 810 cm −1 and 880 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum in FIGS. 4 and 5 is related to the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output FET;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 7 schematically illustrates the state of electrons trapped in a silicon oxide film;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the structure of a model of a silicon oxide film having Si—Si bonds;
[0023] [0023]FIG. 9 shows the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the structure in FIG. 8;
[0024] [0024]FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating the activation energy when a silicon oxide film operates as an electron trap; and
[0025] [0025]FIG. 11 is a table of activation energy values when a silicon oxide film operates as an electron trap.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which like elements are indicated by like reference characters.
[0027] A sectional view of a high-output FET having a silicon substrate is shown in FIG. 1. The substrate is a gallium-arsenide (GaAs) substrate 1 with an n-type GaAs layer 1 a , on which a gate electrode 2 , a source electrode 3 , a drain electrode 4 , a silicon oxide film 5 (the interlayer film), and a silicon nitride film 6 (another interlayer film) are formed.
[0028] [0028]FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the operation of the high-output FET. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the electron hot-carrier effect during the operation of the high-output FET.
[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, electrons (e) injected from the source electrode 3 traverse the n-type GaAs layer 1 a to reach the drain electrode 4 . As shown in FIG. 3, some of the electrons become highly energetic or ‘hot’ carriers that are injected into the silicon oxide film 5 . If the injected charges are trapped in the silicon oxide film 5 , the power output characteristic of the FET is degraded.
[0030] [0030]FIG. 4 shows an FT-IR spectrum obtained from a silicon oxide film deposited on a gallium-arsenide (GaAs) wafer substrate by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Peaks appear at wave numbers of 810 cm −1 , 880 cm −1 , 1060 cm −1 , and 1160 cm −1 , the latter two of these peaks being superimposed in a way that makes them appear to be a single peak. FIG. 5 shows an enlargement of the FT-IR spectrum in FIG. 4 between wave numbers 700 cm −1 and 950 cm −1 , showing how this part of the spectrum can be an alyzed as a sum of two separate peaks at 810 cm −1 and 880 cm −1 .
[0031] The FT-IR data shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 were obtained by using FT-IR transmission spectroscopy to analyze a silicon oxide film deposited on a dummy GaAs wafer substrate simultaneously with the deposition of a silicon oxide film 5 by low-pressure CVD during the fabrication of the high-output FET shown in FIG. 1. It is also possible to use attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy or reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), or to use a micro-infrared spectroscopy technique capable of measuring reflectance.
[0032] [0032]FIG. 6 indicates how the ratio between the areas of the two peaks at wave numbers of 810 cm −1 and 880 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum is related to the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output FET. Samples 1, 2, and 3 are three high-output FETs. Each sample has the sectional structure shown in FIG. 1. Only the qualities of the silicon oxide interlayer films of these samples differ, because the fabrication process conditions were the same except for the process conditions for the interlayer films. Each sample had a gate length of 0.8 μm, a gate width of 3.5 μm, and a unit gate width of 175 μm.
[0033] In FIG. 6, the silicon oxide film area ratio is the value obtained by dividing the area of the peak at wave number 810 cm −1 by the area of the peak at wave number 880 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum of the silicon oxide film. Po indicates the value of the starting power, expressed in decibels (dB), of a high-output FET before an extended drive test. ΔP indicates the value obtained by subtracting the value of the starting power Po from the value of the power of the high-output FET at the end of the drive test (lasting 48 hours). The negative value indicated by ΔP indicates degradation of the power characteristic.
[0034] The procedure by which the data in FIG. 6 were obtained will be described below. Fabrication process conditions were set and samples 1, 2, and 3 were fabricated, yielding silicon oxide film area ratios of 0.099 for sample 1, 0.141 for sample 2, and 0.183 for sample 3, as obtained from FT-IR spectra. The silicon oxide films were formed on a GaAs wafer substrate by low-pressure CVD.
[0035] The interlayer film fabrication process conditions that affect the silicon oxide film area ratio include the flow rates of silane (SiH 4 ) and oxygen gases (including flow rates of their carrier gases), the film fabrication temperature and pressure, and under certain circumstances, the thickness of the silicon oxide film.
[0036] On each of the samples fabricated as described above, the initial power Po before the start of the 48-hour drive test was measured, the power after 48 hours of driving was measured, and the degradation ΔP of the power characteristic due to the extended operation of the FET was obtained.
[0037] As shown in FIG. 6, as the silicon oxide film area ratio (the area ratio at wave numbers of 810 cm −1 and 880 cm −1 in an FT-IR spectrum) decreased, so did the degradation of the power characteristic of the high-output FET.
[0038] This indicates that the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output FET having a silicon oxide film, during operation of the FET, can be controlled during the fabrication of the silicon oxide interlayer film, by determining fabrication process conditions for the silicon oxide film from the silicon oxide film area ratio at wave numbers of 810 cm −1 and 880 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum. More specifically, the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output FET can be mitigated by fabricating the silicon oxide film under process conditions that reduce the area ratio.
[0039] It was confirmed that after the degradation caused by 48 hours of operation, the power of samples 1, 2, and 3 returned to the initial level Po if each sample was held at a temperature of 120° C. for 24 hours. This indicates the occurrence of a reversible reaction in the high-output FET samples: their power characteristics degrade during operation, but after operation stops, the degradation will disappear if the samples are stored for an extended period of time. The reason is thought to be that the degradation is not due to chemical structural changes in the FET materials, but to electron trapping.
[0040] [0040]FIG. 7 schematically illustrates the state of electrons trapped in a silicon oxide film. When a single electron enters a neutral state, the neutral state changes into an anion radical state. If no chemical structural change occurs in the anion radical state, then the reaction is reversible.
[0041] The silicon oxide film trapping the electrons is thought to have an amorphous structure formed not only by silicon-oxygen-silicon (Si—O—Si) bonds but also by silicon-silicon (Si—Si) bonds.
[0042] A molecular orbital calculation was performed to show that in a silicon oxide film including Si—Si bonds, the Si—Si bonds operate as electron traps. The PC Spartan Pro Program version 1.0.5 (Wavefunction Inc.) was used to calculate an optimum structure by the parameterized model 3 (PM3) method.
[0043] [0043]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the structure of a model of a silicon oxide film having Si—Si bonds used for the molecular orbital calculation. Since an enormous amount of time would be required to calculate an amorphous structure directly, the model had Si—O—Si bonds placed appropriately around Si—Si bonds, and was terminated by hydrogen atoms.
[0044] [0044]FIG. 9 shows the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the structure in FIG. 8 obtained by the molecular orbital calculation. The LUMO is spread over the Si—Si bonds. More specifically, the σ* orbital of the Si—Si bonds becomes the LUMO. This indicates the possibility that the Si—Si bonds may operate as electron traps in the silicon oxide film.
[0045] In the FT-IR spectrum of the silicon oxide film, Si—O stretching vibration is indicated by the peak at wave number 810 cm −1 , and Si—Si stretching vibration is indicated by the peak at wave number 880 cm −1 . The area ratio at the two peaks in the FT-IR spectrum is used as an index of the quantity of Si—Si bonds in the silicon oxide film.
[0046] The critical area is the area of peak at the wave number of 880 cm −1 , where Si—Si stretching vibration is indicated. The area of the peak at the wave number of 810 cm −1 , where Si—O stretching vibration is indicated, can be replaced by the area of a peak at another wave number indicating Si—O stretching vibration, such as the peak at wave number 1060 cm −1 or 1160 cm −1 . In the embodiment described above, the area ratio was determined by using the peak at wave number 810 cm −1 because of easy peak identification. It is also possible to use the area of the peak at wave number 880 cm −1 as an index of the quantity of Si—Si bonds in the silicon oxide film.
[0047] The activation energy when a silicon oxide film having Si—Si bonds operates as an electron trap was determined from a molecular orbital calculation. The PC Spartan Pro Program version 1.0.5 (Wavefunction Inc.) was used to calculate an optimum structure by the PM3 method for the structure in FIG. 8. The gross energy at the transition state, that is, the difference between the gross energy in the neutral state and the gross energy in the anion radical state, was calculated and the gross energy difference was determined as the activation energy.
[0048] [0048]FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating the activation energy determined by the calculation above when a silicon oxide film operates as an electron trap. FIG. 11 illustrates the activation energy by comparing the activation energy when a silicon oxide film having Si—Si bonds operates as an electron trap with the activation energy when a silicon oxide film having silicon-hydrogen (Si—H) bonds operates as an electron trap.
[0049] The value of the activation energy when a silicon oxide film has Si—Si bonds is approximately 5.88 kcal/mol. This value is approximately half the value of the activation energy when a silicon oxide film has Si—H bonds, as indicated in FIG. 11. This indicates the validity of the theory that Si—Si bonds operate as electron traps.
[0050] When an anion radical state reverts to a neutral state, if the silicon oxide film has Si—Si bonds, the value of the activation energy obtained by calculations similar to the calculations giving the values in FIG. 11 is approximately 1.66 kcal/mol. This indicates that the anion radical state reverts to the neutral state in a reversible reaction with very little structural change.
[0051] As described above, it can be considered that Si—Si bonds operating as electron traps in a silicon oxide film cause the degradation of power characteristics of a high-output compound semiconductor FET having a silicon oxide film, due to operation of the FET.
[0052] Accordingly, if the quantity of Si—Si bonds in the silicon oxide film is controlled, the power degradation of the high-output FET can be controlled. More specifically, if the quantity of Si—Si bonds in the silicon oxide film is reduced, the power degradation of the high-output FET can be reduced. It is possible to control the quantity of Si—Si bonds in the silicon oxide film on the basis of the peak at wave number of 810 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum of the silicon oxide film (by measuring the area the area of the peak at wave number of 810 cm −1 , or by measuring the ratio of the area of this peak to the area of a peak at another wave number).
[0053] Three examples of silicon oxide interlayer film fabrication processes embodying the present invention are described below.
EXAMPLE 1
[0054] A silicon oxide film deposited on a dummy GaAs wafer substrate is analyzed by using FT-IR spectroscopy. From the peak at wave number 810 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum, fabrication process conditions for forming the silicon oxide film are determined so as to reduce the quantity of Si—Si bonds, which is used as an index of the expected FET power characteristic degradation. A silicon oxide interlayer film is formed according to these fabrication process conditions on a GaAs wafer substrate product used for the fabrication of a high-output FET.
EXAMPLE 2
[0055] The silicon oxide interlayer film is formed on a GaAs wafer substrate product used for the fabrication of a high-output FET. This silicon oxide interlayer film is analyzed by using, for example, a micro-infrared spectroscopy technique capable of measuring reflectance. From the peak at wave number 810 cm −1 in the FT-IR spectrum, the quantity of Si—Si bonds is estimated as an index of expected FET power characteristic degradation. The quality of the interlayer film is determined from the estimated quantity of Si—Si bonds.
EXAMPLE 3
[0056] The fabrication process conditions are determined by using FT-IR spectroscopy as described in Example 1, and the interlayer film is evaluated as described in Example 2.
[0057] As described above, the present invention enables the degradation of power characteristics of a FET to be evaluated and controlled by a simple method during the silicon oxide interlayer film fabrication process. A drive test over an extended period of time is not required, so degradation can be evaluated quickly.
[0058] The embodiment described above has dealt with a high-output FET on a GaAs substrate having a silicon oxide film, but the invention can also be applied to a high-output FET on another compound substrate, such as an indium-phosphorus substrate or a gallium-nitride substrate, having a silicon oxide interlayer film.
[0059] As described above, the invention has the effect of evaluating and controlling the degradation of power characteristics of an FET simply and quickly during the silicon oxide interlayer film fabrication process.
[0060] Those skilled in the art will recognize that further variations are possible within the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims. | A silicon oxide film formed on a compound semiconductor substrate is evaluated by estimating the quantity of silicon-silicon bonds operating as electron traps in the silicon oxide film from a peak with a wave number of 880/centimeter in the Fourier-transform infrared spectrum of the silicon oxide film. This peak, which is an indicator of silicon-silicon stretching vibration, provides an index of expected power performance degradation during operation of field-effect transistors incorporating the silicon oxide film as an interlayer. Power degradation can be reduced by fabricating the semiconductor device under conditions that reduce the estimated quantity of silicon-silicon bonds, without the need to measure the power degradation. | 6 |
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] This application makes reference to and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 from an application entitled, “Mobile Communication Network System Using Digital Optic Link”, filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Jul. 10, 2000 and there duly assigned Serial No. 2000-39212.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mobile communication network for the provision of digital optical transmission through an optical link in the base transceiver system of a digital cellular system (DCS), a mobile telephone network, a personal communication system, a mobile communication system of the next generation (IMT2000), etc.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] [0005]FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional mobile communication system for controlling a plurality of base transceiver systems, which comprises a mobile station (MS) 12 ; a plurality of base transceiver systems (BTS) 5 ; a base station controller (BSC) 3 in communication with the BTSs; a mobile switching center (MSC) 2 coupled to the BSC 3 ; and, a public switching telephone network (PSTN) 1 . The mobile station 12 is a terminal unit that allows a subscriber to communicate within the mobile communication networks. The base transceiver systems 5 establish a wireless connection to the mobile station 12 and control the mobile station 12 through the established communication channels. The base station controller 3 controls both wireless and wired connections and couples the existing network to other communication networks. A single base station controller 3 typically employs E1/T1 links for controlling the plurality of BTSs 5 . However, the installation cost of the plurality of BTSs is enormous and each BTS only provides a limited cell coverage area. A cell is classified according to its size, i.e., a macro cell (about 5 km-30 km); a micro cell (about 500 m-1 km); and a mega cell using low-orbit satellites (100 km). For example, the reference number 6 represents the cell coverage of a base transceiver system 5 .
[0006] A plurality of optical repeaters 7 employing a sub-carrier multiplexing (SCM) scheme have been developed to provide services beyond the assigned cell coverage area in the areas where the installation of the base transceiver systems is difficult and the reception of the electromagnetic radiation signals is poor. The optical repeaters 7 are employed to secure a broader cell coverage in the regions where the traffic usage is low. In this prior art system, many remote base transceiver systems (BTSs) includes optical repeaters that are installed within the network with one reference base transceiver system 5 for controlling the optical repeaters 7 . In the regions where the installation of a reference BTS 5 is costly and the expected traffic is not so heavy, i.e., skiing resorts, golf courses, streets, remote villages, optical repeaters are used to cover the same regions (i.e., reference number 8 represents the cell coverage of each optical repeater) in the prior art system. To this end, the optical divider 11 is provided in the reference base transceiver system 5 to transmit data to each optical repeater 7 through the optical fibers 10 . Thus, the conventional art system has some merit of efficiently reducing the enormous cost of installing the reference base transceiver system 5 .
[0007] However, the optical divider 11 used in the prior art system has some drawbacks in that the multiple optical fibers 10 has be installed as many as the respective optical repeaters 7 . Another drawback is that the optical fibers 10 corresponding to the respective optical repeaters 7 have to be installed around highways, in tunnels and buildings. As each repeater requires a dedicated fiber line, the cost of this type of installation is very high.
[0008] Moreover, the conventional mobile communication system is not equipped to prove multimedia service requiring higher speed and capacity, thus causing a problem during an access operation between the optical repeaters and the base transceiver systems.
[0009] As the prior art system employs optical repeaters to secure broader coverage beyond the existing cell coverage of the BTSs by means of the optical fibers matching the respective optical repeaters, it has a structural disadvantage in installation around highways or inside buildings. Moreover, if the optical fibers are arranged in parallel, the expenses associated in installing the optical fibers and the dedicated lines will increase dramatically. Furthermore, the distance between the reference base transceiver system and the optical repeaters is limited in the range of 20 Km. Hence, the business sector would have the double burden of installing more optical repeaters as well as the reference base transceiver system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a mobile communication network that realizes high speed, larger capacity and multimedia services by the means of digital optical communication networks, while achieving economical installation and operation of respective base transceiver systems without any additional installation of a reference base transceiver system and optical repeaters.
[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a mobile communication network, which is easily installable and applicable for various purposes while enhancing a cell coverage and drastically reducing an expense for using dedicated lines, by connecting a plurality of compact BTSs along a single optical fiber in regions, such as downtowns, the inside of buildings, around highways, where the reception and transmission of electromagnetic radiation signals are poor.
[0012] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a mobile communication network, which can improve efficiency by providing easier frequency allocation of the base transceiver systems using a digital optical transmission technology, including optical transponders and a reference network structure.
[0013] To achieve the above objects, there is provided a mobile communication network, comprising: a base station controller for controlling a plurality of compact BTSs; a compact BTS controller linked to the base station controller by the means of E1/T1 links; a plurality of optical fiber links coupled to the compact BTS controller; and, an optical transponder provided in each compact BTS for dividing or synthesizing signals, for transmitting the signals to the RF portion from one compact BTS to another, and for amplifying and transmitting other signals from one compact BTS to another.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0015] [0015]FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a conventional mobile communication network system;
[0016] [0016]FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a mobile communication network employing digital optical links according to the present invention;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a compact BTS controller according to the present invention;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of compact BTSs according to the present invention;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of optical transponders provided in the compact BTSs according to the present invention; and,
[0020] [0020]FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the RF component of the compact BTSs according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of clarity, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail as they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.
[0022] According to the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of compact BTSs employing a digital optical communication network is provided within a mobile communication network. The function of the compact BTSs is to exchange data with a mobile station within a mobile communication network. The compact BTSs are designed to be compatible with the existing or newly installed base transceiver systems within the mobile network. The structure of the compact BTSs will now be described hereinafter in detail with reference to FIG. 2.
[0023] [0023]FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating a mobile communication network employing the digital optical links according to the present invention. Among the capacities a compact BTS 18 coupled to the BSC 3 , a specific portion is assigned to the compact BTS controller 18 and the remnant capacity is distributed among the plurality of BTSs. In this manner, the compact BTS controller 18 manages the remnant capacity operable by a base station controller 3 . The compact BTS controller 18 is coupled to one end of a plurality of digital optical links (OL 1 , OL 2 ˜OLn). Each optical link is coupled through a plurality of base transceiver systems (BTS 1 , BTS 2 ˜BTSn) 14 along the same optical link. A matching device of the BTS controller 18 is provided for matching signals with the compact BTS along a particular fiber link. Each of the compact BTSs 14 linked within the digital optical communication network further includes an optical transponder (as illustrated in FIG. 5) for arranging the plurality of compact BTSs along the same optical link.
[0024] The base station controller 3 manages the compact BTS controller 18 with a capacity equivalent or higher than that of the reference BTS such that it is possible to mange the compact BTS controller 18 as well as the compact BTSs. The optical links (OL 1 , OL 2 ˜OLn) capable of linking the respective compact BTSs 14 in line along one optical fiber may be installed to cover multiple locations depending on the capacity of the base station controller 18 . The compact BTSs 14 are arranged along the respective optical links (OL 1 , OL 2 ˜OLn) through the optical transponders provided in the respective compact BTSs 14 . The cell coverage of the respective compact BTSs 14 may be shaped to form a micro cell and a pico cell. The mobile communication system with the above configurations can be easily adapted in areas near highways, inside tunnels, or in a remote place.
[0025] The compact BTSs 14 receive and transmit optical signals that are digitalized by a single optical fiber by means of optical communication networks employing a wavelength division multiplexing, and each compact BTS 14 is connected to one another through optical transponders. The compact BTSs 14 with this communication network type can replace the reference base transceiver system 5 and the optical repeaters used in the prior art system (shown in FIG. 10). Reference numeral 6 represents a service cell coverage area of the reference BTS 5 , whereas reference numeral 15 represents a service cell coverage of the respective compact BTSs according to the present invention, allowing more diverse coverage areas in more economical way.
[0026] [0026]FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of a compact BTS controller 18 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the compact BTS controller 18 includes a link control section 19 for transmitting control signals and data received from the base station controller (BSC) 3 to the respective optical links (OL 1 , OL 2 ˜OLn) of the compact BTS 14 ; a link matching device 20 with a transmitting section (Tx) 21 and a receiving section (Rx) 22 ; a conversion section 25 with an AC to DC converter 23 and a DC to AC conveter 24 ; a multiplex processing section (MUX, DEMUX) 26 ; and an optical converting section (E/O, O/E) 31 . The optical converting section 31 includes an optical coupler (WDM) 34 for transmitting the optical signals of a particular wave inputted from an electro-optical converter 29 to the optical link, and for transmitting the optical signals of a particular wave inputted from the optical link to the appropriate photoelectric converter 30 .
[0027] The link control section 19 classifies data transmitted from the base station controller 3 according to the assigned link, frequency assignment (FA), and sector information to the respective optical links (OL 1 , OL 2 ˜OLn) 36 . The link matching device 20 serves to distinguish between the forward signals 32 that are transmitted from the compact BTSs 14 to a particular terminal unit and the reverse signals 33 that are transmitted from the terminal unit to the compact BTSs 14 . The link matching device 20 also transmits forward analogue IF signals to the digitalizing section 25 , and transmits the reverse IF signals received from the digitalizing section 25 to the link control section 19 . The function of the digitalizing section 25 is to convert forward analogue signals into digital signals using an analogue/digital converting section 23 , and to convert reverse digital signals into analogue signals using a digital/analogue converting section (D/A) 24 so as to transmit the converted analog signals to the compact base transceiver devices 18 .
[0028] The forward digital signals are multiplexed into a plurality of channels in conformity with the numbers of the compact BTSs by the multiplexer (MUX) 27 . The multiplexed digital signals are converted into optical signals at a particular wavelength by the electro-optical converter (E/O) 29 . Similarly, the digitalized optical signals received from the compact base transceiver devices 14 are demuliplexed to the photoelectric converter 30 using a demultiplexer (DEMUX) 28 . Then, the analogue signals are demodulated into digital signals and transferred to the base station controller 3 .
[0029] [0029]FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the structure of a compact BTS coupled to one optical link according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the signal paths in FIG. 4, a thin line represents a transmission line for electric signals, and a thick line represents a transmission line for optical signals.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 4, the optical signals are classified and digitalized according to the FAs and the sector information of the respective compact BTSs that are being transmitted to the respective compact BTS (BTS 1 , BTS 2 ˜BTSn) along the optical fiber 36 . The plurality of signals transmitted through the optical fiber 36 are transferred to the respective compact BTS through the optical transponders (TP 1 , TP 2 ˜TPn) provided in each compact BTS 14 . Although the plurality of compact BTSs (BTS 1 , BTS 2 ˜BTSn) linked along the optical link are achieved by a long single optical fiber 36 , digital signals are amplified and restored each time the signals are passed through the respective optical transponders (TP 1 , TP 2 ˜TPn) along the same optical fiber. Thus, the digital signals along the optical fiber 35 are maintained. Hence, the compact BTS can be installed in the regions where the transmission and reception of electromagnetic radiation signals are low, i.e., in tunnels and hidden streets, so that communication with a mobile station in such regions can be realized.
[0031] The forward signals transmitted to the respective BTS (BTS 1 , BTS 2 ˜BTSn) along the same fiber link are multiplexed and converted into optical signals that are distinguishable by the respective optical transponders (TP 1 , TP 2 ˜TPn). The reverse signals transmitted from the compact BTSs (BTS 1 , BTS 2 ˜BTSn) are converted into electric signals and demultiplexed so as to be distinguished from one another. The function of optical transponders (TP 1 , TP 2 ˜TPn) provided in the respective compact BTS is to divide/synthesize incoming signals matching to the same RF part of the receiving compact BTS, and amplify and transmit other signals that do not match the RF part of the receiving compact BTS to the next compact BTS. That is, each optical transponder filters signals that fall within the range of allocated frequency assigned to a given compact BTS and transmits other signals to the next compact BTS.
[0032] [0032]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the inside components of the optical transponders according to the present invention. A function of an optical transponder in the n−1 th compact BTS will be described herein below with reference to FIG. 5. Forward optical signals 59 are divided depending on their wavelength by an optical coupler 60 . The divided optical signals 61 are photoelectrically converted by a photoelectric converter (O/E) 62 , and the photoelectrically converted electric signals 63 are further divided into two signals by a high frequency divider 84 , with one electric signals 92 being transmitted to an electro-optical converter 70 , and the other electric signals 69 being transmitted to an n−1 th demultiplexer 65 . The electric signals 64 divided by the high frequency divider 84 are demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 65 , and then converted into analogue signals by a digital/analogue converter 66 . Then, digitalized signals 86 are transmitted to the RF parts of the compact BTSs. Thereafter, the converted analog signals are converted into a radio frequency after being synthesized with an intermediate frequency and transmitted in the air, via an antenna, to a terminal unit by a power amplifier. The RF parts 89 of the compact base transceiver devices are described later with reference to FIG. 6. The other signals 92 divided by the high frequency divider 84 are modulated into optical signals 71 by the electro-optical converter 70 , and transmitted to an optical transponder (TPn) 73 of the n th compact base transceiver system through an optical coupler 72 .
[0033] At the same time, the reverse signals received from the optical transponders 73 in adjacent compact BTSs are divided according to the wavelength by the optical coupler 72 , and the divided optical signals 81 are photoelectrically converted by a photoelectric converter 80 . Thereafter, the photoelectrically converted electric signals are multiplexed with reverse signals 78 of the n−1 th compact base transceiver system by a multiplexer 77 , and transmitted to the n−2 th optical transponder (TPn- 2 ) through an electro-optical converter 76 .
[0034] [0034]FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the RF parts 89 of compact BTSs. The RF parts 89 of the compact BTSs comprise a forward signal processing section 11 for processing forward signals transmitted to a mobile station 12 through wireless networks, a reverse signal processing section 100 for processing reverse signals transmitted from the mobile station 12 through the wireless networks, and a duplexer 95 for transmitting signals received from the forward signal processing section 110 to the mobile station 12 through the wireless networks by the means of an antenna or transmitting signals received from the mobile station 12 to the reverse signal processing section 100 . To be specific, the forward signals inputted in the n−1 th compact base transceiver system are amplified by an analogue amplifier 87 . Thereafter, the amplified signals are filtered by a filter 88 based on necessary bands and modulated into radio signals through a frequency-up converter 90 . The modulated signals are re-filtered by another filter 91 and the re-filtered signals 93 are amplified by a power amplifier 92 , then transmitted to a duplexer 95 . The duplexer 95 performs a radio transmission/reception to and from the mobile station 12 by the means of the antenna 94 . Similarly, the reverse signals 96 transmitted from the mobile station 12 are amplified through the duplexer 95 by a low-noise amplifier 97 . A frequency required by a filter 98 is transmitted to a frequency-down converter 99 , a frequency required by a filter 101 is transmitted to an amplifier 102 , then the transmitted signals are amplified by the amplifier 102 so as to be transmitted to an analogue/digital converter of the optical transponders.
[0035] As a result, the part RF 89 of the compact base transceiver system filters necessary bands among signals received from the mobile station 12 through the antenna 94 , and transmits the signals to the optical transponders. The signals are synthesized again with the reverse signals of the n−1 th compact BTS and converted into optical signals by an optical transmitter so as to be transmitted to the optical transponders in an adjacent compact BTS toward the BTS controller direction. The optically modulated signals of the respective compact BTSs are added by the optical coupler of the respective compact base transceiver devices so as to be transmitted to a compact BTS controller.
[0036] As described above, the base transceiver system for mobile communication using digital optical links and optical transponders according to the present invention has the advantage of providing high speed/massive capacity and multimedia services, thereby facilitating use and the addition of a frequency allocation of each base transceiver system. Further, the mobile communication base transceiver system according to the present invention has another advantage of realizing an economic installation of networks without any additional installation of a reference base transceiver system and optical repeaters requiring a considerable amount of installation cost, while achieving efficient access between the base transceiver systems.
[0037] While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | Disclosed is a mobile communication network employing a plurality of digital optical links for providing high speed, more capacity and multimedia services which includes a base station (BS) controller for managing the overall control of the mobile network and coupled to a base transceiver system (BTS) via a first E1/T1 link; a BTS controller coupled to the BS controller via a second E1/T1 link for managing the channel capacity of multiple base transceiver system operable by the base station controller; a plurality of optical fiber links coupled to said BTS controller through optical coupling; a plurality of compact base transceiver systems (BTSs) having a plurality of optical transponders arranged in space relation with each other along each of said optical fiber links; said optical transponders for receiving an up-link signal at one frequency to be retransmitted as a down-link signal and for amplifying said up-link signal at another frequency to other compact BTS along said optical fiber link. | 7 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/935,698, filed Sep. 23, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,421.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a lubricating composition for use with biomedical devices. More particularly, this invention relates to an injectable emulsion capable of being used within human arteries during a rotational atherectomy procedure that both lubricates the atherectomy device and is capable of acting as a drug carrier.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known that, for various reasons, humans can develop a condition in which a type of plaque or hard deposit builds up along the walls of the blood vessels, thereby partially blocking the blood flow and causing severe medical conditions. Several different procedures have been developed for dealing with this situation. One such procedure is rotational atherectomy, in which a rotary mechanical system removes relatively hard intravascular deposits from the walls of human arteries by differentially cutting away the inelastic, hardened deposits while sparing the soft, elastic tissue of the inner lining of the human blood vessels. The seminal patent that discloses a device for performing this procedure is U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,134 (Auth) entitled “TRANSLUMINAL MICRODISSECTION DEVICE”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In the commercially available device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,134, known as the Rotablator®, an ellipsoidal burr coated with tiny diamond chips is rotated at a speed of at least approximately 155,000 revolutions per minute. The burr is connected to a drive motor capable of high speed rotation via a hollow, flexible, helically-wound drive shaft, and is routed through the blood vessel over a narrow guide wire that extends through the central bore of the burr and its drive shaft. When this device is operated, the burr preferentially cuts hard, inelastic material (plaque) while sparing soft, elastic material (tissue) and generates microscopic debris fragments that are sufficiently small in size so as to pass through even the narrowest vascular channels (capillary beds) without clogging them.
This Rotablator® atherectomy device, as well as any other microdissection device that involves rotational ablation, necessarily generates thermal energy during its rotation. For this reason, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,134, a biocompatible saline solution is infused through a plastic sheath within which the drive shaft rotates, to cool the sliding interface during operation.
In addition to performing a cooling function, some lubrication is needed to prevent wear caused by rotational friction between the guide wire and the drive shaft or between the drive shaft and the plastic sheath. The major factors that affect wear in this type of rotational contact are load, temperature, surface speed, surface finish, surface hardness, contact area, time, and the type, amount and viscosity of the lubricant.
During extended operation of the device, however, additional lubrication should be provided to sustain the performance of the guide wire, the drive shaft and the sheath. Such a lubricant, if infused through the device from outside the patient's body, must of course, be non-toxic and safe for arterial use. In addition, to be effective in use with the Rotablator® advancer/guide wire system, the lubricant should be able to withstand shear stresses at 50° C. and should not promote the. agglomeration of ablated plaque particles.
Injectable oil-in-water emulsions are currently being used for two clinical applications. The first is for parenteral or intravenous nutrition, as a source of fat calories and essential fatty acids. Examples include Intralipid®, available from Pharmacia and Upjohn and Liposyn®, available from Abbott Laboratories. Emulsions are also being used as a vehicle for poorly water-soluble lipophilic drugs that cannot be injected directly. Examples include Diprivan®, containing the anesthetic drug propofol, and Diazemuls®, containing the drug diazepam.
Lipid emulsions are inherently unstable. No commercially available lipid emulsion is stable following dilution in physiological (0.9% w/v) salt solution. This instability is manifested by formation of large droplets of non-emulsified oil on the surface as well as by a shift in droplet size distribution towards much larger diameters. Such changes often occur within the first hour following dilution in saline and are accelerated by heating or by applying any shear force. The relatively low pH and high ionic strength of saline contributes to this effect.
Commercial lipid emulsions separate into oil and water layers upon thawing after storage at freezing temperatures. For this reason, special care must be taken when shipping in winter through geographic areas having below freezing temperatures. It is preferred that the lubricant be an emulsion which is stable in saline and stable upon freezing with subsequent thawing. The present invention meets these needs and overcomes other deficiencies in the prior art.
What would be desirable is an improved, pharmacologically compatible medical lubricant that is capable of delivering therapeutic agents to target locations within the body. What has not been provided in the prior art is an injectable medical lubricant suitable for lubricating rotating and otherwise moving medical devices, where the lubricant can optionally act as a carrier for therapeutic agents to thereby yield a therapeutic effect to a treatment site in the body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a medical lubricant suitable for injection into a patient. The lubricant is an oil-in-water emulsion including an oil, a surfactant, a co-surfactant and water. The lubricant preferably also includes a cryogenic agent, a pH buffer, and a preservative. The lipid emulsion preferably has a mean particle or droplet diameter of less then 1 micrometer, most preferably less than about 0.5 micrometer. The lubricant can be subjected to substantial shear by a rotating member, exhibits a commercially acceptable shelf life during storage under ambient temperatures, and is able to withstand freeze-thaw cycles without substantial degradation. The lubricant can be diluted in physiological saline for injection and maintains suitable emulsion droplet size after such dilution.
The oil can be a vegetable oil or a medium chain triglyceride. The preferred oil is refined olive oil, which preferably comprises mostly mono-unsaturated oleic acid. The oil can lubricate medical devices such as rotating drive shafts in atherectomy devices, thereby reducing wear on moving parts. A mean droplet size of less than about 1 micrometer allows injection into the bloodstream and subsequent absorption by the body without ill effect. The emulsion most preferably includes about 20 g refined olive oil per 100 mL emulsion.
The surfactant can be a phospholipid, preferably purified egg yolk phospholipids. The surfactant stabilizes the oil droplets dispersed in the continuous aqueous phase. The present invention preferably includes about 1.2 g egg yolk phospholipids per 100 mL emulsion.
The co-surfactant can be a salt of a bile acid, most preferably sodium deoxycholate. The co-surfactant significantly improves droplet stability after saline dilution, heating, and exposure to high shear forces. Droplet stability includes the resistance to formation of larger droplets, creaming, and formation of a separate oil layer. Bile salt, acting in conjunction with glycerin, provides improved freeze-thaw stability. Applicants believe the bile salt also improves lubricity by acting as a wetting agent, improving the coating of moving metal parts. The present invention most preferably includes about 0.4 g bile salt per 100 mL emulsion.
The cryogenic agent can be refined propylene glycol or glycerin, preferably glycerin. Glycerin also provides improved lubricity. The present invention preferably includes about 10 g glycerin per 100 mL emulsion.
The pH buffer imparts improved droplet stability in a saline diluent. Any physiological pH buffer may be used. When the pH buffer is an amino acid buffer said amino acid buffer usually has a concentration of less than 0.20 g/100 mL emulsion. The amino acid buffer is most preferably L-histidine in a concentration of about 0.16 g per 100 mL emulsion.
The preservative is preferably a heavy metal chelator such as disodium EDTA. EDTA, and the histidine buffer, serve as antioxidants, protecting unsaturated fatty acids found in egg yolk phospholipids. The antioxidants provide an extended shelf life for the emulsion at room temperature and inhibit peroxide formation during clinical use. Disodium EDTA is preferably present in about 0.014 g per 100 mL emulsion.
The emulsion preferably has the pH adjusted to between about 8.3 and 8.8 with a base such as sodium hydroxide. This pH range optimizes the emulsion stability in the presence of non-buffered saline, which is slightly acidic. Sodium hydroxide can be present in about 3.0 mEq per liter of emulsion.
An emulsion according to the present invention can be prepared by combining refined olive oil, 1.2% egg yolk phospholipid, 0.16% L-histidine (10 mM), 0.014% disodium EDTA (0.5 mM), and water, followed by ultrasonic processing for about 15 minutes. The emulsion can also be prepared using high pressure homogenization techniques well known to those skilled in the art.
In use, the emulsion can be stored for at least eighteen (18) months, preferably twenty-four (24) months at room temperature. The emulsion can be stored frozen at −F30° C., and then thawed without causing significant changes in droplet size distribution. The emulsion can be added to normal, unbuffered 0.9% saline solution. One anticipated use is injection of the emulsion into an IV bag of saline, thereby diluting the emulsion. The diluted emulsion can be infused from the IV bag through a catheter tube housing a rotating member such as an atherectomy drive shaft or an ultrasonic probe drive shaft. The emulsion serves to lubricate the moving parts and can thereafter enter the blood stream of a patient without ill effect.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the above described medical lubricant additionally includes one or more therapeutic agents to thereby provide a therapeutic effect to a treatment site in the body. One or more of the therapeutic agents may include a genetic material encoding a therapeutic agent, a non-genetic therapeutic material, proteins or cells that produce a therapeutic effect. The choice of therapeutic agent will depend on the application. In one embodiment where the lubricant is used in conjunction with an atherectomy device, one or more of the therapeutic agents inhibits cell proliferation and provides an anti-restenosis effect. In other embodiments where the lubricant is used in conjunction with a transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) device or percutaneous myocardial revascularization (PMR) device, one or more of the therapeutic agents promotes angiogenesis.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for lubricating an intravascular device. The inventive method involves first preparing a patient for a medical procedure and then inserting into the patient a medical device that is in need of lubrication. A medical oil emulsion lubricant is infused into the patient during the insertion and/or operation of the medical device. The medical oil emulsion lubricant contains olive oil, an egg yolk phospholipid, a bile salt, an amino acid buffer and a desired therapeutic agent. In one embodiment of the method the medical procedure is atherectomy and the medical device is an intravascular device that is capable of differentially removing intravascular deposits from the walls of an artery. During the atherectomy procedure the therapeutic agent present in the medical oil emulsion lubricant usually contains a cell proliferation inhibitor that provides an anti-restenosis effect. In another embodiment of the lubrication method, the medical procedure is myocardial revascularization and the medical device is a myocardial revascularization device. During the myocardial revascularization procedure it is usual to include in the medical lubricant a therapeutic agent that promotes angiogenesis.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the oil-in-water emulsion lubricant comprises a mixture of water, oil, a surfactant, a co-surfactant, a phospholipid, a cryogenic agent, a pH buffer and a preservative.
Preferably the oil used in the lipid emulsion lubricant is a liquid at room temperature, most preferably olive oil.
Chemically, olive oil contains mostly mono-unsaturated oleic acid. Different oil bases, such as either soybean oil, which contains a mixture of polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly C 14 C 16 , and C 18 , or medium chain triglycerides (MCT) may also be used, especially with varying concentrations of the other ingredients and with different surfactants. Almond oil, coconut oil, corn oil, cotton seed oil, marine oil, palm kernel oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, and physical or interesterified mixtures thereof can also be used. These other oil bases, however, are not as effective as olive oil. Quite surprisingly, we found that olive oil emulsions lubricate better than soybean oil emulsions. The lubricant reduces wear on moving components. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the concentration of olive oil in the lubricant is from about 5 to about 40 g/100 mL emulsion, more preferably about 15 to about 25 g/100 mL emulsion, and is most preferably about 20 g/100 mL emulsion.
An emulsion is a dispersion of one immiscible liquid within another, commonly oil-in-water. An emulsifier is a surface active agent designed to coat and stabilize the dispersed droplets against coalescence. However, in certain formulations, this dispersion is insufficiently stabilized by the primary emulsifier which is typically added at concentrations of about 1-5% w/v. In such cases, a second surface active agent, known as a co-surfactant, may be added. A co-surfactant is typically used at a fractional concentration of the primary emulsifier, e.g., 0.1-1.0%. In principle, co-surfactants are added to accomplish specific tasks such as enhancing electrostatic surface charge on the dispersed droplets or strengthening the interfacial film between oil and water. In reality, it is quite difficult to predict in advance which co-surfactant, if any, will stabilize a novel emulsion formulation under specific environmental conditions.
A primary emulsifier in the lipid emulsion lubricant could, for example, be selected from a group of phospholipids such as soy bean or egg yolk phospholipids. A preferred phospholipid is egg yolk phospholipid, preferably present in a concentration of about 0.3 to about 3 g/100 mL emulsion, more preferably about 0.6 to about 1.8 g/100 mL emulsion, most preferably about 1.2 g/00 mL emulsion.
The co-surfactant could be, for example, PEG-400 (polyethylene glycol), Pluronic F68 (a nonionic, polyoxethylene-polyoxypropylene block copolymer, BASF), dimyristyl phosphatidyl glycerin (DMPG), or the salt of a bile acid. When PEG-400 is used, it can be present at about 5% weight/volume. When Pluronic F68 is used, it can be present at about 1% weight/volume. Preferably, the co-surfactant is the salt of a bile acid such as cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, taurocholic acid or mixtures thereof. Most preferably, the co-surfactant is sodium deoxycholate, as it is somewhat more effective in reducing wear than DMPG. In the present invention, the superiority of sodium deoxycholate over other tested co-surfactants was unexpected and unpredicted. In a preferred embodiment, sodium deoxycholate is present at a concentration of about 0.04 to about 4 g/100 mL emulsion more preferably about 0.2 to about 0.8 g/100 mL emulsion, most preferably about 0.4 g/100 mL emulsion.
A preferred cryogenic agent is refined propylene glycol or glycerin, most preferably glycerin. Glycerin serves to provide freeze tolerance and improves the overall lubricating properties of the emulsion. Glycerin is preferably present at a concentration of about 1 to about 30 g/100 mL emulsion, more preferably about 2 to about 20 g/100 mL emulsion, most preferably about 10 g/100 mL emulsion.
A preferred pH buffer is an amino acid buffer, for example, alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, valine or mixtures thereof. Often the amino acid buffer is present at a concentration lower than about 0.20 g/100 mL. A preferred amino acid buffer is histidine. Histidine contributes significant pH buffering capacity in the critical pH 6 to 8 range, having a PK a of about 6.0. This pH buffering contributes to emulsion stability after dilution in saline. In addition, histidine serves as an antioxidant, specifically a hydroxy radical scavenger. Histidine is preferably present at a concentration of about 0.01 to about 1 g100 mL emulsion, more preferably about 0.05 to about 0.3 g/100 mL emulsion, most preferably about 0.16 g/100 mL emulsion.
A preferred preservative is a heavy metal chelator such as disodium EDTA. The combination of EDTA and histidine serves as a potent antioxidant to protect unsaturated fatty acids found in egg yolk phospholipids. This antioxidant system serves both to protect the emulsion in the bottle during prolonged storage at room temperature as well as to inhibit peroxide formation during clinical use. Disodium EDTA is preferably present at a concentration of about 0.001 to about 0.1 g/100 mL emulsion, more preferably about 0.01 to about 0.05 g/100 mL emulsion, most preferably about 0.014 g/100 mL emulsion.
Finally, sodium hydroxide can be added to titrate the emulsion to a final pH of about 8.3 to about 8.8. This pH range is chosen to optimize emulsion stability in the presence of non-buffered saline which is slightly acidic.
In order to manufacture the present invention, a mixture of water-for-injection with the ingredients listed above in the amounts described can be passed through a high pressure homogenizer. The resulting mixture is an opaque white, milky liquid that is a suspension of small oil droplets in water, with a normal droplet size distribution. The droplet size has a mean of about 0.4 μm and a maximum of about 4 μm. The distribution includes 90% of droplets less than about 0.65 μm and less than 0.5% of droplets greater than 1 μm. Even after experiencing high shear, all droplets remain less than about 5 μm.
The lubricant is to be shipped in sterile vials and injected into a sterile saline intravenous (IV) bag prior to use. During a rotational atherectomy procedure, the lubricant can be infused through the catheter of a Rotablator® system and then into the coronary artery. Because the present invention is safe for parenteral use, it is a potential lubricant for any device operating inside the human body. Examples of this are: interoperative milk into which endoscopic equipment is dipped before placement into the human body; coating for sutures in order to reduce friction; lubricant for heart valves in order to ease placement during surgery; lubricant for ultrasonic catheters; and lubricant for other future devices that employ swiftly-moving parts within the body. In addition, the medical lubricants of the present invention can also be used during placement in the body of catheter like tubes such as are used, for example during atherectomy, transmyocardial revascularization, angioplasty and the like. The medical lubricant emulsions facilitate the advancement of the catheter in a blood vessel by lubrication of the contact zone between the catheter and the blood vessel. The medical lubricants of the invention can similarly be used to ease the placement and advancement of medical devices through the catheter to a site of use in the body in addition to lubricating moving parts within the medical device. The inventive medical lubricants can also contain therapeutic agents that are introduced via a catheter into the body to a specific target location. The medical lubricant emulsion can be infused into the body through a catheter or through a medical device that is located inside a guide catheter.
Depending on the application, the medical lubricant optionally includes one or more therapeutic agents such as a genetic material, a non-genetic therapeutic material, or cells.
Examples of therapeutic agents used in accordance with the invention include, but are not limited to: anti-thrombogenic agents such as heparin, heparin derivatives, urokinase, and PPack (dextro-phenylalanine-proline-arginine-chloromethylketone); anti-proliferative agents such as enoxaprin, angiopeptin, or monoclonal antibodies capable of blocking smooth muscle cell proliferation, hirudin, and acetylsalicylic acid; anti-inflammatory agents such as dexamethasone, prednisolone, corticosterone, budesonide, estrogen, sulfasalazine, and mesalamine; antineoplastic/antiproliferative/anti-miotic agents such as paclitaxel, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, vinblastine, vincristine, epothilones, endostatin, angiostatin and thymidine kinase inhibitors; anesthetic agents such as lidocaine, bupivacaine, and ropivacaine; anti-coagulants such as D-Phe-Pro-Arg-chloromethylketone, an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide-containing compound, heparin, antithrombin compounds, platelet receptor antagonists, anti-thrombin antibodies, anti-platelet receptor antibodies, aspirin, prostaglandin inhibitors, platelet inhibitors and tick antiplatelet peptides; vascular cell growth promoters such as growth factor inhibitors, growth factor receptor antagonists, transcriptional activators of genes encoding vascular cell growth promoter proteins, and translational activators of mRNAs encoding vascular cell growth promoter proteins; vascular cell growth inhibitors such as growth factor inhibitors, growth factor receptor antagonists, transcriptional repressors of genes encoding vascular cell growth inhibitors, translational repressors of mRNAs encoding vascular cell growth inhibitors, DNA replication inhibitors, vascular cell growth inhibitory antibodies, antibodies directed against growth factors, bifunctional molecules consisting of a growth factor and a cytotoxin, bifunctional molecules consisting of an antibody and a cytotoxin; cholesterol-lowering agents; vasodilating agents; and agents which interfere with endogenous vascoactive mechanisms.
In embodiments in which the therapeutic agent includes a substantially purified genetic material, useful polynucleotide sequences include, for example, DNA or RNA sequences having a therapeutic effect after being taken up by a cell. Examples of therapeutic polynucleotides include anti-sense DNA and RNA; DNA coding for an anti-sense RNA; or DNA coding for tRNA or rRNA to replace defective or deficient endogenous molecules. The polynucleotides useful in the invention can also code for therapeutic polypeptides. A therapeutic polypeptide is understood to be any substantially purified translation product of a polynucleotide regardless of size, and whether glycosylated or not. Therapeutic polypeptides include, as a primary example, those polypeptides that can compensate for a defective or deficient species in an animal, or those that act through toxic effects to limit or remove harmful cells from the body. In addition, the polypeptides or proteins that can be incorporated into the coating material of the present invention, or whose DNA can be incorporated, include without limitation, angiogenic factors including acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors, vascular endothelial growth factor, epidermal growth factor, transforming growth factor α and β, platelet-derived endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, tumor necrosis factor α, hepatocyte growth factor and insulin like growth factor; growth factors; cell cycle inhibitors including CD inhibitors; thymidine kinase (“TK”) and other agents useful for interfering with cell proliferation, including agents for treating malignancies. Still other useful factors, which can be provided as polypeptides or as DNA encoding these polypeptides, include the family of bone morphogenic proteins (“BMPs”) See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,948,428, 5,658,882 and 5,393,739. The known proteins include BMP-2, BMP-3, BMP-4, BMP-5, BMP-6 (Vgr-1), BMP-7 (OP-1), BMP-8, BMP-9, BMP-10, BMP-11, BMP-12, BMP-13, BMP-14, BMP-15, and BMP-16. Currently preferred BMPs are any of BMP-2, BMP-3, BMP-4, BMP-5, BMP-6 and BMP-7. These dimeric proteins can be provided as homodimers, heterodimers, or combinations thereof, alone or together with other molecules. Alternatively or, in addition, molecules capable of inducing an upstream or downstream effect of a BMP can be provided. Such molecules include any of the “hedgehog” proteins, or the DNAs encoding them.
In other embodiments, one or more of the therapeutic agents include cells. The therapeutic cells can be of human origin (autologous or allogeneic) or from an animal source (xenogeneic). The cells may be genetically engineered if desired to deliver proteins of interest at the site of cell deposition. The medical lubricant is preferably formulated as needed to maintain cell function and viability.
In a preferred embodiment, the medical lubricant is used in conjunction with an atherectomy device and includes a therapeutic agent that inhibits restenosis. In this embodiment, the therapeutic agent inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation and comprises a therapeutic agent such as paclitaxel.
In another embodiment, the medical lubricant is used in conjunction with a mechanical transmyocardial revascularization procedure, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,059, which is incorporated herein by reference. The medical lubricants of the present invention are used to lubricate the moving parts of the mechanical transmyocardial revascularization device during performance of the procedure. Alternatively, the inventive medical emulsions can be used in conjunction with other transmyocardial and percutaneous myocardial revascularization devices that utilize a variety of different means to introduce myocardial wounds, such as, for example, a laser transmyocardial revascularization device (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,925,033 and 5,885,272), a radio frequency transmyocardial revascularization device (U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,632), a cyro transmyocardial revascularization device (U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,444) or an electrode percutaneous myocardial revascularization device (PCT patent application No. PCT/US99/04942). Introduction of a medical lubricant of the present invention during a myocardial revascularization procedure may be desirable to lubricate movement of the myocardial ablation device through a tubular delivery catheter as well as during placement of the catheter itself into the patient. In this embodiment of the invention, the medical lubricant preferably comprises a therapeutic agent that promotes angiogenesis such as growth factors, vascular endothelial growth factors, and DNA that encodes these growth factors.
Experimental Results
Sample Preparation
Four one-liter lots of 20% olive oil emulsion were prepared, with each 100 mL of emulsion containing: 20.0 g olive oil, 1.2 g egg yolk phospholipid (a surfactant), 0.40 g sodium deoxycholate (a bile salt co-surfactant), 0.16 g L-histidine (an amino acid pH buffer), and 0.014 g disodium EDTA (a preservative). 3.0 mEq/L NaOH was also added to adjust pH. The four lots varied only in glycerin content (a cryogenic agent) in the amounts specified in Table 1. Intralipid, a commercially available lipid emulsion for parenteral nutrition, is included in Table 1 for comparison. Intralipid 20% contains 20% w/v soybean oil, egg yolk phospholipids, glycerin, sodium hydroxide, and water for injection (WFI).
TABLE 1
Glycerin Concentration, Osmolality and Zeta Potential
Glycerin Conc.,
Osmolality,
Lot Number
Grams/100 mL
mOsm/kg
Zeta Potential, mv
Intralipid 20%
2.25
350*
−38
HT-049
1.6
280
−46
HT-050
10.0
300
−48
HT-051
20.0
322
−44
HT-052
30.0
346
−40
*undiluted sample
High glycerin concentrations are expected to elevate osmolality and depress the freezing point. The original formulation was designed with 1.6% glycerin to produce an isotonic product, having about 280-320 mOsm/kg. As osmolality could not be measured directly in higher concentration glycerin samples using the freezing. point depression method, osmolality was measured after a 1:50 dilution in 0.9% saline. This dilution was chosen to represent expected clinical practice. The osmolality of the Intralipid was measured on an undiluted sample.
The Zeta potential or net surface charge is an important determinant of stability in colloidal systems. Zeta was calculated from microelectrophoretic mobility in 5 mM Hepes buffer at pH 8.0 using a laser light scattering detection system (Malvern ZetaSizer). Control (non-frozen) samples were used. As can be seen in Table 1, Zeta potential was most negative at about 10% glycerin concentration.
Visual Inspection
At least three separate bottles from each lot were visually inspected for homogeneity and surface oil. Inspections were performed on initial samples about one week after sterilization and on samples that had been subjected to freeze/thaw and shipping. “Creaming” refers to the rapid floatation (e.g., within an hour) of large, emulsified oil droplets formed either by coalescence or by aggregation of smaller emulsified droplets. In contrast, surface oil (“free oil”) droplets are not emulsified. The results of visual inspection are summarized in Table 2. As can be seen in Table 2, Lot HT-050, having 10% glycerin, had no surface oil and no creaming, either initially or after the freeze/thaw cycle.
TABLE 2
Visual Examination
Post Freeze/Thaw
Lot No.
Initial (non-frozen)
(all temperatures)
HT-049
no surface oil; no creamimg
no surface oil; rapid formation
of cream layer
HT-050
no surface oil; no creamimg
no surface oil; no creamimg
HT-051
a few oil droplets (≦1 mm); no
a few oil droplets (≦1 mm);
creaming
no creaming
HT-052
no surface oil; no creamimg
no surface oil; no creamimg
Freeze/Thaw and Stress Testing
Measurements of pH and droplet size were performed on triplicate samples from each lot. Test samples were subjected to freeze/thaw and shipping. Control samples were subjected to no freezing, only shipping. Both control and freeze/thaw samples were subjected to a saline/heat/shear stress test. This test involves a 1:20 dilution in 0.9% saline, followed by heating in a 40 degree C water bath for 5 minutes, and ending with 3 minute high-shear processing by a rotor-stator device (Ultra Turrax, 20,500 rpm) at 40° C. Due to significant deterioration (creaming),. freeze/thaw samples from Lot HT-049 (1.6% glycerin) were not subjected to this test. Some of the data for Intralipid 20% and Lot HT-050 (10% glycerin) are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3 contains the results: pH (before and after freeze/thaw for Lot HT-050); pH after dilution/heat/shear; mean droplet diameter before and after dilution/heat/shear; droplet diameter for which 90% of the droplets have a smaller diameter before and after dilution/heat/shear; droplet diameter for which 100% of the droplets have a smaller diameter before and after dilution/heat/shear; and the percent of droplets having a droplet diameter greater than 1 micrometer before and after dilution/heat/shear.
Inspection of Table 3 shows a significant increase in droplet diameter after dilution/heat/shear stress for Intralipid 20%. As previously discussed, freeze/thaw of Intralipid 20% results in phase separation. Lot HT-050 (10% glycerin) in the control (before freeze/thaw) shows a very slight increase in droplet diameter at the 90th percentile and a maximum droplet size of 4.30 micrometers due to dilution/heat/shear. This compares with an Intralipid increase from 0.80 to 1.23 micrometers droplet diameter at the 90th percentile and maximum droplet size of 12.2 micrometers due to dilution/hear/shear. Freeze/thaw had an insignificant effect on droplet size for the Lot HT-050 sample. Freeze/thaw also had no significant change on the effects of dilution/heat/shear on the HT-050 sample after thawing.
TABLE 3
Effects of Freeze/Thaw and Heat/Shear on 20% Olive Oil Emulsions
Heat/
Heat/
Heat/
Lot No./
Heat/
Mean
Shear
Shear
Shear
Heat/
Storage
Shear
Dia,
Mean
90%
90%
100%
100%
%
Shear %
Condition
pH
pH
μm
Dia
<μm
<μm
<μm
<μm
<1 μm
<1 μm
Intralipid
7.85
6.70
0.49
0.67
0.80
1.23
3.49
12.2
4.6
13.9
200%/Control
50/Control
8.63
7.42
.040
.042
0.61
0.65
1.51
4.30
0.50
3.4
50/Frozen @
8.64
7.54
0.40
0.41
0.61
0.64
1.51
4.30
0.50
2.6
−30° C.
Phase-Contrast Microscopy
The samples were also observed under phase-contrast microscopy. Freeze/thaw samples from HT-049 (1.6% glycerin) showed a very large number of coalesced and aggregated oil droplets. In contrast, all elevated glycerin samples, HT-050 (10% glycerin), HT-051 (20% glycerin), and HT-052 (30% glycerin) had a very uniform, clean appearance with no large droplets. Samples were also observed after the saline/heat/shear stress test. Samples from all olive oil lots looked excellent, while the Intralipid samples showed many large coalesced droplets. These observations are consistent with the drop size distribution data shown in Table 3.
Sample Test Summary
The addition of glycerin at 10% weight/volume appears sufficient to protect the olive oil emulsions from freeze/thaw damage for at least 48 hours, even at minus 30 degrees C. In this respect, no advantages were seen with higher concentrations of glycerin. The presence of elevated glycerin concentration had no significant effect on product appearance, pH, drop size distribution or Zeta potential. In contrast, the 1.6% glycerin sample (ET-049) exhibited severe creaming following freeze/thaw. The complete preservation of emulsion quality during freeze/thaw using only 10% w/v glycerin (e.g., lot #HT-50) was quite surprising and unexpected. Since samples stored at −30° C. appear to be frozen solid, glycerin is not acting as a simple antifreeze agent. Cryopreservation must be occurring by an action at the oil-water interface of the dispersed droplets, i.e., in the phospholipid monolayer.
The addition of each 10% of glycerin, after a 50-fold dilution in 0.9% saline, adds about a 20 mOsm/kg increment in osmolality. Thus, even a 30% glycerin emulsion has a diluted osmolality no higher than undiluted Intralipid 20%. Therefore no tonicity problems are expected in clinical applications.
Utility
The utility of the invention was tested using the Rotoblator system. This system rotates a 135 cm stainless steel drive coil with an attached diamond coated burr over a 0.009 inch diameter stainless steel guide wire at 180,000 rpm. The system in current use is lubricated during startup with a thin film of HYSTRENE on the guide wire and throughout the operation by a continuous infusion of normal saline. This allows for efficient operation for only limited duration, as the lubricant washes away and is not replenished, therefore the performance can start to degrade as the device starts operating. Performance degradation can take the form of loss of speed, heat build-up, guide wire wear, drive coil wear, burr wear and reduced axial mobility.
Optimally, for use with the Rotoblater Advancer/guide wire system, the lubricant should withstand high shear stress at 50° C. without emulsion degradation. All emulsion droplets should remain less than 5 micrometers in diameter, even after shear stress associated with use of this device. In addition, a mixture of the emulsion in saline should remain stable after overnight storage at room temperature and be non-toxic.
Wear and Speed Stability Test
Lubricants were tested using the Rotoblater advancer. An advancer having a 1.75 mm burr was passed through a PTFE tube with a 2.2 mm ID which is wrapped over a pair of mandrels to create a fixed “S” shaped path. The guide wire distal end is placed about 2 inches past the burr and the fixture immersed in a 37° C. waterbath and run for 5 minutes. The lubricants tested included both normal saline and saline mixed with 20 cc per liter of the olive oil emulsion. The advancer speed was recorded and the wear scars on the guide wire wear measured with a Laser Micrometer. With saline alone, average wear was 0.0048 inch compared with only 0.0001 inch wear for saline with the emulsion added. With saline alone, the average speed change was a decrease of 13877 rpm, compared with an average increase of 79 rpm for saline with the emulsion added. Thus, both guide wire wear and speed stability improved with the emulsion added.
Tortuous Advance Force Test
Another series of tests was performed, similar to the previous study but having a more tortuous path, to simulate the path of a coronary vessel. The burr was advanced and retracted over an “S” shaped bend throughout the 5 minute test. The test measured the force required to advance and retract the burr, the advancer speed, and the fluid temperature downstream of the burr in the PTFE tube. With saline alone, the rpm decreased by 13,000 rpm compared with an increase of 800 rpm for saline with emulsion. With saline alone, the peak fluid temperature was 58° C. compared with 47.5° C. for saline with emulsion. With saline alone, 170 gm of force was required at the peak to advance the device, compared with 120 gm for saline with emulsion. Thus, the emulsion provided improved lubrication over saline alone.
Comparison with Other Lipid Emulsions
Another study was performed using stainless steel rods with surface speeds and pressures similar to those found in the Rotoblater. A series of emulsions of olive oil and Intralipid was tested for wear resistance and emulsion stability. The average wear scars using Intralipid were 64 millionths of an inch +/−16, compared to only 5 millionths of an inch +/−11 for olive oil emulsions. Furthermore, the olive oil emulsion showed insignificant post shear changes in droplet size distribution, the mean droplet diameter remaining about 0.4 micrometers. In distinct contrast, the Intralipid lubricant showed a dramatic degradation in the emulsion, including an increase in maximum droplet diameter to about 10 micrometers, an increase in mean droplet diameter to about 0.8 micrometers, an increase in 90th percentile droplet diameter from about 0.8 micrometers to about 2 micrometers, and a bimodal distribution in droplet diameter, having a second peak at about 2 micrometers.
Oil Emulsions Comparison Tests
A series of oil emulsion samples was prepared, all containing 20% weight/volume oil, 1.2% egg yolk phospholipid, 0.16% L-histidine (10 mM), and 0.014% disodium EDTA (0.5 mM). Additional excipients in each sample are indicated in Table 4. Emulsions were prepared by ultrasonic processing (Sonics and Materials Inc., 13 mm horn, 200 mL sample volume, and 80% power for 15 minutes at 50% duty cycle). Drop size distribution was determined by laser light scattering (Malvern MasterSizer). Stainless steel wear testing was expressed as a ratio of stainless steel volume lost with a saline control divided by the volume lost with the test emulsion. Higher ratios indicate less steel lost and therefore better lubrication.
TABLE 4
Olive Oil-in-Water Emulsion is Most Effective for Lubrication
Mean
Stainless Steel
Oil Phase,
Aqueous
Sterile
Dia,
%
Wear, Saline
Prep No.
20% w/v
Additive % w/v
pH
μm
>1 μm
Emulsion
1
MCT
None
8.14
1.10
18.4
1.09
2
MCT
Glycerin
8.25
0.95
16.8
1.56
2.25%
3
MCT
PEG-400,
8.21
0.87
18.8
0.95
5.0%
4
MCT
Pluronic F68,
8.24
0.49
4.2
1.88
1.0%
10
15% MCT
None
8.11
0.75
18.4
2.53
5% Castor Oil
6
Olive
None
8.20
0.65
13.0
23.71
9
SBO
None
8.25
0.81
25.6
7.12
As can be seen from inspection of Table 4, there was a dramatic and unexpected advantage with respect to lubrication efficiency using purified olive oil (Croda) as the emulsified lipid phase versus other oils such as MCT (medium chain triglycerides). Other studies (not shown) confirmed the superiority of olive oil.
Co-surfactant Emulsion Stability Test
In order to be useful as a lubricant emulsion, the injectable product must be stable for several hours after dilution in unbuffered, normal, 0.9% saline solution. Therefore, a series of samples having various aqueous co-surfactants was tested in a 20% olive oil emulsion. The samples included a control having no co-surfactant, PEG-400 added at 5%, Pluronic F68 (nonionic block copolymer) added at 1%, sodium deoxycholate (a bile salt) added at 0.2%, and Intralipid 20%. The emulsions were diluted 1:20 in 0.9% saline and allowed to stand overnight at room temperature. Emulision quality was scored by monitoring the formation of large droplets (%>1 micrometer) using a laser light scattering instrument. In decreasing order of the percentage of droplets having a diameter greater than 1 micrometer, Intralipid had 60% Pluronic F68 42%, PEG-400 37%, control 25%, and deoxycholate 6%. From several experiments such as this, we concluded that the use of deoxycholate as a co-surfactant best protects this olive oil emulsion following saline dilution.
Diluted Intralipid Droplet Size Tests
Intralipid was evaluated for use as a lubricant in a stainless steel wear test. Intralipid was evaluated after dilution in Water For Injection (WFI), after dilution 1:20 in saline, and after dilution in saline with heat/shear stress. The initial Intralipid mean droplet diameter after dilution in WFI was 0.44 micrometer, compared with 2.07 after dilution in saline and 0.96 after dilution in saline with heat/shear stress. The initial percentage of droplets greater than 1 micrometer in diameter was 2.6%, compared with 42.8% after dilution in saline and 26.1% after dilution in saline with heat/shear stress. While Intralipid is a safe and clinically acceptable intravenous nutrition product, it is not useful as an injectable lubricant because this soybean oil emulsion shows large oil droplets and creaming following saline dilution/heat/shear stress.
Co-surfactant Saline Dilution/Heat/Shear Stress Tests
The percentage of large (greater than 1 micrometer) droplets, both initially and after saline dilution/heat/stress testing, was measured for emulsions having a series of co-surfactants. Dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerin (DMPG), a charged lipid, was added at 0.2%. Poloxamer 331, a lipophilic, non-ionic block copolymer, as added along with DMPG in another sample. Deoxycholate, a bile acid, was added at 0.4%. Poloxamer 331 was added along with deoxycholate in another sample. Intralipid was also tested.
The DMPG preparation initially had about 37% of droplets with a diameter greater than 1 micrometer, deoxycholate about 14%, poloxamer/deoxycholate and Intralipid about 3%, and poloxamer/DMPG about 2%. The failure of DMPG to cause smaller droplet size was unexpected since this lipid enhances the stabilizing electronegative surface charge on dispersed droplets.
After saline dilution/heat/stress testing, however, DMPG had about 37% of droplets with a diameter greater than 1 micrometer, poloxamer/deoxycholate about 32%, Intralipid and poloxamer/DMPG about 27% and deoxycholate about 15%. Thus, while some co-surfactants provide a finer initial droplet size distribution than deoxycholate, they provide much less protection against saline dilution/heat/shear stress. From studies such as these, we concluded that sodium deoxycholate is the most preferred co-surfactant.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
These corrections do not change the substance of the letter or the opinion reached with regards to patentability of the multi-vitamin S.E.T. compositions. The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: | A medical lubricant suitable for injection into the blood stream of a patient. The lubricant is suitable for use with rotating equipment such as atherectomy drive shafts moving within sheaths and over guide wires and other minimally invasive medical devices introduced into a patient through a catheter like instrument. The lubricant is an oil-in-water emulsion including a surfactant, a co-surfactant, and a pH buffer. The lubricant can further include a cryogenic agent and a pH adjusting agent. One lubricant includes olive oil as an emulsified oil, egg yolk phospholipid as a surfactant, sodium deoxycholate as a co-surfactant, glycerin as a cryogenic agent, L-histidine as a pH buffer, and is pH adjusted using sodium hydroxide. The lubricant can also include a therapeutic agent. The lubricant can withstand freeze/thaw cycles as well as saline dilution, heating, and shear stress without significant creaming, separation, or unacceptable increases in oil droplet size. Compared to saline, the lubricant provides significantly increased lubrication efficiency for rapidly moving parts. | 8 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a multi-slider electrical assembly wherein a plurality of slidable electrical elements such as variable resistor devices and slidable switching devices are mounted on a single substrate structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Multi-slider electrical assemblies including slidable variable resistor or other electrical devices are known and used in graphic equalizers. Such a multi-slider variable electrical assembly generally comprises a substrate having conductive patterns as resistor, collector or other elements printed thereon, a cover mounted on the substrate to define the outer margin of the assembly, a guide block means interposed between the substrate and cover to define a plurality of parallel slits, a plurality of carriers reciprocally received in the slits of the guide block means, and a plurality of sliders each secured to the bottom surface of the carrier to slide on the conductive patterns when the carrier is moved. Each carrier has a lever extending upward through one of elongated grooves in the cover to provide an external knob. When the lever is moved along the elongated groove, the associated slider moves on the conductive patterns to change its position and hence vary the electrical output which is taken from a lead terminal soldered to a circuit pattern on the bottom surface of the substrate.
In the prior art multi-slider assembly, since the substrate is a printed board made of a heat-resistant material to accept a temperature of more than 200° C. upon printing conductive patterns such as resistor and collector elements on its upper surface, a significantly expensive material must be used as the substrate structure. Additionally, since the conductive patterns on the upper surface are led to conductive patterns on the lower surface of the substrate and are soldered there to lead terminals, the troublesome soldering also causes a further increase of the manufacturing cost of the assembly.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a multi-slider electrical assembly using an inexpensive substrate material and facilitating electrical connection between the conductive patterns and lead terminals to reduce the manufacturing cost of the assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the most preferred form of the invention, the substrate structure is made of a first insulative film having printed resistor, collector and other elements in the form of printed conductive patterns, and a second insulative film having lead circuit patterns so as to connect connection lands of the conductive patterns on the first insulative film to connection lands of lead circuit patterns on the second insulative film by a heat-sealing means.
The use of inexpensive two insulative films in place of a prior art expensive printed board enables to provide the conductive patterns for resistor, collector or other elements on the first insulative film and provide the lead circuit patterns on the second insulative film so that they are electrically connected via connection lands associated to the conductive patterns and lead circuit patterns respectively. Therefore, the second insulative film keeps off the heat of 200° C. or more applied to the first insulative film for printing the conductive patterns, and may be made from any inexpensive insulative material to decrease the manufacturing cost of the substrate structure.
The heat-sealing connection between the first and second insulative film provides a reliable electrical connection and facilitates the connection process by omitting the soldering.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1 through 3 illustrate a multi-slider electrical assembly (variable resistor assembly) embodying the invention in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view; and
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view to show electrical connection between first and second insulative films.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a further electrical connection between the first and second insulative films.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention is hereinbelow described in detail, referring to preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 designates a support plate made of iron, aluminum or other metal and having a number of bores 1a. Reference numeral 2a is a first insulative film made from polyimide or other heatresistant insulative material and provided with printed conductive patterns 20 such as resistor and collector elements on its upper surface and circuit patterns (not shown) on its lower surface which are continuous from the upper conductive patterns 20 via through holes (not shown). Reference numeral 21 in FIG. 2 designates connection lands at end portions of the circuit patterns on the lower surface of the first insulative film 2a and not overlapping the uper conductive patterns 20. Still referring to FIG. 2, reference numeral 22 denotes engage holes passing through the first insulative film 2a. Reference numeral 2b designates a second insulative film made from PET or other material and having on its upper surface lead circuit patterns 23 which respectively terminate at connection lands 24 at positions corresponding to connection lands 21 of the first insulative film 2a. The entire upper surface of the second insulative film 2b except the connection lands 24 is overcoated by thermoplastic resin 25 shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 26 denotes engage holes.
As shown in FIG. 3, both insulative films 2a and 2b are mounted together, confronting their respective connection lands 21 and 24. Heat-sealing members 27 made from a thermoplastic resin including a mixture of conductive particles are interposed between respective opposed pairs of connection lands 21-24, and heat is applied to the films to thermally adhere the connection lands 21-24 by the heat-sealing members 27 and the other opposed surfaces of the films by the thermoplastic resin 25.
The assembly further includes a guide block means 3, some carriers 4, sliders 5, plate springs 6, spacers 7, and a cover 8. As best shown in FIG. 2, the guide block means made from a plastic resin includes two first blocks 4' each having a step at one side thereof and some second blocks 3" each having steps at both sides thereof. The first and second blocks 3' and 3" each have some pins 3a and 3b projecting from the upper and lower surfaces thereof. The first blocks 3' are located at opposite ends on the first insulative film 2a so that their steps are opposed to each other. The second blocks 3" are aligned in parallel between the first blocks 3' at a predetermined interval to define slits therebetween. The downward projecting pins 3b of the first and second blocks 3' and 3" passing through the aligned holes 22 and 26 of the united first and second insulative films 2a and 2b are inserted and hot-welded in the bores 1a of the support plate 1 to unite the films 2a-2b and blocks 3'-3".
Each carrier 4 includes a metal lever 4a and a slider carrier which are united together by inserting the slider carrier 4b in the lever 4a. The slider 5 is secured to the bottom surface of the slider carrier 4b as shown in FIG. 1 by hot-welding or other fixing method. Each carrier 4 is accepted in the slit between adjacent first and second blocks 3'-3", with both ends of the slider carrier 4b being slidably accepted on opposed steps of the blocks.
The cover 8 is an iron, aluminum, stainless steel or other metal plate. The cover 8 has a plurality of transversal parallel elongated grooves 8a at a given interval corresponding to the number of the slits defined by the blocks 3'-3", and a number of through holes 8b at both sides of and between the elongated grooves 8a.
After the plate springs 6 and spacers 7 are mounted around the lever 4a of the carrier 4, the case 8 is mounted on the guide block means 3 so that the lever 4a passes through the elongated groove 8a, and the upward pins 3a of the blocks 3'-3" engage the through holes 8b. The pins 3a are subsequently hot-welded in the through holes 8b to conjoin the blocks 3'-3" with the cover 8.
With this arrangement, when the lever 4a of the carrier 4 is moved in and along the elongated groove 8a, the slider 5 moves on the resistor and collector elements in the form of conductive patterns on the first insulative film 2a to provide an amount of resistance determined by the position of the slider 5 and taken from the lead circuit pattern 23 of the second insulative film 2b.
As described, the invention replaces the prior art expensive printed board by inexpensive first and second insulative films 2a and 2b, the first film 2a having the resistor, collector or other printed conductive patterns and the second film 2b having the lead circuit patterns 23, so that the second insulative film 2b does not receive heat of 200° C. or more upon printing the conductive patterns 20 on the first insulative film 2a. Therefore, any inexpensive insulative material may be used as the second insulative film 2b to significantly decrease the manufacturing cost of the substrate structure.
Beside this, electrical connection between the connection lands 21-24 of the first and second insulative films 2a-2b is readily and reliably established by heat-sealing them via the heat-sealing members 27. Therefore, soldering of the patterns is omitted to facilitate the manufacturing process of the assembly.
The thermoplastic resin 25 provided on the second insulative film 2b conjoins the remaining opposed surfaces of the insulative films 2a-2b other than their lands 21-24 to provide a more strong fixture of the insulative films.
The connection lands 21 of the first insulative film 2a are located at positions on the lower surface not overlapping the conductive patterns 20 to protect the patterns 20 against crushing or other damages upon heat-sealing the connection lands 21-24 by the heat-sealing members 27.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the invention where identical members to those of FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this arrangement, an elastic member such as a foamed sheet is mounted immediately under the blocks 3'-3", with the pins 3a-3b passing therethrough, to establish a resilient, compressive and direct contact between the connection lands 21-24 of the first and second insulative films 2a-2b.
As described, the use of two separate insulative films in place of a prior art expensive printed board not only contributes to a reduction in the manufacturing cost of the substrate structure but also facilitates the manufacturing process by omitting the soldering between the conductive patterns and external circuit elements.
The use of the elastic member 28 interposed between the guide block means 3 and first insulative film 2a provides a reliable electrical contact between the connection lands 21-24 by a simple compressive arrangement.
When the thermoplastic resin 25 is overcoated on the second insulative film 2b except the connection lands 24 to thermally adhere the opposed surfaces of the first and second insulative films, a more reliable contact is established between the connection lands 21-24. | A multi-slider electrical assembly includes a plurality of electrical devices slidable on conductive patterns printed on a single substrate structure. The substrate structure consists of a first insulative film having the conductive patterns printed on its surface and a second insulative film having lead ciricuit patterns so that the patterns are heat-sealed at their opposed connection lands. | 8 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to mounting devices within the case of a computer, and more particularly to connection of the devices to external communication lines.
BACKGROUND
Often it is desirable to mount a device within the case of a computer. When the space within the case is severely limited, as it is in a laptop type computer, details of mounting the device become critical. The details of mounting the device are especially critical when the device has ports for connection to external electrical circuits such as communication lines.
Many standard devices for connecting a computer to communications lines are available on the marketplace. Also, new versions of the standard devices are produced with short development times. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to update the device mounted within a computer to a different type of device, for example a modem to an Ethernet connection, and also to be able to change the device as new and better models are placed on the marketplace by device vendors.
For example, a PCMCIA card is a type of device for which a convenient mounting within a computer is desirable. PCMCIA is an acronym which stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. PCMCIA architecture is disclosed further in the book "PCMCIA System Architecture" second edition, author Don Anderson, published by MindShare, Inc., and Addison Wesley, in 1995, all disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Also, it is desirable that the computer be easy for a user to connect to the external communications lines. Various methods of connection to external communications lines have been proposed.
However, there remains an unsolved need to easily connect a standard type of communication device to external communication lines in a manner that makes the computer easy to use, while also making it easy for the device to be changed when the user desires to change the nature of the device, or to update the device to a newer model.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A computer having a case has a connection point for a communications line, where the connection point is accessible from outside the case. A socket receives a standard communications hardware card, the hardware card having a first receptacle to electrically connect to circuits of the computer, and the hardware card having a second receptacle to electrically connect to an exterior electrical circuit, the exterior electrical circuit usually being exterior to the case. A mounting means attaches the socket to the computer, the mounting means positioning the socket to permit a connection to the second receptacle of the hardware card, the connection located wholly internal to the case. A multi wire connector electrically connects to the second receptacle of the hardware card, and the multi wire connector is located wholly internal to the case. At least one signal wire has a first end electrically connected to the multi wire connector, and the at least one signal wire has a second end electrically connected to the connection point, the at least one signal wire is located wholly internal to the case, and the at least one signal wire transfers communication signals between the connection point and the hardware card in order to connect the computer to the communications line.
The multi wire connector which electrically connects to the second receptacle of the hardware card and is located wholly internally to the case may be located adjacent to an opening in the case, and the opening facilitates inserting the card into the socket. A cover is provided for the opening, the cover closes the case during normal operation of the computer, the cover is removed from the opening for the purpose of removing or inserting the card in the socket.
The communications line may be a telephone circuit. The communications line may be a link to a local area network. The communications line may be an Ethernet local area network connection. The hardware card may be a PCMCIA standard card. The computer may be a laptop type computer. The signal wire and the multi wire connector may be made as a single unit, for example they may be a single molded part.
Other and further aspects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description and by reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like parts in the several views:
FIG. 1 is an isometric assembly view of a computer within a case.
FIG. 2 is a detail isometric drawing of a device mounted in a computer case.
FIG. 3 is detail isometric drawing of a device and an electrical connection.
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional drawing of a device mounted in a computer case.
FIG. 5 is a view of the underside of an upper shroud of a computer case.
FIG. 6 is the view of FIG. 6 with a socket mounted on the underside of the upper shroud of the computer case.
FIG. 7 is socket viewed from below.
FIG. 8 is a socket frame assembly.
FIG. 9 is a socket frame assembly viewed from above.
FIG. 10 is a socket frame assembly viewed from above in an assembly view.
FIG. 11 is guide frame.
FIG. 12 is the guide frame of FIG. 11 with ejection pads in eject position.
FIG. 13A is a detail view of a connector.
FIG. 13B is a connection diagram for inner pins of a device card.
FIGS. 14A, 14B, 14C are views of an adapter.
FIG. 15 is a front assembly view of an adapter.
FIG. 16 is a rear assembly view of the adapter of FIG. 15.
FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B are layout diagrams of traces on a circuit board of an adapter.
FIG. 18A, FIG. 18B, FIG. 18C, FIG. 18D, and FIG. 18E are various views of an alternative embodiment of an adapter.
FIG. 19 is an interior view of a computer showing an inner (lower) surface of an upper shroud.
FIG. 20 shows prior art.
FIG. 21 is a hardware architecture drawing of a PCMCIA card connected to a computer.
FIG. 22 is an adapter and signal wire molded as a single part.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown computer 100. Computer 100 has a lower shroud 102, and an upper shroud 104. Upper shroud 104 contains a keyboard 106, and a pointing controller 108. Screen 110 is attached by hinges 111 and 112 to upper shroud 104.
Device card 114 is mounted in a socket (not shown in FIG. 1), where the socket is mounted on the underside of upper shroud 104. Adapter 116 has electrical connections into device card 114. Also device card 114 connects into internal parts of computer 100 through a ribbon cable, as will be more fully disclosed hereinbelow. Opening 120 permits device card 114 to be replaceably inserted into the socket (not shown in FIG. 1). Cover 118 closes opening 120 during normal operation of the computer, and during normal operation of device card 114.
Socket 117 of adapter 116 connects to signal cables which connect to device card 114.
Adapter 116 attaches to a first end of telephone signal cable 122 at socket 117, and a second end of telephone signal table 122 attaches to telephone jack 124. An external telephone circuit (not shown) may be plugged into telephone jack 124.
Adapter 116 also attaches to a first end of LAN signal cable 126 at socket 117, and a second end of LAN signal cable 126 attaches, through plug 128, to circuit board 130. A second LAN signal cable 132 attaches through plug 134 to LAN jack 136. LAN jack 136 may, for example, be an Ethernet connection, and a twisted pair Ethernet connection may conveniently plug into LAN jack 136.
Computer 100 contains a hard magnetic disk drive 140. Also, computer 100 contains an optical disc drive 142, for example a CD ROM.
Ribbon cable socket 144 provides a means for connecting the device card 114 socket connection (not shown in FIG. 1) to the circuit board 130.
Circuit board 130 provides a mounting structure for numerous computer devices, such as semiconductor chip 150, semiconductor chip 152, and piggyback circuit board 154. Piggyback circuit board 154 also contains numerous electronic and semiconductor devices mounted thereupon.
Ribbon cable 156 and ribbon cable 158 provide a connection for screen 110, keyboard 106, and pointing controller 108 to connect with circuit board 130. Ribbon cables 156 and 158 are flexible so that upper shroud 104 can be lifted away from lower shroud 102 for access to service internal parts of the computer.
Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged view of device card 114, adapter 116, and cover 118. Adapter 116 has plug 202 and plug 204. Plug 202 fits into slot 202A of device card 114, while plug 204 fits into slot 204A of device card 114. Device card 114 is connected electrically to LAN signal cable 126 and telephone signal cable 122 through electrical connectors within plugs 202 and 204, as will be more fully disclosed hereinbelow.
Cover 118 has indentation 210 and hook 212. Indentation 210 and hook 212 fit into mating structures made into upper shroud 104 in order to retain cover 118 in opening 120 during normal operation of the computer.
Turning now to FIG. 3, device card 302 is an alternative embodiment of device card 114. Slot 304 and slot 306 of device card 302 are shown to have a configuration which differs from that shown in device card 114. Adapter 308 is also an alternative embodiment of adapter 116, and differs from adapter 116 in the placement of plugs 310 and 312.
Plug 310 connects electrically into slot 304. Plug 312 connects electrically into slot 306.
Adapter 308 has pins 314. Pins 314 provide a male connection to a plug (not shown) to telephone signal cable 122 and to LAN signal cable 126.
Cover 316 is shown having the same embodiment in FIG. 3 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 as cover 118. The molded structures at the ends 320 and 322 of cover 316 interoperate with mating structures molded into upper shroud 104 in order to close opening 120 during normal operation of computer 100.
Turning now to FIG. 4, there is shown a cross-sectional drawing giving the location of device card 114 within computer 100. Using like numbers to indicate like parts as illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, there is shown a computer case 400 formed from upper shroud 104 and lower shroud 102. Upper socket member 402 and lower socket member 404 form a socket to retain device card 114. Pins 410 of the socket 411 interconnect, for example, with female connectors in device card 114 to provide a connection from device card 114 to ribbon cable socket 144. Alternatively, the female connectors may be in the socket and the pins in the device card. A ribbon cable (not shown) connects numerous pins 410 of device card 114 to the circuit board 130 by connection to ribbon cable socket 144.
Cover 118 is shown in place so as to block access from outside computer 100 to device card 114. Adapter 116 is shown with an edge view of plugs 204, 202 inserted into device card 114.
The arrangement for mounting upper socket member 402 and lower socket member 404 is not shown in FIG. 4, as FIG. 4 is simply illustrative of the mounting of the socket members 402, 404 within the computer case formed by upper shroud 104 and lower shroud 102.
In an illustrative embodiment shown hereinbelow, upper socket member 402 is the lower, inner, surface of upper shroud 104.
Turning now to FIG. 5, there is shown the under side of an upper shroud 104. Several of the screw studs 510 through 524 contact an inner surface (not shown) of lower shroud 102, and match with mating holes (not shown) in the bottom (not shown) of lower shroud 102. Machine screws having their heads below a bottom (not shown) of lower shroud 102 are screwed into screw studs 510, 512, 515, 516, 520, and 524 in order to secure upper shroud 104 to lower shroud 102. When upper shroud 104 is secured to lower shroud 102, the two shrouds form a case for the computer.
Openings 502, 504 facilitate mounting keyboard 106. Opening 506 facilitates mounting a pointing device such as a track ball, etc. Tab 530 aids in locking a socket (not shown in FIG. 5, shown in FIG. 6) against first horizontal motion and vertical motion. Also post 532 aids in locking the same socket against second horizontal motion.
Other screw studs, including for example, 516, 517, 519, 522, 523, etc. are used to hold screws attaching parts to the under surface 534 of upper shroud 104.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, upper shroud 104 is made of molded plastic, and screw studs 510 through screw stud 524 are permanently attached into the plastic material of upper shroud 104.
Tab 530 assists in securing a socket (not shown in FIG. 5) for device card 114, as will be more fully disclosed hereinbelow.
Turning now to FIG. 6, there is shown an underside view of upper shroud 104, as shown in FIG. 5, however with a lower socket member 404 mounted thereon. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, lower socket member 404 is a stamped sheet metal part. Lower socket member 404 is attached by threaded machine screws (not shown) screwed into screw stud 517, screw stud 522, screw stud 511, screw stud 513, and screw stud 514.
A lower view of a connector portion 604 of a socket frame assembly (not shown in FIG. 6) is shown through opening 606 of lower socket member 404. Connector portion 604 will be more fully described hereinbelow. Connector portion 604 attaches electrically to a ribbon cable (not shown in FIG. 6), and the ribbon cable plugs into ribbon cable socket 144, as will be more fully described hereinbelow.
Tab 610 of lower socket member 602 fits beneath tab 530 of upper shroud 104 in order to help secure lower socket member 602 to the underside 534 of upper shroud 104.
Socket 117 of adapter 116 is shown in position at surface 612 of lower socket member 404.
Turning now to FIG. 7, lower socket member 404 is shown. Tab 610 is shown. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, tab 610 is stamped from the sheet metal blank from which lower socket member 404 is stamped, and is taken from an opening 605 which is formed in the stamping process. Arm 710 fits in a thin channel 533 of upper shroud 104, and serves to strengthen the thin shroud structure at channel 533 (as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6). Notch 712 fits around post 532 in order to aid lower socket member 404 to resist horizontal motion. Surface 713 rests against post 532, and in an alternative embodiment of the invention only surface 713 is used to interact with post 532 for lower socket member 404 to resist horizontal motion.
Connector portion 604 of a socket frame assembly (not shown in FIG. 7) is shown in opening 606 of lower socket member 404.
Plunger 810 is shown in dashed line as it is below the near surface of lower socket member 404, in order to provide orientation for FIG. 8. However, the detail of socket frame assembly 802 is not shown in FIG. 7.
Turning now to FIG. 8, there is shown a socket frame assembly 802. Socket frame assembly 802 is made up of two parts, a guide frame 804 and a connector portion 806. A part of connector portion 806 is shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 as connector portion 604. The socket frame assembly 802 is oriented in FIG. 8 as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, with the lower socket member 404 simply removed. Also, in FIG. 8, the connector portion 806 is disassembled from the guide frame 804.
Plunger 810 is depressed in the direction of arrow 812 in order to release device card 114 (not shown in FIG. 8) from the guide frame 804, as will be more fully described hereinbelow.
Electrical pins 410 are connected to electrical tabs 820 as is more fully disclosed in FIG. 13, and electrical pins 410 connect into mating electrical connectors in device card 114. Electrical tabs 820 connect to a ribbon cable. The ribbon cable connects to ribbon cable socket 144 in order to connect device card 114 to the circuit board 130 (as will be more fully disclosed with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13).
Turning now to FIG. 9, there is shown an upper view of the lower socket member 404 and the socket frame assembly 802. Socket frame assembly 802 is shown with guide frame 804 and connector portion 806 in assembled relationship, rather than in dis-assembled relationship shown in FIG. 8. Also, socket frame assembly 802 is shown in place within a cavity formed in lower socket member 404. As shown, plunger 810 is accessible from outside the computer case, so that with a tool such as a pencil, plunger 810 can be moved in the direction of arrow 812 in order to release device card 114 from guide frame 804.
Referring now to FIG. 4, upper socket member 402 is formed by lower surface 534 (as shown in FIG. 5) of upper shroud 104.
Turning now to FIG. 10, there is shown lower socket member 404 in the orientation of FIG. 9, and also socket frame assembly 802 in disassembled relationship. Guide frame 804 is shown disassembled from connector portion 806. FIG. 10 is a view from above upper shroud 104, while FIG. 8 is a view from below upper shroud 104 Contact pins 410 insert into inner end 220 of device card 114 as shown in FIG. 2. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a standard device card 114 known as a PCMCIA Standard has pins 410 forming a double layer of electrically conductive pins. Pins 410 connect to electrical tabs 820, as shown in FIG. 8. Note that in FIG. 8 a side of connector portion 806 facing the circuit board 130 is shown, and in FIG. 10 the electrical pins 410 are hidden from view in FIG. 6 by lower socket member 404. See FIG. 13 for a more detailed view of connector portion 806.
Turning now to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, operation of an eject mechanism for the purpose of ejecting device card 114 from the guide frame 804 is shown.
The eject mechanism of the guide frame 804 is shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. Referring now to FIG. 11, flat springs 11,002 and 11,004 press against sides 222 and 224 of device card 114. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, small indentations (not shown) in the sides 222, 224 of device card 114 (as shown in FIG. 2) mate with point 11,006 of spring 11,002 and point 11,008 of flat spring 11,004. Coil spring 11,010 urges plunger 810 in the direction shown by arrow 11,014. Coil spring 11,010 is anchored to guide frame 804 at end 11,030, and is attached to plunger 11,012 at end 11,032.
Plunger 810 is mechanically linked to pressure pad 11,020 and pressure pad 11,022. Pressure pad 11,020 and pressure pad 11,022 stand vertically, perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, and contact the inner end 220 of device card 114. Device card 114 normally rests with end 220 in contact with pressure pad 11,020 and pressure pad 11,022. Further, device card 114 is normally held in position with end 220 against pressure pads 11,020 and 11,022 by pins 410 shown in FIG. 10 being inserted into sockets formed in end 220 of device card 114, and also by springs 11,002 and 11,004 pressing against the sides of device card 114.
Turning now to FIG. 12, plunger 810 is shown depressed in the direction shown by arrow 12,002. Mechanical linkage with pressure pads 11,020 and 11,022 causes the pressure pads to move forward as plunger 810 is depressed in the direction shown by arrow 12,002, as shown in FIG. 12. Motion of pressure pads 11,020 and 11,022 force device card 114 forward, and release device card 114 from retention by guide frame 804. Upon depression of plunger 810 by the application of pressure against end 12,004, the device card 114 is ejected from guide frame 804.
Turning now to FIG. 13A, a more detailed view of connector portion 806 is shown in a cutaway view. Connector tabs 820 shown in FIG. 8 are substantially planar for ease of connection to ribbon cable 19,002 shown in FIG. 19. Pins 410 are a double row of pins for insertion into end 220 of device card 114. The double row of pins 410 connect to the substantially planar connection tabs 820 by metal leads passing through plastic mounting block 13,002.
Turning now to FIG. 13B, there is shown a 68 pin interconnect for the inner end of device card 114. In this exemplary embodiment there are 34 pins in each row of pins 410 shown in FIG. 13A. The 68 pin interconnect shown in FIG. 13B is more fully described in the book "PCMCIA System Architecture", author Don Anderson, published by Mind Share, Inc. and Addison Wesley, Copyright 1995, all disclosures of which are incorporated by reference hereinabove.
Turning now to FIG. 14A, there is shown a front isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of an adapter 116. Adapter 116 is assembled from several parts, as disclosed more fully hereinbelow. Plug 14,002 and plug 14,004 provide female receptacles for pins contained within slots 202A and 204A (as shown in FIG. 2) of device card 114 (the pins within slots 202A and 204A of device card 114 are not shown). Socket 14,006 provides male pins 14,007 for connection to a female plug (not shown) carrying telephone signal cable 122 and LAN signal cable 126.
FIG. 14B shows a rear isometric view of adapter 116. Insulating structure 14,010 and insulating structure 14,012 are shown. Insulating structures 14,010 and 14,012 serve to protect the otherwise exposed electrical connections of plugs 14,002, 14,004, and socket 14,006.
Turning now to FIG. 14C, a front view of the exemplary embodiment of adapter 116 is shown. Sockets 14,002 and 14,004 are shown with female connectors 14,022 and 14,024. Various of the female connectors of plugs 14,002 and 14,004 are connected to pins 14,007 of socket 14,006, as will be more fully disclosed hereinbelow.
Turning now to FIG. 15, there is shown circuit card 15,002 of adapter 116. Circuit card 15,002 has holes 15,004 to receive female connectors 15,006. Female connectors 15,006 fit into matching openings within plugs 14,002 and 14,004. Plugs 14,002 and 14,004 are mounted on circuit card 15,008. Circuit card 15,008 is, in turn, mounted on circuit card 15,002. Guides 15,010 and 15,012 fit into holes 15,014 of circuit card 15,002. There are four holes 15,014, as shown, to receive the mating pins of guides 15,010 and 15,012. Pins 15,006 insert into their respective holes 15,004 as shown by arrows 15,016. Arrows 15,018 and 15,019 show the direction of assembly of circuit card 15,008 onto circuit card 15,002, when the pins 15,006 are inserted into their mating holes 15,014, and also the pins are inserted into the mating openings therefor in plugs 14,002 and 14,004.
Socket 14,006 is shown by arrows 15,020 to fit onto circuit card 15,002 such that pins 14,007 insert into matching holes 15,022 of circuit card 15,002. Insulating structure 14,012 is shown by arrow 15,024 to attach to the hidden side of circuit card 15,002. Also insulating structure 14,010 is shown by arrow 15,026 to attach to the hidden side of circuit card 15,002. FIG. 14B shows insulating structure 14,012 and 14,010 assembled onto circuit card 15,002.
Turning now to FIG. 16, a rear assembly drawing of an exemplary embodiment of adapter 116 as shown in FIG. 15 is shown. Pins 16,002 are shown protruding from the rear of socket 14,006. The protruding pins 16,002 fit into their matching holes 15,022 formed in circuit card 15,002.
Turning now to FIG. 17A, conductive traces 17,002 and 17,004, formed in circuit card 15,002 are shown. In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, conductive traces 17,002 and 17,004 provide, for example, a transmit pair for an Ethernet connection through adapter 116, and between circuit board 130 and device card 114.
Turning now to FIG. 17B, conductive traces 17,010, 17,012, 17,014, and 17,016 are shown as formed in circuit card 15,002 of adapter 116. Conductive traces 17,010 and 17,012 provide, for example, an Ethernet receive pair connection through adapter 116, and between circuit board 130 and device card 114.
Conductive traces 17,014 and 17,016 provide, for example, a telephone line connection between circuit board 130 and device card 114 for operation of a modem portion of device card 114.
As shown in FIGS. 17A and FIGS. 17B, holes 17,020 are for plug 14,004 and holes 17,022 are for plug 14,002. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B, only plug 14,002 has electrical connections thereto in adapter 116. Plug 14,004, with corresponding holes 17,020, is held in reserve for future expansion of the capability of commercial device cards 114.
Turning now to FIG. 18A through FIG. 18E, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the adapter 116. As shown in FIG. 18A, long member 18,001 of adapter 116 has plug 18,002 and plug 18,004 mounted thereupon. Socket 18,008 is mounted on short member 18,006. Short member 18,006 is mounted in reverse to the mounting of socket 14,006 as shown in FIG. 14A. The exemplary embodiment of the adapter 116 shown in FIG. 18A is convenient for use in a computer wherein the socket for device card 114 is placed near an upper surface of lower shroud 102, rather than as is shown in FIG. 1 where the socket is placed near a lower surface of an upper shroud 104.
Turning now to FIG. 19, there is shown computer 100 with upper shroud 104 and lower shroud 102. Upper shroud 104 is in an open position such that lower surface 534 of upper shroud 104 is visible. Lower socket member 404 is shown, along with connector portion 604 showing through opening 606 of the lower socket member 404. Circuit board 130 is shown in lower shroud 102, along with ribbon cable socket 144. A first end of ribbon cable 19,002 connects to connector portion 604 electrical connector tabs 820 (not shown in FIG. 19). A second end of ribbon cable 19,002 connects to plug 19,004. Plug 19,004 makes electrical connection into ribbon cable socket 144. Accordingly, ribbon cable 19,002 carries electrical connections between circuit board 130, through ribbon cable socket 144, through ribbon cable 19,002, and into device card 114. Circuit board 130 is connected, through ribbon cable 19,002 and ribbon cable socket 144 to the pins 410, where pins 410 make connections to the exemplary 68 pin connection illustrated in FIG. 13B of device card 114.
Cover 118, as shown in FIG. 19, closes the computer case formed by upper shroud 104 and lower shroud 102. Socket 117, telephone signal cable 122, and LAN signal cable 126 are contained within the computer case formed by upper shroud 104 and lower shroud 102.
Turning now to FIG. 20, a prior art arrangement is shown. Computer 20,000 is shown as a laptop type computer. Slot 20,002 in computer 20,000 provides access for a PCMCIA card 20,004. Pins 20,006 are shown schematically, and represent pins at the internal end of a socket designed to accept a PCMCIA card 20,004, for example the 68 pin connection illustrated in FIG. 13B.
Pigtail connector 20,010 inserts into a socket 20,012 in PCMCIA card 20,004. Pigtail connector 20,010 extends from side 20,014 of computer 20,000. Lead 20,016 from pigtail connector 20,010 connects in turn to Ethernet network box 20,018. For example, Ethernet network box 20,018 may be an Ethernet repeater, or alternatively may be an Ethernet hub.
In an alternative embodiment of the prior art, pigtail connector 20,020 connects into slot 20,012 in PCMCIA card 20,004. Pigtail connector 20,020 connects to a telephone connection line 20,022. In the alternative embodiment represented by pigtail connector 20,020, the PCMCIA card 20,004 is a telephone modem, and line 20,022, along with pigtail connector 20,020 connects the PCMCIA card 20,004 with a telephone local loop connection.
Turning now to FIG. 21, there is shown a hardware architecture drawing of a PCMCIA card connected to a bus 21,002 of a computer, and with an internal adapter 116. Connection path 21,004 is completed by ribbon cable 19,002 shown in FIG. 19. Computer bus 21,002 and PCMCIA host bus adapter 21,008 are mounted to circuit board 130, but are not shown in the drawings. Socket 21,006 is an abstraction of connector 806. PC card 114 is a PCMCIA card, and is an exemplary embodiment of device card 114.
Adapter 116 provides an internal connection for electrical connections made through socket 21,020 in the outer end 21,015 of PCMCIA card 114. For example, a telephone connection may be carried internally to the case of the computer by line 122, and also a LAN connection may be carried on line 126, also internally to the case of the computer.
Turning now to FIG. 22, there is shown a molded adapter 22,002. Plug 22,002 is mounted on arm 22,006 of molded adapter 22,002. Telephone signal cable 122 and LAN signal cable 126 are molded integrally with arm 22,006 of molded adapter 22,002. When used in an alternative embodiment of the invention, molded adapter 22,002 fits entirely within the case of the computer, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 where the molded adapter 22,002 simply replaces the adapter 116.
It is to be understood that the above described embodiments are simply illustrative of the principles of the invention. Various other modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof. | A computer having a case has a connection point for a communications line, where the connection point is accessible from outside the case. A socket receives a standard communications hardware card, the hardware card having a first receptacle to electrically connect to circuits of the computer, and the hardware card having a second receptacle to electrically connect to an exterior electrical circuit, the exterior electrical circuit usually being exterior to the case. A mounting means attaches the socket to the computer, the mounting means positioning the socket to facilitate a connection to the second receptacle of the hardware card, the connection located wholly internal to the case. A multi wire connector electrically connects to the second receptacle of the hardware card, and the multi wire connector is located wholly internal to the case. At least one signal wire has a first end electrically connected to the multi wire connector, and the at least one signal wire has a second end electrically connected to the connection point, the at least one signal wire is located wholly internal to the case, and the at least one signal wire transfers communication signals between the connection point and the hardware card in order to connect the computer to the communications line. The multi wire connector which electrically connects to the second receptacle of the hardware card and is located wholly internally to the case may be located adjacent to an opening in the case, and the opening facilitates inserting the card into the socket. A cover is provided for the opening, the cover closes the case during normal operation of the computer, the cover is removed from the opening for the purpose of removing or inserting the card in the socket. | 6 |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority to PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2014/062208 filed on Jun. 12, 2014, which application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 13172010.4 filed Jun. 14, 2013, the entirety of the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention relates to a fuel piping arrangement in common rail type fuel supply systems, in particular in the field of heavy vehicles.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
[0004] The fuel supply systems of the common rail type usually comprise a single common pipe for each cylinder bank that supplies the middle or high pressurized fuel.
[0005] Such common pipe is disposed horizontally, parallel with the cylinder bank outside the head cover of the engine and, for each injector, a branch pipe connects such injector with the common pipe/rail.
[0006] An example is given in EP2354529.
[0007] Each of such branch pipes has a limited cross-section due to the desired high pressure of the fuel.
[0008] Any inaccuracy of the production of such components, and also the differences among the branch pipes, could induce internal tension during assembly of the entire arrangement and this could lead to leakages and pipe breakage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Therefore it is the main object of the present invention to provide a fuel piping arrangement in common rail type fuel supply systems, which overcomes the above problems/drawbacks and increases the safety against leakages into engine oil.
[0010] The main principle of the invention is to eliminate the branch pipes and to connect the injectors directly with the common rail, so as the common rail is disposed inside the head cover, close coupled to the injectors.
[0011] Several advantages are achieved due to the proposed fuel piping arrangement:
[0012] the leakage risks are strongly reduced or even eliminated,
[0013] during the injection event the fuel pressure inside of injector can significantly drop due to the limited transversal internal section of the branch pipes, thus the average injection pressure is significant lower than the rail pressure set point of the common rail: the direct connection of the common rail with the injectors, according to the present invention, minimizes pressure drops along the fuel path rail to injectors. This increases, at same hydraulic length of injection, the fuel introduction into the engine cylinder. The stored fuel in the high pressure volume, the common rail, close to the injectors improves the dynamic pressure behavior in the supply path to the injectors. Reduced pressure oscillations allow an improved precision for fuel metering, especially in multi-injection mode, namely during the close coupled injections, like pilot-main-post-injections, well known per sé.
[0014] These and further objects are achieved by means of an arrangement as described in the attached claims, which form an integral part of the present description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The invention will become fully clear from the following detailed description, given by way of a mere exemplifying and non limiting example, to be read with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a fuel piping arrangement according to the present invention: it is clear that the branch pipes are not present and the common rail is connected directly with the injector ports; The common rail attachment close to the injectors may require also a dedicated connector design;
[0017] FIGS. 2, 2 a show a side cross-sectional view and a zoom of a portion of an engine bank, showing the common rail disposed inside the cylinder head cover;
[0018] FIG. 3 shows a top view of the same engine bank shown on FIG. 2 , where the head cover is removed.
[0019] The same reference numerals and letters in the figures designate the same or functionally equivalent parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] According to the present invention, the common rail 1 is directly connected with the input port 3 of the injector 2 .
[0021] The common rail 1 runs horizontally, parallel with an engine bank B.
[0022] The type of joint for connecting the common rail 11 with the injector input port 21 can be any. The absence of any kind of branch pipe means that only one joint is present between the common rail and the injector, by bringing the respective ports joined together.
[0023] FIG. 1 shows six injectors aligned along a direction, with the common rail directly connected with the injectors.
[0024] FIGS. 2 and 2 a , show a cross-sectional view of an engine head, drawn perpendicularly with respect to the common rail alignment and passing through one of the several injectors 2 . Therefore, the cross-sectional view is longitudinal with respect to the injector development.
[0025] Having, usually, either the common rail port or the input port 21 of the injector a concave shape, an adapting element 31 can be interposed between the input port and the common rail port. However, such adapting element can be absent, if the common rail port has a shape complementarily with respect to the shape of the injector port and vice versa. The common rail port and the input port of the injector are brought fixed together through a single tubular joint 3 . Therefore, the mechanical connection is operated directly between the common rail and the injectors.
[0026] A first end of the tubular joint 3 , is clamped on a shaped ring 13 annularly surrounding the common rail port. Thus, preferably, the joint can rotate around the rail port 11 development axis, while being fixed axially.
[0027] The second end, opposite to the first end, of the joint 3 can be screwed on the injector port 21 .
[0028] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tubular joint 3 comprises two concentric tubular pieces axially fixed between each other 32 and 33 .
[0029] The double walled configuration obtained by said kind of joint further reduces the leakage risks.
[0030] They can be connected with each another by screwing or by welding or through a press-fit connection. Preferably, the joint is made of one single component.
[0031] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ring is fixed on the common rail port 11 through an annular trapped spring 34 working on two complementary grooves: one, outwardly, on the common rail port 11 and one on the inner surface of the ring 13 .
[0032] Other solutions can be implemented in order to couple directly the common rail port with the injector port.
[0033] The shaped ring 13 could comprise also a seal ring 12 interposed between the outer surface of the common rail port 11 and the inner surface of the ring 13 , order to make hermetic the connection between the common rail port and the upper end of the joint 3 .
[0034] A further seal 22 can be present and interposed between the injector port 21 and the joint 3 .
[0035] It should be noted that the adapting element bears only an axially compression strain due to the action of the single tubular joint 3 . Instead, for the known arrangements, the branch pipes having a first end connected with the common rail port and the second end connected with injector port are subjected to stretching strains due to the internal fuel pressure that could cause fuel leakage.
[0036] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the joint 3 is direct machined with the common rail 1 or with the injector 2 . In such a case, the common rail port and the injector port could be complementary, so as to be joined without the interposition of the adaptation element 31 .
[0037] Furthermore, at the joint 3 is present the input mouth of the flow-back channel 23 , which collects the fuel leakage at the joint and feed it through the injector body and then through the cylinder head—see the exit mouth 24 of the channel 23 —until a low pressure portion of the fuel injection system. Further solution can be implemented for collecting the fuel leakage.
[0038] According to the example of FIG. 2 , it is clear that the common rail is disposed inside the head cover C, thus it is contained between the engine head H and the head cover C.
[0039] FIG. 3 shows a top view of the same bank of FIG. 2 , where the head cover C is removed.
[0040] Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the subject invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings which disclose preferred embodiments thereof. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by this invention.
[0041] Further implementation details will not be described, as the man skilled in the art is able to carry out the invention starting from the teaching of the above description. | The present invention provides for a fuel piping arrangement in common rail type fuel supply systems, the supply system comprising at least one common rail and at least one respective injector, wherein the common rail is connected with the at least one injector directly, by means of only one joint. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to impact attenuators of the type now in widespread use to control the rate of deceleration of an errant vehicle as it approaches a hazardous fixed object in the highway environment. One of the more successful of these devices is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,258. That device, comprises an array of frangible containers or barrier modules each containing a dispersible mass, such as sand, which is located such that its center of gravity is elevated to that level which simulates the center of mass of the average vehicle.
The lower portion of the modules contain a lightweight core assembly and the upper portion is filled with the dispersible mass. In a typical case, the modules may have a diameter of approximately 36 inches and a height of approximately 36 inches. The weight of the modules, which may be varied to suit the requirements of a particular installation, ranges from some four hundred pounds to over two thousand pounds. The individual modules must have sufficient strength to retain the sand load without fracture or deformation and yet be sufficiently fragile so that on impact by a vehicle they will break up to permit dispersion of the sand without the formation of large relatively heavy pieces which would be hazardous to other persons or vehicles.
As disclosed in the '258 patent, and as actually manufactured, the individual modules are constructed in two identical halves, one edge of each half being formed with a flange overlapping the edge of the adjacent half, the parts being secured together by rivets. Typically twelve integrally molded holes are provided in each flange to accommodate the rivets. While this connection has adequate initial strength it is subject to premature failure resulting from stress concentration around the rivet holes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is to substantially increase the strength and durability of the barrier module without detracting from the performance of the barrier when impacted by an errant vehicle.
It is a more specific object of this invention to improve the strength of the sand-filled inertial barrier described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,258 by eliminating the need for rivet holes to hold the two cylinder halves together, these rivet holes constituting the weak link in the assembly.
It is also an object of this invention to simplify and shorten the assembly process for the module, thereby reducing the risk to maintenance workers who frequently accomplish this task in hazardous locations on the highway.
It is a further object of this invention to effect this improvement in static strength of the module without detracting from the performance of this barrier system which has been demonstrated throughout the many years it has been installed on highways.
In attaining these and other objects, the present invention provides an improved impact attenuator module comprising a pair of identical cylindrical halves joined together by a novel fastener which eliminates the need for rivets or similar fasteners which require holes in the cylinder halves.
In accordance with the present invention each edge of each cylinder half is formed with an integrally-molded flange which is radially outwardly offset from the main cylinder body. The flange terminates in an outwardly projecting rib. A connector strip, preferably of extruded plastic, is slidably installed over the flanges and ribs and over the adjacent inner surfaces of both cylinder halves, thereby clamping the edges together forming an entire cylinder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an assembled module showing one connector strip in place; and
FIG. 2 is an enlarged section through the joint, taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Except for the novel mechanism for connecting the two cylinder halves together, the barrier modules with which the present invention is concerned are essentially the same as those disclosed in the aforesaid '258 patent.
As in the prior device the modules include two identical halves 10, each of semi-cylindrical form, and a detachable lid 12. In accordance with the improved construction of the present invention, the two halves are joined by one or more connector strips 14 which cooperate with flanges formed along the edges of the container halves as shown in greater detail in FIG. 2. As there shown the edges of the cylinder halves are formed with radially outwardly offset sections 16 joined to the main body section by a smoothly curved transition portion 18. A rib 20 projects radially outwardly from the edge portion of the offset section 16.
The connector strips 14 are of generally T-shape in cross section having an enlarged base 22, the inner surface 24 which essentially forms a continuation of the inner surface of the container. The body of the strip 14 is formed with surfaces 26, 28, 30, 32, and 34 which are adapted to engage with a close sliding fit the corresponding surfaces of the flange and rib structures.
In a typical case, the width of the base is 2.375", the height of the connector is 1.1" and the ribs 20 are 0.375" wide and project outwardly from the flanges 16, 0.215".
The connector strips may be of a length corresponding to the height of the module so that only two strips are required per module. However, to facilitate handling and installation it may be preferable to provide the strips in shorter lengths, for example, one-half or one-third of the height of the module, in which case four or six strips are required per module.
The cylinder halves 10 are preferably molded of polypropylene using a structural foam process, which has sufficient strength to contain the sand and yet is sufficiently frangible to break into small pieces when struck by an impacting vehicle. Connector strips 14 are preferably extruded from a stronger stiffer material such as ABS or PVC although less expensive materials may be used.
A balanced combination of shear strength, flexural strength and flexural modulus is required to resist failure of the strip 14 or disengagement of the flanges when the cylinder is subjected to membrane stresses caused by the internal pressures, both active and passive. The strip material must also have relatively low impact strength so that it will break into small pieces when the cylinder is struck by the errant vehicle. The strip material should also be resistant to ultra-violet radiation and have a coefficient of thermal expansion compatible with that of the cylinder halves.
To assemble the module, the two halves are placed on the road surface upside down with the flanges almost touching. First, on one set of flanges, one or more of the strips 14 are slid down along the flanges. The first strip will bottom on a molded stop 36 restricting further motion. The second strip or set of strips are then installed in a similar manner to the diametrically opposite set of flanges, thereby completing the assembly. The cylinder is then re-inverted so that it is right-side up ready to place over the module core which is also resting on the road surface.
The interior surface of the module is essentially cylindrical since the flange structure is offset outwardly to accommodate the base of the strip 14 without interferring with the placement over the core, yet maintaining a snug fit around 360 degrees of circumference, restricting the leakage of the sand within the cylinder.
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. | A cylindrical impact attenuator in which two semi-cylindrical halves have flanged and ribbed edges joined by slidably installed connector strips. | 4 |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application, Serial No. 60/382,440, filed May 21, 2002, entitled “EMERGENCY VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEM”.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to vehicle warning systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems for warning vehicles of the approach of an emergency vehicle.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Today's roadway vehicles are typically “sound-proof” and when operated with the air conditioning on, windows closed, and entertainment systems on, it is difficult for the driver to hear emergency vehicle sirens. The problem is compounded with the installation of automotive telematics (the wireless delivery of communication, information & other content, e.g., voice messages, e-mail) between the vehicle, the occupants and external sources. Telematics will distract drivers further. Failure to hear an emergency vehicle until it is very close causes a delayed reaction which requires the emergency vehicle to travel slower (delaying the emergency response), and the closeness when it is detected causes some drivers to overreact and change lanes into other traffic or to stop short. Failure to hear trains approaching roadway crossings is a frequent cause of train and roadway vehicle accidents. Each year in the United States there are thousands of intersection accidents involving emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances and law enforcement vehicles. These accidents kill and injure thousands of people. Forty percent of the firefighters that are killed on duty are killed in accidents while going to the scene of a fire or emergency. Roadway vehicle and train collisions in the U.S. cause over 400 deaths per year and thousands of injuries. In the U.S., boat collisions with other boats kill 75 persons annually and thousands of injuries.
[0006] The existing approaches to solve this problem are very expensive to implement and expensive for the ultimate user and therefore have not been accepted by the automotive industry. One system called Safety Warning System operates in the gigahertz range and can only be received by vehicles that have radar detectors installed. Radar detector prices range from $50 to $350 and in some states radar the detectors are outlawed. Other attempts use audible techniques to detect a siren and they can be ineffective in certain weather conditions. In most cases the only economic way to implement the existing concepts is via installation as original equipment. The automotive industry has not implemented the existing concepts because of the size, weight, complexity and cost of the components. Additionally, the installation of the existing concepts in a motor vehicle as an aftermarket unit would be very expensive because of the rewiring and component modifications required.
[0007] Hence, a need exists in the art for an improved system or method for warning vehicles of the approach of an emergency vehicle which offers smaller size, weight, and cost than prior art systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The need in the art is addressed by the system and method for warning a first vehicle of an approaching second vehicle of the present invention. In the illustrative embodiment, the second vehicle is an emergency vehicle. In the most basic and generic structural form, the inventive emergency vehicle warning system comprises a transmitter system located in the second vehicle for transmitting an electromagnetic signal, and a receiver system located in the first vehicle, the receiver system including an antenna for receiving the signal, and a receiver microchip comprising a first circuit for processing the signal and outputting an electronic signal, and a second circuit for generating an audio and/or visual warning signal in response to the electronic signal. In the illustrative embodiment, the second circuit includes a voice synthesizer, and a flasher coupled to a visual display. In the preferred embodiment, the receiver microchip further includes a third circuit for disabling one or more sound producing sources within the first vehicle in response to the electronic signal. In a first illustrative embodiment, the receiver system is implemented as part of a telematics suite or car radio. In an alternate embodiment, the receiver system is implemented as an independent wireless receiver module.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] [0009]FIG. 1 is a basic logic diagram showing an illustrative embodiment of the present invention wherein the receiver is designed for installation as original equipment.
[0010] [0010]FIG. 2 is a basic logic diagram showing an alternate embodiment of the present invention wherein the receiver is designed to be installed as an aftermarket unit.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention.
[0012] 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 thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
[0013] One purpose of this invention is to improve traffic safety by ensuring all vehicle drivers receive sufficient advanced warning of approaching emergency vehicles and trains. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, this can be accomplished by bringing the warning signals “into” the vehicle using one of two unique low cost RF (radio frequency) receiver devices and one low cost transmitter device. (One of the receiver devices is for installation as original equipment and the second is designed to be installed as an aftermarket unit.) The devices are microchip designs and can be mass produced at very little cost. A very low frequency is used to minimize component cost. Existing components in most roadway vehicles are used to further minimize cost. A wireless, almost credit card size receiver, can be produced at very low cost and can be installed in any aftermarket vehicle with virtually no installation cost. Because the invention lowers the unit size, weight and cost so significantly, there is a good likelihood there will be automotive industry and customer acceptance. Acceptance and implementation will save lives and reduce injuries.
[0014] [0014]FIGS. 1 and 2 are basic logic diagrams showing the overall function of the emergency vehicle warning system. FIG. 1 shows an illustrative embodiment of the invention wherein the receiver is designed for installation as original equipment. FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment wherein the receiver is designed to be installed as an aftermarket unit.
[0015] In the most basic and generic structural form, the inventive emergency vehicle warning system 100 comprises a vehicle 10 which is designated to respond to exigency conditions including vehicles such as fire, law enforcement, ambulance and military alert vehicles, herein referred to as emergency vehicles. The emergency vehicle 10 is equipped with a traffic alerting device such as a radio frequency (RF) transmitter 13 with a transmitting antenna 15 . In the preferred embodiment, the antenna 15 is directional, in a hemisphere pointing to the front of the emergency vehicle. This system is based on a microchip referred to as a RF transmitter chip 13 , comprised of an encoder 131 , a transmitter module 132 , and an amplifier 133 . In the illustrative embodiment, they are operated in conjunction with a user interface switch 11 and two light indicators 12 and 14 located before and after the transmitter chip 13 , respectively. In the preferred embodiment, the user interface switch 11 allows the operator to adjust the range of the signal by adjusting the output power (through the amplifier 133 ) of the transmitter 13 . The user interface switch 11 may be the same switch which operates an emergency vehicle siren.
[0016] The invention is adapted for use with a second vehicle 20 , one of a plurality, containing vehicles such as passenger cars, trucks and busses; herein referred to as roadway vehicles. As shown in FIG. 1, this vehicle would be equipped with an emergency vehicle alert receiving system 33 based on a microchip and referred to as a RF receiver chip 33 . This unit is designed to be installed as a part of a telematics suite or automobile car radio 30 , during their manufacture. The vehicle alert receiving system 33 is to be coupled with and respond to a radio frequency (RF) signal received via its omni-directional radio antenna 31 , or a telematics RF antenna 32 , or both. Upon receiving a RF signal, the alert receiving system 33 has the capability of sending electrical output signals, in the appropriate form, to other systems or units within the vehicle. The chip 33 contains RF receiver components such as a RF comparator 330 , a RF receiver module 331 , a decoder 332 , and a trigger 333 for processing the RF signal. The processed signal is used to support other functions within the telematics suite, namely to initiate a voice synthesizer 334 , initiate a flasher 339 , and serve a signal to three AND gates 336 , 337 and 338 . The chip also contains an amplifier 335 to amplify the synthesized voice signal from the voice synthesizer 334 to the entertainment system radio 40 .
[0017] In an alternate embodiment, the receiver chip 33 can be designed as a transceiver chip capable of handling both receive and transmit functions. This transceiver chip can then also be used as the transmitter chip 13 in the emergency vehicle 10 .
[0018] In the illustrative embodiment, the second vehicle 20 further includes an interior compartment warning indicator system 30 based on the telematics/radio, comprised of an electrical flasher 339 , within the RF receiver chip 33 , (as used in a vehicle turn signal or hazard warning light systems), and a lamp 36 , which illuminates a dashboard “Emergency Vehicle” indicator 37 , or a separate lighting system such as an LED array 38 .
[0019] If the vehicle 20 is equipped with a radio, tape, or disc player, the vehicle warning system 100 would also include an emergency entertainment control unit 40 , which upon receiving a signal from the RF receiver chip 33 will disengage the signals of certain radio or tape/disc player components to the speaker or speakers 44 , provided the radio or tape/disc player components are operating, an audio signal 41 is being produced, and an operating signal 42 is sent to the RF receiver chip 33 . The unit 40 also includes a normally closed switch 43 , which allows the audio signal 41 to reach the speakers 44 .
[0020] In the illustrative embodiment, the second vehicle 20 further includes an emergency ventilation control unit 50 , which upon receiving a signal from the RF receiver chip 33 , will disengage the power to the fan motor 54 , provided the fan motor 54 is operating, a power signal 51 is being produced, and an operating signal 52 is sent to the RF receiver chip 33 . The unit 50 also includes a normally closed switch 53 which allows the power 51 to reach the fan motor 54 .
[0021] In the preferred embodiment, the second vehicle 20 includes an emergency telematics suite control unit 34 , which upon receiving a signal from the RF receiver chip 33 will disengage the power to the telematics speaker 35 a and printer 35 b, provided the telematics units are operating, a power signal 341 is being produced, and an operating signal 342 is sent to the RF receiver chip 33 . The unit 34 also includes a normally closed switch 343 which allows the power 341 to reach the speaker 35 a and printer 35 b.
[0022] In an alternative embodiment, a roadway vehicle 60 is equipped with an independent RF receiver module 61 that is completely self-contained, as shown in FIG. 2 . Within its configuration is an antenna 62 , a solar cell 63 for charging a battery 64 , which provides power to the RF receiver chip 33 , which is the same chip as the RF receiver chip 33 in the first embodiment of FIG. 1. The module 61 also contains it's own speaker 66 and a LED array 67 to provide audible and visual alarms to the vehicle operator. These units also receive power from the battery 64 .
[0023] In operation the invention provides warning to roadway vehicle drivers in the following manner. In an emergency response, the emergency vehicle turns on the RF transmitter 13 along with or independent of the siren using a push/pull function of the operator interface switch 11 . The RF transmitter 13 operates on a reserved frequency and the transmission distance is limited by the output power of the transmitter and controlled by the rotation function of the operator interface switch 11 and the amplifier 133 . In the preferred embodiment, the transmitter 13 operates at a low RF frequency such as the AM band to reduce cost and chip size.
[0024] Roadway vehicles 20 possessing the invention's systems/components would have an operating receiver 33 , designed to receive the same frequency as that transmitted by the emergency vehicle 10 , when the roadway vehicle ignition key is turned on or in the case of an independent RF receiver module 61 it would be on at all times. With the roadway vehicle in receiving range of the emergency vehicle transmission, the receiver 33 via the omni-directional antenna ( 31 and/or 32 ) would detect the signal. The RF receiver chip 33 will process this signal, and in an appropriate electrical form send it to the flasher 339 which produces a flashing (off and on) illumination of the “Emergency Vehicle” indicator 37 and/or the LED array 38 .
[0025] Simultaneously, the signal from within the RF receiver chip 33 goes to the voice synthesizer 334 and therein to the resident AND gates 336 , 337 and 338 . Provided the roadway vehicle has an entertainment system such as a radio or tape/disc player operating, an “on” or “operating” signal 42 from the unit is sent to the first AND gate 336 . Upon receipt of both signals, the AND gate sends a signal to open the normally closed switch 43 , which interrupts the audio signal 41 from the operating unit to the speaker 44 , silencing the entertainment system.
[0026] The voice synthesizer 334 consists of a programmable read only memory (PROM) that is programmed to digitally replicate a voice stating “Emergency Vehicle Approaching”, or other suitable message. This signal is amplified within the RF receiver chip by the amplifier 335 and is sent to the speaker 44 . The “Emergency Vehicle Approaching” statement is repeated over and over until the RF transmission from the emergency vehicle is out of range.
[0027] If the vehicle ventilation system fan motor 54 is operating, or if telematics units such as printers 35 b or speakers 35 a are operating, they are also disabled/interrupted by the receipt of operating signals to their respective AND gates ( 337 and 338 ) within the RF receiver chip and their normally closed switches, 53 and 343 respectively. They are automatically reactivated when RF transmission from the emergency vehicle is out of range.
[0028] A roadway vehicle that has the independent RF receiver module 61 receives the transmitted signal via its internal antenna 62 , and this signal is processed by the RF receiver chip 33 in the same manner as described above. The output signals from the chip 33 is a synthesized voice stating “Emergency Vehicle Approaching” which goes to the speaker 66 , and a flashing signal to the LED array 67 . These signals terminate when the RF signal to the antenna dissipates. Power is provided to the RF receiver chip 33 , the speaker 66 , and the LED array 67 by the internal battery 64 , and the battery 64 is kept charged by the solar cell 63 . The independent RF receiver module 61 may be attached to the roadway vehicle by many different methods, e.g., with adhesive or tape, or using a clip to attach it to the windshield, rearview mirror, sun visor or any place conspicuous to the driver.
[0029] The description of the preferred embodiment primarily refers to emergency vehicles but the transmitter could be used on trains to provide advance warning when approaching a roadway intersection. In this application the transmitter antenna should be directional. Transmitters should be located on the locomotive unit to provide forward warning and on the last car of the train to warn motorists when the train is backing across a roadway. The train transmitter would transmit a special code to indicate it was a train instead of an emergency vehicle. The roadway vehicle RF receiver chip could decode this message and send a unique message to the voice synthesizer to warn of a train approach.
[0030] Similar transmitter and receiver units could be developed and used by commercial and recreational boats, aircraft and other vehicles.
[0031] The invention as described assumes the vehicles are manufactured with the inventive systems/components installed and over time all vehicles would have a complete system. Emergency vehicle warning could also be provided by installing and using individual units, such as the RF system by itself, or other portions of the described system. Likewise equivalent or substitute units or subsystems could be manufactured and installed as aftermarket units to provide warning of emergency vehicles to automobiles that were not originally equipped with a warning system. For example, the vehicle alert receiving could be used with any combination to the dashboard warning system, the AND gate and switch and the voice warning unit, or the voice warning unit could be replaced with a buzzer or other audible device and it could be used in conjunction with the other inventive system as described.
[0032] 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.
[0033] 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.
[0034] Accordingly, | A system and method for warning a first vehicle of an approaching second vehicle. The novel system ( 100 ) comprises a transmitter system ( 13 ) located in the second vehicle ( 10 ) for transmitting an electromagnetic signal, and a receiver system ( 33 ) located in the first vehicle ( 20 ), the receiver system ( 33 ) including an antenna ( 31, 32, 62 ) for receiving the signal, and a receiver microchip ( 33 ) comprising a first circuit ( 330, 331, 332, 333 ) for processing the signal and outputting an electronic signal, and a second circuit ( 334, 339 ) for generating an audio and/or visual warning signal in response to the electronic signal. In the preferred embodiment, the receiver microchip ( 33 ) further includes a third circuit ( 336, 337, 338 ) for disabling one or more sound producing sources ( 44, 54, 35 a, 35 b ) within the first vehicle in response to the electronic signal. In a first illustrative embodiment, the receiver system ( 33 ) is implemented as part of a telematics suite or car radio ( 30 ). In an alternate embodiment, the receiver ( 33 ) system is implemented as an independent wireless receiver module ( 61 ). | 6 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to a shaft sealing device, and, more specifically, to a sealing device that is compressible between a shaft and a shaft sleeve for restricting fluidic access between the shaft and the shaft sleeve.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Immersible pumps known in the art are utilized to pump fluid from a fluid source. Often, the fluid being pumped contains corrosive liquid chemicals. At least for reasons due to the corrosive nature of the fluid, it is desirous to keep the fluid away from metal components of the immersible pump, such as the shaft, for example. To achieve this, a non-metal sleeve is provided to cover the shaft and thus protect it from contacting the corrosive fluid. However, a small space remains between the shaft and the sleeve where fluid may enter. The prior art includes the use of an o-ring in an effort to restrict fluid entry. For example, reference is made to the prior art pump 500 of FIG. 11 . The prior art pump 500 includes a motor 502 , a housing 504 , a shaft 506 , a sleeve 508 , and an impeller 510 . The shaft 506 includes a motor engaging component 514 , an enlarged hollow attachment component 516 , and an extension component 518 . An o-ring 512 and the shaft sleeve 508 are placed over the extension component 518 until the o-ring 512 abuts the enlarged attachment component 516 , and the impeller 510 is tightened to force the sleeve 508 to compress the o-ring 512 against the enlarged attachment component 516 . The o-ring 512 inhibits the entry of fluid into space between the shaft 506 and the sleeve 508 . What is desirable in the art, however, is a means for providing an enhanced seal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art by providing a sealing device for an immersible pump and methods of manufacture thereof.
[0004] In some embodiments, an apparatus is provided that includes a shaft for communicating with a motor, wherein the shaft includes a first region having a first diameter, a second region having a second diameter that is less than (e.g., skinnier than) the first diameter, and a tapering region between the two regions. The apparatus may also include a sleeve having a bore configured to receive the shaft, and a sealing device. The sealing device can include a receiving area configured so that the tapering region of the shaft is positionable at least partially therein to form a seal therewith, and can further include an abutment that is configured to form a seal with the sleeve and that is responsive to a force directed from the sleeve to enhance the seal with the tapering region. The sealing device can have a circumferential outer wall positionable proximal the sleeve. The circumferential outer wall is preferably provided as a cylindrical wall, though it can be provided as a pseudo-cylindrical wall (e.g., rectilinear, octagonal, etc.) with geometry complementary to the shaft and sleeve. In some embodiments, the abutment may be formed by an annular ring, positioned between the receiving area and the circumferential outer wall, and having a radially-extending shoulder. In some embodiments, the circumferential outer wall can be positionable with a gap between the second region and the sleeve so as to direct a load on the sealing device from the force to said shoulder. In some embodiments, the circumferential outer wall of the sealing device can aid in centering the sleeve about the shaft and/or aligning the force against the abutment. In some embodiments, the shaft has a first end positionable proximal the sealing device and a second end opposite the first end, and the sleeve has a first end positionable proximal the sealing device and a second end opposite the first end. An impeller can be provided that may be securable to the second end of the shaft against the second end of the sleeve. The impeller may be securable to the second end of the shaft so as to force the second end of the sleeve toward the abutment, or the impeller may be threadably engageable with the second end of the shaft so as to force the sleeve in a direction toward the abutment. Some embodiments of the immersible pump are provided at least partially disassembled in the form of a kit.
[0005] In some embodiments, an apparatus for use with an immersible pump includes a sealing device including a first sealing means for forming a seal with a tapering region of a shaft communicable with a motor, and a second sealing means for forming a seal with a sleeve configured to have the shaft extend therethrough and for enhancing the seal of the first sealing means in response to a force directed at least in part from the sleeve.
[0006] In some embodiments, a method is provided for assembling a submersible pump wherein a shaft is provided having a first region having a first diameter, a second region having a second diameter less than the first diameter, and a tapering region therebetween. A sleeve with a first end and a second end opposite the first end, and a sealing device including a receiving area configured to have the tapering region at least partially positioned therein and an abutment, are also provided. The shaft is inserted into the receiving area of the sealing device and into the first end of the sleeve. The first end of the sleeve is caused to direct a force toward the abutment so as to seal the receiving area with the tapering region at least partially positioned therein and at least partially seal the sleeve. In some embodiments, causing the first end of the sleeve to direct the force toward the abutment can comprise forcing the second end of the sleeve in a direction toward the abutment. In some embodiments, forcing the second end of the sleeve in the direction toward the abutment can comprise forcing the second end of the sleeve in the direction toward the abutment by attaching an impeller to the shaft. In some embodiments, attaching an impeller to the shaft can comprise threading the impeller to an end of the shaft proximal the second end of the sleeve. In some embodiments, the sealing device can be provided to include a circumferential outer wall. In such embodiments, the shaft can be inserted into the circumferential outer wall and the circumferential outer wall can be positioned between the shaft and the sleeve to center the sleeve about the shaft and/or to align the force with the abutment.
[0007] Additional features, functions and benefits of the disclosed sealing device and methods and apparatus in connection therewith will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an immersible pump constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the immersible pump being shown to include a motor, an impeller housing, and an end cap;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the immersible pump of FIG. 1 with the impeller housing having been removed to show a shaft, a shaft sleeve, an impeller, and a sealing device of the immersible pump;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the immersible pump of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along section line 3 - 3 of FIG. 1 ;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the end cap and impeller housing of FIGS. 1-3 showing an enlargement of area 4 of FIG. 3 ;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the impeller, the impeller housing, the shaft sleeve, and the shaft of FIGS. 1-3 showing an enlargement of area 5 of FIG. 3 ;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the shaft, the shaft sleeve, and the sealing device of FIGS. 1-3 showing an enlargement of area 6 of FIG. 2 ;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the shaft, the shaft sleeve, and the sealing device of FIGS. 1-3 taken along section line 7 - 7 of FIG. 6 ;
[0016] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the sealing device of FIGS. 1-7 ;
[0017] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the sealing device of FIGS. 1-8 taken along section line 9 - 9 of FIG. 8 ;
[0018] FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the sealing device of FIGS. 1-9 ; and
[0019] FIG. 11 is a partially-sectioned view of a prior art pump.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , an immersible pump 10 is shown constructed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The use of the word immersible should not be construed as requiring the reference device to be fully submerged in fluid. The immersible pump 10 includes a motor 12 , an impeller housing 14 , an end cap 16 , a shaft 18 , a shaft sleeve 20 , an impeller 22 , and a sealing device 24 , each of which will be discussed with further detail below.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 3 , the immersible pump 10 includes the impeller housing 14 . The impeller housing 14 can be generally monolithic in form and includes an end plate 26 , a first portion 28 , a second portion 30 , and a division wall 32 separating the first portion 28 and the second portion 30 . The first portion 28 generally forms a first shaft chamber 34 and a second shaft chamber 36 for substantially housing a portion of the shaft 18 , the shaft sleeve 20 , and the sealing device 24 . Extending through a wall of the first portion 28 are an access hole 38 and a drain hole 40 , which will be discussed in greater detail below. The division wall 32 is generally provided between the first portion 28 and the second portion 30 , and includes a through-hole 42 which permits the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 to extend from the first portion 28 to the second portion 30 . The second portion 30 generally includes an outlet 44 formed on the exterior and extends tangentially therefrom. The outlet 44 permits fluid to flow outward from the second portion 30 . Optionally, a hose 46 or other conduit such as a pipe may be connected to the outlet 44 for facilitating the removal of fluid. The second portion 30 further forms an impeller chamber 48 which substantially houses the impeller 22 , the end cap 16 , a portion of the shaft 18 and a portion of the shaft sleeve 20 . The impeller chamber 48 is substantially divided from the second shaft chamber 36 by the division wall 32 .
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 3-4 , the second portion 30 further defines an opening 50 , and includes a counter bore 52 and a circumferential recess 54 . The counter bore 52 forms a radial shoulder 56 . Housed in the second portion 30 is the end cap 16 , which includes a tubular region 58 , an annular flange 60 and an L-shaped extension 62 . The tubular region 58 defines an inlet 64 and an outlet 66 . The annular flange 60 extends radially outward from the tubular region 58 and includes an extension 68 extending from an intermediate point along the annular flange 60 . The annular flange 60 further includes an L-shaped extension 62 which extends from the intermediate point along the annular flange 60 . The L-shaped extension 62 cooperates with the extension 68 to form a chamber 70 which houses an o-ring 72 that seals the end cap 16 against the impeller housing 14 . When the end cap 16 is housed in the second portion 30 of the housing 14 , the extension 68 engages the radial shoulder 56 of the second portion 30 . A snap ring 74 can be snapped into the circumferential recess 54 of the second portion to secure the end cap 16 within the second portion 30 . The inlet 64 and the outlet 66 allow fluid to flow through the end cap 16 and into the impeller chamber 48 so that the impeller 22 can act on the fluid.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5 , the impeller 22 includes a first casing 76 and a second casing 78 integrally secured to each other at a junction 80 , which may be a friction weld, ultrasonic weld, or any other type of weld as known in the art, for example. Further, the first casing 76 and the second casing 78 may be secured to each other by cement or mechanical fastening. The first casing 76 includes an exterior cylindrical wall 84 , an interior cylindrical region 86 , a rear wall 88 , and rear flutes 90 . The interior cylindrical region 86 includes a bore 92 , a first counter bore 94 , a second counter bore 96 , and a third counter bore 98 . The bore 92 extends through the entirety of the interior cylindrical region 86 and forms an opening 100 that provides access to the interior of the impeller 22 . The first counter bore 94 provides a space for an internally threaded insert 102 to be secured, and further creates a first shoulder 104 at which the internally threaded insert 102 is abuttingly seated. The threaded insert 102 can be a threaded cap, for example. The internally threaded insert 102 , which is preferably formed of metal, can be secured within the first counter bore 94 by welding, including friction welding, ultrasonic welding, or other welding processes known in the art. In some embodiments, the threaded insert 102 can be secured in the first counter bore 94 by being molded in place or overmolded by injection molded thermoplastic. In some embodiments, the internal threads can be formed directly in the first counter bore 94 , and the threaded insert 102 is not required. The second counter bore 96 extends partially through the interior cylindrical region 86 and forms a second shoulder 106 . The third counter bore 98 extends partially through the interior cylindrical region 86 and forms an annular wall 108 and a third shoulder 110 . Shoulders 106 and 110 are proximal the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 , which are further discussed below. The second casing 78 includes a cylindrical wall 112 , a front wall 114 , and front flutes 116 . The front flutes 116 are attached to or formed with the exterior of the front wall 114 .
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 3 , and 5 - 7 , the impeller 22 is preferably engaged with the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 . The shaft 18 is preferably cylindrical, extends along axis A, and includes a first end 118 and a second end 120 . The geometry of the shaft 18 is not limited to a cylindrical geometry, but may be any one of a plurality of geometries including but not limited to rectilinear, octagonal, or any other contemplated geometry (and the internal negative space of the sleeve 20 and sealing device 24 is preferably made complementary thereto). The shaft 18 is preferably a motor shaft, but may be any type of shaft and is not limited to having an immediate mechanical connection to a motor—there can be a linkage, for example, between the shaft 18 and the motor to which it is in mechanical communication with. The first end 118 can be attached to a motor 12 , such that the motor rotates the shaft 18 about axis A, or it can be in communication with the motor 12 , such that the motor otherwise induces rotation of the shaft 18 . The shaft 18 includes near the first end 118 thereof, a first region 122 having a first diameter D 1 that transitions to a second region 124 having a second diameter D 2 that is less than D 1 . In some embodiments, the second region 124 may extend to the second end 120 . A tapering region 126 extends between the first region 122 and the second region 124 and includes a sloped wall 128 . The sloped wall 128 of the tapering region 126 transitions the first diameter D 1 to the second diameter D 2 . The second end 120 extends to an end wall 130 provided with a threaded extension 132 extending coaxially therefrom. The threaded extension 132 threadably engages the internally threaded insert 102 to form a connection between the shaft 18 and the impeller 22 .
[0025] During assembly, the impeller 22 , by way of the internally threaded insert 102 , can be rotated clockwise to threadably attach to the threaded extension 132 via a right-hand thread. When the impeller 22 is fully threaded onto the threaded extension 132 , the end wall 130 abuts the second shoulder 106 of the impeller 22 . In some embodiments, the motor 12 generally rotates the shaft 18 in a counter-clockwise direction and the counter-clockwise rotation acts to further tighten the impeller 22 , retaining its engagement with the shaft 18 .
[0026] The shaft sleeve 20 includes an elongated body 134 having a first end 136 , a second end 138 , a bore 140 extending through the ends 136 , 138 , and a counter bore 142 which defines a shoulder 144 . The shaft sleeve 20 geometry complements that of the shaft 18 . The second end 138 of the shaft sleeve 20 may be attached to the impeller 22 . For example, the second end 138 may be inserted into the third counter bore 98 of the impeller 22 so that it abuts the third shoulder 110 . The shaft sleeve second end 138 includes a chamfer 137 at the tip to facilitate insertion into the third counter bore 98 of the impeller. The shaft sleeve second end 138 can have a reduced diameter area 139 that is machined to have a diameter just greater than that of the inner diameter of the impeller annular wall 108 , which is compressed when received within the impeller annular wall 108 . The second end 138 can then be connected to the first casing 76 of the impeller 22 by a friction weld, ultrasonic weld, or other welding technique or solvent cementing known in the art. Such a connection results in a fluid tight seal and permanent connection between the shaft sleeve 20 and the impeller 22 .
[0027] The impeller housing 14 , end cap 16 , shaft sleeve 20 , impeller 22 , and internally threaded insert 102 may all be constructed of plastic or thermoplastic such as chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, or other suitable material. Further, these components may be manufactured by any molding or extruding process known in the art. Internally threaded insert 102 may also be a cap constructed from brass, stainless steel, or other metals that can be overmolded into the thermoplastic impeller housing.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 2 , 3 , and 6 - 10 , a sealing device 24 is positioned between the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 so as to create a fluid tight seal inhibiting the flow of fluid into the space, if any, between the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 . In preferable embodiments, the sealing device 24 is generally monolithic, e.g., integrally formed. The sealing device 24 includes a first sealing means, e.g., shaft receiving area 150 , for forming a seal with a tapering region of the shaft 18 , a second sealing means, e.g., shoulder 160 , for forming a seal with the shaft sleeve 20 and for enhancing the seal of the first sealing means in response to a force F directed at least in part from the sleeve 20 . A circumferential outer wall 146 may be provided for centering the shaft sleeve 20 about the shaft 18 and/or for aligning the force F with the shoulder 160 , for example.
[0029] The first sealing means can be provided as the shaft receiving area 150 , for example. The shaft receiving area 150 includes an inner surface 162 .
[0030] The second sealing means can be provided as an abutment, which can be of various structures, one such example structure being the annular ring 148 having the shoulder 160 . The second sealing means should be configured to allow the shaft 18 to extend therethrough. The diameter of the shoulder 160 is preferably greater than the diameter of the circumferential outer wall 146 .
[0031] The circumferential outer wall 146 can be configured to have the shaft 18 extend therethrough. In some embodiments, the circumferential outer wall 146 is preferably a cylindrical wall. The circumferential outer wall 146 includes an outer circumferential surface 154 , an inner circumferential surface 156 , and an end surface 158 .
[0032] The circumferential outer wall 146 , annular ring 148 , and shaft receiving area 150 define an opening 152 that accommodates the shaft 18 . The geometry of the sealing device 24 is not limited to a cylindrical geometry, but may be any one of a plurality of geometries including but not limited to rectilinear, octagonal, or any other suitable geometry. Importantly, the geometry of the sealing device 24 is preferably complementary of that of the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 so as to effectuate a proper seal therewith.
[0033] The sealing device 24 is designed such that the inner diameter of the inner circumferential surface 156 is slightly greater than the second diameter D 2 of the shaft 18 , and the diameter of the outer circumferential surface 154 is slightly less than the inner diameter of the counter bore 142 of the shaft sleeve 20 . The angle of the inner surface 162 of the shaft receiving area 150 is to complement the angle of the sloped wall 128 of the tapering region 126 of the shaft 18 to effect a seal. For example, the inner surface 162 may be at an angle of fifteen degrees (15°) relative to axis A. This relationship facilitates having the shaft 18 inserted through the sealing device 24 and into the shaft sleeve 20 , while the sealing device 24 is inserted into the shaft sleeve 20 . The angle of the seal taper, e.g., the angle of inner surface 162 , can be different than the angle of the shaft taper, the angle of the sloped wall 128 . For example, an angle of the sloped wall 128 of the tapering region 126 of the shaft 18 relative to axis A (e.g., twenty-five degrees (25°)) can be greater than an angle of the inner surface 162 of the receiving area 150 of the sealing device 24 relative to axis A (e.g., twenty degrees (20°)) to force greater outward deflection of the inner surface 162 and the receiving area 150 generally.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 7 , the combination of the shaft 18 , the sealing device 24 , and the shaft sleeve 20 form an assembly where the sealing device 24 is sandwiched between the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 . In this example arrangement, the inner circumferential surface 156 of the sealing device 24 forms a slip fit with the surface of the second region 124 of the shaft 18 , while the outer circumferential surface 154 of the circumferential outer wall 146 of the sealing device 24 forms an interference fit with the inner surface of the shaft sleeve counter bore 142 . This interaction acts to center the first end 136 of the shaft sleeve 20 around the shaft 18 . This centering acts to retain the shaft 18 , the impeller 22 , and the shaft sleeve 20 in a concentric position with each other. Further, the first end 136 of the shaft sleeve 20 engages the annular ring engagement shoulder 160 such that forcing the shaft sleeve 20 over the shaft 18 applies the force F to drive the sealing device 24 toward the first region 122 of the shaft 18 and forces the shaft receiving area inner surface 162 to engage the tapering region sloped wall 128 . When these components are engaged, a gap 164 is preferably formed between the end surface 158 of the sealing device 24 and the shoulder 144 of the shaft sleeve 20 . As can been seen in FIG. 7 , the shaft sleeve counter bore 142 has a length of L 1 from the annular ring 148 to the shoulder 144 , the sealing device circumferential wall 146 has a length of L 2 from the annular ring 148 , while the gap 164 has a length of L 3 , where the relationship is L 3 =L 1 −L 2 . The gap 164 is provided so that the force F applied to the sealing device 24 causes the load to be focused on the shoulder 160 of the annular ring 148 . Also, the gap 164 accommodates any deformation that may occur in the sealing device 24 due to the shaft sleeve 20 driving the sealing device 24 into the tapering region 126 of the shaft 18 .
[0035] The sealing device 24 may be constructed of a thermoplastic such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), also known as Teflon™, or any other thermoplastic elastomer including high-molecular-weight thermoplastics. The sealing device 24 may be manufactured by molding, injection molding, machining, or any other suitable process known in the art. The sealing device 24 , in particular the receiving area 150 thereof, is deformable, e.g., resiliently flexible. As the receiving area 150 is forced toward the first region 122 , the receiving area 150 is configured to slightly enlarge, e.g., slightly deform, to have a greater portion of the tapering region 126 positioned therein.
[0036] An example method for assembling the immersible pump 10 of FIGS. 1-10 shall now be described with further detail. In some embodiments, the impeller housing 14 is first assembled over the shaft 18 , and the end plate 26 is secured to the motor 12 . In some embodiments, the shaft 18 can be inserted through the sealing device 24 prior to the attachment of the impeller housing 14 .
[0037] The impeller 22 is constructed by welding, overmolding, or thermally press fitting the internally threaded insert 102 to the first casing 76 of the impeller 22 at the first counter bore 94 . The first casing 76 and the second casing 78 are then welded or solvent cemented together at junction 80 . The second end 138 of the shaft sleeve 20 is inserted into the third counter bore 98 of the impeller 22 so that the end engages the third shoulder 110 . The shaft sleeve second end 138 is then welded to the annular wall 108 so as to form a permanent fluid tight engagement.
[0038] The shaft 18 is then inserted into the first sealing means 150 of the sealing device 24 and through the opening 152 . Next, the shaft 18 is inserted into the shaft sleeve bore 140 such that the shaft sleeve 20 engages the sealing device 24 and drives the sealing device 24 toward the shaft tapering region 126 . As the shaft sleeve 20 and the impeller 22 combination are pushed to further cover the shaft 18 , they are inserted through the division wall through-hole 42 . As can be seen in FIG. 5 , the components are dimensioned where the through-hole 42 diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the impeller annular wall 108 , and the inner diameter of the shaft sleeve second end 138 is slightly larger than the shaft second diameter D 2 . The shaft sleeve second end 138 includes a chamfer 137 at the tip to facilitate insertion into the third counter bore 98 of the impeller 22 . The shaft sleeve second end 138 generally has an outer diameter just greater than the diameter of the impeller annular wall 108 , and the shaft sleeve second end 138 can have a reduced diameter area 139 that is machined to have a diameter less than that of the second end 138 generally and still just greater than that of the inner diameter of the impeller annular wall 108 . The reduced diameter area 139 is compressed to be received within the annular wall 108 .
[0039] The shaft 18 is received into the bore 140 of the shaft sleeve 20 until the threaded extension 132 contacts the internally threaded insert 102 that has been welded to or overmolded into the impeller 22 . The impeller 22 and shaft sleeve 20 are then rotated clockwise so that the right-hand threads of the threaded extension 132 threadably engage the internal threads of the internally threaded insert 102 . Because the shaft 18 is fixedly attached to the motor 12 , the threadable engagement of the impeller 22 with the threaded extension 132 causes the impeller 22 and the shaft sleeve 20 to be pulled or driven towards the motor 12 . The shaft sleeve 20 applies the force F to the shoulder 160 of the annular ring 148 of the sealing device 24 , forcing the sealing device 24 to engage the sloped wall 128 of the shaft 18 . This force causes the receiving area 150 of the sealing device 24 to be deformed such that the circumferential outer wall 146 is deformed in a direction toward the gap 164 and the shaft receiving area 150 is deformed radially outward as it is forced along the increasing diameter of the sloped wall 128 . This deformation generates a fluid tight seal between the sealing device 24 and the shaft 18 , while the force F applied to the shoulder 160 generates a fluid tight seal between the sealing device 24 and the shaft sleeve 20 . The impeller 22 may be tightened until it is determined than an adequate seal has been generated, or until the threaded extension 132 is fully threaded into the internally threaded insert 102 , at which point the shaft end wall 130 engages the second shoulder 106 restricting further translation.
[0040] With the impeller 22 secured to the shaft 18 , the end cap 16 can be attached to the immersible pump. The o-ring 72 is placed in the chamber 70 formed by the L-shaped extension 62 extending from the end cap 16 . The end cap 16 is inserted into the second portion opening 50 of the impeller housing 14 so that it is housed in the second portion counter bore 52 . The end cap 16 is inserted so that the tubular region 58 protrudes from the impeller housing opening 50 . Further, the end cap 16 is inserted so that the extension 68 engages the radial shoulder 56 , restricting the end cap 16 from being inserted further into the impeller housing 14 . When the end cap 16 is fully inserted, the snap ring 74 is snapped into the circumferential recess 54 , securing the end cap 16 in place. When the end cap 16 is secured in place, the o-ring 72 is compressed between and engages the L-shaped extension 62 and the inner wall of the counter bore 52 , generating a fluid tight seal so that fluid can only enter the impeller housing 14 through the end cap inlet 64 .
[0041] The immersible pump 10 of the present invention may be provided as a fully assembled device or as a kit for assembly. Further, the immersible pump 10 may be capable of disassembly by a user so that parts can be replaced or removed for maintenance or replacement. If provided as a kit, the immersible pump 10 may be constructed as described above.
[0042] In operation, the immersible pump 10 is constructed as previously described and vertically placed in a fluid, such as a corrosive liquid chemical, with the end cap 16 being at the bottom, such that the impeller housing 14 is partially immersed in fluid. A conduit (not shown) can extend into the fluid from the inlet 64 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the elevation E of the fluid surface is at an intermediate position along the impeller housing 14 . The impeller housing 14 is preferably inserted in the fluid with the second portion 30 submerged and elevation E being below the elevation of the drain hole 40 . As illustrated, the entire impeller 22 can be submerged so as to effectuate desirable pumping operation.
[0043] When the impeller 22 is submerged, the motor 12 is turned on causing the shaft 18 to rotate, which in turn causes the sealing device 24 , shaft sleeve 20 and impeller 22 to rotate. The rotation causes the impeller rear flutes 90 and front flutes 116 to change the pressure and force fluid out the outlet 44 and through the hose 46 or pipe to a target location. This change in pressure also pulls water in from the end cap inlet 64 allowing for a continuous pumping operation. During operation, and especially when the motor 12 is turned-off, fluid may enter the second shaft chamber 36 and may commonly splash upwards. It is desirous to restrict fluid from contacting the motor 12 and shaft 18 or entering the space that may exist between the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 . If fluid were to enter the shaft sleeve 20 , an imbalance may occur causing the impeller 22 to experience violent vibration and break. Also, fluid such as corrosive liquid chemicals could corrode the metal of the shaft 18 . The drain hole 40 provides an escape for any fluid that may build up in the first portion 28 of the impeller housing 14 , while the sealing device 24 inhibits fluid from entering the space between the shaft 18 and the shaft sleeve 20 .
[0044] It will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. All such variations and modifications, including those discussed above, are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. | Disclosed herein is an apparatus for an immersible pump. The apparatus can include a shaft for communicating with a motor. The shaft includes a first region having a first diameter, a second region having a second diameter that is less than the first diameter, and a tapering region between the two regions. A sleeve can be provided to receive the shaft. A sealing device includes a receiving area in which the tapering region is at least partially positionable to form a seal, and an abutment that is configured to form a seal with the sleeve and that is responsive to a force directed from the sleeve to enhance the seal with the tapering region. In some embodiments, the sealing device is provided with a circumferential outer wall for centering the sleeve about the shaft and/or for aligning the force with the abutment. | 8 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The technical character of the present invention relates in general to applying a tire dressing material to tires of a vehicle in a carwash and pertains, more particularly, to a tire dressing apparatus located within the carwash. The tire dressing apparatus of this invention is an improvement over the conventional approach of applying the tire dressing fluid after the vehicle exits the carwash.
A technical problem recognized with respect to conventional methods of applying the tire dressing fluid relates to applying the tire dressing fluid manually after the vehicle exits an automatic portion of the carwash. The manual sprayers and pump bottles typically used to manually apply the tire dressing fluid tend to waste the tire dressing fluid and often do not provide sufficient coverage of the tire with the tire dressing fluid to obtain the desired result, that is, the look of a well-dressed tire.
Tire dressing is a feature commonly offered at automatic carwash facilities that finish the vehicle (e.g., manually dry the vehicle exterior, manually clean the vehicle interior) following the vehicle's exit from the automatic portion of the carwash. The application of the tire dressing fluid (e.g., ARMORALL brand silicone spray or liquid) is desired by the vehicle's owner for the shine it typically leaves on the outside facing surface of the vehicle's tires.
Another technical problem associated with conventional tire dressing fluids relates to their chemical composition. The conventional chemicals used for tire dressing (e.g., silicone based chemicals) require a relatively clean tire for adhesion of the chemical to the tire surface and similarly a dry tire thereby preventing unwanted dilution of the chemical tire dressing fluid resulting in a surface without the characteristic dressed tire shine.
The conditions in a conventional carwash and the composition of tire dressing fluids usually require application of the tire dressing fluid or other similar protective or finishing chemicals immediately after cleaning. Application of the chemical to a dirty tire can result in insufficient adherence of the chemical to the tire thereby resulting in a finish unacceptable to the vehicle owner.
In anticipation of the tire dressing fluid industry developing a tire dressing compound that can be applied to a wet tire that passes through a conventional air drying portion of the carwash and still achieve the desired “dressing” effect on the tire, a need was perceived for a tire dressing apparatus including dispensing equipment suitable for applying the tire dressing fluid in a wet environment during the carwash and then conveying the vehicle through the air drying portion of the carwash without loosing so much of the tire dressing fluid that the desired dressed tire shine would not be achieved.
Previous attempts to solve these technical problems resulted in systems that operated on a principle that required the dispensing equipment to locate a vehicle tire, determine its size, physically track the tire through the tire dressing application portion of the carwash, and apply the tire dressing as the dispensing equipment moved along with the vehicle tires through the tire dressing portion of the carwash.
Application of a fluid (i.e., the tire dressing or other equivalent chemical or silicone composition) to the tire is preferably done during the carwash, however, a tire dressing fluid applied during the carwash must have the ability to wet the surface of an already wet tire and remain on the tire during the remainder of the carwash, including a drying portion of the carwash. Providing a single tire dressing apparatus capable of a applying the tire dressing fluid to tires of different sizes on vehicles of different sizes is another technical problem that has to be overcome, and it is a technical problem considered just as important and as challenging to overcome as any of the other technical problems discussed with respect to this invention.
The technical field of the invention is tire dressing fluid dispensing equipment and application of the tire dressing fluid in a desired pattern through a nozzle designed to distribute the tire dressing fluid and a tire dressing neutralizer onto the vehicle tire and floor of the carwash, respectively, as the vehicle's tires move through the tire dressing application portion of the carwash. The technical problems addressed by the invention include locating a vehicle tire, adjusting the dispensing equipment to accommodate each particular tire size of each particular vehicle conveyed through the carwash, sensing the tire speed, and applying the tire dressing fluid and the neutralizer fluid in a desired amount and pattern as the vehicle's tires pass or approach a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved tire dressing dispensing apparatus with fluid application control that responds to movement of the tires of a particular vehicle as the vehicle moves through the carwash. With the tire dispensing apparatus of this invention, the size of the vehicle's tires are mechanically determined, a sensor or sensors determine the location of the vehicle's front tire and the speed that the front tires (and thereby the speed of all of the tires) move through the tire dressing dispensing portion of the carwash in cooperation with a control system, the sensors also determine the location of the vehicle's rear tires, and the control system integrates this information and logically determines the activation of the application and dispensing of the tire dressing fluid and the neutralizing fluid through nozzles selected for their designed distribution patterns and amounts of these fluids in a desired pattern and quantity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments, including the technical features of the invention for which protection is sought, are illustrated and described herein and include a tire dressing apparatus, including an indexing system, an indexing system output member, an index system retention and return mechanism, a tire dressing application system, an indexable applicator with fluid distribution apparatus, an articulation mechanism, a truck and guidance system, and a control system.
The tire dressing apparatus is controlled by a carwash controller operated typically by an attendant at the carwash. The width of a vehicle entering the carwash is determined mechanically by an index arm, the identification of the vehicle selected for application of the tire dressing fluid to the vehicle's tires, and a programmable logic controller controls a spraying sequence by controlling the time intervals between the activation of solenoids controlling fluid release through nozzles during each vehicle tire dressing cycle. The programmable logic controller includes sufficient memory to keep track of the vehicle in the carwash que or in the carwash in the event of some mechanical or electrical interruptions to the carwash operation. A unique nozzle design has been provided to obtain the desired fluid distribution and coverage on the vehicle tires.
These and other objects and features of the invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tire dressing apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention particularly illustrating the mechanism with some of the operating members removed for clarity;
FIG. 2 a is a plan view of the tire dressing apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 illustrating the apparatus in two positions in response to two different vehicle tire sizes;
FIG. 2 b is a elevation view of the tire dressing apparatus in FIG. 1
FIG. 2 c is another elevation view of the tire dressing apparatus in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an indexing system of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a truck and guidance mechanism of the invention;
FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the truck and guidance system illustrated in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an index system and partial view of the truck and guidance system and tire dressing application system;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the tire dressing apparatus in FIG. 1 showing the location of nozzles, solenoids and tubing;.
FIG. 8 is another perspective view of the tire dressing apparatus;
FIG. 9 is another perspective view of the indexing system of the tire dressing apparatus;
FIG. 10 is another perspective of the tire dressing apparatus showing fluid and electrical connection locations;
FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view illustrating one embodiment of nozzle and tubing arrangements;
FIG. 12 is a diagram of one preferred operation of the tire dressing apparatus;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a nozzle constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a modified exploded view of the components of a nozzle constructed in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 15 is an end view, sectional view, and geometry of the restrictor included in the nozzle of this invention;
FIG. 16 is an elevation view and an end view of the nozzle body of a nozzle constructed in accordance with this invention;.
FIG. 17 is a side view and two end views illustrating the geometry of the slots in a preferred embodiment of the nozzle (it should be noted that in operation the slots are in the upper half of the nozzle);
FIG. 18 is another exploded view of a nozzle of this invention;
FIG. 19 is another perspective view of the assembled nozzle of this invention;
FIG. 20 is a photo illustrating the spray pattern of one preferred nozzle at distances of 3″, 6″ and 7″ from a target surface; and
FIGS. 21 a - 21 s are views of one preferred embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown preferred embodiments for the tire dressing dispenser of this invention, including the technical features of the invention for which protection is sought. The tire dressing apparatus is described in connection with an automatic carwash application to wash a vehicle and the tire dressing apparatus of the invention is particularly adapted for applying a tire dressing fluid to the vehicle's tires as the carwash equipment conveys the vehicle through the carwash and is characterized by providing an improved application of tire dressing fluid to vehicle tires with an indexable mechanism that adjusts the tire dressing apparatus to the size of each vehicle as the carwash equipment conveys the vehicle past the tire dressing fluid application location of the carwash.
The drawings show the tire dressing apparatus 1 located on one side of an automatic carwash apparatus. The drawings illustrate one of a pair of tire dressing apparatus and it will be understood that a fixed tire dressing apparatus is located on the other side of the vehicle.
The tire dressing apparatus includes an Indexing system 64 for interacting with front tires of a vehicle such that the indexing system moves between a first position and a second position in response to its interaction with the tire of the vehicle conveyed through the carwash. In one preferred embodiment the indexing system 64 illustrated in the drawings includes an index arm 26 and the vehicle front tire 136 contacts its respective index arm 26 as a carwash conveyor 14 conveys the vehicle through the carwash.
The vehicle front tire 136 contact the roller 68 on the index arm 26 . The roller 68 is supported for rotation on a roller support bracket 70 .
An index arm roller 28 rolls across the floor of the carwash facility as the index arm is moved by the vehicle front tires 136 . A support bracket arm 74 supports roller support bracket 70 and support bracket arm 74 extends to and is pivotably attached to an indexing system mechanism 76 for pivoting by a pivot member 56 comprising, for example, a pin placed in a pin receiving opening and held in place by a suitable retention member that allows the desired pivoting motion.
An activating air cylinder or air cylinder 50 (air supply not shown) is attached to the indexing system mechanism 76 . The air cylinder 50 is attached at one end proximate to pivot 56 and sufficiently offset to allow the lengthening and shortening of the air cylinder to move the support bracket arm 74 and all of the members attached or connected to the support bracket arm 74 .. The other end of the air cylinder is attached to support bracket arm 74 for pivoting with a suitable pivot member 72 .
The air cylinder 50 and the support bracket arm 74 are attached to a bracket support 78 that provides support for the indexing system members extending out from and index system support structure. The bracket support 78 is supported by the index system support structure 80 .
A gear and pawl support structure 82 is located on an indexing system support base 84 . The indexing system mechanism includes a latch gear 32 interacting with an indexing gear 34 that is attached to the support bracket arm 74 .
The indexing gear 34 includes one or more gear teeth 86 . Associated with the indexing gear 34 is a pawl 36 . A pawl support member 88 that rotates or pivots about a pawl pivot axle 90 carries the pawl.
Attached to the pawl support member 88 is a pawl activating cylinder 92 that is attached at one end to the pawl support member 88 and at the other end to a pawl activating cylinder pivot axle 94 . A pawl activating cylinder control located generally at 96 controls the movement of pawl activating cylinder 92 . In one preferred embodiment the pawl activating cylinder is air activated (air supply line not shown).
One or more fastening members 54 attach the indexing support system base to the floor of the carwash facility. It will be understood that other suitable means of providing stability for this portion of the tire dressing apparatus could be used.
Extending from the indexing system 64 is an indexing system output member. In the illustrated embodiment, the indexing system output member is an index axle 62 .
The index axle 62 is attached to the support bracket arm 74 at pivot member 72 . The index axle at 62 extends from the indexing system 64 to a tire dressing application system 66 .
The index axle 62 connects to a scissors linkage 98 by an index axle pivot member 100 . The scissor linkage includes a scissor linkage connecting link member 156 and a pair of extended arms and pivot arms 4 and 6 connected to the scissor linkage connecting link member 156 by index axle pivot member 100 .
Extended arm pivot members 102 attach the extended arms 4 to a spraying bar 12 . In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the extended arms 6 include extended arm upper and lower members 104 , 106 .
An upper and lower member pivot member 108 that provides for the desired pivoting movement of the extended arm upper and lower members 104 , 106 attaches the extended arm upper and lower members 104 , 106 to their respective guidance system support structures 110 . Each guidance system support structure 110 is supported on a suitable support structure base 112 and is part of a guide track bracket 52 .
It will be understood that the scissor linkage illustrated in the drawing figures and described herein includes two similar structures and the reference character members have been used to indicate similar structure in each part of the tire dressing application system 66 . It should be further noted that while the presently preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated and described has a two each of the extended arms and pivot arms 4 , 6 , other embodiments may have either one each or more than two of the same members depending upon a particular application and use of the invention.
A support structure connecting member 114 joins the two halves of the scissor linkage 98 and additional connecting members can be used if required to provide stability to the invention. In one preferred embodiment the support structure connecting member is used to support an electrical junction 118 or other suitable connection bus contained in an electrical junction or connection bus housing 120 .
A tire dressing reservoir 122 and a neutralizer reservoir 124 provide a supply of dressing fluid and neutralizer fluid. The dressing fluid and the neutralizer fluid reservoirs connect to a fluid manifold 126 . The fluid distribution system generally identified by reference character 38 provides for distribution of the respective fluids from reservoir, to pump, to manifold, to solenoid and to respective fluid distribution devices.
Extending from the manifold 126 are tire dressing supply tube. 128 and neutralizer supply tube 130 . It will be seen from the drawings that the tubing incorporates the necessary tubing fittings, elbows and other connections 132 to extend the tubing from the manifold to the spraying bar 12 that is adjacent to conveyor 14 that conveys the vehicle through the carwash system in which the present invention is installed.
A pump station 16 transfers the tire dressing fluid and the neutralizer fluid from their respective reservoirs, to the fluid manifold 126 and finally through the respective supply tubing out to the fluid distribution devices carried by the spraying arm 12 . In a preferred embodiment, the fluid distribution devices are a plurality of nozzles attached to the spraying arm 12 by support brackets 134 .
The dressing spray nozzles are indicated by reference character 20 and reference characters 22 and 24 represent neutralizing spray nozzles. Fluid distribution through the nozzle openings 60 of each nozzle is controlled by a solenoid 18 mounted upstream of the nozzle.
The support bracket includes a safety bar 30 . The safety Oar contacts the vehicle if the indexing system should fail and is intended to reduce the amount of any damage to either the dispensing apparatus or the vehicle as well as signal retraction to the control system.
A control system in one preferred embodiment is a programmable logic controller 58 that controls the operation of the tire dressing apparatus and the application of the dressing and the neutralizing fluids. A wiring harness represented by reference character 116 extends from the programmable logic controller represented by reference character 58 through the junction box or the panel 118 to wiring connections for the solenoids 18 for controlling the application of the dressing fluid or the neutralizing fluid, respectively.
As scissors linkage 98 moves or indexes in and out in response to movement of the index ale 62 and spray bar 12 moves in concert, this assembly is supported by a truck and guidance system 2 . This includes a truck 40 supported on rollers 42 , 44 , 46 and 48 . It will be recognized that the scissors linkage 98 moves as it is acted on by index axle 62 and the truck 40 moves in and out, away from and toward the vehicle tires along a path generally perpendicular to the path of the vehicle and the vehicle tires.
In operation, in connection with the carwash application previously mentioned to wash a vehicle with automatic carwash equipment, as the vehicle moves into the vicinity of the tire dressing apparatus 1 , the vehicles front tire activate an air operated floor switch 8 and then activate air operated floor switch 10 . The front tire of the vehicle contacts the indexing system 64 and moves the index arm 26 when the vehicle front tire 136 impact the index arm as the carwash conveyor 14 conveys the vehicle through the carwash.
As the vehicle front tire 136 contacts the roller 68 on the index arm 26 and as the index arm is moved out of the way by the vehicle tire, the roller 68 rotates on roller support brackets 70 and the bracket rolls across the floor of the carwash facility on index arm roller 28 .
It will be understood that the index arm may in fact not move if the tire size is such that the spray arm 12 is already in the desired position. The drawing figures show that the indexing arm moving and thereby moving the rest of the apparatus in two situations for a larger tire and then the largest tire. It will be understood that the tire dressing apparatus is intended to operate with a wide range of vehicle and tire sizes.
As the index arm 26 moves inward, pawl member of latch gear 32 interacts with gear teeth 86 . When the index arm is indexed to its desired position by the vehicle front tires, the pawl 36 holds the latch gear 32 in the desired position until the control system indicates that the vehicle has passed through the tire dressing apparatus.
At that time, another signal is sent to the pawl activating cylinder control and the pawl is moved out of engagement with gear teeth 86 of indexing gear 34 and the activating air cylinder extends the indexing arm back to its first or zero or reset position in preparation for the next vehicle.
As the indexing system 64 is indexed by the vehicle tires, the indexing system output member acts on the scissors linkage 98 through the index axle 62 . If the vehicle tire is larger than the initial tire size set up for the tire dressing apparatus and therefore, the location of the spraying bar 12 , the entire spraying bar is moved while rolling on the truck and guidance system 2 away from the conveyor 14 .
Referring now to FIG. 12, as the tire dressing application system 66 including the spray bar 12 and its associated nozzles and solenoids is moved to the desired position, the control system comprised of the programmable logic controller 58 in one preferred embodiment senses the passage of the vehicle front tires as they activate the first air switch 8 as represented by reference character 158 on the flow diagram. The vehicle front tire then activates the second switch thereby providing the appropriately programmed programmable logic controller with the speed of the vehicle passing through the tire dressing apparatus on the conveyor of the carwash. The following or vehicle rear tire activates the first switch and then activates the second switch again and with this second activation of the floor switches 8 and 10 , the programmable logic controller now knows the length of the vehicle and the location of both the front fire and the rear tire of the vehicle.
FIG. 12 illustrates an operational flow chart for a preferred embodiment of this invention. Reference character 160 represents the vehicle front tire activating the first air switch 8 and then the vehicle front tire activating the second air switch 10 at 162 . The control system at 164 takes the information provided by the activation of the two air switches by the front vehicle tire and computes the speed of the vehicle tires. A control system at block 166 computes the location of the vehicle front tires and the control system then is prepared as indicated at block 174 to activate the fluid distribution devices.
Meanwhile the vehicle rear tire activates the first air switch 8 as indicated at block 168 and then activates the second air switch 10 as indicated at block 170 . This information, that is, the passage of the rear tire over the air switches in addition to the speed of the vehicle tires provides the control system indicated at block 172 with the location of the vehicle rear tires.
The control system then activates the fluid distribution devices as indicated at block 174 for the vehicle rear tires.
As indicated at block 176 , the control system, knowing the speed and the location of the front tires and the rear tires, now can compute completion of the current tire dressing distribution cycle and after the tire dressing fluid and the neutralizing fluid have been distributed as desired, the control system resets as indicated at block 178 and the control system is prepared for the next vehicle being pulled through the carwash by the conveyor. Resetting, in a preferred embodiment includes extending the index arm to an extended position.
In a preferred embodiment, the control system comprises the programmable logic controller 58 . The programmable logic controller is programmed in any one of the known control languages, for example, Ladder Logic, and incorporates the necessary and known components in order to function as described as will be understood by one skilled in the art.
In a preferred embodiment, the tire dressing apparatus operates in the following fashion. The vehicle stops at the location of a first attendant for the carwash and the vehicle owner requests or purchases a carwash package that includes tire dressing. The attendant activates 180 the appropriate switch or button and the driver of the vehicle proceeds to a stop line exits the vehicle, the car is prepared for the carwash and then put on the conveyor.
The vehicle is washed according to the preset program and as the vehicle approaches the tire dressing apparatus, it becomes the car in front of the index arm 26 and the index arm 26 is activated by the carwash controller 182 by swinging out to an extended position. The vehicle front tire makes contact with the index arm and pushes the index arm back until the tire slides past as illustrated in FIG. 2 a for two different size vehicle tires. Once the tire dressing apparatus is indexed, the spray arm is in place for that particular vehicle.
As previously discussed, two air operated floor switches, one in front 8 and one in back 10 of the index arm are tripped by the vehicle tires to provide information to the control system so as to activate the fluid distribution devices, since the tripping of the air switches indicates to the control system, the speed of the conveyor and the vehicle tires being pulled through the carwash the solenoids are activated in a pre-determined sequence.
The nozzles spray in sequence from left to right as viewed from an observer facing the side of a vehicle as it moves from the left to the right through the carwash. At the time the first dressing fluid nozzle starts spraying, the neutralizing nozzles begin spraying a neutralizing solution, for example, water to dilute the dressing fluid or a detergent on the floor of the carwash in front of the rolling vehicle tire to act as an antisurfactant. This neutralizing material is sprayed through nozzles at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the spray bar.
The dressing fluid dispensing nozzles have a spray pattern discussed below and can be described as spraying with an “inverted smiling face” design. A preferred embodiment of the nozzle sprays two and one half inch by six inch pattern on the surface of the tire. Since the nozzles are stationary once the apparatus is indexed for a particular vehicle, the nozzle sprays this pattern at that point in time that the tire is touching the floor in front of each nozzle.
When the vehicle rear tire has been sprayed by the last nozzle, the cycle ends and the machine is ready for the next signal from the attendant that tire dressing is desired. The entire dispensing cycle is controlled by the programmable logic controller or other equivalent control system. The programmable logic controller receives its signal from the carwash controller and is therefore, capable of remembering where in the carwash cycle, the vehicle that is to have the tire dressing applied. The programmable logic controller is provided with the capability of remembering where in the overall carwash cycle the vehicle is if there is any interruption in power or operation of the carwash apparatus.
The present invention is designed to work with a now generation of tire dressing fluids that can be applied to a wet tire. One such product will be manufactured by ZEP and is tentatively identified as ZEP Tire Dressing Product X5699 (X indicates a prototype product).
A nozzle constructed in accordance with the present invention includes a nozzle body 138 , a nozzle diffuser with a focus ring 140 and a nozzle orifice 142 . The nozzle assembly is further illustrated in a semi-exploded view in FIG. 14, is a nozzle assembly in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention. The nozzle assembly includes a nozzle inlet and connector indicated at 1 (reference character 144 ), an orifice 142 indicated by no. 2 , no. 3 is the nozzle face 150 and first opening 152 and second opening 154 . No. 4 shows the nozzle diffuser and focus ring assembly and no. 5 is part of the assembly and provides some of the compression for compressing the orifice 142 within the nozzle body 138 . No. 6 represents a set screw 184 for holding the focus ring diffuser 140 in place once its desired position is attained.
FIG. 15 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the restrictor orifice of the nozzle of this invention and shows the machining requirements to obtain the orifice and elliptical chamfer desired for a preferred embodiment of the nozzle.
FIG. 16 illustrates two more views of the nozzle body 138 separate from the rest of the nozzle assembly; and FIG. 17 shows the geometry for the first opening 152 and second opening 154 for nozzle face 150 . It will be understood that FIG. 17 shows two end views and an intermediate elevation that describes the dimensions for one preferred embodiment of the nozzle of this invention.
FIGS. 18 and 19 show another view of the nozzle parts for nozzle body 138 with a partially exploded view from the side in FIG. 18 and a perspective view shown in FIG. 19 .
In operation, the tire dressing apparatus fluid distribution devices represented by the nozzles of a preferred embodiment operate at a pressure of approximately 60 psi or lower. At 60 psi the fluid is dispensed in a relatively straight stream while at lower pressures, the fluid stream exiting the nozzle tends to disperse. A sample spray pattern is illustrated in the photo included as FIG. 20 .
In a preferred embodiment of the tire dressing apparatus and nozzle described herein, it will be understood that a preferred embodiment of this invention includes the described nozzle used in conjunction with the operation of the programmable logic controller. It will be seen that once the programmable logic controller determines the speed of the vehicles tires passing through the carwash, then the nozzle must spray in its target area. In a preferred embodiment, this area is considered to extend from approximately 6:30 on a clock face on the passenger's side of a vehicle and 5:30 on a clock face on the driver's side of a vehicle, if a vehicle is viewed as moving from the left side to right through the carwash. This location is selected since it helps carry the product, that is the tire dressing product, up the tire as the tire is turning as the vehicle is pulled through the carwash by the conveyor.
It is believed that this nozzle design and tire dressing apparatus keep dressing fluid to a minimum and distribute the dressing fluid so that it would spread on the tire surface. As described above, the nozzle includes an orifice disk inside tho nozzle body that meters the amount of tire dressing product sprayed onto the tire.
The end of the nozzle includes a distributor that spreads the product across the tire surface. There is also a focus ring that can be extended to focus the spray onto the tire. The focus ring would be used as an adjustment on a location by location basis in response to the type of traffic types of vehicles and the wind velocity going through the carwash tunnels that is often a product of the air driver operation. The purpose of the focus ring is to maintain a stream of tire dressing fluid and reduce the amount of tire dressing fluid that atomizes due to conditions within the carwash tunnel.
Referring again to the distributor, the distributor includes the face of the nozzle with the double nozzle outlets that help concentrate the tire dressing product on the tire surface. This was done to overcome a technical problem due to the vast variety of tire sizes manufactured and the desire to install only a single nozzle in the tire dressing apparatus. This also helped overcome the technical problem presented by applying tire dressing fluid to the low profile tire found on most sports cars. Spraying the tire dressing product too high would allow the product to spray on the rim of the vehicle.
One of the ways this was accomplished is by observing that the two openings or slits on the nozzle front are not centered on the nozzle front. This design allows the nozzle to concentrate the spray to the extreme outside of the tire without overspraying or missing the tire completely. It should be kept in mind that in operation, the first and second openings 152 and 154 on the nozzle face 150 of the distributor are on the upper half of the nozzle face or as was previously referred to in the “upside down smiling face” configuration.
All specific embodiments have been shown and described, many variations are possible. Particular size and shape of the different components of the tire dressing apparatus may vary or be changed as desired to suit the carwash equipment in which it is used. The materials may vary although it will be understood that materials suitable for use in a carwash environment are preferred. The configuration and number of spraybars and scissor linkages may vary depending upon the size and number of nozzles desired, although the preferred embodiment includes nine nozzles, two of which spray in a neutralizer and seven of which spray the tire dressing fluid. Summarizing the features of the present invention, the tire dressing apparatus is activated by a carwash controller and the width of a vehicle passing through a carwash is mechanically determined by an indexible arm. A programmable logic controller provides the control system and controls the spraying sequence that is at timed intervals between the operation of the solenoids as a vehicle passes through the tire dressing dispensing location of the carwash. The safety bar 30 provides a safety mechanism that operates in such a way that if for some reason the adjustable spray bar releases or goes to the narrower or inner position, this bar, preferably a plastic, would bump the tire, side, bumper, etc. and then on contact would retract immediately to its widest spray position. This feature is built into the control system of the tire dressing apparatus in a known manner.
In a preferred embodiment, the pumping stations are activated by air solenoids. In a preferred embodiment, it should take only approximately three and one half ounces of tire dressing fluid to cover each tire. Another feature of a preferred embodiment of the fire dressing apparatus and nozzle combination is a speed in which the solenoid valve can now open to spray the tire dressing product or the neutralizer. In a preferred embodiment, the programmable logic controller energizes each solenoid coil or less than one quarter of a second and this allows a full spray pattern to cover the tire as the tire rotates.
Having described the invention in detail, those skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications may be made of the invention without departing from its spirit, therefore, it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents. | The tire dressing apparatus is controlled by a carwash controller operated typically by an attendant at the carwash. The width of a vehicle entering the carwash is determined mechanically by an index arm, the identification of the vehicle selected for application of the tire dressing fluid to the vehicle's tires, and a programmable logic controller controls a spraying sequence by controlling the time intervals between the activation of solenoids controlling fluid release through nozzles during each vehicle tire dressing cycle. The programmable logic controller includes sufficient memory to keep track of the vehicle in the carwash que or in the carwash in the event of some mechanical or electrical interruptions to the carwash operation. A unique nozzle design has been provided to obtain the desired fluid distribution and coverage on the vehicle tires. | 1 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] Spark-gap tools are known in the hydrocarbon industry. These tools have not, however, gained strong acceptance in permanent completions primarily because they require a large voltage to function acceptably. Such voltage is often delivered to the spark-gap tool in a downhole environment through electrical conductors from a surface supply system. As one of ordinary skill in the art clearly recognizes, the longer the electrical conductor, the greater the voltage drop. For this reason the voltage at the surface supply needs to be even greater than that required to produce an acceptable arc at the spark-gap tool. Since many rig operators are uncomfortable with utilizing systems employing greater than 200 volts from a surface supply, the spark-gap tools' functionality has been limited. Moreover, because of the electrical requirements, other compromises are also made throughout the wellbore to accommodate power at the site of the spark-gap tool. Each of the above issues creates a lack of interest in the industry in using the spark-gap tools.
SUMMARY
[0002] Disclosed herein is a spark-gap tool which includes a housing, a plurality of electrodes at the housing, a mandrel nested with the housing, transductive element(s) located at one of the housing and the mandrel, and a force transmission configuration located at the other of the housing, and the mandrel, the initiator, upon relative movement between the housing and the mandrel, causing a physical distortion of one or more transductive elements, whereby an electrical potential is generated by the one or more transductive elements.
[0003] Further disclosed herein is a method for powering the spark-gap tool by physically distorting one or more transductive elements cyclically by moving the mandrel within its housing axially and rotationally thereby creating sufficient voltage potential to cause an arc of selected magnitude across a spark-gap in the tool.
[0004] Further disclosed herein is a method for treating a borehole by physically distorting one or more transductive elements thereby creating sufficient voltage potential to cause an arc of selected magnitude across a spark-gap in the tool.
[0005] Further disclosed herein is a downhole power generation arrangement including a first member, a second member, at least one of the first member and second member being movable relative to the other of the first member and the second member; and a piezoelectric element of one of the first member and the second member and in force transmissive communication with the other of the first member and the second member, at least one of the first member and the second member being mechanically movable from a surface location.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several Figures:
[0007] FIGS. 1A and 1B are an extended schematic elevation view of a wellbore with the spark-gap tool deployed therein;
[0008] FIG. 2 is an expanded view of the circumscribed Section 2 - 2 in FIG. 1B ;
[0009] FIG. 3 is an expanded view of the circumscribed view Section 3 - 3 in FIG. 1B ;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a schematic elevation view of an alternate voltage operation arrangement.
[0011] FIG. 5 is a schematic elevation view of another alternate voltage generation arrangement.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B , an overview is provided of a wellbore 10 , a pump jack 12 and a spark-gap tool 14 . As illustrated, the spark-gap tool includes a pair of electrodes 16 a and 16 b located within a section of pipe 18 having a plurality of openings 20 . Further illustrated, generally, is a voltage generation arrangement 22 . With arrangement 22 utilizing mechanical function in conjunction with one or more transducers, the problem in the prior art of supplying high voltage from surface and carrying that voltage to the spark tool has been eliminated. Because the voltage generation arrangement can be located proximate the spark-gap electrodes 16 a and 16 b , voltage loss (due to distance) is not a factor.
[0013] Referring to FIG. 2 , one embodiment of a mechanical voltage generation arrangement 22 is depicted in more detail. Central to this embodiment is a piezoelectric element 24 (transductive element). A piezoelectric element is a transducer and thereby capable of creating a voltage potential when subjected to a mechanical energy input in any selected direction or combination of directions causing physical distortion of the element.
[0014] In this embodiment, mechanical energy input is provided through a configuration described hereunder, to the piezoelectric element(s) 24 to produce the desired voltage. In specific embodiments hereof, the mechanical energy may be imparted to the element(s) 24 any number of times from one to infinity in order to produce a buildup of charges or a continuous charge or some combination of these. In one embodiment, the mechanical energy is provided by set down weight of an inner mandrel 26 of the spark-gap tool 14 . Set down weight is operative when a tool housing 28 of the spark-gap tool 14 is anchored such that the mandrel 26 is moveable relative to the tool housing 28 . The housing 28 may be anchored within casing 10 in any of a number of conventional ways and not shown. Because of the anchoring of the housing 28 , that housing will no longer move downhole when further set down weight from the pump rig 12 is applied to the mandrel 26 . Such application of mechanical energy is transmitted to a compression piston 30 (embodiment of force transmission configuration), which in turn is force transmissive communication with the piezoelectric element(s) 24 . Mechanical energy (more generically deformative energy, which may include hydraulic, pneumatic, and even optic energy could be used. The phrase “mechanical energy” as used herein is intended to also encompass these other ways of physically distorting the element(s) 24 .) applied to the compression piston causes a compression of the piezoelectric element 24 thereby creating the desired voltage potential in that element. It should be noted in passing that the piezoelectric element contemplated may be of a single crystalline variety or a polycrystalline variety, such as a ceramic material. Single crystalline varieties are more efficient but also are more costly to procure. Some ceramic materials operable as piezoelectric materials include barium titanate, lead zirconate, lead titanate, and lead zirconate titanate, etc. Since most ceramic materials are composed of random crystalline structure, in order to reliably produce the desired voltage potential upon mechanical energy input, the ceramic material must be polarized thereby aligning the individual crystals therein prior to use to generate a voltage potential. Polarization allows the structure to act more like a single crystalline piezoelectric material. Axiomatically, single crystalline varieties of piezoelectric elements do not require poling prior to use. The voltage potential generated is proportional to the thickness of the material in element 24 and the amount of physical distortion of the element, in turn related to the applied force thereon. In this particular embodiment the compression piston 30 is configured, at an internal dimension thereof, with a profile 32 . The profile 32 includes specific features allowing it to engage and then release a collet mechanism or series of collet mechanisms 34 . The specific features are rounded ridge type projections known in the art. Such ridges transfer a load until a predetermined maximum load is reached whereafter the ridge yields and drops the load.
[0015] In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 , collet mechanisms 34 are depicted. As illustrated, this embodiment provides for voltage buildup in a capacitor 36 by creating multiple compressive and release cycles on the piezoelectric element 24 . As the mandrel 26 moves in the direction of arrow 38 , profile 32 of compression piston 30 is picked up on collet ridge 40 and released, then picked up on collet ridge 42 and released, and then picked up on collet ridge 44 . As illustrated, collet ridge 42 is at the release position with the collet 34 deforming to allow the ridge 42 to release the piston 30 . During each compression cycle, the piezoelectric element generates a voltage which is sent for storage to the capacitor 36 . As the collet mechanism 34 deflects, the compression piston 30 is released thereby removing mechanical energy from the piezoelectric element 24 . This will, in turn, eliminate the production of voltage from the piezoelectric element 24 and reset it to its natural position. Upon further motion of the mandrel 26 , the next ridge 42 picks up profile 32 , transmitting mechanical energy once again to the piezoelectric element 24 . Upon release of each ridge 40 , 42 , 44 , the collet mechanism 34 is deflected regularly inwardly relative to the mandrel 26 . This can be seen in FIG. 2 with respect to the collet mechanism ridge 42 . Although three collet mechanisms 34 are illustrated, more or fewer can be utilized as desired. Limitation in the number of collet mechanisms employable relates only to stroke possibilities for the mandrel 26 . This may be limited by the pump jack 12 on the surface or may be limited by available open space within the wellbore or within the tool. In the illustrated embodiment, in order to generate additional voltage, one need merely move the mandrel 26 uphole resetting the collet mechanism(s) for a further movement in the downhole direction and thereby create three more pulsed electrical signals to be stored in the capacitor. Depending upon exactly how much voltage a particular application requires, the above-stated procedure may be repeated indefinitely to fully charge the capacitor prior to creating an arc across the electrodes 16 a and 16 b.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 3 , the spark-gap portion 46 is illustrated very schematically. The device comprises a rectifier diode 48 , the capacitor identified previously as 36 , and a switch 50 which completes the circuit to either side of the spark-gap 52 . Once the circuit is completed, electrodes 16 a and 16 b function together to generate an arc that jumps over the spark-gap. Upon the formation of the arc, fluid located in the spark-gap 52 is vaporized and a shockwave is initiated. Referring back to FIG. 1 , and still referring to FIG. 3 , this embodiment illustrates that the tool housing 28 includes perforated interval 54 located adjacent to spark-gap 52 . The perforated interval may be a slotted pipe, a holed pipe, or other construction configured to allow propagation of the shockwave generated at spark-gap 52 through the tool housing 28 . Since it may be desirable to propagate the shockwave into the formation itself, a casing segment radially outwardly disposed of the spark-gap tool would also have a perforated interval, schematically illustrated as 56 .
[0017] Mechanical energy may also be imparted utilizing rotational initiation. Referring to FIG. 4 , a rotary mandrel 60 may be provided with one or more actuator bumps 62 . In a tool housing 64 surrounding the mandrel 60 , one or more piezoelectric elements 66 are installed. In this embodiment, one or more compression pistons 68 are located between the piezoelectric elements 66 and the bump or bumps 62 . It is noted that in some applications the pistons 68 may be omitted and contact between bump or bumps 62 directly with element or elements 66 may be had. Upon rotation of mandrel 60 , sequential elements 66 will be compressed and released. This will generate a voltage potential which may then be stored in a capacitor similar to that depicted in FIG. 3 or may simply be used without storage if appropriate for the application. This arrangement will then be connected to the spark-gap electrodes.
[0018] In yet another embodiment of the mechanical energy arrangement, referring to FIG. 5 , a mandrel 70 is configured with a shoulder 72 that has an offset profile such that a portion of shoulder 72 will be in contact with a relatively small portion of a counter shoulder 74 located within the spark-gap tool housing 76 . Located at 78 , around the periphery of housing 76 , is one or more piezoelectric elements which can be mechanically compressed one after the other as mandrel 70 rotates. It should also be noted that a compression piston arrangement such as, for example, a metal disk may be placed atop the element 78 to protect them from direct frictional degradation due to rotation of mandrel 70 but still allow the compressive force of shoulder 72 to cause the desired voltage potential in element(s) 78 . As is clear from the drawing, however, such disk is not required but merely is optional.
[0019] While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustrations and not limitation. | A spark-gap tool includes a plurality of electrodes, a mandrel, transductive element(s), and a force transmission configuration. Upon relative movement between components a physical distortion of one or more transductive elements occurs, whereby an electrical potential is generated. A method for powering the spark-gap tool is by physically distorting one or more transductive elements by moving components axially and/or rotationally. A method for treating a borehole is by physically distorting one or more transductive elements thereby creating sufficient voltage potential to cause an arc of selected magnitude across a spark-gap in the tool. A downhole power generation arrangement includes a first member and a second member that are movable and a piezoelectric element on one of the first member and the second member and in force transmissive communication with the other of the first member and the second member. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to greenhouses, and is more specifically directed to greenhouses or similar structures having flexible side curtains mounted to be raised or lowered by manual or powered means. Even more specifically, the invention relates to a unique sidewall curtain usable in greenhouses and other locations which is raised or lowered by means of a unique spindle, drum and cable system requiring a minimum amount of power and effort.
Greenhouses facilitate the maintenance of a carefully controlled environment for growing various varieties of plant life. Many species have specific weather related requirements such as temperature, humidity, lighting, and air flow conditions, and greenhouses necessarily must include means for regulating these factors. Movable curtains defining all or portions of the side walls of the greenhouse are frequently used for aid in regulating such weather related conditions. Problems may arise, however, when the scale of operation dictates the use of extremely large greenhouses. Since the area covered by a greenhouse increases, the necessary control over environmental conditions becomes much more difficult to maintain.
Solar gain resulting from the significant surface area of a large greenhouse may make temperature particularly difficult to control. Likewise, the velocity of air flow must be controlled to avoid plant damage while continuing to provide controlled air movement by adjustment of curtain positions and positions of curtains with respect to plant locations. Such a greenhouse may require expensive air moving equipment. Further, in traditional rigid-walled greenhouses, stocking the greenhouse with the great number and variety of plants that it is capable of sustaining, and removing these plants from the greenhouse for further transport becomes highly labor-intensive when access is limited by fixed walls and/or small doors or access openings in the greenhouse.
Creating an inexpensive, safe, reliable, and convenient way of solving the foregoing problems is the primary object of this invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention constitutes a novel solution to the aforementioned problems in comprising a greenhouse wall system which includes a system of one or more flexible curtains of sufficient thickness and weight to provide protection against extreme weather when closed, yet which can be opened or closed quickly and easily to allow air flow through, rain and temperature control, insect intrusion prevention and to permit loading and unloading operations through the wall area in which the curtain is provided. The curtains may be constructed of materials of varying light transparency, enabling great control over the lighting conditions within the greenhouse.
The instant invention additionally provides a means of selectively allowing climatic exchange with the external environment when to do so is propitious, and for sealing out such exchange when inexpedient. The curtain is easily raised or located by a single worker, even though the wall may be over 100 feet long and the curtain being of substantial weight.
More specifically, the present invention is provided in a greenhouse or like structure having sides and/or ends which are open except for the presence of vertical roof support columns and one or more flexible curtains, comprising an upper curtain and a lower curtain. Each curtain has an upper horizontal edge which is fixedly attached to and supported by the greenhouse frame structure so that both curtains extend the length of the side or end of the greenhouse and cooperate to define an adjustable closure wall. The upper, or larger, curtain has an upper horizontal edge fixedly mounted below the eaves of the greenhouse, and extends a maximum distance downwardly to a location approximately three to five feet above the floor of the greenhouse. The second, or smaller, curtain extends downwardly from just below the lowest possible extent of the first curtain to the floor.
Each curtain is provided at its lower edge with a horizontal cylindrical traveling spindle about which the lower part of the curtain is furled or wrapped to constitute a vertically movable lower roll of curtain material so that rotation of the spindle causes it to either reel in or reel out the curtain material relative to the lower roll. By thus changing the vertical position of the lower roll of the curtain, the extent to which the curtain covers the side or end of the greenhouse is adjusted. A novel spool is mounted on one end of the traveling spindle and is connected by a cable to a winch and pulley. The spool is comprised of a unitary smaller spool and a larger drum coaxially related to each other and the traveling spindle, and fixedly attached to one end of the traveling spindle so that rotation of the drum causes the traveling spindle to rotate in the same direction. The larger drum preferably defines the outer end of the drum and spindle assembly, with the smaller drum being located immediately outward of the smaller drum. The spindle extends horizontally through the lower roll of curtain material from the spool to the opposite end of the curtain and each drum has flanges to maintain the cable in position on the drums.
The cable is wrapped counterclockwise (as viewed from the end of the spindle on which the spool is mounted) around the smaller drum and has one end fixedly anchored to the frame of the greenhouse. The cable also extends through a wall of the larger drum onto and is wrapped clockwise around the larger drum. Clockwise and counterclockwise are defined with respect to an end view of the traveling spindle from the spool end as noted above. The cable then passes upwardly over a pulley supported by the greenhouse frame and located above both curtains, and finally downward to a winch, to which it is connected. The winch acts to retrieve the cable to cause upward curtain movement or to release (unwind) the cable to lower the curtain.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a curtain wall provided on one side of a greenhouse illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of a cylindrical traveling spindle and drum spool assembly used to raise (furl) or lower (unfurl) the curtains;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the spindle, drum spool, cable, pulley, and winch assemblies used to raise and lower the curtains;
FIG. 3a is a perspective view of the spindle, spool and cable assembly as viewed from the inner or spindle side of the spool;
FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation view of the preferred embodiment curtain wall of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a corner of the greenhouse at the end of the curtain wall of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a section view taken along lines 6--6 of FIG. 5; and
FIG. 7 is a section view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Attention is initially invited to FIG. 1 of the drawings, which illustrates a portion of a greenhouse 1 having a roof 3 with a lower edge portion in the form of an upper eave channel 4 provided in general vertical alignment with a plurality of concrete footers 5 (FIG. 3) which support a curb 6 having an inclined upper surface component 7 (FIG. 4) extending lengthwise above upper surface 9 of tile surrounding soil. A plurality of square vertical hollow metal support columns 8 extend upwardly from footers 5 to support upper eave channel 4.
The space between upper eave channel 4 and curb 6 defines a side S of the greenhouse in which an upper curtain UC and a lower curtain LC are mounted in a manner to be described. It should be understood that additional vertical columns (not shown) identical to columns 8 are provided at predetermined, discrete locations along the side wall to support the roof 3.
First and second winch brace members 10 and 12 extend between vertical support columns 8 to which they are attached with first and second manual winches 14 and 16 being respectively mounted on winch brace members 10 and 12. Cables 17 and 18 are respectively mounted on and extend from winches 14 and 16 upwardly over idler pulleys 20 and 22 respectively which are supported by and below upper eave channel 4. It should also be understood that electric, automatic, computer operated or remote operated winches could be used instead of manual winches if desired.
A lower side curtain support channel beam 24 extends horizontally along the length of side S as does an upper side curtain support beam 26 which is attached to upper eave channel 4 as shown in FIG. 5. The lower side curtain support channel beam 24 is formed of 18 gauge galvanized steel and includes coplanar vertical upper and lower attachment panel portions 140 and 142 which engage and are attached to support columns 8, an intermediate vertical panel 144, an outer vertical panel 146, a canted brace panel 147 and upper and lower horizontal connector panels 148 and 149. The lower side curtain support channel beam 24 is supported by the rightmost vertical column 8 of FIG. 1 and intermediate vertical columns (not shown) which engage panels 140 and 142 and are connected thereto by screws or other suitable connectors. The upper edge portions 36 and 38 respectively of upper curtain UC and lower curtain LC are fixedly mounted to upper and lower side curtain support channel beams 26 and 24 by conventional clamping members 26' and 24' (such as, for example, those sold under the trademark POLYLOCK) provided along the length of the greenhouse to evenly distribute the weight of the curtains. Other means for securing the top edge of the curtains to the greenhouse are equally acceptable, however, and such means are not central to the concept of the invention.
The lower end of upper curtain UC is defined by an upper roll UR of curtain material wound about an upper travelling roller spindle 54 and the lower curtain LC has its lower end defined by a lower roll LR of curtain material wound on a lower travelling roller spindle 48. Both spindles extend the entire length of their respective curtains and both spindles can be rotated to cause the vertical position of rolls UR and LR to be adjusted upwardly or downwardly by the winding or unwinding of the curtains on the spindles.
The upper and lower curtains UC and LC are preferably constructed from a heavy but flexible polymeric material to avoid wind damage. In order to restrain the upper curtain UC and the lower curtain LC from excessive wind movement, a plurality of external vertical curtain retainers 40 in the form of rods or tubes are disposed at spaced intervals outside of the curtains along the length of side S of the greenhouse 1. The external vertical curtain retainer rod 40 are preferably formed of 3/4" galvanized conduit and are normally parallel to the upper and lower curtains UC and LC. A vertical hollow cylindrical sleeve 70 has an internal diameter greater than the outer diameter of rod 40 to permit it to matingly receive the upper end of each curtain retainer rod 40; each sleeve 70 is supported at its upper end by a bracket 71 connected to upper eave channel 4 as shown in FIG. 4. The lower end of each curtain retainer rod 40 is matingly received in a cylindrical recess of greater diameter than the outer diameter of rod 40 in curb 6 (as shown in FIG. 4) into which it can be easily inserted and removed. The upper end of each curtain retainer rod 40 is positioned in the middle part of a sleeve 70, so that it can move upwardly a sufficient distance to move its lower end upwardly to be above the recess in curb 6; following which the lower end of rod 40 can be diverted outwardly from over curb 6 to permit rod 40 to be lowered, so that its upper end clears the lower end of sleeve 70 to complete disconnection of rod 40 from the greenhouse so as to permit removal or replacement of the curtains. Replacement of rods 40 in vertical sleeve 70 is effected by a reverse procedure in an obvious manner.
Additionally, similar internal vertical curtain retainer rods 42 extending between upper eave channel ,4 and curb 6 are provided inwardly of curtains UC and LC for preventing inward movement of the curtains. Each internal vertical curtain retainer 42 is aligned with an external vertical curtain retainer 40. The external vertical retainer rods 40 are located on the outside of the greenhouse curtains so as to limit outward windblown deflection of the upper and lower curtains while the internal vertical curtain retainer rods 42 similarly limit inward curtain movement.
Upper curtain UC is vertically larger than the lower curtain LC and when fully lowered extends from the upper side curtain support channel beam 26 to engage the upper surface of canted brace panel 147 of side curtain support channel 24 which surface is angled down and away from the interior of the greenhouse. It should be noted that downward movement of upper roll UR will result in wedging of the roll between canted surface 147 and the vertical retainer rods 40 to provide sealing contact between the roll UR and surface 146 to prevent wind or water passage into the greenhouse. Thus, as upper side curtain UC is lowered into its lowest position, the upper roll UR rests within the nip of the V formed by the upper canted surface of panel 147 and each of the external vertical curtain retainer rod 40 so that upper roll UR is urged against inclined surface of member 147 which functions as an effective weather seal, preventing ingress of rain or wind below the curtain when the upper curtain UC is in its closed position. It should also be noted that the mounting of upper curtain UC is such that when it is in its fully elevated (rolled up) position, it is shaded by the overhang of the roof so as to be protected from the sun.
Lower side curtain LC extends from the lower side curtain support channel beam 24 to the curb 6 of greenhouse 1 when the curtain is in its fully lowered position. The stop means for lower side curtain LC is comprised of inclined surface 7 and the lower end of each external vertical curtain retainer rod 40 which define a V-shaped nip operable in the same manner as the nip provided by rod 40 and canted brace panel 147 to provide a weather seal for lower roll LR in the manner discussed above with respect to the upper roll UR.
Upper and lower side curtains UC and LC are independently raised and lowered by rotating travelling roller spindles 54 and 48, respectively, by a cable connected to a novel two-drum spool system on one end of each of the spindles 54 and 48. Roller spindles 54 and 48 are formed of 1" O.D. heavy wall pipe and extend the length of side S. Thus, spindles 54 and 48 keep upper and lower side curtains UC and LC taut along their length as they are rolled up or down. It is desirable to prevent rain from collecting between each curtain and its associated roll. Thus, each curtain is for this purpose furled inwardly toward the interior of the greenhouse 1 when being rolled upwardly by clockwise rotation of spindles 54 and 48. In other words, upper roll UR and spindle 54 are positioned inwardly of the portion of upper curtain UC above the upper roll UR, and a similar relationship is provided between lower roll LR and the portion of lower curtain LC positioned above lower roll LR as shown in FIG. 3.
The operation of the spool system for raising and lowering the top curtain is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 3A. For clarity, only the system for upper side curtain UC is shown. Both upper and lower curtains UC and LC, however, have essentially identical drive systems, which are shown together in FIG. 1. Upper travelling spindle 54 has a spool assembly 59 at one end, connected by cable 17 travelling over idler pulley 20 and connects to winch 14. Spindle 54 moves up and down vertically as the cable 17 is rolled on or off of the winch 14 so that the curtain is consequently raised or lowered.
To raise upper curtain UC, winch 14 retracts cable 17, imparting a clockwise torque to spindle 54 as shown by arrow A in FIG. 3, causing spindle 54 to rotate clockwise in the direction of arrow A and furl upper curtain UC around spindle 54. To lower the upper curtain UC, winch 14 unwinds cable 17, allowing gravity to rotate spindle 54 counterclockwise in the direction of arrow B, unfurling upper curtain UC.
The spool on spindle 54 is comprised of a larger drum 56 having a 41/2" diameter and a smaller drum 58 positioned inwardly of larger drum 56 and having a 13/4" diameter. Drums 56 and 58 are unitarily attached coaxially with one another and are fixedly attached to the end of spindle 54. The smaller drum 58 is of a slightly larger diameter than spindle 54. Spindle 54 extends from spool assembly 59 through upper roll UR to the opposite side of upper curtain UC. Drum 56 includes cable retainer flanges 60 and 61 to retain the cable in position while the drum 58 has a single smaller flange 62 for the same purpose.
Cable 17 is wrapped around the drums 56 and 58 in opposite directions and an opening 63 in flange 62 permits the cable 17 to extend from drum 58 to drum 56 over which a portion of the cable is wrapped in reverse manner to the cable portion wrapped on the larger drum 56 with a lower end portion 17' of the cable extending downwardly for connection to a turnbuckle 19 anchored to fixed frame means 21.
Cable 17 is wrapped counterclockwise around the smaller drum 58, and extends through an opening in flange 60 onto drum 56 about which the cable is wrapped clockwise. Clockwise and counterclockwise are defined with respect to an end view of spindle 54 from the spool end and are respectively illustrated by arrows A and B. The cable 17 has an upper portion which passes upwardly over idler pulley 20 located above both curtains UC and LC, and finally downward to winch 14. The tension in the upper cable portion 17 extending from drum 56 to pulley 20 etc. exerts a torque that is offset by the tension in lower cable portion 17' extending downwardly from smaller drum 58 for connection through adjustment means 19 to fixed frame member 21. The tension applied by cable 17 causes the large drum 56 to rotate in direction A so that a portion of cable 17 is unwound from the large drum A; simultaneously, the rotation of the larger drum 56 tends to rotate the smaller drum 58 to cause the lower end 17' of the cable to unwind from the smaller drum 58. Both the smaller drum and the larger drum obviously rotate the same number of degrees; however, the larger drum will obviously reel off more of cable 17 than the small drum will reel off of cable 17'. The difference between the amount of cable 17 reeled off of the larger drum 56 and the amount of cable 17' reeled off of the smaller drum 58 equals the amount of vertical displacement that the traveling spindle 54 will make in an upward direction when the cable 17 is being wound onto the wench 14. The exact reverse operation is true during the lowering of the spindle 54 as occurs when the wench 14 is operated to release cable 17 from the wench so that spindle assembly 59 rotates in the direction of arrow B to reel cable 17' onto the smaller drum 58 with the difference in the amount of cable reeled on to smaller drum 58 and the amount reeled onto larger drum 56 being equal to the amount of vertical lowering movement of spindle 54. Thus, spindle 54 is held in stable position unless the tension in portion 17 is increased or decreased by activating or releasing winch 14.
The above wrapping directions are preferred when, as shown in FIG. 1, the drum spool is located at the left end of the curtain, viewed from the exterior of the greenhouse. The foregoing arrangement will result in the curtain 36 being furled to the inside. When the drum spool is located on the other end of the curtain, the cable should be wrapped in a reverse manner, i.e., clockwise around the smaller drum 58 and counterclockwise around the larger drum 56.
FIG. 5 illustrates corner closer doors 100 and 102, which are supported by corner hinge means 104, so that they can be moved to the closed position illustrated in FIG. 5 in which they overlie the ends of curtain means, such as the upper curtain UC. When the doors are closed, they prevent wind from blowing in and behind the curtains, which would cause the curtains to billow outwardly and create heat loss within the greenhouse. Each door is provided with a vertical foam rubber (or the like) seal 106 extending, substantially, the entire height of the door, as shown in FIG. 6. When the door is closed, seal 106 engages the front surface of the curtain or curtains as shown in FIG. 6 so as to keep wind and precipitation from entering into the space behind the door and traveling into the greenhouse. Additionally, each door is provided with an upper latch 110 engageable with the greenhouse frame and a lower latch 114 engageable with a fixed channel piece 116 attached to curb 6 which when latched retain the door in its closed position.
While prior known devices have employed fixed panels at the corners of greenhouses, the inclusion of such panels makes it difficult to install or remove curtain means without removal of the fixed panels. However, the doors 100 and 102 can be easily swung on their hinge support out of the way for installing or removing the curtains. Moreover, the doors prevent the wind from entering the interior of the greenhouse when the curtains are in their closed (lower) positions. It should be noted that the lower curtain is not illustrated in FIG. 5 for the sake of clarity. It should also be noted that corner closure door 102 is identical to door 100, with the exception of the fact that door 102 is of greater height due to the fact that it is on an end wall, which is a greater height than the side wall with which door 100 is associated.
It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. For example, the invention could be employed with a single curtain or with three or more curtains in a wall. Other changes may also be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is to be defined solely by the following claims. | A novel greenhouse curtain system has a plurality of movable curtains oriented vertically one above the other to form a flexible wall. Each curtain is supported by a fixed upper edge, and the vertical position of the lower extent of each curtain may be adjusted by means of a traveling spindle used to furl or unfurl the curtain. The traveling spindle rises and descends as the curtain is furled (raised) or unfurled (lowered), and is rotated by a tensioned cable wrapped in opposite directions around two drums aligned concentrically one on end of the roller bar. The cable is anchored on one end below one of the drums, and is wrapped in opposite manner respectively around both drums and passes vertically to a pulley, and then to a driving means such as a winch. The dimensions of the drums are such that the curtain remains in stable position as long as there is no movement of the cable to or from the driving means. Sealing means is engaged by each roll when the roll is lowered to its full extent to provide a weather seal. | 4 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The complexity of present day automotive engines and their ancillary components has resulted in increased difficulties for mechanics who are effecting repairs or making adjustments. In order to perform such operations, a variety of hand tools must typically be employed. Moreover, as the work progresses, a considerable number of small parts may have to be removed and it is essential that these parts be retained by the mechanic and be readily retrievable for reinstallation. New parts may be needed to replace defective ones and these should also be conveniently accessible to the mechanic at the work area.
A cursory observation of the surfaces present within the engine compartment or the adjacent fender structures reveals that none are truly suited for resting tools and small parts. In fact, although the top of the air cleaner housing or the radiator baffle are sometimes called upon to serve this purpose, they are grossly inadequate. It is not uncommon for tools and parts to be unknowingly dislodged from these surfaces during repairs and to be lost within the engine compartment or dropped to the ground beneath the vehicle. Another problem faced by the mechanic stems from situations such as the unavailability of a replacement part, which precludes the immediate completion of the job. In this case, the mechanic, prior to starting a new job, must carefully store all the parts he has accumulated in a safe place, such as his work bench or tool box, being careful not to intermix them with other parts which he may have on hand.
In order to make present day automotive repairs less tedious and time consuming, what is needed is a portable bench which may be easily installed by a mechanic over the engine compartment prior to starting the repair job. Such a bench should advantageously provide means for resting tools, parts, nuts, bolts and other related materials prior to and during the repair of items such as water pumps, timing chains, alternators, power steering pumps, and carburetors. Additionally, the bench should be readily removable from the engine compartment and should provide temporary storage of parts, without the danger of their loss, when the completion of a job must be postponed. The automotive bench of the present invention fills such a need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a compact, easily installed automotive bench which is universally adaptable to the engine compartment of vehicles of different size and design.
The automotive bench is comprised of a substantially planar, elongated, main body for supporting a pair of opposed drawers in sliding relationship to one another. The dimensions of the bench are chosen such that when the drawers are in a closed position, they are concealed within the main body. A support assembly is removably attached to the front of each of the drawers by a locking-knob assembly.
In use, the hood of the vehicle is raised and the bench is oriented at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Either one or both of the drawers, as desired or required by the transverse distance across the engine compartment, are slid outward from the main body to permit the support assemblies to engage the respective opposite fenders of the vehicle.
The invention contemplates the use of a basic support assembly for application on many vehicles, and a universal support assembly of somewhat more complex design for use with substantially all vehicles. Both support assemblies are attached to the fronts of the drawers in the same manner and both include an angle section at one extremity thereof. The horizontal portion of the angle section rests upon the top of the fender, while the vertical portion engages the vertical edge of the fender normally abutting the hood when the latter is closed. A magnet disposed in the vertical section contacts the metallic fender and serves to retain the bench in place. The universal support assembly includes additional means for engaging the fender and is particularly useful where the fender is of nonmetallic material such as fiber glass or nonmagnetic, as stainless steel. A contoured, spring-loaded, fender-gripping arm is included in the universal support assembly. In operation, after the angle section has been placed into contact with the fender, the arm is pivoted into contact with the contoured portion of the fender. Locking means included within the assembly retain the arm in contact with the fender and the bench in position.
The contoured arm of the universal support assembly is releasably attached, and the invention contemplates the use of a set of such arms having different contours and dimensions to accommodate varying fender configurations. The locking-knob assembly permits the bench to be oriented at a desired angular position regardless of the slope of the fenders or the pitch of the vehicle.
During the use of the bench, small parts, tools and the like may be placed on the upper surface of the main body or in the drawers, and the main body may be slid from one extremity of the bench to the other, thereby exposing all or a portion of the contents in either of the drawers as desired. When the bench is removed from the vehicle, parts remaining in the drawers will be retained therein when the drawers are closed.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the detailed description which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is an exploded pictorial view of the automotive bench of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bench of FIG. 1 illustrating the opposed drawers in respective open and closed positions relative to the main body.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the bench shown in an operative condition, traversing the engine compartment, and supported on opposite fenders.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the bench taken along the lines 4--4 of FIG. 2 and illustrating the basic support assembly.
FIG. 5 is a section view taken along lines 5--5 of FIG. 4 and illustrating the mounting of the support assembly on the front of a drawer, by the locking-knob assembly.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged section view taken along lines 6--6 of FIG. 2 and showing details of one of the pair of stop knobs mounted on the main body.
FIG. 7 illustrates the use of ball bearing glides as an alternative to the surface-to-surface glides illustrated in the remaining figures.
FIG. 8 is an exploded pictorial view illustrating one side of a universal support assembly for attachment to the front of a drawer.
FIG. 9 is an exploded pictorial view of the opposite side of the support assembly of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 illustrates the attachment of the support assembly of FIGS. 8 and 9 to the drawer and the disposition of the assembly on the vehicle fender prior to locking the support in position.
FIG. 11 shows the support assembly of FIG. 10 locked into engagement with the vehicle fender.
FIG. 12 is a view taken along lines 12--12 of FIG. 10 further detailing the orientation of a locking lever in the universal support assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate in pictorial fashion the automotive bench 10 of the present invention. The bench is comprised of a main body 12 capable of receiving and supporting a pair of opposed drawers 14. The main body 12 is generally rectangular in cross section and includes internal concave glide channels 16. The channels 16 are formed in the upper and lower planar surfaces of the main body adjacent the corners thereof and traversing its length. The channels 16 form a narrow, raised rib section 18 on opposite sides of the external, upper and lower body surfaces. With respect to the upper body surface, the rib 18 serves to retain the small items rested upon the surface.
The drawers 14 each have pairs of longitudinal side glides 20 having a complementary convex structure to that of the channels 16 in the main body 12. The drawers 14 may be disposed within the main body, where they are supported, as seen particularly in FIG. 2, in sliding relationship with one another, as indicated by arrows 21. The drawers 14 may include dividers 22, angled for example, to accommodate a range of automotive sockets (not shown). A basic support assembly 24 is shown attached to the front of each drawer 14 by a locking-knob assembly 26. The basic support assemblies are designed to contact the fenders of the vehicle and to retain the bench in place, as will be described in detail hereinafter.
The main body 12 includes a pair of stop knobs 28 which when actuated, prevent relative movement of the body 12 and the drawers 14 when the bench is in use. The main body also includes windows 30 in the upper surface to provide visual inspection of the contents of the drawers 14.
In FIG. 3, the automotive bench 10 of FIG. 2 is shown traversing a vehicle engine compartment (not illustrated) and supported on opposite fenders 32 by the basic support assemblies 24. start here
The design of the basic support assembly 24 is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. Thus, the basic support assembly 24 is comprised of a generally planar, truncated triangular body member 34 having an aperture 36 adjacent the narrow portion thereof. The basic support assembly 24 is attached to the front of a drawer 14 by a locking-knob assembly 26, as best seen in FIG. 5. The latter assembly is comprised of a screw 38 centrally mounted within the drawer 14 and protruding from the front thereof. The assembly further includes a washer 40 and a threaded knob 42. In attaching the support assembly 24 to the drawer 14, the screw 38 passes via washer 40, through aperture 36, into knob 42, which when actuated bears against the assembly and locks it into place. It should be noted that as indicated by arrows 44 in FIG. 4, the bench 10 is pivotally mounted by way of the support assembly 24 to provide a desired angular relationship of the bench 10 to the fenders 32.
With continued reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the body member 34 of the basic support assembly 24 includes at one extremity thereof, a ledge 46 which traverses member 34 and forms inverted "L" sections with coplanar portion 34a of member 34. The ledge 46, which is the horizontal section of the "L" rests upon the top of the fender 32, while the vertical portion 34a of the "L" engages the vertical edge of the fender normally abutting the hood when the latter is closed. The vertical portion 34a provides two spaced-apart sections. The space 48 therebetween accommodates items within the engine compartment, such as the rubber hood bumpers (not shown), to allow for more convenient placement of the bench. A magnet 50 is disposed in each of the vertical sections 34a to contact the metallic fender 32 and to retain the bench 10 in place. A strip of resilient material 52 is affixed to the ledge 46 to prevent scratching of the fender surface.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of one of the pair of stop knobs 28 illustrated for example in FIG. 1. The stop knobs 28 include a screw 54 having at one extremity thereof a knob 56 and a high-friction disk 58 at its opposite extremity. The screw 54 is mounted in a threaded aperture 59 in the front wall of the main body 12. Rotation of the knob 56 in a direction to move the disk 58 into contact with the side of the drawer 14, prevents relative movement of the drawer 14 and the main body. As will be described hereinafter the stop knobs 28 are utilized during the operation of the bench 10.
The glides 16 and 20 shown in FIGS. 1-6 are assumed to be made of low friction material such that the drawers 14 and the main body 12 may be easily slid back and forth with respect with one another. If desired however, as seen in FIG. 7, ball bearings 60 may be utilized in the glides.
With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is illustrated in pictorial fashion opposite sides of a universal support assembly 62 which may be directly substituted for the basic support assembly 24 described hereinbefore. As in the latter assembly, the universal support assembly 62 includes a generally planar body member 64 having an aperture 66 adjacent one extremity thereof for permitting its attachment to the front of drawer 14 by the locking-knob assembly 26. The opposite extremity of body member 64 is formed into a pair of spaced-apart inverted "L" sections 68. The horizontal legs 68a of the "L" project at right angles from the body member 64 and terminate in respective vertical legs 68b which lie in a plane parallel to, but spaced apart from the body member 64. As in the basic support assembly 24 a protective pad 70 is affixed to the underside of the horizontal legs 68a, and magnetic elements 72 are disposed within the vertical legs 68b.
A contoured, fender-gripping arm 74 is provided. A narrow box-like receptacle 76, open at least at one extremity, is disposed within the space 78 between the "L" sections 68, and is attached to the body member 64 by a hinge assembly 80 which is spring loaded by coil spring 80a. The arm 74 is formed with a straight section 74a at one extremity thereof which permits its insertion into the receptacle 76. A lever 82 having an elongated slot 84 is slidably mounted within grooved members 86 disposed on the side of the body member 64 opposite to that on which the hinge assembly 80 is mounted. The lever 82 includes a foot 82a which contacts the outer surface of arm 74. The lever performs a locking function which will be described hereinafter in connection with the operation of the bench.
In use, with reference to FIGS. 1-3, the hood of the vehicle is raised, and the bench 10 is oriented across the engine compartment. Assuming that the drawers 14 are closed and locked within the main body 12, the stop knobs 28 are turned outward to permit the drawers 14 to be opened. If the bench 10 is fitted with the basic support assembly 24, as seen in FIG. 3, the horizontal ledge 46 is placed upon the top of the fender 32 while the vertical sections 34a abut the vertical side of the fender. The locking-knob assembly 26 is loosened to permit the bench to be oriented in a desired angular position (arrows 44, FIG. 4), and then tightened to retain that position. The magnets 50 disposed within the vertical portions 34a as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, exert a force on the metallic fender 32 and keep the bench 10 in position while the main body 12 is positioned with respect to the drawers 14. Thereafter, the stop knobs 28 are turned inward to prevent any further motion, at least for the time being, between the main body 12 and the drawers 14. As the work progresses, access to the drawers 14 may be had by releasing the stop knobs 28, moving the main body 12 to any desired position along the bench 10, and then tightening the knobs.
It is apparent from the foregoing that the magnets 50 play an important role in maintaining the bench in position, while the stop knobs 28 are released and the main body 12 is slid back and forth. It is recognized that the majority of the vehicles on which the bench will be used are made with metallic fenders, and the basic support assembly 24 is well suited for such applications.
On the other hand, if the bench 10 is fitted with the universal support assembly 62 depicted in FIGS. 8 and 9, the bench 10 may be used with all types of fenders, whether made of magnetic, nonmagnetic, or nonmetallic material. The initial orientation of the bench, so fitted, is the same as that described hereinbefore. FIG. 10 shows the universal support assembly 62 attached to the front of a drawer 14 by the locking-knob assembly 26. The screw 38 of the last mentioned assembly passes through the aperture 66 in the body member 64, through slot 84 of lever 82, into knob 42. With continued reference to FIG. 10, after the angle sections 68 have been disposed on the fender 88, the knob 42 is loosened, and the arm 74 is pivoted downward in the direction of arrow 90, until the protective material 92 on its underside contacts the fender. As seen in FIG. 11, when arm 74 is pivoted downward, lever 82 slides downward by gravity thereby keeping its foot 82a in contact with the outer surface of the arm 74. The knob 42 is then tightened as seen in FIG. 12, thereby locking both the arm 74 against the fender via lever 82 and the bench 10 in a desired angular orientation.
Since the arm 74, also shown in phantom in FIG. 10, is easily inserted in the direction of the arrow 94 and readily removed from the receptacle 76, a set of such arms having different contours and dimensions may be provided to accommodate the fender configurations of a variety of vehicles. If desired, the universal support assembly 62 may be utilized without arm 74, in those situations where the fenders are made of magnetic material and the additional gripping force of the arm is not needed
In conclusion, there has been disclosed a bench for resting small items during repair or adjustment operations. The portability of the bench, its compactness, its ability to provide temporary storage for small items, and its universality make it especially attractive for use in the automotive field. It is apparent that changes and modifications in the bench which are within the skill of the mechanical designer, may be required to suit particular applications. For example, as described hereinbefore, the bench may be constructed of plastic-type materials, such as Fiberglass, to provide strength with minimum weight. Other materials may be utilized. Moreover, illumination means may be attached to the underside of the bench. Such changes and modifications, in so far as they are not departures from the true scope of the invention, are intended to be covered by the claims which follow. | The present disclosure describes a portable bench which finds particular application in the automotive field. The bench is comprised of a main body for supporting a pair of opposed drawers in sliding relationship to one another. When the drawers are in a closed position, they are concealed within the main body. A support assembly is removably attached to the front of each of the drawers. In use, the bench is oriented at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The drawers are slid outward from the main body to permit the support assemblies to engage the respective opposite fenders of the vehicle. Tools, parts and related materials may be rested upon the main body which can be slid from one extremity of the bench to the other. Items placed in the drawers during use of the bench may be temporarily stored therein when the bench is removed from the vehicle and the drawers closed. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Water-base latex paint is comprised of an aqueous dispersion of pigments and latex particles that impart substrate hide, water resistance, and durability to the solid paint film. Other components such as dispersants, surfactants, and thickeners are added to the liquid paint to maintain a stable dispersion and suspension of the pigments and latex particles. Solvents, bases, defoamers, and biocides are also incorporated to improve liquid stability, application performance and film formation properties. The chemical composition of water-base latex paints is designed to allow dispersion of components in water, yet maintain water resistance upon curing and forming a dry paint film. Essentially, the compositions are designed to contain a hydrophobic component for water resistance as a paint film, and a hydrophilic component to improve stability, solubility, and dispersion in the liquid aqueous phase.
[0002] A latex polymer is a high molecular weight component which imparts water resistance and durability to the dry paint film. These latex polymers include polymerization and co-polymerization products of: vinyl acetate, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, styrene, alpha-methyl styrene, butadiene, acrylates, methacrylates, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile containing monomers. Particularly important are polymers and co-polymers of alkyl acrylates, alkyl methacrylates, styrene, and vinyl acetate.
[0003] Nonionic surfactants, nonionic and anionic dispersants, nonionic thickeners, anionic alkali swellable thickeners, and water soluble cellulosic thickeners are used in paint compositions to separate, suspend and stabilize latex particles and pigment particles. Generally, the structures of these paint components contain a hydrophobic functionality synthetically combined with a hydrophillic functionality. Inorganic pigments are relatively heavy particles that would agglomerate and settle at the bottom of a container of latex paint without the use of anionic surfactants as well as various dispersants and thickeners for suspension.
[0004] Latex polymers are the film-forming portions of the paint film, and are prepared by an emulsion polymerization reaction. Aggregation of polymer particles is typically discouraged by including a stabilizing surfactant in the polymerization mix. In general, the growing latex particles are stabilized during emulsion polymerization by one or more surfactants such as an anionic or nonionic surfactant, or a mixture thereof, as is well known in the polymerization art. Many examples of surfactants suitable for emulsion polymerization are given in McCutcheon's Detergents and Emulsifiers (MC Publishing Co., Glen Rock, N.J.), published annually. Generally, emulsion polymerization consists of using nonionic surfactants to create monomer micelles within the water phase.
[0005] Nonionic surfactants are generally low molecular weight hydrophobic carbon chains that also contain hydrophilic segments. Upon addition of sufficient surfactant and mechanical agitation, the hydrophobic end groups associate with each other to form micelles, and the hydrophilic segments extend into the water phase.
[0006] The micelles are a locus for the polymerization reaction. The hydrophobic monomers, initiators, and terminators of the polymeric reaction migrate within the micelle. As the polymerization reaction progresses, the polymer products are suspended within these micelles. Such emulsion polymerization produces latex polymers that are contained in the micelles. Once added to the latex polymer emulsions, associative thickeners can also suspend these micelles through partial absorption of the thickener's hydrophobes into the micelle. The thickener's hydrophobes associate with the hydrophobic polymer and the micelle's nonionic surfactant hydrophobic component as well as other thickener hydrophobes to create hydrophobic networks. These networks increase viscosity, suspension and separation of polymer micelles.
[0007] The effectiveness of the latex polymer in forming a film after the paint has been deposited upon a surface depends upon the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymer and the temperature at which the paint film is allowed to dry. Coalescing aids, compounds compatible with the polymer, have been used in latex paints to plasticize (soften) the latex polymer to allow the formation of a continuous film with optimum coating properties once the water has evaporated. Without the coalescing aid, the coatings may crack and fail to adhere to the substrate when dry. Traditionally, such coalescing aids (generally alcohol esters and ethers) are volatile and leave the film after they have enabled the polymer to coalesce into an integral film. Once the coalescing aids are gone, the original hardness of the polymer, defined by its initial Tg, returns yielding a tougher and more resistant coating.
[0008] The linkages through which a hydrophilic group and a hydrophobic group are combined in a single component or additive are critical in maintaining the structural integrity and avoiding compositional degradation. Hydrolysis is the major reaction that can occur in an aqueous environment. Thickeners, surfactants, and other components generally use ester, ether, or urethane linkages to combine the hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties. The choice of linkages is determined by cost, process feasibility, and end use value.
[0009] Ester linkages can be susceptible to hydrolysis to varying degrees depending upon the structure of the ester and its chemical environment. If the ester is hydrolyzed, the end use functionality is reduced or terminated and in-can stability is no longer provided by the additive. One or more carbon chains attached near the ester linkage create stearic hindrance and afford some protection for the ester carbonyl from hydrolysis. The art teaches alkali swellable hydrophobic thickeners which utilize an ester linkage. Ester linkages are found on hydrophobic ester alcohols used as coalescing aids. These coalescing aids migrate to the hydrophobic interior of a latex micelle. Components within hydrophobic portions of a micelle are shielded from water contact which help to reduce cleavage by hydrolysis.
[0010] Ether linkages are more stable under hydrolytic conditions than ester linkages. Ether alcohol solvents are used as drying solvents for water base paints although these compositions also act as coalescing aids. Glycol ethers generally reside in the water phase of the paint; therefore, the ether linkage is helpful to prevent hydrolysis.
[0011] Urethane bonds are useful chemical bonds for components that require functionality within the water phase of the paint. Usually one or more hydrophobes are incorporated in isocyanate containing compounds. This adduct is reacted with a hydroxy-containing water-soluble component, resulting in a urethane linkage. Urethane linkages are much less prone to hydrolysis than ester linkages, and are therefore used extensively in ethoxylated polyurethane thickeners and associative alkali swellable thickeners.
[0012] Generally the hydrophobe group is a nonyl-phenol, octyl-phenol or octadecyl. The general structure is a substituted phenol ring containing a carbon chain of various lengths. The hydroxyl group of the phenol is the locus for chemically attaching a hydrophilic functional group to yield an additive with the functionality of a surfactant or thickener. The reaction can vary based on the linkage requirement for hydrolytic stability.
[0013] Thickeners, also referred to as rheology modifiers, have several roles in aqueous systems. They increase viscosity, maintain viscosity at required levels under specified processing conditions, provide improved stability, pigment suspension and application properties. Thickeners are used in coatings to impart viscosity through water-soluble hydrodynamic thickening (hydrogen bonding) and hydrophobic associative thickening mechanisms. The hydrophobic and hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance are critical to control the suspension, flow and stability/suspension properties of paint. Thus, thickeners can be used to control the balance of hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, and, consequently, the degree of water sensitivity in a paint film.
[0014] Many natural and synthetic thickeners are known. Natural thickeners include, for example, casein, alginates, xanthan gum, gum tragacanth, and modified celluloses, such as methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose and carbomethoxy cellulose. These natural products vary in their thickening efficiency and generally provide poor flow and leveling properties. They are subject to microbial attack and require the additional presence of antimicrobial agents. Synthetic thickeners include various acrylic polymers and maleic anhydride copolymers. Polyethylenes have found particular application as latex paint thickeners. Thickening properties of some of these thickeners are found to be one or more of the following: pH dependent, hydrolytically unstable, inefficient thus requiring large amounts of thickener to effectively increase viscosity, and/or sensitive to various components normally found in aqueous coatings.
[0015] A variety of methods have been used to improve the thickening properties of aqueous solutions. For example, the effect of added surfactant on aqueous phase viscosity in the presence of hydrophobically-modified urethane-ethoxylate polymers is disclosed by M. Hulden in Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 82, pp 263-277 (1996).
[0016] Hydrophobe-modified, water-soluble polymers, e.g., hydrophobically modified cellulose ethers, have found extensive use in the latex paint industry as additives to provide associative thickening and rheology modification. Associative thickening can be described as a thickening mechanism whereby the hydrophobic substituents of the polymer molecules interact intra- or intermolecularly with other hydrophobes to provide desirable thickening characteristics such as high viscosity at low shear. In many cases, the hydrophobic substituents of the polymers can affect the rheology of the latex composition providing enhanced flow and leveling properties. Typical hydrophobic substituents used to derivatize polymers such as cellulose ethers include long chain alkyl epoxides, e.g., 1,2-epoxyhexadecane and glycidyl ethers with long alkyl chains, e.g., nonylphenyl glycidyl ether. Thus, the hydrophobe-modified, water-soluble polymers are additives in latex compositions.
[0017] Accordingly, hydrophobe-modified cellulose ether derivatives are desired which can provide associative thickening and theological modification properties to latex compositions for the purposes of storage and application of the latex to a surface to be coated.
[0018] Cellulose ethers have been used widely in the paint industry as thickeners for emulsion paints. Although these products like hydroxyethyl cellulose, methylcellulose derivatives, ethylhydroxyethyl cellulose and carboxymethyl-cellulose provide the paints with a number of good paint properties, these materials demonstrate shortcomings in the area of rheology.
[0019] Associative cellulose ethers possess better performance properties. However, associative thickeners like hydrophobically modified ethoxylated urethanes (HEURS) are not useful as a single thickener in medium to highly pigmented latex paints because the amount of binder present in these paints is relatively low. Associative thickeners like hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HMHEC) were developed. These HMHEC products perform well in flow, film build, and spatter resistance in paints as compared to products prepared with other well known cellulosic polymers. The HMHEC products thicken the paint by dual mechanism, i.e., water phase thickening and network formation through hydrophobic interactions, and can, therefore, be used as a single thickener. The HMHEC products are hydrophobically modified cellulose ether derivatives modified with long chain alkyl groups described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,277 and 4,352,916. Other patents that describe different hydrophobically modified cellulose ethers useful in paints are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,902,733, 5,124,445 and 5,120,838.
[0020] Thickeners for aqueous solutions, which are effective irrespective of the surfactant type, belong to the group of water-soluble polymers. Suitable additives here are cellulose derivatives and xanthans. Polyethylene glycol derivatives (German Patent 3,140,160), polyol monoethers (European Patent 0,303,187), fatty acid-esterified polyoxyalkylene ethers of glycerol or propane-1,2-diol (German Patent 3,239,564) or other polyhydric alcohols (German Patent 3,843,224), and alkylpolyethylene glycol ether fatty acid esters (German Patent 3,541,813), for example, have also been disclosed. The thickening action of these additives is presumably due to a highly hydrated lattice build up, resulting in the partial immobilization of water.
[0021] A non-urethane thickener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,684 which teaches latex compositions containing from about 0.1% to about 3.0% of a compound of the general formula R-X-(water soluble polyether)-X-R′ wherein R and R′ are water insoluble hydrocarbon residues; X is a connecting linkage selected from the group consisting of an ether linkage, an ester linkage, an amide linkage, an imino linkage, a urethane linkage, an sulfide linkage, or a siloxane linkage. U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,684 also teaches that the preferred water soluble polyether is a polyethylene oxide polymer having a molecular weight of from 3,000 to 35,000 or an ethylene oxide-propylene oxide copolymer having a molecular weight of from 3,000 to 35,000.
[0022] A common feature of these thickeners is the simultaneous presence of linear or branched polymers which contain hydrophilic segments (e.g., polyether chains containing at least 5 alkylene oxide units, preferably ethylene oxide units), hydrophobic segments (e.g., hydrocarbon segments containing at least 6 carbon atoms) and urethane groups.
[0023] Typical thickeners can be categorized into one of the following four categories:
[0024] 1. Cellulosic thickeners are water-soluble polymers. These thickeners have cellulosic backbones with various molecular weight hydroxyl terminated ethylene oxide chains extending from the backbone. The water-soluble ethylene oxide chains, through hydrogen bonding with the water, swell and increase in molecular weight, resulting in an increase in the viscosity of the paint. Depending on the molecular weight and variation, as well as the number of ethylene oxide groups, the thickener controls the rheology of the paint and influences water sensitivity of the coating. An example of a cellulosic thickener described in the art is xanthan gum, which is a cellulosic composition containing a carboxyl functionality.
[0025] 2. Hydrophobically modified cellulosic thickeners are water-soluble polymers whereby the cellulosic hydroxyl groups have been modified to contain a hydrophobic moiety. This type of thickener increases viscosity hydro-dynamically through hydrogen bonding interactions with water. The hydrophobes associate with other hydrophobic components in the paint composition to form a network to increase its associative molecular weight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,262 describes a nonclumping, delayed action viscosity increasing agent comprising core particles of xanthan gum and an encapsulating coating of a fat derivative and a surfactant wherein the coating has a hydrophilic/lipophilic balance (HLB) of from 3.5 to 10. The fat derivative is selected from the group consisting of fatty acids and mono and diglycerides of fatty acids. The surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkali metal salts of fatty acids. Methods of forming the encapsulated particles are also disclosed. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,359 describes water dispersible thickeners comprising hydrophilic polymers coated with particulate fatty acids or the salts thereof. The composition is a blend of CE (CMC), starches and gums with finely divided particulate dispersant (more preferably from 2% to 20%) such as fatty acid or fatty acid salts (Al, Ca, Mg & Na stereate). Hydrophobic fumed silica was used for comparative purposes.
[0026] 3. Hydrophobically modified alkali swellable thickeners are polymerized with ethyl-acrylate, methacrylic acid, and a hydrophobe such as a nonyl-phenol. These thickeners thicken through hydrodynamic and associative thickening.
[0027] 4. Hydrophobically terminated ethoxylated urethane thickeners are relatively smaller molecular weight thickeners consisting of an ethylene oxide chain terminated with a hydrophobe such as octadecyl. Primarily this type of thickener increases viscosity by forming networks with other hydrophobic components, other urethane thickeners, latex particles, and nonionic surfactants. These low molecular weight thickeners can be water soluble depending on the degree of ethoxylation; thus, they can leach from the paint film. U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,485 teaches thickeners for aqueous systems which are water-soluble polymers having a molecular weight of at least 10,000 and which are comprised of hydrophobic segments each containing at least one monovalent hydrophobic group covalently bonded to the polymer. At least one of the hydrophobic segments has at least two hydrophobes thereby forming a bunch of hydrophobes within the hydrophobic segment. The hydrophobes within a bunched hydrophobic segment are in close association when they are separated by no more than about 50 covalently bonded, sequentially connected atoms. One example of such a polymer is made by reacting a polyurethane pre-polymer comprised of PEG 8000 and toluene diisocyanate with toluene diisocyanate and the diol formed by reaction of epichlorohydrin and a 10 mole ethylene oxide adduct of nonyl phenol.
[0028] In contrast to latex compositions, oil-based compositions, e.g., oil-based paints, commonly employ vegetable oils such as linseed oil or tung oil and/or vegetable oil co-reacted with other compounds (such as alkyd resins) as a component of the vehicle in the paint. The vegetable oils, which are also referred to in the art as “drying oils”, form crosslinked films upon exposure to air. Like all vegetable oils, these drying oils are triesters of various fatty acids and glycerol. However, unlike most vegetable oils, the fatty acids in drying oils have a very high degree of unsaturation (high iodine value), are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and generally have a majority of fatty acids that contain 3 or more double bonds (such as linolenic [cis-9-cis-12-cis-15-Octadecatrienoic] acid, eleostearic [cis-9-trans-11-trans-13-Octadecatrienoic] acid, and 4-Oxo-cis-9-trans-11-trans-13-Octadecatrienoic acid). Semi-drying oils have moderate to high degrees of unsaturation, and are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, but contain lower levels of fatty acids that have 3 or more double bonds. The use of such reactive drying oils in oil based paints helps to provide a paint film which is hard and durable. Thus, the drying oils and co-reacted vegetable oil products (alkyds) are desirable components of oil-based compositions. However, oil based compositions typically comprise large proportions of volatile organic compounds (“VOC's”) as solvents or additives, e.g., 380 to 450 grants per liter (“g/l”) or more. Such high concentrations of VOC's are environmentally undesirable.
[0029] Latex compositions, on the other hand, typically comprise very low concentrations of VOC's, e.g. less than about 250 g/l and thus are more environmentally compatible. Accordingly, it would be desirable to incorporate the drying oils of oil-based compositions into latex compositions to promote crosslinking of the latex compositions. However, the drying oils used in oil-based compositions are not water-soluble and accordingly cannot readily be used in latex compositions.
[0030] A latex or emulsion composition containing drying oils is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,203,720 and 6,174,948. The compositions disclosed in these patents contain crosslinkable monomers having a fatty acid residue derived from semi-drying or non-drying oils and chemically attached to ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids. The monomers are polymerized to yield a latex polymer resin with oxidative cross-linking capability. These paint and coating formulations are susceptible to the same HLB concerns described herein. The formulations may require typical additives to yield a stable in-can paint formulation. As noted above, the known additives lessen the durability and water-resistance of the dry paint film.
[0031] It is desirable to develop a latex paint formulation which incorporates components that can react during the curing process, and thereby help form a durable, water-resistant paint film. It is also desirable to reduce the amounts of the water soluble or water sensitive components which provide emulsifying and rheologic properties in the can but also can contribute to poorer properties of the dry coating. Typically, surfactants, thickeners and dispersants are generally lower molecular weight components that remain in the paint film, which can significantly reduce water resistance and durability of the paint film. These components are required to maintain stability in the aqueous phase for in-can storage, but can compromise the end use function of a paint film. The present invention is directed to a latex paint formulation comprised of unsaturated fatty-acid containing rheologic and emulsifying components capable of oxidative crosslinking during the curing process that yield dried films with improved coating durability and water-resistance. The fatty acid components reduce or eliminate the need for typical water soluble emulsifiers, dispersants and surfactants.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0032] The present invention is directed to a latex paint composition comprising polyunsaturated fatty acid containing additives derived from vegetable oils. In preferred embodiments, traditional water soluble additives such as thickeners, surfactants and dispersants are replaced with polyunsaturated fatty acid derivatives, adducts or polyunsaturated fatty acid containing polymers. The polyunsaturated fatty acid containing additives reduce or eliminate the need for traditional water soluble additives that lower the water resistance of the dry paint film. Additionally, the polyunsaturated fatty acid moieties are capable of oxidative crosslinking during the curing process, forming a dry paint film that is more durable and water-resistant than traditional latex paint compositions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0033] [0033]FIG. 1 depicts an increase in viscosity of the PSG#2B paint formulation with increasing levels of unsaturated fatty acid propylene glycol monoesters (PGME) [constant nonionic associative thickener concentration].
[0034] [0034]FIG. 2 depicts an increase in viscosity of paint formulations containing increasing levels of added of nonionic associative thickeners [constant concentration of either PGME or Texanol®].
[0035] [0035]FIG. 3 depicts the stability of latex particle dispersions containing PGME as shown by the gloss and sheen values of the paint formulations.
[0036] [0036]FIG. 4 depicts the stability of latex particle dispersions containing PGME as shown by the hide values of the paint formulations.
[0037] [0037]FIG. 5 depicts viscosity data of latex polymer blends with added coalescing aids only [no added thickeners].
[0038] [0038]FIGS. 6 and 7 depict scrub resistance data of paint formulations comprising additives of various fatty acid propylene glycol monoesters where the fatty acids are derived from different oils.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0039] The present invention is directed to latex paint compositions comprising additive components derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids. The latex paint composition comprises one or more additive components that contain a polyunsaturated fatty acid derivative, adduct or polyunsaturated fatty acid containing polymer. In one aspect of the present invention, the latex paint composition comprises the following components:
[0040] a. a latex polymer, and
[0041] b. one or more of the following:
[0042] i. a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety chemically attached to a water soluble polymer, said polymer being selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol, anionic and cellulosic polymers,
[0043] ii a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety chemically attached to an alcohol, and
[0044] iii. a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety chemically attached to a glycol or a polyol.
[0045] The latex polymer can be any latex polymer resin that is well known in the art for use in paints, coatings and the like. Useful latex polymers comprise addition-type polymers including polymerization and co-polymerization products of: vinyl acetate, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, styrene, alpha-methyl styrene, butadiene, acrylates, methacrylates, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride and acrylonitrile containing monomers. Particularly preferred are polymers and co-polymers of alkyl acrylates, alkyl methacrylates, styrene, and vinyl acetate. In preferred embodiments, the polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof is derived from a vegetable oil. Methods for obtaining fatty acids from vegetable oils are well known in the art. Preferred vegetable oils include soybean oil, linseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, canola oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, tung oil, perilla oil, oiticica oil, castor oil and safflower oil. Most preferably, the polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety is derived from soybean or linseed oil.
[0046] The polyunsaturated fatty acids or derivatives thereof may have been converted to or naturally contain conjugated sites of unsaturation.
[0047] If the polymer is polyethylene glycol or polypropylene glycol, at least one terminus of the polymer can be chemically attached through the carboxylic acid group of a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof via an ester, ether or urethane linkage. When the functionality is that of a surfactant, the size of the polyethylene glycol chain can vary depending upon the desired level of surface activity.
[0048] If the polymer is an anionic polymer, it is preferred that the polymer is comprised of vinyl monomers that includes, at least in part, acrylic acid and/or methacrylic acid, wherein said polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof is chemically attached to at least one of said monomers comprising said polymer. The chemical attachment is an ester, ether or urethane linkage. The vinyl monomer containing the polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof is subsequently polymerized to yield a polymer possessing hydrophobic traits from the fatty acid moieties and hydrophilic traits from the anionic polymer backbone.
[0049] If the polymer is cellulosic, it is envisioned that the cellulosic backbone can be any cellulosic polymer that contains one or more free hydroxyl groups. Preferred cellulosic polymers are xanthan gum, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose. The polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof can be synthetically attached to the cellulosic backbone through the free hydroxyl group via an ester, ether or urethane linkage.
[0050] If the latex paint composition contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof chemically attached to an alcohol, the chemical attachment is through an ester, ether or urethane linkage. In a preferred embodiment, the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 5 alcohols including methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, isopropanol or 1-butanol.
[0051] If the latex paint composition contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof chemically attached to a glycol, the chemical attachment is through an ester, ether or urethane linkage. In a preferred embodiment, the glycol is selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, propylene glycol and 1,3-propane diol or mixtures thereof. Most preferably, the glycol is ethylene glycol or propylene glycol.
[0052] If the latex paint composition contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof chemically attached to a polyol, the chemical attachment is through an ester, ether or urethane linkage. In a preferred embodiment, the polyol is selected from the group consisting of glycerine, trimethylol propane (TMP) and sorbitol.
[0053] Typical drying agents (certain metal soaps and salts) are well known in the art and can be incorporated in the compositions described herein.
[0054] Most preferably, the composition contains a plurality of polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof containing additives, each of which contribute as described herein to the curing process to produce a more durable, water-resistant coating compared to traditional latex paints. In this embodiment, the present invention is directed to a latex paint composition comprising:
[0055] 1. a latex polymer,
[0056] 2 a thickener comprised of a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety chemically attached to a polymer, wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene glycol, cellulosic and anionic polymers,
[0057] 3. a surfactant comprised of a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety chemically attached to one of the following:
[0058] a. a polyethylene glycol,
[0059] b. an alcohol or
[0060] c. a polyol, and
[0061] 4. a dispersant comprised of a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety chemically attached to a glycol, wherein said dispersant contains a free hydroxyl or a carboxyl group.
[0062] In this embodiment of the invention, the latex polymer can be any latex polymer resin that is well known in the art for use in paints, coatings and the like. It is preferred that the polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof is derived from a vegetable oil. Preferred vegetable oils include soybean oil, linseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, canola oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, tung oil, perilla oil, castor oil, oiticica oil and safflower oil. Most preferably, the polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety is derived from soybean or linseed oil.
[0063] The polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof may contain conjugated sites of unsaturation.
[0064] It is preferable that the thickener is comprised of at least one polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof that is chemically attached to a polymer, wherein the polymer is a polyethylene glycol, cellulosic or anionic polymer. If the thickener is comprised of a polymer of polyethylene glycol, at least one terminus of the polymer is chemically attached to a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof. The chemical attachment is an ester, ether or urethane linkage. If the thickener is comprised of an anionic polymer, it is preferred that the polymer is comprised of vinyl monomers, wherein at least one of the vinyl monomer is chemically attached to a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof. The chemical attachment is an ester, ether or urethane linkage. The vinyl monomer containing the polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof is subsequently polymerized to yield a polymer possessing hydrophobic traits from the fatty acid moieties and hydrophilic traits from the anionic polymer backbone. If the thickener is comprised of a cellulosic polymer, it is envisioned that the cellulosic backbone can be any cellulosic polymer that contains one or more free hydroxyl groups. Preferred cellulosic polymers are xanthan gum, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, and carboxymethylcellulose. The polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof can be synthetically attached to the cellulosic backbone through the free hydroxyl group via an ester, ether or urethane linkage.
[0065] If the surfactant is comprised of a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof and a polyethylene glycol, the polymer can be chemically attached through the carboxylic acid group of a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivatives thereof via an ester, ether or urethane linkage. The size of the polyethylene glycol chain can vary depending upon the desired level of surface activity. If the surfactant is comprised of a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof and an alcohol, the alcohol is selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 5 alcohols including methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, isopropanol or 1-butanol. More preferably, the alcohol is methanol or ethanol. The fatty acid or derivative thereof is chemically attached to the alcohol through an ester, ether or urethane linkage. If the surfactant contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof chemically attached to a glycol, the chemical attachment is through an ester, ether or urethane linkage. In a preferred embodiment, the glycol is selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, propylene glycol and 1,3-propane diol. Most preferably, the glycol contains a free hydroxyl or carboxyl group. If the surfactant contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof chemically attached to a polyol, the chemical attachment is through an ester, ether or urethane linkage. In a preferred embodiment, the polyol is selected from the group consisting of glycerine, trimethylol propane (TMP) and sorbitol.
[0066] In this aspect of the invention, a dispersant comprises a polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof that contains one or more of the following groups on the glycol: a free hydroxyl group or a free carboxyl group. More preferably the polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof is a polyunsaturated fatty acid mono-ester of a glycol
[0067] The term “polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof” as used herein refers to a polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety or an ester, ether, carbamate or amide derived from said polyunsaturated fatty acid moiety. Examples of a polyunsaturated fatty acid or a derivative thereof include polyunsaturated fatty acid mono-esters of glycols, such as linoleic acid mono-ester of ethylene glycol and linolenic acid mono-ester of propylene glycol.
[0068] The polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof can be derived from a vegetable oil, genetically modified vegetable oil, or chemically or enzymatically modified vegetable oil. The term “genetically modified vegetable oil” refers to an oil derived from a crop source that contains any gene alteration produced through genetic engineering techniques. Chemical or enzymatic modifications comprise any alteration of the physical or chemical properties of an oil, such as level of saturation, conjugation, or epoxidation.
[0069] Specifically, polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from vegetable oils can be used as a hydrophobe in formulation a latex paint composition. A polyunsaturated fatty acid contains a carbon chain typically 12 to 20 carbons in length, with a carboxylic acid end-group. A polyunsaturated fatty acid is hydrophobic due to the length of the carbon chain, which may contain conjugated or non-conjugated sites of unsaturation.
[0070] Polyunsaturated fatty acids or derivatives thereof possess three properties of a hydrophobe component raw material for use in an aqueous coating formulation. First, the polyunsaturated fatty acid derivative by virtue of its hydrophobicity behaves as a nonionic surfactant, and improves water resistance.
[0071] The efficiency of the polyunsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof in this respect is relative to generally used hydrophobes of compositions such as octyl-phenols and nonyl-phenols. Second, the fatty acids or derivatives thereof obtained from linseed oil and soy oils (and other unsaturated vegetable oils) contain unsaturated carbon bonds capable or further chemical reaction. These polyunsaturated fatty acid compositions, alone or synthetically combined with surfactants or thickeners functions similarly to typical hydrophobes in the dispersion, suspension, and stability of the aqueous paint. When applied as part of a coating on a substrate, the polyunsaturated fatty acid moieties could react, increasing the film hydrophobicity, water resistance, and film durability. Typical commercial hydrophobes such as nonylphenol do not contain sites of unsaturation. Thus, typical hydrophobes retain their initial molecular weight, and are relatively water-soluble or water-leachable components that detract from paint film performance. Third, polyunsaturated fatty acid glycol esters possess an affinity for metal surfaces due to a hydrophilic terminus. It would be expected that the carboxylic acid glycol ester terminus of a polyunsaturated fatty acid would display affinity for pigments which contain high-energy inorganic surfaces similar to metals. Essentially the polyunsaturated fatty acid derivative would act much like a dispersant. The affinity of the polyunsaturated fatty acid glycol ester towards metal should also improve adhesion of the paint film on alkyd or metal surfaces. Comparable or improved gloss and hide of the dry paint film versus paint compositions containing commercial dispersants would demonstrate optimum particle dispersion.
[0072] These polyunsaturated fatty acids are hydrophobes and would function similarly to typical commercial hydrophobes such as octyl-phenols and nonyl-phenols. The polyunsaturated fatty acid hydrophobes would have the added benefit of containing reactive sites through their unsaturation. When these polyunsaturated fatty acid hydrophobes are incorporated into the structures of associative thickeners, dispersants and surfactants used in latex paints, these reactive hydrophobes would yield chemically labile sites. These sites would be available for further reaction within the latex paint improving the properties and functionality of the coating.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
[0073] A study was initiated to evaluate the properties of propylene glycol mono-esters of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PGME) derived from soy oil in a latex paint formulation. A semi-gloss paint using a vinyl-acrylic copolymer (82%) and an acrylic copolymer at 18% ol total latex solids was used to evaluate the fatty acid ester. Tables 1-6 depict paint formulations, PSG#2B and PSG#2C.
[0074] The difference in the PSG#2B and PSG#2C formulations is in the amount of associative nonionic polyurethane thickeners. The polyunsaturated fatty acid propylene glycol ester (PGME) was added to the paint as a coalescing aid versus a commercial coalescing aids, e.g. Texanol®, on a percent latex weight solids basis (lbs./100 gallons). Data for PSG#2B paint formulation (FIG. 1) demonstrate the fatty acid ester (PGME) substantially increases Stormer viscosity (krebs units) versus commercial coalescing aids indicating substantial thickener properties in paints containing conventional non-ionic, associative thickeners. Typical paint viscosity increases due to emulsion particle swelling are indicated by the major commercial coalescing solvent, Texanol®. The thickening effect was further evaluated (FIG. 2) by reducing the associative nonionic polyurethane thickener (PSG#2C paint Formula) to obtain comparable viscosity. The 60 degree gloss and 85 degree sheen values (FIG. 3) demonstrate the polyunsaturated fatty acid ester maintains optimum latex particle dispersion, inhibiting particle flocculation or coagulation that would result in destabilizing particles, loss of gloss, and increases in viscosity. Hiding values (FIG. 4) are comparable to controls indicating pigment stability in the formulation rather than flocculation and agglomeration destabilization, which could cause viscosity increases. Thus, incorporation of PGME into latex paint formulations provided thickening of the paint in conjunction with the associative nonionic thickener. This thickening due to PGME allowed for reduction of the conventional associative thickener in the paint formulation while maintaining the original desired viscosity.
TABLE 1 Semi-Gloss Latex Interior Wall Paint Specs. Pounds Gallons Water VOC Total VOC Code Name NVM NVM LBS. LBS. Liters grms/ltr D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 45.50 0.00 BIO-95 NUOSEPT 95 Preservative 1.00 0.09 1.00 0.00 0.80 0.00 C16 SLOW SPEED T-40-AC Attagel-40 4.00 0.20 0.00 0.00 0.77 0.00 T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 2.00 0.20 0.00 0.00 0.76 0.00 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX MIN. DF-475-MO L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 2.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 C18 FAST SPEED 00-684 GRIND 20 MIN 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 #DIV/01 C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P Strodex PK-95G 1.62 0.16 0.30 0.08 0.79 55.45 NI-9-NP Tergitol NP-9 2.00 0.23 0.00 0.00 0.86 0.00 B-95-AMN AMP-95 0.00 0.00 0.11 2.09 1.06 937.40 DF-475-M L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 2.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 C27 MIX MIN. C16 SLOWSPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 51.58 0.00 23.47 0.00 S-1-G Propylene Glycol 0.00 0.00 0.00 30.21 13.27 1033.76 C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PU ACRYSOL RM-2020NPR 3.00 0.28 12.00 0.00 6.53 0.00 T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 1.73 0.10 8.14 0.00 4.08 0.00 D-5-SS TRITON GR-SM Anionic 0.30 0.02 0.10 0.10 0.22 258.10 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-9100-VA Rovace 9100 Latex Co-Po 182.04 18.49 148.94 0.00 137.85 0.00 L-6030-A Ucar 6030 Acrylic Latex C 39.96 4.21 50.86 0.00 39.11 0.00 C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO R-942 Gloss TIO 2 Slurry 250.00 7.63 76.80 0.00 63.84 0.00 C27 MIX 10 MIN. DF-475-M L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 2.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 USE AS NEEDED T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 27.16 0.00 12.36 0.00 C35 Hold Next Items S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 35.60 0.00 16.20 0.00 32-121 Texanol 0.00 0.00 0.00 17.80 8.52 947.95 00-000 Letdown Total: 493.65 32.41 512.59 50.28 378.99
[0075] [0075] TABLE 2 Semi-Gloss Latex Interior Wall Paint Specs PnvmW BnvmW PnvmW BnvmW Water Cost per Form. VOC Code Name WPG % wt % wt % vol % vol % wt LB Cost % wt D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### BIO-95 G NUOSEPT 95 Preservative 9.496 0.0000 0.5000 0.0000 0.4300 0.5000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C16 SLOW SPEED T-40-AC Attagel-40 19.660 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 10.000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX MIN. DF-475-MO G L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 7.600 0.1000 0.9000 0.0345 0.9655 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C18 FAST SPEED C36 GRIND 20 MIN 0.000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P G Strodex PK-95G 9.580 0.0000 0.8100 0.0000 0.7730 0.1500 0.0000 0.00 ##### NI-9-NP G Tergitol NP-9 8.800 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### B-95-AMN G AMP-95 7.850 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0500 0.0000 0.00 ##### DF-475-MO G L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 7.600 0.1000 0.9000 0.0345 0.9655 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX MIN. C16 SLOW SPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### S-1-G G Propylene Glycol 8.630 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PU G ACRYSOL RM-2020NPR 8.700 0.0000 0.2000 0.0000 0.1645 0.8000 0.0000 0.00 ##### T-8-PU G ACRYSOL RM-8W 9.163 0.0000 0.1750 0.0000 0.0925 0.8250 0.0000 0.00 ##### D-5-SS G TRITON GR-5M Anionic 8.563 0.0000 0.6000 0.0000 0.4036 0.2000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-9100-VA G Rovace 9100 Latex Co-Po 9.100 0.0000 0.5500 0.0000 0.5084 0.4500 0.0000 0.00 ##### L-6030-A G Ucar 6030 Acrylic Latex C 8.800 0.0000 0.4400 0.0000 0.4084 0.5600 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO G R-942 Gloss TIO 2 Slurry 19.400 0.7850 0.0000 0.4527 0.0000 0.2350 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX 10 MIN. DF-475-MO G 1-475 DREW DEFOAMER 7.600 0.1000 0.9000 0.0345 0.9655 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 USE AS NEEDED T-8-PU G ACRYSOL RM-8W 9.163 0.0000 0.1750 0.0000 0.0925 0.8250 0.0000 0.00 ##### S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C35 Hold Next Items S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### CS-2-EA G Texanol 7.914 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### 00-000 Letdown Total: 0.00
[0076] [0076] TABLE 3 Version # #2C Batch size 4.80 Code No. 50/50 PSG #2B & #2Badj Trade Name/Color Semi-Gloss Latex 100 Gallon Interior Wall Paint Description Pastel Base Reason for Change Reduced LBS. GAL. RM8W&RM2020 D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W Water 100.00 12.00 BIO-95 NUOSEPT 95 2.00 0.21 Preservative C16 SLOW SPEED T-40-AC Attagel-40 4.00 0.20 T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 2.00 0.20 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX MIN. DF-475-MO L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C18 FAST SPEED 00-684 GRIND 20 MIN C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P Strodex PK-95G 2.00 0.21 NI-9-NP Tergitol NP-9 2.00 0.23 B-95-AMN AMP-95 2.20 0.28 DF-475-M L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C27 MIX MIN. C16 SLOW SPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: 118.20 13.86 T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W Water 51.58 6.19 S-1-G Propylene Glycol 30.21 3.50 C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PU ACRYSOL RM- 15.00 1.72 2020NPR T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 9.87 1.98 D-5-SS TRITON GR-5M 0.50 0.06 Anionic C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-9100-VA Rovace 9100 Latex 330.98 36.37 Co-Polymer L-6030-A Ucar 6030 Acrylic 90.82 10.32 Latex Co-Polymer C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO R-942 Gloss TIO 2 326.80 16.85 Slurry C27 MIX 10 MIN. DF-475-MO L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 USE AS NEEDED T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 0.00 0.00 S-1-W Water 27.16 3.26 C35 ----- Hold Next Items S-1-W Water 35.60 4.27 32-121 Texanol 17.80 2.25 00-000 Letdown Total 938.32 86.14 Total: 1056.52 100.00 Viscosity (Ku): 90-96 VOC (grm/L) 156.06 Vis pH: 8.0-9.0 RMC: $0.00 60° Gloss: 40-55 PVC: 24.24 85 Sheen: WPG: 10.57 STD. Refl. (X) = % WT % VOL STD. Refl. (Y) = Pigment 24.10 7.86 STD. Refl. (Z) = Binder 22.63 24.39 Contrast Ratio: Total 46.72 32.41
[0077] [0077] TABLE 4 Semi-Gloss Latex Interior Wall Paint Specs. Pounds Gallons Water VOC Total VOC Code Name NVM NVM LBS. LBS. Liters grms/ltr D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 45.50 0.00 BIO-95 NUOSEPT 95 Preservative 1.00 0.09 1.00 0.00 0.80 0.00 C16 SLOW SPEED T-40-AC Attagel-40 4.00 0.20 0.00 0.00 0.77 0.00 T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 2.00 0.20 0.00 0.00 0.76 0.00 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX MIN. DF-475-MO L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 2.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 C18 FAST SPEED 00-684 GRIND 20 MIN 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 #DIV/01 C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P Strodex PK-95G 1.62 0.16 0.30 0.08 0.79 55.45 NI-9-NP Tergitol NP-9 2.00 0.23 0.00 0.00 0.86 0.00 B-95-AMN AMP-95 0.00 0.00 0.11 2.09 1.06 937.40 DF-475-MO L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 2.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 C27 MIX MIN. C16 SLOW SPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 51.58 0.00 23.47 0.00 S-1-G Propylene Glycol 0.00 0.00 0.00 30.21 13.27 1033.76 C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PL ACRYSOL RM-2020NPR 4.00 0.38 16.00 0.00 8.71 0.00 T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 3.00 0.17 14.14 0.00 7.09 0.00 D-5-SS TRITON GR-5M Anionic 0.30 0.02 0.10 0.10 0.22 258.10 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-9100-VA Rovace 9100 Latex Co-Po 182.04 18.49 148.94 0.00 137.85 0.00 L-6030-A Ucar 6030 Acrylic Latex C 39.96 4.21 50.86 0.00 39.11 0.00 C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO R-942 Gloss TIO 2 Slurry 250.00 7.63 76.80 0.00 63.84 0.00 C27 MIX 10 MIN. DF-475-MO L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 2.00 0.26 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 USE AS NEEDED T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 0.46 0.03 2.15 0.00 1.08 0.00 S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 13.42 0.00 6.11 0.00 C35 Hold Next Items S-1-W Water 0.00 0.00 35.60 0.00 16.20 0.00 32-121 Texanol 0.00 0.00 0.00 17.80 8.52 947.95 00-000 Letdown Total: 496.38 32.61 510.99 50.28 379.00
[0078] [0078] TABLE 5 Semi-Gloss Latex Interior Wall Paint Specs PnvmW BnvmW PnvmW BnvmW Water Cost per Form. VOC Code Name WPG % wt % wt % vol % vol % wt LB Cost % wt D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### BIO-95 G NUOSEPT 95 Preservative C16 SLOW SPEED 9.496 0.0000 0.5000 0.0000 0.4300 0.5000 0.0000 0.00 ##### T-40-AC Attagel-40 19.660 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 10.000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX MIN. DF-475-MO G L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 7.600 0.1000 0.9000 0.0345 0.9655 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C18 FAST SPEED 00-684 GRIND 20 MIN 0.000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P G Strodex PK-95G 9.580 0.0000 0.8100 0.0000 0.7730 0.1500 0.0000 0.00 ##### NI-9-NP G Tergitol NP-9 8.800 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### B-95-AMN G AMP-95 7.850 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0500 0.0000 0.00 ##### DF-475-M G L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 7.600 0.1000 0.9000 0.0345 0.9655 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX MIN. C16 SLOW SPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### S-1-G G Propylene Glycol 8.630 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PU G ACRYSOL RM-2020NPR 8.700 0.0000 0.2000 0.0000 0.1645 0.8000 0.0000 0.00 ##### T-8-PU G ACRYSOL RM-8W 9.163 0.0000 0.1750 0.0000 0.0925 0.8250 0.0000 0.00 ##### D-5-SS G TRITON GR-5M Anionic 8.563 0.0000 0.6000 0.0000 0.4036 0.2000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-9100-VA G Rovace 9100 Latex Co-Po 9.100 0.0000 0.5500 0.0000 0.5084 0.4500 0.0000 0.00 ##### L-6030-A G Ucar 6030 Acrylic Latex C 8.800 0.0000 0.4400 0.0000 0.4084 0.5600 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO G R-942 Gloss TIO 2 Slurry 19.400 0.7650 0.0000 0.4527 0.0000 0.2350 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX 10 MIN. DF-475-MO G L-475 DREW DEFOAMER 7.600 0.1000 0.9000 0.0345 0.9655 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 USE AS NEEDED T-8-PU G ACRYSOL RM-8W 9.163 0.0000 0.1750 0.0000 0.0925 0.8250 0.0000 0.00 ##### S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### C35 Hold Next Items S-1-W G Water 8.330 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### 32-121 G Texanol 7.914 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.00 ##### 00-000 Letdown Total: 0.00
[0079] [0079] TABLE 6 Version # #2B Batch size 4.95 Code No. Trade Name/Color Semi-Gloss Latex 100 Gallon Interior Wall Paint Description Pastel Base Reason for Change Coalescing Study LBS. GAL. D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W Water 100.00 12.00 BIO-95 NUOSEPT 95 2.00 0.21 Preservative C16 SLOW SPEED T-40-AC Attagel-40 4.00 0.20 T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 2.00 0.20 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX MIN. DF-475-MO L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C18 FAST SPEED 00-684 GRIND 20 MIN C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P Strodex PK-95G 2.00 0.21 NI-9-NP Tergitol NP-9 2.00 0.23 B-95-AMN AMP-95 2.20 0.28 DF-475-M L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C27 MIX MIN. C16 SLOW SPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: 118.20 13.86 T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W Water 51.58 6.19 S-1-G Propylene Glycol 30.21 3.50 C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PU ACRYSOL RM- 20.00 2.30 2020NPR T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 17.14 1.87 D-5-SS TRITON GR-5M 0.50 0.06 Anionic C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-9100-VA Rovace 9100 Latex 330.98 36.37 Co-Polymer L-6030-A Ucar 6030 Acrylic 90.82 10.32 Latex Co-Polymer C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO R-942 Gloss TIO 326.80 16.85 2 Slurry C27 MIX 10 MIN. DF-475-MO 1-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 USE AS NEEDED T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 2.60 0.28 S-1-W Water 13.42 1.61 C35 ----- Hold Next Items S-1-W Water 35.60 4.27 32-121 Texanol 17.80 2.25 00-000 Letdown Total 939.45 86.14 Total: 1057.65 100.00 Viscosity (Ku): 90-96 VOC (grm/L) 155.28 Vis pH: 8.0-9.0 RMC: $0.00 60° Gloss: 40-55 PVC: 24.10 85 Sheen: WPG: 10.58 STD. Refl. (X) = % WT % VOL STD. Refl. (Y) = Pigment 24.07 7.86 STD. Refl. (Z) = Binder 22.86 24.59 Contrast Ratio: Total 46.93 32.61
[0080] [0080] TABLE 7 Version # #2D Batch size 0.95 Code No. Trade Name/Color Semi-Gloss Latex 100 Gallon Interior Wall Paint Description Pastel Base Reason for Change Thickener Base (Ucar LBS. GAL. 367 latex) D1 Dispersion: Grind S-1-W Water 100.00 12.00 BIO-95 NUOSEPT 95 2.00 0.21 Preservative C16 SLOW SPEED T-40-AC Attagel-40 4.00 0.20 T-330-HEC HERCULES WSP D-330 2.25 0.23 C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 5 MIN. DE-022-Sil BYK-022 DEFOAMER 0.50 0.06 C18 FAST SPEED GRIND 20 MIN C17 MEDIUM SPEED D-95-P Strodex PK-95G 2.00 0.21 NI-9-NP Tergitol NP-9 2.00 0.23 B-95-AMN AMP-95 2.20 0.28 GRIND 10 MIN DF-475-MO L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C27 MIX 10 MIN. C16 SLOW SPEED C15 CHECK GRIND C23 END 00-000 Grind Total: 116.95 13.68 T1 Thindown Mix S-1-W Water 78.74 9.45 S-1-G Propylene Glycol 30.21 3.50 C16 SLOW SPEED T-2020-PU ACRYSOL RM- 0.00 0.00 2020NPR T-8-PU ACRYSOL RM-8W 0.00 0.00 D-5-SS TRITON GR-5M 0.50 0.06 Anionic DF-475-MO L-475 DREW 1.00 0.13 DEFOAMER C17 MEDIUM SPEED C27 MIX 10 MIN. C11 ADD DISPERSION C27 MIX 10 MIN. L-367-VA UCAR 367 Latex 330.98 36.37 Co-Polymer L-6030-A Ucar 6030 Acrylic 90.82 10.32 Latex Co-Polymer C27 MIX 10 MIN. P-942-TIO R-942 Gloss TIO 326.80 16.85 2 Slurry C27 MIX 10 MIN. 32-121 Texanol 13.32 1.68 DF-475-MO L-475 DREW 2.00 0.26 DEFOAMER C27 MIX MIN. C23 END C12 Paint Base Total 991.32 92.31 C12 USE AS NEEDED C35 ----- Hold Next Items T-8-PU thickener 40.71 4.44 S-1-W Water 27.01 3.24 00-000 Letdown Total 1948.73 86.31 Total: 1948.73 100.00 Viscosity (Ku): 90-96 VOC (grm/L) 144.34 pH: 8.0-9.0 RMC: #VALUE! 60° Gloss: 40-55 PVC: 24.24 85 Sheen: WPG: 20.66 STD. Refl. (X) = % WT STD. Refl. (Y) = Pigment 12.32 STD. RefI. (Z) = Binder 11.68 Contrast Ratio: Total 24.00
Example 2
[0081] Latex Evaluation
[0082] A vinyl-acrylic copolymer and acrylic copolymer blend (18% on total latex weight solids) was evaluated with various amounts of Texanol® or the fatty acid propylene glycol ester (PGME) to determine mechanism of thickening. No other paint additives or thickeners were added. The latex particle coalescing aids were added from zero to 8% at 2% increments based on latex weight solids. Latex viscosities were evaluated using a Stormer viscometer (krebs units) and a Brookfield viscometer (cPs). Viscosity data (FIG. 5) demonstrates that the viscosities were equal between the coalescing aids with no significant increase using the polyunsaturated fatty acid ester. The slight viscosity increases observed with increasing percent amount of coalescent aid are typical of viscosity increases due to slight emulsion particle swelling upon addition and migration of the coalescing aid into the emulsion particle.
Example 3
[0083] A scrub test was performed to determine the film integrity and water resistance of dry paint films of paint formulations containing propylene glycol fatty acid monoesters (PGME). Various polyunsaturated fatty acid moieties derived from vegetable oils were chemically attached to propylene glycol through ester linkages. Panels were coated with one of the paint formulations containing a PGME and allowed to cure over a period of one week. Each panel was placed on a scrub machine. The scrub machine moves a wire brush over the panel in a back and forth motion. Each forward and backward scrub is counted as one cycle. When a paint film breaks completely through exposing the substrate (failure), the cycle number is recorded. Data represents the number of cycles in percentage relative to control. A control panel is tested for each panel tested with a test paint formulation. Each paint formulation is tested in duplicate. Scrub resistance data (FIGS. 6 and 7) demonstrate the improvement in durability of a paint film that contains PGME versus Texanol®. The data shown in FIG. 6 represent scrub tests for three separate PGME containing formulations of each specified vegetable oil versus Texanol® containing paint formulations. The left bar shows the results of the test using a 6% PGME containing the polyunsaturated acid moiety derived from the specified vegetable oil versus 6% Texanol® as a control. The formulations did not contain a metal drying agent. The middle bar represents the same formulations with a metal drying agent. The right bar shows the results of an experiment using 12% PGME formulations and a 12% Texanol® formulation versus 6% Texanol® as a control. The data show that the formulations containing the polyunsaturated fatty acid additive possess a more durable coat compared to Texanol®.
Example 4
[0084] Synthesis of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Fatty Acid Diester Reactive Associative Thickener for Latex Paints
[0085] Poly(ethylene oxide) (50 g, <M n >=15210 g/mol, (M w >=15990 g/mol) was added to a solution of soybean oil methyl esters (100 g), N-methyl-2pyrrolidone (30 mL) and potassium carbonate (2.0 g, 0.014 mol) in a 250 mL round bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar, condenser, vacuum adapter, and receiving flask. The molecular weight of the poly(ethylene oxide) was determined by gel permeation chromatography (FIG. 8). The reaction mixture was heated 150-155° C. under vacuum and allowed to stir for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled below 100° C. and precipitated into a solution of hexane and ethyl acetate (5:1). The white precipitate was recovered via suction filtration and dried under vacuum. The average molecular weight of the product, determined by gel permeation chromatography, was found to be 15810 g/mol with a polydispersity index of 1.04 (FIG. 9).
Example 5
[0086] Synthesis of Reactive Associative Thickener for Latex Paints
[0087] Poly(ethylene oxide) 30.5 g, <M n >=15210 g/mol, <M 2 >=15990 g/mol) was added to a solution of epoxidized soybean oil (0.9 g), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (35 mL) and potassium carbonate (1.0 g, 0.007 mol) in a 250 mL round bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar, condenser, vacuum adapter, and receiving flask. The molecular weight of poly(ethylene oxide) was determined by gel permeation chromatography (FIG. 8). The reaction mixture was heated to 150-155° C. under vacuum and allowed to stir for 1 hour. Soybean oil methyl esters (40 mL) were then added to the reaction mixture. The reaction mixture was allowed to stir for an additional 15 hours. The reaction mixture was then cooled below 100° C. and precipitated into a solution of hexane and ethyl acetate (5:1). The white precipitate was recovered via suction filtration and dried under vacuum. The number average molecular weight of the product, determined by gel permeation chromatography, was found to be 16250 g/mol with a polydispersity index of 1.05 (FIG. 10).
Example 6
[0088] Evaluation of Poly(ethylene oxide) as an Associative Thickener in Latex Paint
[0089] Latex paint formula #2D shown in Table 7 was used for thickener evaluation. The latex paint had an initial viscosity of 60 KU (stormer) and ˜a0.2 (ICI) before the addition of any thickener. Latex paint (260 g) was added to a half-pint can. Poly(ethylene oxide) (2.3 g) used in the previous examples was premixed with 1.9 g of butyl carbitol and 15 mL of demonized water in a 25 mL heaker. The poly(ethylene oxide) solution was added to the latex paint with over head stirring at 1000 RPM. The viscosity of the latex paint was 57 KU after the addition of the PEO solution. Therefore, poly(ethylene oxide) did not show any thickening effect in the latex paint.
Example 7
[0090] Evaluation of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Diester as an Associative Thickener in Latex Paint
[0091] Latex paint formula #2D shown in Table 7 was used for thickener evaluation. The latex paint had an initial viscosity of 60 KU (stormer) before the addition of any thickener. Latex paint (281.2 g) was added to half-pint can. Poly(ethylene oxide)-fatty acid diester (2.16 g) from Example 1 was premixed with 2.16 g of butyl carbitol and 13.9 g of deionized water in a 25 mL beaker. The premixed solution was added to the latex paint with overhead stirring at 1000 RPM. The viscosity of the latex paint was 73.4 KU (stormer) and 0.55 (ICI) after the addition of the thickener solution.
Example 8
[0092] Evaluation of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Epoxidized Soybean Oil-Fatty Acid Ester as an Associative Thickener in Latex Paint
[0093] Latex paint formula #2D shown in Table 7 was used for thickener evaluation. The latex paint had an initial viscosity of 60 KU (stormer) before the addition of any thickener. Latex paint (281.2 g) was added to a half-pint can. Poly(ethylene oxide)-epoxidized soybean oil-fatty acid ester (2.16 g) from Example 2 was premixed with 2.16 g of butyl carbitol and 13.9 g of deionized water in a 25 mL beaker. The premixed solution was added to the latex paint with overhead stirring at 1000 RPM. The viscosity of the latex paint was 101.6 KU (stormer) and 1.31 (ICI) after the addition of the thickener solution.
[0094] Having now fully described this invention, it will be understood to those of ordinary skill in the art that the same can be performed within a wide and equivalent range of conditions, formulations, and other parameters without affecting the scope of the invention or any embodiment thereof. All patents, patent applications, and publications cited herein are fully incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. | The present invention is directed to a latex paint composition comprising polyunsaturated fatty acid containing additives derived from vegetable oils. In preferred embodiments, traditional water soluble additives such as thickeners, surfactants and dispersants are replaced with polyunsaturated fatty acid derivatives, adducts or polyunsaturated fatty acid containing polymers. The polyunsaturated fatty acid containing additives reduce or eliminate the need for traditional water soluble additives that lower the water resistance of the dry paint film. Additionally, the polyunsaturated fatty acid moieties are capable of oxidative crosslinking during the curing process, forming a dry paint film that is more durable and water-resistant than traditional latex paint compositions. | 2 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dental apparatus used to clean teeth, and, more particularly, to a hand-manipulatable implement, or toothpick, for the cleaning of teeth.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A toothpick is a device which generally has one or more pointed ends for use in cleaning teeth. A toothpick that is commonly available is disposable and has a generally cylindrical wooden body tapering to two pointed ends. Such disposable wooden toothpicks are inexpensive and very popular. Billions of disposable wooden toothpicks are sold per year and they can be found in most American homes. Due to the huge market for disposable wooden toothpicks, their manufacture has become a very competitive business where manufacturers keep the designs of their toothpick manufacturing equipment as closely guarded secrets. Accordingly, it is relatively difficult for an outsider to start up a company to enter the disposable wooden toothpick market.
One drawback of the common disposable wooden toothpick is the danger of injury from one of its sharply pointed ends. If an accident occurs while a person is using this toothpick, its sharp end can be forced into the user's mouth and cause an injury. Furthermore, depending on the position of the toothpick relative to the user, the sharp ends of the toothpick also can accidentally puncture other parts of the user's body. For example, when the user carries the toothpick in a pocket or a purse, he or she must locate it by touch and risk injury to his or her fingers from the sharp ends of the toothpick. Further, if the toothpick is in a pocket when the user accidentally trips and falls, the resulting impact with the floor could drive the sharp end of the toothpick into the user's flesh.
Another drawback is the inconvenience associated with the handling of the common disposable wooden toothpick. Disposable wooden toothpicks are usually sold in a paper or plastic boxes. These toothpick boxes are relatively weak and generally too large to fit comfortably within a pocket or small purse. Because of the relatively large size of such toothpick boxes, some people put loose toothpicks in their pockets, where they may become soiled, lost, or move into a position whereby they again pose a threat of injury. Further, if such toothpick boxes are placed into a pocket, they may fail when exposed to common torsional and compression loads, thereby releasing the toothpicks from within.
One toothpick packet intended to allow the user to conveniently carry wooden toothpicks has a paper housing capable of carrying 25 wooden toothpicks. The housing carries a rectangular wooden block that is made up of 25 parallel toothpicks joined to each other along their length. When the wooden block is removed from the housing, individual toothpicks can be broken off and used. After being separated from the block, each toothpick is approximately two inches long and is generally triangular in cross-section. Each toothpick has one tapered end for cleaning purposes.
The paper housing has a rectangular pocket along its base to accept the rectangular wooden block. A movable rectangular flap extends upwardly from the rear of the pocket, thereby forming the back side of the packet. The flap is bent to form the upper edge of the packet and also extends back to the front edge of the pocket, thereby forming the front side of the packet. The flap can move between an open position, where the wooden block is removable, and a closed position, where the wooden block is concealed within the housing. The portion of the flap forming the back side of the packet has two side flaps. In the closed position, the side flaps fold around the exposed sides of the wooden block and tuck under the portion of the flap that forms the front side of the packet.
The toothpick packet previously described is generally effective and safe. However, under certain conditions, there may be some drawbacks associated with toothpick packets designed according to this prior art. One drawback is that each toothpick has a tapered end that, if enough force is applied, can injure a user. Another drawback is that the width of each toothpick's tapered end is too great to pass between and clean the teeth of certain individuals.
Yet another drawback is the relatively high expense associated with the production costs and the necessary manufacturing machinery for this toothpick packet. As discussed above, the equipment needed to produce common disposable wooden toothpicks is not available on the open market. Accordingly, anyone wishing to produce toothpicks must design such equipment by trial and error and incur relatively high expenses.
Yet another drawback is associated with the rigidity of the toothpicks which come from the wooden block within the packet. The rigidity of each toothpick may prevent the user from positioning the toothpick at a desired angle within the mouth. During use, a person may desire to clean a crevice between the teeth located near the rear of the mouth. However, the user may be unable to position the end of the toothpick near the rear of the mouth because the rigid body of the toothpick may be obstructed by opposing teeth or cheeks. Accordingly, the access to the rear teeth is limited to positions which are unobstructed, thereby undesirably limiting the cleaning effectiveness of the toothpick.
Another prior toothpick packet includes plastic toothpicks, each having a flexible tip intended to bend and penetrate between the teeth located near the rear of the mouth. The toothpicks are initially joined and form one plastic piece that comes within a closable, envelope-like plastic housing. When the plastic piece is removed from the housing, individual plastic toothpicks can be broken off and used.
The toothpicks from this packet are generally effective in cleaning teeth. However, under certain conditions, several drawbacks may be associated with toothpicks and housings designed according to this prior art. One drawback is that the housing and the toothpicks may be costly to manufacture because they are made of plastic materials.
Another drawback is associated with a relatively sharp edge located on one side of the plastic toothpick. The plastic toothpick is relatively thin to allow for the bending required to clean the teeth located near the rear of the mouth. The thin portion of this plastic toothpick has relatively sharp edges. During use, if too much pressure is applied, this edge can cut the gums of the user.
A final drawback is associated with the loose packaging of the toothpicks within both of the previously described toothpick packets. The wooden block of the first packet and the plastic piece of the second packet are not fastened to their respective housings. Accordingly, during use, the user may position and open each housing in such a way so as to accidentally permit the toothpicks to fall out and become soiled. Furthermore, the user may touch the other toothpicks formed in the wooden block or plastic piece during his or her effort to break off an individual toothpick. Such handling of the other toothpicks may not be sanitary and is undesirable.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is still a need for a toothpick packet that has a relatively small housing and toothpicks that are relatively safe, inexpensive, and sanitary. Accordingly, the present invention fulfills these needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is embodied in a toothpick packet that has a relatively small housing and toothpicks that are relatively safe, inexpensive, and sanitary. More particularly, the present invention is embodied in a toothpick packet having a plurality relatively rigid sheets. Each sheet has one or more perforations that define a plurality of toothpicks. The toothpick packet also has a housing configured to hold the sheets. The housing is moveable between a closed position and an open position. In the closed position, the sheets are positioned within the housing and are not removable from the housing. In the open position, the sheets are removable from the housing.
In another more detailed aspect of the invention, the toothpicks are defined by flat paper sheets made from paper stock having a weight greater than the paper stock used to make standard 10M, 81/2 inch×11 inch paper. Each perforated paper sheet is rectangular and has a square portion defined by at least one perforation. The square portion of each sheet has at least two diagonal perforations. Each diagonal perforation is located between the opposite corners of the square portion to define four triangular toothpicks. In another, more detailed feature of the invention, a staple fastens the sheets to the housing.
Because the toothpicks are flat, they are relatively rigid when subjected to compression loads parallel to the plane defined by their flat shape. Accordingly, the toothpicks of the present invention can be constructed of materials previously considered to be too weak for use in conventional toothpick manufacturing, such as paper. Moreover, because the toothpicks are relatively thin, they flex when a force is applied in other directions. Such flexibility advantageously enables the toothpicks to be bent to allow access to the previously hard to reach areas in the rear of the mouth.
An advantage of the present invention is associated with the fastened relationship between the housing and the toothpicks. Because the housing and the toothpicks are fastened together, the toothpicks will not accidently fall out of the housing when it is in the open position. Accordingly, the toothpicks are advantageously kept clean and free of contaminants. Moreover, the toothpicks are more conveniently handled because they will never fall out of the housing.
Another advantage of the flat toothpick of the present invention is that the toothpick is easily handled, even if it has a relatively small size. For example, a small triangular toothpick can be grasped on its flat sides by two fingers, thereby enabling the user to easily position the edges of the toothpick in positions suitable for cleaning all of the teeth, including those near the rear of the mouth.
Such a combination of rigidity and flexibility results in a relatively safer toothpick. Due to the flat shape, the toothpick can have relatively blunt edges. The blunt edges and the flexibility of the toothpick of the present invention facilitate the effective cleaning of the teeth and minimize the risk of accidental injury. If the toothpick of the present invention is accidentally forced towards the gums or other parts of the human body, the blunt edges will resist the creation of a puncture wound. Moreover, the toothpick will probably bend under such accidental loading, thereby advantageously collapsing without causing injury. Furthermore, because the flat sheets are made from paper, they can be easily manufactured according to well known paper industry techniques, thereby avoiding the expense associated with the development of manufacturing machinery for the production of conventional wooden toothpicks.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following drawings illustrate the preferred embodiments of the invention. In such drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toothpick packet showing an open toothpick housing according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the toothpick packet of FIG. 1, showing the toothpick housing in a closed position;
FIG. 3 is a top view of the toothpick housing of FIG. 1, shown in a flat, unfolded position;
FIG. 4 is a top view of a sheet of toothpicks from the toothpick packet shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a toothpick packet showing an open toothpick housing according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a top view of the toothpick housing of FIG. 5, shown in a flat, unfolded position;
FIG. 7 is a top view of a sheet of toothpicks from the toothpick packet shown in FIG. 5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown a first embodiment of a toothpick packet 10 in accordance with the present invention. The toothpick packet includes a housing 12, a staple 14, and eight perforated sheets 16 that each contain four detachable triangular toothpicks 18. The housing has a cover 20 that moves between an open position where the toothpicks are removable, as shown in FIG. 1, and a closed position where the toothpicks are not removable, as shown in FIG. 2.
The staple 14 fastens the perforated sheets 16 to the housing 12. The staple can be a standard size commonly used in desk-top stapling machines. However, it is to be understood that the staple can be of any size or type suitable for fastening any given number of perforated sheets together. Furthermore, the proper scope of the invention includes other means for holding the perforated sheets to the housing, such as glue, adhesive, other mechanical fasteners, or any other suitable fastening process.
The toothpick packet 10 has the advantage that the perforated sheets 16 defining the toothpicks 18 will not become accidentally contaminated when the packet is handled. Because the perforated sheets are fastened to the housing 12, the inadvertent spillage and contamination of toothpicks associated with conventional toothpick packets is advantageously avoided.
The housing 12 can be unfolded into a flat, rectangular shape, as shown in FIG. 3. The housing comprises a lower rectangular flap 22, a rectangular back 24 and the generally square cover 20. The housing has two generally parallel horizontal scores 26 between the back and the lower flap. Additionally, two more generally parallel horizontal scores 28 are located between the back and the cover of the housing. The scores 26 and 28 are areas of the housing that have been compressed to facilitate the bending of the housing to form the toothpick packet 10. It should be noted that the word "score" means any physical feature intended to facilitate the bending of the housing, including the compression of the housing.
When the housing is fastened to the perforated sheets 16, the back of the housing is aligned under the perforated sheets. The lower flap and the cover bend 180 degrees and are spaced above the back to rest above the perforated sheets. The cover has an end edge 30 that tucks under the lower flap to hold the housing in the closed position.
The housing 12 is preferably made from paper stock having the same weight as the paper stock used to make 200M, 221/2 inch by 281/2 inch paper sheets. Such material preferably is double coated to provide a generally smooth finish and also preferably has a varnish coat to prevent any ink on the cover from smearing or running during everyday use. It should be understood that the scope of the invention also includes housings constructed from other suitable materials, including plastic materials.
An individual perforated sheet 16 is shown in FIG. 4. The sheet is rectangular and has an upper edge 32, a lower edge 34, and two side edges 36. A set of horizontal perforations 38 extends between the side edges, parallel to the lower edge. The horizontal perforations are spaced from the upper edge a distance equal to the width of the upper edge, thereby defining a generally square portion 40 between the horizontal perforations and the upper edge of the sheet. A lower portion 42 is defined between the horizontal perforations and the lower edge of the sheet. Two sets of diagonal perforations 44 extend between opposing corners of the square portion, thereby forming triangular toothpicks 18 that can be detached from the perforated sheet.
Preferably, the perforations 38 and 44 are straight slits having a length of approximately 3/32 of an inch and spaced apart approximately 1/32 of an inch. As used herein, the words "perforation" or "perforations" mean any physical feature that enables the user to tear or bend the sheet along a generally predetermined path, including a series of slits or holes formed along the a predetermined path. Further, the words "perforation" or "perforations" also include physical features not including holes, such as a score or a bend.
It should also be understood that, within the proper scope and spirit of the invention, the toothpicks can have any flat shape suitable for cleaning teeth, including square and hexagonal shapes.
Each perforated sheet 16 is preferably made from paper stock having the same weight as the paper stock used to make 240M, 221/2 inch×281/2 inch paper sheets, but can also be made from any paper or vellum having suitable strength and rigidity, including the paper stock used to make 280M, 221/2 inch×281/2 inch paper sheets. However, the proper scope of the invention includes perforated sheets made from any relatively rigid material, including wood and plastic materials. To provide effective toothpicks 18 such material should have a rigidity greater than that of a single sheet of the standard 20 pound, 10M paper, 81/2-inch ×11-inch size, widely used in office copying machines.
The perforated sheets 16 are vertically stacked so that the horizontal 38 and diagonal 44 perforations of each sheet are vertically aligned with the perforations of the sheets above and below. The staple 14 passes through the lower flap 22 of the housing 12, the lower portion 42 of each sheet, and through the back 24 of the housing. The square portion 40 of a top sheet is exposed when the cover 20 is moved into the open position.
A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, a toothpick packet 100 includes a housing 102, a staple 104, and eight perforated sheets 106. The housing has two side flaps 108 that wrap around the perforated sheets. The housing also has a cover 110 that moves between an open position where the sheets are removable, as shown in FIG. 5, and a closed position where the sheets are enclosed within the housing.
As shown in FIG. 6, the housing 102 also has a generally square back 112, and a rectangular lower flap 114. The side flaps of the housing fold around 180° and extend under the lower flap, thereby advantageously preventing dirt and contaminates from soiling the perforated sheets 106. Like the first embodiment of the invention, the cover 110 has an end edge 116 that tucks under the lower flap to hold the housing in the closed position.
The housing 102 has two generally parallel horizontal scores 118 between the back 112 and the cover 110 and two generally parallel horizontal scores 120 between the back and the lower flap 114. Additionally, two generally parallel vertical scores 122 are located on each side flap 108. These vertical scores enable each side flap to bend 180 degrees to a position above the back and under the lower flap and cover of the housing. The side flaps are fastened to the lower flap, thereby forming a pocket to hold the perforated sheets.
The staple 104 holds the side flaps 108 to the lower flap 114 and back 112 of the housing 102. The staple can be of the same type as that of the first embodiment 10 of the invention. However, it is to be understood that the staple can be of any size or type suitable for fastening the side flaps to the lower flap. An alternative method of holding the side flaps to the lower flap is by any suitable adhesive. Furthermore, the proper scope of the invention includes other means for holding the side flaps to the housing, including glue, adhesive, other mechanical fasteners, or any other suitable fastening process.
One perforated sheet 106 is shown in FIG. 7. The sheet is generally square and has two sets of diagonal perforations 124 extending between its opposing corners, thereby forming four detachable triangular toothpicks 126. The perforated sheet can be made from the same material used to construct the perforated sheet of the first embodiment 10. Further, to maintain the cleanliness of the toothpicks, each perforated sheet can be individually sealed within a wrapper (not shown), made from materials commonly known in the packaging industry.
The toothpick packets 10 and 100 can be inexpensively manufactured using techniques well known in the paper industry. Therefore, the expense associated with the development of manufacturing machinery for the production of conventional wooden toothpicks is advantageously avoided. The toothpick of the present invention can also be impregnated with flavorings or anti-bacterial agents according to well known teachings in the dental arts.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the function of the first embodiment 10 of the invention will now be described. Initially, the housing 12 is in the closed position. The end edge 30 of the cover 20 is tucked under the lower flap 22, thereby preventing access to the perforated sheets 16. To open the housing, the end edge of the cover is slid out from under the lower flap and the cover is rotated upward to expose the top perforated sheet. A triangular toothpick 18 can then be detached along the perforations of the top sheet. The cover is then tucked under the lower flap so that the housing is again in the closed position. The edges of the toothpick can then be maneuvered across and between the teeth for cleaning purposes.
The relatively thin thickness of the toothpick 18 permits it to clean more effectively between the user's teeth. However, if the user desires a thicker or more rigid toothpick, one piece of the perforated sheet 16 having two triangular sections can be detached and folded over on itself, resulting in a toothpick having the same triangular shape and twice the normal thickness.
The second embodiment of the invention 100 is used in the same manner. However, because the perforated sheets 106 are not fastened to the housing 102, they can slide out when the cover 110 is opened. Accordingly, the user can remove one perforated sheet at a time as new toothpicks are needed. After one perforated sheet is removed, a triangular toothpick can be detached along the perforations 124. The remainder of the perforated sheet is then returned to the housing and the cover is moved into the closed position. The toothpick is used in the same manner as the toothpick 18 of the first toothpick packet 10.
The flat shape of the toothpicks of the present invention represents a great advance over conventional toothpicks. Because of the flat shape, each toothpick is relatively rigid when subjected to compression loads parallel to a plane defined by its triangular shape. Accordingly, the toothpicks of the present invention can be constructed of materials previously considered to be too weak for use in conventional toothpick manufacturing, such as the preferred paper. Moreover, because the toothpicks are relatively thin they flex when force is applied in other directions. Such flexibility enables the toothpicks to bend to allow access to the previously hard to reach areas in the rear of the mouth.
Another advantage of the flat toothpick of the present invention is that the toothpick is easily handled even if it has a relatively small size. For example, a small triangular toothpick can be grasped on its flat sides by two fingers, thereby enabling the user to easily position the edges of the toothpick in positions suitable for cleaning all of the teeth, including those near the rear of the mouth.
The safety of the triangular paper toothpicks 18 and 26 of the present embodiments also represents a great advance over conventional toothpicks. In both embodiments 10 and 100, the toothpick has the rigidity and the thinness necessary to clean teeth, while having relatively blunt edges. The blunt edges and the flexibility of the toothpicks of both embodiments facilitate the effective cleaning of the teeth while minimizing the risk of accidental injury. If the toothpick of the present embodiments is accidentally forced towards the gums or other parts of the human body, the blunt edges will resist the creation of a puncture wound. Moreover, the toothpick will probably bend under such accidental loading, thereby advantageously collapsing without causing injury.
The toothpick packets 10 and 100 are advantageously small, thus they are easily and safely carried within a pocket or purse. Furthermore, the toothpick packets of the present invention can be manufactured relatively inexpensively, as compared with conventional toothpick packets.
It will, of course, be understood that modifications to the present embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Consequently, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the particular embodiment discussed above, but should be defined only by the claims set forth below and equivalents thereof. | A toothpick packet having a housing for carrying flat perforated sheets. At least one perforation on each sheet defines a flat toothpick. The housing is selectively openable to allow access to the perforated sheets for the detachment of a toothpick. | 0 |
BACKGROUND
[0001] Several different types of containers are used to cook food. Some pans, such as sauce pans, are used to cook food on a stove. Other types of pans and containers are used to cook food in ovens. These pans or containers come in all different sizes to accommodate different sizes of foods. Containers used to cook foods in ovens are made of a durable material which can withstand the elevated temperatures in ovens. One container used to cook foods in ovens is a roaster. A roaster is a container or dish used to bake, roast or heat food in an oven. A food item, such as a whole chicken or turkey, is placed in the roaster and then set in the oven. Typically to prevent food from sticking to the bottom of the roaster and to lift food in and out of the roaster, a metal rack is placed on the bottom of the roaster underneath the food. The metal rack separates the bottom of the food from the roaster bottom and thereby prevents the food from sticking to the bottom of the roaster. Such metal racks are separate components which must be purchased separately from the roaster. A user must therefore purchase both the roaster and the rack which can be expensive.
[0002] Most roasters are relatively heavy because they are made of a durable material such as a heavy metal or coated metal. Furthermore, the weight of the food item being cooked in the roaster adds to the overall weight of the roaster, which makes inserting the roaster into or removing the roaster from an oven difficult and cumbersome.
[0003] Additionally, the inside surfaces of a roaster tends to be coated with grease or oil that comes from the food being cooked in the roaster. Typically, the grease and oil become cooked onto these surfaces, which makes cleaning the roaster difficult and time consuming.
[0004] Disposable aluminum roasters are available and eliminate the difficult cleaning process associated with the conventional metal roasters. The disposable roasters are very lightweight and provide easy cleanup. However, the aluminum roasters are flimsy and difficult to carry when food is in these roasters. Additionally, the disposable roasters are meant for one-time use and are discarded afterwards. Therefore, new disposable roasters must be purchased prior to each use. This can be expensive over time and burdensome to those persons who use roasters frequently.
[0005] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved roaster which overcomes the above problems.
SUMMARY
[0006] One embodiment of a roaster of the present invention provides an open-top receptacle including a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall extending from a side of the bottom wall. The bottom wall defines a plurality of elongated parallel ribs projecting outwardly from the side of the bottom wall, where least one of the ribs includes a plurality of spaced-apart sections.
[0007] In an embodiment, the roaster includes a flange transverse to and extending outwardly from the peripheral side wall.
[0008] In an embodiment, the flange defines opposing gripping surfaces.
[0009] In an embodiment, the flange includes a first surface and second surface that oppose each other. The first surface includes at least one dimple and the second surface includes at least one depression.
[0010] In an embodiment, at least a portion of the side wall slopes outwardly from the bottom wall.
[0011] In an embodiment, a plurality of the ribs include a plurality of spaced-apart sections where the sections define at least two parallel channels.
[0012] In an embodiment, the receptacle is made of a metal at least partially coated by a porcelain material.
[0013] In an embodiment, the metal includes steel.
[0014] In an embodiment, the sections are different sizes.
[0015] Another embodiment provides a roaster including a generally planar bottom wall. The bottom wall defines a plurality of elongated parallel ribs projecting outwardly from a side of the bottom wall, where at least one of the ribs includes a plurality of spaced-apart sections. The roaster also includes a side wall extending outwardly from the side of the bottom wall, where the side wall includes a flange extending from the side wall. The flange forms at least two handles.
[0016] In an embodiment, one of the handles includes a dimple and the other of the handles includes a recess.
[0017] In an embodiment, a plurality of the ribs include a plurality of spaced-apart sections, where the sections define at least two parallel channels.
[0018] In an embodiment, the receptacle is made of a metal at least partially coated by a porcelain material.
[0019] In an embodiment, the metal includes steel.
[0020] In an embodiment, the sections include different lengths.
[0021] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0022] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a roaster of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 2 is a top view of the roaster of FIG. 1 .
[0024] FIG. 3 is an end view of the roaster of FIG. 1 .
[0025] FIG. 4 is a side view of the roaster of FIG. 1 .
[0026] FIG. 5 is a cross-section view taken substantially along line 5 - 5 shown in FIG. 2 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] The present invention is directed generally to a roaster, and more specifically, to a reusable oval oven roaster which is nestable and which does not require a separate oven rack.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1-5 , the roaster 100 includes an open-top receptacle or container 102 which has a generally oval shape. The receptacle 102 includes a bottom wall, bottom side or bottom surface 104 and a peripheral side wall 106 which extends from the bottom wall 104 . Both the bottom wall 104 and the side wall 106 are oval shaped. It should be appreciated that the open-top receptacle 102 and more specifically the bottom wall 104 and the side wall 106 may be oval-shaped, square-shaped, rectangular-shaped or any suitable shape. It should also be appreciated that the open-top receptacle may be any suitable size to accommodate different sized foods or different amounts of food.
[0029] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the peripheral side wall 106 extends outwardly from the bottom wall 104 . In other words, the side wall 106 is sloped or angled away from the outer edge of the bottom wall 104 . It should be appreciated that the side wall 106 may angle inwardly, outwardly or have any suitable configuration. The side wall 106 includes a beveled or rounded portion 107 which is integrally formed with the bottom wall 104 . It should be appreciated that the bottom wall 104 and the side wall 106 may be integrally formed, connected together or joined or made in any suitable manner.
[0030] In the illustrated embodiment, a flange 108 is generally transverse to and extends outwardly from the side wall 106 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the flange 108 extends from the topmost or upper edge of the side wall. It should be appreciated that the flange 106 may extend from any suitable part or location of the side wall. In an embodiment, the flange 108 extends about the periphery of the side wall 106 . The flange 108 includes opposing wider or larger portions 110 and opposing narrow or smaller portions 111 , where the wider portions 110 extend outwardly from the side wall 106 a further distance at the opposing ends of the roaster. The wider portions 110 form gripping surfaces or handles 113 for a user. The handles 113 are integrally formed with the receptacle 102 to enable a user to easily grip and lift and/or move the roaster to and from an oven or to and from another surface or area.
[0031] Each of the gripping surfaces or handles 113 include a dimple 112 or a recess 114 . In the illustrated embodiment, both the dimple 112 and the recess 114 have generally circular shapes. It should be appreciated that the dimple and/or the recess may any suitable size or shape. The dimple 112 extends or protrudes upwardly from a surface of the flange 108 and therefore has a convex surface as shown in FIG. 5 .
[0032] The recess 114 is similar to the dimple 112 except that it extends or protrudes downwardly underneath surface of the flange 108 and has a concave surface. As shown in FIG. 5 , the roaster 100 includes a dimple 112 on one of the handles 110 and a recess 114 at the opposing handle. The opposing dimple and recess enhance the nesting of one roaster into another roaster. For example, when a first roaster is nested in a second roaster, the dimple 112 on the first roaster is aligned and is seated on the dimple 112 of the second roaster, which is positioned adjacent to it. Similarly, the recess 114 on the first roaster is seated on the recess 114 of the adjacent second roaster. Engagement between the corresponding dimples and recesses helps to temporarily secure the roasters together and minimize the roaster from sliding with respect to each other when they are stacked or nested within each other and stored.
[0033] The dimple 112 and recess 114 also are used to secure a roaster in position on top of another roaster when a first roaster is used as a lid or cover for another roaster. In this situation, the roaster being used as the lid or cover is flipped over so that the inside surfaces of the bottom walls of the roasters are facing each other. The top roaster or lid is then positioned so that the dimple 112 of the roaster acting as the lid becomes seated in the recess 114 of the bottom roaster. Similarly, the recess 114 of the top roaster or lid contacts or is seated onto the corresponding dimple on the bottom roaster. Using a second roaster as a cover enables a user to cook foods in different ways and also enables the roaster combination to be tipped at angles up to 30° to 40° for removing or draining excess water, oils, greases, or other substances.
[0034] Referring to FIGS. 1 , 2 and 5 , a plurality of elongated ribs 116 and 118 are formed on the bottom wall 104 . In an embodiment, the ribs 116 and 118 are integrally formed with the bottom wall 104 and extend upwardly from the same side or surface of the bottom wall from which the side wall 106 extends. As shown in FIG. 2 , the ribs or protrusions 116 and 118 have different sizes and shapes. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the ribs 116 and 118 is a generally elongated, oval-shaped protrusion. In an embodiment, a plurality of ribs 116 and 118 are formed in the bottom wall 104 where at least one of the ribs 116 is longer than at least one of the ribs 118 . In another embodiment, a plurality of the ribs 116 are longer than a plurality of the ribs 118 . In a further embodiment, all of the ribs 116 are longer than the ribs 118 .
[0035] In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of the longer ribs 116 are positioned in the middle or center of the bottom wall 104 . It should be appreciated that one, a plurality or all of the elongated ribs 116 may be positioned in the middle or on any suitable location on the bottom wall 104 . At least one and preferably a plurality of the small ribs 118 are positioned at opposing ends of the longer ribs 116 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The ribs 116 and 118 are spaced apart or have interruptions that form channels or pathways 120 . The channels or pathways 120 enable a cooking string to be positioned and maintained in place in the channels so that when cooking is done a food item, such as a chicken or turkey, can be easily lifted out of the roaster using the string. It should be appreciated that the ribs 116 and 118 may have any suitable size or shape.
[0036] Because the ribs 116 and 118 are integrally formed with the bottom 104 , there is no need for a separate wire rack or oven rack to be placed in the roaster. The ribs also eliminate the cumbersome process of positioning or adjusting the position of an oven rack such as in conventional roasters. A user simply sets a food item, such a chicken or turkey on the ribs 116 and 118 and then puts the roaster 100 in an oven, on a grill or the like.
[0037] The ribs 116 and 118 minimize the frictional engagement between nested roasters to aid in separating the nested roasters. Specifically, the bottom surface of the bottom wall 104 of one roaster sits on top of the raised or protruding ribs 116 and 118 of an adjacent nested roaster. The ribs 116 and 118 therefore help to prevent one roaster from frictionally engaging an adjacent roaster so that it is less difficult to separate the roasters. Additionally, the flanges 108 of corresponding nested roasters also helps to prevent the roasters from frictionally engaging each other as the flange of one roaster sits on the flange of an adjacent nested roaster.
[0038] The roaster 100 can be used to cook or bake a variety of foods. One advantage of the roaster 100 is that the integrally formed ribs on the bottom surface of the roaster eliminates the need for a separate wire rack or oven rack to be placed in the roaster and also provides stable surfaces for the food item to rest on. The raised or protruding ribs 116 and 118 also raise the food item, such as a chicken or turkey, above the bottom wall 104 so that there is less contact between the juices, greases or oils that drain from the food item and collect in the bottom and sides of the roaster.
[0039] In the above embodiments, the open-top receptacle 102 is made of a suitable metal, such as stainless steel, and is coated by porcelain. It should be appreciated that the open-top receptacle 102 may be made of any suitable material or materials. It should also be appreciated that the open-top receptacle may be coated by any suitable material or combination of materials. The porcelain coating on the underlying metal surface provides a non-skid, non-stick surface which is smooth and relatively easy to clean.
[0040] While the present invention is described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, and is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the claims. Modifications and variations in the present invention may be made without departing from the novel aspects of the invention as defined in the claims, and this application is limited only by the scope of the claims. | A roaster including an open-top receptacle having a bottom wall and a peripheral side wall extending from a side of the bottom wall. The bottom wall defines a plurality of elongated parallel ribs projecting outwardly from the side of the bottom wall, where at least one of the ribs includes a plurality of spaced-apart sections. | 0 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention in general relates to a vessel for retrieving and deploying equipment(s) in offshore region. The vessel is semi-submersible and can also work as a normal sailing vessel in non-submerged condition. The present invention also relates to a method of retrieving and deploying equipment(s) in off shore region, applying such semi-submersible vessel. In particular, the present invention provides an offshore vessel and also a method of deploying and retrieving equipment(s) in off shore region without subjecting the equipments and lifting/lowering devices to dynamical forces in the splash zone/water surface.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In offshore regions applying vessels for deploying and retrieving heavy equipments is well known. Such heavy equipments are known to relate to oil and gas exploration and production, mining and mineral exploration, drilling operations and so on.
For example, WO 2010/020026A2 discloses a double hall catamaran type vessel having a deck and a common bridge for loading and unloading operations of supplies, in the oil sector. However, this vessel is not suitable for offshore areas where waves go up to even ten meters high, such as in the North Sea. In these areas, where the sea is known to be hostile, mono hull off shore vessels have been tried such as the ones disclosed in WO 2009/102197 and WO 2009/102196. However, over the years it has been observed that these mono hull off shore vessels, such as disclosed in these two publications, are not suitable for many off shore operations, particularly in hostile seas, such as in North Sea, Brazil and Gulf of Mexico having regard to stability and safety considerations.
Semi-submersible vessels for use in various types of offshore work are known in the art. These vessels are particularly useful in offshore regions where the sea is hostile. It is also known, that these semi-submersible vessels are designed to take care of safety and stability considerations, which are of prime importance in such hostile offshore areas. For example, WO 99/12807 discloses a semi-submersible vessel design which provides a strong and substantially rigid base to support the deck(s) of the superstructure. WO 2009/084950, discloses semi-submersible vessels which are braceless. WO85/03050 discloses a geometrically improved semi-submersible vessel having a buoyant centre column centrally disposed about the drilling central string. This design was meant to significantly reduce heave motion under sea states. WO 99/57011 discloses a design of a semi-submersible vessel which ensures safety of the mineral exploration platform it supports. WO 2007/097611 discloses a semi-submersible vessel which has an assembly of hull section, support structure and deck structure, the deck structure having reinforcement for surviving storms.
However, certain vital disadvantages have been observed in respect of the vessels in the preceding paragraph and similar such vessels. Primarily, designing such vessels involve very high costs and long project implementation time for observing proper safety considerations in hostile weather and sea conditions. Further, those involve deployment of large cranes and lifting gears which add on to the costs and operational inconveniences. Additionally, existing vessels have variable drafts in harbours and are basically barges with too much motion and become unreliable in extremely hostile weather, despite all manoeuvrings. In addition, these vessels are not ship shaped and so cannot perform effectively as normal sailing vessels in non-submerged conditions, because it has almost been an accepted fact that ship-shaped vessels are less suitable for many offshore operations. Furthermore, deployment and retrieving of heavy equipments applying these vessels result in that the equipments and lifting/lowering devices are subjected to the dynamical forces in the splash zone.
Such vessels as referred to in the preceding paragraph, are also not known to have an optional temporary port which function on an identical principle as the main vessel, for accommodating crew vessels/supply vessels/any other vessels for safe transfer of crew and material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,024 does disclose an open ocean based berthing facility for capturing a ship or similar vessel, but it is mainly directed to serve the purpose of sea bases for defence purpose. The berthing facility has a buoyant platform having an enclosure formed therein for receiving the vessel. Movement of the vessel is coupled to the movement of the platform so that relative motion between the vessel and platform is relatively reduced. This technology does not disclose a semi-submersible vessel for offshore activities, which nullifies/substantially reduces the disadvantages of prior art as disclosed in the previous paragraph and simultaneously, has an optional temporary port which function on an identical principle as the main vessel, for accommodating crew vessels/supply vessels/any other vessels for safe transfer of crew and material. The same observations hold good in respect of the technology disclosed in US2006/0086304 and in WO93/04914. The former discloses a vessel for rescuing vessels in distress. The rescue vessel has an elongated basin and a ballast device. There are two lateral hulls surrounding the basin and delimiting an upper edge of the rescue vessel. When the vessel to be rescued is evacuated, the upper edge of the rescue vessel is above sea level. When a vessel is to be rescued, the upper edge of the rescue vessel is below the keel of the vessel in distress. Although it is stated in the document US2006/0086304, that such rescue vessels may be applied in respect of drilling or production platforms and parts of such platforms, but no clear teaching exists regarding a semi-submersible for offshore activities, which nullifies/substantially reduces the disadvantages of prior art as disclosed in the previous paragraph and simultaneously, has an optional temporary port which function on an identical principle as the main vessel, for accommodating crew vessel(s)/supply vessel(s)/any other vessel(s) for safe transfer of crew and material. Identical observations hold good in respect of WO93/04914 which discloses a jumbo barge carrier fast sealift and port system having a trapezoidal double hull design. It includes a barge-carrying vessel, at least one cargo carrying barge, a transportable port system and a causeway. It relates to rapid transport and deployment of extremely large amounts of cargo needed to meet humanitarian, economic and military contingencies and strictly speaking does not relate to a semi-submersible vessel for retrieving and deploying equipment(s) in offshore region, which is the subject matter of the present invention.
Hence, there was a long felt need to design a semi-submersible vessel which nullifies/substantially reduces the aforesaid drawbacks in general and which in particular is a mono hull column stabilised unit which is cost effective, stable and reliable in extremely hostile sea conditions, is adapted to sail as a vessel with low draft at a fairly high speed in non-submerged condition. There was also a long felt need to develop a semi-submersible vessel, which is ship shaped and is simultaneously adapted to be applied effectively in a wide range of offshore applications. Furthermore, there was long felt need to design a semi-submersible vessel which nullifies/substantially reduces the drawbacks in such known semi-submersible vessels and simultaneously has an optional temporary port which functions on an identical principle as the main vessel, for accommodating crew vessels/supply vessels/any other vessels for safe transfer of crew and material. There was also a long felt need for designing a method for deploying and retrieving heavy equipments from water, in offshore operations without subjecting the equipments and the lifting/lowering devices to the dynamical forces of the splash zone/water line, by submerging and retrieving the section through water, instead of the usual method of lowering it through the water line.
The present invention, meets the above long felt needs and other needs associated therewith and the construction of the mono hull column stabilized semi-submersible vessel as disclosed hereinafter, is consequential to the present invention.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to meet the above needs hitherto not taught by prior art, by providing a specially constructed mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in offshore region, which vessel by virtue of its specially configured construction ensures that the disadvantages of prior art, as discussed hereinbefore, are substantially reduced/nullified.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in the offshore region which is stable and reliable in extremely hostile sea conditions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in the offshore region which has a cost effective design and can ensure deployment and retrieval of equipments without any splashing effect.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in the offshore region which is adapted to sail as a vessel with low draft at a fairly high speed in non-submerged condition.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in the offshore region, which is a mono hull column, stabilized unit, is ship shaped and is simultaneously adapted to be applied effectively in a wide range of offshore applications.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in offshore regions which has an optional temporary port and functions on an identical principle as the main vessel, for accommodating crew vessels/supply vessels/any other vessels for safe transfer of crew and material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for deploying and retrieving heavy equipments from water, in offshore operations without subjecting the equipment and the lifting/lowering devices to the dynamical forces of the splash zone by submerging and retrieving the section through water, instead of the usual method of lowering/retrieving it through the water line.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel hull/pontoon for its application on a mono hull vessel for deploying and retrieving equipments in the offshore region which is stable and reliable in extremely hostile sea conditions.
In addition, the present invention discloses some advantageous features still not disclosed in prior art.
All through the specification including the claims, the words “vessel/unit”, “deck box”, “mono hull”, “upper deck”, “lower deck”, “hull/pontoon”, “columns”, “temporary port” are to be interpreted in the broadest sense of the respective terms and includes all similar items in the field known by other terms, as may be clear to persons skilled in the art. Restriction/limitation, if any, referred to in the specification, is solely by way of example and understanding the present invention. Further, it should be understood to persons skilled in the art that the expressions “ship”, “ship shaped”, “ship like shape” according to the present invention should be interpreted as relating to all normal sailing vessels as known to persons skilled in the art. The present invention has been explained in this Complete Specification at places, with reference to “ship”, “ship shaped”, and “ship like shape” only for the sake of understanding and not by way of any limitation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a mono hull vessel for retrieving and deploying equipments in offshore region comprising a deck box with an upper deck at its top said upper deck having a lifting and lowering facility, a hull/pontoon at the base of said vessel. According to the invention, hull/pontoon is connected to the deck box by a plurality of columns. The hull/pontoon is made in one piece and is continuous to form the platform for a lower deck. The upper and lower deck are configured to allow lifting and lowering of equipment therefrom and thereon respectively.
According to an advantageous embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention, the vessel is adapted to submerge and to move up the lower deck to and from a desired depth, below the water level.
Preferably, the columns are 4 to 10 in number and the assembly of the upper deck, the deck box, the lower deck are designed in coherence with the hull/pontoon which is similar to that of a ship and is submersible, to impart a ship like shape to said vessel in totality, whereby said vessel is adapted to function as a normal sailing vessel in non-submerged condition.
According to another advantageous embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention, the deck box has engine room, large space for said equipments, accommodation units and there is a helipad on said upper deck.
According to a further advantageous embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention, the hull/pontoon has ballast tanks, fuel tanks, FW tanks and thruster engine room and said lower deck also has a forecastle deck.
More preferably, the ballast tanks are provided in the lower hull and parts of said columns.
According to another advantageous embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the displacement in submerged condition of the vessel is approximately 45000 tons and loading capacity of said upper deck is 6000 to 8000 tons and the moon pool is arranged all the way from said upper deck to bottom hull.
According to another advantageous embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the vessel is provided at its aft region, with a temporary port unit for crew vessels or supply vessels or other vessels.
Preferably, the port unit comprises a sluice gate arrangement at end of said aft region and is provided with a sheltered area.
More preferably, the temporary port is adapted to be moored on a turret system.
The vessel according to the present invention is adapted to be applied as any one of or a combination of two or more of deep sea construction vessel, intervention vessel, construction vessel, drilling unit, Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS), heavy lift vessel, windmill installation vessel, pipe layer, deep water mining vessel, accommodation unit, tender unit.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for submerging equipment(s) through water without subjecting the equipment and lifting/lowering devices to the dynamical forces of the splash zone in off shore region, said method comprising providing a mono hull column stabilized semi submersible vessel having a deck box with an upper deck at its top having a lifting and lowering device, a hull/pontoon at the base of said vessel which is similar to that of a ship hull and is submersible, said hull/pontoon being connected to the deck box by a plurality of columns, said hull/pontoon is made in one piece and is continuous to form the platform for a lower deck, the upper deck is configured to allow lowering of equipment therefrom on the lower deck, said vessel is adapted to submerge said lower deck to a desired depth below the water level in the event of placement of said equipment on the lower deck and to lift and lower said equipment from the lower deck so submerged, by virtue of said lifting and lowering device on the upper deck. According to the invention, the method involves:
a) placing said equipment(s) on said lower deck from said upper deck by said lifting and lowering facility,
b) submerging the lower deck to the desired depth below the water level,
c) applying the lifting device and lifting said equipment(s) partially above said lower deck,
d) turning said equipment(s) and lowering it in water by means of the lowering device.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for retrieving a submerged equipment(s) through water without subjecting the equipment and lifting/lowering device to the dynamic forces in the splash zone in off shore region, said method comprising providing a mono hull column stabilized semi submersible vessel having a deck box with an upper deck at its top, said upper deck having a lifting and lowering device, a hull/pontoon at the base of said vessel which is similar to that of a ship and is submersible, said hull/pontoon being connected to the deck box by a plurality of columns, said hull/pontoon is made in one piece and is continuous to form the platform for a lower deck, the upper deck and lower deck are configured to allow lifting of equipment thereon. According to the invention, the method involves:
a) submerging said vessel such that the lower deck is at a desired depth below the water level,
c) lifting and placing said equipment(s) on said lower deck from water by said lifting and lowering device,
d) moving the vessel up the water such that the lower deck is above the water level.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hull/pontoon for its application on a mono hull vessel according to the first aspect of the present invention, for retrieving and deploying equipments in offshore region. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the hull/pontoon is made in one piece and is continuous to form the platform for a lower deck and said hull/pontoon is designed to have a shape as that of a ship hull.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Having described the main features of the invention above, a more detailed and non-limiting description of some exemplary embodiments will be given in the following with reference to the drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mono hull vessel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates another perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the mono hull vessel according to the present invention, in operation in offshore region.
FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate different stages in that order of a preferred method of submerging heavy equipment in offshore region according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a view of the temporary port in the aft region of the mono hull vessel according to the present invention with the sluice gates open.
FIG. 7 illustrates another view of the temporary port in the aft region of the mono hull vessel according to the present invention with the sluice gates closed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following provides detailed description of some non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
As illustrated in the accompanying FIG. 1 the mono hull vessel according to the present invention has an upper deck 2 with a very large area for accommodating heavy equipments. The upper deck 2 is at the top of the deck box and deck box is equipped with accommodation units 6 , a helipad 7 and canning bridge or navigation bridge 8 . The hull/pontoon 1 is made in one piece and is continuous to form the platform for the lower deck 5 . The lower deck 5 has a forecastle deck 9 . The hull/pontoon 1 has ballast tanks, fuel tanks, FW tanks and thrusters engine room (not shown). The lower deck 5 is connected to the deck box/upper deck 2 by a plurality of columns 4 . Preferably, there are four to ten columns. The lifting and lowering device 3 is also provided on the upper deck 2 . As it is amply clear from the FIG. 1 , the assembly of the upper deck 2 , the deck box, the columns, and the lower deck 5 are so designed together in coherence with the hull/pontoon which is similar to that of a ship hull and is submersible, so that the mono hull vessel in totality is ship shaped. This ensures that when the vessel is not submerged it can sail as a normal sailing vessel.
The mono hull column stabilized structure, together with the upper deck and the lower deck provides the desired stability to the vessel, so that it is effective in extremely hostile sea conditions, to perform a wide range of offshore operations. Thus it can work as any of or a combination of two or more of deep sea construction vessel, intervention vessel, construction vessel, drilling unit, Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS), heavy lift vessel, windmill installation vessel, pipe layer, deep water mining vessel, accommodation unit, tender unit.
The accompanying FIG. 2 shows the mono hull vessel in operation in offshore region. The like reference numerals indicate the same features as in FIG. 1 all such reference numerals are not inserted in this figure for the sake of clarity. This FIG. 2 also clearly shows the lifting arrangement 3 ′ and the crane 3 . From FIG. 2 also it will be clear, that the unit according to the present invention has a ship shaped submersible hull 1 and four to eight columns connecting the hull to the deck box. It is the hull/pontoon at the bottom in particular, in combination with the design of the other features, as described hereinbefore, which make it possible to operate the vessel as a normal ship.
The unit is deliverable in a wide range of sizes and with a wide range of capacities. The hull contains ballast tanks, fuel tanks, FW tanks and thrusters engine room (not shown). Preferably, the ballast tanks (not shown) are provided in the lower hull and parts of the columns 4 . The unit preferably has a speed of 10-11 knots in sailing condition and is designed to do station keeping up to 6.5-meter waves, 2 knots current and 15 m/s wind in submerged condition. The deck box is preferably 120×45×6 m and contains engine room, large rooms for heavy equipments and accommodation units 6 . The vessel is preferably equipped with six to 12 propellers depending on size and operational area. Columns are adjustable in respect of heights to fit operational requirements and environmental factors in actual operational area.
As stated before, the vessel is deliverable in all sizes say from 100-300 meters length and 45-70 meters width.
The vessel has ballast tanks mainly in the lower hull and parts of the towers (columns). The displacement in submerged condition is about 45000 tons. On deployment of a construction/equipment, the weight of the construction/equipment is compensated with water ballast when the construction/equipment is landed on the bottom. The construction/equipment is about 1% of the total displacement and has therefore only a limited impact on the vessel's stability. The vessel has preferably a loading capacity of about 6000-8000 tons on the uppermost deck.
It has been deciphered by experimental trial that the vessel according to the present invention, by virtue of the combination of its constructional features as described hereinbefore solves the known problems of motions in prior art and provides better and more stable work platform offshore, larger tank and DWT capacity. Furthermore, it has been found to be more flexible when it comes to sailing end entrance of ports compared to rigs. That apart, it provides better protection to all equipments going through the moon pool, as moon pool is arranged all the way from upper deck to bottom hull. This vessel sails as a normal vessel with low draft and provides good stability to crane operations. Additionally, great manoeuvrability is achieved due to location of thrusters. It has 11 knots speed in sailing condition and avoids large forces on cranes, lifting gear and constructions. It also operates, without heave compensator on the crane, has lower requirement for safety factor and higher lifting capacity, avoid damages on construction and lifting arrangement. It can hold large capacities on sections and has been found to be capable in extremely rough sea conditions.
The accompanying FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate how the vessel according to the present invention, deploys (and likewise retrieves) large heavy equipments 10 by submerging, without subjecting the equipment and lifting/lowering device to the dynamic forces of the splash zone, instead of following the usual method of lowering (or lifting) the heavy equipment through water line. This is a remarkable trait of the present invention. In the FIGS. 3 to 5 the like reference numerals indicate the same features as in FIGS. 1 and 2 and all such reference numerals are not inserted in these figures for the sake of clarity.
At the first point, large constructions/modules are loaded on the upper deck 2 in port and transported out to the actual location offshore, as the vessel can work as a normal sailing vessel, in non-submerged condition. The spacious upper deck is very clearly visible in the accompanying FIG. 5 and it has a space for passage of the equipment 10 . The construction/equipment 10 is lowered on the lower deck 5 as shown in the FIG. 3 . While the equipment is on the lower deck, it is submerged slowly, by gradual sinking of the lower deck below the water line, as illustrated in FIG. 4 . Before the equipment is submerged to about 3 to 4 m below the water surface, the lifting arrangement 3 ′ is connected to the crane 3 . After the equipment is under water, it is lifted about say one meter above lower deck 5 , turned aft and lowered down the bottom. This is illustrated in the accompanying FIG. 5 . Thus, by avoiding lowering of heavy equipments through the splash zone, the dynamic forces on the equipment and lifting/lowering device are drastically reduced. In many ocean areas, such as the North Sea, the wave height is considerable (several meters) and if such waves hits the equipment placed on deck or which is lowered from the surface, it can have a deteriorating effect on the equipment or the lifting devices. By lowering the equipment below the sea surface (and under the influence of the waves) before further lowering by cranes etc. to the ocean floor, two benefits are obtained, namely, the equipment is not influenced by the wave forces, and also and interestingly, the weight of the equipment is reduced due to buoyancy.
Similarly, the vessel avoids the dynamic forces of the splash zone on the equipments and lifting/lowering devices, during retrieving the equipment. Retrieval steps will obviously be just the opposite and is not shown in the accompanying figures. However, as a person skilled in the art will understand the method of retrieving heavy equipments according to the present invention, comprises the steps of submerging the vessel such that the lower deck is at a desired depth below the water level, lifting and placing the equipment on the lower deck from water by the lifting arrangement 3 ′ and crane 3 and moving the vessel up the water such that the lower deck is above the water level. As a further optional and subsequent step, the equipment 10 is lifted on the upper deck 2 by means of a lifting arrangement 3 ′ detachably attached to a crane 3 .
The accompanying FIGS. 6 and 7 show a further advantageous constructional feature of the vessel according to the present invention. It shows a temporary port 11 at the aft region of the vessel. The port also has a large ship shaped hull/pontoon at the bottom (not visible) just like the vessel and functions on an identical principle. The temporary port is preferably 300×70 m and is capable of accommodating crew vessel(s)/supply vessel(s)/any other vessel(s) 14 . A plurality of such vessels may be accommodated depending upon size. Normally, a vessel may be accommodated having up to 70 m length and 6 m draft. Such vessel 14 may be any vessel utilized for safe transfer of crew and material, as will be understood by persons skilled in the art and is not restricted to the exemplary illustration in FIGS. 6 and 7 . The gate astern 13 is preferably 40 m and is adapted to close very fast. The temporary port is adapted to be moored on a turret system (not shown) and will therefore always head on the weather. The area behind the unit is a sheltered area 12 and hence when the vessel is submerged the crew vessel, supply vessel or any other vessel 14 is able to enter even in quite rough weather through the sluice gates 13 . When the crew vessel/supply vessel/any other navigating vessel 14 enters, the sluice gates 13 are closed and hence a shallow port is formed where the crew/material can be transferred safely. This facility is particularly helpful, when the helicopters are out of reach.
Following are some of the non-limiting specifications of the vessel according to a preferred embodiment.
Main Particulars
Length over all (LOA): 120.60 m Length between perpendiculars (LPP): 120.60 m Breadth moulded: 45.00 m Depth mld. to main deck: 7.35 m Draught scantling: 16.00 m Operation draft approx.: 15.00 m Design draught: 5.12 m Upper pontoon, Depth mld. to lower deck: 24.20 m Upper pontoon, Depth mld. to upper deck: 30.20 m Frame spacing (transverse girders): 1.800 mm Tonnage, UMS (1969), approx.: 30.000
Capacities
Deadweight at SWL, draft 5.12 m, approx.: 9.500 MT Deadweight at operation draft 15.0 m, approx.: 30.800 MT Working deck area on upper deck, moon pool etc. deducted, approx.: 3.350 m2 Working deck load on upper deck: 5 MT/m2
Speed
Vessel trial speed shall be measured (double run) before delivery with clean hull and calm sea (max. Beaufort 2) based on following:
Trial speed, approx: 11.0 knots Draft even keel summer loadline: 5.12 m
Station Keeping
The vessel shall be able to operate in DP class 2 in the following weather condition for following sea, wind, current and all vessel headings:
Sea: 6.5 m significant wave height/Tp=10 seconds Wind: 15 m/s Current: 0.9 m/s surface current
For purposes of Movement Analysis:
Sea: 6.5 m significant wave height/Tp=9 to 17 secs
Accommodation
Ref. vessel General Arrangement plan The vessel shall accommodate 120 persons including marine crew and special purpose crew. Effort has been made to standardize the cabin size and layouts with 4 different cabin layouts.
Machinery/Propulsion
8×2600 KW generators 2×2200 KW Azimuths aft 4×2200 KW Retractable azimuths Fore and aft ship 2× 2200 KW Bow thrusters
The following non-limiting advantages are achieved by the present invention.
Ship shaped, column stabilized unit with upper deck. Sail as a vessel operate as a rig. Comparable to rig but to a much lower cost. Much less motion than vessels of today, great damping effect of the lower hull. Better stability then comparable units. Large loading capacities. Large working deck. Arrive ports on a very low draft. Large range of application, Intervention vessel, construction vessel, Drilling unit, Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS), Heavy lift vessel, Windmill installation vessel, Pipe layer, Deep water mining vessel, Accommodation unit, Tender Unit. Lower constructions/equipments through the water while they are standing on deck. Reduce dynamic forces on crane, lifting gear and construction. Large capacity with sections up to 30×15×10 m. Provide a safe port offshore for crew vessels/supply vessels/other small vessels through a gate astern, extreme capacity when it comes to accommodation and deck space. Reduced costs. Larger and more stabile working platform. Avoid splashing effect problems during deployment of subsea constructions/equipments so that the equipments and the lifting/lowering devices are not influenced by the wave forces, and simultaneously the weight of the equipments are reduced due to buoyancy. Reduce forces on tower, riser, crane, lifting gear and constructions. Able to work in much more harsh weather than an offshore vessel.
The present invention has been described with reference to some preferred embodiments and some drawings for the sake of understanding only and it should be clear to persons skilled in the art that the present invention includes all legitimate modifications within the ambit of what has been described hereinbefore and claimed in the appended claims. | A mono hull vessel for retrieving and deploying equipments in offshore region comprising a deck box with an upper deck ( 2 ) at its top said upper deck having a lifting and lowering device ( 3,3 ′), a hull/pontoon ( 1 ) at the base of said vessel, the vessel is characterized in that said hull/pontoon ( 1 ) is connected to the deck box by a plurality of columns ( 4 ) and said hull/pontoon ( 1 ) is made in one piece and is continuous to form the platform for a lower deck ( 5 ), the upper and lower deck being configured to allow lifting and lowering of equipment therefrom and thereon respectively. | 1 |
This is a division of application Ser. No. 148,822, filed May 12, 1980 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,672.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for excavating, handling and loading materials. More particularly, the invention relates to a handling and loading apparatus carrying a longitudinally extendable conveyor for loading materials forward of the apparatus onto the conveyor for removal rearwardly of the loading apparatus.
In excavating and handling topsoil, sand, gravel, aggregates, coal, and crushed ores and the like, including bulk stored grains, it is generally necessary to load and move large volumes of such material and excess time and motion wasted in loading such material greatly adds to its cost of production and handling. In addition, it is difficult to unload such materials, or other similar unconsolidated granular materials, from vessels such as ships or barges from a dock which is generally at a higher elevation than the deck of the vessel. In addition, the edge of the dock limits forward movement of the loading means and thus limits accessibility to the vessel.
The known prior art includes draglines, bulldozers, cranes, bucket excavators and front-end loading machinery for scooping up and loading such material into a fixed conveyor system or into another vehicle such as a truck or rail-car for transportation. Self-propelled excavating and conveying machines have been utilized as exemplified by the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,366,480 (Beckwith); U.S. Pat. No. 2,384,242 (Fitch); U.S. Pat. No. 2,518,964 (White); U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,048 (Weiss); U.S. Pat. No. 3,241,693 (Stroker); U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,840 (Schneider); U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,287 (Cunningham); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,331 (Kamner).
However, all of such prior art utilizes scoops and buckets to pick up and load the material onto a conveyor system or other vehicle for transport. None of the prior art in the above-recited patents that utilize built-in conveyor systems discloses a conveyor apparatus utilizing a conveyor system that is maneuverable forward of the apparatus both longitudinally and in limited arcuate vertical movement to emplace the loading end of the conveyor in any desired position in contact with the material at differing levels, even below the level of the apparatus itself, in order that a handling means mounted on the apparatus can continuously move material onto the loading end of the conveyor. Such continuous loading without the necessity of the bucket or shovel to lift the material and swing it to a second position to unload the material can save a considerable amount of time in handling such materials.
Accordingly, one primary feature of the present invention is to provide a handling and conveying apparatus carrying a longitudinally extendable conveyor assembly that is also adapted for limited arcuate vertical movemenet.
Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a conveyor means having a loading end positionable longitudinally and vertically forward of the apparatus in contact with the material to be moved for facilitating direct loading of the material.
Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide an articulated boom carrying a blade that is positionable forward of the apparatus to cooperate with the movable loading end of the conveyor above described in order to provide nearly continuous loading of the material onto the loading end of the conveyor with a minimum of lost motion.
Still another feature of the present invention is to provide means of moving the boom and handling means and/or the conveyor means forwardly of the apparatus to increase the reach of the apparatus from a fixed location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention remedies the problems of the prior art by providing an apparatus for handling and conveying material, by providing a vehicle that includes the above mentioned features. In accordnace with one principle of this invention, an apparatus for handling and conveying material is disclosed comprising a chassis adapted for at least limited lateral movement, means for moving the chassis, longitudinally extendable conveyor means attached to and supported by the chassis and adapted for limited vertical arcuate movement with respect thereto, the conveyor means having a loading end projecting forwardly from the chassis and a discharge end projecting rearwardly from the chassis, the loading end movable longitudinally and arcuately to a position forward of the chassis and into contact with the materials, a platform rotatably mounted on the chassis in a position above the conveyor means, means for horizontally rotating the platform with respect to the chassis, an articulated boom means mounted on the platform for rotation therewith and having a free extending end, and handling means attached to the free extending end of the boom means and cooperating with the loading end of the conveyor means for continuously moving the materials unto the conveyor means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the manner in which the above-recited advantages and features of the invention are attained can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention may be had by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings, which drawings form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the invention and therefore are not to be considered limiting of its scope for the invention may admit to further equally effective embodiments.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the handling and conveying apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the self-propelled handling and conveying apparatus of FIG. 1 shown loading material at a level below the level of the apparatus onto the conveyor.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a loading blade for handling the material.
FIG. 4B is a top view of the blade shown in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the conveyor taken along lines 5--5 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a partial detail view of the conveyor system utilizing another embodiment of a driving means to extend and retract the conveyor.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of the handling and conveying apparatus in which the conveyor is mounted on the side of the apparatus chassis.
FIG. 8 is a partial detail side view of the side mounted conveyor system shown in FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a side elevation of a third embodiment of the handling and conveying apparatus according to this invention.
FIG. 10 is a partial front elevation and vertical crosssection of yet another embodiment of the handling and conveying apparatus in which the conveyor system is also mounted for limited horizontal arcuate movement.
FIG. 11 is a top partial detail view of one drive means for moving the boom platform horizontally in the embodiment of FIG. 9.
FIG. 12 is a partial side detail view showing a cable/winch apparatus for laterally moving the boom platform in another embodiment of FIG. 9.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, a preferred embodiment of the handling and conveying apparatus 10 is shown. The apparatus 10 comprises a generally inverted U-shaped chassis 12 of conventional design for an excavator, except that is is much "higher" or has a greater ground clearance, to accommodate the underslung conveyor assembly 40. The apparatus uses a chassis 12 of the "crawler" type of self-propelled vehicle utilizing an endless track 14 driven by a motor (not shown) in a conventional manner. A platform 20 (including a vehicle "cab" for an operator) is mounted for rotation with respect to the chassis 12 in a conventional manner by means of a gear 16 driven by a pinion gear 17. The motor for driving pinion gear 17 is not shown, but can be of conventional hydraulic or electrical design. The gear 16 and necessary supporting plate (not shown) are mounted for rotation in a conventional manner in the top surface 18 of chassis 12.
A conventional type articulated boom assembly 21 is hinged to the structure of platform 20 for limited vertical arcuate movement for performing the necessary excavating and scooping movements. Boom assembly 21 includes a first boom section 22 hinged at end 23 to the platform structure 20 and supported and actuated by a pair of main hydraulic cylinders 24 attached conventionally by means of pivot pins 25. A second boom member 26 in hinged to the first boom member 22 by hinge pin 27 with an upper end 29 extending above first boom member 22. A hydraulic cylinder 28 is attached to member 22' of boom member 22 and pivotally attached to the extremity of end 29 of boom member 26 by means of a hinge pin 29. Boom member 26 thus is adapted for moving arcuately about hinge pin 27 with respect to the first boom member 22.
A handling means 30 is hinged to the lower end of the second boom member 26 by means of hinge pin 36 and mounting lugs 34 disposed on the handling means 30. A hydraulic cylinder 32 is disposed between member 26' of boom member 26 and lugs 35 disposed centrally of means 30 and spaced adjacent to lugs 34. The piston of cylinder 32 is pivotally mounted to lugs 35 by means of pivot pin 38. The action of boom assembly 21 is conventional in that cylinders 24, 28 and 32 co-act to articulate boom members 22 and 26 and the handling means 30. In the view of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the handling means 30 is shown preferably as a curved "scooping" blade. However, a bucket could also be used as can any other design of a means for continuously moving the material unto the conveyor.
A conveyor assembly 40 is slung under platform 20 and the top surface 18 of chassis 12 and is supported for limited vertical rotational movement about axles 44 fixed to chassis 12 and journaled to the conveyor cradle 42 as shown in FIG. 5. Bracket members 46 are attached to the forward ends of cradle 42 and extend upwardly therefrom. A pair of conveyor tilting hydraulic cylinders 48 are attached pivotally to lugs 53 on chassis 12 by pins 52 and to bracket member 46 by pins 50. Cylinders 48 are operable to lower or raise the loading end of conveyor assembly 40 to a position into intimate contact with the material being handled.
Cradle 42 includes channel-type side rails 42' and a crossbracing 43 welded to the spaced apart rails 42' to provide structural strength and rigidity. Disposed longitudinally within cradle 42 is a generally rectangular conveyor structure 57 comprising side frame members 54 and structural cross-frame members 55 and 55' (See FIG. 5). Conveyor structure 57 is mounted within cradle 42 for coaxial longitudinal movement with respect thereto as will be hereinafter further described. A pair of hydraulic cylinders 56 are attached rearwardly between cradle 42 and the rear end of structure 57 to provide a moving means for limited longitudinal movement of conveyor structure 57 with respect to cradle 42.
Bracket and frame members 64 and 66 are fixed to the forward extending ends of frame members 54 to support a shallow, generally rectangular material-receiving bin or hopper 68. The forward end of hopper 68 terminates in a generally flattened edge 70. Bin 68 has a generally rectangular opening 69 centrally disposed therein to receive the conveyor belt 58 that traverses the length of the conveyor structure 57. Conveyor belt 58 may preferably be of the "trough" type of conveyor and is supported by a plurality of rollers 60 and 60' spaced along and attached to frame members 54 and 55 (See FIG. 5). A motor drive 62 drives the endless conveyor belt 58 to move material from bin 68 for discharge rearwardly of apparatus 10.
As may be seen in greater detail in FIG. 5, the conveyor cradle 42 is hinged by means of axles 44 for limited vertical arcuate movement with respect to chassis 12. Cradle 42 is generally a rectangular box-like structure (as previously described), open on opposite, longitudinal ends. Pairs of spaced rollers 45 are mounted on base 43 by means of brackets 47 adjacent the side walls 42' and longitudinally spaced the length of cradle 42 (See FIG. 5). The spaced side rails 54 of conveyor structure 57 are disposed on the longitudinally disposed rollers 45 for permitting longitudinal movement of structure 57 along the rollers for the purpose hereinabove described. Roller brackets 59 and 59' are attached to the frame members 54 and/or 55 and project upwardly therefrom to support a trio of rollers 60 and 60' by means of pins 61 in a conventional manner to form a "trough" type conveyor having a generally shallow U-shaped cross-section for supporting belt 58. In addition, rollers 65 may be disposed between brackets 63 and rails 54 in the space between cross-braces 55 and 55' to provide support for the return portion of the conveyor belt 58.
As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus 10 is positioned on a first ground level 11 and the bin 68 of conveyor assembly 40 positioned to contact earth materals 13 such as soil, sand, gravel or ore 13 located on another level 15. Conveyor assembly 40 may be positioned to place bin 68 at the desired height for easy moving of material 13 into the bin for transfer by the conveyor belt 58 to the rear of apparatus 10. Cylinders 56 may be used to extend or retract conveyor structure 57 with respect to cradle 42 as shown in FIG. 3, thereby moving conveyor bin 68 longitudinally with respect to boom assembly 21 as shown by the dotted lines.
Of course, the apparatus 10 can use a conventional excavator scoop or bucket, however, it has been found preferable to use a wide curved blade 30, shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Blade 30 is a generally curved, U-shaped metal blade having curved upper and lower edges 33 and U-shaped ends 31. A pair of boom mounting lugs or brackets 34 are fixed to the forward central area at the top of the blade and carry mounting holes 36' for receiving pivot pin 36 for pivotally attaching blade 30 to the end of boom section 26. A second pair of lugs 35 are fixed to the blade outwardly of lugs 34 and carry holes 38' for receiving pivot pin 38 for pivotally attaching the piston rod of cylinder 32. Of course, other handling means 30 may be utilized as desired.
FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of a means of moving conveyor structure 57 with respect to conveyor cradle 42. In the partial top view shown in FIG. 6, the spaced side rails 54 and crossbraces 55 (55') are shown, with rails 54 adopted for longitudinal rolling movement with respect to cradle 42 on the spaced, opposed pairs of rollers 45. A motor 72, preferably an electric or hydraulic motor, is mounted on a cradle cross-brace member 43 and drives a threaded shaft 74 that may be coupled directly to motor 72 or driven through a suitable gear-box (not shown). Drive shaft 74 is supported and journaled in at least a pair of blocks 73 and 76 attached to frame members 43 of cradle 42. Shaft 74 passes through threaded follower assemblies 75 attached to at least a pair of cross-braces 55' (See FIG. 5). When motor 72 is actuated to turn shaft 74 in one direction, the rotating screw threads engage the followers 75 and move conveyor structure 57 in a desired direction. When motor 72 is reversed, the rotation of threaded shaft 74 is reversed and drives the conveyor 57 in the opposite direction.
Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, another embodiment 90 of the apparatus is shown. In embodiment 90 the crawler vehicle chassis 12 may be of more conventional height and design since the conveyor assembly 40 is mounted to one side of chassis 12. Platform and cab 20 are mounted for rotational movement on chassis 12 as hereinabove described for apparatus 10. However, projecting transversely from one side of chassis 12 are structural braces 88 supporting a projecting axle or beam 84. Conveyor cradle 42 is mounted for limited vertical rotational movement on axle or beam 84 by means of a bearing and shackle assembly 86. A transversely projecting bracket 80 and supporting brace members 82 are fixed to chassis 12 above track 14 and project transversely over the top of conveyor assembly 40. The conveyor vertical attitude adjusting cylinders 48 are attached at one end to bracket 80 projecting from chassis 12 and to the brackets 46 attached to cradle 42. The cab 20 and boom assembly 21 must be slightly rotated to the side to register blade 30 with receiving bin 68 for accepting loose material as hereinbefore described. It may be desirable to modify the mounting lugs 34 and 35 of blade 30 for setting them at an offset angle as shown at 34' and 35' in FIG. 7 and thereby enabling blade 30 to be offset at an angle with respect to boom assembly 21 for making it easier to scoop material longitudinally into bin 68.
One advantage of the side mounting of conveyor assembly 40 is that it can readily be mounted on an existing standard excavator chassis, and can be designed to permit greater downwardly arcuate movement of conveyor assembly 40 and receiving bin 68, since the rear clearance of the conveyor under chassis 12 is not a factor as it is in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-5.
FIG. 9 illustrates yet another embodiment 100 of the handling/conveying apparatus according to this invention. This embodiment is particularly suited for use on water-front docks 105 for off-loading granular material 113 from a vessel 104, such as a barge of the like, moored in water 107 to piling 103 at a level usually lower than dock 105 and laterally beyond the dock. In this embodiment, apparatus 100 includes a self-propelled vehicle having a chassis 112 mounted on axles 111 and propelled by wheels 114 on a pair of spaced rails 109 mounted on dock 105. Platform and cab 120 is mounted for rotation relative to chassis 112 by means of a gear arrangement 116, as previously described for other embodiments, mounted in the top 118 of chassis 112. Cab 120 is also mounted for limited horizontal movement with respect to chassis 112 by means of a base 120' that is adapted for movement with respect to a sled 120". A motor 123 for actuating and moving base 120' with respect to sled 120", as will hereinafter be further described, is mounted on a bracket 119.
The construction and operation of boom assembly 121 is identical to that of boom assembly 21 previously described and will not here be further detailed. A conveyor assembly 40, identical to that previously described is mounted for limited vertical, arcuate movement with respect to chassis 112 by means of an axle 144 supported by axle support members 145 fixed to chassis 112.
In operation, apparatus 100 can move transversely along dock 105 on rails 109 to properly position conveyor 40 and blade 130 with respect to dock 105 and vessel 104. As previously described, and as best shown in FIG. 3, receiving bin 68 can be moved longitudinally by means of moving conveyor structure 57 with resepct to cradle 42. In addition, cab 120, carrying boom assembly 121, can move horizontally toward vessel 104, to a position such as that shown by the dotted lines to further extend the reach and range of boom assembly 121 and the handling means 130. Blade 130 moves the loose, granular material 113 into bin 68 for movement along conveyor belt 58 and rear discharge from apparatus 100 as hereinabove previously described for apparatus embodiments 10 and 90. As vessel 104 is unloaded, the vessel rises in the water as shown at A and conveyor bin 68 must be adjusted to compensate for the change. The combination of the longitudinally positionable conveyor 40 and the longitudinally positionable excavator cab 120 and boom assembly 121, permit a greater degree of handling access and moving and loading flexibility than heretofore found in the prior art.
FIG. 11 illustrates in greater detail the means of moving cab base 120' with respect to sled 120" as above described with reference to FIG. 9. Sled 120" comprises a rectangular box-like structure having upright sides 191 and ends 195. Base members of rails 193 are disposed longitudinally adjacent sides 191 for providing a support and bearing surface for the cab base plate 120'. Base plate 120' is adapted to slide along rails or members 193 or to be supported thereon for rolling movement by suitable rollers (not shown), similar to that desribed with respect to rollers 45 of conveyor assembly 40.
Motor 123 is mounted on a bracket 119 that is attached to one end of sled 120" and drives a threaded shaft 190 journaled in bearing blocks 192 disposed at opposite ends 195. Fixed to the underside of base 120 are threaded follower blocks through which shaft 190 projects. As motor 123 rotates shaft 190 in one direction, the threaded follower blocks move along shaft 190 thus driving base 120 in a desired direction.
Of course, any other suitable means for moving cab 120 with respect to chassis 112 may be utilized, and another such embodiment is shown in FIG. 12. Vehicle cab 120 and attached articulated boom assembly 121 (partially shown in dotted lines) are carried by cab base 120' which is mounted on a rail structure 321 for longitudinal movement thereon. A wire cable 328 is centrally disposed between rails 321 and attached to opposite end frames 325. The cable 328 is wound about a cable drum 324 which is driven by a motor 322 by means of a chain or belt drive 326. When actuated, motor 322 rotates cable drum 324 is one direction, thereby moving cab base 120' with respect to the base frame 321. When the motor direction is reversed, the cable drum is rotated in the opposite direction and cab base 120' moves in the other direction to a desired position.
FIG. 10 illustrates yet another embodiment 200 of the apparatus according to this invention. The apparatus 200 comprises a wheeled or rubber-tired vehicle chassis 212 supported by rubber tires 214 driven by a conventional motor (not shown). A platform and cab 220 is rotatably mounted on chassis 212 by means of a gear 216 driven by a pinion gear 217 powered by a conventional power source (not shown) and mounted in a retaining ring 218.
A conveyor assembly 240 is mounted within a generally inverted U-shaped frame structure 213 by means of a pair of axles or pivot pins 244 fixed to cradle structure 242 that permit limited vertical arcuate movement of conveyor assembly 240 with respect to frame 213 and chassis 212. The details of construction and operation of the cradle 242 and conveyor structure 257 are identical to that of cradle 42 and conveyor structure 57 previously described, and will not here be further described.
Frame 213 is suspended from chassis 212 by means of a support column 215 depending from the central top portion of chassis 212 and is adapted for rotational movement on ring bearings 221 retained by flange 219 of column 215. If desired, the frame 213 may seat directly on flange 219 and the mating surfaces provide a bearing surface. An actuating cylinder 290 is attached to chassis 212 by means of a bracket 292 and to one side of frame 213 by means of pin 294. When actuated, cylinder 290 applies a lateral force to pin 294 (offset from the center of frame 213) which force is translated into rotational motion rotating frame 213 (carrying conveyor assembly 240) about support column 215. In this manner the conveyor assembly 240 may be rotated through a limited degree of horizontal arcuate movement in order to reposition the receiving bin 68 laterally of the center line through the vehicle. Of course, any other suitable means of providing limited horizontal rotational movement to conveyor assembly 240 with respect to chassis 212 may be utilized, if it provides for the ability of conveyor assembly 240 to also include limited arcuate vertical movement.
While the design of embodiment 200 is ideally suited for large scale handling and conveying vehicles used in mining, such a design would also be useful as another embodiment of the dockside material handler/conveyor shown in FIG. 9, and, of course, can be used for any of the other handling and conveying uses herein described.
Numerous variations and modifications may be made in the structure herein described without departing from the present invention. Accordinly, it should be clearly understood that the forms of the invention herein described and shown in the figures of the accompanying drawings and illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. | In one exemplar embodiment, an apparatus for handling and conveying materials is disclosed having a movable chassis, a longitudinally extendable conveyor assembly mounted on the chassis, the conveyor having a projecting loading end capable of limited longitudinal and arcuate vertical movement to a position immediately adjacent the location of the material being handled. An articulated boom assembly is rotatably mounted on the chassis with the movable free end carrying a pushing and pulling blade for loading the material unto the loading end of the conveyor. | 4 |
PRIORITY TO APPLICATION
[0001] This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/523,417, filed on Nov. 19, 2003, and entitled “Photovoltaic Building Materials and Related Methods of Installation,” which is commonly assigned with the present application and incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] Disclosed embodiments herein relate generally to building materials for covering the hip, ridge, rake, or other portion of a roof, and more particularly to materials disposed above a hip, ridge, rake, or other roof portion incorporating or comprising a solar panel(s) having a self-aligning mechanism for the rapid and uniform installation and electrical interconnection of a number of such materials.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The presence and use of electricity is an everyday necessity that every modem home and business enjoys. Equally enduring is the periodic cost of that electricity, based on the amount, typically in kilo-watt/hours (kwh), used at the specific location. Efforts to combat the ever-present high-cost of electricity in homes and businesses have explored a number of different avenues. For example, in the general consumer market (e.g., residences) solar power as a replacement for electricity provided by typical utility companies has been attempted relatively unsuccessfully in so-called “off-grid” connections. Such off-grid connections embody the use of solar power in lieu of conventional in-home electricity.
[0004] Whether it be the initial costs associated with such off-grid systems or the relatively difficult and costly maintenance required, off-grid systems have typically not been accepted by the consumer market. As a result, the use of solar power to supplement, rather than replace, conventional electricity has continued to gain acceptance. These so-called “on-grid” systems typically work in conjunction with conventional electrical connections to supplement that electrical power, for example, during times of peak use. By supplementing conventionally available electricity, the overall annual cost of residential (or commercial) electricity may be substantially reduced.
[0005] Conventional residential solar-powered on-grid systems are typically incorporated into the roof of a house, due to its orientation towards the sky. Earlier systems employed large, flat crystal solar panels dispersed across the surface of the roof to collect the solar energy. However, the fragility and high cost of the crystal materials, as well as the clearly distinguishable appearance of the panels from ordinary roofing shingles, has resulted in essentially a rejection of such system by the market place.
[0006] Modem systems have developed strips of solar shingles that are more durable and predominantly resemble ordinary roofing shingles, thus substantially concealing the system from plain view. Unfortunately, even such modem system suffer from deficiencies, such as the need to form multiple holes through the roof and into the attic area for each shingle strip in order to electrically connect all of the shingle strips to create a functional system. As the number of holes formed through the roof increase, so too do the chances of leakage through the roof during inclement weather. Moreover, making the electrical connections from one shingle strip to the next, and then to the circuit breaker box of the home, is typically quite tedious and exhausting. In addition, because the shingle strips replace the ordinary shingles typically used on roofs, an experienced or specifically skilled installer is typically needed to properly align the solar shingle strips during installation, just as with ordinary shingles, so that the aesthetics of the entire roof are preserved. Even so, panels located in the middle of a roofing section tend to be aesthetically unpleasing as they detract from the section's homogeneous and symmetrical appearance. As a result, a relatively inexpensive and residentially available solar-powered system is needed that does not suffer from these deficiencies.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0007] Disclosed herein are solar powered photovoltaic (PV) building materials, such as roofing shingles, and related PV systems employing such materials. Methods of installing such materials are also disclosed. The disclosed PV systems and methods beneficially provide solar power to structures in either off-grid or on-grid connections. In one exemplary embodiment, interconnected PV modular roofing structures are for use on a hip, ridge, or rake of a roof as replacement for typical asphalt shingles. In some embodiments, the PV modular roofing structure includes a rigid back member and a PV solar panel mounted on the back member. In addition, the back member is sized substantially the same as the size of the solar panel, and is attached to an underside surface of the solar panel. In other embodiments, the PV modular roofing structure is a single piece of building material incorporating PV solar panel and a supporting back member.
[0008] Further, such PV modular roofing structures include conductive rods extending from the top surface of the back member to its bottom surface. At one end, the conductive rods make electrical contact with the underside of the PV solar panel, while the opposing ends extend away from the back member at one end of the PV modular roofing structure and are configured to make electrical contact with contact traces on the underside of the back member of an adjoining PV modular roofing structure partially overlapping the end of the first PV modular roofing structure. By employing the conductive rods, a series of PV modular roofing structures may be easily installed without the need to individually wire the modular roofing structures together, or to form holes through the roof for passing wires. In a specific embodiment, the PV solar panel further comprises photoelectric silica spheres across its upper surface, which in addition to generating the solar electricity also appear similar to the granules typically found on the exterior of asphalt-based shingles.
[0009] In one embodiment, the back member includes a step in thickness in a cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the substantially planar lower surface and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the back member. In addition, the thickness of the back member at the high level of the step is greater than the thickness of the back member at one of its ends. In a specific embodiment, the back member is composed of an injection-molded thermoplastic. Alternatively, the back member may be composed of any rigid material suitable for outdoor exposure, such as molded recycled tire rubber, metal, or even wood. In yet another embodiment, the back member includes a trapezoid-shaped base. The step in thickness of the back member is provided by a step in the height of the walls in a cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the base and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the back member.
[0010] For installation with “ridge vent” systems (to be discussed below), the back member preferably includes a plurality of channel walls extending from the base and communicating between a sidewall of the back member and an area near the longitudinal center axis of the PV solar panel. Preferably, the channels are formed in a herringbone pattern. Through the channels, the PV modular roofing structure is able to vent air escaping through a ridge opening formed at the apex of the ridge in a structure of the roof to the outside environment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Reference is now made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is emphasized that various features may not be drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. In addition, it is emphasized that some components may not be illustrated for clarity of discussion. Reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a PV modular roofing structure for use in a solar-powered electrical system constructed according to the principles disclosed herein;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom view of the PV modular roofing structure of FIG. 1 ;
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the PV modular roofing structure illustrated in FIGS. 1-2 , viewed along an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal center axis of the solar panel;
[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the back member before attachment of the PV solar panel;
[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of the back member, viewed from the trailing edge of the PV modular roofing structure of FIGS. 1-2 ;
[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of a pair of interconnected PV modular roofing structures coupled together and employing the conductive rods described above; and
[0018] FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a group of interconnected PV modular roofing structures after installation on a hip, ridge, or rake portion of a roof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] Referring initially to FIG. 1 , illustrated is an isometric view of a building material 5 for use in a photovoltaic (PV) solar-power electrical system constructed according to the principles disclosed herein. The material 5 is a PV modular roofing structure 5 and includes a PV solar panel 10 and a back member 20 . The photovoltaic panel 10 may be in the form of any symmetrical shape, such as a rectangle or a trapezoid. As shown in FIG. 1 , however, the PV solar panel 10 is preferably trapezoid shaped because a trapezoid shape has been found to yield the best general appearance when the PV modular roofing structure 5 is installed in certain types of roofing layouts, as discussed in greater detail below.
[0020] The PV solar panel 10 is comprised of any type of photoelectric material capable of use in a solar-powered electrical system. For example, the PV solar panel 10 may be a solar panel based on thin films, or even conventional crystal/silica solar panels. In another exemplary embodiment, the PV solar panel 10 may be a solar panel constructed from photoelectric silica spheres 17 formed on an aluminum base or frame. Examples of such spherical photoelectric systems are produced by Spheral Solar Power, Inc. of Cambridge, Ontario in Canada. Of course, a PV system constructed as described herein is not limited to the use of spherical solar panels, and may employ any type of solar panel either now existing or later developed.
[0021] One advantage to the use of spherical solar panels is the aesthetic value provided by this relatively new technology. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , the spheres 17 in such systems are randomly dispersed across the exposed face of the PV solar panel 10 . As such, the spheres 17 may closely resemble the granules typically employed with asphalt-based shingles, when the disclosed modular roofing structures are used as replacements for conventional shingles. As a result, passersby viewing an installed system as taught herein will have a difficult time distinguishing a system of the present disclosure and a conventional asphalt-based roof. In addition, current technology allows such photovoltaic spheres to be formed in a variety of colors. Thus, an even more aesthetically pleasing result may be achieved by selecting or customizing specific colors for the spheres comprising the PV solar panel 10 .
[0022] When manufactured, the PV roofing structures 5 may have any shape and may be constructed to any desired size. However, since the PV structures 5 are photovoltaic devices, the needed exposed surface area of each structure (for generating the desired amount of energy) should be taken into consideration. In an exemplary embodiment of the PV roofing structure 5 , the exposed surface area of the structure 5 may provide 1 to 2 square feet of photovoltaic capabilities. In one specific example, the width of the PV structure 5 may be about 26 inches, while the length may be about 14 inches. In such an embodiment, the PV structure 5 may provide approximately one to two square feet of photovoltaic surface area. Of course, no limitation to any particular size for the PV structure 5 is intended.
[0023] Turning now to FIG. 2 , illustrated is a bottom view of the PV modular roofing structure 5 illustrated in FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the back member 20 extends substantially the width of the PV modular roofing structure 5 and is attached to the PV solar panel 10 by any suitable adhesive or by another affixing means. In addition, the back member 20 includes a base 25 having a predominately trapezoid shape for mounting the PV solar panel 10 , and has substantially the same length as the PV solar panel 10 . For example, in an exemplary embodiment, if the PV solar panel 10 has a length of 13 ¼ inches, the back member 20 may be 13 inches long.
[0024] The back member 20 is attached to the PV solar panel 10 such that a longitudinal center axis 11 of the PV solar panel 10 and a longitudinal center axis 21 of the back member 20 are aligned. In addition, in the illustrated embodiment, a short edge 13 of the PV solar panel 10 and a short edge 23 of the back member 20 are also aligned. For the purposes of this specification, the end of the PV modular roofing structure 5 having the short edges 13 , 23 of the PV solar panel 10 and back member 20 will be referred to as the “back end,” and the opposite end of the PV modular roofing structure 5 will be referred to as the “front end.”
[0025] Also, the back member 20 has two sidewalls 22 a and 22 b extending from the base 25 . The back member 20 also has multiple channel walls 24 spreading across the base 25 , and in this embodiment are arranged in a “herringbone” pattern to provide support for the back member 20 , and thus the overall PV modular roofing structure 5 . To facilitate the folding of the PV modular roofing structure 5 , the back member 20 preferably has a slit 27 along its longitudinal center axis 21 . The base 25 also has rectangular holes 28 in areas proximate the channel walls 24 . Advantageously, the holes 28 may be employed so as to limit twisting and deforming of the base 25 under elevated temperatures that are commonly experienced on the roofs of buildings. This feature is especially beneficial with PV modular roofing structures as disclosed herein are employed as building materials on the roofs of structures to provide solar power thereto.
[0026] In an exemplary embodiment, the back member 20 is manufactured from an injection-molded thermoplastic material, such as injected-molded polystyrene, polypropylene, or polyethylene. The polystyrene, polypropylene, or polyethylene materials may be low, medium, or high density and may be used with 40% to 70% filler by weight. Such filler may include limestone, gypsum, aluminum trihydrate (ATH), cellulose fiber, and plastic polymer fiber. Other thermoplastic materials that may be used include ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) polymer materials, ethylene-mythylene-acrylate (EMAC) materials, neoprene materials, and polychlorosulfonated polymer (Hypalon) materials. Although an injection-molded thermoplastic material is described herein, any rigid material suitable for outdoor exposure is also suitable for manufacturing the back member 20 . F or example, molded recycled tire rubber, metal, or wood may also be used.
[0027] Also illustrated on the PV modular roofing structure 5 is a pair of conductive rods 29 (one of which is labeled 29 ). The conductive rods 29 extend from the back end of the PV modular roofing structure 5 , and extend parallel to the longitudinal axis 21 of the back member 20 . In an exemplary embodiment, the conductive rods 29 are comprised of copper, but any appropriate electrically conductive material may also be employed. Preferably, the conductive rods 29 are rigid and are permanently affixed to the back member 20 . In one embodiment, the conductive rods 29 are integrated into the process for forming the back member 20 , such that the conductive rods 29 pass from the top side of the back member 20 to its bottom side. In other embodiments, the conductive rods 29 are installed on the back member 20 , for example, with clips, after the member 20 has been formed. For example, holes are formed from the front to the back of the back member 20 , and the conductive rods 29 passed therethrough and secured to the back member 20 . Of course, other methods for manufacturing the back member 20 with the conductive rods 29 may also be employed.
[0028] By passing from one side of the back member 20 to the other, the conductive rods 29 provide an electrical connection between these two sides. As such, when the PV solar panel 10 is installed on the top of the back member 20 , the conductive rods 29 provide a conduit for transmitting the electricity generated by the solar panel 10 to the underside of the back member 10 . Once transferred to the underside of the back member 20 of one PV modular roofing structure 5 , the extension of the conductive rods 29 out from the PV modular roofing structure 5 provide an opportunity to contact conductive traces on the underside of an adjoining PV modular roofing structure (not illustrated), which are electrically connected to the conductive rods on this adjoining PV modular roofing structure, thus continuing the electrical circuit between PV modular roofing structures. Alternatively, if no further PV modular roofing structures are being employed, the conductive rods 29 provide an easily accessible connection point for electrically coupling the PV modular roofing structures in the PV system with a power converter or directly to the structure's electrical breaker box. As a result, the conductive rods 29 allow a quick and easy process for installing a plurality of PV modular roofing structures constructed as disclosed herein by allowing adjoining PV modular roofing structures to be overlapped a predetermined distance so that the conductive rods 29 make electrical contact with the next PV modular roofing structure.
[0029] Embodiments employing the disclosed PV modular roofing structure 5 may also incorporate a ventilation function for use in “ridge vent” systems. Presently, many homes and structures are constructed such that the peak of a roof has an opening of approximately two inches along its length. This opening is conventionally covered by a special ridge vent material that allows air to pass out of the home, but prevents insects and moisture from entering into the home. For a detail disclosure of ridge vent shingles and ridge vent systems, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,418,692 and 6,530,189, which are commonly owned by the Assignee of the present disclosure and are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. When a PV modular roofing structure 5 with the back member 20 is used as roofing material and placed on a ridge vent roof, the air being vented from the ridge of the roof passes through the channels formed by the channel walls 24 to the outside environment. Advantageously, the herringbone pattern of the channel walls 230 prevents the entry of water into the ridge vent by forcing the water to take a difficult path through the back member 20 .
[0030] Accordingly, the installation of ridge vent material underneath the PV modular roofing structure 5 is not necessary, and only a one-step installation process is needed to install PV modular roofing structures according to this embodiment on a ridge vent roof. Moreover, when employing the PV modular roofing structures disclosed herein as part of a ridge vent system, the conductive rods 29 discussed above can easily pass through the opening at the ridge of the roof, thus removing the need to form multiples holes across the roof to provide an avenue for electrically connecting the PV modular roofing structures, as is commonly found conventional solar-power roof systems. The use of the PV modular roofing structures disclosed herein as building materials in ridge vent systems is described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 7 .
[0031] Turning now to FIG. 3 , illustrated is a side view of the PV modular roofing structure 5 illustrated in FIGS. 1-2 , viewed along an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal center axis 11 of the solar panel 10 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the sidewall 22 a of the back member 20 is composed of a wedge-shaped or triangular section that extends along a length of the PV modular roofing structure 5 . Sidewall 22 b is substantially identical, yet opposite, to sidewall 22 a . In addition, at any point along the longitudinal axis 21 of the back member 20 , the height of each of the channel walls 24 (as well as any other support walls included on the back member 20 ) corresponds to the height of the sidewalls 22 a and 22 b at that longitudinal position.
[0032] Also shown in FIG. 3 is one of the conductive rods 29 discussed above. As described above, the conductive rods 29 pass through the body of the back member 20 to provide an electrical connection from the top of the back member 20 to its bottom side. As the PV solar panel 10 is placed on the top of the back member 20 , if a two-piece structure for the PV modular roofing structure is used, electrical contact between the conductive rods 29 and the PV solar panel 10 is made. Specifically, the PV solar panel 10 may be designed with contact pads formed in particular locations on its underside. Thus, when the PV solar panel 10 is affixed to the back member 20 , those contact pads would come into contact with the conductive rods 29 . Then, electricity generated by the PV cells on the solar panel 10 may be transferred through the conductive rods 29 to the underside of the back member 20 . In addition, the extension of the conductive rods 29 away from the trailing edge of the PV modular roofing structure 5 and towards the next PV modular roofing structure to be installed in the PV system may be seen.
[0033] Looking now at FIG. 4 , illustrated is a top view of the back member 20 , before attachment of the PV solar panel 10 . In one exemplary embodiment, the top surface of the back member 20 is corrugated, with the corrugations running longitudinally along the back member 20 . In such an embodiment, the corrugations facilitate the adherence of the PV solar panel 10 to the back member 20 , however this is not required. Also illustrated are the locations of the openings 28 over the channel walls 24 formed on the underside of the back member 20 . Moreover, contact pads 31 that are electrically coupled to the conductive rods 29 may be seen on the top of the back member 20 . While not required, employing contact pads 31 on the back member 20 facilitates an electrical connection from contact pads on the PV solar panel 10 (not illustrated) to the conductive rods 29 .
[0034] Referring now to FIG. 5 , illustrated is a front view of the back member 20 , viewed from the trailing edge of the PV modular roofing structure 5 . The extension of the conductive rods 29 from the underside of the back member 20 may be seen from this front view. In addition, a folding point along the slit 27 described above can be more easily seen. More specifically, when employed in ridge vent systems, the back member 20 (and thus the solar panel 10 attached thereto) is bent along the longitudinal axis 21 , where the thickness of the back member 20 is the least. As a result, the sidewalls 22 a , 22 b are brought downwards and towards each other, giving the PV modular roofing structure 5 a fold angle, for example, of about 75° to 90°. With such a fold, the PV modular roofing structure 5 may then be placed over the ridge opening in the roof, which is illustrated and described with reference to FIG. 7 .
[0035] Looking now at FIG. 6 , illustrated is a side view of a pair of novel interconnected PV modular roofing structures 100 a , 100 b coupled together and employing conductive rods 129 , as described above. Each of the PV modular roofing structures 100 a , 100 b includes a PV solar panel 110 and a back member 120 , which are similar to the solar panel 10 and back member 20 , respectively, illustrated in the previous figures. As illustrated, after the first PV modular roofing structure 100 a is installed on a roof, the second PV modular roofing structure 100 b is installed by partially overlapping the first PV modular roofing structure 100 a.
[0036] In this exemplary embodiment, the back members 120 of the PV modular roofing structure 100 a , 100 b include a notch to help determine how much of the first PV modular roofing structure 100 a is overlapped by the second PV modular roofing structure 10 b . In such embodiments, by predetermining the amount of overlap, the installer of the PV system can be certain that the conductive rods 129 are properly aligned with respect to the adjoining PV modular roofing structure. For example, the conductive rods 129 of the first PV modular roofing structure 100 a may be seen extending towards the second PV modular roofing structure 10 b , and contacting underside contact pads 133 formed on the back members 120 . The conductive rods 129 are electrically connected to the contact pads 133 via conductive traces 139 to maintain the electrical connection from one PV modular roofing structure to the next. As a result, an electrical connection may be made from the tip of the conductive rods 129 of one PV modular roofing structure, through the conductive rods 129 to contact pads 131 on the top of the back members 120 , and then to contact pads 135 on the underside of the PV solar panels 110 , without the use of wires along the way. Such interconnections simply continue from PV modular roofing structure to PV modular roofing structure until the roofline, ridge, hip or rake is completely covered.
[0037] Beneficially, since the electrical connection across the disclosed PV system is carried directly from one PV modular roofing structure to the next, external wiring for the system need only be connected to the conductive rods 129 of the PV modular roofing structures at the ends of a string of interconnected PV modular roofing structures. Thus, holes for wiring each solar panel to the system need not be made through the roof of the structure. Of course, not only does such a system of interconnected PV modular roofing structures eliminate the risk of leaks through such holes, but the installation process for the entirety of PV modular roofing structures is substantially simplified. More specifically, an installer need simply install one PV modular roofing structure over the next, at the predetermined alignment, without the need to drill holes and electrically connect each PV modular roofing structure along the way.
[0038] Also illustrated along the outer faces of the solar panels 110 are pluralities of photoelectric spheres 137 of the type described above. By employing such spheres 137 in the disclosed system, rather than traditional crystal solar panels and the like, the look of the granules typically found on the outside of asphalt-based shingles may be readily imitated when the disclosed PV modular roofing structures are used as building materials for roofs. Such imitation allows PV systems of the type disclosed herein to more easily blend-in with surrounding conventional asphalt roofs, so as not to draw unwanted attention to the roof of the structure. Also as mentioned above, this look may be further enhanced in those embodiments where colored photoelectric spheres 137 are employed. Of course, a PV system of modular roofing structures constructed as disclosed herein is not limited to the use of photoelectric spheres 137 for the power-generating components on the PV solar panels 110 .
[0039] Turning finally to FIG. 7 , illustrated is an isometric view of the placement of a series of interconnected PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , and 5 c after installation on a hip, ridge, or rake portion of a roof. Each of the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , and 5 c is a PV solar-power modular roofing structure constructed according to the principles disclosed herein. In addition, as discussed above, each of the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c have been folded along its longitudinal center axis,(see above) to form an inverted V-shape with the rigid back members 20 inside of, and supporting, the solar panels 10 . Once folded, the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c may then be used on the cap of the hip, ridge, or rake portion of a structure's roof.
[0040] To begin the installation process for the disclosed PV system, a first PV modular roofing structure 5 a is placed on the hip, ridge, or rake portion of a roof, and installed by nailing or other suitable means. A second PV modular roofing structure 5 b is then placed partially over the top of the first PV modular roofing structure 5 a , with the front end of the second PV modular roofing structure 5 b placed over the back end of the first PV modular roofing structure 5 a . The front end of the second PV modular roofing structure 5 b is then slid toward the front end of first PV modular roofing structure 5 a until the step of the back member 20 of the second PV modular roofing structure 5 b engages the edges of the first PV modular roofing structure 5 a at the back end. The second PV modular roofing structure 5 b is then nailed or otherwise suitably fastened in place on the roof, in a manner similar to that of the first PV modular roofing structure 5 a . A third PV modular roofing structure 5 c is then installed partially over the second PV modular roofing structure 5 b , in the same or similar manner.
[0041] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, PV modular roofing structures according to the embodiment of FIG. 7 provide a number of benefits. First, the step of each back member 20 allows the next PV modular roofing structure to be easily aligned for a quick and uniform installation. Second, the thickness of the back member 20 enhances the appearance of the PV modular roofing structures and provides a wood-like look to the PV modular roofing structure when used as replacements for roofing shingles. Third, since the back member 20 is substantially the same length as the solar panel 10 , the thickness of each PV modular roofing structure is enhanced across its entire length, and the PV modular roofing structures thereby avoid an exaggerated “saw-tooth” appearance after installation. Also, since the back member 20 of each PV modular roofing structure is made of a rigid material, the PV modular roofing structures will not droop over time or after exposure to extreme temperatures.
[0042] Furthermore, by carrying the electrical connection directly from one PV modular roofing structure to the next, external wiring for the PV system need only be connected to the end PV modular roofing structures, and no holes for such wiring need to be made in the roof along the way. Moreover, in ridge (or similar) installations, the ridge opening provides access to the attic of the structure into which wires needed for the PV system are typically run. FIG. 7 illustrates a ridge opening 50 formed at the cap of the ridge of the roof prior to installing the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c . The opening 50 is made so that the underside of the roof (and attic) may be properly ventilated, thus increasing heating and cooling efficiency of the structure. As the vented air rises up through the opening 50 , it is funneled through the channel walls described above and out of the structure through vent holes along the sidewalls 22 a , 22 b of each of the structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c.
[0043] Once all of the PV modular roofing structure 5 a , 5 b , 5 c for the system have been installed, electrical wires 55 need only be attached to the end(s) of the string of interconnected PV modular roofing structures, and passed through the opening 50 and into the structure for connection to the PV system. As may be seen, since both the wires 55 and conductive rods 29 are covered beneath the folded PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , these electrical components are sheltered from inclement weather after installation. In an advantageous embodiment, the wires 55 are electrically connected to an inverter (or similar circuitry) and then to the electrical breaker box for the structure, in order to provide an on-grid PV solar power system to supplement the traditional electricity provide by the local utility company. Of course, in other embodiments, the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c may be wired to a power converter for storage of the electricity generated by the PV solar panels 10 on the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c in electrical storage devices, such as batteries. In either embodiment, the series electrical interconnection of the PV modular roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c provides for both simplified installation and simplified wiring of the PV system.
[0044] In yet another embodiment, the PV roofing structures 5 a , 5 b , 5 c may still be placed end-to-end as illustrated, but all three structures formed together as a single elongated unit. In such embodiments, the complete structure would look basically the same as in the other embodiments discussed, however, the installation of longer units would be quicker and would have less modular connections to be concerned with. In one example of such an embodiment, only the first roofing structure 5 a includes the electrical conductors 29 the extend out to contact the next PV structure. Thus, the second and third PV structures 5 b , 5 c may simply be electrically interconnected using any other means rather than employing the extending electrical conductors 29 that contact the adjacent PV structure when separate PV structures are individually installed. In addition, in such embodiments, the back member located at the back end of the overall elongated structure (a structure including 5 a , 5 b , and 5 c together) may still include contact pads 131 , 133 (see FIG. 6 ) to provide an electrical connection point for another large PV structure formed from multiple PV structures/rigid back members. When embodiments such as these are constructed and installed, an additional benefit provided is the speed and ease of installation given fewer electrical interconnections. More specifically, although such larger PV structures still connect to an adjacent PV structure in the same manner described above, the larger PV structures occupy more roof area per unit, thus decreasing the number of PV structures installed and decreasing overall installation times. While various embodiments of photovoltaic shingles constructed according to the principles disclosed herein, and PV system incorporating such PV modular roofing structures, have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. The breadth and scope of the invention(s) should thus not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. Moreover, the above advantages and features are provided in described embodiments, but shall not limit the application of the claims to processes and structures accomplishing any or all of the above advantages.
[0045] Additionally, the section headings herein are provided for consistency with the suggestions under 37 CFR 1.77 or otherwise to provide organizational cues. These headings shall not limit or characterize the invention(s) set out in any claims that may issue from this disclosure. Specifically and by way of example, although the headings refer to a “Technical Field,” the claims should not be limited by the language chosen under this heading to describe the so-called technical field. Further, a description of a technology in the “Background” is not to be construed as an admission that technology is prior art to any invention(s) in this disclosure. Neither is the “Brief Summary” to be considered as a characterization of the invention(s) set forth in the claims found herein. Multiple inventions are set forth according to the limitations of the multiple claims associated with this disclosure, and the claims accordingly define the invention(s), and their equivalents, that are protected thereby. In all instances, the scope of the claims should not be constrained by the headings set forth herein. | Disclosed herein are photovoltaic building materials and related methods of manufacturing and installing such materials. In one embodiment, a modular roofing structure comprises a photovoltaic shingle panel having a planar lower surface and an upper surface, and a rigid back member having a length the same as or greater than the length of the shingle panel and attached to the planar lower surface of the shingle panel. The roofing structure also includes at least one electrical contact pad on a lower surface of the back member, and at least one electrical conductor electrically coupled to the shingle panel via the lower surface and passing through the back member and out the lower surface. In such embodiments, the electrical conductor is electrically coupled to the at least one contact pad and extends past a front end of the back member sufficient to electrically contact a contact pad on another back member of a separate modular roofing structure couplable to the first. | 8 |
This application is a continuation of now abandoned application Ser. No. 269,661, filed June 2, 1981.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a pump means, and more particularly to an eccentric type vane pump comprising a rotor, a housing rotatively containing the rotor and having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface the center of which is eccentric to the center of the rotor, and a number of radial vanes each shiftably received within a corresponding slot formed in the rotor.
In general this kind of eccentric type vane pump has a construction as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the attached drawings. In the drawings the reference numeral 1 designates an end frame or bracket of an alternating current generator for an automobile not shown, 2 a shaft supported on end frame 1 by means of a bearing 3 and adapted to be driven by the alternating current generator, 2a a splined portion formed on shaft 2 at its free end, and 4 a rotor fixedly secured to shaft 2 by the engagement of splined portion 2a of shaft 2 and a splined portion 4a formed centrally within rotor 4. Rotor 4 has a number (four in the instant example) of radial slots at equi-angular intervals, each shiftably receiving a radial vane 5. A housing 6 is provided having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface the center of which is eccentric to the centers of shaft 2 and rotor 4, 7 designates a disc adapted to constitute a working chamber 15 of the pump in cooperation with shaft 2 and housing 6, 8 a seal means to hermetically seal housing 6 relative to disc 7, and 9 a seal means secured to disc 7 in contact with shaft 2 to hermetically seal working chamber 15 relative to the outside. Housing 6 and disc 7 are integrally secured together by means of a number of pins 10 so as to constitute a pump and are adapted to be mounted on end frame 1 of the alternating current generator by means of a plurality of bolts 11. 12, 13 and 14 designate an inlet port, an outlet port and a lubrication orifice, respectively, provided in housing 6, inlet port 12 being adapted to be connected to a vacuum tank not shown, and lubrication orifice 14 to a lubricating pump also not shown.
In operation, upon rotation of shaft 2 in the direction shown by the arrow, radial vanes 5 disposed within the slots formed in rotor 4 are urged radially owing to the centrifugal force applied thereto by the rotating rotor 4 so that their outer end surfaces shiftably slide on the inner peripheral surface of housing 6 so that they perform a pump action to suck air from the vacuum tank through inlet port 12 and dischange it through outlet port 13. The lubricant oil fed into housing 6 through lubrication orifice 14 lubricates the surfaces on vanes 5 and defining the slots formed in rotor 4 and is discharged through outlet port 13 entrained in the discharged air.
In a conventional eccentric type vane pump having the construction and operation as described above, when it is constituted as a pump proper as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, i.e. the rotor 4 is not mounted on shaft 2, because the rotor 4 simply abuts the flat inside surfaces of the end wall of the housing 6 and the disc 7 without being journalled thereon, rotor 4 can freely wander about within working chamber 15 enclosed by housing 6 and disc 7. Therefore, when the pump is e.g. transported as a pump proper, vanes 5 may be damaged by rotor 4, and at the time of mounting of the pump proper onto a generator, since rotor 4 has been displaced from its proper position relative to shaft 2, the fitting of splined portion 2a of shaft 2 on splined portion 4a of rotor 4 is made difficult, resulting in possible damage to seal means 9 by the splined portion 2a of shaft 2, etc., causing a considerable decrease in the reliability of the pump means, etc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved pump means of the type comprising a rotor, a number of radial vanes shiftably received therein, and a housing rotatively containing the rotor and having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface with an axis eccentric to the center of the rotor, the rotor being adapted to be connected to a shaft of e.g. an automobile alternating current generator, in which in the pump proper prior to its incorporation into the generator or the like it is possible to protect the vanes from being damaged by the rotor during the transportation, etc. of the pump proper and it is easy to position the center of the rotor relative to the center of the shaft of the generator, etc. at the time of their assembly.
In accordance with the present invention a pump means of the type referred to above is provided which comprises a housing having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface and provided with an inlet port and an outlet port, a disc secured to the housing to form a working chamber in the pump together with the housing and having a central opening eccentric to the center of the cylindrical inner peripheral surface of the housing, a rotor rotatively disposed within the working chamber and adapted to be detachably secured to a shaft projecting through the central opening of the disc, a number of radial vanes each shiftably received within a corresponding slot formed in the rotor and adapted to have its outer end surface always abut the cylindrical inner peripheral surface of the housing, and overlapping portions formed of a portion of the disc and a portion of the rotor such that both portions are maintained in a contact or a non-contact relationship with each other in the axial direction of the shaft.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which set forth by way of illustration and example certain embodiments of the present invention:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational sectional view of a conventional pump means;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the pump means shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line II--II of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational sectional view of the pump means shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 separated from the driving shaft and support;
FIG. 4 is a view of the pump proper shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from the right side of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a side elevational sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a side elevational sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side elevational sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a side elevational sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11, but showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11.
In FIGS. 5 to 12, parts which are similar to corresponding parts in FIGS. 1 to 4 have been similarly numbered.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to FIG. 5 of the attached drawings showing the first embodiment of the present invention, the reference numeral 104 designates a rotor which is located within housing 6 eccentric to its cylindrical inner peripheral surface and adapted to shiftably carry a number of radial vanes 5 within slots formed therein. The end of the rotor 104 simply abuts the inner flat surface of the end wall of housing 6. 104a designates a splined portion formed in rotor 104 so as to be engageable with splined portion 2a of shaft 2, and 104b designates a cylindrical projection integral with and extending axially from the end surface of rotor 104 so the outer periphery thereof is opposed to the inner peripheral surface 107b of central opening 107a of disc 107 and which is adapted to serve as a positioning element for rotor 104, a predetermined clearance being left between the outer and inner surfaces of cylindrical projection 104b and inner peripheral surface 107b of disc 107, respectively, when the pump is assembled with an automotive alternating current generator.
In the embodiment having such a construction, by the provision of cylindircal projection 104b formed by axially elongating rotor 104, the movement of rotor 104 within housing 6 when the pump is not mounted on the generator is be limited by the engagement of cylindrical projection 104b with inner peripheral surface 107b of disc 107 so that the possible damage of vanes 5 by rotor 104 caused during the transportation of the pump, etc. can be effectively prevented, resulting in an easy placement of splined portion 2a of shaft 2 on splined portion 104a of rotor 104 at the time of assembly of the pump proper and the alternating current generator. The possible damage of seal means 9 by shaft 2 at the time of assembly is also prevented.
Further, owing to the provision of a clearance of a predetermined value between cylindrical projection 104b and inner peripheral surface 107b of disc 107, after the assembly of the pump proper and the generator there arises no danger of relative shift between cylindrical projection 104b and inner peripheral surface 107b of disc 107, so that the assembled pump means operates quite similarly to the conventional pump of this kind.
Although cylindrical projection 104has been referred to in the above embodiment as being integral with rotor 104, it may be separately secured to rotor 104 as shown in FIG. 6 at 104c as a modified embodiment.
Further, in the above embodiments cylindrical projection 104b or 104c is shown as having a circular cross section, but it may have a cross section other than a circle, or alternatively, a number of separate axial projections may be formed on the end surface of rotor 104 instead of a whole cylindrical member being provided. In essence, the projection may have any desired configuration so long as it can act to limit the movement of rotor 104 relative to disc 107.
Next a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained in reference to FIG. 7, wherein the reference numeral 207 designates a disc defining the working chamber 15 of the pump together with pump housing 6 and shaft 2, and 207a is a cylindrical elongation integral with disc 207 around the central opening therein and extending axially towards the end of shaft 2, acting as a positioning element for shaft 2 during assembly. 204 designates a rotor eccentrically disposed within housing 6 relative to its cylindrical inner peripheral surface and shiftably receiving a number of radial vanes 5 within slots formed therein. 204a designates a splined portion formed in rotor 204 centrally thereof and adapted to be engaged with splined portion 2a of shaft 2, and 204b designates a groove provided in rotor 204 at its end confronting disc 207 and serving as a positioning element, whereby cylindrical elongation 207a of disc 207 axially overlaps at its free end portion the inner peripheral surface of groove 204b of rotor 204 with a radial clearance being left therebetween.
In this embodiment, having a construction as described above, because cylindrical elongation 207a of disc 207 extends into groove 204b of rotor 204, the movement of rotor 204 when the pump is not mounted is limited by the engagement of cylindrical elongation 207a of disc 207 and the inner peripheral surface of groove 204b of rotor 204 so that the possible damage of vanes 5 by rotor 204 caused during transport of the pump proper can be prevented and the engagement of splined portions 2a and 204a of shaft 2 and rotor 204, respectively, during the assembly of the pump proper and a generator is made easy.
Further, due to the existence of a predetermined clearance between the outer periphery of cylindrical elongation 207a of disc 207 and the inner periphery of groove 204b of rotor 204, after the assembly of the pump proper and the generator, cylindrical elongation 207a does not come into contact with the inner peripheral surface of groove 204b of rotor 204, therein operating similarly to a conventional pump means of this kind.
Although the above embodiment has described the cylindrical elongation 207a as integral with disc 207, the same effect can be obtained also in the case where cylindrical elongation 207b is formed separately from disc 207 and attached thereto as shown in FIG. 8 as a modification of the second embodiment.
Further, although in the above embodiments shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 cylindrical elongation 207a or 207b is provided on disc 207 for the purpose of acting as a positioning element for rotor 204, it is not necessary that same be shaped as a cylinder, instead it may be shaped as a number of separate projections extending from disc 207 near its central opening at intervals therearound.
FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein the reference numeral 301 designates an end frame or bracket of an automobile alternating current generator, the cylindrical portion of frame 301 extending leftwards as viewed in FIG. 9 and being longer in the axial direction than in the case of a conventional generator as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. 304 designates a rotor contained within housing 6, adapted to be rotated by shaft 2, and shiftably receiving a number of radial vanes 5 within corresponding slots formed therein, 304a a splined portion formed in rotor 304, and 304b designates a cylindrical elongation integrally formed on rotor 304 on the end adjoining bracket 301. 307 designates a disc which forms a working chamber 15 of a pump together with housing 6 and shaft 2, and 307a designates the inner peripheral surface of a central opening formed in disc 307 so as to radially confront the outer periphery of cylindrical elongation 304b of rotor 304 with a definite clearance being left therebetween. 303 is a bearing disposed between the outer periphery of cylindrical elongation 304b of rotor 304 and inner peripheral surface 307b of the central opening of disc 307 so as to rotatively support rotor 304 and at the same time to serve as a positioning element for rotor 304.
In the third embodiment, having a construction as described above, owing to the provision of bearing 303 between cylindrical elongation 304b and inner peripheral surface 307b of disc 307, the movement of rotor 304 within housing 6 when the pump is not mounted is limited by the engagement of cylindrical elongation 304b of rotor 304 with bearing 303, resulting in protecting vanes 5 from being damaged by rotor 304 at the time of transportation of the pump and at the same time making the engagement of splined portions 2a and 304a of shaft 2 and rotor 304, respectively, easy at the time of assembly of the pump proper and the generator.
Further, since bearing 303 is left in position after assembly, the pump means guarantees sufficient mechanical strength and operates quite similarly to a conventional pump means of this kind.
Although in the above embodiment bearing 303 disposed between cylindrical elongation 304b of rotor 304 and inner peripheral surface 307a of disc 307 is referred to and shown as being a ball bearing, it may be any shiftable element 303a such as a plain bearing, a sleeve, a self-lubricating bearing, etc. as shown in FIG. 10 as a modification of the third embodiment, having the same effects as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9.
Further, it should be added that although cylindrical elongation 304b of rotor 304 has been referred to and shown as being integral with rotor 304, it may be separably moved on rotor 304.
Finally a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 11, wherein the reference numeral 404 designates a rotor shiftably receiving a number of radial vanes 5 within slots formed therein and adapted to be driven by shaft 2 of an automobile alternating current generator, 404a designates a splined portion formed centrally about rotor 404, 404b a groove formed in rotor 404 at the end adjoining the generator, 407 a disc constituting a working chamber 15 of the pump in association with housing 6 and shaft 2, and 407a an inner cylindrical elongation integrally formed around the periphery of a central opening of disc 407 so as to project axially in a direction opposite to the generator and confront the inner peripheral surface of groove 404b of rotor 404 with a definite clearance being left therebetween. 403 designates a bearing or ball bearing disposed between the inner peripheral surface of groove 404b of rotor 404 and the outer peripheral surface of inner cylindrical elongation 407a of disc 407 so as to rotatively support rotor 404 and at the same time serve to position rotor 404 within working chamber 15.
In this embodiment, having a construction as described above, owing to the provision of ball bearing 403 disposed between the inner peripheral surface of groove 404b of rotor 404 and the outer peripheral surface of inner cylindrical elongation 407a of disc 407, the movement of rotor 404 of the pump proper within housing 6 can be limited by the engagement of the inner peripheral surface of groove 404b of rotor 404 with the outer peripheral surface of inner cylindrical elongation 407a of disc 407 through ball bearing 403, resulting in protecting vanes 5 from being damaged by rotor 404 of the pump proper during its transportation, and at the same time the engagement of splined portions 2a and 404a of shaft 2 and rotor 404, respectively, at the time of assembly of the pump proper and the generator is made easy.
After the pump proper has been mounted on the generator, since ball bearing 403 is left in position, it assures sufficient mechanical strength and operates quite similarly to a conventional pump means of this kind.
Although, in the fourth embodiment, ball bearing 403 has been referred to as being disposed between the outer peripheral surface of inner cylindrical elongation 407a of disc 407 and the inner peripheral surface of groove 404b of rotor 404, as a modification, instead of ball bearing 403, a shifting means such as a plain bearing, a sleeve, a self-lubricating bearing, etc. may be used as shown in FIG. 12 at 403a.
While there have been described and illustrated herein certain embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. | A pump means has a housing having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface, a disc secured to the housing to constitute a working chamber together with it and provided with a central opening eccentric to the center of the inner peripheral surface of the housing, a rotor rotatively contained within the working chamber and adapted to be drivingly connected to a shaft introduced into the working chamber through the central opening of the disc, a number of radial vanes shiftably received within slots formed in the rotor and adapted to have their outer ends shiftably abut the cylindrical inner peripheral surface of the housing, and overlapping portions formed by a portion of the disc and a portion of the rotor so as to be in an overlapping relationship with each other in the direction of the shaft in a contacting or non-contacting state with each other. | 5 |
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to quality control of electrically thin semiconductor films (herein also referred to either as semiconductor thin films or thin films), and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for characterizing the quality of electrically thin semiconductor films and their interfaces. The phrase "electrically thin semiconductor film" is defined herein to be any semiconductor film for which there exists some surface potential such that a change in this potential results in a change in the potential at the semiconductor/substrate interface. In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, an effective way to characterize electrically thick semiconductor films is to make an electrical device on the material and then perform measurements using the device. The phrase "electrically thick semiconductor film" is defined herein to be any semiconductor film for which the potential at the semiconductor/substrate interface is independent of the surface potential for all values of the surface potential. This electrically thick film characterization technique is more sensitive than any other material diagnostic technique. The electrical device typically made on the semiconductor material for this purpose is a capacitor. Capacitance versus voltage, or C-V, measurements are made using the capacitor to characterize the quality of the electrically thick semiconductor films.
In the past, the capacitor has been made in an electrically thick semiconductor film and the C-V measurement was made by providing electrical contacts on opposite sides of the insulating substrate supporting the semiconductor layer, thus using the insulating substrate as the gate material One electrical contact was provided by the semiconductor layer itself available on the topside of the substrate. The other electrical contact was provided on the opposite side of the insulating substrate, i e. on the backside.
For the case where the insulating substrate is very thick (such as quartz or sapphire) the steps performed to provide such backside electrical contact were, first thinning the substrate (to a thickness of approximately 200 to 400 microns) and, then, evaporating metal on the backside of the thinned substrate to form the contact. The thinning step had to reduce the substrate to a thickness which would give interpretable capacities. Several problems are presented with this manner of making electrical contacts with a capacitor on the semiconductor material when taking the required C-V measurements. One problem is that the substrate thinning process is time consuming. Another problem is that the thinning process itself may affect the interface between the insulating substrate and semiconductor layer so as to change its electrical properties and thereby produce distorted results. A further problem is that even after thinning, thousands of volts of bias are required to accomplish the measurements. An additional problem is that the signal-to-noise ratio of the data is small because the thinned substrate is still many times thicker than the semiconductor film. Finally, as a consequence of the small signal-to-noise ratio this measurement has been restricted to doped, electrically thick semiconductor films.
For the case where the substrate is thin enough initially such that thinning is not required (such as Self-Implanted-OXide or SIMOX) the backside electrical contact is made either directly to a conducting substrate if one is used such as, for example silicon in the case of SIMOX, that is supporting the insulator or to an evaporated conductor such as aluminum. The problem with this type of technique is that it has been restricted to electrically thick semiconductor films. To make such films usually requires special processing thus increasing the complexity and cost of the measurement.
Consequently, there has been a long-felt need to devise a more reliable, quicker and simpler measurement technique for characterizing the quality of electrically thin semiconductor films.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention satisfies the above described long-felt need and relates to a method and apparatus for characterizing the quality of electrically thin semiconductor films and their interfaces, including interfaces with gate materials, substrate materials and semiconductor compound materials such as epilayer oxides. The method and apparatus of the present invention employ a pair of electrical contacts on the same side of the film, i.e. the topside, to permit C-V measurements of electrically thin semiconductor films and their interfaces with the substrates such as insulating substrates such that derived C-V data is meaningful By eliminating the use of an electrical contact on the opposite side of the substrate, the method and apparatus of the present invention obviate the need for performance of the time-consuming substrate thinning process and/or the need for an electrically thick film. The primary advantage of the present invention is that it allows quick sampling and inspection of electrically thin semiconductor films, such as silicon films, in an integrated circuit manufacturing environment which up to the present has not been possible.
The C-V measurements provide pertinent information concerning the electrical characteristics of the electrically thin semiconductor films and the interfaces with substrates and other interfaces. These measurements are interpreted to reach a judgement as to the quality of the electrically thin semiconductor films and interfaces. Also, the method of the present invention has a large signal-to-noise figure of merit.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to disclose a simple, quick and reliable method and apparatus for characterizing electrically thin semiconductor films and their interfaces.
Another object of the present invention is to disclose a method and apparatus for characterizing electrically thin semiconductor films and their interfaces by interpretation of low frequency C-V measurements.
Still another object of the present invention is to disclose a method and apparatus for characterizing an electrically thin semiconductor film by employing a pair of electrical contacts on the same side of the film, one contacting a capacitor made on the film and the other contacting the film itself.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram depicting a method of characterizing semiconductor material in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a general diagram of an apparatus for characterizing semiconductor material in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2 of a semiconductor device of the characterizing apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a simplified band diagram illustrating the relationship of conduction and valence bands to Fermi level in an electrically thin semiconductor film.
FIG. 5 is a symbolic diagram of a biased capacitor.
FIG. 6 is a general diagram of a biased capacitor with a resistor in series and parallel.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the sample capacitor and substrate contact.
FIG. 8 is schematic diagram of a basic lock-in amplifier.
FIG. 9 is a general diagram of a circuit using the lock-in amplifier to measure capacitance.
FIG. 10 is a detailed diagram of the apparatus used in the present invention to measure capacitance.
FIG. 11 is a cross section of a circular capacitor illustrated by way of example.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Improved Characterization of Semiconductor Material
Referring now to the drawings. FIG. 1 illustrates a flow diagram 10 depicting the basic steps of the method for characterizing the quality of an electrically thin semiconductor film in accordance with the present invention.
The characterizing method as illustrated by the flow diagram 10 is performed with respect to a sample of semiconductor material composed of semiconductor and substrate layers. The method basically includes a first step, as represented by block 12 of flow diagram 10, of constructing a capacitor and a pair of electrical contacts on the same side of the semiconductor layer of the material, and a second step, as represented by block 14 of flow diagram 10, of taking capacitance and voltage, C-V, measurements which provide the electrical transfer characteristics of the capacitor.
The first step (block 12) of the method utilizes a number of additional steps which are similar to those involved in processes used conventionally in constructing layered semiconductor devices and thus need only be briefly described. First, the semiconductor is cleaned. Next, a gate oxide to provide the insulator layer of the capacitor is grown or deposited on the semiconductor layer. Then, through a sequence of steps which may, for example, include depositing a conductive metal layer, then depositing, curing and removal of a photoresist mask and unmasked metal, and sintering the remaining masked metal, the capacitor and electrical contacts are formed on the semiconductor layer and the substrate. Likewise, other methods could be used to form the capacitor and contacts within the scope of the present invention. The second step (block 14) of the method is carried out by operation of a C-V measuring system which will be described below.
FIG. 2 generally illustrates apparatus 16 for use in characterizing the quality of semiconductor material. FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of the semiconductor/insulator structure 18 for which C-V measurements are to be made by characterizing apparatus 16 and by the characterizing method described herein.
More particularly, apparatus 16 includes low frequency C-V measuring system 20 connected to capacitor 22 and electrically thin semiconductor film 24 by capacitor contact 26 and semiconductor film contact 28. As seen in FIG. 3, semiconductor device 18 includes capacitor 22, such as a Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) capacitor, constructed of upper layer 26 of any suitable type of electrical conductor material, such as aluminum or doped polysilicon, middle layer 30 of an insulator material, such as silicon dioxide or silicon nitride, and lower layer 24 of an electrically thin semiconductor material, such as a thin film of silicon, germanium or gallium arsenide. Semiconductor structure 18 also includes insulating substrate 32, composed of a material such as sapphire (Al 2 O 3 ) or quartz (SiO 2 ), which mounts layers capacitor 22. Insulating substrate 32 is usually much thicker than upper, middle and lower layers 26, 30 and 24 making up capacitor 22 such that for purposes of analysis provided below substrate 32 is assumed to be infinitely thick.
As seen in FIG. 2, electrical contact 28 of electrically thin semiconductor film 24 is grounded and thus for low frequencies holds the Fermi level of the semiconductor material constant everywhere in capacitor 22. FIG. 4 is a simplified band diagram illustrating the relationship of conduction and valence bands to the above-mentioned Fermi level in a semiconductor material layer of an electrically thin semiconductor film on an insulator. As is well-known, the conduction band is the level of energy required for electrons to be free in the crystalline structure of and thus available for conducting electricity. The valence band is the level of energy required to retain electrons within the crystalline structure of semiconductor in non-conducting valence bonds about the nucleus where they are not free to conduct electricity. There is a gap G between these two energy levels. The Fermi level, E F , is a derived number which tells how many electrons are in the conduction band compared to the valence band. If the Fermi level is close to the conduction band, then there are numerous electrons available for conducting electricity. Conversely, if the Fermi level is close to the valence band, then more electrons are trapped at the valence sites and are not available for conducting electricity.
Analysis of Capacitance and Voltage Relationship
Given the construction of semiconductor structure 18 of FIGS. 2 and 3, coupled with the fact that it is possible to hold the Fermi level at zero with respect to substrate contact 28, the following condensed analysis is possible. First, the definitions of variables used herein are as follows:
C m =measured capacity
C ox =capacitor insulator (oxide) capacity
C t =series capacity of capacitor semiconductor and insulator layers
φ c =potential edge of conduction band states
φ v =potential edge of valence band states
Q sb =fixed charge of interface of substrate layer and capacitor semiconductor layer
Q t =total charge in capacitor, including its interfaces
N sb =density of states at interface of substrate layer and capacitor semiconductor layer
q=charge on electron
φ b =potential at interface of substrate layer and capacitor semiconductor layer
φ s =potential at interface of capacitor semiconductor and insulator layers
ε si =dielectric constant of semiconductor (silicon) layer
E(x)=electric field at a point x
E B =electric field at interface of substrate layer and capacitor semiconductor layer
β=(1/(26×10 -3 ) volts=q/kT
t epi =thickness of capacitor semiconductor layer
Z s =e.sup.βφs
Z b =e.sup.βφb
N c =density of conduction band states
N v =density of valence band states
a=ε si βE b 2 /2/q/N c /exp(-βφ c )-exp(βφ b )
Using Kirchoff's law, the definition of capacitance and a total differential, the following is true:
1/C.sub.m =1/[(αQ.sub.t /αφ.sub.s)+(αQ.sub.t /αφ.sub.b)(dφ.sub.b /dφ.sub.s)]+1/C.sub.ox (1)
Assuming that voltage is measured from mid-gap to the Fermi level, the following is true from Gauss's law: ##EQU1## Assuming that the capacitor semiconductor layer is lightly P-type, Poisson's equation in the semiconductor layer reduces to
d.sup.2 φ/dx.sup.2 =+q/ε.sub.si N.sub.c exp[-q(φ.sub.c -φ)/kT]. (3)
It can be easily shown that ##EQU2##
Let c=t.sub.epi [2q/ε.sub.si /βN.sub.c exp(-βφ.sub.c).sup.1/2 ]. (5)
with β=1/kT. (6)
Equation 4 is now solved for E(φ) and is found to be
E(φ)=+/-{(c/t.sub.epi).sup.2 ·[exp(β·φ)-exp(β·φ.sub.b)]+E.sub.b .sup.2 }.sup.1/2. (7)
In order to find the complete solution the boundary condition that φ(x=0)=φ s is imposed. This is done by using the fact that the relationship
dφ/dx=-E(φ) (8)
can be used to rewrite equation 7 into the form ##EQU3## Equation 9 states that the integral of Equation 8 from the top of the epi-film to the back of the film must be equal to the film thickness. The integral can solved by making the following substitutions;
z=exp(βφ) (10)
and
a=ε.sub.si βE.sub.b .sup.2 /2/q/N.sub.c /exp(-βφ.sub.c)-exp(βφ.sub.b). (11)
By substituting Equation 10 and 11 into Equation 9 one arrives at ##EQU4## which has two solutions depending one whether a is positive or negative. These solutions are: ##EQU5## Q t can now be found from Gauss' Law and is
Q.sub.t =-E(φ.sub.s)/ε.sub.si. (15)
Using equations 1, 2, 11, 13 and 14 complete, closed formed solutions, showing the relationship of capacity and voltage of a lightly doped semiconductor layer have been found. Two very important limiting cases follow immediately. Whether or not the semiconductor is lightly doped, by using Gauss's law it can be shown that when the semiconductor film is completely depleted out
(dV.sub.g /dφ.sub.b)=qN.sub.sb (φ)/C.sub.m) (16)
qN.sub.sb =C.sub.m /(1-C.sub.m /C.sub.t) (17)
The critical parameters that are to be measured are Q sb and N sb . Q sb is the fixed charge at the interface of the substrate layer and the capacitor semiconductor layer. N sb s is the interface state density at the interface of the substrate layer and the capacitor semiconductor layer.
The characterization of the electrically thin film semiconductor by the C-V technique of the present invention has a distinct advantage over the prior art C-V technique in that the analysis covers the cases where there is no depletion edge in the film. Also this analysis results in solutions from strong inversion to strong accumulation with very simple relationships in the depletion case. These solutions allow quick inspection of thin semiconductor films in an integrated circuit foundry environment which up to now has not been possible.
Techniques and Procedures
Capacitance Measurement
The capacitor used in the characterizing method of the present invention is preferably a two-terminal device. FIG. 5 shows a simple diagram of a capacitor C m (V g ) which is a MOS capacitor with its gate biased by a power supply at voltage V g . To determine the capacity of such a device the definition
C.sub.m (V.sub.g)=dQ/dV.sub.g (17)
was used. In Equation (17) it is emphasized that C m is a function of V g and Q is the total charge in the capacitor. Typically the gate voltage is modulated by a small sinusoidal voltage such as
V.sub.g (t)=V.sub.g +V.sub.o sin (2πft) (18)
where t is time, and f is the frequency and V o is the amplitude of the a.c. signal. Thus ##EQU6## where I c is the instantaneous current in the capacitor. An important assumption now made is that the capacity is constant in the sampling range
(V.sub.g -V.sub.0)<or=V.sub.g (t)<or=(V.sub.g +V.sub.0).
Since the current in a fixed capacitor must be π/2 radians out of phase with the driving signal, Equation (19) reduces to
C.sub.m (V.sub.g)=I.sub.90 (V.sub.g)/(2πfV.sub.0) (20)
where I 90 is the out-of-phase current and is a function of V g .
A more realistic perspective of the thin film capacitor is shown in FIG. 6. In this diagram, a voltage controlled capacitor C m (V g ) has resistor R p in parallel and resistor R in series with a power supply and a function generator. Typical oxides have a net resistance greater than 10 15 ohms for a 5 picofarad capacitor. The time constant associated with that value is greater than 10 3 seconds. Thus for sampling frequencies greater than 0.1 hertz, parallel resistor R p can be ignored. However, for thin film devices and/or very high frequencies, series resistor R can force the current in Equation (19) to some phase other than π/2, thus making a correction necessary
Assuming the a.c. amplitude, V 0 , is small, a simple a.c. analysis can be used to solve for R and C in FIG. 6. These calculated values for R and C are
R=I.sub.0 [1+(2πfRC).sup.2 ]/(2πfC).sup.2 /V.sub.0 (21)
C=I.sub.90 [1+(2πfRC).sup.2 ]/(2πfV.sub.0). (22)
I 0 and I 90 are the in-phase and out-of-phase amplitudes of the peak current. The effect of R on the measurement of C can now be evaluated. Inspection of Equation (22) shows that for 2πfRC<or=0.1 only a 1% or less error on the measurement of C will result from the presence of R in using Equation (21).
A still more realistic perspective on a typical thin film capacitor C m (V g )s which may be used is shown by way of example in FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 7, the resistance is distributed and thus Equations (21) and (22) may not apply. The validity of using the criteria 2πfRC <0.1 to allow the use of Equations 21 and 22 to calculate the capacitance for a circular capacitor is now addressed.
By way of example, the cross section of a circular capacitor is shown in FIG. 11. The thickness of the film shown in FIG. 11 is exaggerated. The periphery of the device may be held at ground potential and the gate electrode at V g . A small a.c. signal, V ac , is then added to V g and is expressed by
V.sub.ac =V.sub.0 exp(2πjft), (23)
where V 0 is the amplitude of the signal, j=(-1) 1/2 , f is the frequency and t is time. For example V 0 =10-25 mV.
Since the resistance and capacitance of this structure are distributed, a differential equation must be derived to describe the current flow caused by the applied alternating voltage. FIG. 11 shows a small element under the gate oxide of length dr. The current and the voltage in this element are related by the following equations
V·i=c dV/dt (24)
and
VV=ρi, (25)
where i is the current in the element, r is the distance along the device, c is the capacitance per unit area, ρ is the sheet resistance, assumed nearly constant, V is the voltage at the element, and t is time. Substituting Equation (25) into Equation (24) gives the diffusion equation which is written as
VV.sup.2 =ρc dV/dt. (26)
The boundary condition associated with Equation (26) is
V(r,t)=V.sub.0 exp(2πjft) at r=r.sub.o, (27)
where r o is the radius of the circular capacitor.
The solution to Equation (26) with the boundary condition stated in Equations (27) is
V(r,t)=V.sub.0 exp(2πjft) J.sub.o (λr)/J.sub.o (λr.sub.o) (28)
where
λ=(2πjfcρ).sup.1/2. (29)
The measured current, i m (t) can now be found from Equations (29), (28), and (24); and is ##EQU7## Integrating Equation (30) gives
i.sub.m (t)=4π.sup.2 r.sub.o jfcV.sub.0 exp(2πjft)J.sub.1 (πr.sub.o)/J.sub.o (πr.sub.0)/π (31)
The Bessel function terms in Equation (31) are now expanded about λr o with terms containing (λL) 6 or higher being left out. After this expansion and some algebra, Equation (31) reduces to
i.sub.m (t)=2π.sup.2 r.sub.o .sup.2 jfcV.sub.0 exp(2πjft) [1+1/2(λr.sub.o /2).sup.2 +1/3(λr.sub.o /2).sup.4 ](32)
Thus equating ρ/(8π) and πr o 2 c with R and C in Equations 21 and 22 and FIG. 6, it is now clear that if
2πfRC<0.1 (33)
then
1/3(λr.sub.o /2).sup.4 <0.0133 (34)
Thus, when the criterion in Equation 32 is met, Equation 32 can be written to an accuracy of 1.3% as
i.sub.m (t)=2π.sup.2 r.sub.o .sup.2 jfcV.sub.0 exp(2πjft) (1-jπr.sub.o .sup.2 cρf/4) (35)
thus establishing that the series resistance and capacitance can be considered lumped for the device used in this technique, provided that 2πfRC<0.1.
Low Frequency C-V Techniques
In the previous section it was shown that the capability of measuring in-phase and out-of-phase components of a capacitor's response to a small sinusoidal driving signal is very important in determining the capacity. This measurement can be accomplished using lock-in amplifier 38 schematically illustrated in FIG. 8. The basic components of lock-in amplifier 38 are mixer 40 and low pass filter 42. Mixer 40 mixes a reference signal from a local oscillator (not shown) and an input signal to produce an intermediate output signal which includes the sum and difference of the frequencies of the reference and input signals. The intermediate output signal then passes through low pass filter 42 which filters out nearly all a.c. components. Thus the d.c. level at the filter 42 output will be proportional to the product of the reference and input signal amplitudes at frequency f.
Lock-in amplifier 38 also includes a phase shifter (not shown) so that the phase of the reference signal relative to the input signal can be changed. It is to be understood that it is within the scope of the present invention that components other than lock-in amplifier 38 could be utilized to implement its function such as any phase sensitive amplifier. This allows the measurement of the in-phase and out-of-phase components of the input signal. By the appropriate filter choice, a.c. noise in the system can be reduced or eliminated by using the lock-in amplifier.
Referring to FIG. 9, lock-in amplifier 38 is shown being used to measure resistor R and capacitor C m in series. Function generator 44 is connected to power supply 46 and drives the portion of the circuit containing capacitor C m and resistor R with a small amplitude sinusoidal signal. This same function generator produces the reference signal at one input (e.g. Ref.) to lock-in amplifier 38 which is exactly in-phase with the driving signal. Sense resistor R m is placed in series with C m and R. The value of R s is <<1/(2πfC). The voltage drop across R s is the other input (e.g Signal) to lock-in amplifier 38.
To measure the in-phase component, the reference signal is mixed with the input signal and then passed through the low pass filter. V out is then proportional to the in-phase component of the current in the circuit as discussed in the previous section. The reference is then shifted by π/2. Now V out is proportional to the out-of-phase component of the circuit. Equations (21) and (22) may then be used to measure C m and R.
FIG. 10 illustrates by way of example a system that may be used in the performance of the present invention. Semiconductor devices to be qualified are contained and probed in metal light-tight box 48. Box 48 is grounded, as is the outside of all coaxial cables connecting the various pieces of equipment. Holes and electrons are produced on the perimeter of the device by turning light 49 in box 48 "on" then "off" before each measurement. This ensures that capacitor C m is in d.c. equilibrium after each bias change. If the light is used during the experiment it must be only bright enough such that Equation (33) is satisfied during the measurement. Too bright a light can produce errors in the measurement if too much is coupled into the area under the capacitor. The d.c. bias is provided by bias function generator 56 while an a.c. modulation is provided by function generator 50 which also provides the reference signal for lock-in amplifier 38 The d.c. bias and the a.c. modulation are added together by operational amplifier 53 whose output is the stimulus for the test capacitor. This is desirable since a function generator with its own internal d.c. bias often has the phase difference between it output and trigger as a function of this bias. By summing the a.c. and d.c. components through operational amplifier 53 this problem is solved. Resistors 55, 57, 59, and 61 are for adjusting the gain and offset of operational amplifier 56. Their absolute values are preferably chosen such that they are much less than the input impedance of the operational amplifier. Their relative values are chosen to give the voltage swing the user needs for the gate voltage. The output of lock-in amplifier 38 is sensed by external voltmeter 52. Voltmeter 52 is used in the present example since lock-in amplifier 38 can not be used on the instrument bus 63 which in the present example is an IEEE-488 bus Thus the analog output of lock-in amplifier 53 is accessed by the computer via a voltmeter that can communicate with bus 63. Microcomputer 54 is used to control voltage bias function generator 56, power supply 58 for light 49, and voltmeter 52. This is done over instrument bus 63. Under the control of a software computer program commands to these three devices can be sent. Information can also be transferred to the computer over this bus from the voltmeter. Thus, all data is stored in a convenient format on a computer floppy disc, allowing easy data manipulation and retrieval. By way of example, commercially-available components that may be used are as follows: an Ithaco 393 Lock-In Amplifier as lock in amplifier 38; a Tektronix AM501 operational amplifier as operational amplifier 53; a Wavetek 182 Function Generator as function generator 50; a Keithy 619 Electrometer as voltmeter 52; an IBM Personal System/2 Model 50 Computer as microcomputer 54; a Tektronix 5010 Function Generator as voltage bias function generator 56; and a Tektronix 5010 Power Supply as power supply 58. A source code listing written in Quick Basic suitable for implementation as the source code for computer 54 is provided by way of example in the following pages.
It is thought that the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the description herein and 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 hereinbefore described being merely exemplary embodiments thereof. ##SPC1## | A method and apparatus for characterizing the quality of an electrically thin semiconductor film and its interfaces with adjacent materials by employing a capacitor and a topside electrical contact on the same side of the electrically thin semiconductor film to thereby permit the taking of capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. A computer controlled C-V measuring system is operatively coupled to the contact and capacitor to modulate the potential on the capacitor. Variation of the voltage applied to the capacitor enables modulation of the potential applied to the film to thereby vary the conductivity of the film between the capacitor gate node and the topside contact. | 6 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a water outlet head for a sanitary fitting having a shower outlet and a jet outlet, comprising a diverter valve and a manual operator with an elastic cover cap mounted in a housing.
A water outlet head of this type is disclosed in DE-A-36 37 470. It has a jet outlet and a shower outlet which can be used by choice, wherein, when the water flow is turned off, an automatic resetting to the desired switch position takes place. The shower outlet and the jet outlet have separate valves, which are connected together by a rocker arm and which can be operated by pressing on the outside of the cover cap. In this design the two outlets have to be arranged side-by-side at a specific distance, a feature that in some designs is significantly less favorable than a concentric arrangement of the two outlets.
CH-A-646 499 discloses a water outlet head, where the jet outlet is arranged concentrically to the shower outlet. With this water outlet it is possible to prevent the automatic resetting of the diverter valve before turning off the water flow. However, a gripping head has to be rotated into a predetermined position, and such rotation is hardly possible with one hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a water outlet head of the aforementioned type, which can be operated with one hand in a simple and ergonomic manner, which enables a selective readjustment between the jet and shower positions, and, in addition, also allows the option of turning off the automatic reset. It is also possible to arrange the jet outlet concentrically within the shower outlet.
The invention solves the problem with this class of water outlets by arranging a slider below the cover cap, the slider being adjustable by pressing on the outside of the cap between a basic neutral position and a position in which the diverter valve is latched in the shower position.
All three of the aforementioned functions can be actuated by pressing on the outside of the cover cap. The corresponding bank of touch controls can be arranged in such a manner that all functions are possible with the thumb with only small thumb movements. If the position to move the slider is centered relative to the cover cap, then it is possible with a single pressure movement to switch the diverter valve from the jet position into the shower position and simultaneously to prevent the automatic reset. Another especially compact design is achieved if, according to another aspect of the invention, the manual operator exhibits a rocker arm, which is connected at one end to a valve piston of the diverter valve and which with the other end interacts with the slider. The rocker arm is arranged underneath the cover cap such that it can be rocked directly from the cover cap at both ends, which enables an especially compact design.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a water outlet head according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a top view of the water outlet head of FIG. 1, with the cover cap omitted,
FIG. 3 is a fragmented side view of the slider, and
FIG. 4 is a top view of the slider.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A branch fitting 4, which is to be connected by a threaded socket 4a to a flexible water pipe or hose (not shown), is installed in a housing 1. A duct 4b of the branch fitting leads to a diverter valve 40, which has two valve seats 6 and 7, which are conical in opposite directions, and a valve piston 10 fitted with a valve disk 8. The disk 8 is attached to the piston 10 with two holding disks 9. The piston 10 can be moved in an opening 12a of a bearing member 12 and sealed against the outside of the opening 12a by a gasket 13. The bearing member 12 is fixed on the branch fitting 4 with latches (not shown) and reaches with an extension 12b, which is open on the side and at the bottom, into the duct 4b of the branch fitting. The extension 12b is sealed by O-rings 14 with respect to the branch fitting 4.
The front end of the branch fitting 4 is provided with an upper opening 41 leading to a duct 44, and a larger bottom opening 42, which leads into a duct 43 of a head piece 20 connected by screws (not shown) to the branch fitting 4. A seal 45 inserted between the parts 4 and 20 seals the two ducts 43 and 44. The duct 44 leads through openings 46 of the head piece 20 to an aerator nozzle 17, in which a jet of fine beads is formed as the water issues from said nozzle. The nozzle 17 is inserted into a screen element 18 enveloping it concentrically and seals by means of a gasket 16 against the outside of the duct 44. The screen element 18 is inserted into an opening 20a of the head piece 20 and forms with projections of the head piece 20 a bayonet lock. By rotating the screen element 18 with an integral handle 18a, the screen element 18 can be removed for cleaning. The duct 43 of the head piece 20 leads to several bores 47, which are arranged circularly around the nozzle 17. The bores 47 form a shower outlet. If the valve disk 8 is in the position shown in FIG. 1, then water flowing in through the socket 4a into the duct 4b is led through the extension 12b into the duct 44 and flows from there through the openings 46 to the nozzle 17 and leaves it finally as a jet of fine beads. If at this stage the valve disk 8 and the piston 10 are moved against the force of a compression spring 11 into the upper position shown with the dash-dot lines, then the passage through the extension 12b is closed and the water flowing in through the duct 4b flows into the ducts 42 and 43, and finally out through the shower bores 47.
To actuate the diverter valve 40 there are a rocker arm 29, a slider 21 and a web 48 underneath a cover cap 34 on the bearing member 12. The rocker arm 29 is connected by a lever arm 30 to the upper end of the valve piston 10. The arm 30 has a recess 32, into which the upper end of the valve piston 10 is inserted. The rocker arm 29 also has side journals (not shown), by which it is mounted to the bearing member 12 such that it can be swivelled around the axis 50 shown in FIG. 2.
Above the rocker arm 29 is the web 48, which bridges the rocker arm 29 (FIG. 2) approximately in the center of the tilt axis 50, and whose ends are locked into position at the bearing member 12. A cam 48a, moulded-on approximately in the center of the underside of the web 48, engages from the top with a slot 25 of the rocker arm, whereas a cam 24 of the slider 21 engages from the bottom with the slot 25, as shown in FIG. 1. The slider 21 is mounted movably to a limited degree in its longitudinal direction on the bearing member 12 by means of guide links 26 in slots 27 of the bearing member 12 and held in such a manner that it cannot be lifted upwardly from the bearing member. The underside of an elastically spring tongue or latch 22 has a stop cam 22a, which can be snapped into a depression 23 of the bearing member 12.
The slider 21 forms with the rocker arm 29 and the web 48 a manual operator 52, which is arranged below the cover cap 34 and can also be operated by pressing on the outside of the cap. The cap 34 has a peripheral lip or carrier 36, which is preferably made of a comparatively hard plastic and which is extruded on a rubber-elastic diaphragm 35. The diaphragm is installed by the carrier 36 into an opening 2 of the housing 1 and locked into position, as shown in FIG. 1. A peripheral rim 35a of the diaphragm, which protrudes relative to the carrier 36, rests against a shoulder 2a of the housing and seals the cover cap with respect to the housing.
In operation, when the water outlet is used, it is held with one hand at the housing 1, whereby the thumb of this hand is usually over the cover cap 34. If the valve disk 8 is in the position shown with the solid lines, then water flowing in through the duct 4b leaves the nozzle 17 as an aerated jet of water. To change over into the shower mode, a touch depression 39 of the diaphragm is depressed with the thumb in the direction of arrow B, and the rocker arm 29 at the arm 31 is swivelled into the position shown with the dash-dot lines. In so doing, the piston 10 is moved to the top with the valve disk 8 against the force of the compression spring 11, until the valve disk 8 rests against the valve seat 7. Water flowing in through the duct 4b is now led through the ducts 42 and 43 to the bores 47. If the rocker arm 29 is released, the valve disk 8 remains in the upper position, despite the downwardly acting force of the spring 11, due to the high pressure of water in the duct 4b. If a discharge through the nozzle 17 is desired again, another touch depression 37 of the diaphragm is depressed with the thumb in the direction of arrow A, and the rocker arm 29 at the lever arm 30 is swivelled back into the position shown with the solid lines. The valve disk 8 is moved against the water pressure onto the valve seat 6, so that the water flows through the extension 12b to the nozzle 17.
The valve disk also moves automatically downwardly onto the valve seat 6, if the water in the duct 4b falls below a specific pressure, for example 0.3 bar, whereat the downwardly acting force of the spring 11 is greater than the upward acting force of the water. The result is that when the water flow is turned off, there is an automatic reset.
If at this stage such an automatic reset is not desired, the rocker arm 29 can be stopped in the position shown with the dash-dot lines. To do this the diaphragm 35 is depressed with the thumb in the direction of arrow C between the two touch depressions 37 and 39 in a region 38. Thus, the web 48 is moved downwardly, whereby its extension 48a runs down the inclined surface 24a of the cam 24 and thus moves the slider 21 to the left in FIG. 1, and a retainer lip 28 is moved over the free end of the lever arm 31. At the same time, the cam 22a is snapped into the depression 23 subject to the elastic deflection of the tongue 22. The slider 21 is thus locked, which fixes the rocker arm 29 in the position shown with the dash-dot lines. Even if the water flow is turned off, the arm 31 remains latched in this position, with the valve disk 8 and the piston 10 lifted.
The diaphragm 35 can also be depressed simultaneously in both the depression 39 and in region 38, so that the arm 29 is swivelled into the position shown by the dash-dot lines and is simultaneously fixed in position by moving the slider 21. Therefore, the diverter valve 40 can be readjusted by a simple depression of the thumb from the jet position into the fixed or latched shower position. The latching can be released in a simple manner by depressing the diaphragm 35 at the touch depression 37. By means of the pressure thus exerted on the lever arm 30, the other lever arm 31 is pressed upwardly against the lip 28 and thus the slider is moved to the right in FIG. 1, until the cam 22a reaches the foremost stop position. From this position the device can be operated as desired without latching it into any position, and thus with automatic reset. | A hand held water outlet head includes a piston 10 carrying a valve disk 8 movable between two seats 6,7 for selectively directing an incoming water flow to either an aerator nozzle 17 via ducts 41,44,46, or to shower outlets 47 concentrically surrounding the nozzle via ducts 42,43.The piston/valve disk position is controlled by the thumb depression of a diaphragm 34 overlying a rocker arm 29, whose one end 32 is coupled to the piston and whose other end 31 may be latched by a slider 21. Incoming water pressure holds the disk in the shower position against the force of a spring 11, which returns the disk to the nozzle position when the water is turned off, unless the rocker arm is latched by the slider. | 1 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/398,376 which was filed on Jul. 25, 2002 and is incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to laser drilling, and more particularly, to a method for maintaining a workpiece in a focal plane of a laser drilling system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Material ablation by pulsed light sources has been studied since the invention of the laser. Reports in 1982 of polymers having been etched by ultraviolet (UV) excimer laser radiation stimulated widespread investigations of the process for micromachining. Since then, scientific and industrial research in this field has proliferated—mostly spurred by the remarkably small features that can be drilled, milled, and replicated through the use of lasers.
Ultrafast lasers generate intense laser pulses with durations from roughly 10 −11 seconds (10 picoseconds) to 10 −14 seconds (10 femtoseconds). Short pulse lasers generate intense laser pulses with durations from roughly 10 −10 seconds (100 picoseconds) to 10 −11 seconds (10 picoseconds). A wide variety of potential applications for ultrafast and short pulse lasers in medicine, chemistry, and communications are being developed and implemented. These lasers are also a useful tool for milling or drilling holes in a wide range of materials. Hole sizes as small as a few microns, even sub-microns, can readily be drilled. High aspect ratio holes can be drilled in hard materials, such as cooling channels in turbine blades, nozzles in ink-jet printers, or via holes in printed circuit boards.
Optical parallel processing of laser-milled holes is key to increasing the throughput of, and the profitability of laser micromachining. Beamsplitting devices such as diffractive optical elements are currently used in laser micromachining to divide a single beam into multiple beams to allow for parallel processing of the workpiece (i.e., material to be drilled).
Currently, one way to prevent a laser drilling system's sub-beams from damaging the workpiece holder is to use a workpiece holder with a large recess behind the target area, such that the sub-beams pass through the workpiece holder after milling through the workpiece itself. Performing parallel laser drilling upon a flimsy workpiece presents a set of challenges related to keeping the flimsy workpiece surface in the focal plane. A workpiece holder with a single large recess behind the target area does not provide sufficient support to keep the flimsy workpiece in the focal plane when the foil is subject to recoil pressure due to laser ablation.
In order to perform precision laser drilling in a parallel process system, the workpiece surface must remain in the focal plane (where the laser beams are focused) of the laser drilling system throughout the laser drilling to enable the beams to drill workpiece geometries meeting precise specifications. However, the use of thin, flimsy workpieces (workpieces that bend and move outside the focal plane of the drilling laser beam when the workpiece is impacted with the beam(s)), which are required in some applications, such as inkjet nozzles, poses a challenge because the workpiece deforms during drilling and moves outside the focal plane of the laser system. This results in poor quality laser-drilled holes and an inability to meet required product specifications.
When a laser drilling system's sub-beams are incident upon a flimsy workpiece, the kickback of debris causes significant recoil force upon the workpiece, causing the workpiece to deform and move outside the laser drilling system's focal plane. If the sub-beams are out of focus when incident upon the workpiece, the result will be poor quality and misshapen holes that do not meet product specifications or obtain the desired benefits of precision laser micromachining. What is needed is a way to counteract workpiece deformation when using parallel process laser drilling on a flimsy workpiece.
One way to counteract the workpiece deformation is to reduce the atmospheric pressure in front of the workpiece. A reduction in atmospheric pressure exerts a force upon the workpiece that moves it toward the area of reduced atmospheric pressure. A sufficient reduction in atmospheric pressure in front of the workpiece counteracts the deformation of the workpiece caused by the recoil force.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a method is provided for maintaining a workpiece in a focal plane of a laser drilling system. The method includes: providing a workpiece holder that is adapted to releasably retain a workpiece on a planar surface thereof, the planar surface having a recess extending therein; positioning the workpiece onto a planar surface of a workpiece holder, such that the workpiece extends across the recess formed in the workpiece holder and an exposed surface of the workpiece aligns with a focal plane of a laser drilling system; projecting a laser beam from the laser drilling system onto the exposed surface of the workpiece, thereby forming an ablation on the exposed surface of the workpiece; and directing a flow of gas onto the exposed surface of the workpiece, substantially concurrent with the step of projecting a laser beam, such that the flow of gas substantially impinges on an area of the exposed surface that extends across the recess formed in the workpiece holder, thereby maintaining the exposed surface of the workpiece in the focal plane of the laser drilling system during the laser drilling operation.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a top view of a conventional workpiece holder;
FIG. 1B is a top view of the conventional workpiece holder supporting a workpiece thereon;
FIG. 1C is a side view of the conventional workpiece holder illustrating the affect of a series of laser sib-beams incident on a surface of the workpiece;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view of an exemplary laser drilling system which employs a gas delivery subsystem in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using the gas delivery subsystem in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the primary components of an ink-jet printer; and
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional schematic view of an exemplary ink-jet head.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1A shows a top view of a conventional workpiece holder 100 , including a recess 105 , a groove 110 , a vacuum source 112 , an external connection 115 a , an internal connection 115 b , an opening 120 , a first face 150 , and a second face 155 . The first face 150 is the planar surface defined between the recess 105 and the groove 110 ; whereas the second face 155 is the planar surface defined between the groove and the outer periphery of the workpiece holder 100 .
FIG. 1B is a top view of the conventional workpiece holder 100 supporting a workpiece 130 thereon. The workpiece 130 is fastened to workpiece holder 100 , such that the workpiece 130 extends across the recess 105 formed in the workpiece holder 100 . In a laser drilling system, the workpiece holder 100 is used to support the workpiece 130 during laser drilling. The drilling pattern 160 is the pattern of holes to be drilled by laser drilling system (not shown). An exemplary drilling pattern 160 is illustrated on the exposed surface of the workpiece 130 .
Workpiece holder 100 is round, but could be formed in a variety of shapes, including triangles, squares, rectangles, pentagons, etc. Workpiece holder 100 is made of a hard, durable, stiff, and heat-resistant material (e.g., steel, aluminum, machinable ceramic, etc.). Workpiece holder 100 is generally attached to the stage in a laser drilling system with nuts and bolts or other similar attachment, means. In one embodiment, the workpiece holder 100 is attached to a fixed stage. In another embodiment, the workpiece holder 100 is attached to a moveable stage.
Recess 105 is an opening allowing the laser system sub-beams to propagate through workpiece holder 100 without impacting and damaging workpiece holder 100 . It is readily understood that the recess 105 is larger than the drilling pattern 160 formed in the workpiece 130 .
Groove 110 is a grooved area around workpiece holder 100 . In a preferred embodiment, the groove 110 is rectangular in shape with corners at 90-degree angles; however, groove 110 is not limited to this shape. For instance, the groove 110 may have a circular shape. The groove 110 is dimensioned such that the workpiece 130 covers the recess 105 and the groove 110 .
Opening 120 is a hole that provides an opening for vacuum source 112 to remove air from groove 110 under workpiece 130 . In an exemplary embodiment, opening 120 is a round hole; however, opening 120 is not limited to this shape. Opening 120 connects with internal connection 115 b through workpiece holder 100 and to external connection 115 a , thereby allowing air to be drawn through opening 120 by vacuum source 112 .
Vacuum source 112 may be implemented as a conventional vacuum pump such as those commercially available from Varian and GAST Mfg Corp. Vacuum source 112 draws air through opening 120 , internal connection 115 b , and external connection 115 a from groove 110 underneath the workpiece, thereby effectively fastening it to workpiece holder 100 .
External connection 115 a is a connection between vacuum source 112 and workpiece holder 100 . In one embodiment, the external connection 115 a is a flexible hose connected between the vacuum source 112 and the workpiece holder 100 . The internal connection 115 b is formed as a through hole between the internal opening 120 into the groove 110 and an opening along the external surface of the workpiece holder 100 . External connection 115 a and internal connection 115 b are used to remove air from groove 110 as described above.
FIG. 1C shows a side view of workpiece holder 100 , including recess 105 , groove 110 , workpiece 130 , first face 150 , and second face 155 . Of particular interest, several sub-beams 145 are shown incident upon the surface of the workpiece 130 . The sub-beams may be emitted from a beamsplitter (not shown) and are used to perform parallel process laser drilling of the drilling pattern 160 in the targeted workpiece 130 . Sub-beams 145 are focused at a focal plane 135 .
However; due to the flimsy nature of the workpiece, the surface of the workpiece 130 is shown not aligned with the focal plane 135 of the laser drilling system. In one exemplary embodiment, the workpiece 130 may be further defined as a stainless steel inkjet nozzle foil. The result of drilling operation deforms the workpiece 130 such that is does not meet product specifications (e.g., hole size, hole shape, taper angle). The deformation of workpiece 130 is the problem solved by the present invention.
In operation, vacuum source 112 is turned on to hold workpiece 130 against workpiece holder 100 by removing air from groove 110 , through opening 120 , internal connection 115 b , and external connection 115 a , creating a reduced atmospheric pressure in groove 110 such that the ambient atmospheric pressure fastens workpiece 130 to workpiece holder 100 . Sub-beams 145 propagate from a beamsplitter (not shown) in a laser drilling system (not shown), are incident upon workpiece 130 , and are maneuvered to drill the desired workpiece geometry in workpiece 130 . The recoil pressure caused by debris kickback during ablation by sub-beams 145 causes workpiece 130 to deform and moves the targeted pattern area of workpiece 130 out of focal plane 135 .
In accordance with the present invention, the laser drilling system further includes a gas delivery subsystem 200 as shown in FIG. 2 . The gas delivery subsystem 200 is comprised of a gas delivery means 250 , including a nozzle 260 . The gas delivery subsystem 200 is generally operable to direct a flow of gas onto the exposed surface of the workpiece 130 .
Gas delivery means 250 may be implement as an air pump (e.g., an air compressor) that delivers gas flow 265 from a nozzle 260 therein. The gas delivery means 250 may contain a regulator that controls the flow and force of the gas, as well as an air filtration system to ensure that the gas is clean (e.g., free of dust, oil and excessive moisture) when incident upon workpiece 130 . The nozzle 260 is used to direct the gas flow 265 upon workpiece 130 at an angle θ. In one embodiment, the nozzle 260 is the AIR KNIFE nozzle manufactured by Exair.
Angle θ is the angle between gas flow 265 and workpiece 130 . Angle θ is possibly between 1 and 50 degrees, and is preferably 10 degrees. Angle θ is important to gas delivery subsystem 200 to counteract ablation pressure and remove debris, but angle θ is also selected so that it does not contribute to workpiece deformation. If angle θ is too large, it contributes to workpiece deformation.
Gas flow 265 is a flow of gas used to perform two important functions in the gas delivery subsystem 200 . Examples of gasses used to create gas flow 265 include (but are not limited to) air, nitrogen, and argon. The first function of gas flow 265 is to create a reduced atmospheric pressure in front of the target area of workpiece 130 that exerts a force upon workpiece 130 to counteract the recoil pressure upon workpiece 130 . The second function of gas flow 265 is to remove debris from the surface of workpiece 130 during drilling. Debris removal further contributes to the ability of laser micromachining to create a product that meets specification. When incident upon workpiece 130 , the gas flow 265 has a range of speed of 2-132 m/s, optimally 15 m/s, and a range of flow of 0.3-4.1 cubic feet per minute (CFM), optimally 0.98 CFM, thereby creating a reduction in atmospheric pressure in the range of 2.7 to 56,000 Pascal, optimally 536 Pascal. In addition, the gas flow 265 has a humidity range of 10-1000 parts per million (ppm) and a particulate size range of 0.01-0.1 micrometer. In one example, gas flow 265 is comprised of an air flow. In another example, gas flow 265 is comprised of nitrogen, or other inert gas.
In operation, workpiece 130 is removably attached to workpiece holder 100 via vacuum source 112 , as previously discussed. Gas delivery means 250 delivers gas through the nozzle 260 to the surface of workpiece. 130 at angle θ, thereby creating a reduced atmospheric pressure in front of the target area of workpiece 130 . The force of sub-beams 145 upon workpiece 130 is countered by the reduced atmospheric pressure, such that the workpiece 130 remains in the focal plane 135 throughout drilling.
Gas delivery system 200 solves the problems left unresolved in the prior art and keeps the surface area of flimsy workpiece 130 in focal plane 135 of sub-beams 145 of a laser drilling system by creating a reduced atmospheric pressure in front of the pattern target area of workpiece 130 that counteracts the recoil pressure upon workpiece 130 .
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method 300 for reducing atmospheric pressure proximate to the target area of the workpiece using the gas delivery subsystem 200 . The method generally includes the steps of: placing the workpiece on the workpiece holder; fastening the workpiece to the workpiece holder; turning on purge gas; drilling a pattern into the workpiece; turning off purge gas; and unfastening and removing the workpiece from the workpiece holder.
First, the workpiece 130 is placed on workpiece holder 100 at step 310 . For instance, an automated machine may obtain the workpiece 130 to be drilled and places it upon the workpiece holder 100 in a mass-manufacturing environment. In another instance, a system operator places the workpiece 130 upon workpiece holder 100 by hand.
Next, the workpiece 130 is fastened to workpiece holder 100 at step 320 , such that it is stationary during laser drilling. In one example, workpiece 130 is fastened by turning on vacuum source 112 to remove air from groove 110 , sealing workpiece 130 against first and second faces 150 , 155 of the workpiece holder 100 . In another example, workpiece 130 is fastened to workpiece holder 100 with an adhesive.
At step 330 , the gas delivery means 250 is turned on and gas flow 265 is incident upon workpiece 130 . Gas flow 265 performs the functions of: (1) creating a zone of reduced atmospheric pressure in front of workpiece 130 to counteract the recoil pressure exerted upon workpiece 130 by sub-beams 145 ; and (2) removing drilling debris from the pattern target area of workpiece 130 . Creating the zone of reduced atmospheric pressure is critical in solving the problem of keeping a flimsy workpiece in the focal plane of a parallel process laser drilling system.
A drilling pattern is then drilled at step 340 into the exposed surface of the workpiece 130 . In this step, the desired pattern is drilled by maneuvering sub-beams 145 upon workpiece 130 . In one example, pre-defined milling algorithms (and, if required, correction algorithms) are stored in a computer (not shown) and communicated to elements of the laser drilling system (not shown).
Upon completion of the laser drilling operation, the gas delivery means 250 is turned off at step 350 , such that gas flow 265 is no longer incident upon workpiece 130 .
Finally, the workpiece 130 is unfastened from the workpiece holder 100 at step 360 and then removed from the workpiece holder 100 at step 370 . In one example, the vacuum source 112 is turned off, breaking the air seal between the workpiece 130 and the workpiece holder 100 , thereby allowing removal of the workpiece 130 . In another example, the adhesive seal between workpiece 130 and workpiece holder 100 is broken to allow removal of workpiece 130 .
If necessary, a subsequent workpiece 130 can be placed upon workpiece holder 100 . If so, processing returns to step 310 of the method; otherwise processing is complete.
A laser drilling system in accordance with the present invention may be used to construct a nozzle plate of an ink-jet head as further described below. Referring to FIG. 4, an ink-jet printer 1140 includes an ink-jet head 1141 capable of recording on a recording medium 1142 via a pressure generator. The ink-jet head 1141 is mounted on a carriage 1144 capable of reciprocating movement along a carriage shaft 1143 .
In operation, ink droplets emitted from the ink-jet head 1141 are deposited on the recording medium 1142 , such as a sheet of copy paper. The ink-jet head 1141 is structured such that it can reciprocate in a primary scanning direction X in parallel with the carriage shaft 1143 ; whereas the recording medium 1142 is timely conveyed by rollers 1145 in a secondary scanning direction Y.
FIG. 5 further illustrates the construction of an exemplary inkjet head 1141 . The ink-jet head is primarily comprised of a pressure generator 1104 and a nozzle plate 1114 . In this embodiment, the pressure generator 1104 is a piezoelectric system having an upper electrode 1101 , a piezoelectric element 1102 , and a lower electrode 1103 . Although a piezoelectric system is presently preferred, it is envisioned that other types of systems (e.g., a thermal-based system) may also be employed by the ink-jet head 1141 .
The nozzle plate 1114 is further comprised of a nozzle substrate 1112 and a water repellent layer 1113 . The nozzle substrate 1112 may be constructed from a metal or resin material; whereas the water repellant layer 1113 is made of fluororesin or silicone resin material. In this exemplary embodiment, the nozzle substrate 1112 is made of stainless steel having a thickness of 50 um and the water repellent layer 1113 is made of a fluororesin having a thickness of 0.1 um.
The ink-jet head 1141 further includes an ink supplying passage 1109 , a pressure chamber 1105 , and an ink passage 1111 disposed between the pressure generator 1104 and the nozzle plate 1114 . In operation, ink droplets 1120 are ejected from the nozzle 110 . The nozzle 1110 is preferably formed without flash and foreign matter (e.g., carbon, etc.) in the nozzle plate. In addition, the accuracy of the nozzle outlet diameter is 20 um±1.5 um.
The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A method is provided for maintaining a workpiece in a focal plane of a laser drilling system. The method includes: providing a workpiece holder that is adapted to releasably retain a workpiece on a planar surface thereof, the planar surface having a recess extending therein; positioning the workpiece onto a planar surface of a workpiece holder, such that the workpiece extends across the recess formed in the workpiece holder and an exposed surface of the workpiece aligns with a focal plane of a laser drilling system; projecting a laser beam from the laser drilling system onto the exposed surface of the workpiece, thereby forming an ablation on the exposed surface of the workpiece; and directing a flow of gas onto the exposed surface of the workpiece substantially concurrent with the step of projecting a laser beam, such that the flow of gas substantially impinges on an area of the exposed surface that extends across the recess formed in the workpiece holder, thereby maintaining the exposed surface of the workpiece in the focal plane of the laser drilling system during the laser drilling operation. | 1 |
This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/IB2008/003555 filed 19 Dec. 2008, which designated the U.S. and claims priority to IT Application No. MI2008A000011 filed 4 Jan. 2008, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a new process for the preparation of diacerein, in particular a new synthetic method by oxidisation with radical catalysis which produces diacerein with a high level of purity and excellent yields.
PRIOR ART
Diacerein (4,5-bis(acetyloxy)-9,10-dihydro-9,10-dioxo-2-anthracene carboxylic acid) is a molecule with antiarthritic activity, which has been used in therapy for a very long time.
Many syntheses of diacerein are known, the majority of which use aloin as a starting product which, after acetylation of the hydroxylic groups, is oxidised with chromic anhydride in acetic acid. The diacerein thus obtained requires many purification stages in order to eliminate the residues of chromium and the reaction by-products (see for example EP 0 636 602, WO 98/56750, WO 01/96276, US 2006/0135797, US 2007/0037992). However, the repeated purifications, which are labour-intensive in industrial terms, are not sufficient to eliminate the residues of chromium and the by-products, in particular the aloe-emodin and its acetyl derivatives, which are therefore found as impurities in the end product.
WO 2006/051400 describes a process for the preparation of diacerein which uses sodium nitrite in sulphuric acid instead of the chromic anhydride/acetic acid oxidising system. Said process is extremely exothermic and hence cannot be controlled in large-scale production; furthermore the volumes of solvent necessary for the reactions are excessive and the yields are very low. Also said process is therefore not suitable for industrial production.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a process for the preparation of diacerein which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and allows the production of diacerein with a high level of purity and high yields, via a safe and industrially feasible synthesis.
In fact, it has surprisingly been found that the alpha carbon to the hydroxymethyl chain of the aloe-emodin can be oxidised with an oxidising agent more suitable for industrial use than those used in the known art.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Thus, according to one of its aspects, the invention concerns a process for the preparation of 4,5-bis(acetyloxy)-9,10-dihydro-9,10-dioxo-2-anthracene carboxylic acid (below also diacerein) of formula (I)
and its salts, which comprises:
a) reacting a protected aloe-emodin of formula (II)
in which Pr is a protector group non-hydrolysable in an aqueous environment, with an oxidising system which comprises the radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyl-N-oxyl of formula (III):
where R 1 is H, OH, O-alkyl or O-alkanoyl, in the presence of an alkaline or alkaline-earth chlorite and an alkaline or alkaline-earth hypochlorite, in an appropriate solvent, to give the compound of formula (IV)
b) replacing the Pr protector groups with acetyl groups and, if desired, isolating and purifying the diacerein thus obtained.
According to the present invention, the Pr groups are protector groups which are not hydrolysable in an aqueous environment and are compatible with the oxidisation reaction, preferably protector groups which can be cleaved with a Lewis acid, for example with an acetic anhydride/FeCl 3 system.
Suitable protector groups are for example the benzyl or substituted benzyl groups.
The terms alkaline or alkaline-earth chlorite/hypochlorite indicate a chlorite/hypochlorite salt with an alkaline or alkaline-earth metal. A particularly preferred metal is sodium.
The radical oxidising system of formula (III) with alkaline or alkaline-earth chlorite and alkaline or alkaline-earth hypochlorite is known in the art.
A preferred radical of formula (III) is the radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyl-N-oxyl (hereinafter also TEMPO).
The radical of formula (III), advantageously the TEMPO radical, is generally used in quantities that vary from 4 to 10% in moles, preferably 6 to 8% in moles with respect to the moles of compound to be oxidised.
The alkaline or alkaline-earth chlorite is generally used in quantities that vary from 160 to 250%, preferably from 200 to 220% in moles with respect to the moles of compound to be oxidised.
The alkaline or alkaline-earth sodium hypochlorite is generally used in quantities that vary from 2.0 to 8%, preferably from 5 to 6% in moles with respect to the moles of compound to be oxidised.
The solvent used in the oxidisation reaction is an inert solvent, chosen for example from acetonitrile; linear or cyclic ethers, such as tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, diethyl ether, dimethyl ether, methyl tert-butyl ether, diglyme, triglyme; tertiary alcohols; benzene; toluene; alkanes such as hexane, pentane; halogenated solvents such as chloroform; carbon tetrachloride; and their mixtures.
A particularly preferred solvent is acetonitrile.
The oxidisation reaction is advantageously carried out in two phases: firstly the starting compound of formula (II) is reacted, in the reaction solvent, with the radical of formula (III) and alkaline or alkaline-earth chlorite, advantageously at a temperature between the room temperature and 50° C., preferably around 30-40° C., for example at approximately 35° C.
In the second phase the sodium hypochlorite is added and the mixture is reacted at a temperature advantageously between the room temperature and the reflux temperature, preferably around 50-80° C., for example at approximately 60-65° C.
According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the oxidisation reaction is carried out in the presence of a buffer system, for example a phosphate buffer system at pH 6-7 (alkaline or alkaline-earth dihydrogen phosphate/sodium hydrogen phosphate).
The oxidisation reaction is complete in a few hours. Normally 2 to 5 hours are sufficient for all the starting product to be oxidised; a person skilled in the art can in any case monitor the course of the reaction by means of the known techniques.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the product of formula (IV) obtained from the oxidisation reaction (a) is purified, for example, by repeated extraction with an appropriate solvent of an aqueous/organic solution of one of its salts.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the product of formula (IV), for example the product of formula (IV) wherein the Pr groups which are benzyl or substituted benzyl groups, obtained from the oxidisation reaction (a) is purified by dissolution in a mixture of water and dimethyl formamide, in the presence of an amine, for example a tertiary amine such as triethyl amine; after repeated extraction of the aqueous/organic phase, for example with ethyl acetate, an acid is added to the aqueous/organic phase, for example hydrochloric acid, and the precipitate that forms is isolated.
The compound of formula (IV) where Pr is benzyl, i.e. 1,8-dibenzyl oxyanthraquinone-3-carboxylic acid (dibenzylrhein) which can be obtained from step (a), is an intermediate product, described in detail and characterised in the following experimental section, and represents a further subject-matter of the present invention.
The product of formula (IV) can be converted into diacerein also by means of one single reaction, by treatment with an acetylating agent, for example acetic anhydride, in the presence of an appropriate catalyst, for example a Lewis acid, advantageously iron trichloride, preferably anhydrous. In this way the Pr groups are removed and the acetyl groups are introduced by one single reaction.
Thus, according to a particularly preferred embodiment, the invention concerns a process for the preparation of diacerein which comprises reacting a compound of formula (II), in which Pr is a benzyl or protected benzyl group, with a radical of formula (III) in which R 1 is H, in the presence of alkaline or alkaline-earth chlorite, advantageously sodium chlorite, and alkaline or alkaline-earth hypochlorite, advantageously sodium hypochlorite, in an appropriate solvent, and subsequently reacting a compound of formula (IV) thus obtained with acetic anhydride in the presence of anhydrous iron trichloride.
The diacerein thus obtained can be used as is or, if desired or necessary, further purified according to the methods known to a person skilled in the art. In the synthesis there are no reagents containing chromium and this results in the important advantage of obtaining a chromium-free end compound. To confirm this, analyses were performed on the compound of formula (I) which demonstrated that the chromium content is below the traceability limit of the equipment used (<1 ppm).
With the process of the invention, diacerein is obtained which does not contain chromium (<1 ppm) and which has a content of aloe emodin (or its acetyl derivatives) not exceeding 2 ppm. Said compound represents a further subject of the invention.
The present invention also concerns the pharmaceutical compositions comprising diacerein which does not contain chromium, for example where the chromium is below the traceability limit (<1 ppm).
The present invention furthermore concerns the pharmaceutical compositions comprising diacerein which has a content of aloe emodin (or its acetyl derivatives) not exceeding 2 ppm, advantageously between 2 ppm and 0.1 ppm, for example between 2 ppm and 0.5 ppm, or below the traceability limit.
According to another of its aspects, the invention also concerns the use of diacerein which does not containing chromium (<1 ppm) and with a content of aloe emodin (or its acetyl derivatives) not exceeding 2 ppm (advantageously between 2 ppm and 0.1 ppm, for example between 2 ppm and 0.5 ppm, or below the traceability limit) for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition, advantageously for a pharmaceutical composition with antiarthritic activity.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail in the experimental part of the present invention.
EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
Example 1
Preparation of 1,8-dibenzyloxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)anthraquinone (dibenzyl aloe-emodin)
483 g (3.5 moles) of potassium carbonate, 16 g (0.1 moles) of potassium iodide and 16 g (0.05 moles) of tetrabutylammonium bromide are added to a solution of 270 g (1 mole) of 1,8-dihydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)anthraquinone (aloe-emodin) in 3500 ml of DMF at 60° C.; the reaction mixture is heated at 80° C. for 1 h. It is cooled to 50° C. and 443 g (3.5 moles) of benzyl chloride are added dropwise in approximately one hour. At the end of the dripping, the reaction mixture is brought back to 80° C. and left at that temperature under stirring for 45-60 minutes. It is then cooled to 50° C. and 200 ml of methyl alcohol are added. It is cooled to 20-25° C. and the inorganic salts are removed by filtering. The organic solvent is distilled at 60-70° C. at reduced pressure and the residue is dissolved in 3200 ml of tetrahydrofuran at 60° C. Maintaining the temperature at 50-60° C., the organic phase is washed twice with 1200 ml of 2.5 molar aqueous sodium hydroxide and once with 1000 ml of a saturated solution of sodium chloride in water. The organic phase is concentrated at reduced pressure at 60° C. and the residue is recovered with 2700 ml of ethyl acetate. The suspension thus obtained is concentrated to approximately ⅓ of the initial volume by distillation of the solvent at reduced pressure. It is gradually cooled to 0-4° C. and kept at that temperature for 1 hour. The solid is filtered and washed with ethyl acetate (100 ml×2). The damp product is dried at 45° C. at reduced pressure for 12-14 hours, providing 334 g (yield 74%) of dibenzyl aloe-emodin having a purity of 98% (HPLC).
melting point: 170-171° C.
IR cm −1 : 1655, 1612, 1232
Example 2
Synthesis of 1,8-dibenzyloxyanthraquinone-3-carboxylic acid (dibenzylrhein)
10 g (0.06 moles) of radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyl-oxyl (TEMPO) and 1160 ml of an aqueous solution of 120 g (1 mole) of sodium dihydrogen phosphate and 180 g (1 mole) of disodium hydrogen phosphate are added in sequence to a suspension of 333 g (0.74 moles) of 1,8-dibenzyloxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)anthraquinone in 1660 ml of acetonitrile. The reaction mixture is heated to 35° C. and a solution of 167 g (1.5 moles) of sodium chlorite 80% in 513 ml of water is added dropwise in 40-50 minutes, maintaining the temperature around 35-40° C. 20 ml of aqueous sodium hypochlorite 10-12% are then dripped in and the reaction is heated to 60-65° C. for three hours. It is cooled to room temperature and 1400 ml of water are added. Phosphoric acid 85% is dripped in until reaching a pH of 2.8-3.2. The solid obtained is filtered and washed with water (350 ml×2). The damp product is dried at 50° C. at reduced pressure for 14-16 hours, providing 337 g (yield 98%) of crude dibenzylrhein.
Example 3
Purification of 1,8-dibenzyloxyanthraquinone-3-carboxylic acid (dibenzylrhein)
337 g (0.72 moles) of crude 1,8-dibenzyloxyanthraquinone-3-carboxylic acid are dissolved in a solution of 134 ml of triethylamine in 900 ml of dimethylformamide DMF and 1800 ml of ethyl acetate, heating to 60° C. for 20-30 min. Any undissolved elements are removed by hot filtering and 2700 ml of water are added. The organic phase is separated and the aqueous phase is washed 6 times with 800 ml of ethyl acetate each time, maintaining the temperature at 60° C. The organic phase is cooled to room temperature and acidified with hydrochloric acid 33% until pH 2 is reached; the suspension thus obtained is cooled to 0-5° C. for approximately 1 hour. The product is filtered, washing it thoroughly with water (1200 ml) and then with 200 ml of acetonitrile. After drying at 50° C. at reduced pressure for 14-16 hours, 256 g of dibenzylrhein are obtained with a yield of 76%.
melting point: 250-251° C.
IR cm −1 : 1666, 1621, 1587, 1524
Example 4
Synthesis of 1,8-diacetoxy-3-carboxyanthraquinone (diacerein)
45 g (0.28 moles) of anhydrous iron trichloride are added in portions to a suspension of 255 g (0.55 moles) of 1,8-dibenzyloxyanthraquinone-3-carboxylic acid in 1300 ml of acetic anhydride. The reaction mixture is heated to 65° C. for one hour and thirty minutes. It is gradually cooled to 2-4° C. and maintained at that temperature for 1 hour. The solid obtained is filtered and washed with 150 ml of acetic anhydride and then with 400 ml of ethyl acetate. The damp product is dried at 50° C. at reduced pressure for 14-16 hours, providing 186 g of crude diacerein (yield 92%). The crude diacerein is purified according to the known techniques.
1 H NMR (d6-DMSO) δ: 2.4 (6H, s); 7.6 (1H, dd); 7.9 (1H, t); 8.0 (1H, d); 8.1 (1H, dd); 8.5 (1H, d).
IR cm −1 : 1763, 1729, 1655, 1619, 1591, 1183.
Chromium: not detectable (<1 ppm)
Genotoxic impurities (aloe emodin and acetyl derivatives)≦2 ppm. | The invention concerns a new process for the preparation of high purity diacerein, by oxidization of the protected aloe-emodin in the presence of an oxidizing system and radical catalyst and subsequent substitution of the protector groups with acetyl groups. | 2 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 USC§119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application 61/365,942 filed on Jul. 20, 2010, the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This description relates to the field of engines and compressors. More particularly, this description relates to rotary type engines and compressors.
BACKGROUND
An engine is a machine designed to convert energy into mechanical motion. A compressor is a device used for increasing pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.
Various types of engines exist. Among them, internal combustion engines with reciprocating pistons are most popular in cars today. Another type of internal combustion engine is the Wankel engine in which triangular shaped rotor and an epotrochoid-shaped casing interact to create compression and expansion chambers. Yet another type of engines is a rotary engine which is an internal combustion engine where the radially-mounted cylinders and pistons rotate around a fixed crankshaft.
There are also various types of compressors, namely reciprocating, rotary, centrifugal and axial.
Existing engines and compressors all have inefficiencies which are constantly being reduced.
There is therefore a need for a rotating and reciprocating efficient piston device.
SUMMARY
There is described herein a rotating and reciprocating piston device which can be used in an engine application, a compressor or a pump application.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising: chambers disposed about a chamber axis, the chambers having two ends and a port for passage of a fluid at each one of the ends of the chambers; pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons slidably positioned within a respective one of the chambers thereby determining a space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; a track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes; and guiding devices, each one of the guiding devices for guiding a respective one of the pistons along the track; wherein during operation: the device cycles through a plurality of stages wherein a position of a piston within its respective chamber determines the stage for that piston and hence the space on either side thereof; each piston slides within its respective chamber and thereby continuously varies the space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; and each port admits or exhausts the fluid respectively to or from the space depending on the stage of the plurality of stages.
According to an aspect, one of the chambers and the track is static, and the other one of the chambers and the track is free to rotate about the chamber axis.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a transmission device for transmitting energy to or receiving energy from the rotating and reciprocating piston device.
According to an aspect, the transmission device comprises one of a shaft, a belt, a chain, a gear mechanism, a wheel, and an electro-magnetic device.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a track plate on which the track is located.
According to an aspect, the chambers are located substantially with a chamber plane and wherein the track plate comprises a first track plate and a second track plate, each track plate comprising a track, the first track plate located on one side of the chamber plane and the second track plate located on the opposite side of the chamber plane.
According to an aspect, the first track plate and the second track plate are connected via a gear device.
According to an aspect, the first track plate further comprises a shaft receptor portion located in the chamber axis for mounting a rotatable shaft to the first track plate, the rotatable shaft for transmitting or receiving energy to or from the rotating and reciprocating piston device.
According to an aspect, the second plate comprises a void substantially at a center thereof for providing access to the end of the chambers closest to the chamber axis.
According to an aspect, the gear device comprises a gear device axis about which it rotates during operation and shaft receptor portion located in the gear device axis for mounting a rotatable shaft to the gear device, the rotatable shaft for transmitting or receiving energy to or from the rotating and reciprocating piston device.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a chamber block located substantially within a chamber plane, the chambers being formed in the chamber block.
According to an aspect, the piston chamber block further comprises a shaft receptor portion in the central axis for connecting a rotatable shaft to the track plate.
According to an aspect, the track comprises one of a groove and a protrusion.
According to an aspect, the track comprises a symmetrical shape.
According to an aspect, the symmetrical shape is either centered on the chamber axis or off center from on the chamber axis.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises valves for controlling the passage of fluid through the ports.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises a valve track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes, the valve track controlling the operation valves.
According to an aspect, the rotating and reciprocating piston device further comprises spark plugs, a respective one of the spark plugs located at each of the two ends of each of the chambers.
According to an aspect, the number of pistons is equal to the number of chambers.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising: chambers disposed about a chamber axis, the chambers having two ends and a port for passage of a fluid at each one of the ends of the chambers; pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons slidably positioned within a respective one of the chambers thereby determining a space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; and a track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes, the track for determining a position of a piston within its respective chamber and hence the space on either side thereof.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising a track plate comprising a track forming a closed circuit, a piston chamber block having defined therein chambers having two ends and an air admission or an exhaust port at each one of the ends of the chambers, pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons being located within a respective one of the chambers, guiding devices, each one of the guiding devices mounted to a respective one of the pistons, the guiding devices adapted to travel along the track; wherein during operation, the device cycles through a plurality of stages, each piston travels within its respective chamber and thereby creates spaces of continuously varying sizes within its respective chamber at either end of each piston, and the spaces within the chambers on either side of each the pistons admit or exhaust gases depending on the stage of the plurality of stages within which are the pistons, the track, via each guiding device, determines a position of each piston within its respective chamber.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of an embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device without one of its covers;
FIG. 1 a is a cut out view of the track plate of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 1 b is a diagram showing a top elevation view of an embodiment of a piston for use with the rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 1 c is a diagram showing a front elevation view of an embodiment of a piston for use with the rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 1 d is a schematic diagram showing a side elevation view of an embodiment of a piston for use with the rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of an embodiment of a piston chamber block of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 2 a is a side view of the piston chamber block of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment for a track for a 12-stage rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of an embodiment of the track plate of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 4 a is a schematic diagram showing a side elevation view of an embodiment of the track plate of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 4 b is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the track plate of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 4 c is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of an embodiment of the track plate with its track of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 4 d is a schematic diagram showing a side elevation view of the device of FIG. 4 c;
FIG. 4 e is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional top plan view of an embodiment of the track plate with its track of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a piston chamber block of a rotating and reciprocating piston device used in a four-stroke engine application;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the piston chamber block of a rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 5 ;
FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a piston of FIG. 5 ;
FIG. 8 is a top elevation view of a piston of FIG. 5 ;
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the track plate of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 5 ;
FIG. 10 is a side cutout view along line A-A of the track plate of FIG. 9 ;
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device in an electric generator or hybrid engine application;
FIG. 12 is a side cutout view along line B-B of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 11 ;
FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 11 ;
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIGS. 15 and 16 are cutout views along line C-C of the piston chamber block of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 14 at different moments;
FIG. 17 is a top elevation view of a piston of FIG. 14 ;
FIG. 18 is a front elevation view of a piston of FIG. 14 ;
FIG. 19 is a side view of a piston of FIG. 14 ;
FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIGS. 21 to 24 are various cutout views along line D-D of the track plate of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 20 ;
FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 26 is a cutout view along line E-E of the track plate of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 25 ;
FIG. 27 is a side elevation view of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 25 ;
FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIGS. 29 to 32 are various cutout views along line F-F of the housing of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 28 ;
FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 33 a is a schematic diagram showing a side cutout view of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 33 ;
FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the track plate with its track of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 33 ;
FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the piston chamber block of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 33 ;
FIG. 36 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another track plate with its track of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 33
FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of the piston chamber block of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 33 ;
FIG. 38 is a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the piston chamber block with the track plate of the rotating and reciprocating piston device of FIG. 33 ;
FIG. 39 is a picture of rotating and reciprocating piston device in accordance with an embodiment;
FIG. 40 is a picture of a rotating and reciprocating device in accordance with an embodiment;
FIG. 41 is a picture showing a cover for a rotating and reciprocating piston device in accordance with an embodiment showing a rotatable shaft;
FIG. 42 is a picture of a piston chamber block with its pistons (without its cover) of a rotating and reciprocating piston device;
FIG. 43 is a picture showing a track plate with its track for a rotating and reciprocating piston device in accordance with an embodiment;
FIG. 44 is showing a piston chamber block with its shaft of a rotating and reciprocating piston device; and
FIG. 45 is a picture showing a partial view in accordance with an embodiment of piston chamber block and pistons placed therein the cover.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Many interesting applications for rotating and reciprocating piston device 10 exist. These applications include a four-stroke engine ( FIG. 5 ), an electric generator ( FIG. 11 ), a hybrid engine, a compressor ( FIG. 39 ), and, in combination with a compressed air tank, an energy reservoir.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 , 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , 1 d , 4 , 4 a , 4 b , 4 c , 4 d , 4 e and 39 , there is shown a rotating and reciprocating piston device 10 in accordance with an embodiment. Device 10 comprises a top track plate 14 a , and a shaft 15 . The device 10 comprises a ring 11 and top and bottom track plates 14 a and 14 b.
Now referring to FIG. 1 , there is shown a partial view of an embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device 10 without the top track plate 14 a (first track plate). The bottom track plate 14 b (second track plate) is present. Device 10 comprises a stationary ring 11 having an interior portion and a hole 28 at the center of the interior portion.
The top track plate 14 a is for covering the interior portion. The top track plate 14 a has a hole 28 which, when the top track plate 14 a is installed on the ring 11 , is aligned with the hole 28 in the bottom track 14 b.
Device 10 further comprises a rotatable shaft 15 for mounting through hole 28 in top and bottom track plates 14 a and 14 b.
Device 10 further comprises a piston chamber block 16 mounted on the rotatable shaft 15 within the interior portion of the track plate 12 . The piston chamber block 16 has defined therein chambers 26 .
Device 10 comprises two or more pistons 20 (seven pistons are shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 ) having two ends 21 a , 21 b . Each one of the pistons 20 is located within a respective one of the chambers 26 .
According to an embodiment, each piston 20 comprises a guiding device 22 . Guiding device 22 may comprise a ball bearing. The device 10 further comprises a track 18 (aka, a groove) in at least one of the track plate 12 . The guiding device 22 travels within the track 18 and thereby determines a position of each piston 20 within its respective chamber 26 .
During rotation of piston chamber block 16 , the device 10 cycles the two or more pistons 20 through a plurality of stages. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , stages 1 through 4 are shown. Each piston 20 travels within its respective chamber 26 and thereby creates spaces of continuously varying sizes within its respective chamber 26 at either end of each piston 20 . The spaces within the chambers 26 on either side of each of the pistons 20 admit or exhaust gases depending on the stage of the plurality of stages within which are the pistons 20 .
Now referring to FIGS. 4 , 4 a , 4 b , 4 c , 4 d , and 4 e ring 11 further comprises external inlet/outlet passages 24 a , 24 b , 24 c , 24 d and internal inlet/outlet passages 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , 30 d . As will be described later, the passages have ports which act as inlets or outlets for gases to the outside of the device 10 . The passages or ports may be blocked depending on the application.
Now referring to FIGS. 2 and 2 a , there is shown an embodiment of a piston chamber block 16 of a rotating and reciprocating piston device 10 . Piston chamber block 16 is circular in shape and comprises chambers 26 within which pistons (not shown) may travel. The cross-section of the chambers 26 and corresponding pistons can be of any suitable for a given application, such as round, square, triangular, oval, etc. At the exterior end of each chamber is a hole 32 . The holes 32 provide a passage for air or gases to travel between the chambers 26 and whichever inlet or outlet passages the holes 32 are in fluid communication with.
Now referring to FIG. 3 , there is shown an embodiment for a groove for a 12-stage rotating and reciprocating piston device. For a compressor application, using such a star-shaped configuration for the track will result in a compressor with 6 stages of air admission from the inlets at the external end of the piston chamber block and 6 stages of air evacuation to the outlets at the external end of the piston chamber block along with 6 stages of air admission from the inlets at the internal end of the piston chamber block and 6 stages of air evacuation to the outlets at the internal end of the piston chamber block.
Now referring to FIG. 4 , there is shown a top plan view of an embodiment of a track plate 12 of a rotating and reciprocating piston device. Track plate 12 comprises mid-portions 27 which act as separators between the external end passages 24 a , 24 b , 24 c and 24 d . Each passage includes a port 25 a , 25 b , 25 c and 25 d through which air/gases may travel from the outside to the inside or vice versa.
The operation of device 10 , when used as a compressor, will now be described using the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 . Starting with piston 20 in chamber 26 at the 3 o'clock position. At this position, piston 20 is entering stage 1 of the compressor when the piston chamber block 16 starts its rotation in a clockwise direction. In a compressor application, shaft 15 is powered by an external motor such as an electric motor (not shown). Guiding device 22 will follows the track 18 and force piston 20 to move toward the center (interior) of the piston chamber block 16 therefore admitting fresh air through air passage 24 b . At the same time, air which is present in chamber 26 at the other end (or opposite side) of piston 20 will be forced out through air passage 30 b to a compressed air tank (not shown) or to another device or tools that need air to drive it. The same piston will finish stage 1 at the 6 o'clock position where the reverse process for the piston 20 takes place; i.e., fresh air will enter from air passage 30 c and exit through passage 24 c . Stage 3 will be the same as stage 1 and stage 4 will be the same as stage 2 .
This embodiment can also be used in a hybrid engine application. For example, when the brakes are applied on a car, the energy to drive the compressor to fill a compressed air tank can be used to help in slowing down the car. On the other hand, during acceleration of the car, the stored compressed air in the tank can be used to drive the compressor and hence help in accelerating the car.
Now referring to FIGS. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , and 10 , another embodiment of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 110 will be described. This embodiment is for a four-stroke engine. Since most components are similar or the same as those described in the previous embodiments, the emphasis will be placed on the differences between the embodiments.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show piston chamber block 116 . FIGS. 7 and 8 show piston 120 . FIG. 9 shows a cover 114 a or 114 b . FIG. 10 shows track plate 112 with covers 114 a and 114 b and ring 111 .
In this embodiment of device 10 , one or both spaces in the chambers 126 at either end of the pistons 120 can be used. There are provided means for admitting fuel along with air in the external space of chamber 126 during stage 3 and in the internal (center) space of chamber 126 during stage 4 . There are provided means for igniting an air-fuel mixture 140 (aka, spark plug) at the external space of chamber 126 during stage 1 and at the internal space of chamber 126 during stage 2 . For the external chamber, the four-stages would be as follows: stage 3 : intake; stage 4 : compression; stage 1 : ignition; and stage 2 : exhaust. For the internal chamber, the four-stages would be as follows: stage 4 : intake; stage 1 : compression; stage 2 : ignition; and stage 3 : exhaust.
Using the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in which ten piston-chamber pairs are shown, the total process would then result in 20 ignitions for each full rotation of the piston chamber block 116 .
Now referring to FIGS. 11 to 32 , other embodiments of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 290 will be described. It is contemplated that the device 290 can be used as an electric generator by placing electro-magnets 250 and permanent magnets 260 at appropriate positions around (or on) the piston chamber block 296 and track plate 292 . There is also shown ( FIG. 21 ) a cover 294 for track plate 292 . In FIGS. 25 and 26 , there is shown a housing 298 and its cover 300 . This housing 298 and cover 300 assembly are used to house the track plate 292 and its cover 294 .
In an exemplary embodiment, the device 290 can be used, in combination with a car engine, to store energy in a battery (not shown). The stored energy can then be used for different purpose such as utility purposes in the car or to drive the car's wheels.
Other uses include 1—using energy to drive the device 290 to produce compressed air in a compressed air tank, or 2 —in combination, the energy of the piston and electrical energy can be used to increase a performance of an engine.
Referring now to FIG. 33 , there is shown another embodiment of a rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 . The device 500 comprises a track plate 12 having a track 18 forming a closed circuit. The device 500 also comprises a piston chamber block 16 having defined therein chambers 26 having two ends and an air admission or an exhaust port at each one of the ends of the chambers 26 . The device 500 also comprises pistons 20 having two ends 21 a and 21 b , each one of the pistons 20 being located within a respective one of the chambers 26 . Moreover, the device 500 comprises guiding devices 22 , where each one of the guiding devices 22 is mounted to a respective one of the pistons 20 . The guiding devices 22 are adapted to travel along the track 18 .
During operation of the device 500 , the device 500 cycles through a plurality of stages and each piston 20 travels within its respective chamber 26 and thereby creates spaces of continuously varying sizes within its respective chamber 26 at either end 21 a or 21 b of each piston 20 . Also, during operation of the device 500 , the spaces within the chambers 26 on either side of each the pistons 20 admit or exhaust gases depending on the stage of the plurality of stages within which are the pistons 20 . Additionally, the track 18 , via each guiding devices 22 , determines a position of each piston 20 within its respective chamber 26 .
It is to be noted that in the case the top and bottom track plates 14 a and 14 b are rotating, the piston chamber block 16 is statically mounted. On the other hand, in the case the piston chamber block 16 is rotating, the track plate 12 is statically mounted.
There is shown in FIG. 33 that the track 18 is rotating, while the piston chamber block 16 is statically mounted and the shaft 15 is connected to the track plate 12 . Moreover, in the embodiment of FIG. 33 , the piston chamber block 16 is static and track 18 is rotating. Indeed, a first track plate 12 rotates while engaging the shaft 15 and a second track plate 12 rotates while engaging the first track plate 12 via a gear device 700 .
Now referring to FIG. 33 a , there is presented a schematic diagram showing a side cutout view of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 of FIG. 33 . The rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 comprises a piston chamber block 16 located in a chamber plane (perpendicular to drawing). A first track plate 12 is located above the piston chamber block 16 (on on side of the chamber plane) and a second track plate 12 is located below the piston chamber block (on the other side of the chamber plane). A gear device 700 drives both the first track plate 12 and the second track plate 12 . A cover 14 a for mounting over the first plate 12 which is located above the piston chamber block 16 . A bearing 900 is provided in cover 14 a to enhance the stability of shaft 15 .
Referring now to FIG. 34 , there is shown a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the track plate 12 with its track 18 and its gears 700 of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 of FIG. 33 .
Referring now to FIG. 35 , there is shown a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the piston chamber block 16 of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 of FIG. 33 . There is also shown that the piston chamber block 16 further includes a shaft receptor portion 800 for connecting to track plate 12 .
Referring now to FIG. 36 , there is a shown a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the second track plate 12 with its track 18 of the rotating and reciprocating piston 500 device of FIG. 33 . There is also shown that the piston chamber block 16 further includes a shaft receptor portion 800 for connecting to track plate 12 .
Referring now to FIG. 37 , there is shown a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of another embodiment of the piston chamber block 16 of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 of FIG. 33 .
Finally, Referring now to FIG. 38 , there is shown a schematic diagram showing a top plan view of the piston chamber block 16 with the track plate 12 of the rotating and reciprocating piston device 500 of FIG. 33 .
While preferred embodiments have been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from this disclosure. Such modifications are considered as possible variants comprised in the scope of the disclosure. | The present document describes a rotating and reciprocating piston device comprising: chambers disposed about a chamber axis, the chambers having two ends and a port for passage of a fluid at each one of the ends of the chambers; pistons having two ends, each one of the pistons slidably positioned within a respective one of the chambers thereby determining a space at either end of each piston within its respective chamber; and a track forming a closed circuit through which the chamber axis passes, the track for determining a position of a piston within its respective chamber and hence the space on either side thereof. | 5 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to enablement of transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy to at least two light sensitive points, in the context of illumination arrangements comprising light sources with varying intensity.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In several technical fields, illumination is either the main purpose or is used as a tool for obtaining desired results. Applications comprise, e.g., image and movie projection, photolithography, computer-to-plate applications, serigraphy, other photographical applications such as production of printed circuit boards, etc., photolysis, rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, communication, and several others.
[0003] Numerous categories and types of light sources exist for illumination purposes, each manufactured with different purposes in view and often constrained to neglect other purposes. Purposes of interest may be power rating, luminous efficacy, stability of the luminous intensity, precision of the point of emission, color rendering, etc. For example, short arc lamps, i.e., high-pressure discharge lamps, are used in many applications because they may offer high power ratings, high luminous efficacy, excellent color rendering and a very small point of emission. Unfortunately, their construction, however, also causes displacement of material from the electrodes, causing their voltage ratings to change during use, their lifetime to be reduced, and the point of emission, i.e., the arc, to fluctuate. These problems are well known within the art and are addressed in several ways, some of which include the use of alternating driving current and/or frequent current peaking. Often such solutions introduce new problems and in the example of short arc lamps, the current peaking causes the emitted luminous intensity to fluctuate.
[0004] Of the above mentioned illumination applications, several do accept light sources establishing light beams having fluctuating luminous intensity and/or fluctuating point of emission, either because they are intended for use in low-quality products, or because the fluctuations may be considered insignificant for a specific use. For example, for use in movie projectors, a slightly fluctuating luminous intensity may be acceptable as the light beam is used to illuminate the same area continuously, for which reason the human eye may not be able to recognize the changes and, furthermore, the projected images are changed at a fast pace. Such fluctuations may, however, not be acceptable for specific uses of a high quality projector.
[0005] In fields as, e.g., photolithography and other techniques where the region to be exposed is only illuminated little by little, fluctuations of the luminous intensity may, however, be considered hazardous. This is because different regions of the exposed medium, e.g., a printing plate, are illuminated in turn, which makes it possible for one region to be illuminated with one level of intensity and the adjacent region to be illuminated with another. This may cause the result to look inconsistent and the probable periodicity of the intensity changes may even cause stripes or other visible periodical patterns to occur.
[0006] One of several objects of the present invention is to establish compensation means for facilitating the use of light sources with varying luminous intensity, e.g., short arc lamps with additional intensity at the supply peaking times, in applications where typically only constant intensity lamps are used.
[0007] One of several objects of the present invention is to establish means that adapt to real-time changes in the level of periodically occurring additional luminous intensity in a light beam and thus facilitate compensation in order to utilize such a light beam in applications where typically only constant intensity light beams are used.
[0008] One of several objects of the present invention is to facilitate an improved uniform light transmission via a spatial light modulator, such as, e.g., a DMD-modulator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The invention relates to a method for enabling transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy from at least one light source LS comprising intensity variations in time to at least two light sensitive points LSP, said transmission being controlled by means of at least one illumination arrangement 1 , and said method comprising establishment of a correlation between said intensity variations and at least one feature of said illumination arrangement.
[0010] According to the present invention, disadvantages of using light sources with varying intensity, e.g., short arc lamps with peaking power supply, may be overcome, and in a preferred embodiment even in such a way that the peak intensities are utilized for optimum efficiency.
[0011] According to the present invention, energy is transmitted to light sensitive points by accumulation of light intensity over time. Control of the energy amount thus basically comprises control of the intensity and time of exposure.
[0012] The light originating from light sources according to the present invention may comprise intensities that vary in time, i.e., flickers, probably at a rate not perceptible by a human eye, and/or in space, i.e., non-uniform intensity distribution. It is an object of the present invention to particularly address the disadvantages of time wise intensity variations.
[0013] In order to enable the use of peaking light sources and even utilizing the intensity variations, a correlation between the variations and the energy amount control means has to be present. Such correlation may, however, be established between the intensity variations and one or more of several controllable features of the illumination arrangement, or the correlation may even be established by controlling the intensity variations.
[0014] It is noted that the terms illumination arrangement and light modulating arrangement in the following are used for substantially the same kind of means.
[0015] When said intensity variations in time comprise substantially periodic intensity peaks, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0016] According to the present invention, the intensity variations of the light source may comprise substantially periodic intensity peaks, as the lamp driver may intentionally cause such in order to prolong the lifetime of the lamp. As some lamp drivers may be controlled, it is, in some applications, possible to control the periodic intensity peaks, while still not possible to avoid them altogether.
[0017] When said at least one illumination arrangement 1 and said at least two light sensitive points LSP are moved relative to each other, and whereby said at least one feature of said illumination arrangement comprises characteristics of said relative movement, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0018] According to the present invention, the illumination arrangement preferably travels relative to the light sensitive points in a direction parallel to a plane comprising the light sensitive points, i.e., a light sensitive medium. Thus, some of several features that may be controlled in order to establish the correlation with the peak timing are characteristics of the movement, e.g., speed and direction, and also the width of the light modulation layout, i.e., the number of light modulators in each row.
[0019] When said establishment of a correlation comprises adapting said characteristics of said relative movement into synchronism with said intensity variations in time, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0020] According to the present invention, the movement characteristics, e.g., speed and direction, may be controlled in order to establish the correlation.
[0021] When said establishment of a correlation comprises adapting said intensity variations in time into synchronism with said characteristics of said relative movement, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0022] According to the present invention, the intensity variations, e.g., periodic intensity peaks, may be controlled in order to establish the correlation with the movement characteristics, e.g., speed and direction.
[0023] When said synchronism between said intensity variations and said characteristics of said relative movement comprise an integer number of said periodic intensity peaks to occur during the illumination of each of said at least two light sensitive points, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0024] According to the present invention, the correlation should preferably comprise an integer number of periodic intensity peaks occurring during the illumination of each light sensitive point. Thereby each light sensitive point may receive a substantially equal amount of energy.
[0025] When said illumination arrangement 1 comprises at least one light modulation means 3 , and whereby said at least one feature of said illumination arrangement comprises characteristics of said light modulation means, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0026] Characteristics of a light modulation means comprise, e.g., the current light modulation control information, the timing of the modulation, the spatial extent of the modulation, which light properties, e.g., intensity, frequency, etc., are modulated, etc. According to the present invention, such characteristics may be controlled in order to establish a correlation with the intensity variations of the light source.
[0027] When said at least one light modulation means 3 comprises at least one spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of light modulators LM, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0028] The spatial light modulator used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a DMD-chip. It comprises a plurality of micro-mirrors, i.e., light modulators LM. Specific characteristics of a spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of light modulators comprise, e.g., which light modulators to enable or disable, individual enabling times for each light modulator, etc. According to the present invention, such characteristics may be controlled in order to establish a correlation with the intensity variations of the light source.
[0029] When said controlling of said transmission by means of said at least one illumination arrangement 1 comprises controlling said characteristics of said at least one light modulation means 3 at least partly on the basis of at least one modulation mask MM defining light modulators to be disabled, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0030] According to the present invention, control of characteristics of the light modulating means is preferably achieved through the use of modulation masks. Such modulation masks may e.g., comprise information of forced states of certain light modulators, and may be loaded into the light modulating means by combining them with the utility image bitmap, thus establishing a composite bitmap to be loaded.
[0031] When said establishment of a correlation comprises adapting said at least one modulation mask MM so that said characteristics of said at least one light modulation means 3 is controlled in synchronism with said intensity variations in time, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0032] According to the present invention, the modulation mask may be adapted in order to correlate to the intensity variations. Such adaptations may be predetermined or determined during exposure, and may comprise one lasting adaptation or several adaptations during exposure.
[0033] When said adaptation of said at least one modulation mask MM is performed continuously, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0034] According to the present invention, the modulation mask is adapted continuously, in correlation with the intensity variations. The adaptations may comprise choosing between predetermined modulation masks from a bank of modulation masks, determining modulation mask settings on the fly, shifting a modulation mask to either side, etc. The adaptation may also comprise adaptive adjustments according to variations in the periodicity of the intensity variations.
[0035] When said adaptation of said at least one modulation mask MM comprises choosing a predefined modulation mask from a bank of modulation masks, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0036] When said at least one modulation mask MM further comprises control information for avoiding non-uniform energy transmission due to intensity variations in space caused by said light modulation means or optical features of said illumination arrangement 1 , an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0037] According to the present invention, the modulation mask may, in addition to establishing a correlation of illumination arrangement characteristics with the time wise intensity variations, preferably comprise information for handling spatial intensity variations.
[0038] When said establishment of a correlation comprises rearranging said control information in time, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0039] According to the present invention, the spatial intensity variations handling information may be rearranged in time, i.e., by switching between different modulation masks comprising differently located control information, through time.
[0040] When said establishment of a correlation comprises rearranging said control information in space, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0041] According to the present invention, the spatial intensity variations handling information may be rearranged in space, i.e., by shifting the control information to either side, randomizing the control information, etc.
[0042] The present invention further relates to an illumination arrangement 1 for controlling transmission of energy to at least two light sensitive points LSP, wherein said controlling transmission enables transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy to each of said at least two light sensitive points LSP, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0043] According to the present invention, illumination arrangements may be enabled to transmit substantially equal amounts of energy to light sensitive points, thereby overcoming disadvantages of intensity varying light sources.
[0044] According to the present invention, an illumination arrangement, also referred to as a light modulating arrangement, preferably comprises means for establishing a light beam, modulating the light beam into a plurality of individually controlled light beams, and directing the light beams towards a light sensitive medium.
[0045] When said illumination arrangement comprises at least one light source LS, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0046] When said at least one light source LS submits light comprising substantially periodic intensity variations, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0047] According to the present invention, the driver of the light source may intentionally establish periodic intensity variations. By means of the present invention, the disadvantages of this often necessary evil may even be turned into more efficient illumination of light sensitive media.
[0048] When said illumination arrangement comprises at least one light modulation means 3 , an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0049] When said at least one light modulation means 3 comprises at least one spatial light modulation means, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0050] When said at least one spatial light modulation means 3 comprises a DMD-chip, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0051] When said at least one spatial light modulation means 3 comprises a micro-mechanical shutter array, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0052] When said illumination arrangement is moved relative to said at least two light sensitive points, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0053] According to the present invention, the illumination arrangement preferably travels relative to the light sensitive points in a direction parallel to a plane comprising the light sensitive points, i.e., a light sensitive medium.
[0054] When said transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy to each of said at least two light sensitive points LSP is at least partly enabled by means of controlling said relative movement between said illumination arrangement and said at least two light sensitive points, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0055] According to the present invention, equal amounts of energy may be ensured by characteristics of the movement, e.g., speed and direction, and also the width of the light modulation layout, i.e., the number of light modulators in each row.
[0056] When said controlling of said relative movement comprises synchronizing said relative movement with said period intensity variations, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0057] According to the invention, the controlling of the movement, e.g., speed and direction, should preferably cause the movement to be synchronized with the intensity variations.
[0058] When said transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy to each of said at least two light sensitive points LSP is at least partly enabled by means of controlling said light modulation means 3 , an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0059] According to the present invention, controlling the light modulation means may ensure the substantially equal amounts of energy. Features that may be controlled comprise, e.g., which light modulators to enable or disable and the enabling times of each light modulator. The controlling may furthermore comprise features such as intensity attenuation, wavelength filters, etc.
[0060] When said controlling said light modulation means 3 comprises applying at least one modulation mask MM, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0061] According to the present invention, modulation masks are preferably used for controlling the light modulation means. A modulation mask may, e.g., comprise control information on each light modulator of the light modulation means, such as forced disabling or enabling of each light modulator. The modulation mask may preferably be loaded into the light modulation means by combining it with the utility bitmap to be exposed, and then loading the composite bitmap.
[0062] When said at least one modulation mask MM is established on the basis of characteristics of said periodic intensity variations, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0063] According to the present invention, properties of a modulation mask is preferably determined on the basis of characteristics of the intensity variations, e.g., frequency, durations, etc. Thereby a correlation between the intensity variations and the control of the light modulating means may be established, allowing transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy.
[0064] When said at least one modulation mask MM further comprises control information for handling further disadvantages of said illumination arrangement, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0065] According to the present invention, further disadvantages of the illumination arrangement may comprise limitations in the optical design, the light modulation means, among others, typically causing the light intensity distribution over the light modulation layout to be non-uniform, and furthermore typically causing non-linear or asymmetrical distortion in the edges and corners of the light modulation layout.
[0066] According to the present invention, the modulation masks may be established in such a way that both the time wise intensity variations as well as the further disadvantages of the illumination arrangement may be addressed.
[0067] When said controlling of said light modulation means 3 comprises rearranging said control information for handling further disadvantages, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
[0068] According to the present invention, the controlling of the light modulation means comprises rearranging of the information for handling the further disadvantages. Thereby this control information is preserved, however in amended form, in order to address both problems.
[0069] When the illumination arrangement comprises means for carrying out the above-described method, an advantageous embodiment of the present invention has been obtained.
THE DRAWINGS
[0070] The invention will in the following be described with reference to the drawings where:
[0071] FIG. 1A illustrates an embodiment of a light modulating arrangement,
[0072] FIG. 1B illustrates a preferred movement pattern of the arrangement,
[0073] FIG. 2A illustrates an example of a light modulation layout,
[0074] FIG. 2B illustrates movement of the light modulation layout relative to a medium,
[0075] FIG. 3A illustrates timing diagrams of the light source,
[0076] FIG. 3B illustrates further timing diagrams of the light source,
[0077] FIG. 4 illustrates disadvantages of known techniques,
[0078] FIG. 5 illustrates the effect of an embodiment of the present invention,
[0079] FIG. 6 illustrates measuring of intensity distribution over a light modulation layout,
[0080] FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate examples of modulation masks,
[0081] FIG. 8A illustrates a further example of a modulation mask,
[0082] FIG. 8B illustrates moving the modulation mask over a medium,
[0083] FIG. 8C illustrates the result of illumination on the basis of the modulation mask,
[0084] FIG. 9A illustrates a bank of modulation masks,
[0085] FIG. 9B illustrates circulating through the mask bank during exposure, and
[0086] FIG. 9C illustrates a result of illumination on the basis of a modulation mask bank.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0087] FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a preferred application of the present invention. FIG. 1A illustrates a light modulating arrangement 1 used for photolithography purposes, i.e., typically for exposing printing plates. A first part 2 of the arrangement 1 produces a focused and uniform beam of light. It comprises a light source LS, a lamp driver LD, a blower 25 and a fan 26 , a protection glass and filter 21 , a shutter 22 , a light-integrating rod 23 and beam shaping optics 24 .
[0088] The type of light source LS depends, among other things, on the type of plate to be exposed. Possible types comprise conventional short arc bulbs, laser sources, diode arrays and more. A preferred conventional lamp may have a power consumption of 270 W but the present invention is not in any way limited to this value or to the mentioned types of lamps. Alternatives such as 250 W and 350 W may, e.g., be considered.
[0089] The light from the light source LS is transmitted through a filter (e.g., IR or UV-filter depending on the application) 21 functioning as an interference filter and through a shutter mechanism 22 making it possible to turn off the light beam without turning off the lamp. This is important, as most lamp types need some time after start before they are stabilized. A blower 25 and a fan 26 ensure the cooling of the lamp LS.
[0090] Subsequently, the light beam is transmitted through a light-integrating rod 23 . Thereby, the light is mixed, making the light throughout the beam uniform with regards to intensity. This ensures that the light in the periphery of the beam has substantially the same intensity as the light in the center of the beam. After the light leaves the light-integrating rod 23 , it is focused by beam shaping optics 24 .
[0091] The next part of the arrangement 1 modulates the light beam to reflect electronically stored image data. It comprises a light-modulating means 3 and means 35 for directing the unmodulated light beam towards the light-modulating means 3 without disturbing its modulated light beam output.
[0092] Suitable light-modulating means 3 comprises micro-mirror spatial light modulators, e.g., DMD modulators or GLV modulators, transmissive shutter spatial light modulators, including LCD and micro-mechanical shutters and more. For the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1A , a DMD light-modulating chip 31 is mounted on a PCB 32 with a cooling plate 33 and a temperature sensor 34 .
[0093] The light directing means 35 depends on the type of light-modulating means 3 used. For transmissive light modulating means, the unmodulated light beam is directed towards one side of the light modulating means, and the modulated light beam is emitted from the other side. In such an arrangement, the light directing means 35 may be excluded.
[0094] For DMD modulators, the unmodulated light beam is directed towards the same point as where the modulated light beam is emitted. This necessitates the use of light directing means 35 . In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1A , a TIR-prism is used for light directing means. TIR is an abbreviation meaning ‘Total Internal Reflection’.
[0095] A TIR-prism comprises a surface 36 which will act as a mirror to light coming from one direction (from the left for this specific embodiment) and will let light coming from another direction (from the top for this specific embodiment) straight through.
[0096] The last part of the arrangement 1 focuses the multiple modulated light beams emitted from the light modulating means 31 through the light directing means 35 on an illumination surface 5 , e.g., a printing plate. It comprises a set of lenses/a macro lens 41 located within a housing 4 .
[0097] FIG. 1B illustrates how the light modulating arrangement 1 of FIG. 1A may be used for exposing a printing plate or other kind of light sensitive media 5 . Due to clearance, only the light modulating means 3 and lens housing 4 of the arrangement 1 is shown in FIG. 1B . Furthermore, the figure shows a light modulation layout LML established by the light modulating arrangement on the surface of the light sensitive media 5 . In order to expose the whole light sensitive media 5 , the light modulation layout LML, and thereby the light modulating arrangement 1 , and the light sensitive media 5 must be moved with respect to each other in such a way that the light modulation layout eventually has covered the part of the plate that needs to be exposed. This is preferably done by facilitating a scanning movement, e.g., as indicated by the dashed lines, of the light modulation arrangement with respect to the plate, e.g., by letting the light modulation arrangement scan the width of the plate, then move the plate one step forward along its length, then perform a second scan in the opposite direction as before, and so forth.
[0098] It is noted that the present invention has several further uses than described above with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B . It may, furthermore, advantageously be used, e.g., for exposing printed circuit boards in connection with the manufacture of such boards, rapid prototyping, i.e., manufacture of three-dimensional models by a process well-known as rapid prototyping, exposing offset plates and films and, e.g., in serigraphy applications, in photo finishing processes, in biomedical applications, e.g., for research regarding DNA profiles, in projection applications and signs, in digital cinema applications, etc., and in any other application or process comprising light sources and where accurate control of the energy transmitted to a light sensitive media is important.
[0099] The light source LS is preferably a short arc lamp, i.e., a high-pressure discharge lamp, and will in the following be treated as such even though it, within the scope of the present invention, may be any light-emitting device comprising, e.g., incandescent lamps of any type, fluorescent lamps, light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser emitters, etc. The short arc lamp may be of any type, e.g., metal halide lamps, mercury vapor lamps or sodium vapor lamps, etc. and is preferably an alternating current (AC) lamp but may as well within the scope of the invention be a direct current (DC) lamp or a lamp with more sophisticated power requirements. The light source is preferably provided with one or more reflectors or other light direction means in order to establish a light beam with as high luminous intensity as possible.
[0100] The lamp driver LD may be any kind of power supply suited to drive the particular light source. In the case of a short arc lamp as light source, the lamp driver LD preferably establishes an alternating current (AC) with peaking in order to extend the lifetime of the lamp and stabilize the position of the arc. Alternatively for a suitable short arc lamp, the lamp driver LD may establish a direct current (DC) with peaking or otherwise varying current or voltage, e.g., saw-tooth shaped. The lamp driver LD is preferably a current source but may as well within the scope of the invention be a voltage source.
[0101] FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary light modulation layout LML. It comprises a two-dimensional array of light modulation points LMP. The array comprises a number of rows RO-R 1023 and a number of columns C 0 -C 767 . The exact number of rows and columns may be anything and is for this specific example chosen to be 1024 rows and 768 columns, corresponding to XGA resolution. Thus, the light modulation layout LML of this example comprises 786.432 light modulation points LMP. Another preferred example is to have 1280 rows and 1024 columns, corresponding to SXGA resolution, or 1280 rows and 720 columns, corresponding to an HD resolution.
[0102] It should be noted that the use of the terms rows and columns in this patent application may differ from the use in other application. e.g., concerning displays or monitors. Particularly, the use of the terms is swapped in some applications.
[0103] Each light modulation point LMP corresponds to a light modulator LM, e.g., a micro-mirror, of the light modulating means 3 , e.g., a DMD chip. The content, e.g., light or not light, of each light modulation point LMP directly corresponds to the setting of the corresponding light modulator LM, and as each light modulator LM may be individually controlled by the light modulating means 3 , each light modulating point LMP may correspondingly be individually established by the light modulation means 3 . In a preferred embodiment of the light modulating arrangement, only the existence of light in each light modulation point LMP is controlled by the light modulating means 3 but it is within the scope of the invention to also let the light modulating means control other parameters of the light as e.g., the intensity or the wavelength (color) etc.
[0104] In a preferred embodiment of the light modulating arrangement of FIG. 1A , the light modulating means 3 comprises a DMD light-modulating chip 31 . The surface of the chip, which is exposed to the unmodulated light beam, is covered by hundreds of thousands or millions of small mirrors, arranged in a two-dimensional array. Typically, a chip comprises 1024×768 mirrors or 1280×1024 mirrors. Each mirror constitutes a light modulator LM and is able to direct the incoming light in two directions. A first direction towards the optics 41 and the light sensitive media 5 , and a second direction towards some light absorbing material. Thus, the modulated light beam actually consists of many sub beams, each being reflected from one of the small mirrors. By controlling the direction of each mirror, i.e., light modulator LM, it is possible to control which of the light modulation points LMP of the light modulation layout LML that receives light at a specific time.
[0105] Several other embodiments of light modulation arrangements, light modulation means, etc., e.g., the use of micro-mechanical shutters, more than one light modulation means, different movement patterns, etc., within the scope of the present invention, are disclosed in the PCT patent application published as WO 2004/021269, hereby incorporated by reference.
[0106] In the following description, when mentioning a light modulator LM being turned on or off, it indicates whether or not it illuminates its corresponding light modulation point LMP. Furthermore, the present invention is in the following described in the context of a light modulating arrangement according to FIG. 1A , comprising a DMD spatial light modulator, establishing a light modulation layout LML according to FIG. 2A and exercising a movement pattern according to FIG. 1B . It is, however, noted that any light modulating arrangement comprising any light modulating means, establishing any kind of light modulation layout and exercising any movement pattern is within the scope of the present invention.
[0107] FIG. 2B shows how the movement pattern of FIG. 1B causes each point LSP on the light sensitive media to be exposed to the possible light of several light modulators LM. It is noted that the reference to points on the light sensitive media does not necessarily refer to physically defined points on the media but rather to points logically defined by the light modulation layout LML. Hence, the light sensitive media may actually have point resolutions of significantly smaller size, e.g., molecule size, than the points relevant to the present description.
[0108] Due to reasons of clarity, the light modulation layout LML is shown with much fewer light modulation points LMP as in a preferred embodiment. As the light modulating arrangement, and thereby the light modulation layout LML, moves over the light sensitive media 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow, each point on the light sensitive media possibly receives light from several light modulators but always from light modulators located in the same row. For example, the specific light sensitive point LSP on the light sensitive media receives light only from the light modulators located in the row R 2 , which are on at the time they are over that point LSP. When the light modulation layout has moved over the specific point LSP, that point has altogether received energy corresponding to a time-based accumulation of the light intensity from each light modulator in the row R 2 that is turned on. Each point may, however, receive light from more than one row of light modulators LM if an overlapping movement pattern is used, or if the light modulating arrangement comprises more than one light modulating means.
[0109] In an alternative embodiment within the scope of the present invention, the light modulation arrangement 1 , and, thus, the light modulation layout LML, may move stepwise over the light sensitive media 5 , each step being preferably the width of the light modulation layout LML. Thereby, each light sensitive point LSP is only illuminated once and only by one light modulator LM. The energy accumulation does, thus, in this alternative embodiment not depend on the number of light modulators illuminating it by a scanning movement but rather of the time span the one light modulator is positioned (and turned on) over a specific light sensitive point.
[0110] It is noted that combinations of the scanning and step movement patterns and any other moving and illumination patterns are within the scope of the present invention.
[0111] Typically, the light sensitive medium 5 , e.g., a printing plate, is by means of, e.g., a DMD-based light modulation arrangement 1 exposed to a desired image by looping through an algorithm comprising the steps of: (1) on the basis of digitally stored information about the full or partial image to expose, establishing a bitmap comprising settings for each of the light modulators LM for the current relative position between the light modulating arrangement 1 and the light sensitive medium 5 , (2) loading the established bitmap into the DMD-chip internal memory, (3) instructing the DMD-chip to engage the light modulators LM according to the loaded data, (4) after a certain time determined on the basis of, e.g., the scanning speed, peak timing, etc., instructing the DMD-chip to disengage the light modulators LM.
[0112] It is noted that the above example algorithm is merely provided in order to ease the following description, and that any algorithm is within the scope of the present invention. It is, furthermore, noted that the above algorithm is designed for use with DMD-based light modulating arrangements and, thus, may not work with other light modulating means without modifications. Such modifications may, however, typically be retrieved or determined fairly easily from the manuals corresponding to the specific light modulation means.
[0113] Also, in order to clarify the following description of the invention, the above-mentioned desired image is in all following examples chosen to be an image that will in itself cause all light modulators to be turned on, i.e., an all-white or all-black image depending on the media type, either negative or positive. By choosing such an image for the examples, the characteristics of the light modulation arrangement, the DMD, the specific embodiments, etc., stand out more clearly than when blurred by an example image. Thus, the following illustrations, values, etc., may only be true for this specific test image whereas the principles are true for any applied image.
[0114] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate problems that may follow using a lamp that requires AC power with peaking as described above. FIG. 3A comprises timing diagrams of the voltage V LS and current I LS that in one embodiment of the invention is applied to the light source LS. In the shown example, the lamp driver establishes an alternating current with peaking. The lamp driver outputs an alternating current I LS that, in addition to a positive and negative current floor CF value, comprises current peaks CP prior to each direction shift. The voltage V LS over the lamp alternates in the shown example between a positive and a negative voltage floor VF value, and comprises voltage peaks VP in correspondence to the current peaks. Both the voltage and the current waveforms are preferably square waves to ensure only very short periods of voltages in the region of the ground potential, usually 0V. Because of the current peaks CP, the electrical power consumed by the light source will not be constant as the power may be evaluated as the product of the RMS current and the RMS voltage.
[0115] Examples of actual values in the case of a short arc lamp driven by AC with peaking, may comprise a voltage floor VF of, e.g., 77-140 volts, a current floor CF of, e.g., 1.7-3.3 amperes, current peaks CP of, e.g., 150-200% of the current floor CF value, a V SAL period time of e.g., 3-10 ms, and current peaks CP having a duration of, e.g., 200-600 μs. It is noted that the present invention is in no way restricted to the values, waveforms, etc., mentioned above. An often-used alternative timing scheme for short arc lamps is a direct current scheme with saw-tooth shaped current.
[0116] It is well known within the art that applying current peaks to a short arc lamp significantly improves its usability within precision applications as the position of the arc becomes less fluctuating and, thereby, also the point of light emission.
[0117] FIG. 3A further illustrates the resulting luminous intensity LI LB of the light beam established by the light source LS. As the luminous intensity is derived from the consumed electrical power, it comprises an intensity floor IF being proportional with the multiple of the voltage floor VF and the current floor CF and intensity peaks IP inherited from the current peaks CP having a value proportional with the multiple of the voltage floor VF and the current peak CP. The intensity peaks IP are, thus, a trade off for improved precision but are, nevertheless, unacceptable in many applications where a substantially constant luminous intensity is necessary.
[0118] The diagram of LI LB clearly illustrates one problem that the present invention may address. As the luminous intensity of the light beam LB comprises intensity peaks IP, any area exposed to the light beam LB will experience inconstant illumination. While this may be acceptable for some applications, e.g., projectors where the light beam is used to illuminate the same area continuously, it is not acceptable for applications within several areas as, e.g., photolithography and other techniques where the region to be exposed is only illuminated little by little. This is because the human eye is better to judge the relative intensities of, e.g., two dots established individually and presented side by side than intensity changes of one dot. Additionally, the periodicity of the intensity peaks may, in unfortunate incidents, cause stripes or other visible periodical patterns to occur.
[0119] Whereas FIG. 3A illustrates a continuous problem that may follow from using peaked AC lamps, FIG. 3B illustrates a further problem that is derived from the above, but only becomes significant over a considerable time. The timing diagram of FIG. 3B corresponds in many ways to the timing diagram of FIG. 3A , yet the time axes, however, have been extended far beyond those of FIG. 3A . The far longer time period is indicated by the breaks on each time axis. Each break corresponds to several hours, e.g., 200 hours.
[0120] The first diagram illustrates the voltage V LS over the light source LS. It is a square waveform as in FIG. 3A but the voltage floor VF increases with time of use. This is caused by the electrode gap of the short arc lamp slowly growing wider during use because of displacement of electrode material. A wider gap necessitates a higher voltage in order for the electrons to jump the gap and, thus, establishes the light-emitting arc.
[0121] As the power consumed by the light source should be substantially fixed in order for the luminous intensity of the light beam to be constant, the increase in electrical resistance represented by the electrode gap causes an increase in voltage and a decrease in current, as the power is determined by the multiple of the voltage and the current. The second diagram of FIG. 3B shows three snapshots of the light source current I LS at different times during use. It is seen that the current floor CF decreases as the voltage floor increases. The current peaks CP are, however, maintained at a constant value as the lamp driver LD rather than the power dissipation of the light source LS determines that specific value.
[0122] The third diagram of FIG. 3B illustrates the luminous intensity of the light beam LI LB established by the light source on the basis of the voltage and current schemes of FIG. 3B . As the luminous intensity is proportional with the electrical power, the intensity is maintained at a constant level indicated by the intensity floor IF, whereas the intensity of the intensity peaks IP increases due to its correspondence with the multiplication of an increasing voltage with a constant current.
[0123] FIG. 4 illustrates how the intensity peaks IP comprised by the light beam may influence the energy accumulated in each light sensitive point LSP of the media 5 . It comprises, at the top, a copy of the last diagram of FIG. 3B , i.e., a timing diagram of the intensity of the light beam established by the light source. Underneath that, i.e., sharing the time axis with the light intensity diagram, is a diagram of the energy E accumulated in three subsequent light sensitive points LSP 1 , LSP 2 , LSP 3 . The diagram, thus, illustrates the result of moving the light modulating arrangement 1 over the three light sensitive points LSP 1 , LSP 2 , LSP 3 . Underneath the time axis, the time spans are indicated in which each point is exposed, i.e., the time it takes the light modulation layout LML to pass over the points. As the curves show the accumulated energy, the slope of the curves are steeper during intensity peaks of the light beam. As seen from the diagram, three intensity peaks occur during the exposure of the first light sensitive point LSP 1 , only two peaks occur during the exposure of the next light sensitive point LSP 2 , and about two and a half peaks occur during the exposure of the third light sensitive point LSP 3 . Thereby, the energy accumulated in the first point LSP 1 is higher than the energy accumulated in the third point LSP 3 , which again is higher than the energy accumulated in the second point LSP 2 .
[0124] For several applications, e.g., photolithography, the energy differences, however small they may be, may easily cause unacceptable results, e.g., periodic stripes on a printing plate, etc. The problem is closely connected to the relation between the frequency of the intensity peaks and the scanning speed of the light modulation layout. If, e.g., several hundreds of peaks occur within the exposure of each light sensitive point LSP, one or two more or less may not cause unacceptable energy differences. But typically the desirable peak frequency and the desirable scanning speed is related in such a way that the problem is significant and unacceptable.
[0125] In an embodiment of the present invention, synchronizing the scanning speed with the peak frequency solves the problem. This solution is shown in FIG. 5 . The scanning speed is adjusted in such a way that the exposure time for one light sensitive pixel corresponds to exactly an integer number of peaks, e.g., three peaks as in the example of FIG. 5 . Thereby, the accumulated energy in each light sensitive point LSP 1 , LSP 2 and LSP 3 is the same as shown in FIG. 5 .
[0126] The synchronization between the scanning speed and the peaks may be established by measuring or otherwise determining the exact peak frequency and adjusting the scanning speed according to that, or oppositely by measuring or otherwise determining the scanning speed and adjusting the peak frequency according to that. In another embodiment of the invention, the peak frequency and scanning speed are both variables and may be adjusted during exposure as long as the synchronization between them are maintained. Alternatively, or in combination with the above, the synchronization may be established by adjusting the number of columns of the light modulation layout, i.e., its width. As light modulating means, e.g., DMD-chips, are typically only manufactured in a few different dimensions, adjusting the width of the light modulation layout may in practice be done by choosing a modulation means, e.g., a DMD-chip, which is too wide and then just use a part of its width.
[0127] More advanced light modulating arrangements or other means for illuminating more than one point at a time comprise means for compensating intensity variations in the cross section of the light beam or anything else that may distort the intensity uniformity over the light modulation layout. Actually, due to limitations in the optical design, the light modulating means, etc., the light intensity distribution over the light modulation layout is typically not uniform and the distortion is typically not linear or symmetrical either. Usually the light intensity is highest in or somewhere near the middle of the light modulation layout and it is lowest and most distorted in the corners. In order to compensate for that non-uniformity, filters or masks are introduced.
[0128] A brief description of one method to determine the actual intensity distribution is given with reference to FIG. 6 . It comprises an example light modulation layout LML that is moved by a scanning movement over a measuring line 61 . The measuring line may, e.g., comprise a column of intensity or energy meters, one for each row of the light modulation layout. The results from the measuring line 61 may be used to establish a diagram as shown on the right in FIG. 6 . It comprises the accumulated energy E for each row. Thereby, it is possible to determine the least intense row and use its accumulated energy potential as a common denominator for all rows indicated by the dashed line 62 . If no row submits more energy to an individual light sensitive point than the determined common denominator 62 , or an even lower level for safety or other reasons, a uniform intensity distribution may be achieved.
[0129] In order to force all rows to only submit the energy corresponding to the least intense row, or even less, masks are established. FIGS. 7A to 7 C illustrate a few of several possible modulation masks MM for use with a light modulating arrangement for counteracting the non-uniform intensity distribution. The arrows indicate the intended traveling direction, i.e., the direction along the rows of the light modulation layout. A mask indicates a number of light modulators, e.g., micro-mirrors, which should be turned off in order to not exceed the determined common denominator 62 , or a lower safe level. In FIGS. 7A to 7 C, the black areas denote light modulators that should not be used. Clearly the masks in these figures are intended to compensate for a distribution pattern where the intensity is highest in the center and decreases towards the edges, also illustrated in FIG. 6 , by allowing more light modulators to be applied in the top and bottom rows than in the middle rows. The FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate fairly simple masks that do not take into account the possible distortion along the rows of the light modulation layout, whereas FIG. 7C illustrates a more advanced mask pattern where the blocked light modulators are distributed heterogeneously or pseudo-randomly or randomly along the rows. This last embodiment also compensates for the distortion along the rows as each row will use light modulators from the edge-areas as well as the center area for illuminating each light sensitive point.
[0130] Regarding the algorithm described above, the use of masks causes an additional step to be inserted, such that typically the light sensitive medium 5 , e.g., a printing plate, is by means of, e.g., a DMD-based light modulation arrangement 1 , exposed to a desired image by looping through an algorithm comprising the steps of: (1A) on the basis of digitally stored information about the full or partial image to expose, establishing a bitmap comprising settings for each of the light modulators LM for the current relative position between the light modulating arrangement 1 and the light sensitive medium 5 , (1B) establishing a composite bitmap by combining the established bitmap with a modulation mask MM by means of a bitwise AND-operations, (2) loading the established composite bitmap into the DMD-chip internal memory, (3) instructing the DMD-chip to engage the light modulators LM according to the loaded data, (4) after a certain time determined on the basis of, e.g., the scanning speed, peak timing, etc., instructing the DMD-chip to disengage the light modulators LM.
[0131] It is yet again noted that the above example algorithm is merely provided in order to ease the description, and that any algorithm is within the scope of the present invention. It is, furthermore, noted that the above algorithm is designed for use with DMD-based light modulating arrangements and, thus, may not work with other light modulating means without modifications. Such modifications may, however, typically be retrieved or determined fairly easily from the manuals corresponding to the specific light modulation means.
[0132] A more thorough description of the use of masks, how to determine the intensity distribution, parameters to take into account when designing the masks, as well as several different embodiments attacking the issue, are disclosed in the PCT patent application published as WO 2004/021269, hereby incorporated by reference.
[0133] Turning back to the problem of intensity variations due to light beam intensity peaks, the embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 5 may not work when masks as described above are used for compensating for non-uniform intensity distribution over the light modulation layout. This is because this embodiment implies the use of all light modulators, e.g., micro-mirrors, in each row, or at least the same number of modulators in each row. When a different number of light modulators, or differently positioned light modulators, are used in each row, it is likely that for some rows the unused light modulators pass over a certain light sensitive point at the time of a peak, whereas the unused modulators in other rows pass over a corresponding light sensitive point at the time of an intensity floor.
[0134] The problem is illustrated in FIGS. 8A to 8 C. In FIG. 8A is shown an example of a modulation mask MM due to clarity again only comprising a fraction of the rows and columns typically comprised. As regards FIGS. 7A-7C , the black pixels are blocked, i.e., forcing the corresponding light modulators LM to stay turned off. FIG. 8B illustrates the movement of the light modulation layout over the light sensitive medium 5 , e.g., a printing plate. It comprises a fraction of a light sensitive medium 5 showing four light sensitive points LSP 1 , LSP 2 , LSP 3 and LSP 4 positioned adjacent to each other in the same row on the plate. In the right side of FIG. 8B is shown an intensity peak timing diagram, having a vertical time axis and a horizontal intensity axis. The vertical time axis comprises marks showing the illumination time for each light sensitive point and the pauses between the light modulator engagements.
[0135] Furthermore, FIG. 8B illustrates the traveling of one modulation mask row MMR over the four light sensitive points by illustrating the position of the modulation mask row at different times corresponding to the vertical time axis. The modulation mask row MMR is in this example the fourth row of the modulation mask MM of FIG. 8A . At times where an intensity peak occurs, a “p” is written on the modulation mask row in order to ease reading of the diagram.
[0136] In the present illustration, the scanning speed is synchronized with the peak frequency as in the embodiment of FIG. 5 . As the mask row moves over the light sensitive points, these are illuminated by standard intensity, illuminated by peak intensity, or blocked. The actual illumination may, thus, be determined from combining the mask, the scanning speed and the peak timing. Each of the columns 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 below the light sensitive points, thus, comprises the individual exposures of each point at different times. It may, e.g., be seen that the first light sensitive point LSP 1 has been exposed to standard intensity three times, to peak intensity three times, and to no light three times. Analogously, the second light sensitive point has been exposed to standard intensity four times, to peak intensity twice because of the coincidence between a peak and a blocking, and to no light three times. The third light sensitive point has been exposed to standard intensity five times, to peak intensity only once because of the coincidences between the peaks and blockings, and to no light three times.
[0137] FIG. 8C comprises a diagram showing the energy accumulation taking place. It again comprises an intensity peak timing diagram corresponding to a horizontal time axis. Below the time axis, the columns 81 , 82 , 83 and 84 of FIG. 8B are shown but they have been rotated 90 degrees corresponding to the time axis. It is, thus, possible to see from FIG. 8C what is experienced by each light sensitive point LSP 1 , LSP 2 , LSP 3 and LSP 4 and at which times. Below that, an energy diagram shows the accumulation of energy for each light sensitive point as determined from the experience columns 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 . Clearly, the different points attain different energy levels because of the different number of peaks experienced by each point, even though the scanning speed is actually synchronized with the peak timing in the present example.
[0138] In order to overcome the problem of the modulation mask coinciding with the intensity peaks for some light sensitive points, the mask is in a preferred embodiment of the invention adapted so that it is locked to the peak timing rather than to the scanning movement, thereby ensuring that if one light sensitive point receives an intensity peak due to the mask, all light sensitive points will receive that peak, and if a peak is blocked regarding one light sensitive point due to the mask, no light sensitive points receive that peak. FIGS. 9A to 9 C are provided to illustrate this.
[0139] Instead of moving the mask with the light modulation layout LML, the mask is now fixed to the time, i.e., to the peak timing, and, thus, actually also to the light sensitive media when taking the scanning speed into account. In order to ensure that an intensity peak is either absorbed by all or none of the light sensitive points within a row, it is necessary to treat all light modulators within that row equally at the peak times, i.e., either turned on or off. As turning all light modulators off all the time obviously causes no exposure to happen, and turning all light modulators on all the time obviously causes the use of masks against non-uniform distribution impossible, a runtime adaptation of the mask is a possibility. This may comprise either establishing a bank of different masks to use at different times or establishing an algorithm from which it is possible to always establish a mask that corresponds to the current time.
[0140] Several possible mask adaptation patterns may be used in order to obtain the row-wise common acceptance or rejection of peaks. FIG. 9A illustrates one such possible scheme. As the primary objective of using a modulation mask as, e.g., the example shown in FIG. 8A , is to ensure uniform energy accumulation for all rows, a mask row comprising, e.g., three blocked light modulators out of nine may as well be implemented by blocking all of that row's light modulators during three out of nine illumination periods and turning all light modulators on for the remaining six periods. FIG. 9A comprises nine modulation masks MM 1 , MM 2 . . . MM 9 . The modulation masks have been inspired by the modulation mask of FIG. 8A in such a way that applying the mask of FIG. 8A repeatedly for nine illumination periods equals applying each of the modulation masks MM 1 to MM 9 once. All columns of the first modulation mask MM 1 of FIG. 9A are, thus, equal to the right-most column of the mask of FIG. 8A , all columns of the modulation mask MM 2 are equal to the second right-most column of the mask of FIG. 8A and so on. Thereby, it is ensured that the uniform intensity distribution facilitated by the mask of FIG. 8A is maintained while the intensity peaks are also handled.
[0141] FIG. 9B corresponds to FIG. 8B except for the contents of the modulation mask row that is moved over the light sensitive points. As the modulation mask in the present embodiment of the invention actually comprises a bank of modulation masks MM 1 . . . MM 9 , the modulation mask row in FIG. 9B is changed for each illumination period as indicated by the references MM 1 . . . MM 9 . The columns 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 again contain the intensities experienced by each of the light sensitive points LSP 1 , LSP 2 , LSP 3 , LSP 4 . By the modulation mask adaptation technique of the present embodiment, it is ensured that all light sensitive points experience the same amount of light at each illumination period. Thereby, it is also ensured that, in the present example, all points receive three standard intensity exposures, three peak intensity exposures, and three exposures without light.
[0142] FIG. 9C comprises a diagram corresponding to that of FIG. 8C showing the energy accumulation taking place. Contrary to the example of FIG. 8C , the light sensitive points in this example, however, absorb exactly the same amount of energy. From this diagram, it is also evident that the blocked light modulators, i.e., the modulation mask has been synchronized with and locked to the time and the intensity peaks instead of the light modulation layout.
[0143] Regarding the algorithm described above, the use of masks for compensating intensity peaks as described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention causes an additional step to be inserted such that typically the light sensitive medium 5 , e.g., a printing plate, by means of, e.g., a DMD-based light modulation arrangement 1 , is exposed to a desired image by looping through an algorithm comprising the steps of: (1A) on the basis of digitally stored information about the full or partial image to expose, establishing a bitmap comprising settings for each of the light modulators LM for the current relative position between the light modulating arrangement 1 and the light sensitive medium 5 , (1Aa) establishing, by loading and/or processing, a modulation mask MM, (1B) establishing a composite bitmap by combining the established bitmap with a modulation mask MM by means of a bitwise AND-operations, (2) loading the established composite bitmap into the DMD-chip internal memory, (3) instructing the DMD-chip to engage the light modulators LM according to the loaded data, (4) after a certain time determined on the basis of, e.g., the scanning speed, peak timing, etc., instructing the DMD-chip to disengage the light modulators LM.
[0144] It is noted that the bank of masks illustrated in FIG. 8A is merely an example and that any scheme or method of determining, establishing or adapting the modulation masks, whether at runtime or preceding the exposure, are within the scope of the present invention. It is, furthermore, noted that the timing of mask adaptation does not necessarily need to correspond to the illumination periods, scanning speed, etc., but may be determined on the basis of any parameters.
[0145] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the modulation mask or bank of masks is optimized to never turn off light modulators at peak times. This is to actually exploit the extra energy comprised by the intensity peaks and, thus, benefit from the otherwise annoying and problematic peaking power supply. It is, however, noted that also modulation masks blocking some or all of the peaks are within the present invention.
[0146] A further embodiment of the present invention comprises a light modulating arrangement comprising a spatial light modulator and the use of modulation masks for avoiding non-uniform intensity distribution over the light modulation layout. In order to enable the use of peaked light sources, the modulation masks are, during scanning, shifted in a direction along or opposite the scanning direction, by an amount of one or more light modulator widths. Thereby, the modulation mask may be synchronized with and locked to the intensity peaks.
[0147] Due to clarity, the intensity peaks have, in the above examples, been of a width approximately corresponding to the width of one illumination period, i.e., the time it takes for the light modulation layout to move from the edge of one light sensitive point to the edge of the next point. The peaks are, however, typically not related to the other parameters at all and any correspondence between the frequency and width of the intensity peaks and the illumination periods, the scanning speed, etc., is within the scope of the present invention.
[0148] The further problem by using light sources with peaking power supplies described above with reference to FIG. 3B , i.e., the problem of the difference between the intensity floor level and the intensity peak level changing over a considerable time, e.g., significantly over 200 hours, is also addressed by the above-described embodiments of the present invention as such changes are insignificant as long as the peaks are either fully exploited for all light sensitive points or fully silenced for all light sensitive points, e.g., by blocking light modulators at peak times.
[0149] An alternative embodiment of the present invention is primarily directed against light modulating arrangements exercising a stepping movement pattern instead of a scanning movement pattern. When such a movement pattern is used, each light sensitive point LSP is illuminated for a certain time by one light modulator LM which is positioned steadily over the light sensitive point. The illumination may be repeated by the same or a different light modulator LM, and for the same of a different amount of time. The energy accumulation does, thus, in this alternative embodiment, not primarily depend on the number of light modulators illuminating it during a scanning movement but rather of the time span the one light modulator is positioned (and turned on) over a specific light sensitive point. Thereby, the use of constant modulation masks is impossible as a blocked light modulator would cause no light at all to reach the corresponding light sensitive point.
[0150] In order to overcome this, an embodiment of the present invention comprises changing the modulation mask during exposure. The changes may be applied at a certain frequency or at any possible time, and may comprise periodic, pseudo random or random enabling and disabling of light modulators. The change timing and matter should preferably be synchronized with the intensity peak timing. A certain embodiment of this may also be described as a pile of modulation masks, whereof at certain times or according to a certain frequency, the uppermost mask is applied, and the formerly applied mask is put in the bottom of the pile. Preferably the application of the first mask should be synchronized with the peak timing.
[0151] A variant of this embodiment comprises applying modulation masks to the illumination time spans. By monitoring and/or controlling the intensity peak timing and amount, it is possible to adjust the illumination times, i.e., apply a modulation mask to the times, when intensity peaks occur.
[0152] It is noted that the present invention has several further uses than described above. It may, furthermore, with advantage be used, e.g., for exposing printed circuit boards in connection with the manufacture of such boards, rapid prototyping and rapid manufacture, i.e., manufacture of three-dimensional models by a process well-known as rapid prototyping or rapid manufacture, exposing offset plates and films, in serigraphy applications, in photo finishing processes, in biomedical applications, e.g., for research regarding DNA profiles, in projection applications and signs, in digital cinema applications, etc., and in any other application or process comprising light sources and where the possible uniformity of accumulated energy in different points at a light sensitive media may have a certain importance. | The invention relates to a method for enabling transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy from at least one light source (LS) comprising intensity variations in time to at least two light sensitive points (LSP), said transmission being controlled by means of at least one illumination arrangement ( 1 ), and said method comprising establishment of a correlation between said intensity variations and at least one feature of said illumination arrangement. The invention furthermore relates to an illumination arrangement ( 1 ) for controlling transmission of energy to at least two light sensitive points (LSP), wherein said controlling transmission enables transmission of substantially equal amounts of energy to each of said at least two light sensitive points (LSP). | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to valve actuators, and is more particularly concerned with fail-safe valve actuators in which a torsion spring is wound during operation of the valve in a first direction to store energy for returning the valve in the opposite direction upon disconnection of power from the actuator, such disconnection being either intentional or by way of power failure or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,895, issued May 7, 1974, I disclose an electric fail-safe valve actuator of the type generally mentioned above. The actuator comprises an electric motor which is coupled to an output shaft by way of a gear train and an intermediate shaft. The intermediate shaft and the output shaft are axially aligned and have adjacent ends embraced by a torsion spring which enages or releases the two shafts, with respect to mutual rotation, through the energization and deenergization of a solenoid which encircles the output shaft and which has an annular cup-shaped operating member which moves axially along the shaft to engage and disengage the torsion spring. A second torsion spring has one end connected to the housing of the actuator and the other end connected to the output shaft so as to be wound to store energy during driving of the output shaft in a first direction. A brake mechanism connected to the motor holds the valve in its operated condition until such time as power is deliberately or accidentally removed from the circuit, whereupon the torsion spring clutch mechanism disengages the intermediate and output shafts and the second torsion spring, acting as a motor, releases its energy to drive the valve in the opposite direction. A pin connected to the output shaft and traveling in an arcuate slot in a fixed plate strikes a bumper at the end of the slot as a stop and limit defining structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Although my electric fail-safe valve actuator disclosed in the aforementioned patent operates satisfactorily for its intended purpose, I have found that an improved clutch mechanism of a much simpler design and operating on the same general principle is much easier to manufacture and install. I have also determined that a smoother operation of the valve may be obtained through the utilization of a fluid damping mechanism which, at the same time, provides a softer impact at positively defined stops.
Therefore, the primary object of the invention is to provide an improved fail-safe valve actuator of simpler construction and more ease of fabrication.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fail-safe valve actuator in which there is less danger of breakage of the components thereof due to impact and wear then in my previous design.
According to the invention, an intermediate shaft driven by an electric drive motor is axially aligned with the output shaft of the valve actuator. A torsion spring embraces adjacent ends of the intermediate and output shafts and has a normal diameter that is less than the diameter of the adjacent portions of the intermediate and output shafts. One end of the spring is connected to a gear which abuts, but is somewhat free to rotate about the output shaft so that upon the driving of the output shaft in a first direction the spring couples the shafts for mutual rotation. A large torsion spring is connected at one end to the housing of the actuator and at the other end to the output shaft so as to store energy during the driving operation. Upon disconnection of power, whereupon the last-mentioned spring releases its energy to drive the output shaft and the valve in the opposite direction, a solenoid operates a level arm to engage a dog on the arm with the gear of the clutch mechanism. Upon relative rotation of the output shaft with respect to the intermediate shaft, the clutch spring, held by the dog and gear arrangement, releases the coupling between the two shafts so that the output shaft and valve are driven by the large torsion spring without being loaded by the drive motor and its gear train.
The housing includes a fluid cylinder capped at each end and positioned adjacent the output shaft. The output shaft carries a pinion which engages a rack formed on a piston which is slidably mounted in the cylinder. The piston includes an axial passageway for metering a flow of fluid therethrough to smooth out and damp the operation of the actuator. The passageway may include a threaded portion having a plug therein with a metering orifice, so that a plurality of such plugs with different size orifices may be interchangeably utilized to control the amount of damping. The cylinder has end caps sealed thereto which form positive stops for the ends of the cylinders as the actuator operates in one direction or the other. The end caps may be threaded for adjusting the stops in accordance with particular applications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention, its organization, construction and operation will be best understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, on which:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an actuator connected to a valve, the view being sectional and taken generally along the lines I--I of FIG. 2;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view with the cover removed of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the clutch mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the lines IV--IV of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a portion of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 taken generally along the lines V--V; and
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating threaded end caps as adjustable stops.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The overall construction of the valve actuator illustrated and discussed herein is substantially the same as that in my aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,895 and details herein which correspond to details disclosed in that patent may not be discussed herein, or only in a general manner. Therefore, my aforementioned patent and the disclosure thereof is fully incorporated herein by this reference.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an actuator is generally illustrated at 10 connected to a valve 12, which may be any rotary operated valve such as a ball valve, the valve 12 being serially interposed in a conduit 14.
The actuator 10 comprises an upper housing portion or cover 16, a ring cover adapter 18, a top plate 20, a lower housing 22, and a cylinder housing 23.
The top plate 20 generally divides the actuator housing into two chambers 24 and 26. The chamber 24 generally houses the electrical components of the actuator and those mechanical components associated with the electrical drive motor, while the chamber 26 generally houses the output shaft and those components associated with coupling and uncoupling the electric drive motor and the output shaft, and those components associated with the spring motor of the actuator.
A gear case plate 28 is mounted in the upper chamber 24 for supporting the electrical components and acting as a bearing support structure for the gear train which extends between the electric drive motor and the output shaft. The gear case plate 28 may be secured to the top plate 20 by means of suitable fastening means such as the screws 30 which extend from the gear case plate 28 to the top plate 20, as indicated at 32 (FIG. 1).
One or more of the screws 30 may also secure a bracket 34 to the gear case plate 28 for carrying a terminal board 36 which serves as an electrical distribution element between an incoming electrical supply line (not shown) and the electrical components of the actuator, and also for outgoing signal lines.
The electric motor prime mover for the actuator comprises an electric motor 38 mounted on the gear case plate 28, which motor may be a capacitor-start motor which is connected, in a well known manner, to a capacitor 40 which is supported on the motor 38 by means of a bracket 42.
The valve 12 is held in the position driven by the motor 38 by means of its connection thereto back through the output shaft and the gear train by means of a brake mechanism 44 which is connected to the opposite end of the output shaft of the motor. The brake mechanism 44 is mounted to the motor by means of a bracket 46 and includes an electromagnetic solenoid 48 having an extensible member 49 which moves outwardly as viewed in FIG. 2 to pivot a lever 50 and in turn pivot a pivot plate 51 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 against the bias of a spring 52 when energized with the electric drive motor 38. Pivoting of the plate 51 releases a brake band 54 which embraces a brake drum 56 mounted on the end of the motor shaft.
The lower end (not shown) of the motor shaft is connected by way of a gear train 58 to an intermediate shaft 72 which is rotatably mounted at 74 and 76 in the gear case plate 28 and the top plate 20, respectively, and which is axially aligned with an output shaft 78 which is rotatably mounted in the intermediate shaft 72 by way of an end projection 120 in a bearing 122, and which is rotatably mounted at the lower end of the housing 22 in a bearing 80. The gear train 58 includes a shaft 60 which is rotatably mounted in a bearing 62 in the gear case plate 28 and in a bearing 64 in the top plate 20, and which carries a gear 66 which is directly connected to the gear on the motor output shaft, or indirectly connected thereto by way of other gears, and a gear 68 which engages a gear 70 carried by the intermediate shaft 72.
The output shaft 78 is also rotatably mounted at the bottom of the cylinder housing 23 in a bearing 82 and includes a portion 84 which is connected to a valve stem 86. Of course, the connection between the shaft portion 84 and the valve stem 86 may be a wide variety of constructions, depending on the particular valve.
With a clutch 114, which will be discussed below, conditioned to effect engagement between the intermediate shaft 72 and the output shaft 78, and with the drive motor energized to effect rotation of the output shaft 78, the valve will be driven by the motor toward a first position, for example a closed position. At the desired position, means must be provided to deenergize the electric motor. These means include a switch 100 which is operated by a cam mechanism carried by the output shaft 78. The cam mechanism comprises a rod 90 which extends freely through an axial bore 92 in the intermediate shaft 72 and which has its lower end fixed in an axial bore 88 in the output shaft 78. Therefore, as the output shaft 78 rotates, the rod 90 rotates the same amount. The rod 90 carries a cam 96 which operates the switch 100, as indicated in FIG. 2, when the drive motor has driven the output shaft 78 to a position just short of that of the desired position, the difference depending on the inertia of the system. A second cam 94 is carried by the rod 90 and is provided to operate a second switch 98 for signaling purposes or the like, for example to light a supervisory lamp.
Deenergization of the electric drive motor 38 is accompanied, as discussed above, by deenergization of the electromagnetic solenoid 48 of the brake mechanism 44 so that the valve is held in the desired position by the brake band 54 and the brake drum 56.
As the valve is being driven toward the desired position, energy is stored in a spring 102 for subsequent release to drive the valve in the opposite direction, for example to its closed condition, assuming decoupling of the clutch 114 so that all of the spring energy is directed to drive the valve, rather than to driving the electric motor 38 in the reverse direction through the intermediate shaft 72 and the gear train 58. The spring 102 includes an upper end 112 which is secured to the housing 22 (not shown) so that the same is fixed with respect to the output shaft 78. The spring 102 includes a lower end 104 which is positioned in a slot 106 in an enlarged portion 108 of the output shaft 78 so that the lower end of the spring rotates with the output shaft 78.
In order to engage and disengage the intermediate shaft 72 and the output shaft 78 a clutch 114 is provided as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The intermediate shaft 72 includes a lower end 116 which has the same diameter as an upper end 118 of the output shaft 78. The upper end of the shaft portion 116 has a flange which defines a shoulder 124 and a flat torsion spring 126 includes an upper end which bears against the shoulder 124. The torsion spring 126 embraces the shaft portion 116 and the shaft portion 118 and has a lower end 128 which is received in a slot 130 of a gear 132 which is rotatable about the shaft portion 118 and which rests on a flange 143. The spring 126 has a normal inner diameter that is less than the diameters of the shaft portions 116 and 118 so as to tightly embrace these shaft portions and is wound in such a direction so as to tighten upon initiation of rotation of the intermediate shaft 72 and sensing of the resulting relative rotation of the shaft 72 with respect to the shaft 78. The shafts 72 and 78 are therefore coupled in driving engagement upon operation of the electric drive motor 38.
If the lower end of the spring becomes fixed and rotation occurs in the opposite direction, the spring expands its inner diameter to release this coupling. Fixing of the lower end is accomplished by an electromagnetic mechanism which fixes and releases the gear 132 with respect to rotation about the output shaft 78. The electromagnetic mechanism comprises an electromagnetic solenoid 134 having an extensible member 136 which includes a slot 142 therein for receiving an end of a level 140, the end being secured in the slot 142 by means of a cotter pin 138 or other suitable fastening means. As schematically illustrated in FIG. 4, the solenoid and the other supporting structure of the gear engaging mechanism is secured to the housing 122 and is not rotatable. The solenoid level 140 is pivotally mounted (not shown) and pivots a dog lever 144 having a dog 146 which is pivoted at 148 under the bias of a spring 150 connected to a spring bracket 152. With the extensible member 136 in its non-extended position, the dog 146 is rotated into engagement with the teeth of the gear 132 to prevent rotation of the gear. In the extended position of the member 136 (as indicated by broken lines in FIG. 4) the dog 146 is moved out of engagement with the teeth of the gear 132 so that the same is free to rotate with the shaft portion 118. Therefore, engagement between the dog 146 and the gear 132 effects disengagement of the clutch 114, while disengagement of the dog and gear effects engagement of the clutch 114. Inasmuch as engagement of the clutch 114 corresponds to the electric motor driving condition and to disengagement of the dog 146 and gear 132, the solenoid 134 is operated during the electric motor driving operation to extend the member 136.
In FIG. 3 a portion of the mounting bracket 141 for the clutch level 140 is illustrated. An adjacent screw 143 is provided to adjust the position of the lever 140 with respect to the bracket 141. In FIG. 4, the dog lever 144 includes a hole, which may also be in the form of an arcuate slot, to receive a pin 147 which drives the dog lever 144. The hole 145 and the bias spring 150 ensure that the dog is disengaged from the teeth of the gear 132 in the electric motor driving mode of operation.
Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 5, a mechanism is illustrated for providing positive limits of valve rotation, smooth actuator operation, and less impact than the stop apparatus provided in my aforementioned patent. As can be seen in the drawings, the output shaft portion 84 carries a pinion 154 which is keyed thereto at 156 and 158. The pinion 154 is meshed in driving engagement with a rack 160 which is formed on a piston 162. The piston 162 is slidably carried in a cylinder bore 164 formed in a wall 166 of the cylinder housing 23. A pair of end plugs 168 and 170, which may be threaded type plugs, are secured to the ends of the cylinder bore 164 and sealed thereto at 172 and 174.
The piston slides in fluid sealed engagement with the bore 164, the sealing being provided by means of seals 176 and 178.
The piston 162 includes an axial bore 180 therethrough for passing liquid as the piston is driven through the bore 164. The axial bore 180 may include a threaded portion for receiving a threaded plug 184 having a metering orifice therein. A plurality of such plugs, each having a different size orifice, may be utilized for controlling fluid flow and the rate of valve operation.
As the valve is operated from one position to the next, the cylinder slows the operation, particularly near the end of the operation in that the electric motor may be deenergized before reaching the desired valve position and coasts to a stop and the spring motor has almost fully expended its energy during reverse operation so that the piston may strike the end plugs 168 and 170 with less force than heretofore experienced. If the end plugs are threaded, an adjustment of these positive stops is provided. FIG. 6 illustrates a cylinder wall 167 having a threaded portion 175 for receiving the threads 173 of an end plug 171.
Although I have described my invention by reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof, many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. I therefore intend to include within the patent warranted hereon all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of my contribution to the art. | A valve actuator employs a torsion spring type clutch to engage and disengage a drive motor and an output shaft. The torsion spring normally engages and is connected to a gear which may be engaged by a dog to cause disengagement of the clutch. The output shaft carries a pinion which is engaged with a rack carried on a piston which is slidable in a closed fluid containing cylinder. The piston includes an axial passageway with a metering orifice therein which smoothes the operation of the actuator and provides positive stops for the output shaft with a minimization of impact between the piston and the ends of the cylinder. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a robot control system and, more particularly, relates to a robot control system having an inexpensive, high safety servo power connection/cutoff circuit utilizing software.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A servo amplifier of a robot control system is provided with an AC/DC converter. In such a servo amplifier, when the power is turned on, a large rush current would flow through a smoothing capacitor in the servo amplifier (hereinafter simply referred to as a “capacitor”), so the robot control system is provided with a precharging circuit.
[0005] At the time of startup of the servo amplifier, to enable a charging resistance in the precharging circuit (hereinafter simply referred to as the “resistance”) and a serial contact (relay or solenoid switch) to perform the precharging at the time of startup, then connect to the main power source, a main circuit contact is provided parallel to the serial line between the resistance and serial contact, the contact in series with the resistance is closed to start the precharging, the capacitor is charged, then the main circuit contact is closed.
[0006] On the other hand, when cutting the servo power at the time of an emergency stop, both the precharging contact and the main circuit contact are opened, but for safety's sake, it is necessary to detect faults such as melt fusion of the contacts.
[0007] In the related art, for example, in the emergency stop circuit described in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2004-237416 (see specification, paragraph nos. [0023] to [0037] and drawings, FIGS. 3 and 4) or Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2005-165755 (see claims, [Claim 1], specification, paragraph nos. to [0037], and drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2), the function of detecting melt fusion faults of contacts was realized by using hardware circuits, but the circuits were complicated and the costs high.
[0008] FIG. 1 is a general electrical system diagram of the robot 1 and the robot control system 2 . The controller 11 shown in FIG. 1 includes a CPU for controlling the robot operation and its peripheral circuits and enables the robot 1 to perform predetermined work by issuing commands to the servo amplifier 12 to control the robot 1 in operation and posture.
[0009] Further, the controller 11 has a teaching pendant 13 connected to it. The teaching pendant 13 is operated by a worker to teach the robot 1 an operation or to input various settings into the robot control system 2 .
[0010] The servo amplifier 12 drives a servo motor attached to each joint of the robot 1 based on a command from the controller 11 . Further, the servo amplifier 12 receives feedback information relating to the rotational angle and speed from a rotary encoder attached to each servo motor through a signal line 15 and transmits information necessary for control of these servo motors to the controller 11 .
[0011] The servo power connection/cutoff circuit 14 turns on the drive power for the servo motors of the robot 1 through the servo amplifier 12 and power line 16 in accordance with a request for startup of the robot 1 or immediately cuts the supply of drive power to the servo motors to ensure safety when there is a request for emergency stop.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the configuration of the servo amplifier 12 shown in FIG. 1 . The servo amplifier 12 has an AC/DC converter 21 for converting a drive power, that is, an AC power, to a DC power and an inverter 22 for converting a DC power to an AC power controlled in current by a command from the controller 11 . Further, to smooth the output voltage of the AC/DC converter 21 , a large capacity smoothing capacitor 23 is provided. The inverter 22 receives as input the DC voltage smoothed by the capacitor 23 .
[0013] When connecting the servo power to the servo amplifier 12 , if directly applying the power voltage in the state with the capacitor 23 insufficiently charged, a large rush current would flow into the capacitor 23 and the electrical circuits in the current path would be adversely affected or a temporary voltage drop would be caused, so before connecting the power source, the general practice has been to precharge the capacitor 23 through a resistance.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a view of details of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 14 shown in FIG. 1 , while FIG. 4 is a view showing the change in state of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 14 shown in FIG. 3 . The servo power connection/cutoff circuit 14 shown in FIG. 3 has the function of cutting the supply of drive power to the servo amplifier 12 (hereinafter referred to as the “servo power”) when the operator pushes the emergency stop switch 31 and the function of connecting the servo power when the operator releases the emergency stop switch 31 and pushes the reset switch 32 .
[0015] Further, when connecting the servo power, it has the function of precharging to prevent a large rush current from flowing to the servo amplifier 12 .
[0016] Below, details of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 14 will be explained. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , KA 1 , KA 2 , and KA 3 indicate relays, while KM 1 and KM 2 indicate electromagnetic contactors. The relays and electromagnetic contactors used are ones for which linkage between normally open contacts and normally closed contacts is ensured (interlocked).
[0017] For example, when the contact KM 1 - 1 of the KM 1 is closed, the normally open contacts KM 1 - 4 to KM 1 - 6 being in the open state is guaranteed.
[0018] First, these relays (KA 1 to KA 3 ) and electromagnetic contactors (KM 1 , KM 2 ) are all in the OFF state (state of S 0 of FIG. 4 ).
[0019] At this time, if the relays and electromagnetic contactors are free of faults such as melt fusion or reset defects of the normally open contacts and the normally open contacts open, the contacts KA 2 - 2 , KM 1 - 1 , KA 3 - 2 , and M 2 - 1 become closed.
[0020] If the operator pushes the reset switch 32 in this state, the KA 1 enters the ON state and the KA 1 - 1 and KA 1 - 2 close (state of S 1 of FIG. 4 ). At this time, if the emergency stop signal switch 31 is in the closed state, the KA 2 and KA 3 turn ON through these contacts (state of S 2 of FIG. 4 ). Note that if the emergency stop switch 32 is in the opened state, KA 2 and KA 3 will never turn ON.
[0021] If the KA 2 and KA 3 turn ON, the KA 2 - 2 and KA 3 - 2 are opened, so the KA 1 enters the OFF state, but current flows through the KA 2 - 1 and KA 3 - 1 , so while the emergency stop switch 31 is in the closed state, the ON states of KA 2 and KA 3 are held (state of S 3 of FIG. 4 ). Therefore, the operation of pushing the reset switch 32 may be short in time.
[0022] When the KA 2 becomes ON and the KA 1 becomes OFF, the KM 1 - 3 and the KM 2 - 3 become closed and the KM 1 is ON. At this time, the KM 1 - 4 to KM 1 - 6 and the KA 3 - 4 to KA 3 - 6 are in the closed state and the KA 3 is ON, so the capacitor 23 in the servo amplifier 12 is charged through the KA 3 - 4 to KA 3 - 6 and charging resistance 35 . The current at this time is limited by the charging resistance 35 , so a large rush current will not flow.
[0023] The power-up delay circuit 36 is set so as to turn ON the KM 2 through the KA 1 - 3 to KA 3 - 3 after the time for the capacitor 23 in the servo amplifier 12 to be sufficiently charged elapses from the time when the KA 3 turns ON. Due to this, the rush current is prevented from flowing when the KM 2 - 4 to KM 2 - 6 are ON.
[0024] In the above way, finally, only the KA 1 enters the OFF state while the other KA 2 , KA 3 , KM 1 , and KM 2 all become the ON state, whereby the preparations for operation end (state of S 4 of FIG. 4 ).
[0025] When the button of the emergency stop switch 31 is pushed, all of the relays (KA 1 to KA 3 ) and electromagnetic contactors (KM 1 , KM 2 ) turn OFF and the initial state (state of S 0 of FIG. 4 ) is returned to.
[0026] In the event that in the relays or electromagnetic contactors forming the servo power connection/delay circuit 14 , the normally open contacts melt fuse or other reasons occur in the initial state (S 0 ) and the normally open contacts can no longer be reset, the contacts corresponding to the faulty parts in the KA 2 - 2 , KM 1 - 1 , KA 3 - 2 , and M 2 - 1 will not become the closed state. Therefore, the change from S 0 to S 1 will not occur and the servo amplifier will not enter a state where it is supplied with power, that is, the state of S 3 and S 4 will not be reached. Therefore, the operator will notice the fault and servo power will not longer be supplied in the faulty state, so safety will be secured.
[0027] Due to the above power connection/cutoff circuit, safety against a fault in the power connection/cutoff circuit can be secured. Due to the precharging, the rush current to the servo amplifier can be suppressed. Due to the increased complexity of the circuit and the increase in the number of parts, an increase in cost cannot be avoided. Further, relays where linkage between the normally open and normally closed contacts is guaranteed are extremely expensive compared with general relays. This also is a factor to increase costs.
[0028] Before turning the servo power ON, it is possible to detect faults in the power connection/cutoff circuit, but once turning the power ON, there is the problem that a fault cannot be detected while ON.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0029] An object of the present invention is to provide a robot control system which detects faults of a power connection/cutoff circuit and which is inexpensive and high in safety.
[0030] To achieve the above object, there is provided a robot control system controlling a servo power connection/cutoff circuit by using a processor, having the processor issue connection/cutoff commands to a precharging relay and a main circuit connection electromagnetic contactor, and able to monitor the states of connection/cutoff from the processor, the robot control system having the processor detect if their contacts have opened/closed as instructed so as to detect if the servo power connection/cutoff circuit has a fault.
[0031] Specifically, there is provided a robot control system provided with a processor, a servo amplifier having an AC/DC converter, a resistance for preventing a rush current at the time of charging a smoothing capacitor in the AC/DC converter, a first contact connected in series to the resistance, a first switch circuit opening/closing the first contact by a command from the processor, a first detection circuit detecting an opened/closed state of the first contact and notifying it to the processor, a second contact provided in parallel to the resistance and first contact, a second switch circuit opening/closing the second contact by a command from the processor, and a second detection circuit detecting an opened/closed state of the second contact and notifying it to the processor, the robot control system operating so that when charging the capacitor, it closes the first contact to charge the capacitor, then closes the second contact, wherein the processor commands the first switch circuit and second switch circuit to open/close the first contact and second contact and wherein the first detection circuit and second detection circuit detect if the first contact and second contact open/close as instructed so as to check for abnormalities of the first contact and second contact.
[0032] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to provide a robot control system having an inexpensive, high safety servo power connection/cutoff circuit enabling deliberate opening/closing of the contact of the precharging relay and the contact of the main circuit electromagnetic contactor and a check of the operations of the precharging relay and the main circuit electromagnetic contactor even while the power of the servo amplifier is ON.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] These and other objects and features of the present invention will become clearer from the following description of the preferred embodiments given with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:
[0034] FIG. 1 is a general electrical system diagram of a robot and a robot control system;
[0035] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the configuration in a servo amplifier shown in FIG. 1 ;
[0036] FIG. 3 is a view showing details of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit shown in FIG. 1 ;
[0037] FIG. 4 is a view showing the changes in state of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit shown in FIG. 3 ;
[0038] FIG. 5 is a view of a first embodiment of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit according to present invention;
[0039] FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the sequence when turning on the servo power;
[0040] FIG. 7 is a time chart showing a first fault check method of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit after the servo power is turned on;
[0041] FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a second fault check method of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit after the servo power is turned on; and
[0042] FIG. 9 is a view showing a second embodiment of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0043] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below while referring to the attached drawings.
[0044] FIG. 5 is a view of a first embodiment of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5 , the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 50 is connected to a processor 51 and a servo amplifier 52 . An emergency stop switch, a reset switch, a contact KA 1 - 0 of a precharging relay KA 1 , and a contact KM 1 - 0 of a main circuit electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are connected to an input circuit 53 . The states of these switches and contacts can be read by the processor 51 . The capacitor in the servo amplifier 12 is charged through a contact KA 1 - 1 of the precharging relay KA 1 and charging resistance 55 .
[0045] Further, signal lines instructed from the processor 51 and output from an output circuit 54 are connected to a coil exciting the precharging relay KA 1 and a coil exciting the main contact electromagnetic contactor KM 1 and enable the processor 51 to control the opening/closing of the contacts of the precharging relay KA 1 and main contact electromagnetic contactor KM 1 .
[0046] First, the method of checking for a fault of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 50 at the time of turning on the servo power will be explained using FIG. 6 .
[0047] FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the sequence when turning on the servo power. First, when turning on the servo power, the precharging relay KA 1 and the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 all are OFF. At this time, if the normally open contact KA 1 - 1 of the relay KA 1 and the normally open contact KM 1 - 1 of the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are free from faults such as melt fusion or reset defects and the normally open contacts KA 1 - 1 and KM 1 - 1 open, the normally closed contact KA 1 - 0 of the relay KA 1 and the normally closed contact KM 1 - 0 of the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 become the closed state. The states of these normally closed contacts KA 1 - 0 and KM 1 - 0 can be read from the processor 51 through the precharging relay monitor input and main contact monitor input in the input circuit 53 , so the processor 51 can judge that the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are free from faults.
[0048] If the operator pushes the reset switch in this state, the processor 51 detects that the reset switch has been pushed through the input circuit 53 . At this time, only when the fact that the emergency stop signal switch is in the closed state and both the precharging relay monitor input and main contact monitor input are ON, that is, are in the closed contact states can be read through the input circuit 53 , the processor 51 issues an ON command to the precharging relay KA 1 (timing of t 1 ).
[0049] The processor 51 turns ON the precharging relay KA 1 , then after a certain time or after detecting that the capacitor in the servo amplifier 52 is sufficiently charged, issues an ON command to the main circuit electromagnetic contact KM 1 (timing of t 2 ).
[0050] After the timing of t 2 , the fact that the precharging relay monitor input and main contact monitor input are both in the OFF state is read by the processor 51 , wherein the fact that the input circuit 53 is free from a fault is confirmed.
[0051] Next, the method for checking for a fault in the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 50 after turning on the servo power will be explained using FIG. 7 .
[0052] FIG. 7 is a time chart showing a first fault check method of the servo power connection/cutoff circuit after turning on the servo power. After turning on the servo power, the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are both in the ON state. In this state, the processor 51 issues them OFF commands (timing of t 3 ). At this time, if the relay KA 1 and the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are free from faults such as melt fusion or reset defects of the normally open contacts KA 1 - 1 and KM 1 - 1 and the normally open contacts KA 1 - 1 and KM 1 - 1 open, the normally closed contacts KA 1 - 0 and KM 1 - 0 of the relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 become the closed states. The states of the normally closed contacts KA 1 - 0 and KM 1 - 0 can be read through the precharging relay monitor input and main contact monitor input from the processor 51 , so the processor 51 confirms that the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are free from faults.
[0053] After this, immediately, the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are issued ON commands, and the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 return to the ON states (timing of t 4 ). While the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are OFF, the servo amplifier 52 is not supplied with power, but this is an extremely short time of tens of milliseconds. During this time, by continuing the operation by the charged power of the capacitor in the servo amplifier 52 , the effect on the robot operation can be almost completely ignored.
[0054] This fault check can be performed by a command from the processor 51 , so can be performed while avoiding times of operations where the power consumption is large and suspension of the supply of power would be liable to have a detrimental effect. As examples, the fault check can be performed in a state braking the shafts of the robot and stopping the supply of torque to the servo motors, can be performed in a state while the robot is idle between one job and another etc.
[0055] FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a second fault check method of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit after turning on the servo power. In the examples above, the precharging relay KA 1 and the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 were simultaneously checked for faults, but it is also possible to separate the timings for fault checks of the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 and thereby enable fault checks without completely stopping the supply of power to the servo amplifier 52 . This example will be explained below with reference to FIG. 8 .
[0056] After turning on the servo power, the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are both in the ON state. In this state, the processor 51 issues an OFF command to the first precharging relay KA 1 (timing of timing of t 5 ). At this time, if the precharging relay KA 1 is free from any fault such as melt fusion or reset defects of the normally open contact KA 1 - 1 and the normally open contact KA 1 - 1 opens, the normally closed contact KA 1 - 0 of the precharging relay KA 1 becomes the closed state. The state of the normally closed contact KA 1 - 0 of the precharging relay KA 1 can be read from the processor 41 through the precharging relay monitor input, so the processor 51 confirms that the precharging relay KA 1 has no fault. The processor 51 then immediately issues an ON command to the precharging relay KA 1 , whereby the precharging relay KA 1 and electromagnetic contactor KM 1 return to the ON state (timing of t 6 ).
[0057] The processor 51 next issues an OFF command to the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 (timing of t 7 ). At this time, if the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 is free from a fault such as melt fusion or reset defects of the normally open contact KM 1 - 1 and the normally open contact KM 1 - 1 opens, the normally closed contact KM 1 - 0 of the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 becomes the closed state. The state of the normally closed contact KM 1 - 0 of the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 can be read by the processor 51 through the main contact monitor input, so the processor 51 confirms that the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 is free from any fault. After this, it immediately issues an ON command to the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 , whereby the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 returns to the ON state (timing of t 8 ).
[0058] In accordance with this timing, when the precharging relay KA 1 turns OFF, power is supplied to the servo amplifier 52 through the main circuit electromagnetic contactor KM 1 . Further, when the main circuit electromagnetic contact KM 1 is OFF, power is supplied to the servo amplifier 52 through the precharging relay KA 1 , so it is possible to suppress to a minimum the effects of the fault check on the robot operation. Here, first the precharging relay KA 1 is checked, then the electromagnetic contactor KM 1 is checked, but the reverse order also gives exactly the same effect.
[0059] Note that, to facilitate understanding, in the first embodiment, the case of a single electromagnetic contactor was explained, but like with the circuit explained with reference to the related art, the present invention can also be worked in a circuit with two electromagnetic contactors.
[0060] FIG. 9 is a view of a second embodiment of a servo power connection/cutoff circuit according to the present invention. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 5 in the point of provision of two electromagnetic contactors. In the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 90 of this second embodiment, in addition to the servo power connection/cutoff circuit 50 shown in FIG. 5 , the second electromagnetic contactor KM 2 is provided and control is performed from a second processor 91 A separated from the first processor 91 . The emergency stop switch used is a double contact one having a first contact and a second contact.
[0061] The first contact of the emergency stop switch, the reset switch, the contact KA 1 - 0 of the precharging relay KA 1 , and the contact KM 1 - 0 of the main circuit electromagnetic contactor KM 1 are connected to the input circuit 93 and enable the states of these switches and contacts to be read from the processor 91 . The capacitor in the servo amplifier 12 is charged through the contact KA 1 - 1 of the precharging relay KA 1 and charging resistance 95 .
[0062] Further, signal lines instructed from the processor 91 and output from the output circuit 94 are connected to the coil exciting the precharging relay KA 1 and the coil exciting the main contact electromagnetic contactor KM 1 and enable control of the opened/closed states of the contacts of the precharging relay KA 1 and main contact electromagnetic contactor KM 1 from the processor 91 .
[0063] The control by the second processor 91 A is performed so that a fault in any one processor among the first processor 91 and the second processor 91 A will not cause a loss of the emergency stop or other safety functions and is a general technique. In this case as well, these processors 91 and 91 A can perform the check based on the present invention.
[0064] The second contact of the emergency stop switch and the contact KM 2 - 0 of the main circuit electromagnetic contactor KM 2 are connected to the input circuit 93 A and enable the states of these switch and contact to be read from the processor 91 A.
[0065] Further, the signal line instructed from the processor 91 A and output from the output circuit 94 A is connected to the coil exciting the main contact electromagnetic contactor KM 2 and enables control of the open/closed state of the contact of the electromagnetic contactor KM 2 from the processor 94 A.
[0066] Further, to secure safety and minimize the effect of the fault check on the robot operation, it is also possible to check only the KA 1 and KM 1 by the fault check shown in FIG. 8 after turning on the servo power and not check the KM 2 by the fault check after turning on the servo power source.
[0067] While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments chosen for purpose of illustration, it should be apparent that numerous modifications could be made thereto, by those skilled in the art, without departing from the basic concept and scope of the invention. | A robot control system including a servo amplifier supplying power to a robot, a processor controlling the operation of the robot, and a servo power connection/cutoff circuit connected to the same, issuing excitation/nonexcitation commands to a charging relay and a main circuit connection electromagnetic contactor provided in the circuit from the processor, monitoring the opened/closed states of the contacts of the charging relay and main circuit connection electromagnetic contactor by the processor, and detecting if their contacts open and close as instructed by the processor to thereby check if the power connection/cutoff circuit has a fault. Due to this, it is possible to provide a robot control system which detects faults of the power connection/cutoff circuit and which is inexpensive and high in safety. | 7 |
This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 630,516, filed July 12, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,081.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
This invention relates to a hydraulic snubber and more particularly, to a hydraulic snubber especially advantageous in connecting the head assembly of a grapple to the boom mount such as are found on the rear frame of crawler or rubber-tired tractor skidders.
A grapple with which the invention can be used advantageously is seen in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,147 and a skidding grapple is seen in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,132.
Uneven ground and rapid changes in speed and direction of the skidder cause the empty grapple head assembly to swing violently when unrestrained. This swinging motion causes the grapple head to bang into the boom and rear frame of the skidder, resulting in damage to the boom, grapple and tractor.
The purpose of the snubber, which is the connecting link between the grapple head and boom, is to dampen the violent damage-causing motion out. At the same time, the snubber link, being a universal type joint, must allow controlled movement of up to 90° each side of plumb in the lateral and longitudinal direction relative to the tractor.
Current means of dampening this motion are subject to high maintenance and frequent adjustments in order to perform well with consistency and are rendered useless when contaminated with oil or grease. The inventive snubber described here requires no adjustment and infrequent maintenance. It is a sealed unit, has only two moving parts, and works on the known principle of force induced fluid displacement (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,503). Grease or other high viscosity synthetic lubricant is contained in two cylindrical chambers, divided into two inversely variable compartments.
Two diametrically opposed vanes cause the chamber division. One vane is integral with a rotatable housing, and the other with a rotor which is in turn keyed to a fixed pin (or the opposite may be the case). Chamber compartment volumes vary inversely as one vane is rotated relative to the other. This variation in volume causes the dampening medium to be forced from one compartment to the other across the vanes. The passage or area through which the dampening medium must cross is such that it restricts free flow and creates a pressure drop across the vanes so that free rotation is restricted. This effect is true with rotation in either direction.
According to the invention of my earlier application, a novel construction of snubber was provided which made possible universal joint action and further a vane extension configuration was provided that adjustably responded to pressure changes so as to achieve a desired snubbing or shock absorbing action.
During further tests the resilient vane tip/orifice pocket concept has proven to work quite well to dampen the swing of an empty grapple which is the purpose for which it was intended. In other words, the inertia of the empty grapple in motion is effectively controlled by the compensating action of the pressure induced variable orifice concept in the resilient vane.
These same tests also indicate that this system by itself has certain limitations when subjected to two extreme conditions: (1) the higher rotational inertia generated by a loaded grapple and (2) higher fluid viscosity caused by low ambient temperatures, and, of course, the two combined. The real problem caused by these extremes is pressure buildup in the chamber or chambers of the snubber as resistance to rotation is accomplished. Pressures in excess of 5,000 psi have been developed in laboratory and it is estimated that under actual working conditions in the field pressures of 8,000-10,000 psi may be possible.
1. Ambient temperature conditions: The combination of resilient vane material, orifice/pocket design and fluid viscosity based upon extensive tests, performed adequately in an ambient temperature range of between plus 30° to plus 90° F.
As the temperature falls below 30° F., the viscosity of the fluid increases and the flow is further inhibited through the vane tip orifices. This causes increased resistance to rotation beyond what is required and pressure rises in the snubber chamber to the point where sealing becomes a problem.
Resilient vane material and/or inherent fluid viscosity can be altered but still will only accomodate a relatively narrow temperature range. In many actual working conditions this would involve the necessity of changing one of these elements at least two or three times a year. In some cases such as Eastern Oregon and Washington where temperatures vary from -30° in the morning to +90° in the afternoon, this would have to be done twice a day. This, of course, is not acceptable and the snubber must be able to handle as broad a range of temperatures as possible with minimal adjustment to the components in the snubber.
2. High rotational inertia generated by a loaded grapple: This rotational inertia is directly related to the load in the grapple and the angular position of the center of gravity of the loaded grapple when it is off the suspended vertical. An empty grapple, inhibited by the snubber, will generally swing only a few degrees depending upon how tightly it is snubbed and the external forces acting upon it.
This, however, is not the case with a loaded grapple which does not really need a snubber to keep it from banging into the boom and tractor. As a loaded grapple is forced to rapidly change position behind the tractor due to rough terrain, stumps, trees, log decks, etc., the relative positions of the vanes in the snubber are forced to change at the same rate. Frequently, for example, the change can be 90° or more and can be made in one second or less.
In these extreme conditions, a large volume of snubbing fluid is forced through the orifices across the vanes in a very short period of time. This can build up very high pressures in the snubber chambers which is another source of seal problems.
Here again, the unit must be capable of accomodating these extreme conditions in a trouble-free manner and, in this case, there are no seasonal or daily adjustments that can be made to alleviate the problem.
It can be seen that a combination of these conditions would be even more aggravating to the seal problem. This complicated problem has been solved through the use of a valved bypass around the stationary vane.
Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the details of the ensuing specification.
The invention is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in section, the inventive snubber as installed on a skidding grapple;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the device seen in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the vane extension employed in conjunction with the preceding views;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the end of a vane equipped with the extension of FIG. 3 such as would be seen along the sight line 4--4 of FIG. 3 when the extension is installed on a vane;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view essentially similar to that of FIG. 2 but featuring the improved valve bypass according to the invention; and
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 5 but showing a different type of valve for the bypass.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
ORIGINAL EMBODIMENT
In the illustration given and with reference first to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates generally the inventive hydraulic snubber. It is seen interconnected between a boom 11 at the upper end and a head assembly 12 of a grapple at the lower end. It will be appreciated that analagous applications where swinging mass energy absorption is required can utilize the invention advantageously.
Still referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that there is a pin 13 which is non-rotatably fixed to the boom 11 by means of a nut and bolt arrangement 14. This provides one horizontal axis of rotation for the grapple (not shown).
To achieve two degrees of rotation, I provide a cast body generally designated 15 (see FIG. 2). This provides a cylinder 16 having an interior wall 17. The wall 17 at one point has a radially extending vane 18 integral therewith while the pin 13 carries a rotor 19 within the chamber 16. The rotor 19 is in turn equipped with an integral, radially extending vane 20. The interior of the cylinder is filled with fluid through the fill ports 21.
Operation Generally
As the grapple attempts to swing in toward the boom, i.e., in the direction of the arrow 22 applied to the lower right hand portion of FIG. 1, the body 15 starts to pivot around the pin 13. Inasmuch as the rotor 19 and integral vane 20 are fixed to the pin 13--see the key 23, the counterclockwise movement of the housing 15 decreases the volume to the right of the vane 18 also moving in the counterclockwise direction. This means that fluid has to flow past the vanes 18 and 20 from the right hand annulus portion 16a to the left hand portion 16b. This is modulated not only by the vanes 18 and 20, but more particularly, by the vane extensions 24--see particularly FIGS. 3 and 4.
Vane Extension
The vane extension 24 is seen to be U-shaped and rubs snugly against the interior faces of the body to form a tight seal. Advantageously, these vanes are constructed of elastomeric material such as urethane and are shaped so as to react to pressure demands produced by load swing. For low pressures, the medium can flow through either of the aligned orifices 25, 26--see the upper portion of FIG. 3. However, as the pressure demand builds in intensity and/or the time period shortens, the vane extensions are compressed away from the housing wall allowing more dampening fluid to pass. Then as the demand pressure drops off, the extension move back to their original position. This means that lower viscosity, hence, less temperature sensitive dampening medium can be used.
The vane tip orifice configuration shown in FIG. 3 is designed with pressure accumulating means in the form of the pocket type orifice 25 on each side of the individual vanes with the small groove orifice 26 leading off from the pocket means to the opposite side of the individual vane element.
The other degree of movement is provided by the structure at the bottom portion of the snubber 10. The degree of movement or rotation just described can be considered in the plane of the drawing while the one to be described in conjunction with the lower portion of the snubber can be considered to be in and out of the plane of the drawing. It will be appreciated that interiorily of the twisted FIG. 8 constituting the body 15, the upper and lower parts are identical. Therefore, the lower portions are given the same numeral designation as above--but with the addition of 100.
For example, the rotor supporting pin is designated 113--see the lower portion of FIG. 2. This has keyed to it the rotor 119 carrying the vane 120. The body 15--in its lower extent is equipped with the integral vane 118 and both the vanes 118 and 120 are equipped with extensions 124. The operation in the lower portion is exactly the same as that described above with respect to the transfer of hydraulic fluid from one annulus portion to the other upon rotation of one vane equipped element relative to the other.
Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the pin 113 is fixed to a clevis 127. The clevis 127 in turn carries the grapple head 12. So, when the grapple attempts to swing in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, the pin 113 and hence the rotor 119 pivot within the lower cylinder. The ends of each of the upper and lower cylinders are closed by means of hubs 128--see the lower right hand portion of FIG. 2--threaded into the body or housing 15.
The pressure sensitive vane extensions 24, 124 have overcome a problem existing with respect to the hydraulic dampening fluid. With the fixed orifice snubbers of the past, it was necessary to go to a less viscous fluid so as to achieve inter-annulus portion transfer under a variety of conditions. If too heavy a fluid were used, i.e., highly viscous, this would impede the operation at low temperatures. It is to be appreciated that grapples are used out-of-doors--in logging operations for example--where there can be wide temperature swings, even in the course of a day when performing logging in mountainous areas. By the same token, if the temperature rises excessively, the viscosity changes and the requisite opposition to swinging does not occur.
These problems have been avoided by the invention in which the orifice area can be more closely controlled, allowing the use of dampening fluids in which viscosity is less subject to temperature changes. The vane extension of the invention is pressure sensitive and effectively seals the clearance around the periphery of the vane except for the orifices at its tip. These orifices are constructed so that as the pressure reaches a critical point in the pocket means 25, the pressure will compress the flexible vane tip material, opening the orifice area and allowing more fluid to bypass. As pressure and vane material compressibility balance, orifice area is maintained and rotation resisting force stays the same. As pressure drops off, the flexible vane extension returns to its original shape. This results in flow past the extension equally in both directions from one side of each vane to the other. The vane extension thus becomes a pressure controlled (compensated) orifice and flow control device.
IMPROVED EMBODIMENT
The showing in FIG. 5 is essentially the same as that of FIG. 2 but with the addition of a valve bypass passage generally designated 229.
The similarity of the environment can be appreciated from the showing in FIG. 2 of a body generally designated 215 constituting the upper cylinder and which has an integral radially extending vane 218. Mounted for rotation within the chamber 216 of the body 215 is a pin 213 carrying the movable radially extending vane 220.
The lower cylinder also has a fixed vane 318 about which a corresponding bypass passage (not shown) is provided.
The showing in FIG. 6 is essentially the same as the upper portion of FIG. 5 wherein a bypass passage generally designated 429 is provided around the stationary vane 318 but in the case of the FIG. 6 showing, the valve 430 is a manually adjustable valve rather than the automatic pressure compensating valve 230 of FIG. 5. Each of the passages 229, 429 is generally U-shaped and is located within the body providing the cylinder, viz., the body 215 of FIG. 5. The U-shaped passage 229, for example, extends from one side of the integral radially extending vane 218 to the other side thereof with the base of the U-shape being extended to provide means for the receipt of the bypass valve.
OPERATION
In less than extreme conditions, the resilient vane extension-orifice/pocket arrangement constitute the primary control means for snubbing fluid bypass. As the rotor or housing rotate in the directions shown--the body 215 rotating counterclockwise or the rotor 219 rotating clockwise, chamber A will decrease in volume and chamber B will increase in volume. As a result of this rotation, fluid will pass through the pocket and orifice in the resilient vane extension from chamber A to chamber B.
As pressure builds up in the pockets of the vane extension 224, compressing the resilient vane material and expanding the orifice, more fluid will be allowed to bypass, thereby maintaining a relatively narrow pressure band.
The automatic pressure compensating needle bypass valve 230 constitutes the auxiliary control means for snubbing fluid bypass. This valve remains closed (loaded by a predetermined force in the spring 231) until such time as the primary bypass means--the orifice/pocket arrangement--can no longer maintain pressure below the predetermined maximum. As pressure approaches this predetermined maximum, whether due to low ambient temperature or high rotational inertia, this valve will open only as much as required to maintain that pressure.
Normally, no adjustment will be required on the valve 230 over a wide range of temperature and load conditions. If some adjustment is required, different springs could be installed and/or shimmed.
In the variation shown in FIG. 6, a manually adjustable needle bypass valve--auxiliary control means for snubbing fluid bypass is provided. When ambient temperature is low, raising fluid viscosity, the bypass valve 430 is adjusted to increase area of the passage allowing more fluid to pass, again maintaining a relatively narrow pressure band.
As the ambient temperature rises above a predetermined value, bypass valve 430 is adjusted to decrease the area allowing less fluid to bypass.
These adjustments would be made as much as twice a day but are very simple and would effectively broaden the overall temperature range and allow the unit to better handle the tendency to build-up detrimental pressure generated by high rotational inertia.
Through the use of the bypass passage arrangement of this invention, it is possible to have a totally sealed relationship with one of the vane extensions, i.e., no pockets or orifices, and utilize this pocket/orifice arrangement in only the other vane.
Also in the improved embodiment, I utilize only one of the ports for replenishing fluid as at 221 in the central right hand portion of FIG. 5. The other port as at 232 is equipped with a safety valve and is set at a pressure somewhat below that which would damage the seals or distort the housing, normally being adjustable to about 10,000 psi.
While in the foregoing specification a detailed description of the invention has been set down for the purpose of explanation, many variations in the details hereingiven may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. | A hydraulic snubber suitable for a skidding grapple or the like in which a twisted figure eight housing is provided to oppose free swinging in two mutually perpendicular horizontal directions, each portion of the figure eight having a cylinder housing with a rotor, each rotor having radially extending vanes. At least one vane has a flexible extension including at least two orifices equipped with a pocket for adjustably limiting the flow of hydraulic fluid to each respective side of the vane. The cylinder housing is equipped with a safety relief valve so that hydraulic fluid can bypass a vane to prevent excessive pressure buildup on one side of the vane. | 5 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sewing machine which may be used as a manually operated mechanical sewing machine for the straight stitching operation, and which may be used as an electronic sewing machine for automatically stitching various patterns by way of electronic circuits including a state electronic memory storing the pattern data.
So-called electronic sewing machine, which is provided with the static memory and electronic devices for determining the needle positions and the feeding amounts and directions per stitch in response to a signal from said static memory, has its own merits in comparison with the conventional mechanical sewing machines, that in the electronic sewing machine, so many pattern cams and other complex parts for pattern selection of the mechanical sewing machine may be replaced by small sized and compact electronic devices, and that the electronic sewing machine may attain to considerably difficult and complicated functions of high degree more easily and more neatly. On the other hand, it may be said that more than 90% of the stitching operation is directed to the straight stitching, and furthermore the merits or effects of the electronic sewing machine are hardly utilized for the straight stitching. If the simple straight stitch is to be controlled by the electronic devices, said electronic device and the relative parts must be electrically conductive in the meantime, and the electric power is considerably consumed with the increase of temperature of the parts. Besides the noise is liable to be higher than for the mechanical sewing machine. Further, since the composing elements and connections of the electric circuits are very complicated, the straight stitching operation becomes impossible if even a minor part is out of order. In view of these circumstances, the invention provides a sewing machine including the electronic devices, in which the easy straight stitching operation is performed independently from the electronic devices, but dependently on the pure mechanism.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a sewing machine which may be switched to a mechanically or electronically functioning sewing machine.
It is another object of the invention to save the electric power and lower noise during straight stitching operation.
The other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention in reference to preferred embodiments as shown in the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows an outer appearance of a sewing machine according to the invention; and
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a mechanism of the sewing machine.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be explained in reference to the attached drawings. A numeral 1 denotes the sewing machine in general, and numeral 2 designate switch buttons each arranged in correspondence to patterns to be frequently used. Reference numeral 3 indicates switch buttons for calling up the patterns by the respective pattern numbers (two figures in the present embodiment) each given to the stitch patterns which are not so frequently used. These patterns, which are not so frequently used, and indicated in windows (2, 5 as shown in FIG. 1) by two figures are called up by operating the switch buttons 3. A numeral 4 indicates a switch button which is operated to clear said calling up and to prepare the patterns which are not so frequently used. Referring to FIG. 2, numeral 5 designates a needle bar support swingably mounted on the sewing machine, 6 shows a needle bar mounted on the support 5 for vertical reciprocation, 7 indicates a needle, 8 shows a needle plate formed with a needle hole 8a for zigzag stitching. Numeral 9 indicates a needle plate element formed with a needle hole 9a for the straight stitch and so arranged as to move in the directions toward and away from the zigzag stitching needle hole 8a. Numeral 10 denotes a crank lever which is turned in the clockwise direction against the action of a spring 11 to move the needle plate element 8 toward the zigzag stitching needle hole 8a, thereby to provide the straight stitching needle hole 9a. The reference numeral 12 is a rod for laterally swinging the needle bar support 5. Number 13 denotes a pulse motor for controlling swinging amplitude of the needle 7. Numeral 14 indicates a crank pin which is operatively connected to the pulse motor 13 and passing through one end of the rod 12. Numeral 15 designates a shaft for controlling angular position of a feed adjuster (not shown) to regulate the fabric feed, and 16 indicates a pulse motor operatively connected to the shaft 15 to control the fabric feed. Regarding the above mentioned pulse motors 13 and 16, detailed reference is omitted. In this embodiment, the sewing machine may be set to operate as an electronic sewing machine by operating a switch SW1 which make an electronic circuit not shown in detail but schematically illustrated and denoted as 50 operative. In such a condition, if a pattern is selected by operating one of the switches 2, 2, . . . or 3, the sewing machine is set to stitch the selected pattern in accordance with the pattern signals issued from the memory in synchronism with rotation of the sewing machine to thereby automatically form the desired pattern.
Numeral 20 indicates a dial which is rotatably arranged on the machine casing. The dial is provided indications on the front face of the machine such as the automatic pattern range (A) and the straight stitching range (S). In FIG. 1, the dial 20 is manually rotated through the operation switching range (C) with respect to the reference point 21 on the machine casing to select the automatic pattern stitching range (A) or the straight stitching range (S). The dial 20 is composed of cams coaxially secured. In FIG. 2, numeral 22 indicates a switching cam which is so arranged as to close said switch SW1 (positioned in a suitable place) when the range (A) of the dial 20 is selected. Numeral 23 is a cam which designates during manual rotation of the dial 20 for selecting the straight stitching range (S) to upwardly shift a notched plate 24 as shown in FIG. 2 until the notch 24a engages a crank pin 14 so as to fix the needle bar support 5 in the straight stitching position. Numeral 25 denotes a cam for changing the needle dropping hole of the needle plate 8. The cam 25 is also rotated together with the cam 23 to turn a needle switching lever 26 in the counterclockwise direction to thereby turn the crank lever 10 in the clockwise direction via a connecting rod 27 against the action of the spring 11. Thus the needle plate element 9 is moved toward the zigzag stitching needle hole 8a to replace the same with the straight stitching needle hole 9a. Numeral 28 indicated a feed adjusting cam which is formed with a groove composed of side cams 29, 30. The width (W) of the groove is narrower in the straight stitching range (S) as the dial 20 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction relative to the reference point 21. The reference numeral 32 denotes a cam adapted to change a spring pressure for the feed adjuster (not shown). The reference numeral 35 is a shaft passing through the dial 20 and the cams 22, 23, 25, 28, 32 and is axially shiftable for the forward and backward stitches.
A numeral 31 indicates a feed control pin which is provided at one end of a feed control lever 38 which is pivoted at the intermediate part 38a thereof to the machine casing and which is at the other end operatively connected to a feed adjuster control shaft 15 via a link 37. The feed control pin 31 has one end placed in the groove of the opposite side cams 29, 30 for controlling the forward and backward stitches respectively. A numeral 34 shows a pin engaging a cam groove 33 of the cam 32, and is positioned remote from the dial 20 when the stitching range (A) is brought to the reference point 21, and is nearer to the dial 20 when the stitching range (S) is brought to the reference point 21. A numeral 39 indicates a biasing spring for feed controlling and is at one end connected to the pin 31 and is connected at the other end to a link 40 as shown. The spring 39 is expanded via links 40, 41 when an engaging pin 34 located in the groove 33 is positioned nearer to the dial 20 as shown where the straight stitching range (S) is selected, so that it presses the pin 31 against the side cam 29 for controlling the forward stitching. On the other hand, when the automatic pattern stitching range (A) is selected, the pin 34 is positioned remote from the dial 20. As a result, the spring 39 becomes ineffective and gives no influence to the pin 31. The reference numeral 36 designates a plate element formed with a slot 36a at the free end part thereof. The plate element 36 is at one end connected to the shaft 35 and engaging the pin 31 with the slot 36a. Therefore, if the shaft 35 is axially pushed, the pin 31 is pressed against the side cam 30 for controlling the backward stitching.
With the above mentioned structure of the sewing machine, if the dial 20 is rotated to bring the automatic pattern stitching range (A) to the reference point 21, the needle plate element 9 is retreated from the elongated zigzag stitching needle dropping hole 8a of the needle plate 8 by the spring 11 due to the configuration of the control cam 25, and thus the zigzag stitching needle dropping hole 8a is provided. Simultaneously, the cam 23 allows the notched plate 24 to downwardly shift away from the pin 14, and thus the needle bar support 5 becomes free to be laterally swingable by the pulsemotor 13 via transmission rod 12. Simultaneously the cam 28 allows the pin 31 to be controlled by the pulse motor 16 via lever 38 for controlling the feeding device (not shown). Simultaneously the cam 22 closes the switch (SW1) to make the electronic control circuit (not shown) operative. As the result, the sewing machine is set as an electronic sewing machine, and a desired stitch pattern can be selected by operating one of the pattern selecting switch buttons 2 and 3 to automatically stitch the selected stitch pattern.
On the other hand, if the dial 20 is rotated to bring the straight range (S) to the reference point 21, the cam 22 opens the switch (SW1) to make inoperative the electronic control circuit, and the cam 23 shifts the notched plate 24 to the position engaging the pin for fixing the needle bar support 5 for functioning of the latter in the straight stitching. Simultaneously the cam 25 moves the needle plate element 9 toward the elongated needle dropping hole against the spring 11 by way of a follower lever 26, transmission rod 27 and the crank lever 10, to thereby provide the reduced needle dropping hole 9a for the straight stitching. Simulataneously the cam groove 33 of cam 32 displaces the pin 34 toward the dial 20 to give the sufficient tension to the spring 39, to thereby press the pin 31 against the side cam 29 for controlling the forward feeding. As to the fabric feeding of the invention, the feeding amount is maximum if the first end of the straight stitching range (S) comes to be in alignment with the reference point 21 as the dial 20 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. As the dial 20 is rotated in the same direction relative to the reference point 21, the feeding amount becomes smaller, and becomes minimum if the last end of the range (S) comes in alignment with the reference point 21. When any part of the stitching range (S) is in alignment with the reference point 21, the backward feeding amount, which is the same as the forward feeding amount, can be obtained by pusing the shaft 35, because the pin 31 is pressed against the opposite side cam 30. Namely the opposite side cams 29, 30 are so structured as to provide the same feeding amount in the different feeding directions. Thus the sewing machine is set to operate as a manually operated straight stitching sewing machine. | A sewing machine having a rotary shaft, a needle bar, a fabric feeding device and an electronic control device for controlling the needle position is provided with a manually operated arrangement to selectively render the electronic control device operative or inoperative when desired to obtain the straight stitching or zigzag stitching, respectively. This arrangement includes a plurality of cams operatively connected to a dial positioned on the housing of the sewing machine and a switch cooperating with said cams and adapted to actuate the electronic control device. | 3 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/689,907, filed Nov. 30, 2012 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,052,037 on Jun. 9, 2015) which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/296,928, filed Nov. 15, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,371,723, which was a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/414,132, filed Nov. 16, 2010. Each of these applications are incorporated herein by reference and priority of each is hereby claimed.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the rapid deployment and retrieval of a frac water transfer system used in oil and gas operations, and more particularly, to the rapid deployment and retrieval of a frac water transfer system used for hydraulic fracturing operations.
2. General Background
Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in the oil and gas industry to stimulate the production rate of a well. This process is also known as “fracing,” or conducting a “frac job,” in the industry. Techniques used in hydraulic fracturing generally involve injecting a fluid down a well at a high pressure. The injected fluid fractures the subterranean formation surrounding the well. A proppant may also be added to the fluid to aid in propping the fractures. The fractures create channels through which oil and/or gas can flow, facilitating the flow of the oil and/or gas to the well for production.
A typical preliminary step in preparing a frac job is transporting a large volume of water (“frac water”) from a water source to a certain destination. The destination may be any receptacle suitable for holding frac water located in the vicinity of where the frac job will be carried out, including, but not limited to, a buffer pit, a frac pit, a frac tank, or a work tank.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The apparatus of the present invention solves the problems confronted in the art in a simple and straightforward manner.
One or more embodiments of the invention relate to a system for transferring frac water between a source of the frac water and a frac water destination.
The system may comprise a subsystem for determining one or more characteristics of the frac water transfer system, and a portable frac water delivery subsystem. The subsystem for determining one or more characteristics of the frac water transfer system may comprise means for measuring one or more terrain parameters between the frac water source and the frac water destination, and means for designing a pipeline to be assembled between the frac water source and the frac water destination.
The means for designing may receive the one or more terrain parameters as input and generate output data. The output data may be presented as a set of pressure profiles reflecting one or more measurements relating to one or more characteristics of the pipeline to be assembled.
The portable frac water delivery subsystem may comprise one or more segments of lay flat hose and one or more tracked carriers for transporting the lay flat hose. The one or more segments of the lay flat hose may be connected in series to assemble one or more pipelines for transferring the frac water from the source of the frac water to the frac water destination. Each of the tracked carriers may comprise a lifting subsystem and a tensioning subsystem. The lifting subsystem may be used to load the one or more spools onto the tracked carrier and/or offloading the one or more spools from the tracked carrier. The lifting subsystem may comprise an arm. One or more linkages may connect the arm to the tracked carrier. To control the arm, one or more hydraulic cylinders may be used to move the one or more linkages. The arm may be used to selectively engage the one or more spools. The tensioning subsystem may be used to flatten the one or more segments of the lay flat hose to be wound onto the one or more spool. Further, the tensioning subsystem may be used to substantially remove water from the one or more segments of the lay flat hose. The tensioning subsystem may comprise a drive subsystem for rotating the one or more spools. A plurality of rollers may selectively engage the one or more segments of the lay flat hose onto the one or more spools.
The one or more segments of the lay flat hose may be routed through the plurality of rollers in an alternating over and under configuration. The system may further comprise one or more conveyance vehicles for transporting equipment between an equipment storage site and the frac water source and/or the frac water destination, the equipment comprising the one or more spools. One or more embodiments of the invention relate to a method of deploying a system for transferring frac water between a source of the frac water and a frac water destination. The method may involve determining one or more characteristics of the frac water transfer system; deploying a portable frac water delivery subsystem; and assembling one or more pipelines for transferring the frac water from the source of the frac water to the frac water destination. Determining one or more characteristics of the frac water transfer system may involve measuring one or more terrain parameters between a water source and a water destination and determining one or more pipeline design parameters. One or more pipelines to be assembled may be designed using a means for designing. The means for designing may receive the one or more terrain parameters and the one or more design parameters as input. The means for designing may further generate output data presented as a set of pressure profiles reflecting one or more measurements relating to one or more characteristics of the pipeline to be assembled.
The portable frac water delivery subsystem may comprise one or more segments of lay flat hose and one or more tracked carriers for transporting the lay flat hose. Each tracked carrier may comprise a tensioning subsystem for flattening the one or more segments of the lay flat hose to be wound onto one or more spools. The method may further involve conveying one or more spools to the frac water source and/or the frac water destination, the one or more spools wound with the one or more segments of the lay flat hose. The method may further involve loading the spools onto the one or more tracked carriers and/or offloading the one or more spools from the one or more tracked carriers. The tracked carriers may further comprise a lifting subsystem for loading and/or offloading the one or more spools. The lifting subsystem may comprise an arm. One or more linkages may connect the arm to the tracked carrier. To control the arm, one or more hydraulic cylinders may be used to move the one or more linkages. The arm may be used to selectively engage the one or more spools. The method may further involve retrieving the one or more segments of the lay flat hose from the ground. Retrieval may involve selectively engaging the tensioning subsystem with the one or more segments of the lay flat hose. The tensioning subsystem may further comprise a plurality of rollers, and a drive subsystem for rotating the one or more spools. Retrieval may further involve routing the one or more segments of the lay flat hose through the plurality of rollers; winding the one or more segments of the lay flat hose onto the one or more spools; and substantially removing water from the one or more segments of the lay flat hose. Assembling the pipeline may involve connecting a plurality of segments of the lay flat hose in series. The ends of the segments of the lay flat hose may be fitted with sexless, easy to connect couplings. One or more embodiments of the invention may relate to a computer program product. The computer program product may comprise a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied thereon for determining one or more characteristics of a frac water transfer system. The computer readable program code may comprise computer program code for receiving one or more terrain parameters as input; computer readable program code for receiving one or more design parameters as input; and computer readable code for generating output data based on at least one of: at least one terrain parameter; and at least one design parameter. The one or more terrain parameters may comprise at least one of: distances between adjacent points along a flow path of the frac water transfer system, elevations at points along the flow path, one or more parameters indicative of a degree of obstruction of the flow path; and one or more measurements taken by measurement devices disposed along the flow path, the one or more measurements relating to the one or more characteristics. The one or more design parameters may comprise at least one of: a number of one or more pumps along the flow path, placement locations of the one or more pumps along the flow path, a number of one or more filter pods along the flow path, and placement locations of the one or more filter pods along the flow path.
The output data may relate to one or more characteristics of the frac water transfer system, including, but not limited to: water hammer or hydraulic shock effects; wave velocity; friction; hydrostatic head; hydraulic force; pressure loss due to friction; and positive pressure needed to overcome friction.
The computer program product may further comprise computer readable program code for adjusting at least one of: at least one terrain parameter; and at least one design parameter to generate at least one adjusted parameter.
The at least one adjusted parameter may comprise: an adjustment to at least one of: the one or more parameters indicative of a degree of obstruction of the flow path, the number of pumps, the placement locations of the pumps along the flow path, the number of filter pods, and the placement locations of the filter pods along the flow path. Computer readable program code may receive the at least one adjusted parameter as input and generate updated output data based on the at least one adjusted parameter. The output data may be presented to a user as a set of pressure profiles reflecting one or more measurements relating to the one or more characteristics of the frac water transfer system. The computer program product may further comprise computer readable program code for generating final output data from the updated output data on the condition that at least one characteristic of the frac water transfer system represented by updated output data is within a predetermined range from a desired value of the at least one characteristic.
Water for use in hydraulic fracturing is often referred to as “frac water”. Frac water may be obtained from one or more sources of water comprising lakes, rivers, ponds, creeks, streams, well water, flow-back water, produced water, treated water and any other source of water. Conventional methods of moving water over long distances involve extensive labor, time and transportation of, among other things, fixed-length pipes, fittings, and pumps.
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a system, method and apparatus for the rapid deployment and retrieval of a frac water transfer system. Embodiments of the system and method of the present invention employ one or more flexible, lay flat hoses and/or one or more segments of lay flat hose for the transfer of frac water over long distances. In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided.
The lay flat hose may be collapsible such that it may lay flat when substantially empty (i.e. substantially devoid of water or other matter). Thus, the lay flat hose can be wound onto spools, folded into flaking boxes, or otherwise stored in a compact manner. Because the hose is very flexible and conforms to the terrain upon which it is laid, 90°, 45°, 22.5°, or other elbow fittings would not be required in order to have a pipeline containing turns. Characteristics of fluid flow in a pipe such as working pressure, burst pressure, maximum efficiency rate, and maximum feasible rate are considerably higher and thus more desirable for the lay flat hose than for pipes used in conventional methods for frac water transportation.
The lay flat hose may require fewer connections and pumps than the pipes used in conventional methods for frac water transportation to achieve the desired characteristics during frac water transfer. Moreover, the lay flat hose is difficult to damage, having a life expectancy of approximately five years, whereas the pipes used in conventional methods for frac water transportation have a life expectancy of approximately 2 years.
In one conventional method, thirty foot (30′) long segments of aluminum piping with an outer diameter of ten inches (10″) are connected in series to form a pipeline for transporting water over a long distance. A mile of straight piping (i.e., piping containing no turns) may require approximately 176 connections. Clamp type connections are typically used to join the pipes. For pipelines containing turns, 90°, 45°, 22.5°, or other elbow fittings may be required. Water may potentially leak through each connection or fitting, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the pipeline and wasting water. The working pressure of the aluminum piping may be approximately 80 psi and the burst pressure may be approximately 150 psi. The maximum efficiency rate may be less than 50 bpm and the maximum feasible rate may be approximately 75 bpm.
In another conventional method, 3200 ft. or 500 ft. long segments of polyethylene piping with an outer diameter of 4 in. or 6 in., respectively, are connected in series to form a pipeline for transporting water over a long distance. Pipelines having these specifications transfer water at low rates and therefore may not be viable for real-time water transfer.
In yet another conventional method, 30 ft. long segments of polyethylene piping with an outer diameter of 12 in. are connected in series to form a pipeline for transporting water over a long distance. A mile of straight piping may require approximately 176 connections. Water may potentially leak through each connection, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the pipeline and wasting water. For pipelines containing turns, 90°, 45°, 22.5°, or other elbow fittings may be required. The working pressure of the polyethylene piping may be approximately 150 psi and the burst pressure may be approximately 317 psi.
The maximum efficiency rate may be approximately 76 bpm and the maximum feasible rate may be approximately 92 bpm. Weighing approximately 26 lbs/ft., manual handling of the polyethylene piping segments is impractical. In one or more embodiments of the invention, a lay flat hose may be deployed in segments ranging from about 5 ft. long to about 700 ft. long and have a nominal inner diameter ranging from about 3 in. to about 16 in. In one or more embodiments, the lay flat hose is deployed in 500 ft. long segments with a nominal inner diameter of 12 in. A straight mile of pipeline constructed out of the lay flat hose may require approximately 11 connections.
Because the hose is flexible and conforms to the terrain upon which it is laid, elbow fittings, which are prone to leaking, would not be required for pipelines containing turns. The working pressure of the lay flat hose may be approximately 175 psi and the burst pressure may be approximately 400 psi. The maximum efficiency rate may be approximately 100 bpm and the maximum feasible rate may be approximately 130 bpm. The lay flat hose is made of circular woven high tenacity polyester. An elastomeric polyurethane cover and lining completely encapsulate the polyester. A variety of other types of lay flat hose may also be available at a range of sizes, materials, and capabilities. Any lay flat hose suitable for the rapid deployment and retrieval of a frac water transfer system may be used in embodiments of the present invention.
One or more embodiments of the invention are directed to a computer program product for use in connection with the design and deployment of frac water transfer systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The computer program product may generate output data that includes measurements of frac water flow characteristics and/or pressure characteristics determined based on various input parameters. The output data generated by the computer program product may be utilized in making design and equipment choice/placement decisions in connection with the deployment of frac water transfer systems according to embodiments of the invention. The computer program product may comprise a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein. The computer readable program code may comprise computer readable code for receiving as input one or more terrain parameters. The terrain parameters may include, but are not limited to, distances between adjacent discrete points along the flow path of the frac water from the source to the destination as well as elevations at discrete points along the path. The discrete points between which distance measurements may be taken and/or the discrete points at which elevation measurements may be taken may coincide with the endpoints of segments of the flexible hose. Alternatively, the distance and elevation measurements may be taken continuously at any one or more points along the path traversed by the flexible hose when deployed.
A manual survey of the terrain may be performed to determine the distance and elevation parameters. Alternatively, or in conjunction with the manual survey, a global positioning system (GPS) device may be employed to precisely measure distances and elevation differences between discrete points along the path. The GPS device may also be used to take continuous distance and elevation measurements along the flow path. In addition to the distance and elevation measurements, the terrain parameters may also comprise one or more parameters indicative of a degree of obstruction at one or more discrete points along the path of the flexible hose. More specifically, the one or more parameters indicative of a degree of obstruction may represent a measure of the degree to which terrain characteristics may obstruct frac water flow through the flexible hose at one or more points along the flow path.
The distance, elevation, and obstruction parameters, along with any other terrain parameters that may be determined, may together provide a comprehensive survey of the terrain. The computer readable program code may further comprise computer readable program code for receiving as input one or more design parameters. Design parameters may include a number of and/or locations along the frac water flow path at which one or more pumps and/or one or more filter pods may be placed. Adjustments to the number and/or placement of pumps and filter pods may affect frac water flow rates and pressure and flow characteristics at various points along the flow path.
The computer program product may take as inputs one or more of the terrain and/or design parameters noted above and generate output data relating to one or more of the following pressure/flow characteristics: water hammer or hydraulic shock effects, wave velocity, friction, hydrostatic head, hydraulic force, pressure loss due to friction, positive pressure needed to overcome friction, or any combination thereof.
However, it should be noted that the above list is not exhaustive and the output data may include any other suitable measurement for assisting in the design, implementation, and deployment of a frac water transfer system according to embodiments of the invention. In order to generate the output data, the computer program product may also receive, as input, data provided by various measurement devices disposed along the frac water flow path correspondingly to the points between which and at which distance and elevation measurements are taken.
The output data may be provided in the form of a set of pressure profiles reflecting any one or more of the measurements discussed above taken at discrete or continuous points along the frac water flow path. If the pressure and flow measurements provided by way of the pressure profiles do not conform to desired values, one or more parameters may be adjusted and new output data based on the adjusted parameters may be generated. This process may be performed iteratively until the desired pressure and flow characteristics are achieved. More specifically, the path of the flexible hose pipeline from source to destination as well as the location and/or number of pumps and/or filter pods may be determined through an assessment of the output data generated by the computer program product based on iterative adjustments to the input parameters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages of the present invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, read in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment for a layout and take up vehicle taken from the driver side;
FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the non-driver side;
FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the non-driver side;
FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the driver side;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the non-driver side;
FIG. 6 is a front view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 7 is a top view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 8 is a side view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the driver side;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the vehicle through the lines 9 - 9 of FIG. 8 ;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a portion of the take up tensioning system;
FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the portion of the take up tensioning system shown in FIG. 10 ;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the articulating roller of the tensioning system.
FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the articulating roller of the tensioning system.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system.
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a hydraulic cylinder powering the reel lifting system.
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the two expanding and retracting articulating arms of the reel lifting system.
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of one of the arms.
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the arm of FIG. 17 broken open to show the hydraulic cylinder which expands and retracts the arm.
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the reel rotating and tensioning system.
FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the reel rotating and tensioning system shown from the opposite side as FIG. 19 .
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the motor powering the reel rotating and tensioning system.
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the motor powering the reel rotating and tensioning system taken from the opposite side as FIG. 21 .
FIG. 23 is an exploded perspective view of the sliding connection between the reel rotating and tensioning system of FIG. 21 and the reel.
FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a reel rotatably connected to a support base.
FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a bearing that rotatably connects the reel to the base.
FIG. 26 is a side view of the reel of FIG. 24 .
FIG. 27 is a rear view of the reel of FIG. 24 .
FIG. 28 is side view of a reel loading with a lay flat hose.
FIG. 29 is a side view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle about to pick up a reel.
FIG. 30 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle about to pick up a reel from the ground.
FIG. 31 is an enlarged perspective view of a connection between the reel lifting system and the reel.
FIGS. 32 and 33A are rear views of the reel lifting system of the vehicle about to pick up a reel from the ground.
FIG. 33B is an enlarged view of a connection between the reel lifting system and the reel.
FIG. 34 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle in mid path when loading a reel.
FIG. 35 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle placing the reel on the deck of the vehicle.
FIG. 36 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle about to pick up a reel from a raised area such as a trailer.
FIG. 37 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle in mid path when loading a reel.
FIG. 38 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle placing the reel on the deck of the vehicle.
FIG. 39 is an enlarged perspective view of the connection between the reel driver and the reel after the reel has been placed on the vehicle.
FIG. 40 is front perspective view from the non-driver side of the vehicle of FIG. 1 shown with a loaded reel.
FIG. 41 is rear perspective view from the non-driver side of the vehicle of FIG. 1 shown with a loaded reel.
FIG. 42 is front perspective view from the driver side of the vehicle of FIG. 1 shown with a loaded reel.
FIG. 43 is rear perspective view from the driver side of the vehicle of FIG. 1 shown with a loaded reel.
FIG. 44 is a side view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 shown laying out hose from a reel.
FIG. 45 is a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the non-driver side shown laying out hose from a reel.
FIG. 46 is a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the driver side shown laying out hose from a reel.
FIG. 47 is a front perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the non-driver side showing the taking of hose from the ground.
FIG. 48 is a side view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 showing the taking up of hose from the ground.
FIG. 49 is a front perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the driver side showing the taking up of a hose from the ground.
FIG. 50 is an enlarged view of the tensioning system used during take up with the articulating roller being in an up position.
FIG. 51 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the method incorporating the vehicle of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 52 is a front perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 taken from the non-driver side and showing the reel locking system.
FIG. 53 is a front perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 52 with a reel loaded on the vehicle and the reel locking system in an unlocked state.
FIG. 54 is an enlarged perspective view of the reel locking system shown in FIG. 53 .
FIG. 55 is a front perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 52 with a reel loaded on the vehicle and the reel locking system in an locked state.
FIG. 56 is an enlarged perspective view of the reel locking system shown in FIG. 55 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In one embodiment is provided a system 200 for rapidly deploying a frac water transfer system, as depicted schematically in FIG. 2 . The system 200 comprises one or more segments of lay flat hose 304 wound onto one or more spools or reels 202 .
The spools 300 comprise a cylindrical core and two sidewalls having a circular cross section. In one or more embodiments, the sidewalls of the spools 300 may comprise spokes 302 , as illustrated in FIGS. 24-28 . Each sidewall further comprises a circumferential surface.
The lay flat hose 304 may be manually wound onto the spools 202 . The lay flat hose 304 may comprise a first end 306 and a second end 312 . The second end 312 of the lay flat hose 304 is attached to the cylindrical core or drum 308 of the spool 302 such that the end 312 will rotate along with and at substantially the same rate as the drum 308 of the spool 300 .
In various embodiments, each end 306 , 312 of the lay flat hose segment 304 comprises a coupling 310 . While the coupling 310 of the second end 312 may be disposed proximate the outer surface of the drum 308 , and the lay flat hose 304 may be wound around both the drum 308 and the coupling 310 , such an arrangement may create an irregular shaped spooling resembling an egg. To avoid the irregular shape, the coupling 310 of the second end 312 may be disposed within the drum 308 (see FIG. 28 ). Disposing the coupling 310 within the drum 308 further connects and anchors the second end 312 to the spool 300 .
In one embodiment, a crank (not shown) that rotates the drum 308 of the spool 300 (or it may be turned manually), thereby rotating and winding the lay flat hose 304 around the drum 308 of the spool 300 . Manual adjustments in alignment of the lay flat hose 304 may be necessary to reduce tangling and ensure that the desired length of lay flat hose 304 fits within the spool's 300 carrying capacity. The number of spools 300 , 300 ′, 300 ″, etc. necessary depends on the desired or required total length of lay flat hose 304 , which is determined, in part, by surveying the path from the water source 208 to the destination 210 .
Reel Drive System
In various embodiments a drive system 502 may be used to facilitate winding the segments of lay flat hose 304 onto the spools 300 during take up of lay flat hose 304 . For example, drive system 502 may comprise a shaft fitted with friction rollers. The friction rollers may be spaced such that each friction roller aligns with and engages a circumferential surface of a sidewall of the spool 300 . A power source in communication with a motor may rotate the shaft, and consequently rotate the friction rollers, in one direction, causing the spool 300 to rotate in the opposite direction. The drive system may thus replace the manual crank system described above for winding the segments of lay flat hose 304 onto the spools 300 .
FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the reel rotating and tensioning system 502 . FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the reel rotating and tensioning system 502 shown from the opposite side as FIG. 19 . FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the motor 511 powering the reel rotating and tensioning system 502 . FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the motor 511 powering the reel rotating and tensioning system taken from the opposite side as FIG. 21 . FIG. 23 is an exploded perspective view of the sliding connection between the reel rotating and tensioning system of FIG. 21 and the reel.
An axle drive subsystem 502 of the crawler 212 may comprise a drive shaft 504 that engages a connection 330 of the spool 300 . The opposing end of the drive shaft 504 that does not engage the spool connection 330 may be fitted with a second gear 510 (driven gear). The second gear's 510 rotation correspondingly rotates the connection 330 and the spool 300 in the same direction.
A first gear 508 (drive gear) may be substantially aligned in a parallel configuration with the second gear 510 . A motor 511 may be used to rotate the first gear 508 . The teeth of the gears 508 , 510 may mesh in order to transmit the motor's torque. Alternatively, the second gear 510 may be spaced apart from the first gear 508 and a chain 512 may be used to transmit rotary motion from the first gear 508 to the second gear 510 . Guard 513 can cover gears 508 , 510 and chain 512 . Unlike the meshing configuration in which the gears 508 , 510 rotate in opposite directions, the drive chain transmits rotary motion such that the gears 508 , 510 rotate in the same direction. Because the second gear's 510 rotation correspondingly rotates the spool 300 in the same direction, spool 300 rotates in the same direction as the second gear 510 and motor 511 . Rotation of spool 300 in one direction may lay lay flat hose 304 , and rotation of spool 300 in the opposite direction may take up or retrieve lay flat hose 304 .
A detachable connection can be made between reel 300 and axle drive subsystem 502 . FIG. 23 is an exploded perspective view of the sliding connection 520 between the reel rotating and tensioning system 502 and the reel 300 . This slidable connection 520 can include first end 522 and second end 524 having first section 530 which accepts telescoping second section 540 . Arrows 590 schematically indicate the ability of first section 530 to slide relative to second section 540 , however, first and second sections are rotationally locked relative to each other so that rotation of second section causes rotation of first section 530 . First end 522 can be coupled to drive axle 504 of subsystem 502 . Second end 524 can be coupled to spool 300 . Spool 300 can rotate relative to its support base 350 . When connected by second end 524 , rotation of telescoping connection 520 causes rotation of spool 300 relative to base 350 .
Tensioning System for Hose Reel
A tensioning subsystem 602 is provided for the crawler 212 in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. The tensioning subsystem 602 may comprise a plurality of rollers 603 , 604 , 605 (see FIGS. 1-13 and 47-50 ). The lay flat hose 304 may engage the rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 in an alternating over-and-under configuration.
The second end 312 of the lay flat hose 304 may be connected to the spool 300 so that the lay flat hose may be retrieved. The axle drive subsystem 502 , described above with reference to FIG. 5 , may rotate the spool 300 in either direction to retrieve and wind the lay flat hose 304 onto the spool 300 .
As the lay flat hose 304 passes through the rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 of the tensioning subsystem 602 , rotational forces on reel 300 from axial shaft 506 cause tensile forces to act upon the lay flat hose 304 , flattening the lay flat hose 304 and ensuring that it is neatly and tightly wound onto the spool 300 . Further, because the tensioning subsystem 602 flattens the lay flat hose 304 , fluid is thereby squeezed out and removed from the lay flat hose 304 . This water removing effect may efficiently dry the lay flat hose 304 and allows it to be readily deployed for further use or stored for later use. In various embodiments, the rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 of the tensioning subsystem 602 may be disposed towards the front of the crawler 212 to facilitate retrieval or take up of the lay flat hose 304 while the crawler 212 is moving in a forward direction.
The rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 may be disposed at a height above the ground sufficient to vertically lift the lay flat hose 304 off the ground to reduce any wear and tear of the lay flat hose 304 that may otherwise occur by its scraping against the ground during retrieval along with also facilitating removal of water from the vertically lifted portion of the lay flat hose.
In various embodiments, the tensioning subsystem 602 may comprise one roller 604 (see FIG. 40 ) or two rollers 603 , 604 .
The rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 may be closely spaced and have parallel axes. The axes of the rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 may also be parallel to the axis 301 of the spool 300 . The rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 may be aligned laterally with respect to each other and the spool 300 such that, when the lay flat hose 304 is retrieved, the lay flat hose 304 is pulled longitudinally towards the spool 300 and wound onto the spool 300 .
Middle roller 604 may be pivotally connected to support structure 606 . As shown in FIGS. 10-13 , middle roller 604 can have a handle 609 to facilitate selective pivoting of roller 604 relative to rollers 603 and 605 .
The first end 306 of the lay flat hose segment 304 is the end that is first unwound and offloaded from the spool 300 as the spool 300 is rotated by the axial drive subsystem 502 . The second end 312 of the lay flat hose 304 is the end that is last unwound and offloaded from the spool 300 . The lay flat hose segment 304 may be manually positioned as it unwinds from the spool 300 to ensure placement of the lay flat hose segment 304 suitable for connecting the first end 306 of the lay flat hose segment to the second end 312 of the previously laid lay flat hose segment 304 .
In various embodiments, the spools 300 of lay flat hose 304 may be provided with one or more support structures, frames, or “skids” 350 . The skids 350 allow for a completely self-contained modular system comprising one or more spools 300 of lay flat hose 304 . Each skid or frame or support 350 may further comprise one or more legs for maintaining the skids in a position suitable for facilitating the loading and offloading of the spools 300 onto and from the skids. Moreover, the legs may facilitate the loading and offloading of the skids 350 onto and from a vehicle or a trailer towed by a vehicle. Each skid or frame or support 350 may further comprise a lifting mechanism allowing for the skid or frame to be self-supported.
Getting Reels to and/or from Stages Locations/Pre-Staging Reels for Layout or Take Up
The spools 300 (or combination of spool 300 and base 350 ) may be pre-staged at predetermined positions at which lay flat hose 304 will be needed between the one or more water sources 208 and the one or more destinations 210 to avoid deadheading. The pre-staging positions may be determined based on the terrain parameters gathered from the survey and the output data of the computer program product 224 .
The skids or frames 350 may be loaded onto one or more conveyance vehicles 204 . Any type of conveyance vehicle 204 suitable for carrying skids or heavy equipment may be used, including, but not limited to: a rollback trailer with a hydraulic lift, a flatbed trailer with a portable forklift, or a flatbed trailer with a knuckle-boom crane. The skids or frames may be lifted and loaded onto the conveyance vehicle 204 manually or with the aid of machinery suitable for lifting heavy equipment. For example, a forklift or a crane may be used to lift the skids onto the conveyance vehicle 204 . In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the spools 300 may be loaded directly onto the conveyance vehicle 204 without the use of skids. It is to be understood that the present invention envisions the conveyance of modules of multiple spools 300 loaded onto skids and/or spools 300 without skids. The conveyance vehicle 204 onto which spools 300 are loaded may be a 48 ft. flatbed trailer with the capacity to carry about 14 spools 300 , approximately 1.25 mi. of lay flat hose 304 . The use of a flatbed trailer may comply with Department of Transportation (DOT) size and weight requirements. The use of a flatbed trailer as the conveyance vehicle 204 facilitates the use of a third party contractor for hauling of the load, which reduces the DOT risk exposure of the person or entity hiring the third party contractor. A desired number of spools 300 may be loaded onto the conveyance vehicle 204 . The desired number of spools 300 is determined, in part, based on the total length of lay flat hose 304 needed to complete the designed pipeline 216 and on the conveyance vehicle's 204 carrying capacity.
The conveyance vehicle 204 may be driven from the equipment site 206 to the water source 208 to begin laying the lay flat hose 304 towards the frac water destination 210 , i.e., the location to which water will be transported. The frac water destination 210 may be in the vicinity of the location where the frac job will be performed. Alternatively, the conveyance vehicle 204 may be driven to the destination 210 , and the lay flat hose 304 may be laid towards the water source 208 . Besides spools 300 , the conveyance vehicle 204 may carry smaller off-road vehicles 212 and/or various other types of equipment 214 that facilitate the rapid deployment and retrieval of a frac water transfer system in accordance with embodiments of the invention. One or more conveyance vehicles 204 and/or off-road vehicles 212 may be used to transport additional spools 300 of lay flat hose 304 or other equipment 214 , if necessary, to the current pipeline 216 work location.
The current pipeline 216 work location is defined herein as the vicinity of the location at which the last segment of lay flat hose 304 has been laid. The spools 300 may be offloaded from the conveyance vehicle 204 in a manner similar to that used in loading the skids onto the conveyance vehicle 204 . However, a different manner of offloading the spools 300 from the conveyance vehicle 204 may be used. For example, if a forklift was used to lift and load the spools 300 onto the conveyance vehicle 204 , a forklift may also be used to lift and offload the spools 300 from the conveyance vehicle 204 . But the spools 300 may also be offloaded manually or with the aid of any other machinery suitable for lifting heavy equipment.
In one or more embodiments, smaller off-road vehicles 212 (see FIGS. 1-15 ) may be used to transport the spools 300 from the conveyance vehicle 204 to the current pipeline work location. The off-road vehicle(s) 212 may be one or more all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), each towing a trailer capable of being towed in an all-terrain environment. The vehicles 212 may position the trailer proximate a spool such that the lifting mechanism on the vehicles 212 is capable of lifting and offloading a spool 300 and lifting and loading the spool 300 onto the trailer. A vehicle (or vehicles) 212 can be positioned near work location 216 as can be a trailer carrying spools 300 .
Laying Out Hose from Vehicle
The segment of lay flat hose 304 to be laid may be unwound from the spool 300 . The trailer on which the spool 300 is sitting may comprise a friction roller drive mechanism (not shown) for unwinding the lay flat hose 304 from the spool 300 . A shaft comprising mounted friction rollers may be in contact with the circumferential surface of the sidewalls of the spool 300 . A remote hydraulic power pack may provide the source of power to rotate the shaft, thus rotating the friction rollers in the same direction. The friction rollers may comprise an outside contact surface made of a material having a high coefficient of friction. The contact of the rotating friction rollers with the circumferential surfaces of the sidewalls of the spool 300 in turn causes the spool 300 to rotate in the direction opposite of that in which the friction rollers (and correspondingly, the shaft) are rotating. As the spool 300 rotates, the lay flat hose 304 may be unwound and offloaded from the spool 300 . In one or more embodiments, the drive mechanism may unwind the lay flat hose 304 from the spools 300 at a rate ranging from about 1 mph to about 4 mph.
FIG. 44 is a side view of vehicle 212 shown laying out hose 304 from a reel 300 . In this figure it is shown that hose 304 is being laid out from the rear or second end 1010 of vehicle 212 . FIG. 45 is a rear perspective view of vehicle 212 taken from the non-driver side shown laying out hose 304 from reel 300 . FIG. 46 is a rear perspective view of vehicle 212 taken from the driver side shown laying out hose from a reel.
As section 314 of hose lays on the ground and vehicle 212 moves in the direction of arrow 900 hose 304 is impart torsional forces on reel 300 causing reel 300 to tend to rotate in the direction of arrow 920 . During this process drive axle subsystem 502 is coupled to reel 300 , and motor 511 can provide a braking action against free spinning of reel 300 . Depending on the speed of vehicle 212 in the direction of arrow 900 , operator can selectively control the rate of rotation of axle drive subsystem 502 (and thereby reel 304 ) to prevent over-spinning of reel 300 and allowing the flat laying of lay flat hose 304 in the direction of arrow 910 .
Taking Up Previously Layed Out Hose
FIG. 47 is a front perspective view of vehicle 212 taken from the non-driver side showing the taking up of hose 304 from the ground. FIG. 48 is a side view of vehicle 212 showing the taking up of hose 304 from the ground. FIG. 49 is a front perspective view of vehicle 212 taken from the driver side showing the taking up of hose 304 from the ground.
As section 314 of hose is taken up from the ground and vehicle 212 moves in the direction of arrow 900 axle drive subsystem 502 imparts torsional forces on reel 300 causing reel 300 to tend to rotate in the direction of arrow 940 . During this process drive axle subsystem 502 is coupled to reel 300 , and motor 511 can over-rotate reel 300 to maintain tension in hose 318 and assist in removal of water from section 317 of hose being taken up. Depending on the speed of vehicle 212 in the direction of arrow 900 , operator can selectively control the rate of rotation of axle drive subsystem 502 (and thereby reel 304 ) to maintain over rotation of reel 300 and tension in hose section 318 , and pick up hose section in the direction of arrow 950 and allowing a dewatered and flat section of lay flat hose 304 to be wound onto reel 300 .
During the take up process tensioning subsystem 602 comprising plurality of rollers 603 , 604 , 605 engages lay flat hose 304 in an alternating over-and-under configuration (arrows 690 , 692 , and 694 schematically indicate such over and under engagement). As the lay flat hose 304 passes through the rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 of the tensioning subsystem 602 , rotational forces on reel 300 from axial shaft 506 cause tensile forces to act upon the lay flat hose 304 , flattening the lay flat hose 304 and ensuring that it is neatly and tightly wound onto the spool 300 . Further, because the tensioning subsystem 602 flattens the lay flat hose 304 , fluid is thereby squeezed out and removed from the lay flat hose 304 . This water removing effect may efficiently dry the lay flat hose 304 and allows it to be readily deployed for further use or stored for later use. In various embodiments, the rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 of the tensioning subsystem 602 may be disposed towards the front of the crawler 212 to facilitate retrieval or take up of the lay flat hose 304 while the crawler 212 is moving in a forward direction.
The rollers 603 , 604 , and 605 may be disposed at a height above the ground sufficient to vertically lift the lay flat hose 304 off the ground to reduce any wear and tear of the lay flat hose 304 that may otherwise occur by its scraping against the ground during retrieval along with also facilitating removal of water from the vertically lifted portion of the lay flat hose.
As shown in FIGS. 49 and 50 , middle roller 604 may be pivotally connected to support structure 606 . As shown in FIGS. 10-13 , middle roller 604 can have a handle 609 to facilitate selective pivoting of roller 604 relative to rollers 603 and 605 . Pivoting middle roller 604 allows end coupling 310 to pass through tensioning system 602 .
Vehicle
Vehicle(s) 400 may be tracked carriers or “crawlers” 212 as illustrated in FIGS. 1-15 . Vehicle 212 can provide an under carriage or tracked chassis 213 that enables the vehicle 212 to travel over the terrain where the pipeline 216 is to be placed. The vehicle 212 may have deck or bed 402 , a lifting subsystem 404 , a drive axle subsystem 502 , and a tensioning subsystem 602 . The crawler 212 may be designed to be small enough for maneuverability in tight spaces, but yet large enough to optimize the number of trips required to deploy the lay flat hose 304 and to optimize the time required to complete the trips.
In one or more embodiments, the crawler 212 may have a full length ranging from about 12 ft. to about 15 ft., a full width ranging from about 5 ft. to about 7 ft., and a carrying capacity of over 7,000 lbs. Powered by an engine having between about 70 hp to about 80 hp or more, the crawler 212 may travel at a maximum speed ranging from about 4 mph to about 8 mph or higher. A driver-operator of the crawler 212 may be seated in a location relative to the bed or deck 402 such that the lay flat hose 304 may be laid along the pipeline path 216 without obstructing the driver-operator's forward view. The bed 402 may be designed to provide a stable support structure for at least the spool 300 , the lay flat hose 304 , and the spool's base 406 .
Loading and Unloading Reels to and/or from Deck of Vehicle
FIGS. 1-10 and 14-18 illustrate the lifting subsystem 404 of the crawler 212 in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. The lifting subsystem 404 may comprise any mechanism capable of lifting the spool 300 (or the combination of spool 300 and base 406 ) and placing it on the deck or bed 402 of the crawler 212 .
In various embodiments, the lifting subsystem 404 comprises one or more arms 408 , 409 . An operator may control the movement of the arms 408 , 409 via hydraulic cylinders 414 , 415 . The lift system 404 provides a pair of spaced apart arms 408 , 409 . Each arm is pivotally attached to chassis 213 . Arm 408 is attached to chassis 213 at pivotal connection 416 . Arm 409 is attached to chassis 213 at pivotal connection 417 . Hydraulic cylinders 414 , 415 are provided for raising or lowering arms 408 , 409 . Each cylinder 414 , 415 has an extendable portion or pushrod. Cylinder 414 has extendable pushrod 422 . Cylinder 415 has extendable pushrod 423 .
Each arm 408 , 409 can be a telescoping arm, providing an extendable section. Arm 408 can telescope and lengthen by extending section 420 . Arm 409 can telescope and lengthen by extending section 421 (see arrows 424 ). Each cylinder 414 , 415 is pinned or otherwise connected to chassis 213 .
An operator may control the arms 408 , 409 to lift the spool 300 (or spool 300 plus base 406 ) off the ground and place the spool 300 (or spool 300 plus base 406 ) onto the bed 402 of the crawler 212 in an upright position (see FIGS. 7-9, 12 and 1-3 ). The lifting subsystem 404 of the crawler 212 may also be used to load and offload the spools 300 (or spool 300 plus base 406 ) from the conveyance vehicles 204 .
Each cylinder 414 , 415 pushrod 422 , 423 is connected (pinned) to an arm 408 or 409 (see FIGS. 14-18 ). Pushrod 422 is pinned or pivotally attached at 416 to arm 408 . Pushrod 423 is pinned or pivotally connected at 417 to arm 409 . Each of the arms 408 , 409 provides a free end portion in the form of a fitting 425 or 426 . The arm 408 provides fitting 425 . The arm 409 provides fitting 426 . Each of the fittings 425 , 426 can be in the form of a projecting portion, eyelet, or other lifting device that can be used to form a connection with a lifting sling that also connects to the reel 300 . Fittings 425 , 426 can each support or shackle to connect with a sling. The reel 300 could provide a hub or drum 308 that could be configured to form a connection with an eyelet of a lifting sling. Such lifting slings are commercially available and known. Slings are typically in the form of an elongated cable having a loop at each end portion of the cable. To lift a spool, two slings would be employed. Each sling would be attached to an arm 408 , 409 at a fitting 425 or 426 . Each sling would connect to spool 300 at hub or drum 308 .
FIGS. 24-28 show a spool 300 supported upon its base 406 and prior to be loaded upon the deck or bed 402 of vehicle 212 . In order to lift the spool 300 and its base 406 upon chassis 213 of vehicle 212 , the fittings 425 , 426 of arms 408 , 409 would each be provided with a sling 427 . Typically, such a lifting sling 427 would have eyelet end portions, one eyelet end portion attached to a fitting 425 of arm 408 , the other sling having an eyelet that would be attached to the fitting 426 of the arm 409 . These two slings would then be connected to opposing sides of the hub or drum 308 of spool 300 . The spool 300 and its base 406 would then be lifted upwardly as illustrated by the arrows 427 .
FIGS. 29-34 schematically illustrate lifting subsystem 404 of vehicle 212 lifting spool 300 from a ground surface 352 . FIGS. 29 and 30 are respectively side and perspective views of the reel lifting system 404 about to pick up a reel 300 . Sling 427 is used to connect reel 300 to ends 425 and 426 of arms 408 , 408 . FIG. 31 is an enlarged perspective view of a connection using lifting slings 427 between the reel lifting system 300 and the reel 300 . FIGS. 32 and 33A are rear views of the reel lifting system 404 about to pick up a reel 300 from the ground 352 . FIG. 33B is an enlarged view of a connection (sling 427 ) between the reel lifting system 404 and reel 300 . During this movement rods 422 and 423 are respectively retracted into pistons 414 and 415 causing arms 408 and 409 to move in the direction of arrow 492 . FIG. 34 is a side view of reel lifting system 404 , having picked up reel 300 and now in mid path with motion schematically indicated by arrow 492 . FIG. 35 is a side view of reel lifting system 404 now placing the lifted reel 300 on deck 802 .
After being placed on deck 802 , drive axle subsystem 502 can be operably connected to reel 300 , to control rotation of reel 300 . FIG. 39 shows this type of connection with arrow 598 schematically indicating that telescoping section 520 can be extended in the direction of arrow 598 to operable couple reel 300 with drive axle subsystem 502 .
FIG. 36 is a perspective view of reel lifting system 404 about to pick up a reel 300 from a raised deck area 358 such as a trailer. In order to attach sling 427 to reel 300 at this upper height H, telescoping arms 420 and 421 can be selectively extended and/or retracted by an operator. Arrows 498 schematically indicate selective extension and/or retraction of arms 420 and 421 relative to arms 408 and 409 . As shown in FIG. 18 a hydraulic piston/cylinder type arrangement can be used to extend and/or retract arms 420 , 421 relative to arms 408 , 409 . FIG. 37 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle in mid path when loading a reel. During this movement rods 422 and 423 are respectively retracted into pistons 414 and 415 causing arms 408 and 409 to move in the direction of arrow 492 . Additionally, telescoping arms 420 and 421 can be selectively retracted (schematically indicated by arrow 493 ) into arms 408 and 409 causing spool 300 to be lowered towards deck 802 . FIG. 38 is a perspective view of the reel lifting system of the vehicle placing the reel on the deck of the vehicle. During this movement telescoping arms 420 and 421 can be selectively retracted by an operator to place base 350 of reel 300 on deck 802 of vehicle 212 .
Couplings for Lay Flat Hose Sections
Any type of coupling 310 suitable for connecting two ends of the lay flat hose 304 may be used. For example, in one or more embodiments, the first end 306 of each laid hose segment 304 may be connected to the second end 312 of the previously laid lay flat hose segment 304 using an easy to connect, unisex coupling 310 that substantially eliminates water leakage and has a suitable pressure rating. In the foregoing described manner, the lay flat hose 304 may be connected in series, from end to end, until a pipeline 216 spanning at least the length from the water source 208 to the frac water destination 210 , or vice-versa, is constructed.
Components of Pipeline Incorporating Laid Out Hose
One or more pumps 218 may be integrated within the pipeline 216 to force the flow of water through the pipeline 216 . One or more filter pods 220 may also be integrated within the pipeline 216 to remove particulate matter originating from the water source 208 before the frac water reaches its destination 210 . More than one lay flat hose 304 pipelines 216 may be constructed as part of the rapid deployment and retrieval of a system for transferring frac water. As previously described, design parameters 222 may be determined based in part on insight gained from the computer program product 224 .
U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/479,641 and U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0059226 A1 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
One or more embodiments of the invention are directed to methods for the rapid deployment and retrieval of frac water transfer systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention.
Accordingly, compared to conventional methods, embodiments of the present invention may substantially reduce the number of person-hours and the number of one-way vehicular trips required to complete the pipeline, thereby reducing cost and the potential for harm to humans and the environment.
Locking and Unlocking System for Reel
FIG. 52 is a front perspective view of vehicle 212 from the non-driver side and showing the reel locking system 850 . FIG. 53 is a front perspective view of vehicle 212 with a reel 300 loaded on the vehicle bed 800 and the reel locking system 850 in an unlocked state. FIG. 54 is an enlarged perspective view of the reel locking system 850 shown in an unlocked state. FIG. 55 is a front perspective view of vehicle 212 with the reel locking system 850 in a locked state so that pivoting arm 860 has pivoted over base 350 of reel 300 . FIG. 56 is an enlarged perspective view of the reel locking system 850 shown in the locked state. To move from the locked to unlocked state, controller 870 can cause arm 860 to rotate in the direction of arrow 862 and away from base 350 .
Reel locking system 850 can include a pivoting arm 860 which pivots in the direction of arrow 862 over base 350 to lock reel 300 in position. Controller 870 can place reel locking system in locked and unlocked states.
The following is a list of reference numerals used in this application:
REFERENCE NUMERAL LISTING
REFERENCE NUMBER
DESCRIPTION
200
system
202
one or more spools or reels
204
one or more conveyance vehicles
206
equipment site
208
water source
210
frac water destination
212
off-road vehicles/crawler
213
tracked chassis/under carriage
214
various other types of equipment
216
current pipeline
218
one or more pumps
290
arrow
300
reel
301
axis
302
spokes
304
one or more segments of lay flat hose
306
first end
308
drum
310
coupling
312
second end
314
section of laid out hose
316
section of laid out hose with water
318
section of hose with water removed
320
bearing
330
connection with reel drive system
350
spool's base
352
ground
358
elevated surface
404
lifting subsystem
406
spool's base
408
arm
409
arm
410
one or more linkages
414
one or more hydraulic cylinder
415
hydraulic cylinder
416
pivotal connection
417
pivotal connection
418
pinned connection
419
pinned connection
420
extendable section
421
extendable section
422
pushrod
423
pushrod
424
arrow
425
fitting
426
fitting
427
shackle
490
arrow
492
arrow
493
arrow
494
arrow
496
arrow
498
arrow
502
drive axle subsystem
504
drive shaft
506
axial shaft
508
first gear
510
second gear
511
motor
512
chain
513
guard
520
telescoping connection
522
first end
524
second end
530
first section
540
second section
550
connection
552
locking connection
590
arrow
592
arrow
596
arrow
602
tensioning subsystem
603
roller
604
roller
605
roller
606
support structure
608
take up deck
609
handle
610
pivot
611
rod
612
coupling
620
support cup
622
plurality of bearings
612
hydraulic cylinder
690
arrow
692
arrow
694
arrow
696
arrow
698
arrow
704
one or more design parameters
706
computer program product output
708
step
710
step
712
step
714
step
716
step
718
lay flat hose pipeline
720
step
802
bed/deck
803
cab/cabin
850
reel locking system
860
pivoting arm
862
arrow
864
arrow
870
arrow
890
arrow
892
arrow
894
arrow
900
arrow
910
arrow
920
arrow
930
arrow
940
arrow
1000
first end
1010
second end
The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims. | A method of and apparatus for the rapid deployment of a fracturing water transferring system, along with the rapid picking up and storage of such system after use. In different embodiments the method in includes the use of a tensioning system to retrieve one or more segments of lay flat hose. | 1 |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a drain gutter debris guard to be installed on conventional gutter to prevent leaves, tree needles, bark and other debris from entering and clogging the gutter. Further, the present invention includes a method of making the drain gutter debris guard according to the present invention.
2. Prior Art
Gutters are for collecting rain water flowing off the roof and to direct the water away from the foundation of the building. The clogging of gutters is a leading cause of wet basements and crawl spaces in houses. Gutter cleaning must be done periodically to prevent blockages that impede the flow of water. Many soils with high moisture content expand fully when wet and shrink when dry, exerting pressure on the foundation that can cause them to crack and leak.
Clogged gutters fill up with water exerting heavy weight at the midpoint between downspouts causing the gutters to sag and thereby reversing the normal drainage slope. Standing water, rotting leaves and trapped debris in the gutters produce corrosive acids causing damage to the gutters, roof and building fascia and soffit.
Gutter cleaning is hazardous, especially for elderly people. The customary way to clean gutters is by hand with a ladder from below or on the roof above. There are a number of relatively new systems for cleaning leaves out of gutters such as air blowers or vacuum devices, water pressure hoses, and mechanical snakes to get the trapped debris out of the downspouts.
The solution to all of these problems is to prevent leaves, tree needles, seeds, bark and other outdoor type debris from ever entering the drain gutter.
There exists a number of drain gutter guards that are available on the market and/or have been patented. Some of these guards use a screen or mesh type material to cover the upper opening into the conventional drain gutter to prevent debris from entering the drain gutter while allowing rain water to drain from the roof into the drain gutter. These types of guards provide initial protection when first installed in preventing larger debris, particularly leaves, from entering the drain gutter. However, smaller size debris such as tree needles, particles of barks, deteriorate leaves, fall leaf chips, spring tree blossoms, twigs and other debris measuring less than a quarter inch tend to penetrate through many of the guards using larger mesh size and eventually clod the drain gutter. In order to alleviate the problem, the guard must be removed from the gutter to get at the debris for removal. This is a bothersome chore for a homeowner and a continuing source of frustration.
Further, with time, smaller debris that is still too large to penetrate fully through the guard but small enough to begin penetrating the larger mesh of the guard becomes trapped and eventually clods the guard preventing the entry of water into the drain gutter and defeating the primary functioning of the drain gutter.
Some attempts have been made to reduce the mesh size of the material used in constructing the guards, however, the structural strength of this material with respect to bending greatly decreases with decreasing mesh size requiring structural supporting or stiffening in order to bridge the dimension of the opening of the conventional drain gutter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,957 to Knowles, discloses a gutter guard utilizing a metal frame for supporting fine mesh screening that spans only a portion of the opening into a conventional gutter covering (i.e. approximately one-half (1/2) to three-fifths (3/5) the span). A different approach to this problem was attempted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,686 to Rees, which discloses a rain gutter assembly using a larger size mesh screen supporting a filter pad fastened in contiguous relationship beneath the screen. In this assembly, the larger size mesh screen is used as a structural stiffener and support for the filter pad, which provides a high filtering effect to prevent fine debris from passing through the assembly into the drain gutter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved drain gutter guard.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved gutter guard that is clog-proof through long periods of use.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved gutter guard that provides a self-cleaning action to any debris that falls or is swept onto the gutter guard by rain water or wind.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a gutter guard that is structurally stable and can endure hard and long use with continued functioning through long periods of use.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved gutter guard that is economical to construct and easy to install and maintain through long periods of use.
The present invention is directed to an improved drain gutter guard that is able to provide a number of advantages as set forth in the above objectives.
The gutter guard according to the present invention combines a fine mesh screen material with a structural stiffener. The screen material and structural stiffener can be made as separate components that can be assembled together and remain as separate components or made integral. Alternatively, the screen material and structural stiffener can be made simultaneously in a one-piece construction.
An important feature of the present invention is to provide a structural stiffener for the screen material that strengthens the screen material by reducing the span of unsupported screen material. Specifically, the structural stiffener is provided in the form of a matrix lattice that supports the screen material. The dimensions between portions of the lattice are limited to reduce the dimensions of unsupported screen material. The screen material supported in this manner provides fine mesh screening of debris from rain water while having sufficient structural strength to prevent substantial flexing or bending of the screen material under load, for example by rushing rain water, or debris temporarily settling on the mesh material prior to being washed away by rain water or blown away by wind.
The fine mesh screen used in the construction of the gutter guard according to the present invention prevents even small size debris from passing through the guard. Further, the mesh size can be selected to be sufficiently fine to somewhat prevent needle tips from entering or remaining stuck in the mesh, which could cause eventual clogging like in the prior art gutter guards. Any debris that is carried onto the guard by moving rain water will not penetrate the guard in any significant manner due to the small sized mesh and will be washed over the edge of the guard as rain water continues to flow into the gutter. Any debris that is not washed off the gutter guard will eventually dry out and be blown away by wind, since the debris will be unable to cling onto the fine mesh material. Thus, the construction of the gutter guard according to the present invention provides a self-cleaning action.
The structural stiffener according to the present invention can take on many different forms. As mentioned above, the structural stiffener is a matrix of material that limits the span of the screen material while stiffening the screen material in a direction bridging the opening into a conventional gutter. The structural stiffener supports the screen in at least one dimension (i.e. direction across gutter opening) and preferably two dimensions (i.e. plane of the gutter opening) against bending in a third dimension (i.e. direction into the gutter or direction of gravitational force). Further, the structural stiffener is designed to allow water to readily flow therethrough and not significantly impede the flow of water through the screen material that it is supporting.
The structural stiffener is preferably positioned beneath the screen material in order that the top surface of the gutter guard is as "clean" (i.e. no projections or other debris catching means) as possible to prevent any impediment to debris attaching to the upper surface of the gutter guard. As mentioned above, it is preferably to select a screen size that makes it difficult for even smaller size debris to significantly penetrate into or attach to the fine mesh screen material. Alternatively, the structural stiffener can be made integral with the screen material. However, again it is desirable the upper surface of the integral screen/stiffener assembly be as clean as possible to prevent attachment of debris.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the gutter guard according to present invention installed on a conventional gutter on a house;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the gutter guard according to the present invention installed on a conventional gutter;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a two component embodiment of the gutter guard according to the present invention, separated apart for illustration purposes;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the gutter guard shown in FIG. 3 when assembled;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a gutter guard according to the present invention separated apart for illustration purposes;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the gutter guard shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a further embodiment of a gutter guard according to the present invention with a connecting strip;
FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the gutter guard shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 8B is a perspective view showing an even further embodiment of a gutter guard according to the present invention with a connecting strip; and
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an even still further embodiment of a gutter guard according to the present invention with a connecting strip.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A gutter guard 10 according to the present invention is shown installed on a conventional drain gutter 12 mounted on a house, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The gutter guard 10 extends across the opening 14 in the drain gutter 12 to prevent leaves, tree needles, bark and other common outdoor debris from entering the drain gutter 12.
As shown in FIG. 2, the gutter guard 10 is installed on the conventional drain gutter 12 with one edge 18 inserted up under shingle 16 on the house and the opposite edge 20 fitted into a bent lip portion 22 of the conventional gutter. In this installation, the connection of the gutter guard 10 with the gutter 12 is defined by the edge portion 20 being received within the curved lip portion 22 of the gutter 12 and held in place thereby. Alternatively, the gutter guard can be attached by other means such as adhesive (e.g. caulking) and/or mechanical fasteners (e.g. hooks) to different portions or surfaces of the gutter such as the upper side of the curved lip portion 22. Also, the attachment of the edge portion 18 can be made with the gutter as opposed to the shown position under shingle 16.
The gutter guard 10 can be installed so that a slight crown exists across the span of the gutter opening, which tends to keep the edge portion 20 of the gutter guard 10 firmly in place in the curved lip portion 22 of the gutter 12. Further, a slight crown shape of the gutter guard tends to keep the gutter guard free of debris.
The embodiment of the gutter guard according to the present invention shown in FIG. 3 is made of a fine mesh screen 24 supported by a structural stiffener matrix such as wire mesh 26 or plastic mesh, for example quarter inch gauge mesh. The fine mesh screen 24 is preferably plastic screen commonly used in screen windows of homes known as "insect screen" due to its inexpensive cost, however, common wire screen can also be used. For example, the fine mesh screen can be approximately 10×10 gauge of either metal or plastic. The wire mesh 26 is shown with a mesh size significantly greater than the mesh size of the fine mesh screen 24. However, the wire mesh 26 can have a smaller or larger mesh size than that illustrated as long as it does not substantially impede water flow therethrough and provides adequate structural support for the fine mesh screen 24.
The function of the wire mesh 26 is to stiffen the easily bendable fine mesh screen 24. The gauge and material of the wire mesh 26 is selected to provide adequate structural support for the fine mesh screen 26 in bridging the opening 14 of the gutter 12. The assembled structure should provide sufficient support to withstand the forces of substantial water flow off the roof of the house during a hard rain, and to endure transient loads exerted by debris washing over the upper surface thereof. In the even wet debris builds up on top of the gutter guard 10, it is important the gutter guard remain flat or with a crown, depending on the embodiment, as opposed to yielding and becoming concave to prevent the build up of debris over time. The wet debris will dry out and will be removed from the gutter guard by gravity, wind or reoccurring rain flow.
In a preferred embodiment, the fine mesh screen 24 is directly attached to the structural support matrix such as the wire mesh 26, as shown in FIG. 4. The fine mesh screen 24 can be attached by adhesive, mechanical fastener, or heat welded to the wire mesh 26. This attachment of the fine mesh screen 24 with the wire mesh 26 provides an integral assembly that makes it convenient to handle and easy to install. The stock material may be provided in rolls or discrete flat or bent lengths to facilitate transportation and sale thereof.
Another embodiment of a gutter guard 30 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, a fine mesh screen 32 is combined with a structural stiffen matrix in the form of a hexagonal matrix support 34 or honeycomb pattern. This type of structural stiffener is particularly suitable for supporting the fine mesh screen 32 by limiting the span of the fine mesh screen 32 to substantially the same span dimension in any direction within the plane of the fine mesh screen 32 due to the hexagonal geometry of the hexagonal matrix support. The hexagonal matrix material can be made from metal such as aluminum or a suitable plastic having sufficient rigidity such as nylon. In any event, the materials, particularly plastics, must be selected to endure outside weather conditions including direct sunlight, cyclic thermal variations, and contact with water and pollutants in the air.
The fine mesh screen 32 can be attached to the hexagonal matrix support. Alternatively, one or both edges of the assembly can be provide with a connector strip 36, for example made of bent and crimped aluminum, to hold the separate layers together.
A further embodiment of a gutter guard 40 is shown in FIGS. 8A and 89. In this embodiment, a layer 41 having fine mesh holes 42 is combined with a layer 44 having larger mesh holes 46.
An even further embodiment of a gutter guard 50 is shown in FIG. 9. In this embodiment, a fine mesh screen 52 is supported by a structural stiffener matrix 54 having a plurality of elongated openings 56 defining a plurality of supporting ribs 58.
EXAMPLE 1
A fine gauge fiberglass screen is bonded on the outside edge, approximately every 12 inches, to 6 inch wide and 20-25 foot long rolls of flat 1/4 inch plastic/co-polymer mesh forming a single guard.
EXAMPLE 2
Fine gauge aluminum screen is spot welded on the outside edge, approximately every 12 inches, to 6 inch wide and 20-25 foot long rolls of flat 1/4 inch gauge aluminum wire mesh forming a single guard.
EXAMPLE 3
Short sections, for example 30-48 inches long of flat or bowed metal, aluminum or weather protected steel alloys, 1/4 inch screen wire mesh are covered with brite or subdued fine screen wire forming manageable sections of guard.
EXAMPLE 4
Affixing 6 inch wide strips of fine vinyl screen to short sections of vinyl gutter screen.
METHOD OF MAKING
The gutter guard according to the present invention can be made by combining a layer of fine mesh screen with a support matrix such as larger mesh screen. The stock materials can be provided in roll form and combined together by means of guiding rollers to place the fine mesh screen in contact with the larger mesh screen. An adhesive can be applied between the screen layers prior to contact, or some other means of attachment can be made before or after the step of combining the screen layers. | An improved gutter guard comprising a fine screen support by a structural stiffening matrix support. The fine screen prevents the penetration of even fine debris while the stiffening matrix support strengthens the fine screen against bending in order to bridge the opening of a conventional gutter. | 4 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/641,729, filed 2 May 2012, and which application is incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] Various embodiments described herein relate to an apparatus and method for sensing finger motion. More specifically, the embodiments relate to a wireless photoplethysmographic knuckle sensor for capturing finger motion.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Sensing and capturing information on the motion of one or more human fingers has many applications. Finger or digit motion sensing is useful medical devices, computer input devices, electronic communication devices, gaming and entertainment devices, many other devices spanning many fields of technology. A number of commercial and laboratory devices have been developed to capture finger motions using various methods using various technologies such as fiber optic technology, acoustic technology, magnetic sensing technology, strain gauge technology, and electromagnetic technology.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] This invention describes a novel photoplethysmographic system captures a knuckle joint shape change representing finger lift-up and finger put-down motions over a sensing area and produces an optical intensity signal for use in detecting a finger bending event. At least one light source illuminates a knuckle joint interface and the light reflected from the knuckle joint location is captured by a photodiode sensor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:
[0006] FIG. 1 is a top view of a finger motion capture device for sensing finger motions, according to an example embodiment.
[0007] FIG. 2A is a side view of an optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor positioned to detect finger motion, according to an example embodiment.
[0008] FIG. 2B is a top view of an optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor positioned to detect finger motion, according to an example embodiment.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor positioned to measure the change in knuckle shape including synovial fluid volume and the associated extensor tendon travel and the bone movement, according to an example embodiment.
[0010] FIG. 4 shows a system having a number of applications for an optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor applications, according to an example embodiment.
[0011] FIG. 5 shows a wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor social network application, according to an example embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 6A shows a shows a circuit diagram of 2-channel signal amplifier for the wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor, according to an example embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 6B shows a a 4 channel knuckle sensor utilizing analog Mux/DeMux to reduce circuit size, according to an example embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 7 shows a printed circuit board of 2-channel signal amplifier for the wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 7 correlates to the circuit diagram shown in FIG. 6A above.
[0015] FIG. 8 shows an assembly of the wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor installed for wireless finger motion sensor with robotic rehabilitation device, according to an example embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] In the following paper, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the concepts underlying the described embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the described embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the underlying concepts.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a top view of a wearable finger motion capture device 100 device for sensing finger motions on a hand 102 using at least one optical photoplethysmographic motion sensor 101 , according to an example embodiment. The finger motion capture device 100 is a wearable device. As shown in FIG. 1 , the finger motion capture device 100 includes a strap 110 having a plurality of optical photoplethysmographic sensors 101 attached thereto. The optical photoplethysmographic sensors 101 are positioned on the strap 110 to correspond to the position of at least one knuckle, namely, a prominence of the dorsal aspect of a joint of a finger, especially of one of the joints that connect the fingers to the hand. More specifically, the knuckle is the dorsal aspect of any interphalangeal joint, but especially of the metacarpophalangeal joints of the flexed fingers. As shown in FIG. 1 , the finger motion capture device 100 includes photoplethysmographic sensors 101 positioned on the strap 110 at each of four knuckles (not shown in FIG. 1 ) of the hand 105 . It is contemplated that different people will have hands 105 of different sizes and that there may be different spacings between the knuckles on specific hands 105 . It is contemplated, in one embodiment, that there are different sized straps 110 having different spacings between the photoplethysmographic sensors 101 . In another embodiment, the photoplethysmographic sensors 101 are adjustable with respect to the strap 110 so as to accommodate different spacings between the knuckles of a particular hand 105 . Each of the photoplethysmographic sensors 101 includes a light source 210 and a light detector 230 .
[0018] FIG. 2A is a side view and FIG. 2B is a top view of an optical photoplethysmographic sensor positioned on a knuckle to detect finger motion, according to an example embodiment. Now referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B , the optical photoplethysmographic sensor 101 will be further discussed. As mentioned above, the photoplethysmographic sensors 101 includes the light source 210 and the light detector 230 . Light is emitted from the light source 210 . Reflected light is also received or gathered at the light detector 230 . The emission of light from the light emitter 210 is depicted by arrows 211 and 212 . The reflected light from the knuckle joint is depicted by arrow 213 . The reflected light 213 strikes the light detector 230 . The light detector is, in one embodiment, a photodetector which produces a signal in response to an amount of light striking the light detector 230 . The light from the light emitter 210 illuminates at least a portion of the joint associated with the knuckle. The light illuminated area within or around the knuckle joint is depicted by the circle 240 . It should be noted that the light illuminated area 240 can be larger or smaller depending upon the size of the knuckle joint as well as the amount of illumination provided by the light emitter 210 . Also shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B , are the phalanges 207 , the metacarpals 208 , the exterior tendon 209 and the extensor hood 206 .
[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an optical photoplethysmographic sensor 101 positioned to measure the change in knuckle shape, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 3 is an x-ray view of the hand and specifically of one knuckle joint of the hand 105 . Now looking at FIGS. 2A , 2 B and 3 , it can be seen that the knuckle joint includes a sack of synovial fluid 310 and several tendons the pass through the joint to connect the metacarpals 208 to the phalanges 207 . The sensor 101 measures the variations of the reflected optical intensity that originate from the light absorption caused from shape changes of finger knuckles. More specifically, as the finger is moved there is a change in shape in the knuckle joint that results in different amounts of light being reflected back to the light detector 230 of the sensor 101 . In other words, the sensor 101 measures motion of each finger by measuring the amount of light reflected from the knuckle which corresponds to an associated knuckle shape (or joint volume) change caused by different finger positions with respect to the hand. The main knuckle joints are formed by the connections of the phalanges 207 to the metacarpals 208 . The knuckle joints work like a hinge when fingers 207 bend and straighten. Therefore, a click finger motion causes tendon 209 travel and knuckle bone position and synovial fluid 310 volume changes as a function of finger angles. The entire motion can result in a signal that really is a signature of a click motions. Other motions can have other signatures.
[0020] The change in knuckle shape, including synovial fluid volume 310 that is caused by a finger motion and the associated extensor tendon 209 travel and the bone movement can be detected by illuminating the knuckle joint location with the light from the light source 210 , such a light-emitting diode (LED), and then measuring the amount of light reflected to a light detector 230 , such as a photodiode. This can be done at one knuckle or several knuckles. The light detector 230 produces a signal based on the amount reflected light received at the light detector 230 . This can be correlated to a finger position with respect to the hand or main portion of the hand 105 . This can be done for each joint or knuckle joint on the hand 105 . The signal produced by the light detector 230 can be sent to a processor to determine the finger position of a particular joint. The processor can be a computer, a microprocessor or any other type of processor. The knuckle motion sensor 100 can be wired to provide a hardwired connection to the processor. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the knuckle motion sensor 100 communicates wirelessly with a processor or other processing unit. The result is that the knuckle motion sensor 100 does not inhibit the wearer of the device as much as a device which is hardwired to computer or other processor. In addition, the knuckle motion sensor 100 is not connected or attached or otherwise associated with individual fingers or digits. This allows the user to have much more freedom of motion when partaking in various activities which require the use of the fingers or digits. The knuckle motion sensor 100 may also be termed as an optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor.
[0021] The optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor device 100 measures the reflective optical density in a knuckle joint by emitting and gathering a light source. It is recognized that the finger knuckles are playing an important role in motion intention sensing of independent finger motions. Therefore measuring knuckle activation is important to understanding finger motion without any finger attachment devices that can potentially cause hampering sophisticated finger motions such as playing instruments.
[0022] The wireless photoplethysmographic knuckle sensor device 100 provides a for a portable, lightweight and easy to wear finger motion capture device with low noise. The sensor measures the variations of the reflected optical intensity that originate from the light absorption caused from shape changes of finger knuckles. One or multiple-sensor attachment measures motion of each finger from associated knuckle shape (or joint volume) change. The main knuckle joints are formed by the connections of the phalanges to the metacarpals. The knuckle joints work like a hinge when fingers bend and straighten. Therefore, a click finger motion causes tendon travel and knuckle bone position and synovial fluid volume changes as a function of finger angles.
[0023] The change in knuckle shape including synovial fluid volume that is caused by a finger motion and the associated extensor tendon travel and the bone movement can be detected by illuminating the knuckle joint location with the light from a light-emitting diode (LED) and then measuring the amount of light reflected to a photodiode ( FIG. 3 ). Wirelessly transmitting these finger motion data to the various electronics such as a computer for input information process can generate a number of new applications.
[0024] FIG. 4 shows a system having a number of applications for an optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor applications, according to an example embodiment. The new applications are as described in the following paragraphs.
[0025] Application 1: Wireless Computer Input Device
[0026] A wireless device knuckle sensor can produce signals that replace conventional cmputer keyboard. By monitoring moving fingers as they move to input various letters, numbers and signal, the physical keyboard can be removed. The wireless device can be used as a computer input device 415 that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by simply moving one or more fingers like playing a piano. For example, five knuckles in one hand can generate (theoretically) 120 different combinations of signals. With a multi-axis accelerometer, the number of signals can be multiplied if necessary. Particularly, the device can enter a large number of combinations of text or commands (including mouse motion) to a small-size computer 419 such as a cell phone 417 that is too small to contain a normal-sized keyboard and a mouse. Since the device can be operated typically with one hand without actual keyboards, therefore, it provides a hand and eye coordination free computer input environment. In a cell phone 417 , the screen is also used as an input device where a keyboard is displayed on part of the screen. The screen size however is not large enough and requires the keypad to be divided into several screens. In addition the small screen size makes data entry a slow process. The closeness of the characters also makes data entry on a small screen size a challenge for people with large fingers. The technology presented herein provides an answer to many of the problems associated with cell phone 417 data entry. It will also enable a larger penetration of cell phones 417 as a data collection tool in environments where a smaller screen is not usable (such as cold places where people wear gloves). It should be noted that this same technology can be used to free desk space in an office environment. In one embodiment, the combination of different knuckle intensities measured at one instant can indicate the character, number or symbol being input. In another embodiment, the different intensities over a portion of time produce a signature signal that indicates input of a particular letter, symbol or number.
[0027] The knuckle sensor technology presented here will enable cell phone applications that are limited now due to the difficulty of entering data using traditional means on a cell phone 417 or tablet device. The technology will also improve usability of cell phone 417 or tablet devices 416 as a general purpose communication and computing device by increasing the rate of entering data through different finger movements and combination of finger motion with other sensor data.
[0028] Application 2: Wireless Gaming Input Device
[0029] A wireless device knuckle sensor can replace conventional gaming input device 219 that is used with games or entertainment systems 219 to provide input to a video game, typically to control an object or character in the game. Signals produced by the knuckle sensor from moving fingers and a moving hand can substitute for a game controller that requires certain knobs or buttons or joysticks and the like to be pushed or otherwise moved to provide input to a game. The wireless device as a game controller for computer and video games can achieve greater speed and accurate movement for the gamer. Furthermore, it provides a large number of gaming signal input combinations that would be useful for complex gaming software that requires various gaming inputs from gamers. For example, five knuckles in one hand can generate at least 120 different combinations of signals. With a multi-axis accelerometer, the device can detect the game player's motions and finger motions as the inputs for a game. In one embodiment, the device can be operated with one hand without holding an actual device. This would provide a hand and eye coordination free gaming input environment. In another embodiment, two handed control oculd be used to add further input and allow for still more complex control. It is further contemplated that certain movement over time could produce signature signals for controlling a game or the like. It can also be used as a communication device in a gaming application where participants use sign language 420 to communicate ideas with each other.
[0030] Application 3: Wireless Sign Language Translation Device
[0031] With a multi-axis accelerometer, the wireless knuckle sensor device can detect the user's hand/arm motions and finger motions as a communication aid for the deaf or people who are hard of hearing. A wireless device knuckle sensor with a computer-based system can convert the sign language motions of individual speech to text or computer-generated voice ( FIG. 4 ). The wireless devices can provide instantaneous translation of sign language. The device can be used as a means of communication in dark or noisy areas by exchanging signs and translating these signs into messages by means of an actuator at the receiving end ( FIG. 4 ). In education domain, it can be used as a teaching appliance for teaching sign language or as a self assessment device for one to learn sign language themselves.
Application 4: Remote Control and Rehabilitation
[0032] Many people suffer from diseases that limit their bodily functions. In such cases, this device is an effective rehabilitation device for a number of patients who have a disorder of the body's nervous system. This technology can be used in military and industrial applications for remote control of robots, vehicles and appliances ( FIG. 4 ). It can be used by physically disabled people to control appliances and robots around them to aid their mobility or interactions with real and virtual environments.
[0033] FIG. 5 shows a wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor social network application, according to an example embodiment. This device will enable people with certain disabilities become an active participant of social networks and environments as a communication enables between people with disabilities and without ( FIG. 5 ). In social gaming applications it can be used for silent chatting or silent games. In a gaming application where the shape of the hand (such as flat hand or fist) makes a difference (such as sports gaming, exercise and other applications requiring hand shape interaction) the technology can offer a solution to detect the shape of the hand and communicate to a game console or computer.
[0034] Various example embodiments include the following:
[0035] 1. An optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor which measures the reflective optical density in a knuckle joint by emitting and gathering a light source.
[0036] 2. A sensor that measures the variations of the reflected optical intensity that originate from the light absorption caused from shape changes of finger knuckles.
[0037] 3. The measurement of the change in knuckle shape including synovial fluid volume that is caused by a finger motion and the associated extensor tendon travel and the bone movement by illuminating the knuckle joint location with the light from a light-emitting diode (LED) and then measuring the amount of light reflected to a photodiode.
[0038] 4. A number of new commercial applications by wirelessly transmitting finger motion data to the various electronics such as a computer for input information process.
[0039] 5. A device that can enter a large number of combinations of text or commands (including mouse motion) to a small-size computer such as a cell phone or tablet computer that is too small to contain a normal-sized keyboard and a mouse.
[0040] 6. A device can be operated with one hand without actual keyboards, therefore, it provides a hand and eye coordination free computer input environment.
[0041] 7. A device that provides a large number of gaming signal input combinations that would be useful for complex gaming software that would require various gaming inputs from gamers.
[0042] 8. An effective rehabilitation device for a number of patients who have a disorder of the body's nervous system.
[0043] 9. A computer-based system that can convert the sign language motions of individual speech to text or computer-generated voice, and thus provides instantaneous translation of sign language.
[0044] FIG. 6A shows a shows a circuit diagram 600 of 2-channel signal amplifier for the wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor, according to an example embodiment. A first channel is depicted by the reference number 610 and the second channel is depicted by the reference number 620 . Each of the first channel 610 and the second channel 620 have substantially identical components. Therefore, for the sake of brevity only the first channel 610 and it's components will be discussed. The circuit 600 includes a preamplification portion 612 , a signal filtering portion 614 and power amplification portion 616 . The preamplifier portion 612 amplifies the signal received from a photodetector of the device 100 . The amplified signal 613 is input to the filter to remove unwanted noise and enhance the signal. The filtered output 615 is then input to the power amplification portion. The output 617 from the power amplification portion 616 is input to the next portion of the circuit shown in FIG. 6B .
[0045] FIG. 6B shows a 4 channel knuckle sensor utilizing analog Mux/DeMux to reduce circuit size, according to an example embodiment. This is a continuation of the circuit 600 shown n FIG. 6A . The circuit 600 also includes an analog to digital converter 630 . The output is sent wirelessly to a computing device where the signal is compared to past signals and correlated to either a position of one or more knuckles or to a motion of one or more bones, such as fingers and those of the hand.
[0046] FIG. 7 shows a printed circuit board of 2-channel signal amplifier for the wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 7 correlates to the circuit diagram shown in FIG. 6A above.
[0047] FIG. 8 shows an assembly of the wireless optical photoplethysmographic knuckle motion sensor 810 installed for wireless finger motion sensor with robotic rehabilitation device 820 , according to an example embodiment.
[0048] Discussed above is a photoplethysmographic sensor for a knuckle joint. It is further contemplated that this technology could be adapted and used on other joints in a human or other animal.
[0049] A computer or other processor can be used to store data and tables to correlate the positions of bones near a joint to the intensity of light reflected from the joint. For example, data related to light reflected from one or more knuckles can be stored in a database in a computer. The computer can be programmed to relate one or more subsequent measurements from a joint to various joint or bone positions or signatures associated with motions that involve the joint and surrounding body portions.
[0050] A machine-readable medium provides instructions to a machine, such as a computer or microprocessor. The computer generally includes a personal computer, a network that includes computing elements, handheld devices that include microprocessors and the like. When executed by the machine the instructions cause the machine to perform operations including measuring an amount of reflected light from a joint when bones near the joint are in a plurality of positions, and associating the amount of reflected light from a joint to a position the one or more plurality of positions. The instructions will also cause the machine to determine a position of the bones near a joint based on subsequent measures of an amount of reflected light from a joint. In another embodiment, the instructions, when executed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations further including determining a motion from a plurality of subsequent measures of reflected light of the bones near a joint. The computer readable media includes storage devices such as disk drives, solid state memories, or the like. In addition, media contemplates an internet connection to such storage devices. When a computing device or microprocessor runs the instruction set it is generally termed a specialized machine.
[0051] This has been a detailed description of some exemplary embodiments of the invention(s) contained within the disclosed subject matter. Such invention(s) may be referred to, individually and/or collectively, herein by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. The detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof and which shows by way of illustration, but not of limitation, some specific embodiments of the invention, including a preferred embodiment. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand and implement the inventive subject matter. Other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive subject matter. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. | This invention describes a novel photoplethysmographic system captures a joint shape change representing different positions of bones and tendons near the joint. At least one light source illuminates a joint interface and the light reflected from the joint location is captured by a photodiode sensor. Motions and positions of the bones surrounding the joint can be determined. One joint includes the knuckle. Finger lift-up motions, finger put-down motions, and finger bending events can be determined by monitoring a sensing area at the knuckle joint. | 0 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/099,321, filed Apr. 4, 2005 now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/419,360, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,931,591, filed Oct. 15, 1999. U.S. application Ser. No. 11/099,321 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,931,591 are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to the field of electronic publishing, and more particularly, a tool for the creation of graphically based customizable collateral materials such as advertisements, brochures, signs, door hangers, etc. and anything needing localization from an online, master inventory of supplied elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
By way of example, the present invention is described in reference to advertising and the requirements between a manufacturer and its distribution channel. However, any publishing requirements established by any entity such as franchisers, distributors, insurance companies, mutual fund companies and each of the respective agents can take advantage of the present invention.
In the field of print advertising, there are specific channels through which merchants produce advertisements. Typically, a merchant or a dealer who wishes to create a particular print advertisement turns to Co Op Ad books supplied by the manufacturers. In these Co Op Ad books, manufacturers provide pre-approved company logos, trademarks, graphics, and other relevant promotional materials to be used in advertising campaigns, local ads, and other print media. The manufacturers may participate in the advertising costs and collateral printing costs. As a result, manufacturers experience significant costs in maintaining the materials supplied to the merchants or dealers and exert very little control in how the materials are utilized. Overall, this type of marketing program is expensive to maintain and update, difficult to use by the merchants or dealers, and difficult for the manufacturers to monitor compliance by the merchants or dealers. Furthermore, once the proper layout of the advertisement has been completed, there exists the difficult task of getting the hard copy to the printers for publishing.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to develop an online channel to facilitate content providers in making available all advertising graphics, materials and layouts that meet their specification and/or rule-set. With such a system, merchants or dealers on one side would have much easier access to advertising materials provided by the manufacturers on the other side. In addition, the completed layout of the advertisements could easily be transferred electronically to the publishers for printing. This would allow more efficient application of advertising materials than ever before.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention facilitates the specification and distribution of templated content materials by a content provider over an information exchange network such as the Internet. The present invention incorporates a system for managing inventories of graphical elements and their relationships to pre-defined page templates. At database capable of keeping track of users and their corresponding access privileges within the system is employed to monitor user activity. Ultimately, through the use of a software component delivered over the Internet for use within standard web browsers, end-users are able to populate templates under the constraints imposed by the rules of the manufacturers at the time of template design. The population elements which “fill in the blanks” of the pre-defined templates may be either of type IMAGE or TEXT. Image regions are populated by choosing from a subset of the entire image inventory, while TEXT types can be completely free form, with specific rules guiding justification, point size, font, and leading, or “fill in the blank” form with the same constraint rules as fee form. Once the end user has met all of the criteria for a fully populated template, the system provides sophisticated means for downloading a high resolution file (such s a print-ready file or other file representation of the composed publication) which encapsulates all resources needed (layout, images, fonts, and constraint geometries) to fulfill the requirements of the publication. The downloaded file may be printed or published by electronic transfer, e.g., to a publisher for printing of the actual publication.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of a computer network through which the publishing process of the present invention may be implemented:
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of a computer system that facilitates the publishing process of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the publication layout system;
FIG. 4 is a diagram of the advertisement layout window;
FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the Administrative Toolkit;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart representation of the processes via the end user composition interface.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present description is of the best presently contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best, determined by reference to the appended-claims.
The present invention is directed to publishing of content, such as graphics and textual material. To facilitate an understanding of the principles and features of the present, invention, they are explained herein below with reference to its deployments and implementations in illustrative embodiments. By way of example and not limitation, the present invention is described herein-below in reference to examples of deployments and implementations for advertisements and, more particularly, composing and publishing advertisements via an information exchange environment and, more particularly, in the Internet environment.
The present invention can find utility in a variety of implementations without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as will be apparent from an understanding of the principles that underlie the invention. It is understood that the publishing concept of the present invention may be applied to publishing of materials of other nature, in any format or on any media, whether in an information network environment or otherwise. For example, the publishing concept of the present invention may be applied to publications such as advertisements, web pages, brochures, signs, posters, booklets, books, pamphlets, door hangers, billboards, overlays, iron-ons, stickers, cards, newsprint, binding, etc., in the form of prints, digital files, audio, audio files, video, video file, etc., which one party may wish to facilitate and control the scope and manner of the use of its contents for such publications. The content material composed for publication includes graphics that may include textual components, whether represented graphically or in character fonts. Hence, reference to graphics herein may include texts as well.
Information Exchange Network
The invention may be implemented on any platform involving, without limitation, distributed information exchange networks, such as public and private computer networks (e.g., Internet, Intranet, WAN, LAN, etc), value-added networks, communications networks (e.g., wired or wireless networks), broadcast networks, and a homogeneous or heterogeneous combination of such networks. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the networks include both hardware and software and can be viewed as either, or both, according to which description is most helpful for a particular purpose. For example, the network can be described as a set of hardware nodes that can be interconnected by a communications facility, or alternatively, as the communications facility, or alternatively, as the communications facility itself with or without the nodes. It will be further appreciated that the line between hardware and software is not always sharp, it being understood by those skilled in the art that such networks and communications facility involve both software and hardware aspects.
A method or process is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. These steps require physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. If proves convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.
Useful devices for performing the operations of the present invention include, but are not limited to, general or specific purpose digital processing and/or computing devices, which devices may be standalone devices or part of a larger system. The devices may be selectively activated or reconfigured by a program, routine and/or a sequence of instructions and/or logic stored in the devices. In short, use of the methods described and suggested herein is not limited to a particular processing configuration. Prior to discussing details of the inventive aspects of the present invention, it is helpful to discuss one example of a network environment in which the present invention may be implemented.
The Internet is an example of an information exchange network including a computer network in which the present invention may be implemented, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 . Many servers 110 are connected to many clients 112 via Internet network 114 , which comprises a large number of connected information networks that act as a coordinated whole. Details of various hardware and software components comprising the Internet network 114 are not shown (such as servers, routers, gateways, etc.) as they are well known in the art. Further, it is understood that access to the Internet by the servers 110 and clients 112 may be via suitable transmission medium, such as coaxial cable, telephone wire, wireless RF links, or the like. Communication between the servers 110 and the clients 112 takes place by means of an established protocol. As will be noted below, the publishing system of the present invention may be configured in or as one of the servers 110 , which may be accessed by users and content providers via clients 112 .
Turning now to FIG. 2 , there is schematically illustrated one embodiment of a computer system 120 which may be configured as the client 112 for navigating the Internet. The computer system 120 communicates with the Internet network 114 . The computer system 120 includes a processor 122 , internal random-access memory (“RAM”) 123 and read-only memory (“ROM”) 125 , and a data bus architecture for coupling the processor 122 to various internal and external components. The computer system 120 further includes a communication device 36 which, in turn, is coupled to a communication channel 38 for effecting communication with the Internet network 114 . A mass storage device 34 , such as a hard disk drive or floppy disk drive of CD-ROM drive, is coupled to the processor 122 for storing utility and application software (including a suitable web browser for navigating the Internet) and other data. The application software is executed or performed by the processor 122 .
User actuatable input devices are also coupled to the processor 122 , including a cursor positioning device 130 and a keyboard 132 in accordance with the present invention. The cursor positioning device 310 is representative of any number of input devices that produce signals corresponding to a cursor location on the display 124 , and may include by way of example, a mouse, a trackball, an electronic pen, or a touch-pad, which may be an integral part of the keyboard 132 . A display 124 is coupled to the processor 122 through a video controller 128 . The video controller 128 coordinates the presentation of information on the display 124 in one or more windows 126 . Generally, the windows 126 are scalable, thus permitting a user to define the size and location of a particular window 126 on the display 1124 .
The server 110 could also have similar components as the computer system 120 depicted in FIG. 2 . The program configuration of the client 112 and server 110 would be apparent given the disclosure of the desired functions of the client 112 and server 110 disclosed hereinbelow. Basic online processes are well known in the art.
System Overview
The present invention will be described in reference to FIG. 3 . The publication layout system 10 generally consists of three-party inter-operative components, namely, the Administrative Toolkit 20 , the System Server 14 , and the End-User Interface 28 . The Administrative Toolkit 20 is the interface through which the content providers will provide company logos, trademarks, graphics, and other relevant advertising/promotional materials. The System Server 14 is the central unit that bridges the Administrative Toolkit 20 with the End-User Interface 28 . The System Server 14 will actually store the various manufacturers' advertising materials as well as keep track of all of the merchants and dealers (the end-users) who have access to the End-User Interface 28 . As such the System Server 14 will act as the brain of the overall publication layout system 10 .
Not to be taken in a limiting sense, a simple example of the various parties involved in using the publication layout system 10 could consist of an automobile manufacturer as the content provider, the system manager, and the individual automobile dealerships as the user. The automobile manufacturer may have logos, trademarks, as well as pictures of cars in their company lineup and other advertising material prepared for distribution to the individual dealerships. Instead of collating such prepared material in print form for distribution, the automobile manufacturers would log onto the system 10 via the Administrative Toolkit 20 and upload all the necessary advertising materials to be accessed by the individual dealerships for various campaigns. The System Server 14 would serve as a central location in which the end-users (individual automobile dealerships) could access materials in preparation for their weekly newspaper advertisements. The manufacturers are able to create/develop template designs for the dealers and merchants to use. These templates would be the outline of the pre-approved advertisements. Having been supplied by the manufacturers themselves, these templates, would meet the specific standards and guidelines set by the manufacturers. Accessing these templates electronically, the dealerships would then be able to choose among the various content possibilities to go with these templates. These content possibilities are referred to as population choices. In FIG. 4 , the window 50 is an example of what would appear to the dealership for the creation of the advertisement on a pre-defined template 70 . The templates have particular regions for different parts of the advertisement. For example, the headline region 52 , the main image region 54 , and business information region 56 may come together to create an advertisement depicted in FIG. 4 . Each dealership would then “populate” a given region with the given content choices by selecting the “Headline” button 60 , the “Main Image” button 62 and the “Business Info” button 64 . These content choices would range from picking the correct font and point size of text to cropping particular pictures and images to go with a particular advertisement. Therefore, accessing the System Server 14 via the End-User Interface 28 , each individual dealership would be able to tailor their advertisements following the guidelines and protocols set by the manufacturers. A relatively low-resolution image of the layout of the entire advertisement is created at the End-User Interface 28 . After such an advertisement is created following the guidelines set by the manufacturers and enforced by the System Server 14 , the advertisement is ready for publication by downloading a high-resolution file from the System Server 14 . In this manner, large high-resolution files representing the content need not be downloaded during the development stage of the advertisement, which would otherwise result in data traffic. The final high-resolution file is downloaded only when the advertisement has been finalized and accepted by the user.
Administrative Toolkit
The Administrative Toolkit 20 may be implemented in a client machine such as client 12 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . The Administrative Toolkit 20 handles all of the administrative functions within the publication layout system 10 . Through the use of the Administrative Toolkit 20 , content providers interface with the publication layout system 10 and set all of the required restrictions and guidelines of creating a print advertisement. The Administrative Toolkit 20 has access to media containing the layouts, advertising images, graphics, and text material, through its interface with the System Server 14 .
As shown in FIG. 5 , the Administrative Toolkit comprises four modules: (1) the User Management Module 82 ; (2) the Image Inventory Management Module 84 ; (3) the Template Inventory Management Module 86 ; and (4) the Template Definition and Editing Tool Module 88 .
In the User Management Module, each user (manufacturer) within the database is assigned an access level. There are five access levels of which four levels are dedicated to the manufacturers supplying the advertising materials and guidelines and one is dedicated to the end-user (merchants and dealers). Each level is granted varying scopes of access and functions within the publication layout, system 10 . The top-most, level is the Administrator level which allows one to perform any action within the Administrative toolkit 20 . Such a person can view any template via the End-User Interface 28 , and avoid any restrictions attached to the template regarding downloading restrictions. Essentially, the Administrator level sets the rules of the overall publication layout system 10 for a particular manufacturer. The next level down is the Developer level which grants one all of the access of an Administrator except user administration. (The user administration function enables one to add/delete an authorized user from the publication layout system. In addition, the user administration function enables one to specify a particular user's level of access within the publication layout system). The next level down is the Manager level which allows one to access all of the Developer functions except template creation/editing/layout. The last level on the manufacturer side is the Approver level which allows one to approve and reject completed templates submitted by end-users. It is up to such an Approver to monitor and control the advertising templates submitted by end-users. The Approver has no further access to the overall publication layout system 10 . On the other side, the merchants and dealers are granted the End-User status which allows one to access System Server 14 via the End-User Interface 28 , but with download restrictions of completed advertising schemes within the layout approval subsystem.
The Image Inventory Management Module 84 allows manufacturers to create directories and sub-directories within the Image Inventory 26 of the System Server 14 . The Image Inventory 26 is accessed via interaction between the Administrative Toolkit 20 and the System Server 14 . Images can be uploaded into the Image Inventory 26 . Upload also supports the dynamic decompression of previously compressed archives (preserving directory structure) into the Image Inventory 26 . Integrity, checks, such as steps to correct file formats, verify file extension match or mismatch, and identify file corrupt or non-corrupt, are performed on all images placed into the Image Inventory 26 , with immediate feedback to the user upon failure of those tests. Currently, the Image Inventory 26 supports EPS, PSD, GIF, JPG, and TIFF files, and other industry standard file formats from file conversion utilities, for the various images. Images can also be deleted within this module.
In the Template Inventory Management Module 86 , users with authorization of managers and above can move to and from Production and Development areas of the publication layout system. This feature is extremely useful and convenient when certain changes or updates need to be implemented in the Image Inventory 26 . For example, if a person with access status of manager or above wishes to implement changes in the Image Inventory 26 for a new line of products, she can first enter the Development site to make necessary changes and experiment with new designs without ever affecting the Production site. Once the changes have been satisfactorily implemented, she can replace the Production site with the Development site for instant update. Such instantaneous change allows for smooth transitions. Using the Template Inventory Management module 86 , one can delete templates. One can also check image references within any selected template for display to the developer.
Using the Template Definition and Editing module 88 , all layout templates, image resource population choices, and text rules and placements are defined. Creation and editing of templates are performed within a graphical layout environment, similar in design to other popular layout software tools such as Quark Express and PageMaker. Rectangular regions are drawn on to a virtual page and rules applied which are enforced by the End-User Interface 28 . The purpose of this module is to define the exact placement, constraint ratios, text rules, page size, download restrictions, and region ordering (for purposes of interface presentation to an end-user). Common functionality supplied to the developer of each template (region grouping, copy paste functions, page setup/size, undo/redo functions, dynamic zoom and view percentages, etc.). At any point, a template can be saved to the server preserving all rules and placement for presentation for the end-user. Each template is comprised of any combination and placement of three main region types: (1) Image region, (2) Text region, and (3) Frame region. Each of these three region types, except for the Frame Region, are labeled with a proper title (e.g., headline, main image, business contact information, etc.), so that the region can be easily recognized by the end-users within the composition interface.
Within the Image Region, the end-user will be able to choose and populate the specific region at composition time from an image resource list. For example, a particular car dealership will be able to choose from an array of pictures taken for specific automobile to place on that specific region of the advertisement. Thus, if an automobile manufacturer provides five different shots of the same car but from different angles, the car dealership can choose the picture which he prefers to use in the local newspaper advertisement. The template developer can also fix a particular image into a region, such that the end user will have no choice about which image will be placed in the region. The developer also has the ability to allow a user to upload an image from his local hard drive to be placed into the region. The X/Y position within this Image Region will define the location within the page at which the image will be placed. In addition, the Horizontal and Vertical Sizes will define the maximum amount of space an image will be allowed to occupy once specified. Just how large the image will actually appear within the region depends upon its Justification Rules selected for that region. The Justification Rules determine the size and aspect ratio that, the placed image will appear. Justification Rules are divided into horizontal and vertical justification rules as described below:
HORIZONTAL VERTICAL CENTER: if the width of the placed CENTER: If the height of the image is less than the maximum image is less than the maximum allowed by the region's horizontal allowed by the region's vertical size, the image will be centered size, the image will be centered horizontally within the image region. vertically within the image region. LEFT: the image will be placed flush TOP: the image will be placed with the left most border of the flush with the topmost border of region. the region. RIGHT: the image will be placed BOTTOM: the image will be flush with the rightmost border of the placed flush with the bottom most region. border of the region. FULL: the system will attempt to FULL: The system will attempt to scale the image so that both vertical scale the image so that both edges are flush with the rightmost and horizontal edges are flush with the leftmost vertical borders of the region. topmost and bottommost horizontal borders of the region.
In all combinations except Horizontal: FULL and Vertical: FULL, the placed image will maintain its original aspect ratio. However, in the case where full justification is applied on both axes, the image will fit exactly to the size of the region, ignoring the aspect, ratio of the original image.
Within the Text Regions, there are individual text lines, each of which can adhere to different, set of properties. Each unique property for each unique text line can be optionally left “open” allowing the end-user to assign the property. The properties of the Text Regions are as follows:
FONT
Any font currently existing within the server
environment can be chosen such that the text specified
at population time will appear with that particular
typeface.
POINT SIZE
Determines the point size that the particular text line
will be drawn in
LEADING
The amount of vertical space between lines of text.
JUSTIFICATION
CENTER, LEFT, RIGHT, or FULL
COLOR
Specified currently in a RGB value.
FIXED TEXT
This property allows the template developer to fix text
into the line, effectively disallowing the end-user to
specify any text of his own at composition time. The
developer can format the fixed text in a fashion the
placed “tags” within the text, allowing the end-user to
“fill in the blanks,” while disallowing modification of any
text which is not blank.
A Frame Region is simply a square region which has a square frame, and an optionally filled background. The point, size of the line frame can be of any width, and the background can also be optionally left transparent, such that the region behind the frame will show through. No options are available for the end-user to specify with regard to frame regions.
System Server
The System Server 14 may be implemented in a server machine such as the server 10 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . The System Server 14 orchestrates communication between the other process components of the overall publication layout system 10 . The System Server 14 operates behind, for example, a standard HTTP/1.1 server residing on a UNIX variant Operating System. The System Server 14 comprises four sub-systems: (1) the Administrative Request Handlers 22 ; (2) the End-User Request Handlers 24 ; (3) Template and Image Inventory 26 ; and (4) Activity Log Database 27 . The Administrative Request Handlers 22 oversee all requests originating from the Administrative Toolkit 20 . In addition, users of the publication layout system 10 are verified and access to the system is limited according to the various levels. The End-User Request Handlers 24 give the merchants and dealers the various image population choices, including the support for user uploadable image resources, and subsequently loads the template information according to the population choices. The Template and Image Inventory 26 is the storage management module. The Activity Log 27 maintains a running log of all actions from both administrative user (manufacturers) and end-users (merchants and dealers).
End-User Interface
The End-User Interface 28 may be implemented in a client machine such as the client 12 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . The End-User Interface 28 has access to a storage media 30 that is capable of saving the print-ready files. The End-User Interface 28 provides composition functionality to end-users. The end-users log on to the System Server via an information exchange network, such as the Internet, using a unique user-id and a password. After logging-on to the system, the end-user has access to creating advertisements with the restrictions imposed by the administrator. Once a template is chosen by clicking a specially formatted link (within a HTML page), the composition interface is initiated by the web browser. The web browser receives all of its client side code by requesting it from the server. Once all client code is loaded, the server is instructed to load the template chosen, and then is displayed within the browser. The interface is comprised of four main areas, each of which provides certain piece of functionality to the end-user. These four main areas include: (1) Region Menu 67 , (2) Template Preview Area 51 , (3) Action Command Area 65 , and (4) Download Command Area 71 .
The Region Menu 67 comprises a set of buttons 60 , 62 and 64 that present all of the regions 52 , 54 and 56 for which the end user must, provide choices for region population. Each region within the template, which requires population by the end-user, will appear in the Region Menu 67 according to the region order list specified during template specification. Each region option is listed by its region title (e.g., Heading, Main Image, and Business Into) on the button. Upon selection of a region by clicking on the corresponding button, a second window will be presented to the user with the image options available to him according to the template specification. The user can select by clicking on the desired image option. As the user progresses through all of the regions, a graphical display will indicate which of the regions have been populated, and which ones remain unspecified. If, for example, when the main image region 54 is selected by clicking the corresponding button 62 , a window will pop up on the front of the window and present all of the possible image choices in thumbnail fashion. When an image is located and selected, it will populate the region 54 within the template 70 constrained by all of its properties assigned at time of specification. In the event that the template developer requested that the end-user be allowed to upload his own image into the region, an interface will be provided to the end-user enabling him to navigate their local hard-drive and select an image to upload. If, for example, the Business Info (text) region 56 is selected, the window will present an HTML, form allowing the end-user to specify all text and optional properties for that region.
After each region 52 , 54 and 56 is populated with end-user supplied choices, the Template Preview Area 51 may be configured to be automatically updated to reflect the newly supplied information. The preview area can optionally be flagged as “non-volatile,” in which case it will not update unless a “preview” button is pressed within the Action Command Area 65 . The preview serves as a “work in progress,” and regions which have been populated will reflect those population choices. Regions 52 , 54 and 56 which have yet to be supplied with dam by the end-user will appear as gray boxes in the exact position and size of the region as drawn out in the administrative template creation tool. As such, the gray boxes will act as placeholders until the end-user makes the population choices. Once the user has completely specified all choices for all regions, the preview serves as a true representation (albeit at low-resolution) of the final image file which can then be downloaded or submitted for approval.
The Action Command Area 65 consists of four buttons labeled: (1) Preview, (2) Preferences, (3) Help, and (4) Quit. The end-user's clicking of the Preview button immediately updates the Template Preview Area to reflect all currently supplied population choices. The Preferences choice currently presents the end-user with Preview Zoom Level and Non-Volatile preview update choices. The Help button takes the user to a dynamically-linked help page. The Quit function enables the end-user to exit the composition interface and to immediately close all windows comprising the interface.
The Download Command Area 71 will be available to the end-user in the case that the template developer has specified that any fully populated template can be immediately downloaded by the end-user. In such a case, a “download” button 73 will appear after the first population choice has been made and previewed. Pressing the button 73 will present the end-user with a choice regarding the format of the final high-resolution print ready file. The choices currently being offered are PDF, EPS, and TIFF. Once the choice is made and submitted, the server will be requested to encapsulate all resources such as the fonts, images, and layout into the final image file. The end-user will then be presented with the ability to navigate his hard-drive, locate a directory to place the file, and then download the print-ready file to his hard drive. All print-ready files are automatically compressed to expedite the download process over slow connections. In the case that the template developer placed an “approval” restriction on the template, the final compositions must, be submitted for approval. Thus, instead of a “download” button, a “submit layout” button is placed within the Download Action Area. Once pressed, the approver will be notified that a particular advertisement populated with end-user's choices is awaiting approval. The end-user will be given feedback indicating that the image has been submitted for approval, and will have to wait, for the approver to agree that the image meets pre-defined specifications. At this point, the approver can view the image, make edits to the composition using the same end-user interface, or reject the advertisement. In the case of approval, the end-user will be sent a piece of e-mail indicating the new acquired “approved” status and a special URL to go and download his image (at this point all of the same download options will be available to the end-user). In the case of rejection, the end-user will also be notified via e-mail, and a special URL will be supplied allowing him to return to his composition in progress, make necessary edits/changes, and re-submit the changes into the approval process once again. After the approval, the advertisement is ready for printing. In addition, the downloaded version can be used for other outputs as well, such as internet, banner advertisements.
FIG. 6 depicts the flow process handled by the end user interface for composing the publication material (e.g., advertisements in our example above). The flowchart provides additional details to the general functional description of the interface above.
The process and system of the present invention has been described above in terms of functional modules in block diagram format. It is understood that unless otherwise stated to the contrary herein, one or more functions may be integrated in a single physical device or a software module in a software product, or a function may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
It is appreciated that detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the invention. The actual implementation is well within the routine skill of a programmer and system engineer, given the disclosure herein of the system attributes, functionality and inter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system. A person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill can practice the present invention without undue experimentation, to include all the features and functions of the present invention described above.
While the invention has been described with respect to the described embodiments in accordance therewith, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, the publishing process can be easily modified to accommodate the situation in which users compose and publish content provided online by a content provider, in any format or in any media. Instead of the graphical Find-User Interface 28 , other forms of user interface may be adopted without, departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, a menu driven interface may be designed to give a user a selection of content, components for the user to compose a publication. The user selects from the content listing the components she desires to create a publication having parameters consistent with the layout and rule set defined by the content provider. Alternatively, a form based user interface may be designed to present a list of questions to be answered by the user. The answers would be based to retrieve the appropriate content, components from the System Server to compose a publication having parameters consistent with the layout and rule set specified by the content provider. | Some embodiments disclose a computer-implemented system configured to create an advertisement. The system can include: (a) an administrative toolkit configured to facilitate a template creator at a first location to create a template comprising a plurality of template portions, and to input content components to populate the template, the administrative toolkit comprising: (1) a template definition and editing module configured to: (i) create the template at a development site accessible to the template creator and not accessible to an end user; and (ii) establish rules governing content to be placed in one or more of the template portions; and (2) a template inventory management module configured to move a copy of the template from the development site to a production site accessible to the end user, thereby updating the production site; and (b) an end-user interface configured to facilitate the end-user at a second location to: (1) access the copy of the template over an information exchange network after the copy of the template has been moved to the production site: and (2) populate one or more of the portions with content in accordance with the rules established by the template creator, whereby the end-user can create a customized advertisement that, conforms to standards set by the template creator. Other embodiments are disclosed in this application. | 6 |
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 808,916, filed June 22, 1977, now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,481 granted Sep. 21, 1976 assigned to the same assignee as the present application, a bottom operable tank lading loading and unloading valve is disclosed. Such bottom operable tank lading valves allow the operator to operate the lading valve without going on top of the tank. Thus the danger of the operator falling off the tank while operating the lading valve is eliminated.
However during loading and unloading a tank it is necessary to provide a valve to allow air to enter the tank during unloading and allow air to leave the tank while the tank is being loaded. In the past most such air inlet and outlet valves have been located on top of the tank, and operable from the top of the tank. Thus the operator must climb on top of the tank in order to operate such prior art air inlet and outlet valves during loading and unloading the tank.
In application Ser. No. 757,121 filed Jan. 5, 1977 Attorney Docket No. 432, assigned to the same assignee as the present application, an air inlet and outlet valve is mounted within an opening in the top of a transportation tank, for example a railway tank car. The valve is operable from the bottom of the tank by means of an operating shaft which extends from the bottom of the tank up through the tank to the valve. The operating shaft includes shaft telescoping means located within the tank such that the upper part of the operating shaft may move vertically relative to the lower portion of the shaft. As the top of the tank moves relative to the tank bottom, for example under impacts to the tank, the upper portion of the operating shaft will move downwardly relative to the lower portion of the shaft by virtue of the shaft telescoping means, and the valve will remain closed during such downward movement while allowing opening and closing of the valve from the bottom of the car by means of the operating shaft. However the operator must manually open and close this air inlet and outlet valve.
In application Ser. No. 728,343, filed Sep. 30, 1976 a manually operable air inlet and outlet valve is mounted in the bottom of the tank. A conduit extends from the bottom of the tank to a stilling well located in the upper portion of the tank. The stilling well allows air to enter or leave during unloading and loading, and a ball located in the stilling well prevents the lading from entering the conduit and leaving the conduit when the valve is opened. However, again, the operator must manually open and close this air inlet and outlet valve.
It would be desirable to have an air inlet and outlet valve which opens and closes automatically when the bottom operated lading valve is opened and closed, and which will not be damaged when the top of the tank moves downwardly relative to the remainder of the tank.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention an air inlet and outlet valve is disclosed which automatically opens and closes when a bottom operable tank lading valve is opened and closed. The valve is mounted adjacent the top of the tank above the maximum lading height. The air valve opens and closes an opening into a chamber in fluid communication by means of a conduit means with an opening in the tank. The air valve is automatically operated when the lading valve opens by means of air valve linkage means including an operating shaft which extends from the lading valve up through the tank to operate the valve. Support structure attached to the bottom of the tank supports the air valve linkage means. The air valve and the air valve linkage means are located relative to the top of the tank such that when the top of the tank moves downwardly relative to the tank bottom, the top of the tank will not strike the air valve or the valve operator linkage means. If air enters and leaves through an opening located in the bottom of the tank, the conduit means may comprise piping extending from the chamber to the bottom of the tank which supports the air valve and the air valve linkage means in position within the tank.
THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a railway tank car with which the automatic air inlet and outlet valve assembly of the present invention may be utilized;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 2--2 in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 3--3 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 4--4 in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 5--5 in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5A is a view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 5A--5A in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 of another embodiment of the automatic air inlet and outlet valve of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 7--7 in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a view looking from the bottom along the line 808 in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8A is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 8A--8A in FIG. 8;
FIG. 9 is a view looking from the top in the direction of the arrows along the line 9--9 in FIG. 6 with the valve removed.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 of another embodiment of the automatic air inlet and outlet valve of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 11--11 in FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a view looking from the bottom along the lines 12--12 in FIG. 10;
FIG. 12A is a sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows along the line 12A--12A in FIG. 12 with the guide removed.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The air inlet and outlet assembly of the present invention may be utilized in an overland tank truck, an intermodel truck container or in a container mounted in a ship. However, the air inlet and outlet valve assembly of the present invention is particularly adapted for use in a railway tank car. Therefore the assembly will be described and illustrated in connection with its application to a railway tank car.
In the drawings, a railway tank car 10 is illustrated in which a tank 12 is mounted upon cradles 14 which are supported by stub sills 16 and trucks 18 at opposite ends of the car. A conventional coupler 20 and a draft gear (not shown) are mounted within the stub sills. The tank includes a tank top 22 and a tank bottom 24.
The tank car may be loaded and/or unloaded through a bottom operated lading valve 30, for example, constructed according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,481 granted Sep. 21, 1976, assigned to the same assignee as the present application which is hereby incorporated into this application by this reference. Reference may be made to this patent for a detailed description of the bottom operable lading valve.
Air valve linkage means 31 including a vertically extending shaft 32 extends within the upper portion 34 of the valve 30 and a fastener 36 extends through the valve 30 and through the shaft 32 to maintain the shaft in engagement with the valve. If desired, a second fastener 38 may extend through the valve and the shaft in another direction. Air valve linkage support means indicated generally at 40 including steel support plates 42 are attached to the bottom of the tank in any convenient manner such as by welding. Plates 42 support a horizontal plate 44 having an opening 46 through which shaft 32 passes. Vertically extending support rods 48 extend through openings 47 and 49 in plate 44 and are threaded at 50 to receive fastening nuts 51 to maintain support rods 48 in place. A plurality of transverse support plates 52 may be provided at vertically spaced locations in the tank. Each support plate includes openings 54, 56 and 58 respectively, for rods 48 and shaft 32 to pass through.
In the upper portion of the tank but spaced downwardly from the tank top 22 is a linkage support plate 62. Linkage support plate 62 includes openings 64, 65, and 66 through which rods 48 and shaft 32 pass. Rods 48 may be provided with a shoulder 67 threaded at its upper end 68 to receive fasteners 69 to hold support plate 62 in place.
Air valve linkage means 31 further includes a bell crank indicated generally at 70 mounted upon support plate 62. Bell crank 70 includes a bell crank support 72 rigidly attached to support plate 62, including a pair of bell crank support arms 72a and 72b (FIG. 2). Bell crank body portion 74 is pivotally mounted about bell crank support 72 by means of pin 75. Shaft 32 is attached to a first bell crank arm 76 by means of pin 78.
A laterally extending air valve linkage 80 is provided including clevis 82 which is attached to a second bell crank arm 79 by means of a pin 84. Clevis 82 is hollow and is threaded to receive threaded end 86 of shaft 85. Shaft 85 is slidably movable within cylinder wall 88a and within cylinder 88. The opposite end of shaft 85 is provided with a head 89 which holds in place an extension spring 90. A linkage rod 92 has a threaded end 93 which engages cooperating threads 88b provided in the cylinder 88. Rod 92 has an opposite threaded end 94 which is attached to a clevis 95.
Clevis 95 is attached by means of a pin 96 to a generally vertically extending air valve pivot member 98. Air valve 100 is integral with, or rigidly attached to pivot member 98. Pin 102 mounts pivot member 98 and a torsion spring 104 about a depending extension 105 of valve seat 106. Air valve 100 seats on a valve seat 106. A conduit means 107 is attached to valve seat 100 including a pipe coupling 109 having threads 108 which engage an elbow 110 having an approximately 90 degree bend. Torsion spring 104 is biased to move air valve 100 to the closed position. Conduit means 107 and air valve 100 define a chamber 101. Elbow 110 is in communication with a vent member 112 by means of a pipe 113 mounted in an opening 23 in the top of the tank. A mounting plate 114 and welding 115 hold vent member 112 in place. Vent member 112 directs air and vapors out of the vent and downwardly through opening 116; and allows air to enter the vent 112 through opening 116 and pass into the tank through conduit means 107 when air valve 100 is in the open position.
In operation as lading valve 30 is opened as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,481 shaft 32 moves vertically relative to air valve linkage support structure 40 and support plate 62, pivoting bell crank 70 about the bell crank support 72, moving bell crank arms 76 and 79 clockwise and clevis 82 and shaft 85 horizontally (to the right in FIG. 3) against the bias of spring 90. However shaft head 89 bottoms out near cylinder end wall 88a. Linkage rod 92 and clevis 95 then move to the right in FIG. 3 which pivots pivot member 98 and air valve 100 about the pin 102 and valve seat extension 105, agains the bias of torsion spring 104, to allow air and vapors to exit through conduit means 107 and the vent member 112. When the lading valve 30 is closed the reverse occurs. Shaft 32 moves downwardly and bell crank rotates in a counterclockwise direction. Clevis 82 and shaft 85 move to the left. Shaft head 89 aided by the bias of spring 90 bottoms out on the inner end 93 of linkage bar 92. Bar 92 moves to the left in FIG. 2 which pivots air valve 100 assisted by the bias of spring 104 into the closed, seated position on valve seat 106.
The vent member 112 and conduit means 107 are laterally displaced relative to shaft 32 to allow the tank top 22 to move downwardly relative to the tank bottom 24 and the air valve linkage support structure 40. When tank top 22 moves downwardly relative to the tank bottom 24, spring 104 is sufficiently stiff to maintain air valve 100 in seated position on valve seat 106.
Shaft 92 will move from right to left in FIG. 3 and cylinder 88 will move to the left and spring 90 will be compressed to permit the vertical movement of tank top 22, pivot member 98 and air valve 100 relative to support structure 40 and bell crank 70, which remain fixed. When the tank top returns to its original position, shaft 92 moves from left to right aided by the bias of spring 90.
Thus this embodiment provides automatic opening and closing of the air inlet valve by means of air valve linkage means 31, and the conventional venting of air and vapors through the top of the tank, while permitting vertical movement of the tank top relative to the tank bottom.
Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6-9 of the drawings. As was the case with the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, air valve linkage means 31 including a vertically extending shaft 32 is attached to the upper portion 34 of lading loading and unloading valve 30. The upper portion of shaft 32 is attached to a vertically movable air inlet and outlet valve 120 by a means of a threaded fastener 122 which engages threaded end portion 33 of shaft 32. Valve 120 is generally dished shaped and seats on a valve seat 123 having a circumferential seat portion 124 and valve 120 reinforcing ribs 126 (FIG. 9), engages a seal 128 surrounding an opening 129 into air valve chamber 130.
An air valve chamber 130 is defined by a lower valve chamber member 132 and an upper valve chamber member 133. Fasteners 133a engage openings 133b to hold in place upper valve chamber member 133 upon lower valve chamber member 132. Lower valve chamber member 132 includes a shaft guide and support portion 134 (FIGS. 6, 8 and 8A) having an opening therein 134a and a guide surface 135 through which shaft 32 passes. The upper portion of guide surface 135 is provided with a shaft bearing 136. A reinforcing rib is provided at 137.
Lower chamber member 132 further includes another opening 138 having a counter bore 139 which communicates with a conduit means 140 including a vertically extending pipe 141 which passes through an opening 25 in the tank bottom 24, and is rigidly attached to the bottom of the tank, for example by welding. This vertically extending pipe 141 may be provided of suitable material and thickness to have sufficient rigidity to function as the air valve linkage support structure 40 provided in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2-5. Pipe 141 is provided with a threaded end 141a and removable cap 141b.
Lower chamber member 132 is further provided with end portions 142 and 144 which extend into a pair of depending hat shaped members 146 and 148 which are rigidly attached to the top of the tank, for example by welding (FIG. 7). Brackets 150 and 152 are provided which are attached to the respective hat sections 146 and 148 by means of appropriate fasteners 154 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8.
If desired, vertical shaft 32 may be provided in two portions 32a and 32b, each shaft portion having respective threaded end portions 32a' and 32b', which are joined by a connecting nut 32c. Nut 32c is tightened sufficiently in assembly to insure that air valve 120 assumes a seated sealed position upon seal member 128 when lading valve 30 is in the closed position in the bottom of the tank.
In the operation of this embodiment pipe cap 141b is first removed from pipe 141. When the lading valve 30 is opened, linkage means 31 moves vertically with shaft 32 moving through shaft guide portion 134, moving air valve 120 from the closed to an open position providing communication between the air valve chamber 130 and the inside of the tank through opening 129. During unloading air may enter through pipe 141 into chamber 130 and then into the tank through opening 129. During loading air may exit through opening 129 into chamber 130 and then outwardly through pipe 141. If desired, a conduit (not shown) may be attached to pipe threads 141a to allow removal of dangerous vapors from the unloading area and/or recycling the vapors to the container from which the lading is being loaded.
When the top of the tank moves downwardly relative to the bottom of the tank, for example under impact, air valve chamber end portions 142 guide vertical movement of hat sections 146 and 148. While such vertical movement is taking place, the lower chamber member 132 is supported by pipe 141 from the bottom of the tank. After the tank top returns to its normal position, the end portions 142 are again supported by brackets 150 and 152 attached to depending hat sections 146 and 148.
The embodiment shown in FIGS. 10-12A is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-9. However in this embodiment the tank top is provided with a dome 164. Depending hat shaped members 146 and 148 depend from this dome 164 (FIG. 10). Upper chamber member 166 is also dome shaped as shown in FIG. 11. Fasteners 167 extend into openings 168 to mount upper chamber member upon lower chamber member 170. Lower chamber member 170 is contoured for example by machining as illustrated in FIG. 11 including a valve seat portion 172 upon which a seal 174 is mounted. Lower chamber 170 includes a reinforcing rib 171. A depending sleeve 176 is also provided within lower chamber member 170 which is threaded. Sleeve 176 includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 178. Lower chamber member includes a shaft support and guide portion 179. However in this embodiment the air valve 180 is integral with shaft 32. Air valve 180 may be formed as a part of shaft 32 as shown in FIG. 11, or may be welded to shaft 32, or attached to shaft 32 with fasteners (not shown). As shown in FIG. 10 the opening 138 in lower chamber member communicates with conduit means 140 including a pipe 141 constructed in the same manner as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-9.
In the operation of this embodiment cap 141b is first removed. During unloading when the lading valve 30 is moved to the open position, shaft 32 moves vertically through support and guide portion 179 to move valve member 180 relative to seal 174 and lower chamber seat 172. Air enters through pipe 141 into chamber 169 and then into the tank through openings 178. During loading of the tank, air may exit through openings 178 into chamber 169 and out through pipe 141. If desired a conduit may be attached to the threaded end 141a to conduct the vapors away from the unloading side and/or to the container from which the lading is being loaded.
In FIG. 11 note that the openings 178 are located above the lading level L. When the top of the tank dome 164 moves downwardly relative to the bottom of the tank 24, the hat shaped sections 146 and 148 are again guided vertically relative to the upper and lower chamber members 166 and 170 by end portions 142 and 144. The air valve chamber members 166 and 170 are supported by the pipe 141. The dome section 164 is of sufficient vertical extent that the tank may move downwardly relative to the tank bottom 24, for example, under railcar impacts, without impacting upper chamber member 166 and at all times the openings 178 remain above the maximum height of lading in the tank to facilitate air entering and leaving the tank.
If the openings are below the level of the lading during the end of the loading operation lading would be forced into the chamber 169 and would come out through pipe 141 resulting in lading loss, and possible danger to operating personnel nearby if a conduit is not attached to conduct vapors away from the tank.
During unloading heavy lading could prevent air from entering the tank until the level of the lading above the openings is overcome by suction applied to effect unloading.
For retrofit the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-9 is preferred which avoids the need for the dome 164. Furthermore for new tank construction fabrication of the dome 164 is an added cost. Thus the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-9 is also preferred for new tank construction. | In accordance with the present invention an air inlet and outlet valve is disclosed which automatically opens and closes when a bottom operable tank lading valve is opened and closed. The air valve is mounted adjacent the top of the tank and is in fluid communication by means of a conduit with an opening in the tank. The air valve is automatically opened and closed when the lading valve opens and closes by means of an air valve linkage including an operating shaft which extends from the lading valve up through the tank to operate the air valve. | 5 |
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to an LED (light emitting diode) tube, and more particularly, to an LED tube with a light reflective face.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays LEDs (light emitting diodes) are applied widely in various occasions for illumination. A typical LED tube includes a light guiding rod and an LED placed on an end of the rod. The rod generally forms micro structures for destroying total reflection of the light within the rod. Thus, light emitted from the LED and into the rod can be diffused by the micro structures to radiate out of the rod.
The LED is a highly pointed light source. The light passing through the end of the rod has a large ratio directly reaching the opposite end of the rod. However, the typical LED tube does not have any optical structure formed on the opposite end of the rod to collect the light. Thus, the light reaching the opposite end of the rod cannot be effectively utilized, thereby causing waste of the light. As a result, the light emitting efficiency of the LED tube is limited.
What is needed, therefore, is an LED tube with a reflective face which can address the limitations described.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the various views.
FIG. 1 shows an LED tube in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 shows an LED tube in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3 shows an LED tube in accordance with a third embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 shows an LED tube in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 shows the LED tube of FIG. 4 mounted on a lamp supporter
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIG. 1 , an LED (light emitting diode) tube 10 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The LED tube 10 includes a light guide 20 , an LED 30 placed on a left end of the light guide 20 and a reflector 40 attached on a right end of the light guide 20 .
The light guide 20 may be made of transparent material such as epoxy, glass or the like. In this embodiment, the light guide 20 is elongated and straight. The light guide 20 includes a light incident face 26 at the left end thereof, an end face 28 at the right end thereof and a light emerging face 22 at a bottom face thereof. The light incident face 26 is a flat face. The end face 28 is a curved convex face. The light emerging face 22 is located between the light incident face 26 and the light reflective face 28 . A light diffusion face 24 is formed on a top face of the light guide 20 . The light diffusion face 24 may include a plurality of micro structures 50 such as protrusions or grooves which can diffuse light towards various directions.
The LED 30 is located at the light incident face 26 of the light guide 20 . The LED 30 may be a white LED 30 which can emit white light when being powered. The LED 30 directly contacts the light incident face 26 of the light guide 20 so that the white light emitted from the LED 20 can transmit to an interior of the light guide 20 through the light incident face 26 .
The reflector 40 is attached on the end face 28 of the light guide 20 . The reflector 40 may be formed by plating a metal film on the end face 28 of the light guide 20 or adhering a metal layer on the end face 28 of the light guide 20 . The reflector 40 includes a curved concave inner face and a curved convex outer face 44 . The inner face of the reflector 40 acts as a reflective face 42 directly contacting the end face 28 of the light guide 20 . The light transmitting to the end face 28 from the light incident face 26 , can be reflected by the reflective face 42 back to the interior of the light guide 20 through the end face 28 . The reflected light is then diffused by the light diffusion face 24 to radiate out of the light guide 20 through the light emerging face 22 . Therefore, the light transmitting to the end face 28 of the light guide 20 is not wasted, and a light emitting efficiency of the LED tube 10 is raised accordingly.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2 , the end face 28 a of the light guide 20 can also be a flat face. The reflective face 42 a of the reflector 40 a is thus spaced from the end face 28 a of the light guide 20 via a gap 200 . In this embodiment, the reflective face 42 a has a curvature larger than that of the reflective face 42 of FIG. 1 . The outer face 44 a of the reflector 40 a is flat. A distance between the outer face 44 a and the reflective face 42 a of the reflector 40 a gradually decrease and then increase from a top to a bottom of the reflector 40 a . Light emerging from the end face 28 a of the light guide 20 passes through the gap 200 , and is then reflected by the reflective face 42 a of the reflector 40 a back to the interior of the light guide 20 through the gap 200 . The backward light is then diffused by the light diffusion face 24 to radiate out of the light guide 20 through the light emerging face 22 .
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 , the reflector 40 a of FIG. 2 can be used with the light guide 20 of FIG. 1 . The reflective face 42 a of the reflector 40 a is still spaced from the end face 28 via the gap 200 since the reflective face 42 a has a curvature larger than that of the end face 28 .
Referring to FIG. 4 , the LED tube 10 can further includes two lids 70 mounted on the left end and the right end of light guide 20 . Each lid 70 includes a housing 72 and a two pins 74 protruding outwardly from an outer face of the housing 72 . The housing 72 defines a gap 720 in an inner face thereof and a sidewall 78 surrounding the gap 720 . The left end and the right end of the light guide 20 are inserted to the two cavities 720 of the two housings 72 , respectively. The left end and the right end of the light guide 20 are engaged with and surrounded by the sidewalls 78 of the two housings 72 , respectively. Thus, the two lids 70 are fixed on the light guide 20 . The LED 30 is received in the gap 720 of a left lid 70 , and electrically connected to the two pins 74 of the left lid 70 via two wires 76 . The right lid 70 does not have LED 30 and wire 76 therein. In other words, the two pins 74 of the right lid 70 do not electrically connect with the LED 30 . In this embodiment, the reflector 40 a of FIG. 3 is incorporated within the right lid 70 , and the gap 200 of the reflector 40 a is the gap 720 of the right lid 70 . That is to say, an inner face of the housing 72 of the right lid 70 defining the gap 720 forms the reflective face 42 a of FIG. 3 . Alternatively, the housing 72 of the left lid 70 may also incorporate the reflector 40 a of FIG. 3 therein for increasing light utilizing efficiency of the LED 30 .
Referring to FIG. 5 , the LED tube 10 of FIG. 4 can be mounted to a lamp support 60 . The lamp support 60 has a shape similar to a typical tube support. The lamp support 60 includes two sockets 62 and a lampshade 64 mounted on the two sockets 62 . The two pins 74 of each lid 70 are inserted to a corresponding socket 62 for fixing the LED tube 10 to the lamp support 60 . However, only the left socket 62 supplies power for the LED 30 through the pins 74 of the left lid 70 , the right socket 62 does not supply power for the LED 30 since no wire is connected to the pins 74 of the right lid 70 . The lampshade 64 covers the light guide 20 to prevent dust or other contaminant from falling on the light guide 64 .
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. | An LED tube includes a light guide, an LED and a reflector. The light guide includes a light incident face at an end thereof and a light emerging face adjacent to the light incident face. The reflector is mounted on an opposite end of the light guide. The reflector forms a light reflective face facing the light guide to reflect light backward into the light guide. | 5 |
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 USC §119(a)-(d) of German Application No. 10 2015 108 945.9 filed Jun. 8, 2015, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a method for producing a microphone unit which can be contacted by a plug connector and a microphone unit comprising a housing, a circuit board having a microphone component and contacts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] DE 10 2013 014 526 A1 discloses a microphone unit that can be contacted by a plug connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is the object of the present invention to propose a method for producing a microphone unit and also a microphone unit of this type by means of which it is rendered possible to produce a microphone unit in an effective manner.
[0005] The method in accordance with the present invention for producing a microphone unit that can be contacted by means of a plug connector proposes the following mentioned steps:
[0006] bending contacts, which are held in a non-displaceable manner with respect to one another by means of a bridge, in such a manner that contact ends that are part of the contacts and are embodied as pressfit ends include an angle of at least 90° in pairs with respect to contact ends that are part of the contacts and are adjacent to one another and embodied as contact pins,
[0007] insert injection molding a first assembly, which comprises the contacts, with a housing in such a manner that the pressfit ends of the contacts protrude into a first hollow chamber of the housing and that the contact pins of the contacts protrude into a second hollow chamber of the housing,
[0008] providing a second assembly, wherein the assembly is formed by virtue of mounting a microphone unit on a circuit board as a surface-mounted device,
[0009] producing a pressfit connection between the pressfit ends of the contacts and the circuit board that is populated with the microphone unit as the circuit board is inserted into the first hollow chamber in such a manner that in so doing the pressfit ends of the contact pins are pressed into metal-lined through-going bores of the circuit board.
[0010] When using a method of this type during the production of the microphone unit, it is not necessary to mount devices in a multi-part housing but rather the complete microphone unit is assembled in steps quasi from inside outwards and completed by means of the prepared circuit board. As a consequence, it is possible to reduce the costs and improve the quality.
[0011] By virtue of insert injection molding the contacts so as to form the first assembly and by virtue of the associated production of a retaining plate that fixes the contacts, it is possible in a particularly easy manner to handle the first construction unit so as to prepare the insert injection molding process for forming the housing since the rigid retaining plate renders it possible to handle and orient the first construction unit without creating the risk that in so doing the contact pins become bent out of shape.
[0012] It is provided to insert injection mold the contacts in such a manner that the retaining plate is positioned on the contacts in such a manner that the retaining plate encases the contacts between bends, at which the contacts are bent, and the contact ends of the contacts, the contact ends being embodied as contact pins. As a consequence, the retaining plate is oriented with respect to the contact ends of the contact, the contact ends being formed as contact pins, in such a manner that these contact ends pass through the retaining plate without bending. Consequently, the contact ends of the contact that are embodied as contact pins are supported by means of the retaining plate in an optimal manner for plugging on and removing a plug connector.
[0013] It is also provided that the bridge is removed after the retaining plate has been formed and prior to the housing being produced. At this point in time, the first assembly is not yet constructed and can still be handled easily for the removal operation.
[0014] Insofar as the contacts are insert injection molded without first having to insert injection mold a retaining plate with the housing, it is provided to remove the bridge only after the housing has been produced. As a consequence, the contacts can still be handled as one prior to the insert injection molding process with the housing.
[0015] It is also provided to provide the circuit board with a dust protector after the circuit board is assembled in the first hollow chamber of the housing. As a consequence, the microphone component is particularly well protected in the housing.
[0016] Furthermore, it is provided during the production of the housing to embed at least one fastening pin, which is embodied according to a type of a pressfit end, in the housing, in such a manner that the fastening pin protrudes in a parallel manner with respect to the pressfit ends of the contacts in the first hollow chamber. As a consequence, it is possible to connect the fastening pins to the housing during the step in which the contacts or the first construction unit is also connected.
[0017] Finally, the method provides that, as the pressfit connection is produced between the pressfit ends of the contact pins and the circuit board, a pressfit connection is also produced between the pressfit end of the connecting pin or the pressfit ends of the connecting pins. As a consequence, it is possible to fix the circuit board to the housing at other sites during the process of producing the contacts and consequently to retain the circuit board permanently in a reliable manner in the second hollow chamber of the housing.
[0018] In the case of the microphone unit in accordance with the invention, the housing is embodied as a one-part injection molded part and the first contact ends of the contacts are embodied as pressfit contacts. In the case of a microphone unit of this type, it is neither necessary to seal a multi-part housing after the components are assembled nor is it necessary to perform a soldering process so as to connect the contacts to the circuit board. As a consequence, the costs are reduced and the quality improved.
[0019] In the sense of the invention, the term “process of insert injection molding” is understood to mean an injection molding operation according to the so-called “insert molding” method, in which an insert part or insert component or insert parts or insert components are arranged in a hollow chamber of an injection molding mold and then cast with a synthetic material, wherein a one-part component is produced whose individual components are fixedly connected to one another.
[0020] In the sense of the invention, the term “a surface-mounted device” is understood to mean a device such as for example a microphone component that is soldered directly to connection surfaces of a circuit board that are able to receive a soldering mass. In English, such a component is described as a so-called “surface-mount device”, wherein the abbreviation “SMD” is used for this term.
[0021] In the sense of the present invention, the term “a pressfit connection” is understood to mean a connection where pressfit ends that are arranged on components are inserted into metal-lined bore holes of a circuit board in such a manner that the pressfit ends are deformed during the insertion process and thus a permanent and reliable electrical connection is produced between the pressfit ends and the metal-lined bore holes.
[0022] In the sense of the present invention, the term “a pressfit end of a contact” is understood to mean a contact end that is suitable as a result of its shape and its material characteristics to be pressed into a matching metal-lined through-going bore hole of a circuit board so as to form an electrical contact.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] Further details of the invention are described in the drawing with reference to schematically illustrated exemplary embodiments.
[0024] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a first microphone unit in accordance with the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of contacts that are held together by means of a bridge;
[0026] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the contacts illustrated in FIG. 2 together with a retaining plate injection molded thereon;
[0027] FIG. 4 is an illustration corresponding to FIG. 3 , wherein the bridge is removed;
[0028] FIG. 5 is an illustration corresponding to FIG. 4 wherein the contacts are bent;
[0029] FIG. 6 is a further illustration of the microphone unit illustrated in FIG. 1 ;
[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates a view from below of the microphone unit illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6 ;
[0031] FIG. 8 illustrates a second embodiment variant of the microphone unit in the view from below and with the circuit board removed;
[0032] FIG. 9 illustrates a third exemplary variant of the microphone unit in the view from below and with the circuit board removed; and
[0033] FIG. 10 illustrates a transparent, perspective view of the embodiment variant illustrated in FIG. 8 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0034] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a first embodiment variant of a microphone unit 1 in accordance with the invention. The microphone unit 1 comprises four contacts 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 , also illustrated in FIG. 2 , and a housing 6 . The four contacts 2 to 5 pass through the housing 6 . First contact ends 2 a to 5 a of the contacts 2 to 5 are in each case embodied as pressfit ends 7 to 10 and second contact ends 2 b to 5 b are embodied as contact pins 11 to 14 . The contact pins 11 to 14 protrude—as illustrated in FIG. 1 —into a second hollow chamber 15 of the housing 6 and together with a frame 16 form a socket 17 into which it is possible to plug a plug connector 501 that is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 , so as to incorporate the microphone unit 1 by way of example in a communication system in a vehicle.
[0035] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate other views of the microphone unit 1 . Not only is the second hollow chamber 15 visible in FIG. 7 , which illustrates an oblique view from below of the microphone unit 1 , but rather a first hollow chamber 18 is also evident and the first hollow chamber is already sealed in part by means of a circuit board 19 and a microphone component 20 that is embodied as a so-called SMD component and is indicated schematically by the broken lines is soldered onto an upper face of the circuit board, the upper face being remote from the observer. Four metal-lined through-going bore holes 21 to 24 are formed in the circuit board 19 through which the pressfit ends 7 to 10 of the contacts 2 to 5 that protrude into the first hollow chamber 18 are evident. FIG. 7 illustrates the circuit board 19 in its final mounted position in which electrical connections between the contacts 2 to 5 and the circuit board 19 are already completely produced so that the contacts 2 to 5 also retain the circuit board 19 in a mechanical manner in the illustrated position. In order to provide an additional fixing arrangement of the circuit board 19 , which together with the microphone component 20 forms a second assembly 25 , the housing 6 also comprises two cast fastening pins 26 , 27 that pass through further through-going bore holes 28 , 29 of the circuit board 19 and as the circuit board 19 is pushed into the first hollow chamber 18 to form a friction-type connection with the circuit board.
[0036] However, prior to the contacts 2 to 5 being insert injection molded with the housing 6 in a so-called “insert molding” method, the contacts are insert injection molded in a first step in a preceding “insert molding” method with a retaining plate 30 in such a manner that the retaining plate 30 —as is illustrated in the FIGS. 3 to 5 —fixes the contacts 2 to 5 to one another. In order to facilitate the placing of the four contacts 2 to 5 in a hollow chamber of an injection molding mold for the first “insert molding” method, the contacts 2 to 5 are initially—as illustrated in the FIGS. 2 and 3 —connected to one another by means of a bridge 601 . As is evident from the overview of FIGS. 3 and 4 , the bridge 601 is removed after the retaining plate 30 is formed. An overview of FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrates that the first contact ends 2 a to 5 a of the contacts 2 to 5 are embodied as pressfit ends 7 to 10 and after the bridge 601 is removed so as to prepare for a second “insert molding” method step are bent in such a manner that the individual contacts 2 to 5 include with their first contact ends 2 a to 5 a and second contact ends 2 b to 5 b in each case a 90° angle α. As is illustrated in FIG. 5 , the retaining plate 30 is fixed by means of the “insert molding” process to the contacts 2 to 5 between bends B 2 to B 5 of the contacts 2 to 5 and the contact ends 2 b to 5 b of the contacts 2 to 5 , the contact ends 2 b to 5 b being embodied as contact pins 11 to 15 . According to a first variant of the method, the contacts 2 to 5 are bent prior to the retaining plate 30 being formed. According to a second variant of the method, the contacts 2 to 5 are bent after the retaining plate 30 has been produced. Preparations are accordingly made for a first assembly 31 that is embodied from the bent contacts 2 to 5 and the retaining plate 30 to be placed in a hollow chamber of a second injection molding mold, not illustrated, and to be insert injection molded therein in such a manner that the housing 6 illustrated in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7 is produced, wherein it is necessary to mount the circuit board 19 on the housing following the insert injection molding process so as to complete the microphone unit 1 . The circuit board 19 (cf. FIG. 7 ) is mounted in that the circuit board is pressed into the first hollow chamber 18 in the direction in which the pressfit ends 7 to 10 extend and in so doing the electrical contacts are provided between the pressfit ends 7 to 10 and conductor tracks, not illustrated, that are provided on the circuit board 19 are produced. The housing 6 is embodied in such a manner that the first hollow chamber 18 and the second hollow chamber 15 are separated from one another in an air-tight and fluid-tight manner.
[0037] FIG. 8 illustrates a second embodiment variant of a microphone unit 101 in a similar manner to the illustration in FIG. 7 , wherein a circuit board has not yet been mounted on a housing 106 . Nonetheless, a retaining plate 130 that is cast in the housing 106 is evident in the perspective view and the retaining plate protrudes in part into a first hollow chamber 118 . Furthermore, pressfit ends 107 to 110 are evident and the pressfit ends protrude out of a casting compound GM 106 of the housing 106 into the first hollow chamber 118 . Fastening pins 126 , 127 are embodied with pressfit ends 126 a, 127 a so that so as to provide the additional fixing of the circuit board, not illustrated, further pressfit connections are produced, wherein these further pressfit connections do not have an electrical function and are used only to retain the circuit board in a mechanical
[0038] A third embodiment variant of a microphone unit 201 is illustrated in FIG. 9 in a similar manner to the illustration in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 , wherein a circuit board is not mounted on a housing 206 . In the case of this embodiment variant, the contacts 202 to 205 are insert injection molded with the housing 206 without the contacts having to be first insert injection molded with a retaining plate. Accordingly, the contacts 202 to 205 were still connected by a bridge during production of the housing 206 so as to be able to handle them as one despite the lack of a retaining plate. In other aspects, the third embodiment variant of the microphone unit 201 is comparable to the second embodiment variant of the microphone unit 101 .
[0039] As far as the sockets 117 or 217 are concerned, the second and third microphone unit 101 or 201 are embodied in a corresponding manner to the first microphone unit 1 . The views 7 to 9 illustrate the microphone units 1 or 101 or 201 in such a manner that second contact ends of the contacts are not visible in each case.
[0040] Finally, FIG. 10 illustrates the second embodiment variant of the microphone unit 101 as a perspective transparent model with visible and concealed edges. It is evident in this view how the contacts 102 to 105 pass through the housing 106 and how the retaining plate 130 is embedded in the housing 106 . A circuit board with a microphone component arranged on the circuit board is not illustrated in FIG. 10 , the circuit board is however embodied according to the illustration in FIG. 7 , wherein the circuit board naturally comprises suitable through-going bore holes for the fastening pins 126 , 127 .
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0000]
1 Microphone unit 1
2 - 5 Contact
2 a - 5 a Contact end
2 b - 5 b Contact end
6 Housing
7 - 10 Pressfit end
11 - 4 Contact pin
15 Second hollow chamber of 6
16 Frame of 17
17 Socket
18 First hollow chamber
19 Circuit board
20 Microphone component
21 - 24 Metal-lined through-going bore hole
25 Second assembly
26 , 27 Fastening pin
28 , 29 Through-going bore hole
30 Retaining plate
31 First assembly
B 2 -B 5 Bend from 2 to 5
α Angle between 2 a - 5 a and 2 b - 5 b
101 Microphone unit
102 - 105 Contact
107 - 110 Pressfit end
106 Housing
107 - 110 Pressfit end
117 Socket
118 First hollow chamber
126 , 127 Fastening pin
126 a , 127 a Pressfit end
130 Retaining plate
GM 106 Casting compound
201 Microphone unit
202 - 205 Contact
206 Housing
217 Socket
501 Plug connector
601 Bridge | The present invention relates to a method for producing a microphone unit, which can be contacted by a plug connector, and a microphone unit, wherein this comprises a housing, a circuit board having a microphone component and contacts, wherein the contacts are embodied on second contact ends as contact pins and wherein the contacts are connected at the first contact ends to the circuit board, wherein a multi-pole plug connector can be connected to the contact pins. The housing is embodied as a one-part injection molded part and the first contact ends are embodied as pressfit contacts. | 7 |
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/311,823, filed on Sep. 22, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,600, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/978,015, filed on Nov. 18, 1992, now abandoned, entitled "HIGH-DENSITY OPTICAL DATA STORAGE UNIT AND METHOD FOR WRITING AND READING INFORMATION", in the name of Wolfgang D. Pohl.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high-density optical storage unit for storing and retrieving electronic information, including encoded data, text, image, and audio information, and a method for writing and reading the information. "High-density" in this context shall mean densities of stored bits of information in excess of 10 9 bit/cm 2 .
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional optical storage units, the shape and the size of the stored bits are defined by the narrow focal point of a laser beam, making the circular bit regions about 1 micrometer in diameter. This means that the storage density is limited to about 10 10 bits/cm 2 . The well-known (read-only) compact disk (CD) can store approximately 10 10 bits of information on its entire active surface, for example.
Regarding the storage media used in conventional erasable (read/write) storage units, there are essentially two groups of leading optical contenders each requiring its own technique for reading and writing information: Magneto-optic and phase-change materials. Both techniques employ glass or plastic disks coated with thin films of storage material; they depend on lasers for recording, yet their approach to writing and reading information is markedly different.
As is well known (e.g., from J. C. Iwata, "Optical Storage," IBM Research Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 4-7, 1987), magneto-optic recording relies on heating, by a laser beam, and in the presence of an external magnetic field, a thin film of magnetic material coated onto a substrate. As the temperature of the film is locally raised above the Curie point of the material, the external magnetic field will reverse the original direction of the magnetization at the particular location, and as the spot involved cools, the new direction of the magnetization is "frozen," thus storing a bit of information.
The stored information is read by flashing a laser beam, though at reduced power, onto the storage medium causing those storage locations holding magnetization with a changed direction to slightly rotate the plane of polarization of the reflected beam, a phenomenon known as the Kerr effect. This rotation can be sensed by a photodetector and the stored bit identified.
Erasure of the stored information is done by simply heating the particular storage area to a temperature above the Curie point in the presence of a magnetic field having the original direction.
In phase-change recording, a short (less than 100 ns) burst of laser light converts a tiny spot on the media's highly reflective crystalline surface to the less reflective amorphous, or semicrystalline state, the conversion occurring upon rapidly heating the material to a temperature above its melting point, then rapidly quenching it, "freezing" it into the amorphous state.
For reading the stored information, a laser beam is scanned over the amorphous and crystalline storage locations; the variations of the reflected light are detected and the locations storing a bit of information identified.
Restoring the storage medium to its original state is done by heating the bit locations to a temperature below the material's melting point, but for an "extended" period of time (on the order of 10- 5 S).
Both these techniques have the severe disadvantage of being limited in miniaturization by diffraction to a bit size of about λ/2.
Under the present invention, several recording schemes are conceivable, and two such schemes and the appertaining storage media will be discussed below by way of example. The first scheme to be discussed operates with a thermoplastically deformable storage material in which the bits of information are stored in the form of tiny dints produced by heat and pressure. The second scheme is an electro-optical system using a storage material which has the capability of trapping electrical charges when illuminated by light having a sufficiently short wavelength.
The feature common to these schemes is the accessing in two discrete steps: In a first step, light selects an area of a few square micrometers as determined by the diffraction limit, and in a second step, a small protrusion selects a bit of much smaller size, say as small as a fraction of 0.01 μm square, within said area. In this manner, a very large number of tips, potentially millions, can be operated in parallel.
Work on surface modification by means of a laser-heated tip pressed into a thermoplastically deformable material was reported by H. J. Mamin and D. Rugar in their abstract "Laser-Assisted Nanolithography with an AFM," Bull. Am. Phys. Soc., Vol. 37 (1992) p. 565/6, paper No. M28 5.
Writing information into storage by means of charge injection with a single tip and silicon nitride as the storage medium is known from R. C. Barrett and C. F. Quate, "Charge storage in a nitride-oxide-silicon medium by scanning capacitance microscopy," J. Appl. Phys. 70 (5), Sep. 1, 1991, pp. 2725-2733.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior references and/or to further develop the techniques shown therein, and to advance the art of information storage towards higher bit densities, i.e. to higher storage capacities.
The present invention achieves this object by providing a high-density optical data storage unit capable of performing a two-step process of addressing, and comprising a storage medium having a plurality of storage cells which each comprise a plurality of bit areas, said storage medium being supported on a mechanically stable substrate, and a read/write arrangement employing a plurality of read/write light sources/detectors and an interrogation light source. The optical data storage unit of the invention is characterized in that said read/write arrangement comprises a first portion composed of diffraction-limited optical elements for addressing any selected one of said plurality of storage cells, and a second portion composed of near-field optical elements for selecting any one of said plurality of bit areas within the respective addressed storage cell.
The first portion composed of diffraction-limited optical elements comprises a plurality of semiconductor diodes that can be operated both as light sources and light detectors, and which are geometrically aligned with an equal plurality of microlenses embedded in a transparent layer, and the second portion composed of near-field optical elements comprises a plurality of particulate protrusions which are also geometrically aligned with said diodes and with said microlenses, said storage medium and said read/write arrangement being maintained in a mutually parallel alignment with a gap in between having a width of less than 100 nm.
The object is also achieved by the inventive method for writing/reading information into/out of the data storage unit described above, which is characterized by the following two-step addressing scheme: (1) Selection of the bit cells in an array of bit cells by activation of one or more of said laser light sources and their associated optical elements, and (2) selection of individual single-bit areas by means of optical field concentration at the location of said particulate protrusions. This method involves the following steps for writing information: mutually parallel displacing the surfaces of said read/write arrangement and of said storage medium in order to align a selected one of said particulate protrusions with a selected bit location within the associated bit cell, locally changing the characteristics of said storage medium so as to store a bit of information therein.
Under this invention, the following steps are performed for reading information from an arbitrary number of cells in parallel: Mutually parallel displacing the surfaces of said read/write arrangement and of said storage medium in order to align a selected one of said particulate protrusions with the bit location within the associated bit cell from which information is to be read, activating said interrogation light source to cause a light wave to enter into the storage unit, said light wave being particularly scattered at said protrusions and illuminating the diodes associated with those storage locations whose characteristics were previously changed, said diodes then generating an electric output signal representative of the information read.
Details of two embodiments of the invention as well as of the inventive method for data storage and retrieval will hereafter be described by way of example, with reference to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 shows a partial cross section of a first embodiment of the storage unit in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 shows the cross-section of FIG. 1 during the writing process, with three bits being stored;
FIG. 3 shows a partial cross section of a second embodiment of the storage unit in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a mechanism designed to maintain flats 1 and 2 at all times in a truly parallel relationship.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As mentioned above, the storage density in conventional optical storage units is naturally limited by the smallest diameter to which a laser beam can be focused, and that is >300 nm. Thus, with a bit diameter of 1 μm, a storage density of about 10 8 bit/cm 2 results. The concept of the present invention in contrast employs some of the techniques developed in connection with the scanning near-field optical microscope which permit a considerably smaller bit size, namely on the order of 10-100 nm and, hence, a storage density of better than 10 10 bit/cm 2 , as will be explained below.
FIG. 1 shows a partial cross section of a first embodiment of the storage unit in accordance with the invention, the storage unit essentially comprising two flats 1 and 2, respectively acting as record carrier (1) and probe head (2), a light source 3, and control and drive electronics 4 which permit to mutually displace the facing surfaces of flats 1 and 2, and to maintain them in a parallel alignment with a gap width of between 5 and 15 nm even during the displacement. It is known to those skilled in the art that piezoceramic actuators allow for displacements in the 10-100 μm range. Such actuators can be used advantageously in connection with the invention.
In view of the small gap size between flats 1 and 2, their facing surfaces must be machined to a planarity of 3-5 nm over an area of 3-10 mm diameter, corresponding to a finish of "λ/100" with respect to optical wavelengths. Also, the said surfaces are to be kept parallel within the same tolerance of 3-5 nm. It should be noted that these tolerances are standard in high-quality optical interferometry. Preferably, the gap size is controlled by a two-stage mechanism, one stage providing for a rough approach between flats 1 and 2, the other stage permitting fine adjustment of the distance under feedback control. The techniques required to do this may be borrowed from scanning probe microscopies (`SXM`) and from interferometric techniques.
In the first embodiment being described, flat 1, the record carrier, essentially comprises a mechanically stable substrate 5 and, on top of it, a storage medium in the form of a thin layer 6 of a suitable material which plastically deforms when placed under pressure and heated locally, with a laser beam, for example. Such a record carrier obviously permits a multitude of information bits to be stored over a principally unlimited period of time.
Flat 2, the probe head, comprises a mechanically stable substrate 7 carrying an array of light-emitting diodes 8 (which may be laser diodes), optionally an opaque screen 9 having holes 10 transparent to the light emitted by the diodes 8 and centered with respect to said diodes 8. Flat 2 further comprises a transparent spacer layer 11 integrating an array of microlenses 12 having a focal length in the 10-100 μm range, a transparent layer 13 of low-refractive index material serving as a spacer and as a substrate for a thin high-refractive index layer 14 acting as the core of an optical waveguide system formed by said layers 13 and 14, the upper pan of the gap 15 between flats 1 and 2, and by a very thin semitransparent coating 16, which may be metallic (gold and silver are favored) or nonmetallic (e.g. tin oxide SnO 2 ). Coating 16 bears an array of small particles 17 of equal size and shape, with a diameter in the range between 10 and 100 nm. Their shape may be (semi-)ellipsoidal with an excentricity between 0 (half-spheres) and about 10 (needles). They may also have the shape of short cylinders, of cones, or of pyramids.
Regarding the fabrication of the array of diodes 8 (assuming a 100×100 array occupying about 3 by 3 mm), standard techniques may be employed. Also, the various layers of different materials, namely layers 9, 11, 13, 14, and 16, as well as lenses 12 and protrusions 17 can be produced by standard deposition techniques.
The particles 17 sitting on coating 16 may be metallic or non-metallic. They may, for example, be produced by conventional lithography in that a suitable mask with holes is placed on top of coating 16, and the metal is deposited (by evaporation or sputtering) through those holes, forming little pyramids or needles similar to those used in scanning force microscopy with micromechanical probes.
One method for depositing material with nanometer dimensions is described in EP-A-0 166 119 where free metal atoms supplied to a sharply pointed tip by sputtering or evaporation are field-desorbed and deposited on a surface under the influence of a strong electric field existing between the tip and said surface.
In accordance with the teaching of EP-A-0 196 346, the particles 17 may also be generated by photo-dissociation of a metalliferous gas under the influence of a laser beam focused in an optical waveguide, which results in the bonding of free metal atoms on the surface of coating 16.
Still another method for producing the particles 17 can be taken from a paper by H. J. Mamin et al., "Atomic Emission from a Gold Scanning- Tunneling-Microscope Tip," Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, No. 19 (1990) pp. 2418-2421, where free metal atoms are deposited by means of field evaporation from the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope.
As mentioned before, the particles 17 should have the same size. If the fabrication process does not provide the desired uniformity, corrections can be made by field evaporation from the too far protruding particles.
As an alternative, the particles 17 may be composed of polystyrene spherules having equal diameters in the range between 25 and 90 nm. These spherules are adsorbed at the surface of coating 16, and both, coating 16 and the spherules are then covered with a gold film which may have a thickness of up to 20 nm. (cf. U. Ch. Fischer and D. W. Pohl, "Observation of Single-Particle Plasmons by Near-Field Optical Microscopy," Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, No. 4 (1989) pp. 458-461).
Again referring to FIG. 1, light source 3 (which is used to interrogate the state of the individual storage locations) consists of a laser operating at a wavelength for which the laser diodes 8 are photo-sensitive and can be used as light detectors. The laser beam from source 3 is fed into the waveguide structure formed by layers 13 to 16, and gap 15 between flats 1 and 2. To avoid scattering at the array of microlenses 12, the low-refractive index layer 13 is chosen sufficiently thick. After passage through the waveguide, the laser beam can either be sent into an absorber or sent back into the laser. Standard couplers, such as prisms or gratings can be used to feed the laser beam into and out from the waveguide.
In operation, flats 1 and 2 are approached to each other so that the gap between the surface of storage medium 6 and the particles 17 is ≦10 nm. The addressing of the individual storage locations is performed in parallel by laterally displacing the flats 1 and 2 by a distance such that the desired storage locations are placed opposite the particles 17. When illuminated, the latter represent perturbations of the light path giving rise to field concentration and light scattering in all directions.
For writing, flat 2 is lowered onto flat 1 so far that the particles 17 exert a small force onto storage medium layer 6. The force is adjusted to a value safely below the elasticity value of the storage medium. This adjustment can, for example, be made with the use of techniques borrowed from scanning force microscopy, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Then those laser diodes (8a, 8d, and 8e) which are associated with the areas selected to store a "1" bit at the given address are energized.
The energized laser diodes 8a, 8d and 8e each generate a laser beam providing enough heat--optionally through enhancement by plasmon excitation--to warm up the associated particles 17a, 17d and 17e to cause the storage medium layer 6 to deform plastically beneath them and form an array of dints 18a 18d and 18e. When the laser diodes 8a, 8d and 8e are turned off and flat 2 is retracted, layer 6 will quickly cool down to a temperature well below the melting point thereof, and thus permit the dints to become "frozen" and, hence, the respective information bits to remain stored. The dints may have a depth of 20-50 nm, provided the arrangement is properly adjusted.
The speed of writing information into the storage medium 6 is mainly limited by the speed of the mechanical motion with which flat 2 can be repositioned between two consecutive storage operations, i.e. from one storage location to the next. Assuming 10 μs per repositioning cycle and an array of 33×33 bit positions, the writing speed will be about 10 8 bit/s.
For reading, interrogation light source 3 is turned on. The light entering the waveguide composed of the layers 13 to 16 and the upper part of gap 15 between flats 1 and 2, is scattered at all imperfections encountered, in particular at the particles 17. It is known from the earlier-mentioned Fischer-Pohl reference in Phys. Rev. Lett. 62 (1989) pp. 458-461, that the intensity of scattering depends on the distance of the medium next to the particles 17. At the sites of the dints 18a, 18d and 18e the distance is larger by about 20 to 50 nm, and this results in a strong variation of the scattering intensity at these locations, the factor of increase or decrease, depending on adjustment, shape and materials parameters, being 2-3, under favorable conditions up to 10.
Such a factor of increase of the scattering intensity is sufficient for the laser diodes 8 to distinguish between the "normal" scattering occurring at all particles 17 and that occurring at the locations of the dints, i.e. at the stored "1" bits. The reading process can be very fast since diodes have rise times on the order of nanoseconds.
The erasure of the stored bits would require the leveling of the dints 18 generated in storage medium 6. In view of the fact that in the generation of the dints heat was used, one might consider heating the entire storage medium to a temperature where the viscosity of the storage material is decreased so as to cause it to flow sufficiently to reestablish a smooth surface.
As mentioned above, the mutual displacement of flats 1 and 2 can be performed by piezoceramic actuators under control of control and drive electronics 4. The actuators can be activated so that each one of the particles 17 sequentially addresses all storage locations within an area determined by the maximum elongation/contraction of the piezoceramic actuators used. This area is defined as one bit cell.
On the assumption that the particles 17 have diameters in the range between 10 and 100 nm, one can conservatively calculate with a bitsize of about 100 nm (diameter). With a scan range of 30 μm defining a storage cell, one obtains a storage capacity of ≈10 5 bit/cell. With an array size of 100×100 cells--corresponding to a total storage area of 3×3 mm--the entire storage capacity becomes ≈1 Gbit, corresponding to a storage density of better than 10 10 bit/cm 2 .
In the case of digital recording of data, the control and drive electronics 4 may, for example, be controlled in such a way that for each "1" bit of information a dint 18 is produced, whereas the "0" bit does not produce any change in the storage medium, but there is no reason why the association cannot be the other way around.
In the case of analog recording of information, such as voice or music, the control and drive electronics 4 can be controlled in such a way, for example, that the depth of the dints created in the storage medium 6 depends on the dynamics of the information to be stored. Thus, a "forte" portion of the information would result in a deeper dint, for example, than a "piano" portion.
The second storage scheme in accordance with the invention which will hereafter be discussed, is an electro-optical system using a storage material which has the capability of trapping electrical charges and changing its refractive index because of the resulting fields. An example of such a material is potassium tantalum niobate (KTN). The storage medium could also be composed of two individual layers of which one is optimized for charge storage (e.g. Si 3 N 4 ), the other for electro-optic activity.
As FIG. 3 shows, the structure of this second embodiment is essentially the same as that of the first embodiment (therefore, all identical parts retain their original reference numbers in FIG. 3), with the exception of the storage medium, as follows: Substram 19 Of flat 1 consists of a mechanically stable, electrically conductive material. It carries a photoconductive layer 20 with a particularly high dark-resistance. Deposited on photoconductive layer 20 is a layer 21 of an electro-optically active material, such as the before-mentioned potassium tantalum niobate. Layer 21 should be thin enough to allow for effective injection, by field-emission, of charges from the particles 17 of flat 2, or from substrate 19 while photoconductive layer 20 is in its low-resistance state.
The addressing of the individual storage locations is performed the same way as explained in connection with the first-described embodiment of the invention: A particular bit is accessed by enabling the diode 8 which is associated with the storage cell to which the bit location belongs, while the corresponding particle 17 is positioned above the bit being addressed.
For writing, a voltage sufficient for charge injection into electro-optically active layer 21 is applied between coating 16 and, hence, particles 17 and substrate 19. A light pulse from the addressed diode 8 renders the path between the respective particle 17 and substrate 19 through layer 20 sufficiently conductive for charge injection to occur in the area underneath said particle 17. This is accomplished by the static field concentration at particle 17 on the one hand, and by the concentration of the optical near-field with correspondingly increased photoconductivity of layer 20 on the other hand.
In FIG. 3, diodes 8a and 8d may be considered to be activated and exciting surface plasmons at their associated particles 17a and 17d (cf. the above-cited Fischer-Pohl reference). Associated with the plasmons is a particularly strong electric field enhancement with factors >10 for optimal conditions. These strong fields act to locally change the characteristics of the electro-optically active layer 21 at positions 22a and 22d facing said excited particles 17a and 17d.
The reading operation is performed the same as explained in connection with the first-described embodiment of the invention: Laser light source 3 is energized, and the laser light is fed into the waveguide formed by layer 14 and coating 16 of flat 2, the gap 15 between flats 1 and 2, and electro-optically active layer 21 of flat 1. The light wave gets scattered at all particles 17 extending into gap 15. Since the intensity of scattering depends on the properties of the environment of the particles 17, it varies with the alteration of the refractive index where any particular particle 17 is paired with a charge stored in the facing position of electro-optically active layer 21. The variation again may be enhanced by the excitation of surface plasmons at particles 17a and 17d. The scattered light is collected by the associated lenses 12a and 12d of the array of microlenses 12 and focused onto the diodes 8a and 8d, respectively.
To erase the entire information stored, a very strong light wave is entered into the waveguide 13-16, 21. The light wave will destroy the charges stored so that the storage medium 21 is ready again for a further storage cycle. Alternatively, the charges stored may be removed through the application of an electric field of suitable direction between coating 16 and photoconductor layer 20 while the latter is illuminated for resistance reduction thereof.
Erasure of individual stored bits is accomplished by operating the associated diodes as light emitters while the control and drive electronics 4 cause mutual displacement of flats 1 and 2.
Cycle time, bitsize and storage capacity achievable with this second embodiment of the invention essentially correspond to those obtained with the embodiment described first.
Very important is the exact parallel positioning of the working surfaces of flats 1 and 2 with respect to one another. One option is the application of interferometric techniques exploiting the fact that the surfaces of the two flats 1 and 2 are arranged as in a Fabry-Perot interferometer. Active mirror adjustment devices that operate with the degree of precision required here are commercially available.
Another option for parallel positioning will now be described with reference to FIG. 4 which shows a simple means to maintain flats 1 and 2 at all times in a truly parallel relationship, i.e. within a tolerance of 3 to 5 nm, even during lateral displacement. Maintained suspended in a rigid frame 23 is flat 2 by means of control and drive electronics 4. The lower surface of flat 2, represented by coating 16 with its particles 17 faces the upper surface of the storage medium 6; 20, 21 of flat 1, to which it is supposed to be parallel. Flat 1 rests on an adjustment block 24 which is supported within frame 23 by piezoelectric actuators 25 and 26. Rigidly attached to at least two sides of flat 1 are tunneling transducers 27 and 28 comprising tunnel tips 29 and 30 which cooperate with lateral extensions 31, 32 of particle-carrying coating 16.
In operation, assuming proper tunneling regimes and proper parallelism of the surfaces of coating 16 and storage medium 6, 21, equal and constant tunneling currents will flow across the gaps between tunnel tips 29, 30 and extensions 31, 32, respectively. Any deviation from parallelism will cause a drastic alteration of at least one of the tunneling currents. In a feedback loop (not shown) a correction signal will be sent back to either one or both of actuators 25, 26, causing appropriate tilting of adjustment block 24 and, hence, flat 1, to reestablish the parallel alignment of flats 1 and 2.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the same adjustment effect can be achieved without lateral extensions 31, 32, by having tunnel tips 29, 30 cooperate directly with the lower surface of layer 16, provided the latter is conducting. Alternatively, if layer 16 is non-conducting, it will be possible to provide a force microscope arrangement where tips 29, 30 are supported on very thin cantilevers, and the deviation of the cantilevers under the influence of atomic (Van der Waals, etc.) forces is monitored to control the adjustment of parallelism.
While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and adaptations to those embodiments may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. | This high-density optical data storage unit comprises a storage medium supported on a mechanically stable substrate, and a read/write arrangement employing a plurality of laser light sources and an interrogation light source. The laser light sources are designed as laser diodes attached to a substrate and optically aligned with an equal plurality of microlenses integrated in a first transparent layer. The read/write arrangement further comprises at least one second transparent layer, and an optional semitransparent conductive coating, said layer or said coating carrying a plurality of particulate protrusions which are also aligned with said diodes and said microlenses, said storage medium and said read/write arrangement being maintained in a mutually parallel alignment with a gap in between having a width of less than 100 nm. The protrusions in combination with the laser light sources produce dints in the medium which are representative of the data to be stored. The data is read by using the interrogation light source to produce light which is scattered by the dints and is then detected by the diodes. | 6 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/878,370, filed Sep. 16, 2013, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to semiconductor processing equipment.
BACKGROUND
In semiconductor substrate processing, the temperature of the substrate is often a critical process parameter. Changes in temperature, and temperature gradients across the substrate surface during processing are often detrimental to material deposition, etch rate, feature taper angles, step coverage, and the like. It is often desirable to have control over a substrate temperature profile before, during, and after substrate processing to enhance processing and minimize undesirable characteristics and/or defects.
The substrate is often supported upon a substrate support or pedestal having a centrally located support shaft to support the substrate support. The substrate support often includes one or more embedded heaters adapted to heat a substrate disposed thereon. However, the inventors have observed that conventional heated substrate supports with embedded heaters often display a temperature non-uniformity at the central region of the substrate support resulting in non-uniform of process results in the substrate. The inventors have observed that, in some cases, the temperature non-uniformity of the substrate support can be attributed to the support shaft drawing heat away from the substrate support.
Therefore, the inventors have provided embodiments of a heated substrate support having improved temperature uniformity.
SUMMARY
Methods and apparatus of substrate supports having temperature profile control are provided herein. In some embodiments, a substrate support includes: a plate having a substrate receiving surface and an opposite bottom surface; and a shaft having a first end comprising a shaft heater and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the bottom surface.
In some embodiments, a substrate support includes: a plate having a substrate receiving surface and an opposite bottom surface; a plate heater disposed in the plate; a plate temperature sensor disposed in the plate, wherein the plate heater and the plate temperature sensor are coupled to a controller; a shaft having a first end comprising a shaft heater and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the bottom surface; and a shaft temperature sensor disposed at the first end wherein the shaft temperature sensor and the shaft heater are coupled to a controller.
In some embodiments, a method of making a substrate support is provided and includes: forming a plate having a substrate receiving surface and an opposite bottom surface; forming a first layer of ceramic material, the first layer comprising a first end and an opposite second end; disposing a heater on the first layer at the first end; disposing a conduit on the first layer such that one end of the conduit is coupled to the heater and a second end of the conduit extends beyond the second end of the ceramic material; forming a second layer of ceramic material atop the first layer such the second layer at least partially covers the heater; processing the first layer and the second layer to form a shaft; and coupling the first end to the bottom surface of the plate.
Other and further embodiments of the present invention are described below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention, briefly summarized above and discussed in greater detail below, can be understood by reference to the illustrative embodiments of the invention depicted in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
FIG. 1 depicts a schematic side sectional view of a substrate support in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 2 depicts a schematic side sectional view of a substrate support in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart for fabricating a substrate support in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for clarity. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments of the present invention provide heated substrate supports having improved temperature uniformity control. Embodiments of the present invention may be used to support and heat a substrate for any process using a heated substrate support with enhanced control over a temperature profile created on the substrate. Non-limiting examples of processes that may benefit from the discloses substrate support include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), or laser annealing processes.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a substrate support 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. The substrate support 100 comprises a heater plate, plate 102 comprising a substrate receiving surface 104 and a bottom surface 106 . The plate 102 may be formed from one or more process compatible materials including ceramic materials such as silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ), alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), aluminum nitride (AlN), or silicon carbide (SiC) and metallic materials such as aluminum and stainless steel (SST) or alloys like silicon-aluminum alloys (Si—Al).
Embedded or disposed within the plate 102 are one or more plate heaters 108 (two plate heaters 108 shown). The plate heaters 108 may be in the form of rings, as illustrated. Alternately, the plate heaters 108 may be separate heater elements embedded within the plate 102 . The plate heaters 108 are coupled to a power supply such as DC source 110 via conductors 111 to provide power to the plate heaters 108 to facilitate heating of the plate 102 .
A plate temperature sensor 112 , such as a resistive temperature device (RTD), is embedded in or coupled to the plate 102 to sense a temperature at an area of interest in the plate 102 . The plate temperature sensor 112 is coupled to the controller 114 via conductor 116 to provide data regarding the plate 102 temperature to the controller 114 .
The DC source 110 is also coupled to the controller 114 via conductor 118 . The controller 114 regulates the amount of power provided to the plate heaters 108 based on the temperature data from the plate temperature sensor 112 to provide a preselected plate temperature. As such, the plate heaters 108 , the DC source 110 , the plate temperature sensor 112 , and the controller 114 are linked and operate as a first closed loop control circuit to maintain a preselected temperature of the plate 102 .
The controller 114 may be any general purpose computer adapted to read and monitor the temperature of the plate 102 from the data provided by the plate temperature sensor 112 and to regulate the amount of power provided to the plate heaters 108 .
The plate 102 may rest on, and be supported by, a first end 126 of a shaft 120 . The shaft 120 may be formed from process compatible materials as discussed above.
The first end 126 is mounted to the bottom surface 106 to support the plate 102 , and a substrate 122 when disposed on the substrate receiving surface 104 , in a position within a chamber 124 for example, for substrate processing or transfer. In some embodiments, the shaft 120 may provide one or more of vertical positioning and rotational positioning of the plate 102 and substrate 122 within the chamber 124 by a suitable lift actuator, a rotational actuator, or a combination lift and rotation actuator coupled to the shaft 120 (not shown).
In some embodiments, the first end 126 comprises a flange 128 to facilitate mounting of the shaft 120 to the bottom surface 106 . The flange 128 may be mounted to the bottom surface 106 using any suitable mechanical fasteners, adhesives, welding, brazing, or the like. The flange 128 may be an integral component of the shaft 120 or a separate component coupled to the shaft 120 , for example, by welding. In some embodiments, the first end 126 of the shaft 120 may be mounted to the bottom surface 106 without a flange. For example, adhesives, welding, brazing, or the like may be used to mount the first end 126 of the shaft 120 to the bottom surface 106 . The shaft 120 may be directly coupled to the bottom surface 106 to minimize thermal resistance between the shaft 120 and the bottom surface 106 of the plate 102 .
At least one shaft heater 130 is coupled to the flange 128 . In some embodiments, the at least one shaft heater 130 is at least partially embedded in the flange 128 . In some embodiments, the at least one shaft heater 130 is a resistive heater. A first end 133 of conductor 134 is coupled to the shaft heater 130 . A second end 135 of conductor 134 extends beyond the second end 127 of the shaft 120 and is coupled to a power supply, such as DC source 140 , to facilitate providing power to the at least one shaft heater 130 to heat the first end 126 of the shaft 120 .
A shaft temperature sensor 132 , such as a resistive temperature device, is also embedded in or coupled to the flange 128 . A first end 137 of conductor 138 is coupled to the shaft temperature sensor 132 . A second end 139 of the conductor 138 extends beyond the second end 127 of the shaft 120 and is coupled to a controller, for example controller 114 . The DC source 140 may also be coupled to the controller 114 , for example via conductor 136 . A control circuit similar to the first closed loop control circuit described above comprises the shaft heater 130 , the DC source 140 , the shaft temperature sensor 132 , and the controller 114 linked to operate as a second closed loop control circuit. In the second closed loop circuit, the controller 114 regulates the power to the shaft heater 130 in response to temperature data provided by the shaft temperature sensor 132 to facilitate temperature control of the first end 126 of the shaft 120 . The first closed loop circuit and the second closed loop circuit may have a common controller 114 as shown, or the closed loop circuits may have separate controllers that may be in communication with each other.
In some embodiments, the first closed loop control circuit (the plate heaters 108 , the DC source 110 , the plate temperature sensor 112 , and the controller 114 ) and the second closed loop circuit (the shaft heater 130 , the DC source 140 , the shaft temperature sensor 132 , and the controller 114 ) are linked together, for example through the controller 114 . The controller 114 may be configured to independently control the first and second closed loop control circuits to maintain the plate 102 and the shaft 120 at first and second temperatures, respectively. The first and second temperatures may be the same temperature.
FIG. 2 depicts a simplified schematic side sectional view of a substrate support 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The plate 102 may be constructed as described above and is illustrated with some details (for example, the components of the first closed loop circuit described above) omitted for clarity. A ceramic support shaft, shaft 220 , is provided to support the plate 102 which rests upon a first end 226 of the shaft 220 . In some embodiments, the first end 226 includes a flange 228 adapted to be mounted to the bottom surface 106 of the plate 102 as described above. In some embodiments, the first end 226 may be mounted to the bottom surface 106 of the plate 102 without a flange, as described above.
The shaft 220 as illustrated comprises two layers of ceramic material, a first layer 202 and a second layer 204 (although additional layers may be used). The shaft 220 may be formed from, in non-limiting examples, the ceramic materials discussed above. One or more electrical components may be disposed at the interface 212 between the first layer 202 and the second layer 204 .
For example a shaft heater 230 may be disposed in a portion of the flange 228 at the interface 212 . Similar to the shaft heater 130 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 , a first end 233 of a conductor 234 is coupled to the shaft heater 230 . A second end 235 of the conductor 234 extends beyond the second end 227 of the shaft 220 and is coupled to a power source, for example DC source 240 , to provide power to the shaft heater 230 and facilitate heating the first end 226 of the shaft 220 . The conductor 234 may be completely or partially disposed along the interface 212 between the first layer 202 and the second layer 204 .
One or more of the shaft heater 230 and the conductor 234 may be printed on a surface 213 of the first layer 202 or the second layer 204 . For example, at least one of the shaft heater 230 and the conductor 234 may be formed by a solution of tungsten, molybdenum, or other metal with a suitable electrical resistivity that is screen printed on a portion of the first layer 202 . In some embodiments, the shaft heater 230 and the conductor 234 may be printed on an outer surface 203 of the first layer 202 of ceramic material. For example, the first layer 202 of ceramic material may be formed and the shaft heater 230 and conductor 234 printed on the outer surface 203 . A second layer 204 of ceramic material may be formed over the first layer 202 at least partially covering the shaft heater 230 and the conductor 234 . The combined first and second layers 202 and 204 may be further processed, for example by sintering, to form a finished shaft 220 with the shaft heater 230 and the conductor 234 disposed at the interface 212 .
Prior to further processing, and in a similar fashion, a shaft temperature sensor 232 , such as a resistive temperature device (RTD), may also be disposed at the interface 212 . The shaft temperature sensor 232 may be printed on the outer surface 203 of the first layer 202 . A first end 237 of a conductor 238 may be coupled to the shaft temperature sensor 232 . A second end 239 of the conductor 238 extends beyond the second end 227 of the first layer 202 and is coupled to the controller 214 . The DC source 240 may also be coupled to the controller 214 , for example via conductor 236 .
The shaft heater 230 , the DC source 240 , the shaft temperature sensor 232 , and the controller 214 comprise a closed loop circuit similar in construction and function to the second closed loop circuit described above.
In some substrate processes, the temperature profile of the substrate receiving surface predicts the temperature profile of the substrate supported thereon. The temperature non-uniformities across the substrate receiving surface are manifest by non-uniform process performance on the substrate supported thereon. The inventors have observed that in some cases, heat is lost at the central area of the plate, opposite the mounting location of the shaft. The inventors have noted the shaft appears to create a heat sink, removing some of the heat from the plate at the interface of the shaft and the plate. The mounting of the shaft to the plate causes a temperature discontinuity at the substrate mounting surface.
The inventive substrate support may include a heater and temperature sensor at the first end (mounting end) of the shaft to reduce heat loss from the plate. The heater at the first end of the shaft generates additional heat with closed loop control to compensate for heat lost to the shaft. It has been observed that the closed loop control of the shaft heaters advantageously allows accurate control of the temperature of the first end of the shaft. When used in conjunction with the closed loop control of the temperature of the plate, the temperature difference between the plate and the first end of the shaft can be minimized. In cases where the temperature of the first end of the shaft is the same, or substantially the same, as the plate temperature, the inventors have noted an adiabatic interface can be established in which heat neither transfers to nor from the plate. Under such conditions, the inventors have observed no thermal imprint of the shaft on the substrate support surface or on the substrate supported thereon. Accordingly, processing of the substrate can be advantageously effected by maintaining a more uniform temperature across the substrate. In addition, the substrate support may be operated to develop a purposeful non-uniform thermal gradient across the surface of the substrate support (e.g., central region hotter or central region colder) in order to compensate for other sources of heat transfer to or from the substrate during processing (e.g., to maintain a more uniform thermal gradient on the substrate during processing) or to compensate for other sources of processing non-uniformities or non-uniform incoming substrates (e.g., to maintain a purposefully non-uniform thermal gradient on the substrate during processing).
The inventors have also observed that the temperature differential between the heated plate and the unheated shaft in conventional substrate supports can also cause thermal stresses at the interface between the shaft and the bottom of the plate. Thermal stresses can make the attachment between the shaft and the plate problematic, for example as the plate and the shaft expand or contract differently because of the different temperatures.
In the present invention, as discussed above, the shaft heater can advantageously minimize or substantially eliminate the temperature differential between the shaft and the plate at the interface. Accordingly, the thermal stresses and the associated disadvantages can also be minimized or substantially eliminated.
The inventors have developed a novel way of forming the inventive heated substrate support disclosed above. The method is outlined beginning at 300 in FIG. 3 , with reference made to the plate 102 ( FIG. 1 ) and the shaft 220 ( FIG. 2 ). At 302 , a plate 102 having a substrate receiving surface 104 and an opposite bottom surface 106 is formed. The plate 102 may include one or more plate heaters 108 , and a plate temperature sensor 112 , such as a resistive temperature device (RTD), embedded in the plate 102 . As described above, the plate heaters 108 and the plate temperature sensor 112 may be coupled to the DC source 110 and the controller 114 to form a first closed loop control circuit.
The plate 102 may be formed form ceramic materials as listed above. Forming the plate 102 may include sintering to densify the ceramic materials. Other fabrication processes suitable to the particular material (ceramics or metallic) may be used as appropriate. Forming the plate 102 may occur separately from forming the shaft 220 .
At 304 , a first layer 202 of ceramic material is formed, the first layer 202 comprising a first end 226 and an opposite second end 227 . The first layer 202 may include an area corresponding to the flange 228 . In some embodiments, the first layer 202 is formed as a sheet of ceramic material having an upper edge 242 (corresponding to the first end 226 of the shaft, including the flange 228 ), an opposite bottom edge 244 (corresponding to the second end 227 ) and lengthwise edges (not shown).
At 306 , a shaft heater 230 is disposed on the first layer 202 at the upper edge 242 . In some embodiments, the shaft heater 230 is printed on a surface 213 of the first layer 202 using a solution comprising tungsten, molybdenum, or another metal with a suitable electrical resistivity using screen printing techniques as discussed above. The shaft heater 230 may be formed by printing a plurality of layers of the same or different configuration at the upper edge 242 .
A conductor 234 may be disposed on a surface 213 of the first layer 202 as at 308 . A first end 233 of the conductor 234 may be coupled to the shaft heater 230 . A second end 235 extends to the bottom edge 244 of the first layer 202 . In some embodiments, the second end 235 extends beyond the bottom edge 244 . In some embodiments, the conductor 234 may be printed, for example screen printed, as above using similar materials. An additional conductor (not shown), may be coupled to the conductor 234 at the bottom edge 244 when the conductor 234 is printed on the surface 213 , to extend the conductor 234 beyond the bottom edge 244 .
Optionally, at 310 , the shaft temperature sensor 232 , such as a resistive temperature device (RTD), may be disposed on the first layer 202 at the upper edge 242 of the first layer. The shaft temperature sensor 232 may be coupled to a conductor 238 which may be integrally formed with the shaft temperature sensor 232 or separately formed. In some embodiments at least one of the shaft temperature sensor 232 or the conductor 238 may be printed on the surface 213 , such as by screen printing.
At 312 , a second layer 204 of ceramic material is formed atop the first layer 202 such that the second layer 204 at least partially covers the shaft heater 230 . If the conductor 234 is printed on the surface 213 , the second layer 204 may at least partially cover the conductor 234 . In embodiments in which the first layer 202 is formed as a sheet of ceramic material, the second layer 204 may also be formed as sheet of ceramic material having an upper edge 246 aligned with upper edge 242 , an opposite bottom edge 248 aligned with bottom edge 244 , and lengthwise edges (not shown).
At 314 , the first layer 202 with the heater disposed on surface 213 , and with the second layer 204 formed atop the first layer and at least partially covering the heater, are processed together to form a shaft 220 . The processing may include a procedure to densify the first and second layers 202 , 204 of ceramic materials. For example, the first and second layers 202 , 204 may be sintered under elevated temperature and high pressure to form a shaft 220 .
In the embodiments in which the first and second layers 202 and 204 are formed sheets of ceramic materials, the sheets may be formed into an open ended tube such that the upper edge 246 is aligned with upper edge 242 , and the bottom edge 248 is aligned with bottom edge 244 . For example, the first and second layers 202 and 204 may be rolled into a tubular form such that the lengthwise edges of the first layer 202 are joined and the lengthwise edges of the second layer 204 are joined. The tubular form may be a cylinder or other convenient shape.
At 316 , the first end 226 of the shaft 220 is coupled to the bottom surface 106 of the plate 102 to form a substrate support in accordance with the present invention. The coupling may be achieved using any suitable mechanical fasteners, such as threaded fasteners or mechanical clamping devices, or adhesives as appropriate.
Thus, embodiments of heated substrate supports having improved temperature uniformity control have been provided. Embodiments of the present invention may be used to support and heat a substrate for any process using a heated substrate support with enhanced control over a temperature profile created on the substrate. Non-limiting examples of processes that may benefit from the discloses substrate support include chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), or laser annealing processes.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. | Methods and apparatus of substrate supports having temperature profile control are provided herein. In some embodiments, a substrate support includes: a plate having a substrate receiving surface and an opposite bottom surface; and a shaft having a first end comprising a shaft heater and a second end, wherein the first end is coupled to the bottom surface. Methods of making a substrate support having temperature profile control are also provided. | 8 |
This application is a continuation-in-part application of prior application Ser. No. 746,204 filed, Dec. 1, 1976 which is, in turn, a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 621,367 filed Oct. 8, 1975, both now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to textile equipment and more particularly to the overall structure and organization of a weft selection mechanism.
The invention is directed toward a particular structure and organization of such a weft selector mechanism wherein a plurality of levers may have ends thereof engaging weft threads with selective rotation of the levers about a common shaft operating to effect selection of a desired weft thread.
Loom equipment for textiles generally are of a type where individual components of a loom are usually required in great numbers because of high output requirements which may exist in a textile facility. Accordingly, structural simplification of loom components can give rise to significant cost savings when multiplied by the number of looms within which a particular item or component is to be used. In addition to structural simplification and cost reduction in the manufacture thereof, mechanisms for looms will provide significant advantages if they can operate effectively and reliably to perform a particular loom function despite simplicity of design and structure.
The present invention relates basically to such a simplified weft selector mechanism for looms which enables several improvements of a practical nature and structural scope to be effected in the art of weft selector devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the present invention may be described as a weft selector mechanism for looms comprising a casing, a plurality of weft selector levers each having a first and a second end, shaft means within said casing, swivel bearing means swivelly rotatably mounting said plurality of weft selector levers on said shaft means intermediate said first and second ends of said levers, means defining on opposite sides of said casing lateral slots extending obliquely to said shaft means, said lateral slots being arranged to have said first and said second ends of said weft selector levers, respectively, positioned for sliding engagement therein for guiding movement of said levers, means for engaging weft threads at said first end of each of said weft selector levers, drive means engaging said second ends of said weft selector levers for rotating said levers about said swivel bearing means, and spring means for biasing said weft selector levers to a return position. The weft selector levers are mounted upon the shaft means by the swivel bearing means in such a manner that the first ends of a plurality of the weft selector levers may all be passed through a common point by rotation about the shaft means as a result of guiding engagement of the ends of the weft selector levers within the slots formed in the casing. Because of the swivel action of the bearings, which may be formed from flexible bushings, the guide slots may be arranged to lie within a plane extending obliquely to the shaft means thereby to effect movement of the first ends of the plurality of weft selector levers through a common point.
As a result of the construction of the present invention, the weft selector levers may be arranged in two groups with the first ends of each of the levers of a group passing through a common point as a result of the converging orientations of the guide slots. The guide slots may be arranged so that a first group of levers has first ends all passing through a common point upon pivoting of the levers about the shaft means with a second group of levers passing through a second common point.
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 objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the weft selector mechanism according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is schematic cross sectional view of the weft selector mechanism of the invention in assembled form;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing in detail a particular portion of the mechanism of the invention and
FIG. 4 is a side assembly depicting the arrangement of the two groups of levers of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As will be seen from the drawings, the weft selector mechanism of the present invention is basically composed of a casing which includes rear covers 1, a front cover 16, a pair of sides 17 and 18, a lower cover 19 and a top cover 15. The casing thus described may be assembled and held together, in a manner obvious to those skilled in the art, by utilization of attachment means such as screws 20, 21 and 22.
The opposed sides 17 and 18 of the casing each have formed therein oblique slots 7, 6, respectively.
A pivot pin or shaft 2 is mounted within the casing with one end thereof attached to the top cover 15 through a washer 34 with the other end thereof being attached to the lower cover 19 through a washer 35.
Mounted upon the shaft 2 for pivotal movement thereabout are a plurality of levers 8 which are connected to the shaft 2 at a point intermediate their ends by swivel bearings or flexible bushings 33. Each of the levers 8 has a first end at which there is located an eyelet 10 formed at the end of a hook end 9 with the eyelet 10 being adapted to engage a weft thread 11 to effect selection of the weft thread and engagement thereof by a needle 14.
Each lever 8 has a second end or rear section 4 which includes a coupling slot 12. The coupling slot 12 is adapted to be engaged by a toggle 32 located at the end of a cable 13 which is engaged within a sheath 28. A guide strip 29 operates to permit a plurality of cables 13 to extend to within the casing for engagement of the coupling slots 12 of each lever 8 mounted within the casing. A side cover 30 is mounted over the guide strip 29 and the side 17 by means of screws 31. Actuation of the cable 13 in a downward direction, as seen in FIG. 2, will effect downward movement of the second or left end of the lever 8 thereby causing the lever to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about the shaft 2 as viewed in FIG. 2.
Included within the casing is a pin 3 which has one end of each of a plurality of return springs 5 attached thereto. The other end of the return springs 5 is attached to a respective lever 8 through an orifice 40 and the pin 3 is connected across the interior of the casing between the top cover 15 and the lower cover 19. Thus, when the cable 13 causes a lever 8 to be rotated about the shaft 2 in a clockwise direction, as previously described, the return spring 5 will cause the lever 8 to rotate clockwise, as seen in FIG. 2, to return the lever 8 to its original position after the force applied through the cable 13 has been released.
The entire mechanism described may be mounted at an appropriate position upon a loom by a tie bar 26 which connects to a support member 23 attached to the casing by means of screws 24 and 27 and washer 25.
As will be apparent, a plurality of levers 8 are provided within the casing of the invention. Each of the levers 8 has connected at its second end a cable 13 with the first end of each lever engaging through the eyelet 10 with a weft thread 11. Thus, selective actuation of a cable 13 will cause a particular lever to rotate in the manner previously described to effect selection of a weft thread 11.
Each of the levers 8 is mounted within the casing so that its first end extends through one of the slots 6 while its second end or rear section 4 is engaged within one of the slots 7. As best seen in FIG. 1, each of the slots 6 and 7 is arranged to extend obliquely relative to the shaft 2. That is, the slots 6 and 7 are arranged to include slots which lie in a plane which will extend at an oblique angle relative to the central axis of the shaft 2.
Inasmuch as the levers 8 are engaged at both ends within a slot 6, 7 respectively, when the levers are caused to rotate about the shaft 2, movement of the lever ends will be guided by the directional orientation of the slots 6, 7. Since the slots extend obliquely to the shaft 2, the ends of the levers will be guided with directional components which will extend both radially and axially of the shaft 2. This is enabled by utilization of the swivel bearing 33. The swivel bearing 33 operates, as seen in FIG. 3, to permit movement of the levers 8 in the manner indicated, as depicted by the dotted line position of a lever 8 shown in FIG. 3.
Thus, by proper orientation of the slots 6 and 7, a plurality of levers 8 may be arranged so that when they are pivoted about the shaft 2 each end or eyelet 10 of a group of such levers 8 may be caused to pass through a common point.
In the arrangement of the present invention as best seen in FIG. 4, there are provided two sets A and B of levers 8. Each set A and B is composed of four levers each of which has its eyelet 10 passing through a common point α or β. The second set B of four levers is arranged so that eyelet 10 of the second set B passes through a common point β, this point being different from the common point α of the first set A of levers. As will be apparent from FIG. 1, a total of eight slots 6 and eight slots 7 are provided with the slots being appropriately oriented to effect the desired movement of the levers 8. The swivel bearing means 33 which are provided may be in the form of flexible bushings or the like and should operate to enable sufficient latitude in the movement of the levers 8 in order to allow provision for the indicated motion.
Of course, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, more or less levers 8 may be provided and the arrangement of the invention may be such that only one set of levers is provided each of which has a first end or eyelet 10 passing through a common point.
While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. | A compact simplified weft selector mechanism is formed in an assembly where a plurality of weft selector arms are pivoted about a fixed shaft with the operating ends of the arms engaging a weft thread whereby selection of a particular arm operates to select a particular weft thread for engagement by a loom needle. A plurality of arms or levers are individually mounted by swivel bearings to be guided by oblique slots for movement of the operating ends of the levers through a common point. | 3 |
PRIORITY CLAIM
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/544,707 filed on Aug. 20, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,204,698.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to composite building panels. More specifically, it relates to a method for determining structural parameters of gypsum wallboard.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Composite building panels, such as gypsum wallboard, are well known for interior wall and ceiling construction. Some of the main advantages of wallboard over other materials is that wallboard is less expensive, a fire retardant and easy to work with in construction applications. In construction, wallboard is typically secured to wood or metal supports of framed walls and ceilings using fasteners such as nails or screws. Because wallboard is relatively heavy, it must be strong enough to prevent the fasteners from pulling through the wallboard and causing the wallboard to loosen or fall away from the supports.
Nail pull is an industry measure of the amount of force required for wallboard to be pulled away from the associated support and over the head of such a fastener. Preferable nail pull values for wallboard are in the approximate range of between 65-85 pounds of force. Nail pull is a measure of a combination of the wallboard core strength, the face paper strength and the bond between the face paper and the core. Nail pull tests are performed in accordance with the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) standard C473-00 and utilize a machine that pulls on a head of a fastener inserted in the wallboard to determine the maximum force required to pull the fastener head through the wallboard. Because the nail pull value is an important measure of wallboard strength, minimum required nail pull values have been established for wallboard. Accordingly, manufacturers produce wallboard that meets or exceeds the minimum required nail pull values.
To ensure that wallboard meets the required nail pull values, conventional wallboard manufacturers adjust the structural parameters of the wallboard. Specifically, manufacturers typically adjust the face paper weight of wallboard or the weight of the wallboard to meet the required nail pull value, depending on the economics of the process. During manufacturing, wallboard is tested to determine if it meets the required nail pull value. If the tested nail pull value of the wallboard is less than the required nail pull value, manufacturers increase the face paper weight on the wallboard and/or the weight of the wallboard. This process is iterated until the required nail pull value is met.
Such a process is inaccurate and commonly causes the tested nail pull values to exceed the required nail pull values due to excess face paper weight and/or overall board weight added to the wallboard. Also, the excess weight from the face paper and/or from the core to wallboard and thereby increases manufacturing and shipping costs of wallboard. Further, there is the likelihood of wasting time and material until the desired nail pull values are achieved on the wallboard production line.
Thus, there is a need for an improved technique of adjusting wallboard manufacturing systems to produce wallboard that meets specified nail pull values.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These, and other problems readily identified by those skilled in the art, are solved by the present method of determining structural properties of composite building panels such as wallboard.
The present method is designed for determining structural parameters of gypsum wallboard prior to manufacturing to reduce manufacturing and shipping costs as well as significantly reduce manufacturing time.
More specifically, the present method determines structural parameters of wallboard and includes providing a core strength value of the wallboard, determining a required nail pull value and calculating a face paper stiffness value based on the provided core strength value and the determined nail pull value. The calculated face paper stiffness value is displayed on a display device for use by a manufacturer.
In another embodiment, a method of manufacturing wallboard includes determining a required nail pull value, providing a core strength value of the wallboard and determining a face paper stiffness value based on the required nail pull value and the provided core strength value. The method includes determining a face paper weight based on the determined face paper stiffness value, selecting a face paper type based on the determined face paper weight and producing the wallboard using the selected face paper type and the provided core strength value.
Determining the structural parameters prior to manufacturing enables manufacturers to save significant manufacturing and shipping costs by eliminating excess face paper weight or wallboard weight that is typically utilized for the wallboard to meet required nail pull values. Additionally, a significant amount of manufacturing time is saved because less time is needed to test the manufactured wallboard to determine the composite design and weight of the final product needed to meet required nail pull values. Furthermore, the structural integrity and strength of wallboard is maintained, even though the additional weight and stress added by the excess face paper is reduced.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a table illustrating a comparison between measured nail pull data and predicted nail pull data for different types of wallboard using different face paper stiffness values from various face paper weights and Tensile Stiffness Index Area (TSIA) as well different core strength values at various board densities.
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating nail pull as a function of the face paper stiffness at different core strength values at a board density of 37 lb/ft 3 .
FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating nail pull as a function of the core strength at different face paper stiffness values at a board density of 37 lb/ft 3 .
FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the face paper stiffness and the core strength at different required nail pull values at a board density of 37 lb/ft 3 .
FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the face paper weight and the Tensile Stiffness Index Area values needed to achieve a required nail pull value of 77 lb f at different core strength values for 37 lb/ft 3 board density.
FIG. 6 is a table identifying certain face paper weight values and Tensile Strength Index Area (TSIA) values needed to achieve a required nail pull value of 77 lb f at different core strength values for 37 lb/ft 3 board density based on the graph of FIG. 5 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Nail pull values are critical to the strength and usefulness of gypsum wallboard. If a nail pull value for a particular wallboard is too low, the fastener holding the wallboard on a frame or other support can pull through the wallboard and cause the wallboard to crack, break or fall from the frame or support. Alternatively, if nail pull values are too high (i.e., significantly exceed required nail pull values), wallboard production resources are inefficiently applied and money is wasted during manufacturing.
A problem in gypsum wallboard manufacturing is how to accurately determine the face paper weight that correlates to a required nail pull value for wallboard and a way that more efficiently utilizes manufacturing and shipping costs, as well as manufacturing time. As stated above, wallboard manufacturers perform tests on wallboard to determine if it meets a required nail pull value. If the required nail pull value is not met, manufacturers typically increase either the face paper weight of the wallboard and/or the board weight. These steps are repeated until the required nail pull value of the wallboard is met. This process is not accurate and often causes the wallboard to have excess face paper weight or board weight, and thereby increases manufacturing and shipping costs as well as manufacturing time.
Previous nail pull model correlates the nail pull of gypsum boards to the face paper stiffness value and the core strength value for smaller gypsum boards (half inch gypsum boards). In another embodiment, this nail pull model has been expanded to a generalized nail pull model that correlates the nail pull value with the face paper stiffness value and the core strength value of several different types of gypsum boards including, but not limited to, half inch gypsum boards, three-quarter inch gypsum boards and lightweight gypsum boards.
Specifically, the generalized nail pull model below relates the nail pull value to the face paper stiffness value and the core strength value of gypsum boards having a density from 28 to 48 lb/ft 3 .
The generalized nail pull model can be used to determine a face paper stiffness value for wallboard prior to manufacturing that meets the required nail pull value. The method utilizes Equation (1) below to correlate a required nail pull value with the face paper stiffness value and the core strength value of wallboard. Equation (1) is as follows:
Nail Pull(lb f )= a +(lb f )+[ b (lb f /(kN/m))×(face paper stiffness(kN/m))]+[ c× Ilb f /psi)×(core strength(psi))] (1)
where b=0.009490606731 and c=0.073937419 are constants determined from testing data that best fit the data shown. The constant “a” is determined based on Equation (2) as follows:
a=a 1 +a 2/[1+Exp(−(board density− a 3)/ a 4)] (2)
where a1=67441271, a2=20.870959, a3=43.718215 and a4=2.1337464, and the board density is determining using:
Board density=board weight/board caliper (3)
FIG. 1 shows the predictions of the nail pull from the generalized nail pull model as comparing to the measured nail pull using different types of board samples at a specific board density with various face paper and core strength.
In some situations, changing the face paper stiffness is more economically feasible. Prior to manufacturing, the required nail pull value for the wallboard at a target weight and caplier is specified (i.e., half inch, light weight, five-eight inch etc.). These values are entered in Equation (1) above to determine the face paper stiffness value of the wallboard. For example, for board density of 37 pounds per cubic feet, Equation (1) becomes:
Nail Pull(lb f )=7.602932(lb f )+[0.009490606731(lb f /(kN/m))×(face paper stiffness(kN/m))]+[0.073937419(lb f /psi)×(core strength (psi))]
The face paper stiffness value for wallboard having a board density of 37 lb per cubic ft is determined using a core strength value of 450 pounds per square inch (psi) and a required nail pull value of 77 pound-force (lb f ) as follows:
77 lb f =(7.602932(lb f ))+[(0.009490606731(lb f /(kN/m)))×(face paper stiffness(kN/m))]+[(0.073937419(lb f /psi))×(450 psi)]
where the face paper stiffness value=3805.37 kiloNewton/meter (kN/m).
The face paper stiffness value is a product of the face paper weight and the Tensile Stiffness Index Area (TSIA) value as shown in the following equation:
Face Paper Stiffness(kN/m)=Face Paper Weight(g/m 2 )×TSIA(kNm/g) (2)
Using the above example, the Face Paper Weight for the above wallboard having a core strength value of 450 psi, a required nail pull value of 77 lb f and a TSIA of 18 kiloNewton-meter/gram (kNm/g) is as follows:
Face
Paper
Weight
(
g
/
m
2
)
=
Face
Paper
Stiffness
(
kN
/
m
)
/
TSIA
(
kNm
/
g
)
=
(
3805.37
kN
/
m
)
/
(
18
kNm
/
g
)
=
211.41
gram
/
meter
squared
(
g
/
m
2
)
=
43.3
lb
/
1000
ft
2
=
43.3
lb
/
MSF
In the above equation, the TSIA value is a measurement of the normalized face paper stiffness prior to the production. Specifically, an ultrasonic Tensile Stiffness Orientation (TSO®) tester machine measures the Tensile Stiffness Index (TSI) in all directions of the face paper to determine the TSIA. The stiffer the face paper, the larger the TSIA values. The approximate range of TSIA values for wallboard is 12 to 26 kNm/g.
The face paper stiffness value and TSIA value are used to determine the weight of the face paper that is needed to achieve the required nail pull value for wallboard having a designated core strength value at a specific board density. The calculation for determining the face paper weight is therefore a two-step process of first determining the face paper stiffness and then determining the face paper weight for the wallboard being manufactured.
Equations (1), (2), and (3) are preferably stored in a memory of a computer, personal data assistant or other suitable device. The required nail pull values, core strength values and constants are also stored in the memory in a database or other searchable data format. The memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), compact disk read-only memory (CD ROM) or any other suitable memory or memory device. A user or manufacturer inputs the required nail pull value and designated core strength value for the specific wallboard product into the computer using a keyboard or other suitable input device. Alternatively, the required nail pull value and designated core strength value for the wallboard may be downloaded and stored in a file or folder in the memory. A processor, such as a microprocessor or a central processing unit (CPU), calculates the face paper weight for the wallboard using Equations (1), (2), and (3), the inputted nail pull value and the inputted core strength value. The calculated face paper weight, or alternatively the face paper stiffness value, is displayed to a user on a display device such as a computer screen, monitor or other suitable output device or printed out by a printer. The user uses the calculated face paper weight to select the face paper or face paper type that is to be adhered to the core during manufacturing of the wallboard. The face paper selected using the present method typically targets the face paper stiffness and weight needed to achieve the required nail pull value compared to conventional wallboard production techniques. Additionally, the present method reduces the overall weight of the manufactured wallboard, which reduces manufacturing and shipping costs. The present method also significantly reduces the manufacturing time associated with producing the wallboard because the intermediate testing of the wallboard to determine if the wallboard meets required nail pull values is no longer necessary.
FIG. 1 is a table that illustrates a comparison between the measured nail pull data and the predicted nail pull data for different wallboard using Equation (1). As shown in the table, the predicted average nail pull data using Equation (1) correlates well with the tested or measured average nail pull data of the wallboard. Equations (1), (2), and (3) can also be used to predict different structural parameters or values of wallboard to enhance the manufacturing process.
For a board density of 37 lb/ft 3 , from Equation (1), nail pull data in Equation (1) can be expressed as a linear function of the face paper stiffness at different core strength values ranging from 200 psi to 800 psi, as shown in FIG. 2 . The core strength value of wallboard varies based on the type of wallboard being manufactured. The typical range of core strength values for the wallboard considered in FIG. 1 is 300 to 800 psi.
The nail pull data can also be plotted as a linear function of the core strength with the face paper stiffness values ranging from 2000 kN/m to 5000 kN/m, as shown in FIG. 3 . Preferably, the face paper stiffness values range from 3000 to 5000 kN/m for wallboard. In FIGS. 2 and 3 , it is apparent that increasing either the face paper stiffness value or the core strength value of wallboard increases the nail pull value.
FIG. 4 shows a plot of the face paper stiffness value as a function of the core strength value at various different nail pull values. Specifically, line “A” illustrates the relationship between the face paper stiffness values and the core strength values at a target minimum nail pull value of 77 lb f . Furthermore using Equation (2), a higher face paper stiffness value can be accomplished by increasing either the face paper weight or the TSIA.
FIG. 5 illustrates the relationship between the face paper weight and the TSIA that meets a required nail pull value of 77 lb f . The face paper weight requirements for different TSIA values are summarized in the table shown in FIG. 6 . Note that increasing the TSIA value from 12 to 20 kNm/g tends to reduce the required face paper weight by an average of 40% at core strength of 450 psi, while maintaining the required nail pull value of 77 lb f .
The generalized nail pull model enables a user to determine the optimum face paper sheet weight that meets a designated nail pull value at a specific core strength value for all types of wallboard, such as wallboard having the following formulations:
Example A
Stucco: 850-950 lbs per 1000 ft 2
HRA: 12-16 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Glass Fiber: 0-2 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Dispersant (wet basis): 0-8 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Pre-Gel Corn Flour (dry basis): 20-40 lbs per 1000 ft 2
STMP (MCM) (dry basis): 2-3 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Water-to-stucco ratio: 0.8-1.1
Example B
Stucco: 1100-1300 lbs per 1000 ft 2
HRA: 8-11 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Dispersant (wet basis): 0-8 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Acid-Modified Starch (dry basis): 0-5 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Pre-Gel Corn Flour (dry basis): 0-10 lbs per 1000 ft 2
STMP (MCM) (dry basis): 07-1.5 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Water-to-stucco ratio: 0.7-0.88
Example C
Stucco: 1800 lbs per 1000 ft 2
HRA: 5-10 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Glass Fiber: 4.5-5.3 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Dispersant (wet basis): 0-12 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Acid-Modified Starch (dry basis): 4-6 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Pre-Gel Corn Flour (dry basis): 0-2 lbs per 1000 ft 2
STMP (MCM) (dry basis): 0-0.7 lbs per 1000 ft 2
Water-to-stucco ratio: 0.63-0.75
The above embodiments of the present method enable wallboard manufacturers to determine important parameters and properties of the wallboard prior to manufacturing such as the face paper weight needed to achieve a required nail pull value. Obtaining these parameters prior to manufacturing helps to significantly reduce manufacturing time, as well as manufacturing costs and shipping costs. The present method also allows manufacturers to maintain the structural integrity and performance of wallboard without adding face paper weight or overall weight on wallboard.
While several particular embodiments of the present method have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects and as set forth in the following claims. | A method of determining face paper properties of all types of wallboard including providing a core strength value of the wallboard, determining a required nail pull value based the wallboard specifications and calculating a face paper stiffness value based on the provided core strength value and the determined nail pull value. The method includes displaying the calculated face paper stiffness value on a display device. | 4 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates generally to construction and, more specifically, to a system for ventilating a structure.
BACKGROUND
[0002] To date, the construction industry has relied heavily on custom-made ventilation systems that vary in design and cost. Moreover, the existing systems are piece meal, meaning that a builder must purchase separately the individual pieces to be included and then put them together specifically for, and often at, the particular job site. In the present invention, an entire ventilation system is pre-assembled and ready for installation at any job site. Furthermore, the present system is fully-integrated, including means that have been difficult to come by or integrate in past methods. The present invention can be made in advance, purchased in bulk by a builder, and offers a significant improvement over ventilation methods currently in use. The system overall is an advancement over the inadequate, piece-meal, custom-made history of construction ventilation.
SUMMARY
[0003] This invention relates generally to construction and, more specifically, to a system for ventilating a structure.
[0004] In one embodiment, a system for ventilating a structure may include a tubular member having an adapter end and a hood end, a flange disposed around the tubular member, a flapper assembly, including at least one flapper, disposed near the hood end of the tubular member, and a hood disposed at the hood end of the tubular member. In another embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a screen disposed between the flapper assembly and the hood end of the tubular member. In one embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may have a hood disposed at the hood end of the tubular member such that the inside surface of the hood does not touch the hood end of the tubular member, leaving a gap between the hood and the tubular member.
[0005] In an exemplary embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a flexible membrane encasing the tubular member. The system for ventilating a structure may include a flexible membrane covering the flange. In another exemplary embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a flexible membrane disposed between the flange and the hood end of the tubular member, but not in direct contact with the flange. In one embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a flexible membrane disposed such that it encases the tubular member and covers the flange.
[0006] In another exemplary embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a flange that is disposed near the adapter end of the tubular member such that the adapter end of the tubular member extends beyond the location of the flange. In another embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a tubular member with a first portion comprising a segment from the hood end to the flange, and a second portion comprising a segment from the flange to the adapter end of the tubular member. In a further embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may have a flange disposed between the first portion and the second portion of the tubular member.
[0007] In an exemplary embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a flapper assembly wherein the flapper of said flapper assembly is comprised of a curved edge and a straight edge, configured to form a half-circle shape. In a further embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may have a first flapper, a second flapper, and a strut coupled to the straight edge of the first flapper and the straight edge of the second flapper such that the first flapper and second flapper lay perpendicular to an inside surface of the tubular member. In an alternative embodiment, the system for ventilating may include a flapper assembly wherein the flapper of said flapper assembly is comprised of four straight edges, configured to form a rectangle. In a further embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may have a first flapper, a second flapper, and a strut coupled to at least one straight edge of the first flapper and at least one straight edge of the second flapper such that the first flapper and second flapper lay perpendicular to an inside surface of the tubular member.
[0008] In another exemplary embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a tubular member having an adapter end and a hood end; a base disposed near the adapter end of the tubular member and further comprising a flange disposed around the tubular member; a flapper assembly disposed near the hood end of the tubular member and further comprising a first flapper, a second flapper, and a strut coupled to at least one edge of the first flapper and at least one edge of the second flapper such that the first flapper and second flapper lay perpendicular to an inside surface of the tubular member; at least one screen disposed between the flapper assembly and the hood end of the tubular member; and a hood disposed at the hood end of the tubular member, wherein the hood is coupled with the tubular member via at least one brace such that there is a gap between the hood and the tubular member.
[0009] In another exemplary embodiment, the system for ventilating a structure may include a tubular member having an adapter end and a hood end and encased in a flexible membrane; a base disposed near the adapter end of the tubular member and further comprising a flange disposed around the tubular member, and a flexible membrane disposed between the flange and the hood end of the tubular member; a flapper assembly disposed near the hood end of the tubular member and further comprising a first flapper, a second flapper, and at least one strut coupled to at least one edge of the first flapper and at least one edge of the second flapper such that the first flapper and second flapper lay perpendicular to an inside surface of the tubular member; at least one screen disposed between the flapper assembly and the hood end of the tubular member; and a hood disposed at the hood end of the tubular member, wherein the hood is coupled with the tubular member via at least one brace such that there is a gap between the hood and the tubular member.
[0010] In addition to the foregoing, various other methods, systems and/or product embodiments are set forth and described in the teachings such as the text (e.g., claims, drawings and/or the detailed description) and/or drawings of the present disclosure.
[0011] The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, embodiments, features and advantages of the device and/or processes and/or other subject matter described herein will become apparent in the teachings set forth herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a side view of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the hood end portion of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0015] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the adapter end of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a detailed view of the flapper assembly of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the flapper assembly and the screen of the system for ventilating a structure.
[0019] FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the hood of the system for ventilating a structure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] The present invention provides a single-unit system for ventilating a structure. The present invention is comprised of a hood, a tubular member, a flange, and a base adapter.
[0021] The present embodiment is comprised of a system for allowing airflow. In one embodiment, this system includes a tubular member 1 having a hood end 2 and an adapter end 3 . In some embodiments, the tubular member 1 will have a first portion and a second portion, the first portion including the hood end 2 and the second portion including the adapter end 3 . In some embodiments, the tubular member 1 will be a single tubular piece from the hood end 2 to the adapter end 3 of the tubular member. In some embodiments, this single tubular piece will comprise of both the first portion and the second portion. In some embodiments, the tubular member 1 will be separate pieces, one piece comprising the first portion and another piece comprising the second portion. The tubular member may be any rigid material, such as rolled sheet metal, PVC pipe, aluminum tubing, wood, etc., without altering the function of the system. In some embodiments the tubular member 1 will have a crimped seam 4 where the sides of the material join to form the tube. In some embodiments the tubular member 1 will have a rolled seam 4 . In some embodiments the seam 4 will be welded, cemented, riveted, or otherwise joined. Many methods may be used to join two portions of a material to form a tube, and the proper method will depend on the type of material used to form tubular member 1 .
[0022] The present embodiment is further comprised of a hood 5 . The hood 5 is a manner of protecting the system for ventilating a structure from airborne debris, precipitation, animals, or any other object which might block the system. FIG. 2 shows the hood 5 as a trapezoidal shape, but the hood may be any number of shapes, such as cylindrical, square, circular, etc., without altering the function of the hood. The hood 5 as shown is exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the shape of the hood. The hood 5 is joined to the hood end 2 of the tubular member 1 by a connecting means 16 . The hood 5 is connected to the tubular member 1 such that the inside surface of the hood does not touch the rim of the tubular member, leaving a gap for airflow in and out of the tubular member. In an exemplary embodiment, the connecting means 16 is a brace. In another embodiment, the connecting means 16 may be a rigid screen. In another embodiment, the connecting means 16 may be any method of connecting the hood 5 to the tubular member 1 , so long as the connecting means leaves a gap between the hood and the tubular member.
[0023] The system for ventilating a structure is further comprised of a base, which consists of at least one flange 6 . The flange is a manner of protecting from outside contaminants the area into which the ventilation system will be inserted, as well as providing stability of the system for ventilating a structure. In the present embodiment, the flange 6 is disposed near the adapter end 3 of the tubular member 1 , meaning that the flange is in the lower half of the tubular member, yet not flush with the adapter end of the tubular member. The flange 6 as depicted is square, but the flange can be any shape, such as a circle, a rectangle, a triangle, etc., without altering the function of the flange. The flange 6 as depicted is flat, meaning that it is perpendicular to the plane along which the length of the tubular member 1 runs, and parallel to the plane on which the end of the tubular member sits. This is in part what allows the pre-assembled ventilation system of the instant disclosure to be installed in multiple job sites, including sites with flat roofs, further providing the aforementioned benefit over the inadequate, custom-made systems. The flange 6 could also be at an angle to the plane along the outside surface of the tubular member 1 , allowing the system to be installed on angled roofs, such as, for example only, an A-frame roof. The flange 6 as shown is exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the shape or plane of the flange.
[0024] In some embodiments, the system for ventilating a structure may have a base membrane 7 . The base membrane 7 is a flexible material disposed over the surface of the flange 6 . This is a secondary method of protecting the structure from contaminants, and is in part what allows the pre-assembled ventilation system of the instant disclosure to adjust to the requirements present at the particular job site, providing the aforementioned benefit over the previously-known inadequate, piece-meal, and custom-made systems. The base membrane 7 also serves to better integrate the ventilation system into the structure by allowing the membrane to better conform to the shape of the structure. In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 may provide insulation to the system for ventilating a structure. In one embodiment, the base membrane 7 may be disposed directly on the surface of the flange 6 . In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 may be over the flange 6 but not in direct contact with the flange. In the present embodiment, the base membrane 7 is shown as square so as to conform to the shape of the flange 6 . However, the base membrane 7 may be any shape, and that shape may or may not conform to the shape of the flange 6 , neither of which would alter the function of the membrane. In the present embodiment, the base membrane 7 is larger than the flange 6 . In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 may be the same size as the flange 6 . In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 may be slightly larger than the flange 6 . In other embodiments, the base membrane 7 may be significantly larger than the flange 6 .
[0025] The system for ventilating a structure may, in some embodiments, have a tubular membrane 8 . The tubular membrane 8 is a material disposed around the tubular member 1 . In some embodiments, the tubular membrane 8 may be a flexible material. In some embodiments, the tubular membrane 8 may be a rigid material. The tubular membrane 8 serves to provide insulation and protection to the rigid material of the tubular member 1 . In the present embodiment, the tubular membrane 8 is disposed around the entire circumference of the tubular member 1 , such that the tubular membrane completely encases the tubular member. In some embodiments, the tubular membrane 8 may be disposed around only a portion of the circumference of the tubular member. In some embodiments, the tubular membrane 8 may be disposed along the entire length of the tubular member 1 . In some embodiments, the tubular membrane 8 may be disposed along only a portion of the tubular member 1 . In the present embodiment, the tubular membrane 8 is disposed along the first portion of the tubular member 1 , such that it encases the tubular member from the hood end 2 to the base membrane 7 . In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 and the tubular membrane 8 may be a single piece of flexible material. In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 may be entirely separable from tubular membrane 8 . In some embodiments, base membrane 7 and tubular membrane 8 may be the same type of material. In some embodiments, the base membrane 7 and the tubular membrane 8 may be different types of material.
[0026] The system for ventilating a structure may have a flapper assembly 9 . The flapper assembly 9 may be disposed inside the tubular member 1 , such that the perimeter surface of the flapper assembly is in contact with the inner perimeter surface of the tubular member. The pre-integrated flapper assembly is in part what allows the pre-assembled ventilation system of the instant disclosure to be installed in multiple job sites, further providing the aforementioned benefit over the inadequate, custom-made systems. The primary function of the flapper assembly is to provide both an outlet for the outflow air and a barrier to inflow air. In some embodiments, the flapper assembly 9 may be coupled with the tubular member 1 by rivets, screws, or other piercing methods of coupling. In some embodiments, the flapper assembly 9 may be coupled with the tubular member 1 by weld, cement, or other non-piercing methods of coupling. In some embodiments, flapper assembly 9 may be disposed near the hood end 2 of tubular member 1 , meaning in the upper half of tubular member 1 , yet not flush with hood end 2 of tubular member 1 .
[0027] In some embodiments, the flapper assembly 9 may be comprised of a first flapper 10 . In some embodiments, flapper 10 may have an exterior perimeter that is substantially the same as the interior perimeter of tubular member 1 . In some embodiments, flapper 10 may be coupled with the flapper assembly 9 at only one point, allowing the flapper to move up and down within the tubular member 1 . In some embodiments, the flapper assembly 9 may have a second flapper 11 . In some embodiments, flapper 10 and flapper 11 may be joined such that together the exterior perimeter is substantially the same as the interior perimeter of tubular member 1 . For example, if tubular member 1 is cylindrical, flapper 10 and flapper 11 may both be half circles, joined at their straight edges to form a circle with a circumference substantially the same as the inner circumference of the cylindrical tubular member. In another example, if the perimeter of tubular member 1 is square, then flapper 10 and flapper 11 may both be rectangular, joined at one side such that the exterior perimeter of the resulting square is substantially the same as the interior perimeter of the tubular member. In some embodiments, the flapper assembly 9 may have a strut 13 . In some embodiments, the first flapper 10 may connect to the strut 13 such that the flapper can rotate about the strut in a complete 360 degrees. In another embodiment, the strut 13 may serve to connect first flapper 10 and second flapper 11 . In a further embodiment, a strut 13 may additionally serve to limit the motion of flappers 10 and 11 , such that the flappers can only move in an upwards direction, towards the hood end 2 of tubular member 1 . A purpose of the flapper assembly 9 is to allow air to escape the structure into which the system for ventilating a structure has been installed. Another purpose of the flapper assembly 9 is to prevent external air and contaminants from entering the structure through the ventilation system. The flapper assembly 9 , and more specifically the flappers 10 , 11 , could be any material that is light enough to be moved by the outward airflow of the ventilation system, yet heavy enough to fall still with gravity. In some embodiments, the flapper 10 will be turned by the airflow of the ventilation system. In some embodiments, flappers 10 , 11 will be lifted toward the hood end 2 of the tubular member 1 . FIG. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment, where flappers 10 , 11 are shown in a closed position, joined on their straight edges by strut 13 . FIG. 7 shows the same embodiment, but where flappers 10 , 11 are in an open position, having moved at the circular edges toward the hood end 2 of the tubular member 1 , while the straight edges are held in place by strut 13 .
[0028] In some embodiments, flappers 10 may be coupled with strut 13 by a hinge. In some embodiments, flapper 10 may be coupled with strut 13 by a rotating structure, such as an axle. In some embodiments, flapper 10 may be coupled with a strut 13 by another piece of material 12 disposed through or around the strut and coupled with the flapper. In some embodiments, flapper 10 and flapper 11 may be joined to strut 13 by the same means. In some embodiments, flapper 10 and flapper 11 may be joined to strut 13 by different means. FIGS. 6 and 7 show an exemplary embodiment, in which flappers 10 and 11 are joined to strut 13 with a flexible piece of material coupled to the flappers by a piercing method such as a rivet 17 . There are many ways to join flapper 10 to strut 13 , without altering the functionality of the flapper assembly. Additionally, any means by which flapper 10 could be coupled with strut 13 is also applicable to flapper 11 .
[0029] In some embodiments, flapper assembly 9 may be comprised of a length of material 14 of substantially the same perimeter as the interior perimeter of tubular member 1 . In some embodiments, flapper assembly 9 may have a length of metal, plastic, foam, or some other material of substantially the same perimeter as the interior perimeter of tubular member 1 . In some embodiments, flapper 10 may rest on length of material 14 when in the closed position. In some embodiments, flappers 10 and 11 may rest on length of material 14 when in the closed position. In one embodiment, length of material 14 may be coupled with tubular member 1 by cement, weld, or a piercing method of coupling. The means by which length of material 14 is coupled with tubular member 1 is dependent on the type of material of which tubular member 1 is comprised, and many different methods could be used interchangeably without altering the functionality of the system.
[0030] In some embodiments, the system for ventilating a structure may be comprised of a screen 15 . In some embodiments, screen 15 may be disposed above flapper assembly 9 , near the hood end 2 of tubular member 1 , meaning in the upper half of tubular member 1 , yet not flush with hood end 2 of tubular member 1 . In a further embodiment, screen 15 may be disposed near the hood end 2 of tubular member 1 such that flapper 10 can move freely under screen 15 . In some embodiments, screen 15 may be coupled with tubular member 1 by cement, weld, or a piercing method. The means by which screen 15 is coupled with tubular member 1 is dependent on the type of material of which tubular member 1 and screen 15 are comprised. Many different methods could be used without altering the functionality of the system.
[0031] One exemplary embodiment of the system includes one tubular member having an adapter end and a hood end; one base disposed near the adapter end of the one tubular member, including one flange disposed around the one tubular member; one flapper disposed near the hood end of the one tubular member; and one hood disposed at the hood end of the one tubular member. Another exemplary embodiment includes one tubular member having a hood end and an adapter end; one base disposed near the adapter end of the one tubular member, including one flange and one base membrane over the one flange; one flapper assembly disposed near the hood end of the one tubular member, including one strut and two half-circle flappers joined to the strut on the straight edge; and one hood coupled with the hood end of the tubular member such that there is a gap between the hood and the tubular member. Another exemplary embodiment includes one tubular member with a hood end and an adapter end; one base disposed near the adapter end of the one tubular member, including one flange disposed around the one tubular member and one base membrane disposed over and in direct contact with the one flange; one flapper assembly disposed near the hood end of the one tubular member, including one strut and two half-circle flappers joined to the strut on the straight edge; one screen located between the one flapper assembly and the hood end of the one tubular member; and one hood coupled with the hood end of the tubular member such that there is a gap between the hood and the tubular member.
[0032] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary systems and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general systems and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. | A fully-integrated system for ventilating a structure. System includes a hood, an outlet tube, a flapper, a flange, and an adapter. Adapter allows the system to be integrated into the structure, for instance on a roof. System allows air to flow out of the structure. Flapper lifts with airflow but falls with gravity, providing both an outlet for outflow air and a barrier to inflow air. Flange protects the hole in the structure into which the system is installed, and can be flat, meaning perpendicular to the plane of the length of the tubular member, or at an angle thereto, for installation on flat or angled roofs. Hood provides protection from airborne debris, precipitation, animals, or other objects that may block the system. System may include a flexible membrane that allows integration into different shapes of structures and provides an additional measure of protection to the structure and the system. | 5 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
There are no related applications.
STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTION MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The invention disclosed and claimed herein was not made under any federally sponsored research and development program.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to impact printing mechanisms used in printing devices such as typewriters and printers and more particularly to a print hammer used in such a mechanism which dampens acoustic noise generated during operation of a printing mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Both typewriters and printers utilizing impact printing mechanisms often generate high levels of acoustic noise. There have been various solutions proposed to lower the noise generated by such printing mechanisms. It has, for example, been the practice in the typewriter and printer art to reduce noise by the use of platens having a reduced hardness. This solution has, however, been found to also reduce the print quality. Another practice has been to reduce the required impact velocity by increasing the effective or apparent mass of the hammer or anvil.
Increasing the effective mass of the print hammer allows reduction of impact velocity to attain equivalent print quality. A weighted hammer, however, like conventional hammers, does contribute to coupling the acoustic noise generated during impact, back through the print drive assembly.
Other solutions to the foregoing problem include noise dampening structures and materials for use in impact printing mechanisms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,452 discloses a dampening material interposed between a support beam and a metal strip. The strip receives the impact of typewriter typebars and other noise inducing mechanical force elements of printing. The noise emanating from the impacts is dampened as it travels through the material. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 1,615,976 discloses a typebar which includes a shock absorbing means. Shock absorbing material is disposed between a "U" shaped member and the typebar whereby the shock impact energy is absorbed when movement of the typebar is arrested at impact during the print cycle. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 2,157,607 discloses a typebar abutment which includes an arcuate cage and a plurality of filler plates tightly filling the cage. The plates are spaced apart by air films and function to interrupt and dampen sound waves generated when the typebars strike the abutment to thereby reduce the impact noise.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a quiet impact printing mechanism to be used in a typewriter or printer. The present invention comprises an acoustically dampened print hammer of a printer mechanism. The printer mechanism is supported on a pivotal bracket carried on a horizontally movable carrier. The weighted print hammer is pivotally supported for movement toward and away from a platen. In one embodiment the print hammer includes a hammer face plate which carries an anvil on its upper face and includes a pivot structure at its lower portion. The hammer also includes a mass weight and a noise dampening layer disposed intermediate the mass weight and the rear print hammer face. Transmission of acoustic noise generated on impact of the anvil during printing is reduced by being absorbed by the dampening layer.
In a second and third embodiment the print hammer is formed with an upper portion which includes a weighted mass and anvil and a lower pivot portion. The upper and lower hammer portions are joined together by an acoustic dampening means.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an impact printer mechanism having an acoustically dampened print hammer for an impact printer mechanism used in conjunction with a typewriter or printer.
Another object of this invention is to provide a low cost, simple impact printer mechanism having an acoustically dampened print hammer for isolating noise generated during printing from the printer mechanism and which is readily assembled and consists of a reduced number of components.
Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front left side perspective view of a print hammer constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial side elevation view of the print hammer of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front right side perspective view of a printer mechanism including the print hammer of FIG. 1 constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a right side sectional elevational view taken along the vertical center line of the printer mechanism of FIG. 3 with the print hammer in the rest position;
FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 except with the print hammer at the print point during impact.
FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of a second embodiment of a print hammer constructed in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the print hammer of FIG. 6 taken along line 7--7;
FIG. 8 is a partial side elevational view of the print hammer of FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of a third embodiment of a print hammer constructed in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 10 is a partial side elevational view of the print hammer of FIG. 9.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 an acoustically noise dampened print hammer 10 includes a front face plate 12. The front face plate 12 Comprises an upper plate portion 14 and a lower, pivot portion 16. Upper plate portion 14 carries an outwardly directed anvil 18 on its outer face 20. A printing impact portion 13 of print hammer 10 includes the front face plate 12 which may be metallic. A noise dampener layer 22 is affixed to the rear face 24 of upper plate portion 14 and to the forward face 25 of mass weight 26 so as to be sandwiched between the upper plate portion 14 and mass weight 26. The mass weight 26 is formed with the face or plate 25 having a surface projecting a plurality of letter spaces in a plane parallel to a platen. The mass weight 26 is also formed with a varying depth 27 (FIG. 1) behind the face 25 having a maximum dimension substantially behind the anvil 18.
Having acoustic dampening material cemented to the print hammer, dampens vibration within the print hammer itself resulting in a substantial reduction in the noise emitted from the body of the hammer as well as minimizing vibration transmitted to the print drive assembly which results in further noise reduction.
Various noise dampening layer materials include an elastomeric material designated as C-1002 manufactured by E-A-R Specialty Composites located in Indianapolis, Ind. A means for affixing the noise dampener layer 22 is by adhesively cementing noise dampener layer 22 between rear face 24 and forward face 25. A suitable pressure sensitive adhesive and affixing means is an acrylic adhesive designated as 550 PSH distributed by E-A-R Specialty Composites. Such a sandwiched structure provides what is generally described as constrained layer dampening. The mass weight 26 and the noise dampener layer 22 are disposed behind and in alignment with the anvil 18 for absorption of acoustic noise generated by printing impact.
The lower pivot portion 16 of the print hammer 10 comprises a pair of spaced apart depending legs 28 and 30 which are joined at their upper ends 32 and 34 by horizontal ledge 36 whose upper face 38 is spaced from the base 40 of mass weight 26. The lower ends 42 and 44 of legs 28 and 30 are formed with aligned transverse openings 46 and 48 which receive a tubular shaft 49 about which the print hammer ac pivots as will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3. Depending from the lower face 50 of ledge 36 is a vertically centered shaft 52 having an annular groove 54.
With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown a low noise impact printer 56 which incorporates the print hammer 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 and includes a bracket 60 which is pivotally supported on a horizontally movable carrier (not shown) by pins 62 (only one shown). The pins 62 extend through openings 64 in opposite bracket walls 66 and 68 and corresponding openings in the carrier. Screw pins 62 which extend through openings 64 of bracket 66 also extend through tubular shaft 49 for joining bracket 66 with tubular shaft 49. In this manner, print hammer 10 is pivotable about tubular shaft 49.
The bracket 60 also supports a reversible D.C. electric motor 74 between opposed walls 66 and 68. This motor 74 is provided with electrical contacts (not shown) so that when voltage of one polarity is applied, the motor shaft will rotate in one direction and when the polarity is reversed the motor shaft 76 will rotate in the opposite direction.
A rotary member 78 is mounted for rotation on the upper end of motor shaft 76 and rotary member 78 includes an outwardly extending "T" shaped stop so which serves as a stop. Supported on the upper face 82 of bracket 60 are a pair of stop abutments 84 and 86 for limiting the angular rotation of rotary member 78. The motor shaft 76 extends into a central bore 77 of rotary member 78 whereby rotary member 78 is rotated by motor shaft 76. Rotary member 78 carries an upwardly extending coupling pin 88 which rotates about central bore 77.
A link arm 90 is coupled to pin 88 and translates the rotary movement of the member 78 to linear reciprocating movement of the shaft 52 resulting in pivoting movement of the mass weight 26 about tubular shaft 49. Pivoting movement of the print hammer 10 moves the hammer toward and away from a platen 92.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the printer 56 or typewriter in which the noise dampening print hammer 10 is used includes the platen 92. Supported between the platen 92 and print hammer 10 is an image print medium 94 such as a paper sheet, an ink ribbon 96 (see FIG.3) and a print element 98 such as a daisy print wheel. The print element 98 is controlled for selected rotation to present a selected character pad 100, carried at the free end of the print element 98, at the typewriter print point PP.
FIG. 4 shows the print hammer 10 at its rest position with "T" shaped stop so against stop abutment 86 (not shown).
When a key on the keyboard is depressed, the print element 98 is rotated so as to locate the character pad 100, designated by the depressed key, in position for printing. At approximately the same time the print element 98 is rotated, motor 74 is energized for rotation of the rotary member 78 in a clockwise direction. As the rotary member 78 rotates in a clockwise direction, the pin 88, as the point of connection between the rotary member 78 and the link arm 90, moves concentrically about the motor shaft 76. The link arm 90 is caused to move toward the platen 92. Movement of shaft 52, which is coupled to print hammer 10, causes the print hammer 10 to move toward platen 92. The velocity of the print hammer 10 as it moves toward and away from the platen 92 can be controlled by variation of the voltage/current parameters applied to the motor 74 in known manner.
FIG. 5 illustrates the relative orientation of the various components at the instant that printing occurs, i.e. at the impact of the anvil 18 and character pad 100 against the image print medium 94, ribbon 96, and in turn against the platen 92. The clockwise rotation of rotary member 78 is stopped by the "T" shaped stop so abutting against stop abutment 84. After printing, the motor 74 is energized to rotate in the opposite or counter clockwise direction by reversal of the voltage polarity at the motor terminals. The rotary member 78 reverses rotation and rotates until its "T" shaped stop so engages stop abutment 86 thereby terminating further movement. Stop abutments s and 86 may be of an elastomeric material.
Illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 is a second embodiment of a print hammer 210, made in accordance with the present invention, which hammer includes an upper print portion 212 and a lower pivot portion 214. The upper print portion 212 is formed with a weighted mass 216, a central anvil 217, and a pair of depending legs 218 and 220. Legs 218 and 220 extend laterally from the weighted mass face 222 and are rectangular in horizontal cross-section.
The lower pivot portion 214 is formed with a block portion 224 from whose upper face 226 extend block legs 228 and 230. Block portion 224 is provided with opening 232 which extends lengthwise thereof and is transverse to block legs 228 and 230. The opening 232 can Carry therein a tubular shaft 234 similar to the tubular shaft 49 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
The upper print portion 212 and the lower pivot portion 214 are structurally joined together by molded noise damper members 236 and 238 which encase the lower leg ends 240 and 242 of depending legs 218 and 220 and the upper leg ends 244 and 246 of block legs 228 and 230. Having the joined legs 218 and 220 and 228 and 230 parallel to each other along their longer dimension provides increased structural rigidity and higher print quality. The joined legs 218 and 220 encased in members 236 and 238 are separated by a noise dampening material which absorbs acoustic noise. An example of a suitable moldable noise dampening material is the elastomeric material designated as C-1002 manufactured by E-A-R Specialty Composites. The print hammer 210 is provided with a shaft 250 which depends from inner face 248 of upper print portion 212. This shaft 250 corresponds to shaft 52 of the prior described embodiment.
The third embodiment of a print hammer 310 illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 includes block legs 328 and 330 in spaced alignment with spaced print portion legs 340 and 342. In this manner, leg edges 352 of print portion leg 340 and leg edge 354 of block leg 330 face each other as does leg edge 356 of print portion leg 342 and leg edge 358 of block leg 328. An elastomeric noise damper member 360 is affixed as by cementing to outer leg surface 362 and outer leg surface 364 on both sides 366 and 368 of the print hammer 310, with leg edges 352 and 354 and edges 356 and 358 spaced apart. A metal plate 370 is affixed as by cementing to the outer surface 372 of damper member 360 to provide a rigid structural coupling between the upper print portion 312 and block portion 324. An example of a suitable noise dampening material for fabricating the noise dampener member 360 is an elastomeric material manufactured by E-A-R Specialty Composites under the designation C-1002.
All the foregoing described embodiments reduce the printing impact acoustic noise from being transferred to the printer mechanism to provide a quieter printer. The first described embodiment is significantly easier to assemble for mass production, increases production quality and requires only a single damper layer. The embodiment of FIG. 1 also provides greater dimensional stability between the weighted mass (including the anvil) portion and the pivot portion to facilitate mass production and thereby contribute to quality printing.
Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described. | A printing device including a print hammer having a noise dampener for use with an impact printer mechanism. The print hammer has a significant mass for impacting a character pad against an ink ribbon, paper and a platen. In a first embodiment the print hammer includes an acoustic noise dampening layer interposed between a mass weight and the hammer face which carries the anvil that impacts during printing. In other embodiments the print hammer is formed in two parts. One part having a weighted mass and the other part being pivotally coupled to the printer mechanism. The two parts are structurally joined together by a noise dampening member. Transmission of acoustic noise during impact printing through the hammer is reduced. | 1 |
THCHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This application is involved with a medical apparatus aiming to treat hepatocarcinoma metastasis by combining medicinal massage, prone horizontal motion and surgery and chemoradiotherapy.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The modern medicine focuses on early discovery, early treatment concerning curing cancers, but over 90% patients with terminal cancers died from metastasis, of which the mortality rate of patients with liver cancer in China accounted for 50% all over the world. The cause of death remains unclear up to now. Doctors can not cure cancers but postpone the development speed. The cancer metastasis including hepatocarcinoma metastasis has become the biggest obstacle, the most key and difficult battle for human beings to cure cancers. Many experts and professors at home and abroad have proposed various suggestions and views as follows:
[0003] Bases and clinics of hepatocarcinoma metastasis and recurrence was compiled by TANG Zhaoyou as the director of the liver cancer research institute of Fudan University and published by Shanghai science and technology education press in January, 2003 (page 16, 199). Look into the future: studies on hepatocarcinoma metastasis and recurrence mainly focus on the following tasks: {circle around (1)} genome and proteome related to hepatocrcinoma metastasis; {circle around (2)} correlation between organisms (especially immune function) and dynamic changes of biological characteristics of hepatoma carcinoma cells; {circle around (3)} studies on effective intervention of hepatocarcinoma metastasis by inhibiting cancer cells and improving organisms' immune functions. The immunotherapy can only play its role maximally by combining other therapeutic means including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Elimination and reconstruction was compiled by TANG Zhaoyou and published by Shanghai Science and Technology Press in August, 2011 (preface, page 35 and 156). The author has been engaged in studies on hepatocarcinoma metastasis and recurrence for nearly 20 years. According to his findings, though various cancers have their own “individualities”, the “universality” is playing a dominating role. From the perspective of philosophy, unity of opposites, interdependence and conversion of the opposite etc will definitely provide new thoughts and visions for anti-cancer strategies. Though the author is not engaged in philosophy, but he proposed perhaps a anti-cancer road with Chinese characteristics can be found in the dialectics. The generalized intervention will play a crucial role in the anti-cancer battle in the future. Particularly, based on possible tumor elimination, sometimes no intervention is the best treatment. The author held that patients shall do nothing after the (liver cancer) radial surgery.
[0004] The fourth edition-science and technology change lives of Science and technology daily on Nov. 26, 2013; the secretary general of Chinese anti-cancer association LIU Duanqi held that single medical technologies are only supporting roles for cancer patients. For example, surgeries in intermediate and advanced stages, improvement of radiotherapy and appearance of new technologies etc are in a subordinate position (about 10%-20%). The medical technologies only contribute 5 years among 30 newly added lifetimes of American people in recent 100 years. The technological level of China is almost the same as that in America. concerning treating terminal cancers. At present, medical science is powerless. The eighth edition-medicine forum “a new medical system integrated with traditional Chinese and western medicines” of Health Journal on Jul. 5, 2010; professor Wang Ximin from the clinical medicine college of Jiamusi University in Heilongjiang held that the prospect of modern medicines lies in integrated theories of traditional Chinese and western medicine; once theoretical problems are solved, clinical application will work out accordingly. Science and Technology Daily reported on May 8, 2004 that some American researchers held the cause for incurable cancer lies in too many changes, which prevent human beings from finding a simple therapy. Reference News reported on Aug. 1, 2013: the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society Otis. Brawley said: “we need to use the definition of cancers in the 21st century to replace that in the 19th century”. Contemporary Health Journal published on Jul. 12, 2001 that Hippocrates, hailed as “the father of western medicines” once said: “nature is rehabilitees of diseases. Doctors would be gods for knowing about philosophy in the ancient Greece in the 5th century BC”.
[0005] The current technology cancer therapy apparatus was approved on Jun. 29, 2011 with the national application patent number of ZL200610069987.8; PCT (international patent PCT/CN2007/003135) was approved on Jul. 27, 2012 with the Japanese application patent number of 5047301; Cancer Metastasis Therapy Apparatus was approved on Mar. 27, 2013 with the national patent number of ZL201220434659.4. The principle and method of the treatment of major diseases proposed in this patent specification were as follows: the integral medical model based on combined modern philosophy and modern science that are developed from ancient Chinese philosophies with theories of traditional Chinese medicines held that the global factors based on symmetry of structures and functions play a crucial role in cancers. In this sense, cancers shall be treated globally so as to achieve expected objectives, which have essential differences with the modern medicine that treats major diseases dominant by structures based on modern science as well as the empirical medicine lacking of sufficient philosophy theories.
[0006] Deficiencies of Existing Technologies.
[0007] The body structure is designed for horizontal motion, while prone horizontal motion is the foundation for human beings to improve general functions so as to adapt to life existence, of which crawling exercises and swimming can help improve abdominal digestive functions. Thus, it can be used to treat metastasis of liver cancer and cancers related to gastrointestinal digestive systems. Lung cancer metastasis therapy apparatus was approved on Dec. 25, 20013 with the patent number of ZL201320254913.7, which adopts supine horizontal motion but with little space for abdominal exercises due to the action of gravity. Thus, it is not beneficial to improve abdominal digestive functions or treat metastasis of liver cancer and cancers related to gastrointestinal digestive systems.
[0008] SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION
[0009] This application intends to recover body functions through holistic medicine massage, abdominal medicine massage, prone crawling exercises and prone swimming by assembling the base plate, prone bracket, abdominal massager, sprocket drive, runner and hand massager into a global device aiming at insufficient function recovery of existing technologies in treating liver cancer metastasis that leads to systemic functional diseases or even death. This application adopts hand massagers and chemoradiotherapy in the cancerometastasis lesion stage to conduct the holistic therapy dominant by killing cancer cells and supplemented by recovering functions aiming to control metastatic lesion, alleviate symptoms and delay lesions. The existing technologies only carry out the palliative treatment without any function recoveries in the death stage of liver cancer metastasis. The body function lesion is the main cause of death, while the system cancer metastasis lesion is the secondary cause of death. Therefore, this application conducts the holistic treatment dominant by recovering body functions and supplemented by killing cancer cells aiming at regions with diseased abdominal digestive functions and decreased circulatory and respiratory functions so as to prevent global function lesion and reduce the mortality rate.
[0010] In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, the technical proposal of this application was as follows: a hepatocarcinoma metastasis therapy apparatus, composed by a base plate, prone bracket, abdominal massager, stype, roller bracket, drive axle, chain wheel, chain, rotary disc, pedal, runner bracket, adjustable-speed motor and hand massager, is used to treat hepatocarcinoma metastasis dominant by recovering body functions and supplemented by killing cancer cells together with chemoradiotherapy; its characteristics lie in as follows: install the prone bracket in the middle of plates; install the abdominal massage with medicines on the prone bracket; fasten the roller bracket on the base plate and install the drive axle and chain wheel; the rotary discs are fastened on two ends of the drive axle; the chain wheel transmits together with the chain; the runner bracket is fastened on two ends of the front of the plate with the runner on it. Patients can enjoy massage by lying on the abdominal massager with hands holding the rotary disc and feet fixed by pedals. Further, patients can conduct passive crawling exercises by starting the revolving chain on the roller bracket. Patients can also carry out active crawling exercises without using the motor but some minor swinging back and forth. More importantly, patients can continue with leg movement by loosening the rotary disc and holding the runner. After exercises, patients or doctors can conduct holistic medicine massage with hands holding the massager to transport and replenish the mechanical energy, heat energy and chemical energy.
[0011] The apparatus in this application is mainly used to recover digestive functions and treat decline in muscular movement, blood circulation, respiratory immune and neurological functions etc, which can also be used to treat metastasis of liver cancer, esophagus cancer, gastric cancer as well as rectal cancer and colon cancer. Proper adjustments may be required aiming at different lesions and regions, but the principle and objective are consistent.
[0012] In order to disclose this discovery, this application described the principle and technology of treating hepatocarcinoma metastasis lesion in details.
[0013] Principle of Treatment
[0014] One, the human body function lesion is the main cause of death of patients with cancerometastasis;
[0015] 1, Decline in Human Body Functions is the Reason for Limited Human Longevity and Incurable Diseases.
[0016] Functions and structures depend on each other in the development history of life evolution. The life structure will break up if without normal functions. According to the prediction equation of the theory of “natural coefficient” that is widely acknowledged by the world, a British biologist Bafeng reckoned that the maximum life span of general mammals is equivalent to 5-7 times of that in the growth period, while human beings' growth period is usually completed between 20-25 years. Thus, the maximum life span of human beings shall be between 100 and 175 years. The reality indicated that cattle, horse and other animals can achieve their natural life spans, while human beings can only live up to a half of their natural life spans. Anyway, human beings are the only animals that can not live up to their natural life spans. Based on that, scientists made conclusions as follows:
[0017] {circle around (1)} Changes of mode of motions; human beings replace horizontal motion by vertical movements, which increases heart and brain s vascular burden, reduce circulatory functions and lead to hypertension and heart cerebrovascular diseases. Thus, the vertical movement brings the most serious side effects.
[0018] {circle around (2)} Changes of respiratory manners; except for human beings, all other animals adopt abdominal respiration; the vertical movements lead to thoracic respiration, which causes long-term idle of most of lung cells that will lose vitality and reduce vital capacity.
[0019] {circle around (3)} Changes of digestive functions; four limbs, lumbar spinal cord and abdomen will move together in the horizontal motion to promote peristalsis of gastrointestinal tracts and improve functions of digestive organs, while splanchnoptosia would be occurred due to the action of gravity in the vertical motion, which then leads to weak gastrointestinal and digestive functions.
[0020] Metabolism is the foundation of vital movement. The vertical motion of human beings not only bring side effects including decline in body functions (including circulatory, respiratory and digestive functions), but cause relatively short life longevity and incurable diseases, of which heart cerebrovascular diseases caused by decline in circulatory functions have the highest mortality, while the lung cancer caused by decline in respiratory functions as well as digestive cancers such as liver cancer, gastric cancer, esophagus cancer, pancreatic cancer and rectal cancer etc caused by decline in digestive functions are main causes of death of patients.
[0021] The lesions of digestive system functions as well as decline in circulatory, respiratory, neurological and immune functions are main influencing factors for the development of lesion in the hepatocarcinoma metastasis. If without treatment, cancer cells can not be killed, which will promote lesion diffusion, metastasis and recurrence and finally develop into body function lesions, failed metabolism and then death. The human body function is mainly involved with the mechanical energy and heat energy. The muscle and liver will produce most of energies. More importantly, most of energies consumed by organisms will be dissipated via the form of heat energy with only small part in the form of mechanical energies. That is, external works completed by skeletal muscles; energies will be consumed and then replenished in the metabolic process. That's how life continues.
[0022] 2, Human Body Function Lesions are Death Factors in the Cancerometastasis Process.
[0023] The basic vital signs lie in metabolic activities. Lesions in metabolic functions will endanger lives. There is no isolated part in the viable organisms. The function lesion is the cause of death, while the structure lesion will accelerate this process. Functions and structures depend on each other.
[0024] According to evidences of ancient and modern medicines, human body function lesion is the main factor to cause final death. Just as the medical scientist XU Lingyi in the Qing Dynasty said in Origin of Medicine: “if with no injuries on vitality, patients will not die even with diseases; if with injuries on vitality patients will die even with minor diseases.” The author of liver cancer metastasis (America, translated by Song Yong and Shen Xiaokun and published by People's Medical Publishing House on June, 2011; page 284, edition 1) named Venkeshwarkeshamouni from the University of Michigan wrote in the conclusion part: “though chemoradiotherapy and other various iatrotechnics can kill cancer cells and eliminate and control obvious effects caused by metastatic lesions, it remains unclear why patients can not survive after controlling most of micrometastatic lesions, because most of patients who received partial treatments died from progression of systemic diseases rather than partial failure. It is named as vitality or injuries in the traditional Chinese medicine, as well as progression of systemic diseases or systemic functional lesion in the western medicine. That is, lesions in circulatory, respiratory and digestive functions etc. It can be seen from the above descriptions: light or heavy lesions and controllable metastasis or not are not the main causes of death. The traditional Chinese medicines hold if with normal body functions, patients even with heavy diseases will not die. After all, there are many patients who survive with cancers. The modern medicines hold “structures determine functions”. It is a therapy with both gains and losses by only conducting structural anti-damage treatment without recovering functions. The structural treatment can only alleviate symptoms without main functions on death. The functional treatment can replenish energies and maintain survival with a role of getting a permanent cure and main functions on preventing death. Though the existing technologies can control cancer metastatic lesions and alleviate symptoms, it would be harmful for patients without functional treatments on lesions, because lesions around focus will develop into other systematic functions, which then leads to systemic functional lesion or even death.
[0025] 3. According to philosophy theories, the opposites in the unity are completely equal without any particular order of importance. In the things development process, though strength of both parties can be divided into major one and minor one, they are restricted by unity with limited range and way of balance of power. Structures and functions in the human body depend on each other, which determine life existence and development. If separated, it can only produce partial quantitative changes without overall qualitative changes. That is, separation means death. The cancerometastasis conforms to the overall law development instead of structural or functional parts. Though structures and functions are without any particular order of importance concerning property and composition, their order of importance will be alternated due to times, places and events in the changing process; structures play a leading role based on unchanged functions, while functions play a leading role based on unchanged structures. Those two aspects will restrict each other in the lesion process. The casual relationship of lesions refers to an essential connection of another phenomenon that is caused by one phenomenon including time series. Therefore, after structural treatment that is dominant by killing cancer cells, patients must receive some functional treatment that is dominant by recovering body functions aiming to reverse lesion development trends.
[0026] Based on the principle and method of the treatment of major diseases combined with philosophy and science, this application drew schematic diagram of principles of production and development of hepatocarcinoma metastasis, schematic diagram of principle and technique of treating hepatocarcinoma metastasis and schematic diagram of cause of death of patients with cancerometastasis as well as changing rules of the death process. It can be seen from the above mentioned diagrams that every process and stage of the development of liver cancer metastasis is some results of quantitative and qualitative changes of structures and functions. The philosophical factors in the traditional Chinese medicine can integrate with scientific factors in the western medicine in the pathology area.
[0027] Further, it can be seen from schematic diagram of principles of production and development of hepatocarcinoma metastasis that the terminal cancer, namely different layers of qualitative changes, is caused by lesions of organic structures and system functions, which will then lead to systemic structural lesion and cancerometastasis. The holistic therapy dominant by recovering system functions and supplemented by conducting anti-damage of organic structures in this stage can reverse lesions and guard against cancerometastasis. The systemic structural lesion will not be occurred if with normal system functions. The cancerometastasis, namely different layers of quantitative changes, is caused by lesions of system functions and structures, winch will lead to systemic functional lesions. The holistic therapy dominant by anti-damage of systemic structures and supplemented by recovering system functions can eliminate or control lesions of cancerometastasis, alleviate symptoms and delay systemic functional lesions, but it can not reverse the necessary trend towards systemic functional lesions. As one of death factors, the systemic structural lesion and body function will restrict each other. This stage will have different layers of qualitative changes and then lead to the next death stage. The holistic therapy dominant by recovering body functions and supplemented by conducting anti-damage of systemic structures in this stage can reverse lesions and prevent death occurrence. The higher integrity of combined structural treatment and functional treatment means higher curative effects. The holistic therapy does not have side effects of treatment, because side effects in the structural treatment can be solved by the functional treatment, while side effects in the functional treatment can be solved by the structural treatment. Other therapy methods and construction can also achieve objectives of this application during the etiological therapy on the unity combined with structural and functional treatments.
[0028] Two, human body function recovery is the main treatment to decrease the mortality rate of patients with cancerometastasis obviously;
[0029] The existing technology cancer therapy apparatus (national application patent, ZL200610069987.8) proposed the principle and method of the treatment of major diseases in its patent specification. It held decline in functions is the cause of cancers, which also leas to its incurable nature. The paragraph [0042] of page 10 of the patent specification pointed out clearly: “an oxygen-inhaling horizontal locomotorium is needed to recover respiratory functions and promote blood circulation when using cancer therapy apparatus on the respiratory system as well as the digestive system such as the liver, gallbladder, intestine, stomach and pancreas etc. Further, the visceral massage can recover functions of digestive systems. Please see specific operations in Cardio-cerebro-vascular Diseases Therapy Apparatus (application number: 200610069553.8. Therefore, the principle of the treatment of Hepatocarcinoma Metastasis Therapy Apparatus has been ascertained as a part of the holistic treatment in cancer systems in 2006. More importantly, the Cardio-cerebro-vascular Diseases Therapy Apparatus won the national application patent ZL200610069553.8 on Dec. 8, 2010; the lung cancer metastasis therapy apparatus won the national patent ZL201320254913.7 on Dec. 25, 2013.
[0030] The above technologies used supine horizontal stretching exercises to recover circulatory and respiratory functions, but they can not be applied to recover digestive functions. This application adopted combined prone horizontal stretching exercises to recover digestive functions, which is suitable for the treatment of cancerometastasis of digestive systems such as the liver, stomach, gallbladder and pancreas etc. The specific mode of action is as follows:
[0031] 1. When supine, the abdominal digestive organs shall have a rest instead of conducting stretching exercises and massages, because abdominal organs will be in an overlying state due to the action of gravity without any space for stretching. The digestive organs, especially intestinal organs in the hypogastric region will be squished due to insufficient motion space at the time of doing horizontal stretching exercises and abdominal massage, which then further lead to side effects due to structural strains. Of course, it can not achieve effects of recovering digestive functions. When prone, blood, lymph and viscera will experience changes due to the action of gravity, which can help to improve uneven blood distribution and allow the heart, lung and liver etc to be in a relaxing state with enough stretching space. At this time, the horizontal stretching exercises and abdominal massage can eliminate blood stasis, promote organ structural motion and improve the curative effect. The prone horizontal stretching exercises are the survival instinct of human beings, similar to crawling and swimming etc, which has obvious curative effects aiming at decline in functions caused by long-term vertical motions. Besides, the exercises are characterized by a wide range of motion and safety. It is suitable for the elder, pregnant women and kids without hurting joints but strengthening cardiopulmonary and digestive functions.
[0032] 2. According to the relation between the mechanical property and external conditions of biological tissues, the abdominal organs belong to passive tissues, which will be greatly affected by supine and prone positions. Four limbs and dorsal muscles belong to active tissues, which will not be greatly affected by supine and prone positions.
[0033] 3. The prone horizontal stretching exercise can conduct “internal massage” inside the abdominal organs due to the action of gravity. Further, an electric massage mattress is installed under the abdomen to promote mutual functions of “internal massage” and “external massage” so as to improve abdominal digestive functions. Meanwhile, four limbs' horizontal stretching exercises and abdominal breathing exercises can improve cardio-pulmonary functions obviously.
[0034] 4. Many patients with liver cancers regained their health by conducting some treatments dominant by recovering the human body's layer functions and the exercise therapy that is supplemented by killing cancer cells and controlling cancerometastasis aiming at system layers including the horizontal stretching exercise and swimming etc. The director of Liver Cancer Research Institute of Fudan University Tang Zhaoyou held in the preface of Chinese-style Anti-cancer-Wisdom in Sun Zi Bing Fa (Shanghai Science and Technology Press, edition 1 in April, 2014): (page 145) “swimming inhibits cancer” is a new idea. The author dared not to say that in the past until now because of findings of experiment researches. After the tumor resection (page 145), swimming can inhibit some remaining limited cancer cells by improving anti-cancer abilities. (Page 212) Swimming has good anti-cancer effects. An Indonesian patient with a liver cancer operation 10 years ago intended to find the author. The patient is in ruddy health. He said the examination results are good. I asked about his life. He said: “I am swimming every day”.
[0035] Stretching is the instinct of human beings. The stretching and relaxing horizontal motion such as crawling and swimming) can reduce and eliminate side effects caused by vertical motion. The breathing exercise, ointment massage, Qigong, guidance, massage as well as acupuncture and moxibustion etc in the traditional Chinese medicines have thousands of histories with a common characteristic: breathing and oxygen supply. The combined stretching exercises and self massage can prevent diseases and improve curative effects via the holistic treatment.
[0036] Though only few patients were cured, its recovery principle and method follow the natural law, which represents a correct treatment direction. It is characterized by feasibility for promotion and development as well as a possibility for recovery by conducting theoretical analysis on the related experience and increasing strength, range and means in the treatment dominant. Based on that, most of patients with liver cancer metastasis can be cured to decrease the morality rate obviously. It only takes 10 minutes to receive a systemic recovery function treatment by using new technologies with less than 200 RMB, which will be cheaper and more convenient for self-therapy in the home. Perhaps, it would be difficult for technicians in the cancer therapy field who mainly use existing technologies to kill cancer cells to think of using the treatment dominant by recovering body functions to reduce the mortality rate of patients with liver cancer metastasis mentioned in this application. Meanwhile, this application also breaks down contempt and prejudice that the recovery function therapy is only an adjuvant treatment in treating cancer metastasis. The existing technologies hold cancer metastasis can not be cured and the death of patients can not be stopped. The symptoms can only be alleviated via the palliative treatment. Such view without guidance of philosophy theories does not confirm to the natural law but with one-sidedness.
[0037] Three, Cause of death of patients with cancer metastasis as well as changing rules of the death process;
[0038] Why over 90% patients with cancer metastasis die eventually? Why many patients whose metastasis has been controlled and eliminated still die from systemic functional lesions? Why the existing technologies can not stop death? How to prevent patients from death?
[0039] 1. Cause of death of patients: life lies in motion instead of in an anatomic form; that is, interactions among philosophy theories. The recovery function therapy in the medicine field is based on philosophy theories with emphasis on determining the therapeutic way and controlling disease development trends. The structural anti-damage therapy is based on scientific technologies aiming to alleviate disease symptoms and delay lesion development. They, as two kinds of different medicines, depend on each other. Over 90% patients with cancer metastasis will die from body function lesion in the high-level range. The existing technologies will be restricted by high-level functions concerning the structural anti-damage treatment in a low level. Further, they can not stop death. It can be ascertained that the therapeutic goal and direction may be wrong, or else it is impossible to have such wide universal results. The modern medicine holds the death of patient is caused by body structural lesions due to balance of power of structural damages and anti-damages. The treatment dominant by chemoradiotherapy and molecular targeted drugs to kill cancer cells and eliminate metastasis can stop death occurrence. However, the clinical therapy verified that the structural lesion is not the death factor. Functions are prior to structures in the death process. Once the life function stops, life structure will collapse accordingly. The later body structural lesions do not have any therapeutic significance. Thus, the systemic functional lesion is the death factor. The structural treatment can not replace the functional treatment, but the holistic therapy combined with the structural treatment and functional treatment can ascertain the correct direction so as to save most of patients with cancer metastasis.
[0040] 2. Changing Rules of the Death Process of Patients
[0041] Changes of fundamental natures of things refer to a leap from one qualitative form to another qualitative form. As the old saying goes: “things will develop in the opposite when they become extreme.” The cancerometastasis lesion started from functional lesions and then led to structural lesions. Based on that, a new functional lesion begins. Such repeated development process between functions and structures has universal significance. Aiming at this, we drew the Schematic Diagram of Cause of Death of Patients with Cancerometastasis as well as Changing Rules of the Death Process to clarify the changes of the death process by combining causes of death. The main therapy and adjuvant therapy aiming at cancer metastasis depend on each other but with differences in their strength and range. The main therapy aims at major lesions in this stage, while the adjuvant therapy aims to stabilize minor lesions so as to guarantee a smooth treatment. According to the law of quality and quantity, two different changing forms including “structures determine functions” and “functions determine structures” play leading roles in different stages in the lesion development process alternately, of which the form of “structures determine functions” is applied in the cancer metastasis lesion stage with the same layer of quantitative changes, while the form of “functions determine structures” is applied in the death stage of cancer metastasis with different layers of qualitative changes.
[0042] The system function lesion in the multiple metastasis stage refers to a main functional lesion among the cardiovascular circulation function, respiratory function and digestive functions etc with others not diseased but in a decline state. When all main functions are in a diseased state, it means systemic functional lesion. At that time, patients have entered into the death stage. The process from cancer metastasis to death refers to decline in main functions and then lesions of cardiovascular circulation function, respiratory function and digestive function etc. The patients can survive for years or months sometimes. The body functions of most of patients are still available. The holistic therapy dominant by recovering functions and supplemented by controlling metastatic lesion in this process can guarantee no lesions of most of main functions. In this way, patients with heavy diseases will not die eventually.
[0043] Contents relevant to therapy techniques:
[0044] Four, recovery function therapy in the liver cancer metastasis
[0045] The recovery function therapy can improve patients' survival state and prolong lives, which is a symmetrical component in the holistic treatment. The recovery can be divided into two parts that is dominant by recovery functions and supplemented by structural anti-damages respectively.
[0046] The recovery function therapy in this application refers to a treatment that is dominant by recovering digestive function as well as related circulatory function, respiratory function and immune function. The specific contents are as follows:
[0047] 1. Therapies and Technologies Dominant by Recovery Functions
[0048] {circle around (1)} Oxygen-inhaling horizontal stretching exercises: human muscles have two basic functions including the stretching ability and extensibility. Various fitness exercises such as walking, jogging, cycling etc can strengthen muscular contraction, while horizontal stretching exercises can relax muscles and alleviate tensions. Therefore, a human body can maintain healthy based on those mentioned above. The upper limb movement of horizontal stretching exercises in this application can strengthen digestive and respiratory maneuvers, prevent blood stuck in lower limbs and decline in cardiac outputs. The forward movement can strengthen arm and dorsal muscular contraction force, while the back movement can relax muscles with balanced exercises. The pedal wheels can increase the contraction force of lower limbs, while the horizontal prone position can relax lower limbs. The rise and fall of diaphragm muscles as well as relaxation and contraction of abdominal muscles of horizontal stretching exercises have good internal massage effects on the gastrointestinal tract and liver etc, which can further alleviate blood stasis, improve and strengthen blood circulation and secretion of digestive juice, promote digestion-absorption functions, increase synthesis of plasma-albumin and help the liver to detoxify and excrete poisonous substances. Meanwhile, the range of motion of diaphragm muscles can be increased by 2-4 times than that of normal people, which can improve oxygen inhaling and vital capacity, help with gas exchange and increase respiratory functions. The blood flow rate of muscles in a relaxing state will be increased 10-16 times compared with that in a stiff state. Thus, the muscle blood vessels will be forced to conduct contraction due to vertical motion of human bodies aiming to improve the high blood pressure so as to strengthen circulatory functions. The immune functions are closely related to circulatory, respiratory and digestive functions, which can be improved at the same time as parts in the human body function structures. The effect of single application is rather limited. Oxygen is the first energy needed by human tissue cells. The decline in cellular oxidation of 35% can aggravate the development of cancer. The key of the oxygen therapy lies in patients' exercises. The oxygen inhaling apparatus, as one of the existing technologies in this application can allow patients to inhale oxygen actively at the time of carrying out stretching exercises. The strengthened blood circulation can allow various tissues of the body to utilize oxygen so as to enhance PAO and improve the physique status. Just as Reference News reported on May 5, 2012 [American Daily Scientific Website on May, 3]: researches indicated that cell hypoxia may be the main reason for metastasis; once confirmed, it may reverse the traditional cancer therapy and explain why cancers diffuse quickly with resistance to drugs in 3-6 months.
[0049] {circle around (2)} Massage in the Prone Gorizontal Motion
[0050] The smooth muscles in the digestive tract have same characteristics as common muscles; that is, excitability, conductivity and contractility; further, they are sensitive to chemistry, temperature and mechanical tension. The muscles of digestive tracts can complete digestion through contraction and relaxation. The digestive function is closely related to metabolism all over the body. The muscles will be relaxed after massage with their blood flow rates increased by 10-16 times compared those in a tension state, lymph flow increased by 7 times and the opening number of blood capillaries per square millimeter on the section of muscles increased from 31 ones to 1,400. Further, it can improve microcirculation to deliver drugs to the endemic areas for further absorption. The prone bracket is installed on the base plate in this application. The abdominal massager is installed on the bracket, which can conduct medical massage on the abdomen during horizontal crawling and swimming. The digestive organs such as the liver, stomach, intestine, pancrea, gallbladder and kidney will be moved rhythmically with “internal massage” such as sudden reach and distance, contraction and relaxation etc. Besides, it will change the blood, lymph and cerebrospinal fluid circulation as well as viscera positions. Such “internal massage” is completed by various viscera due to the action of gravity. The external massage can not achieve such depth or effects. The combined abdominal massager and “internal massage” can improve digestive functions. The hand massager, as one of existing technologies in Cancer Therapy Apparatus, can conduct muscle massage, cutaneous penetration and electrotherapy to recover neurological functions. The local and systemic medical massage can strengthen body functions. The improvement and combination among the therapeutic goal, area and effect of apparatuses related to the prone horizontal motion and abdominal massager together with recovery systemic functions have substantial therapeutic significance.
[0051] {circle around (3)} Symptomatic Treatment in the Recovery Function
[0052] The symptomatic treatment aims at liver cirrhosis and ascites. It can be seen from the Schematic Diagram of Principles of Production and Development of Hepatocarcinoma Metastasis: the nature of diseases is determined by mutual restriction of local structural lesions as well as the surrounding functional lesions. The anti-damage therapy shall be carried out on the structural diseased regions (lesions). The traditional Chinese medicine aims at eliminating pathogen including promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis as well as clearing away heat and toxic materials; the recovery function therapy shall be conducted on the surrounding systemic functional diseased region. The traditional Chinese medicine aims at strengthening the body resistance such as tonifying spleen and regulating vital energy as well as nourishing the liver and reinforcing the kidney etc. The oral drugs can not be distinguished easily, but massage and cutaneous penetration can achieve localized treatments. The cutaneous penetration aims at the whole body or the depth of tissues, which is quite different from oral medicines. Preparation of topical solution: the Chinese medicines can be applied by adding the corresponding contact agent and permeation-promoters after stirring evenly based on immersion liquid or apozem prepared by oral and unguent medicine (for external use). The Chinese patent medicines such as the active oil and safflower oil as well as some western medicines such as nitroglycerin and isosorbide dinitrate can be applied on skins. Therapeutic method: smear some liquid on the treated area; hold the hand massager to move back and forth on it. The curative effect is superior to the single massage and herbal medicines for external use.
[0053] The liver cirrhosis is the foundation of liver cancer, which is mainly represented by liver function damages as well as portal hypertension. The common complication includes upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatorenal syndrome, ascites and primary hepatic carcinoma etc. The localized therapy, or called as the definitive therapy has relatively high curative effects. The principle of the treatment of liver structural lesions aims to improve and rebuild microcirculation that is destroyed by liver fibrosis, promote liver cell reactivation and cytothesis and recover liver functions. Therapeutic method: smear medicines with functions of promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis as well as topical solutions with functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials on the diseased region; smear the paste with functions of reliving water retention with hydragogue on the umbilical region; patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension can smear the Qitou Xiaogu Plaster around the umbilical region; patients with posthepatitic cirrhosis can smear the related Chinese plaster on the Qimen and Shenque acupoints; the region, solution and plaster will be varying for different patients. Then, the hand massager can be applied to move hack and forth on related regions every 3 minutes.
[0054] Upon the completion of the above mentioned therapy, the Chinese medicine supporting therapy is used to recover functional lesion of the digestive, circulatory and respiratory systems. The external used drugs with functions of tonifying the spleen and regulating vital energy, nourishing the liver and reinforcing the kidney can be smeared on the back or the whole abdomen. Further, the massager can be used for further therapy every 3 minutes. It can be conducted every two days if with repeated regions. The holistic therapy can be carried out every day with 15 times as a course of treatment.
[0055] Some medicinal liquid and ointment for massage and external use are as follows:
[0056] Cirrhosis Chinese medicine paste prescription is originated from “Shanghai Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine” 1991 volume 3. Adaptive indication is cirrhosis after hepatitis, (repeated massive haemorrhage patients caused by portal hypertension shall not be the objects of observation) drugs are composed of Chinese medicines like Astragalus, Angelica, Rehmannia, Chinese thorowax root, peach kernel and common burreed rhizome.
[0057] Hydragogue method paste prescription is originated from “Shaanxi Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine” 2003 volume 7. Adaptive indication is the disease for cirrhosis ascites, drugs are composed of Gansui power, Euphorbia, Daphne and borneol 10 grams respectively. Preparation method is made into powder, over 100 mesh sieve with ginger juice into a paste, in the conventional use of diuretics based on the application.
[0058] Omphalocele paste prescription is originated from “Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine” 2008 volume 7. Adaptive indication is portal hypertension, drugs are composed of Raphani, Stephaniatetrandra, pberetima and fructusamomi (proportion: 10:10:5:5).
[0059] Drug massage and external treatment featuring targeting and rapid force without side effects, are suitable for the treatment of sudden changes in the disease, before the Tang Dynasty, it was equal to external treatment (physical therapy belongs to external treatment) and internal treatment (to be taken orally).
[0060] Supplementary Treatment of Killing Cancer Cells Structure Anti-Injury
[0061] As there are already existing metastatic lesion and some small amount of cancer cells in the patients in hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis in the digestive system and the relevant parts, and to restore digestive function and to promote related circulation and respiratory function at the same time will promote the proliferation and proliferation of cancer cells, so at the same time with the recovery function, it is necessary to carry out the treatment of killing the cancer cells to cooperate with the recovery function.
[0062] Mainly in the following ways: cancer-related acupoint injection, tender point microcirculation disorder injection, intramuscular injection, indirect lymphatic subcutaneous injection (the injection sites make drugs do not enter the blood vessels but into the lymphatic system), respiratory administration, transdermal administration.
[0063] Selection principles in acupoint injection: {circle around (1)} Disease in Zang and Fu, acupuncture on Back-shu point, supplemented by He-sea point, Ququan for liver cancer. {circle around (2)} Combined with anatomical sites, acupuncture in contiguity. Such as liver cancer mainly focuses on Ganshu, ascites patients focus on Shenshu or Pang kuangshu point, patients are loss of appetite focus on Tsusanli and jaundice patients focus on Ex-LE6 point. Respiratory administration is of anticancer drugs into aerosols, using in abdominal breathing exercise with horizontal direction. Transdermal administration of anti-cancer drugs shall be added to some corresponding contact agent and permeation-promoters.
[0064] In the acupuncture point anti-cancer injection, the ways of injection and injecting are as follows:
[0065] {circle around (1)} Aconite injection, daily intramuscular injection for 1-2 times, 1-2 ml each time, no adverse reactions, the clinical application of gastric cancer liver metastases and late liver cancer. {circle around (2)} Polyporusumbellatus polysaccharide can improve the immune function and enhance the effect of chemotherapy on liver cancer, 40 mg each time, 1-2 times a day with intramuscular injection. {circle around (3)} HerbaHedyotis is a kind of heat-clearing and detoxifying drug, better do injection in Benpin point with a certain effect for liver cancer. {circle around (4)} Methotrexate (MTX), twice a week, 10 mg each time, dissolving with 4 ml of Chinese herbal medicine, the total amount of 300 mg as a course of treatment.
[0066] While the transdermal drug delivery technology can be used to get recovery function and kill cancer cells, many of the macromolecules in the prior art including traditional Chinese medicine are difficult to pass through the cuticle of the skin, resulting in a small dose of transdermal administration, only can increase the dose by increasing the area of transdermal administration mainly, Targeted treatment need to increase the number of drugs in a small area and use macromolecules and traditional Chinese medicine. The present application can be applied to the product of the prior art “uremia skin dialysis treatment device”, patent number ZL201220539707.6, which used the combination of crush and transdermal drug delivery and ultrasonic transdermal administration, in which ultrasonic air can make macromolecules through the skin stratum corneum. Pressing the friction input mechanical energy and thermal energy to improve the microcirculation, promote drug absorption, thus solving the above problems, is the local treatment for local transdermal administration.
[0067] The present application also uses a hand-held massager to carry out systemic anti-cancer drug massage on the patient, and the massage time is 8 seconds in each part of the body, and the whole body massage is completed within 8 minutes. After treatment, the skin can be washed with warm water; the total area of adult skin is about 2 square meters and about ⅓ of the body's blood can flow through the skin; body massage can make anti-cancer drugs through the skin into the blood circulation, play a systemic treatment, and at the same time enter the mechanical energy, heat, enhance blood circulation, lymph circulation, promote drug absorption, restore physical fitness, eliminate injection of chemotherapy side effect.
[0068] Here are several anti-cancer transdermal absorption drugs: cyclophosphamide, vincristine, fluorouracil.
[0069] {circle around (1)} An anti-cancer drug that absorbs transdermal transdermal (including compressive transdermal absorption); according to the characteristics, the cyclophosphamide, vincristine can be added to the corresponding coupling agent and applied after stifling evenly. For example, add fat-soluble drugs to lanolin, formulated into ointment or cold cream; water-soluble drugs dissolved in water, Chinese herbal medicine can be made into immersion or decoction.
[0070] Reference: “Clinical treatment of common malignant tumors” editor Liu Sihai, etc., Military Medical Science Press, January 2010 first edition 210 pages, 211 pages. “Principles and Applications of Ultrasound Treatment” editor WANG Zhibiao, Nanjing University Press, June 2008 first edition 244 pages, 245 pages.
[0071] {circle around (2)} Because of gastrointestinal irritation side effects, the application of Fluorouracil chemotherapy is limited. Topical and the amount: 1% -10%, ointment, film agent, osmotic application of local smear, 2 times/day, 15 days for a course of treatment, the whole body massage once two days, also, if it produces stimulating reactions, such as erythema, blisters, pain, you should pay attention to protect skin lesions around the healthy skin. Hand-held massager with a cloth to protect the skin, generally do not have side effects on the skin. Fluorouracil cream is mainly made of fluorouracil, white petrolatum, liquid paraffin, glycerol, cetyl alcohol, distilled water and other after heating and inciting and the temperature is 70-80° C., during which, if there is no raw materials, the fluorouracil can also be used instead of tablets. Detailed prescription, method, refer to “new drug manual” WANG Lei and other editors, Shandong Science and Technology Press, September 1996 first edition, 154 pages-155 pages.
[0072] Tang Zhaoyou academician mention edon page 145 of the book “elimination and transformation of both”: A patient with extensive lung metastases after a liver cancer was treated with 250 mg of fluorouracil (this very small dose) after discharge. Did not expect six months later, the patient was with red face and chest perspective effect was very good, the patient said one needle of chemotherapy each next day had no side effect, and be rided a bike every day for 3 hours and took oral administration of cough medicine”. Although the above is a case, it is consistent with cancer metastasis of the latter part of the overall treatment direction based on the structure of anti-injury secondary recovery function, and made a universal significance. Refer to the way of next day injection of fluorouracil 250 mg, in the case of patients with a small amount of anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs, give patients the body drug massage (drug refers to the spleen qi, blood circulation to restore functional topical drugs) and oxygen level stretching exercise to enhance systemic function, which is the correct treatment to improve the ability to kill cancer cells, eliminate the side effect of systemic chemotherapy, significantly reduce the mortality of patients, but also a treatment with low cost and high efficacy that lung cancer metastasis, liver cancer metastasis patients can use.
[0073] V. Resistant to the Treatment of Liver Cancer Metastasis
[0074] Structural anti-injury treatment is divided into two parts: structural anti-injury-based treatment and recovery function-based treatment.
[0075] 1. Digestive System Structure Anti-Injury-Based Treatment is the Main Anti-Injury Treatment.
[0076] Liver cancer metastasis in the digestive system and related system structural damage, refers to the primary liver cancer lesions, and intrahepatic metastasis and extrahepatic blood transfer to the lung, adrenal gland, bone, gallbladder, lymphatic metastasis to the hilar lymph nodes, peripancreatic lymph nodes, Gastric lymph nodes, aortic lymph nodes, supraclavicular lymph nodes, and direct violations to neighboring organs. In the surgical treatment of radiotherapy and chemotherapy of the treatment of anti-injury treatment, the recovery functional treatment is not contributed to the overall treatment of the whole treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the same lesion, does not have symmetry and integrity, during the transfer of liver cancer only palliative treatment can be adopted, hut there is no cure possibility. Here the recovery function and surgery combined with chemotherapy were described as below separately.
[0077] {circle around (1)} Recovery Functional Therapy Combined with Surgery.
[0078] The prior art surgery has not been combined with symmetrical recovery function therapy in the course of treatment, and there is a wrong treatment direction. This is the root cause of recurrence and metastasis after surgical treatment. The scope of the operation and the intensity of action should follow the correct treatment direction, in accordance with the principle of the overall treatment to ensure the scope and treatment efforts of the recovery function therapy, and use symmetry equivalent of surgical anti-injury treatment and recovery functional to promote the overall treatment of liver cancer metastasis, thus to prevent recurrence of metastatic metastasis and rehabilitation of the treatment goals, rather than relying on surgery part of the treatment.
[0079] Within the first 3-5 days of the operation, the present application adopts the oxygen level horizontal stretching exercise and the Whole body medicine massage, the oral Chinese medicine, and medicine massage, the oral traditional Chinese medicine is the medicine which can strengthen spleen and benefit qi, such as Buzhong Yiqi Decoction, Decoction of Four Mild Drugs, Rehmanniae Decoction of Six Ingredients and so on. Recovery function-based treatment can protect and improve liver function and systemic function, is conducive to surgery to proceed smoothly.
[0080] {circle around (2)} Recovery Function-Based Therapy Combined with Radiotherapy.
[0081] Radiotherapy in the prior art has no symmetrical recovery function-based therapy in the treatment, lack of treatment of integrity. It is largely impossible to achieve therapeutic goals through quantitative changes, and this is evidenced by the results of most radiotherapy patients. The contents of this paragraph have been discussed in detail in the “cancer diffusion transfer therapy device”, since the present application can perform the positioning recovery function, before 5-10 minutes of the prior art radiotherapy, coat the primary liver cancer and bone, adrenal gland, lymph nodes and other metastatic lesions of the radiotherapy site with external drugs for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis (such as active oil, safflower oil, etc.), use handheld massage to take a recovery function-based drug massage for 1-3 minutes, combine extrusion friction with ultrasonic waves and the force can reach the deep visceral tissue and bone surface, and then with several minutes of radiation therapy, the purpose is to increase the sensitivity and intensity of radiotherapy. 5 minutes after the end of radiotherapy, use hand-held massager to coat the drugs for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis at the center of the radiotherapy center (such as Astragalus, Codonopsis, Atractylodes, Poria, Magnolia Obavata, Costustoot, Fructus Akebiae), and then with a 3 minutes of drug massage to restore functional treatment, the purpose is to protect the normal cell recovery function and reduce radiotherapy side effects. For the greater side effects of systemic discomfort, the oxygen level stretching exercise and systemic drug massage and oral Chinese medicine can be carried out, and the use of drugs vary from person to time and need to be determined according to the situation and demand.
[0082] {circle around (3)} The Importance of Recovery Function-Based Therapy Combined with Chemotherapy
[0083] There are many ways of chemotherapy in the prior art, (1) oral; (2) intramuscular injection; (3) intravenous injection; (4) venous shock; (5) intravenous infusion; (6) arterial injection; (7) intracavitary injection; (8) intrathecal injection; (9) intratumoral injection (10) topical application. At present in the cancer chemotherapy, no matter how people update the chemotherapy drugs, how to increase the dose of elongated course of treatment, how to change the drug route, or combination of various chemical compatibility applications. Besides a small number of cancer treatment has improved, the present situation of the long-term efficacy of patients with cancer and five-year survival rate cannot be improved very effectively, and drug resistance of cancer leads 90% of treatment of metastatic cancer to failure. In accordance with the laws of nature, the human body is the unity of structure and function as the unity of the whole, life movement is a combination of physical and chemical high-level form of movement, every step of material metabolism are accompanied by energy transfer. Cancer primary lesions, metastatic lesions are the overall lesion controlled by the structural lesions and functional lesions, physical lesions and chemical lesions. When the patients are in the overall disease and a critical period of life threat, the existing technology using structural anti-injury part of the main treatment and single chemical primary treatment technology, has no possibility of success.
[0084] {circle around (4)} Recovery Function-Based Therapy Combined with Systemic Chemotherapy.
[0085] Usually chemotherapy is intravenous, also known as systemic chemotherapy, and there is a poor efficacy and side effects of large deficiencies. In systemic chemotherapy, among 95% of drugs of intravenous infusion into the body only 5% can really reach the tumor lesions, but the critical parts of the lesion did not get targeted treatment, which leads to poor efficacy and produces a huge side effect. In the hand-held massager of the present application, the combination of the extrusion and the transdermal drug can be combined with the ultrasonic transdermal drug, and the chemical substance (e.g., topical fluorouracil or the like) having a molecular weight of 5000 or the like can be introduced into the deep tissue through the skin stratum corneum, and input mechanical energy, heat through the body surface to improve microcirculation, recovery function, the primary cancer lesions and metastatic lesions for local holistic treatment. The invented hand-held massager can be applied to coat the whole body the topical Chinese Medicine such as strengthening spleen and invigorating qi and blood circulation, detoxification and the like. Drug selection varies from person to person, take the whole body drug massage, each treatment for 8 minutes, which can eliminate chemotherapy side effect and restore recovery function. The local treatment of the present application and the systemic drug massage therapy can be carried out separately or in combination with systemic chemotherapy, and the treatment is carried out 5 minutes after the end of the intravenous infusion treatment.
[0086] {circle around (5)} Recovery Function-Based Therapy Combined with Local Chemotherapy
[0087] Local chemotherapy in the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the first choice for domestic non-surgical therapy, but because of chemotherapy cytotoxicity and some patients with severe cirrhosis, portal hypertension, interventional therapy it is difficult to implement interventional therapy for a long-term. And that liver cancer invasion of intrahepatic blood vessels cause intrahepatic dissemination is still the main reason for the recurrence and metastasis. Functional lesions and physical lesions control the efficacy of chemical drugs and produce resistance. Chemotherapy alone only changes the route of administration, but cannot significantly improve the tumor chemotherapy effect, even with the embolic agent in combination, the effect has been improved but also limited. Chemotherapy can cure the tumor, mainly depends on whether the tumor is sensitive to chemotherapy, does not produce resistance, so in the process of chemotherapy, using physical technology to proceed the symmetry recovery function-based therapy on the lesion site of cancer cells and lesions around the site, is the correct way to enhance the sensitivity of chemotherapy, eliminate drug resistance, increase the effectiveness of cancer cells and reduce the side effects. The overall treatment process is as follows: After the treatment of the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), coat the external drugs for promoting circulation and removing stasis in the treatment of lesion site, and use a local therapy device for 1 - 3 minutes of treatment, improving the microcirculation of the lesion, promoting the absorption of drugs, and then coat external drugs for strengthening spleen and invigorating qi to the lesion treatment area and the larger area around it, use hand-held massager for 3 minutes massage to achieve the purpose of recovery function. For the transfer of lesions, injection within the tumor can be used, and recovery function is same with above method.
[0088] In the prior art systemic chemotherapy and local chemotherapy, due to the lack of functional recovery therapy, chemotherapy needs one week, rest for two weeks. Each medication and subsequent withdrawal period both need a course of treatment, generally total 4-6 course of treatment, the total time to be months, with the aim to restore the function of normal cells, to accumulate strength to cope with the upcoming next chemotherapy, this negative waiting significantly reduces the intensity of treatment, and will miss the best treatment time, which is the reason of limited chemotherapy efficacy and even the deaths of patients. And in the overall treatment, protection and recovery of normal cell function in the course of chemotherapy has been completed; the basis of the patient's metabolic function is protected, without this negative wait, and continuous treatment can produce significant efficacy, the patient will not die in the overall treatment process.
[0089] In accordance with the principles of traditional Chinese medicine treatment: “outside the rule that is the rule of governance, the treatment of foreign medicine that is the medicine,” the application is characterized in that the hand-held massager restoring function is inseparable from the systemic chemotherapy and the local chemotherapy synchronicity, which leads to the failure of the treatment if separation. Regardless of which chemotherapy method is used, it is important to perform symmetrical recovery therapy at the same time to ensure that the treatment is correctly achieved.
[0090] 2. Digestive System Recovery Function-Based Therapy as Adjuvant Therapy.
[0091] In the surgical treatment of radiotherapy after the end of the recovery function of adjuvant therapy, mainly proceed the overall recovery of traditional Chinese medicine treatment methods, including qigong and Chinese medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion which is the three treasures in the history of Chinese medicine, the common features of qigong are: breathing adjustment, body activities and self-massage. In the application, the abdomen and the systemic medicine massage, the local skin transdermal administration, the horizontal stretching exercise is external treatment method, and the oral medicine is the inner medicine method. Traditional Chinese Medicine states that: outside treatment can be parallel with the internal treatment, and can fill the shortcoming of the internal treatment.” Internal treatment combined with external treatment, can significantly improve the efficacy and be taken for long-term.
[0092] Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment of liver cancer is starting from the whole situation, there are cancer, righting, the symptoms can be improved significantly with less adverse reactions, although the effect is slow, but more lasting characteristics. Its elimination of small role in tumor lesions, poor targeting and other shortcomings, gets it as the adjuvant therapy for other treatment at most time. Chinese Medicine uses the two methods of attacking cancer cells and making up, commonly using blood circulation, detoxification in the attack treatment, using Spleen, Liver and kidney, qi and blood and other remedial solidification in the make-up treatment, and which varies from different person. The present application is based on the following reference materials to draw a “normalized treatment plan for liver cancer”, reference books: “new concepts and new methods of cancer metastasis therapy” XuZe with the People's Medical Publishing House in January 2006 first edition 221 pages, 223 pages. “Said lung cancer” Zhang Jinghui and other editor, Hunan Science and Technology Press, December 2012 first edition 58 pages.
[0093] VI. The Structural Features and Features of the Present Application.
[0094] In the present application, the recovery function of the crawling movement is combined with the recovery of the heart and lung function of the swimming exercise, and the whole function of the body is restored by promoting the whole action to each other. If only one of the exercises is carried out, the whole function cannot be produced. For the whole body function, abdominal digestive function and chest heart and lung function is interdependent but as a whole, the lack of a part of it will lose the overall function.
[0095] 1. According to the present application, the transmission device for driving the front wheel in the prior art by the supine position pedal is changed to the tilting position pedal wheel to drive the front wheel drive device, thus becoming a human instinct to crawl action, suitable for the recovery of the whole body needs; In the arm strokes installed two wheels, by driving the arms of the rotation or a small arm with a small round swing combined with the legs into a swimming action, can receive the recovery of body function; In the prone level exercise, use the abdominal drug massage device to treat abdominal digestive function lesions, and use hand massage to take a drug massage to the body, so as to achieve the goal of recovery of systemic function.
[0096] 2. The application has two kinds of movements includes crawling and swimming in the horizontal movement, wherein the crawling movement is the effect of the double arm and the legs being alternately with each other, the strength is low, suitable for each 10 minutes long movement, with a strong effect on abdominal visceral digestive function, can promote the abdominal digestive organs to take shrink and relax “massage” exercise. Swimming is a pair of arms symmetrical ring rotation and legs side by side role, high strength, suitable for a short time movement, each 5 minutes, in the operation of the pedal bar through the fixed connection with the other side of the pedal to adjust to the same turn the direction, you can carry forward the legs before and after the movement. Swimming movement in the arms of symmetrical circular rotation is the expansion of the chest movement, which can squeeze and relax the heart and the lungs, improve heart activity and chest breathing, can improve heart and lung function. During crawling and swimming movement, the leg action force is greater, you can add speed motor to help, and the arm action force is too small to help.
[0097] A hand-held massager is used to the whole body massage, and a hand-held massager is a “cancer treatment device” (National Application Patent ZL200610069987.8, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5047301) of the prior art. Hand-held massager are equipped with a DC cut into the friction head, low frequency static friction head, magnetic friction head, friction cloth, with friction heat, according to rub muscle, transdermal drug, electrotherapy, magnetic therapy with effect in the local area within 8 seconds, 8 minutes to complete the body drug massage, suitable for treatment in all parts of the body, through the delivery of heat, mechanical energy, energy, magnetic energy and chemical energy to restore functional treatment. Hand-held massager in the friction head rotating high speed of 2000 r/min, low speed of 500 r/min; friction head pressure at 0.25 kg-0.5 kg/square meter is suitable for friction and heat, transdermal drug, acupuncture treatment, at 0.5 kg-2 kg/square meter it is suitable for the kneading muscles, soft tissue, the force at 3 kg-5 kg/cm can reach the depth of tissue and bone surface; high-speed rotation within 5 seconds can heat the skin to 50° C.-60° C.
[0098] 4. Treatment Work Principle and Characteristics.
[0099] In the stage of cancer metastasis, the killing of cancer cells is the main treatment of the existing chemotherapy technology, the recovery function-based therapy uses hand-held massager and surgery combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Before radiotherapy, it is necessary to take recovery-based function therapy to the radiotherapy site firstly, each for 1-2 minutes, and then radiotherapy. In the interventional chemotherapy, firstly take the interventional chemotherapy, after the end of interventional chemotherapy, use hand-held massager at the intervention site (such as drugs when the tumor is aimed at the tumor) to restore functional treatment for 1-2 minutes each time. In systemic chemotherapy, you can take the whole body massage after the end of chemotherapy with a hand-held massager to restore the recovery function, each for 5 minutes, you can also use traditional Chinese medicine to supplement the energy of the body massage, the same is 5 minutes each time. If you do not carry out auxiliary recovery-based function therapy, killing cancer-based treatment cannot be sustained due to lack of symmetry stability of side effects, and only transient treatment can be carried out, but not the long-term treatment. In the cancer metastasis of patients with death stage, combine the restoration of human body function-based treatment with the radiotherapy and chemotherapy to kill cancer cells. Compared with the eradication of cancer-based treatment, the eradication of cancer cell adjuvant therapy should significantly reduce the killing of cancer cells, the scope of action and increase the mode of action, such as low-dose chemotherapy, interventional chemotherapy, anti-Medicine, etc., plays a role to stabilize and prevent the metastatic lesions of cancer from recurring. Similarly, if not take killing cancer cells adjuvant therapy, the body's main recovery function will limited by cancer cells and cannot effect for a long time due to lack of symmetry stability, and ultimately lead to treatment failure.
[0100] VII. Contrast with the Prior Art.
[0101] 1. In the treatment of cancer metastasis, structural treatment is interdependence with functional treatment and makes effects together, in line with the laws of nature, suitable for rehabilitation of patients survived. In the prior art, structural treatment and functional therapy are separated from each other, and their respective effects can only produce a certain number of changes, cannot produce the overall nature of change, does not meet the laws of nature, and ultimately lead to death.
[0102] 2. The prior art in the stage of cancer metastasis lesions, use surgical chemotherapy to kill cancer-based treatment as the main treatment, however, in the stage of death of cancer patients, the systemic functional lesions have become the main factors of death, the existing treatment is still the same, do not take the recovery-based function therapy as the main treatment, and there is the primary and secondary reversal treatment with wrong targets. The present application overcomes this deficiency by using a recovery-based function therapy in the stage of death of cancer metastasis patients.
[0103] 3. Prone position in the movement including the crawling action, swimming action is the survival of human instincts, in line with human structural design requirements, is the basis to save the lives of patients. The existing medical sports crawling and swimming, with the features of exercise a long time, consumption of physical strength, low efficiency, time-consuming and slow laborious effect, cannot meet the needs of patients in the critical stage of treatment. The application is quick and effective in 8 minutes to complete the recovery of systemic functional treatment, significantly improve the effect to meet the treatment needs.
[0104] 4. The existing technology supine horizontal exercise, the drug massage through the back, cannot produce direct treatment of abdominal digestive function; the drug massage through the abdomen, will have side effects on the abdominal. digestive organs of cancer metastasis tissue, so cannot be applied. In the prone level movement, the medicament massage is carried out under the abdomen, and the abdominal medicine massage not only reduces the pressing side effect due to the relaxation of the abdominal viscera and the internal massage, and the combination of the internal and external massage improves the therapeutic effect remarkably.
[0105] VIII. Conclusion
[0106] The essay studies the philosophical theory where natural laws guide the treatment, the starting point of its own development is the integrity of the opposition and unity. Integrity is the essence of things, regardless of which part of it is externally active, it reacts as a whole, with each element does not have the nature and function alone, the understanding of the overall concept of disease is different, leading to differences in treatment direction and treatment results. Modern science understands the whole world as a large hierarchical sequence: Earth-Biosphere-Society-Man-System-Organ-Organization-Cell-Molecule-Atom-Basic Particles. There is a leap from quantitative to qualitative change between the upper and lower levels of the hierarchy, and the human disease research object is placed in its inherent hierarchical sequence, and the state and change are examined and adjusted from the two-way interaction between the upper and lower levels. But the above-mentioned hierarchical sequence is the material composition level, not the material movement level, can not reflect the symmetrical interaction between structure and function, the basic law of nature is to maintain symmetry, from macro to micro, from the generation of the universe to each micro Sub-nuclear reaction, applicable to all natural phenomena. The body's anatomical state, physiological function, disease generation and development process has a strong hierarchical structure. Modern medicine lacks a hierarchical understanding of human body function. There is no hierarchical sequence of human physiological function in the above-mentioned material hierarchy. The hierarchical sequence of the structural part of the human anatomical state cannot reflect the interaction between the internal and the level of the hierarchy and the whole action of the structure and function in the life movement, can not determine the cause of the disease, understand the development trend of the disease process and determine the correct treatment direction.
[0107] In the prior art, structural treatment and functional therapy are two different properties, different treatment sites of the disease. Traditional Chinese medicine based on ancient Chinese philosophy is to study the human body as a whole, to be good at comprehensive grasp of their laws and to restore functional treatment, and symbolize them (Yin/Yang, inside/outside, etc.); Modern medicine based on modern science (Western medicine) is the decomposition of the human body into the system-organ-cells-molecules, good at changing from these units to infer the state of the body and the substantive structural treatment. The author of the book “Chinese and Western medicine differences and blending,” Zhushi Na said: “to promote Chinese and Western medicine in the field of pathology to unity, the key is the relationship between structural lesions and functional lesions, but also a good problem that the entire pathology research has not yet solved”. In the “Schematic Diagram of the Generation and Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma”, the “Principles and Techniques for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma” and “Schematic Diagram of the Change of Death Causes and Death in Cancer Patients”, the philosophical factors of Chinese medicine and the scientific factors of western medicine are combined into a whole, and the relationship between human anatomy, physiological function, the level of disease generation and development and the interaction between them are described in detail, which is the internal structure of the main function of the auxiliary function of self-interaction self-movement, and the level of function is the main structure of the interaction between the auxiliary movement, is a holistic comprehensive picture of the disease. In the “diagram”, the structure and function have their own independent characteristics and location, the two sides of the differences and contact objectively displayed, each stage of liver cancer metastases is placed in its inherent hierarchical sequence, and the state changes can be examined and adjusted from the two-way interaction between the upper and the next, disease development and development process are in accordance with the light to heavy, from low to high level to the order of the process of change, while the treatment direction is the reverse development process. Structure-based changes and function-based changes in two different forms of disease, depending on the nature of the disease, exist in the process of each disease development stage.
[0108] In the “diagram”, the functional level in Chinese medicine is symmetrical and unified with the structural hierarchy of modern medicine in the level of life material, which is a general understanding for the nature of cancer metastasis, and determines the prevention and treatment of cancer metastasis principles and measures. Treatment of cancer and major diseases can be properly worked out only from the level of life and the level of interaction, once their root causes are revealed, its prevention and treatment will become possible and relatively easy. The relationship between structure and function of life is a matter of philosophy and science. When they are clear at all levels, they can be summarized as follows: the structure is the spatial sequence of each level, and the function is the movement sequence at all levels and layers. The two sides are the relationship between the material composition and the interdependence of the material movement. The combination of philosophy and science as a whole based on the overall treatment model, can lead to the establishment of a new pathology basic theory. Chinese medicine as a recovery-based function therapy, should be the main method to reduce the mortality of patients in the treatment of cancer metastasis, and enter the leading position of medical development in the future, according to the law of the relationship between function and structure. As the famous scientist QIAN Xuesen said: “Chinese medicine theory contains a lot of system theory, and this is a serious shortage of Western medicine, Chinese medicine modernization is the right path of medical development, not only will promote the development of medicine, and eventually lead to the transformation of science and technology system-scientific revolution”. (See “Differences and blending of Chinese and Western medicine” Zhu Shiren People's Health Publishing House November 2001 edition 236 pages.)
[0109] The fact that the evolution of the human body shows that science is endless and that understanding is impossible. The all results that medical development made, are only a short stage of human cognition history about their life, and any stagnant view is wrong.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0110] FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a liver cancer metastasis therapy device according to the present application;
[0111] FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the applicator shown in FIG. 1 ;
[0112] FIG. 3 illustrates a hand-held massager;
[0113] FIG. 4 illustrates a “liver cancer metastasis and development of the schematic diagram”;
[0114] FIG. 5 illustrates “liver cancer metastasis therapy principle and technical diagram”;
[0115] FIG. 6 illustrates “cancer metastasis patients with death and death caused by the process of changes in the diagram”;
[0116] FIG. 7 illustrates “normalized treatment of liver cancer model”.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0117] FIG. 1 shows a liver cancer metastasis therapy device: 1 is the pad; 2 is the prone bracket; 3 is the abdominal massager; 5 is the sprocket bracket; 6 is the sprocket; 7 is the chain, 8 is the rotating plate; 9 is the pedal 10 is the runner support and 11 is the runner. FIG. 2 shows the liver metastases in the treatment device: 4 is the drug cloth; 8 is the rotating disk; 12 is the drive shaft; 13 is the speed motor. FIG. 3 : 14 shows the hand-held massager.
[0118] The present application is achieved by the following technical measures: a hepatocellular metastasis therapy device comprising a plate, a tilting stent, a abdominal massager, a medicine cloth, a sprocket support, a drive shaft, a sprocket, a chain, a rotating disk, a pedal, Wheel support, runner, speed motor, hand-held massager device, to restore the body's body-based treatment, combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy to kill cancer cells combined treatment of liver cancer metastasis; Characteristic: the tilting bracket ( 2 ) is fixedly mounted in the middle of the plate ( 1 ), the abdomen massager ( 3 ) covered with the medicine cloth ( 4 ) is arranged on the top bracket ( 2 ), and the sprocket bracket ( 5 ) ( 12 ) and a sprocket ( 6 ) are arranged on the plate ( 1 ), the rotating disc ( 8 ) is fixed at both ends of the drive shaft ( 12 ), the sprocket ( 6 ) and the chain ( 7 ) The reel bracket ( 10 ) is fixed on both sides of the front center of the backing plate ( 1 ), and the runner ( 11 ) is mounted on it. The patient is prone to power massage on the abdomen massager ( 3 ), the patient holding the rotating lever ( 8 ), the foot is fixed by the pedal ( 9 ), and the speed hoisting motor ( 13 ) is rotated by rotating the chain ( 7 ), so that the passive crawling movement can be carried out, do not open the motor can be active crawling movement, without chain drive before the arm can be a small swing action, release the grip plate ( 8 ) hand, hold the runner ( 11 ) hand to rotate, you can swim sports. After exercise, use hand massage ( 14 ) by the patient or the doctor for systemic drug massage, supplement the transport of mechanical energy, heat, chemical energy.
[0119] Treatment specific steps are as follows:
[0120] According to the “liver cancer metastasis and development of the schematic diagram” in the metastatic stage of liver cancer, firstly use hand-held massager and radiotherapy combined with surgery as a whole, take a recovery-based function treatment supplemented by the overall treatment to kill cancer in the liver metastases and around the site. Stable and control the transfer of lesions, in the stage of death of liver cancer metastasis, use prone level movement, abdominal massage and hand massage into a whole, take a recovery-based function treatment supplemented by the overall treatment on the digestive function of the lesion and related circulation, respiratory, immune, neurological and other functional decline in the body to prevent the emergence of systemic functional lesions and prevent death.
[0121] 1. Recovery Function Combined with Radiotherapy
[0122] 5 minutes before the prior art radiotherapy, in the primary lesion, the radiotherapy site of the metastatic lesion was coated with external medicine for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and the massage therapy was performed for 1-2 minutes with a hand-held massager and then radiotherapy was performed. 3-5 minutes after the end of radiotherapy, coat the topical drug for strengthening spleen and invigorating qi in the radiotherapy center around the functional decline parts, use hand-held massager to restore the function for 1-2 minutes of drug massage therapy.
[0123] 2. Recovery Function Combined with Local Chemotherapy.
[0124] After the treatment of the catheter hydrazine arterial chemoembolization (TACE), coat the topical drug for promoting circulation and removing stasis in the treatment of lesions site, use handheld massage for 1-2 minutes, improving microcirculation of the lesion, and promoting drug absorption, and then coat the topical drug for strengthening spleen and invigorating qi in the treatment of parts of the lesion around the larger area, use handheld massage for 1-2 minutes of drug massage, to restore the purpose of the function. For the transfer of lesions, the injection within tumor can be used, and the recovery function is same with the above method.
[0125] 3. Recovery Function Combined with Systemic Chemotherapy.
[0126] Within 5 minutes after the end of systemic chemotherapy, patients can be coated with topical drug for strengthening spleen and invigorating qi, promoting circulation and removing stasis and detoxification on the chest and abdomen, waist and limbs, (drug selection varies from person to person) and use the hand-held massager to carry out systemic drug massage, each treatment for 8 minutes, take a restore functional treatment for the elimination of chemotherapy side effects.
[0127] Whether the transfer of lesions is to eliminate the control, the condition is aggravated or reduced, cancer metastasis patients or sooner or later will enter the stage of death of liver cancer metastasis, directly face the death of the body function of this death factor. Because at this time the structure of metastatic lesions is in a relatively stable stage, mainly the development is the development of systemic functional disease, it must use the recovery-based function therapy to restore the body function, supplemented by the treatment of killing cancer cells, use a large treatment device that enhances systemic function.
[0128] 4. Recovery Function Treatment of Liver Cirrhosis, Liver Ascites and Digestive Function, Circulation, Respiratory.
[0129] The use of traditional Chinese medicine outside the treatment of liquid with strengthening spleen and invigorating qi, good for liver and kidney, cirrhosis of the cream, water paste, blood circulation, detoxification, western medicine, nitroglycerin, heartache and so on. Apply liquid to the treatment area and use hand-held massager for reciprocating massage. Treatment once a day, each time 1-3 minutes, 15 times for a course of treatment.
[0130] 5. Recovery Function is Combined with Chemotherapy
[0131] The use of prone level movement in the crawling action, swimming movements, abdominal massage and body massage to restore the body function-based treatment, each time a total of 10 minutes, once every other day, while every other day injection of fluorouracil 250 mg, or small dose injection of molecular targeting anticancer drugs. Treatment sequence is the end of chemotherapy after the recovery of functional treatment, the treatment can be long-term.
[0132] 6. Recovery Function Combined with Drug Injection, Transdermal Administration.
[0133] Use aconite injection, polyporus umbellatus polysaccharide, hedyotisdiffusa, methotrexate (MTX) and other points of anti-cancer drug injection, once a day, injection dose, refer to the instructions. In the transfer site, use fluorouracil topical liquid for transdermal drug delivery and massage treatment, once a day, each for 1-3 minutes, 15 days for a course of treatment, liquid composition, refer to the instructions. The adjuvant therapy of killing cancer cells, reduce the intensity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, increase the number of treatment and treatment, according to the patient recovery function can be taken for long-term.
[0134] During the treatment according to the patient's condition, physical and human differences determine the dose used, the level of movement and massage the intensity. During the course of treatment and after treatment, the double test of structure and function was carried out. The structural examination was based on the existing technical standard. The functional test was based on the recovery function and the quality of life.
EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT APPLICATION
[0135] Crawling and swimming is a medical sport with a recovery function, and many cancer patients have a healing effect by using such medical sports. The abdominal massager of the application is a national application patent LZ-98110305.7, which is approved by the Shandong Provincial Food and Drug Administration, and is approved by the Shandong Provincial Drug Administration (No. 2020044), used by Qingdao City Hospital, Qingdao City Hospital, Qingdao City Cancer Hospital, Qingdao Third People's Hospital for many years, proved that the clinical effect is remarkable, welcome by patients (cancer patients). The application adopts the prone level movement device, combines the crawling, swimming medical sports with the abdominal massage, the hand massage and body massage, through the overall role of the body to restore the body function, can significantly improve the existing technology medical sports, massage therapy force to meet the recovery function and rehabilitation needs of cancer patients. | A liver cancer metastasis therapeutic device, consisting of a base plate, a prone support, an abdominal medicine massager, a chain wheel, a rotating wheel and a handheld massager, and being used in a treatment for restoring functions of a whole body; and the therapeutic device is focused on restoring the functions of the whole human body and complementarily performs chemoradiotherapy and surgery for killing cancer cells to treat causes of death, thus significantly reducing a death rate of patients due to metastasis of liver cancers and digestive organ cancers. | 0 |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to semiconductor technology and, more specifically, to a gate oxide formed through local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) to provide a MOS transistors with a large drain to gate breakdown voltage for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection.
MOS technology, especially submicron CMOS integrated circuits (ICs), is susceptible to damage due electrostatic discharge at the input ports of the devices. A charge generating a 4000 volt pulse for a period of several nanoseconds is sufficient to damage a typical MOS device. Such a charge is easily accumulated on the human body in ordinary conditions. Voltage pulses of even 100 volts have been known to damage circuits. These gate voltages generate large electric fields between the gate and channel region underlying the gate. The intervening thin layer of gate oxide is often damaged from the resulting "punch-through" effect. As a result of the susceptibility of these devices to ESD, many MOS devices incorporate protection features.
A variety of ESD protection schemes have been used to protect MOS input ports. FIG. 1 illustrates an electrical circuit 10 including an input port 12 operatively connected to a MOS transistor 14 through an ESD protection circuit (prior art). The ESD protection circuit consists of a series current limiting element 16 and a network of shunt voltage clamps 18, 20, 22, and 24. Series resistors have been used for current limiting element 16. Diodes and silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs) have been used for voltage clamps 18, 20, 22, and 24. Series resistor 16 de-couples the voltage seen at port 12 from the gate (g) of transistor 14. Diodes and SCRs 18, 20, 22, and 24, on either end of series resistor 16 tend to clamp the node voltage to a maximum level. However, the time constants associated with elements 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24 reduce the signal speed of intended signals and limit the reaction time of the protection circuits.
The simplest shunt circuit for ESD protection would be a single MOS transistor. However, to effectively discharge ESD input charges, such a device would have to exhibit a larger than normal drain to gate breakdown voltage and low drain breakdown voltage. In addition, the device would have a large threshold voltage and low parasitic capacitance, so that under normal conditions, the protection transistor does not add significant propagation delays to an intended incoming signal. SCRs typically turn on at relatively large voltages with relatively long delays. Therefore, an SCR cannot be used to protect sub-micron CMOS circuits without additional bias circuitry. An SCR that turns on at low trigger voltages is fairly complex circuit that is cumbersome to fabricate.
It would be advantageous if a simple voltage clamp, having a single channel area, could be developed to simplify fabrication and minimize the number of RC time constants. Further, it would be advantageous if an MOS transistor could be used to protect the input port of an MOS IC from ESD.
It would be advantageous if the drain to gate breakdown voltage of a MOS transistor could be increased for use as an ESD protection voltage clamp. Further, it would be advantageous the drain to gate breakdown voltage of a MOS transistor could be increased for ESD protection without increasing the drain voltage characteristics for all the MOS transistors in the IC.
It would be advantageous if the drain to gate breakdown voltage of a MOS transistor could be increased for use as a shunt voltage clamp for ESD protection without slowing the switching speed of the transistor.
Accordingly, a MOS device, having a large drain to gate breakdown voltage for ESD protection, selected from the group consisting of NMOS and PMOS transistors, is provided. The MOS device comprises source and drain regions of doped silicon, formed in a doped silicon well. The MOS device further comprises a local area of oxidized silicon (LOCOS) overlying the doped silicon well to form a thick region of gate oxide adjoining the drain. The LOCOS area has a thickness in the range between 2000 and 5000 Å, and the length of the LOCOS area is less than approximately 1 micron. A thin area of oxide overlies the doped silicon well forming a thin region of gate oxide adjoining the source. The thin gate oxide thickness is dependent upon the dielectric constant of the gate oxide material, the gate oxide thickness increasing as the dielectric constant increases. As a basis for comparison, when the gate oxide is thermally grown silicon oxide, then the gate oxide thickness is less than approximately 20 nanometers.
Further, a doped gate electrode partially overlies the thin gate oxide, and partially overlies the thick LOCOS gate oxide regions. The above-mentioned transistor has a large drain to gate breakdown due to the large region of oxide separating the drain from the gate. The ESD event turn-on time is short, comparable to a state of the art thin gate oxide transistor, because to electric field in the channel area next to the source is still susceptible to small changes in gate voltage.
The MOS device also comprises gate sidewalls made from either oxide or nitride, adjoining the gate electrode, and a dielectric interlevel made from oxide or TEOS overlying the gate, source, and drain. Contact holes through the dielectric interlevel access the gate, source, and drain regions, and metal in the contact holes forms metal connections to the gate, source, and drain. The metal connections electrically interface to the active areas of the MOS transistor in preparation for connections to other metal levels in the MOS device.
When the LOCOS device is NMOS, the silicon well is p doped, the source and drain are n+ doped, and the gate electrode is n+ doped. When the LOCOS device is PMOS, the silicon well is n doped, the source and drain are p+ doped, and the gate electrode is either p+ or n+ doped, although a p+ doped gate is more typical.
In the fabrication of a MOS device for ESD protection, selected from the group consisting of NMOS and PMOS transistors, a method for forming a LOCOS transistor with a large drain to gate breakdown voltage is also provided. The method comprises the steps of:
a) forming a well of silicon including a first dopant, from which source and drain regions are subsequently formed;
b) forming a localized area of oxidized silicon (LOCOS) having a first thickness;
c) depositing a thin layer of gate oxide having a second thickness overlying the doped silicon well and the LOCOS area; and
d) depositing, patterning, and doping, with a second dopant, a layer of polysilicon overlying a portion of the LOCOS area and an adjoining area of thin oxide, to form a gate electrode having a gate electrode length. The gate electrode is formed over both thin and thick areas of gate oxide.
The two-level gate oxide level formed through LOCOS permits the associated MOS transistor to develop higher than normal voltages on the drain before gate oxide breakdown occurs. Once the drain breakdown occurs, the parasitic bipolar transistor effect completes the turn-on of the MOS transistor, so that a low resistance between the drain and source results, and large currents are conducted. Such a device is ideally suited as a voltage clamp, since the low resistance and high current carrying capabilities of the device act to reduce the peak electrical charges at the drain. In this manner, circuitry connected to the drain of the LOCOS MOS transistor is protected from large energy spikes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates an electrical circuit including an input port operatively connected to a MOS transistor through an ESD protection circuit (prior art).
FIGS. 2 through 10 illustrate steps in the completion of the LOCOS MOS device of the present invention, having a large drain to gate breakdown voltage for ESD protection.
FIG. 11 illustrates an ESD protection circuit using a LOCOS MOS transistor of the present invention as a voltage clamp.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a method for forming a LOCOS transistor with a large drain to gate breakdown voltage.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIGS. 2 through 10 illustrate steps in the completion of the LOCOS MOS device of the present invention, having a large drain to gate breakdown voltage for ESD protection. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a MOS device 30, selected from the group consisting of NMOS and PMOS transistors. For the purpose of brevity, only an NMOS device is depicted in FIGS. 2 through 10. An explanation of a corresponding PMOS device appears in the text, below, with the description of the NMOS device. MOS device 30 comprises a well of doped silicon 32. When LOCOS transistor 30 is an NMOS device, as shown in FIG. 2, silicon well 32 is p doped. Boron is a known dopant material. Alternately, when LOCOS transistor 30 is an PMOS device (not shown), silicon well 32 is n doped. Phosphorus and arsenic are typically used as the dopant for this task.
A local area of oxidized silicon (LOCOS) 34, having a first thickness 36, overlies doped silicon well 32 and forms a thick region of gate oxide adjoining the subsequently formed drain (not shown). LOCOS area first thickness 36 is in the range between 2000 and 5000 Å, and LOCOS area length 37 is less than approximately 1 micron. Areas of field oxide 38 adjoin MOS device 30 and isolate device 30 from the active regions of nearby CMOS devices. In some aspects of the invention, such as when neighboring devices (not shown) in the IC are fabricated with submicron technology, doped silicon well 32 is formed on a doped silicon substrate (not shown).
FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 2 with a thin oxide layer 40, having a second thickness 42, overlying doped silicon well 32. A portion thin oxide layer 40 forms a thin region of gate oxide adjoining the source (not shown). Thin gate oxide second thickness 42 is approximately the same thickness as the gate oxide in typical MOS transistors elsewhere in the IC (not shown). Specifically, thickness 42 varies in response to IC technology and the dielectric constant of the material used to fabricate oxide layer 40. When oxide layer 40 is thermally grown silicon oxide, with a relative dielectric constant of 3.9, thickness 42 is less than approximately 20 nanometers (nm). Using the relationship between the dielectric constant and the thickness expressed above, the larger thicknesses required for materials with higher dielectric constants is calculated. That is, gate oxide second thickness 42 varies in response to the dielectric constant of gate oxide material 40, and corresponds to an equivalent thickness of less than approximately 20 nm, when said thin gate oxide is thermally grown silicon oxide. Because oxide layer 40 is so thin compared to LOCOS area 34, it is not shown as a distinct layer when overlying LOCOS area 34 in FIGS. 4-10.
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 3 with a gate electrode material 44 overlying oxides areas 34 and 40. Gate electrode material 44 is selected from the group consisting of polysilicon and polycide.
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 4 after a step of masking and etching gate electrode material 44 to form a doped gate electrode 46 having a length 48 partially overlying thin gate oxide 40, and partially overlying thick LOCOS gate oxide 34 regions.
FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 5 after light density doping (LDD) areas 50 and 52 in silicon well 32 adjoining gate electrode 46, in the preparation of source and drain regions. When MOS device 30 is NMOS, silicon well 32 is doped with p material, as shown in FIG. 6. The LDD is typically performed with a dopant selected from the group consisting of phosphorus or arsenic. Alternately, when MOS device 30 is PMOS, silicon well 32 is doped with n material (not shown). Then, the dopant is boron or BF 2 .
FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 6 after the formation of gate sidewalls 54 and 56 having a third thickness 58 adjoining gate electrode 46. Gate sidewall third thickness 58 is in the range between 50 and 200 nanometers (nm). Sidewalls 54 and 56 act as insulators between gate electrode 46 and subsequently formed source/drain regions (not shown). The material for gate sidewalls 54 and 56 is selected from the group consisting of oxide and nitride.
FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 7 with source 60 and drain 62 regions of doped silicon formed in doped silicon well 32. When LOCOS transistor 30 is NMOS, silicon well 32 is p doped, source 60 and drain 62 are n+ doped, and gate electrode 46 is n+ doped. Typically, the dopant is phosphorus or arsenic. Alternately, when LOCOS transistor 30 is PMOS (not shown), silicon well 32 is n doped, source 60 and drain 62 are p+ doped, and gate electrode 46 is doped with a material selected from the group consisting of p+ and n+ type dopants. Boron and BF 2 are often used as dopants. Typically, PMOS transistor 30 has a p+ doped gate electrode 46. Because of the large first thickness 36 of oxide (see FIG. 2) between gate electrode 46 and drain 62, and the thin second thickness 42 (see FIG. 3) between gate electrode 46 and source 60, a large voltage is applied to the drain without a gate oxide breakdown. The ESD drain current, however, is controlled through fields in channel region 63, underlying thin gate oxide layer 40, so that small changes in gate voltage and short delays are associated with ESD event turn-on of device 30.
FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 8 following the salicide step. In some aspects of the invention, layers of silicide 64 and 66 overlie, respectively, source 60 and drain 62 regions to improve the electrical interface between source/drain regions 60 and 62 and a subsequently formed metal connection (not shown). In some aspects of the invention, a layer of silicide 67 overlies gate electrode 46.
FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of MOS device 30 of FIG. 9 following the formation of a dielectric interlevel 68 selected from the group consisting of oxide and TEOS overlying gate 46, source 60, and drain 62. Contact holes 70 through dielectric interlevel 68 access gate 46, source 60, and drain 62 regions. Metal 72 in contact holes 70 form metal connections to gate 46, source 60, and drain 62. In this manner, electrical connections are made to active areas 46, 60, and 62 of MOS transistor 30 to interface with other metal levels (not shown), subsequently fabricated in the MOS device.
A summary of the operation of MOS transistor 30 is presented below. Transistor 30 has two thickness, 36 and 42, of gate oxide. First thickness 36 is more than two orders of magnitude greater than second thickness 42. LOCOS oxide layer 34 acts as an insulator to reduce the electric field gate oxide 34 when a large ESD pulse appears at drain electrode 62. In the normal operating conditions, when voltages on drain 62 and gate 46 are at intended signal levels, thick oxide layer 34 prevents device 30 from turning on, and the device remains off despite fluctuations in voltage associated with supply voltages and normal amplitude signals. When an ESD pulse appears at drain 62, charges in the silicon channel region 63, underlying LOCOS gate area 34, are depleted. The gate voltage, through second gate oxide thickness 42, controls the current of device 30. The current in channel 63 triggers the drain junction to breakdown. The result is that a parasitic bipolar transistor (not shown) is effectively formed in silicon well 32, with source 60 acting as emitter, silicon well 32 the base, and drain 62 as the collector. With the triggering of channel current, parasitic transistor is turned on by the drain junction breakdown current. Very large amounts of current flow through the parasitic bipolar transistor when it is enabled. Therefore, it is able to absorb a large amount of ESD charge at drain 62 without a breakdown in thin gate oxide 40.
FIG. 11 illustrates an ESD protection circuit using a LOCOS MOS transistor of the present invention as a voltage clamp. An ESD protection circuit 80 is located between an input port 82 and an electrical device 84. Electrical device 84 is shown as a FET, although protection circuit 80 is suitable for the protection of many electrical devices. ESD protection circuit 80 protects the input of electrical device 84 from large voltage pulses. ESD circuit 80 comprises at least one current limiting element 86 in series between input port 82 and the input of electrical device to be protected 84. Typically current limiting element 86 is a resistor, although other passive and active electrical components are also suitable to provide resistance between input port 82 and electrical device 84.
ESD circuit 80 also comprises at least a first LOCOS MOS device 88 connected in shunt from input port 82. A NMOS LOCOS device 88 is shown operatively connecting input port 82 to the V SS voltage, which is often ground. LOCOS device 88 clamps an input voltage, introduced at input port 82, to a maximum level. The maximum level corresponds with the drain, or drain to source breakdown voltage of LOCOS transistor 88, as explained above in the description of FIGS. 2-10. First LOCOS MOS device 88 includes a multilevel gate oxide layer (see FIGS. 2-10) with a thin layer of gate oxide adjoining a source, and a thick gate oxide layer, formed through LOCOS, adjoining a drain. First transistor 88 has a larger drain to gate breakdown voltage compared to standard MOS transistors and rapid ESD event switching speeds to conduct drain current. Alternately, first LOCOS MOS transistor is a PMOS device in the position of voltage clamp element 90, with element 88 being a prior art voltage clamp. In another alternative, voltage clamp 88 is not present with PMOS LOCOS device 90. PMOS LOCOS device 90 has a drain connected to input port 82, and the source and gate connected to V DD . Further, NMOS LOCOS device 88 is used with PMOS LOCOS device 90 is some embodiments of the invention.
At least a second LOCOS MOS device 92 is connected in shunt from the input of electrical device to be protected 84. An NMOS LOCOS device 92 is shown with the drain operatively connected to the gate of FET 84, and the source to V SS . Since elements 86 and 88 reduce voltages introduced at port 82, MOS device 92 must be turned on at lower drain voltages than MOS device 88. Bias devices 93, typically resistors, are often used to apply a voltage to the gate of transistor 92 to turn transistor 92 on at lower drain voltages. In some aspects of the invention, LOCOS device 88 is also biased with elements similar to bias devices 93, to enable the ESD devices at lower ESD voltage levels. As explained above with regard to device 88, MOS device 92 clamps voltage to a maximum voltage level, although the maximum level assigned to device 92 is typically lower to protect MOS transistor 84. Second LOCOS MOS device 92 includes a multilevel gate oxide layer (see FIGS. 2-10) with a thin layer of gate oxide adjoining a source, and a thick gate oxide layer, formed through LOCOS, adjoining a drain. In some aspects of the invention, voltage clamp element 94 is a PMOS device, connected as PMOS LOCOS device 90 with additional bias elements, such as bias elements 93 used with device 92. Alternately, device 92 is an NMOS LOCOS transistor and device 94 is a PMOS LOCOS transistor. Electrical device 80 is protected by multiple stages of voltage conditioning for protection from ESD.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a method for forming a LOCOS transistor with a large drain to gate breakdown voltage. Step 100 provides for the fabrication of a MOS device for ESD protection, selected from the group consisting of NMOS and PMOS transistors. Step 102 forms a well of silicon including a first dopant, from which source and drain regions are subsequently formed. Step 104 forms a localized area of oxidized silicon (LOCOS) having a length and a first thickness overlying the doped silicon well. The LOCOS area first thickness is in the range between 2000 and 5000 Å, when the LOCOS length is less than approximately 1 micron. Step 106 deposits a thin layer of gate oxide having a second thickness overlying the doped silicon well and the LOCOS area. The oxide second thickness is less than approximately 20 nm, when the thin gate oxide is a thermally grown silicon oxide. The second thickness increases proportionally with the use of material having higher dielectric constants than silicon oxide. Step 108 deposits, patterns, and dopes with a second dopant, a layer of polysilicon overlying a portion of the LOCOS area and the adjoining area of thin oxide, forming a gate electrode having a gate electrode length. Step 110 is a product, a gate electrode formed over both thin and thick areas of gate oxide.
Further steps follow Step 108. Step 108a light density dopes (LDD), with a third dopant, areas of the silicon well to begin the formation of source and drain regions. In some aspects of the invention, Step 108a includes doping the silicon well around the gate electrode with a HALO technique, where ions of dopant are implanted at a large tilted angle into the channel region underlying the gate electrode. Step 108b deposits and patterns material having a third thickness selected from the group consisting of oxide and nitride, to form gate sidewalls. The sidewall material third thickness is in the range between 50 and 200 nanometers (nm). Step 108c implants the source and drain regions with a fourth dopant to complete the formation of a source region adjoining the thin area of gate oxide, and a drain region adjoining the LOCOS area of gate oxide. In this manner, a transistor having a very large drain to gate breakdown voltage is formed.
Step 108d deposits an insulator, selected from the group consisting of oxide and TEOS, overlying the MOS transistor formed in Steps 100-108c. Step 108e patterns the insulator deposited in Step 108d to form contact holes to the gate, source, and drain regions. This step also deposits metal in the contact holes to form metal connections to the gate, source, and drain. Electrical connections are made to the active areas of the MOS transistor to interface with other metal levels of the MOS device formed in subsequent fabrication steps (not shown).
In some aspects of the invention, a further step (not shown) follows Step 108, and precedes Step 108a. This step forms a layer of silicide overlying the source and drain regions, whereby the electrical interface between the source/drain regions and subsequently deposited metal connection is improved.
When the LOCOS transistor is an NMOS device, Step 102 includes a p type first dopant, Step 108 includes an n+ type second dopant, Step 108a includes an n type third dopant, and Step 108c includes an n+ type fourth dopant. Alternately, when the LOCOS transistor is an PMOS device, Step 102 includes an n type first dopant, Step 108 includes a dopant selected from the group consisting of p+ and n+ types, Step 108a includes a p type third dopant, and Step 108c includes a p+ type fourth dopant.
The present invention provides a MOS transistor with a large drain to gate breakdown voltage. The gate oxide of this device is thinner at the source side, and thicker at the drain. When an ESD event occurs at the drain electrode, surface charges under the thick gate oxide are depleted. The gate voltage is able to effectively control the channel current. The parasitic bipolar transistor effectively formed in the MOS device is turned on when large amounts of current are conducted between the source and drain. The parasitic bipolar transistor is easily controlled by the gate voltage, so that the MOS device turns on without significant time delays. Thus, the MOS device is able to discharge a large amount of ESD charge at a relatively low drain voltage, effectively protecting the thin gate oxide regions of the IC from damage. During normal operation, the ESD protection device is in the off state. The MOS ESD protection device exhibits low parasitic capacitance and very low leakage current. Other embodiments of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art. | A MOS transistor having a multilevel gate oxide layer is provided for use in an ESD protection circuit. A thick gate oxide layer near the drain insures that the transistor has a relatively large drain to gate breakdown voltage. A thin gate oxide layer near the source permits the gate voltage to turn the transistor on and off with rapid switching speeds. The thick portion of the MOS transistor multilevel gate oxide layer is formed with a local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) process, while the thin gate layer is formed in a separate step. An ESD protection circuit and method for fabricating the above-mentioned multilevel gate oxide layer MOS transistor are also provided. | 8 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 10/753,423, filed Jan. 9, 2004, entitled GUARD RAIL SYSTEM, which is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 09/994,736, filed Nov. 28, 2001, entitled GUARD RAIL SYSTEM, which are incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to guard rail systems. In particular, this invention relates to a prefabricated guard rail system, components for a guard rail system and kits of components for a guard rail system, which is strong, inexpensive, easy to assemble and self-aligning, and meets the requirements of local building codes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Guard rails are used around decks, staircases and other elevated structures, to prevent injury and possible death from falling off of the edge of such structures. Most building codes have rigid requirements for guard rails, both in terms of when they are required and certain construction parameters, including for example the maximum spacing between balusters, length of span, height and load requirements.
The installation of guard rail systems can be a very labour intensive procedure. Balusters must be installed at precise intervals, and be substantially true to the vertical, both to comply with building code requirements and to be aesthetically acceptable.
Guard rails can be constructed from lumber, and frequently are in order to keep costs down. In a typical lumber guard rail construction balusters or pickets are nailed or screwed to top and bottom rails, which in turn are nailed to posts secured to or around the structure. A considerable amount of attention is required to ensure that the balusters are evenly spaced and vertical, and there is a limit to the aesthetic appeal which can be achieved. Moreover, the resulting guard rail is subject to separation, warping and other weathering effects over time, due to limits on the strength and degree of structural integration which can be achieved using nails and lumber.
The fabrication of components for guard rail systems can be facilitated by extruding components, for example out of a synthetic wood composition, plastic, aluminium or another suitable material. However, whether cut from lumber or extruded, the assembly and installation of the guard rail requires considerable skill, labour and time in order to construct a guard rail which is both structurally secure and appealing.
There is accordingly a need for a guard rail system which is easy to assemble, inexpensive, and produces a durable, structurally integrated guard rail which both meets building code requirements and is aesthetically appealing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a guard rail system fabricated from standard-sized components, which is strong enough to meet and exceed building code requirements. According to the invention, balusters which are preferably (but not necessarily) extruded are fastened to a lower rail and to an upper retainer at fixed intervals. The balusters are provided with central bores for receiving fasteners such as screws through predrilled holes in the upper retainer and lower rail. A hand rail is slip-fitted over the upper retainer in locking relation, to provide integrated guard rail sections. In the preferred embodiment guard rail sections so assembled are fastened by means of a special bracket system to end posts to provide a safe, secure and aesthetically appealing guard rail.
The invention provides a versatile, easy to assemble and structurally secure guard rail system which can be used in any application where conventional guard rails are used.
The present invention thus provides a guard rail system, comprising a top retainer and a bottom rail affixed between at least two posts, a plurality of hollow balusters extending between the top retainer and the bottom rail, each baluster comprising a plurality of inner webs affixed to a wall of the baluster and to a bore for a fastener disposed within the baluster wall, and a hand rail affixed to the top retainer, wherein the balusters are affixed between the top retainer and the bottom rail by fasteners disposed through the top retainer and the bottom rail and into the bore.
The present invention further provides a guard rail system, comprising a top retainer and a bottom rail affixed between at least two posts, a plurality of hollow balusters extending between the top retainer and the bottom rail, each baluster comprising a plurality of inner webs affixed to a wall of the baluster and to a bore for a fastener disposed within the baluster wall, and a hand rail affixed to the top retainer, the hand rail having a bearing plate supported by an upper surface of the upper retainer, wherein the upper retainer has an exterior surface having a pair of opposed channels and the hand rail has an internal surface having a pair of complementary projections, whereby the hand rail is affixed to the upper retainer by sliding engagement between the projections and the channels.
In further aspects of the guard rail system of the invention: the top retainer and the bottom rail each have a series of pre-drilled holes for receiving the fastening members, to thereby align the balusters; a front of the bottom rail is provided with an upstanding lip spaced from the series of holes by a distance substantially corresponding to a distance between the bore and a front face of the baluster; the upper retainer has an exterior surface having a pair of opposed channels and the hand rail has an internal surface having a pair of complementary projections, whereby the hand rail is affixed to the upper retainer by sliding engagement between the projections and the channels; the hand rail is provided with a bearing plate supported by an upper surface of the upper retainer; a portion of the hand rail above the bearing plate is hollow; the balusters have a substantially square cross section and a substantially central bore; the webs extend from corners of the baluster wall to the bore; the posts are hollow and provided bosses disposed along an interior wall of the post, for abutting against a structural member disposed through each post; and/or the top retainer and bottom rail are affixed to the posts by a bracket comprising a flanged arm having depending flanges spaced apart so as to nest in grooves formed in the top retainer and bottom rail, to thereby interlock the bracket with the top retainer and bottom rail.
The present invention further provides a method of assembling a guard rail, comprising the steps of: a. pre-drilling a top retainer and a bottom rail for attachment to a plurality of hollow balusters, the top retainer having an exterior surface having a pair of opposed channels and each baluster comprising a plurality of inner webs affixed to a wall of the baluster and to a bore for a fastener disposed within the baluster wall, b. disposing fasteners through the holes into the bores to affix the balusters between the top retainer and bottom rail, c. sliding a hand rail having an internal surface having a pair of projections complementary to the channels over the upper retainer to engage the projections in the channels, and d. affixing the top retainer and the bottom rail to posts.
In further aspects of the method of the invention: the hand rail comprises a bearing plate supported by an upper surface of the upper retainer; the method includes, before step a., the step of extruding the top retainer, bottom rail, balusters and hand rail; each post is hollow and the method includes the steps of anchoring a structural member and disposing the post over a structural member; and/or the top retainer and bottom rail are affixed to the posts by a bracket comprising a flanged arm having depending flanges spaced apart so as to nest in grooves formed in the top retainer and bottom rail, to thereby interlock the bracket with the lower rail and upper retainer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 1 is an elevation of a guard rail system according to the invention on a sun deck;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional front elevation of the guard rail system of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional end elevation of the guard rail system of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is a cross section of a baluster of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 5 is a cross section of an end post of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 6 is a cross section of the upper retainer of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 7 is a cross section of the lower rail, baluster, upper retainer, and handrail of an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a bracket for fastening the guard rail sections to the end posts, according to one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 9 is a plan view of a bracket, according to a further embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a bracket according to yet a further embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a guard rail system 10 according to the present invention. The guard rail system 10 is illustrated in the environment of a sun deck for purposes of example only, however it will be appreciated that the guard rail system is adaptable to any environment in which a conventional guard rail system may be used.
In a preferred embodiment the components of the guard rail system are entirely extruded, for example in accordance with the technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,472 for an Extruded Synthetic Wood Composition and Method for Making Same issued May 14, 1996 to Strandex Corporation, and Canadian Patent No. 2153659 issued Feb. 23, 1999 to Strandex Corporation, which are incorporated herein by reference. However, the components of the invention may alternatively be milled from wood, molded or extruded from plastic or metal, or otherwise suitably formed. The particular material or materials from which the components of the guard rail are formed is limited only by the requirement for sufficient structural strength in the finished railing to comply with building code requirements. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the various components of the invention, comprising an end post 20 , a lower rail 30 , an upper retainer 40 , balusters 50 and a hand rail 60 . In the preferred embodiment the invention further includes a specially designed bracket 70 for fastening the guard rail sections to the end posts.
The end post 20 , illustrated in FIG. 5 , is preferably hollow and has an interior dimension which allows the end post 20 to be slip-fitted over a structural member 2 (shown in phantom in FIG. 5 ) such as a 4×4 pressure treated post, 2×4 pressure treated lumber or a 3½ inch steel pipe (for example of the type used in chain link fencing), which is anchored into the ground, deck substructure or other foundation for the guard rail 10 . In the preferred embodiment the end post 20 comprises vertical ridges 22 which snugly abut the four by four post 2 in order to fix the end post 20 in a stable, vertical position.
Rail sections are formed by a series of balusters 50 fastened to the lower rail 30 and the upper retainer 40 . The lower rail 30 and upper retainer 40 are preferably predrilled at the desired positions for the balusters, for example 4 inches on-center (OC).
The lower rail 30 , shown in FIG. 7 , preferably comprises a hollow body 32 having decorative flanges 34 depending therefrom, serves to impart aesthetic appeal to the lower rail 30 and to hide the hardware such as screws 4 which secure the balusters 50 and brackets 70 (shown in FIG. 9 ) which secure the lower rail 30 to the end post 20 . In a preferred embodiment, an alignment lip (not shown) serves the purposes of both aligning the balusters 50 along the lower rail 30 and concealing any small gap between the balusters 50 and the body 32 of the lower rail 30 after the balusters 50 have been fastened thereto.
The upper retainer 40 , shown in FIG. 6 , comprises an abutment plate 42 extending axially along the upper retainer 40 which abuts the top ends of the balusters 50 , and a pair of wings 44 which are preferably dimensioned to overlap the sides of the balusters 50 , holding the balusters 50 in place and keeping them from rotating, as shown in FIG. 3 . Preferably the row of drill holes 8 is contained within a longitudinal recess 46 , so that the heads of fasteners such as screws 6 or recessed relative to, or at least are flush with, the top face 43 of the upper retainer 40 , thereby avoiding the need to countersink screws 6 when the balusters 50 are fastened to the upper retainer 40 .
The hand rail 60 , shown in FIG. 7 , has an exterior surface 61 configured in any desired shape or pattern for usability and aesthetic appeal. The interior surface 63 of the hand rail 60 is configured to slip-fit over the upper retainer 40 . The hand rail 60 is slip-fit over the upper retainer 40 . Preferably the interior surface 63 has a bearing plate 64 having ridges or bosses 66 which bear on the top surface 43 of the upper retainer 40 , to snugly secure the handrail 60 in position. Preferably there is a hollow between the bearing plate 64 and the upper surface of the hand rail 60 , which increases strength, and reduces the cost and weight of the hand rail 60 . Also, a slight flexibility in the bearing plate 64 and the wings 62 allows the hand rail 60 to grip the upper retainer 40 when slip-fitted thereto.
The balusters 50 , shown in FIG. 4 , may be formed in any desired decorative shape, and may be symmetrical in cross section. Each baluster 50 is hollow and provided with inner webs 52 affixed to the wall of the baluster 50 and supporting a bore 54 , which preferably extends along the entire length of the baluster 50 . In the embodiment shown the balusters 50 each have a square cross section and the webs 52 extend from the corners of the baluster wall toward a central bore 54 .
The spacing between the bore 54 and the front outer face 56 of the baluster 50 corresponds to the spacing between the predrilled holes 8 and the wings 44 of the upper retainer 40 , and to the spacing between the predrilled holes 9 and the lip 36 of the lower rail 30 . Thus, when assembled in the manner described below, the balusters 50 will self align against the wings 44 and the lip 36 to align the balusters relative to one another, and to square the balusters relative to the rail section when the upper retainer 40 and lower rail 30 are affixed to the end post 20 .
Preferably, the upper retainer 40 and lower rail 30 are affixed to the end post 20 by a bracket 70 , illustrated in FIG. 8 , comprising a flat arm 72 having screw holes 78 , extending generally perpendicular to an arm 74 having screw holes 78 . The bracket 70 may be stamped or otherwise suitably formed from metal. In a preferred embodiment, depending flanges 76 are provided on the arm 74 , and are spaced apart so as to nest in grooves or recesses 31 and 41 respectively formed in the underside of lower rail 30 and upper retainer 40 , as can be seen in FIGS. 9 and 10 , thus interlocking with the lower rail 30 and upper retainer 40 for increased strength and stability. In a preferred embodiment, the bracket 70 is configured to permit the upper retainer 40 and the lower rail 30 to be affixed to the end post 20 at an angle. As shown in FIG. 10 , the bracket 70 may comprise a flat arm 72 having screw holes 78 for affixing to an end post 20 . The bracket 70 further comprises a generally perpendicular flanged arm 74 rotatably mounted on the flat arm 72 by means of a fastener 90 , such as a rivet or another suitable fastening means. The perpendicular flanged arm 74 is provided with screw holes 78 and depending flanges 76 , which are spaced apart so as to nest in the grooves or recesses 31 and 41 formed in the underside of lower rail 30 , and upper rail 40 . The flat arm 72 and the flanged arm 74 may likewise be stamped or otherwise formed from metal. While the fastener 90 in the rotating bracket 70 shown in FIG. 10 provides rotational movement over a full 360°, when the bracket 70 is mounted in a guard rail assembly, full rotation may be restricted to a range of less than 360°, since full rotation will be hampered by the interference of the upper retainer 40 , lower rail 30 , and the end post 20 . However, with the rotating bracket 70 , the guard rail assembly may be configured to surround an irregularly (non-rectangular) shaped area.
In a further embodiment, the bracket 70 is shaped to fit around a vertex of an end post 20 . Referring to FIG. 9 , the bracket 70 is provided with an angled arm 92 , which is shaped to fit around the corner of an end post 20 , preferably at a 90° angle. The angled arm 92 is provided with screw holes 78 for mounting to the end post 20 . A generally perpendicular flanged arm 74 extends from the angled arm 92 . and is provided with screw holes 78 and depending flanges 76 , which are spaced apart so as to nest in the grooves or recesses 31 and 41 formed in the underside of lower rail 30 and upper rail 40 . In the preferred embodiment, the vertex 93 of the angled bracket 70 shown in FIG. 12 truncated to provide an edge for the join 95 between the angled arm 92 and the flanged arm 74 . If the angled bracket 70 is integrally formed, for example by metal stamping or another suitable method, when formed the bracket 70 may be bent along the join 95 . Alternatively, if the bracket 70 is formed from a separate flanged arm 74 and an angled arm 92 , the join 95 may be formed by spot welding or other means.
To assemble the guard rail of the invention, the end posts 20 are fitted over suitably dimensioned structural posts 2 such as four-by-four treated lumber, and positioned to rest on the deck, floor, stair or other elevated structure. The rail sections are assembled by driving fasteners such as screws 6 through the predrilled holes 8 in the upper retainer 40 into the bores 54 in the balusters 50 . The lower rail 30 is similarly fastened to the bottom ends of the balusters 50 by driving fasteners such as screws 6 through the predrilled holes 9 into the bores 54 . The rail section so constructed is integrated and structurally secure. The rail sections may be constructed to any suitable length, and can be assembled to a single length of lower rail 30 and upper retainer 40 , depending upon the material from which the rail section is formed.
A length of hand rail 60 is cut to match the length of the assembled rail section, and slip-fitted over the upper retainer 40 by aligning ridges or bosses 62 with channels 48 and sliding the hand rail 60 along the upper retainer 40 until the upper retainer 40 is fully concealed. The rail section is then mounted between end posts 20 by brackets 70 affixed to the upper retainer 40 and lower rail 30 using suitable fastening members, in the case of a wood composite or synthetic wood composite, preferably bolts with wood or other suitable inserts (not shown), and preferably screws 6 extending through the wall of the end post 20 into the structural member 2 for strength.
It will be appreciate by those skilled in the art that the particular configurations of the components of the guard rail system of the invention may be altered to suit specific installation parameters and/or aesthetic or decorative requirements. For example, the embodiment illustrated shows plain-faced, square-shaped balusters 50 , however the balusters 50 can be formed in any other desired configuration as long as the bore 54 is spaced from the front face 56 of each baluster in a manner which allows the front face 56 to align with the lip 36 of the lower rail 30 . In the embodiment shown the side faces 58 of the balusters 50 are equidistant from the bore 54 , however this is not essential and a precise on-center spacing between balusters 50 can be obtained even if the baluster 50 is not laterally symmetrical relative to the bore 54 .
Various embodiments of the present invention having been thus described in detail by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. The invention includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims. | A guard rail system fabricated from standard-sized components, preferably extruded, comprises balusters fastened to a lower rail and to an upper retainer at fixed intervals. The balusters are provided with central bores for receiving fasteners such as screws through predrilled holes in the upper retainer and lower rail. A hand rail is slip-fitted over the upper retainer in locking relation, to provide integrated guard rail sections. Guard rail sections so assembled are fastened to end posts, preferably using mounting brackets having a flanged arm which nests in grooves or recesses in the upper retainer and lower rail to provide a safe, secure and aesthetically appealing guard rail. | 4 |
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