description
stringlengths 2.98k
3.35M
| abstract
stringlengths 94
10.6k
| cpc
int64 0
8
|
|---|---|---|
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 8/036,745 filed Mar. 25, 1993, now abandoned.
This invention relates to fine-particle retention aids for paper-making processes, comprising phenolic compounds.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Phenolic resins with sulfur or formaldehyde are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,236 as being useful as additives for improving fine particle retention in paper manufacturing when used in conjunction with a poly(alkylene oxide) having a molecular weight of 4 to 7 million, specifically the preferred poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) or co-condensed polyethylene/polypropylene oxide; poly(propylene oxide) is mentioned (but there would appear to be a problem of solubility with polyalkylene oxides other than poly(ethylene oxide)).
K. R. Stack, L. A. Dunn, and N. K. Roberts, show in "Study of the Interaction Between Poly(ethylene oxide) and Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin", Colloids and Surfaces (61), 1991, pp 205-218, how varying the environment and certain properties of the phenol-formaldehyde resin can affect the performance of the phenol-formaldehyde resin/PEO system. T. Lindstrom and G. Glad-Nordmark in "Network Flocculation and Fractionation of Latex Particles by Means of a Polyethyleneoxide-Phenolformaldehyde Resin Complex", J. Colloid and Interface. Science, Vol. 97, No. 1, January 1984, pp 62-67 propose a mechanism they refer to as a ". . . transient network . . . " of hydrogen bonded poly(ethylene oxide) and phenol-formaldehyde resin which swept the fine particles from the system.
The references indicate that the effectiveness of poly(ethylene oxide) for improving fine particle retention increases with its molecular weight; the effectiveness below a MW of 2 million being poor and a MW of 4 to 7 million being desirable.
However, the combination of phenol-formaldehyde resin and poly(ethylene oxide) functions less effectively as the pH is reduced below 5. The resin component also introduces formaldehyde or naphthol into the paper-making system.
There is therefore a need for a new retention aid that avoids the introduction of hazardous substances such as formaldehyde, and that can function at a lower pH, such as under 5, as well as at higher pH levels conventionally used in paper-making.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, a paper-making furnish containing a 15 phenolic compound in admixture with a soluble polyalkylene oxide having a molecular weight over one million as a retention aid for retaining fine particles, characterized in that the phenolic compound is poly(paravinyl phenol), also known as poly(parahydroxy styrene), and preferably is poly(ethylene oxide).
Also according to the invention, a process for retaining fine particles in paper-making comprising adding to a paper pulp slurry a phenolic compound in admixture with a soluble polyalkylene oxide preferably poly(ethylene oxide) having a molecular weight over one million and a poly(paravinyl phenol).
It is preferred to add alum and/or a cationic polymeric coagulant, such as a polyamine, to the composition according to the invention, to improve retention by coagulating fine particles to a larger size that is better retained by this invention.
The amount of the retention aid used is preferably such that the poly(ethylene oxide) added to the pulp is in the range of about 0.01% to about 0. 1% by weight of the paper furnish, more preferably from 0.01% to about 0.05%, and the poly(paravinyl phenol) is preferably in the ratio of 0.5 to 10 times the weight of the poly(ethylene oxide).
The poly(paravinyl phenol) functions at pH levels under 5, as well as at higher pH levels, and avoids the introduction of formaldehyde or other hazardous substances into the paper-making system.
The molecular weight of the poly(ethylene oxide) should be as high as possible, preferably between 4 and 7 million and most preferably at least 5 million.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The paper can be made with bleached or unbleached chemical pulps, mechanical pulps, chemi-mechanical pulps, or recycled pulps. It can include conventional additives such as sizing agents, fillers such as titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, kaolin clay, or talc, and polymeric additives such as wet strength resins, polyamines or polyamide-amines, or polyacrylamide polymers or copolymers of acrylamide.
The retention system functions well at a wide range of ratios of the poly(ethylene oxide) to the poly(paravinyl phenol). Conventional tests, such as those described below in the Examples, can be done on a particular paper stock sample to determine the optimum ratio for a given application of the composition and process according to the invention.
Within the preferred ratio of 0.5 to 10 times the weight of the poly(ethylene oxide), a more preferred ratio of poly(paravinyl phenol) to poly(ethylene oxide)is 6:1 to 1:1.25 (0.8 to 6 times). The most preferred embodiment of the invention uses a ratio of poly(paravinyl phenol) to poly(ethylene oxide) of about 2:1 to about 3:1, with cost considerations favoring the lowest effective ratio in a particular paper-making system.
A phenolic resin currently in use as an additive in conjunction with polyethylene oxide, Reichhold resin BB-139 from Reichhold Chemicals, was compared to poly(paravinyl phenol) as a retention aid in paper furnishes collected from commercial mills, and these control results are compared with those obtained by using the composition and process according to the invention:
EXAMPLES AND CONTROL EXPERIMENTS
Procedure:
The retentions and drainage were measured in a drainage jar referred to as the Portable Dynamic Drainage Tester, similar to drainage jars used in the industry with the exception that additives are added to an aliquot that is agitated before it is added to the drainage jar. Since the Portable Dynamic Drainage Tester has an open outlet, drainage starts immediately upon addition of the sample to the tester.
The procedure for the Portable Dynamic Drainage Tester (PDDT) is to measure about 200 ml of a stock sample at headbox consistency into a 1000 ml plastic graduated cylinder. This sample is inverted six times, then any additive is added to the cylinder, and an additional six inversions of the cylinder are made before pouring the sample into the top of the PDDT. If more than one additive is used, the sample is inverted six times between additives, with an additional six inversions between the last additive and pouring the sample into the PDDT. For these experiments the PEO, phenolic resin, and poly(paravinyl phenol) were diluted to 0. 1% for additions. The poly(paravinyl phenol) was dissolved in distilled water by adding dilute sodium hydroxide dropwise until the poly(paravinyl phenol) dissolved.
Chemical additive addition is noted below in pounds per ton, where pounds are the pounds of chemical and tons are the tons of paper furnish in the 200 ml. sample. For example, I ml. of 0.1% PEO in 200 gms. of 0.5% wood pulp is equivalent to 0.1% or two pounds of PEO per ton of furnish. In these examples, the phenol-formaldehyde resin or poly(paravinyl phenol) was always added before the PEO.
The PDDT agitator is operating at 750 rpm with the bottom valve open at the time of sample addition. The time is noted for 50, 75, and 100 ml of liquid to drain from the sample during the test. When 100 ml. of "white water" is collected the bottom valve is closed and the solids in the white water is determined. This white water solids value is compared to total solids for first pass retention and to fines content for fine particle retention. Fine particle retention is a more sensitive test.
The fines content is defined as the dry weight of material per 100 ml of white water that passes through the screen of the PDDT when the stirrer at 750 rpm is held against the screen during an experimental run with no polymers added.
In Tables 1 and 2, the comparative tests and Examples used poly(paravinyl phenpoll) with a MW ranging from 1,500 to 7,000 from Polysciences Inc., Warrington, Pa. Catalogue No. 6257, CAS NO. 24979-70-2. The phenolic resin was BB-139 from Reichhold Chemicals. The poly(ethylene oxide) was from Polysciences, Inc., Warrington, Pa. In Table 3, the PEO was either Polyox 301, MW 4,000,000 or Polyox 303, MW 7,000,000, both from Union Carbide Corporation and the furnish was otherwise the same as that in Table 2.
TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________A furnish consisting of 85% chemi-thermomechanical pulp and 15%kraft pulp with 20 pounds of alum per ton from a newsprint mill wastested in aPDDT at 0.48% consistency with the following results: Pounds per ton: poly(paravinyl Pounds per ton: Pounds per ton: Drainage TimepH phenol) Phenolic Resin PEO Fines Retention Secs. to 100 ml.__________________________________________________________________________4 0 0.8 0.2 2.54% 174 0 0.8 0.4 12.87 174 0 0.8 0.8 26.06 194 0 0.8 1.0 19.03 184 0.8 0 0.2 7.5 194 0.8 0 0.4 16.60 194 0.8 0 0.8 24.75 184 0.8 0 1.0 32.09 164 0 1.2 0.2 7.34 174 0 1.2 0.4 17.34 164 0 1.2 0.8 17.25 154 0 1.2 1.0 24.70 164 1.2 0 0.2 5.36 174 1.2 0 0.4 13.76 174 1.2 0 0.8 29.10 174 1.2 0 1.0 35.06 155 0 0.8 0.2 8.05 205 0 0.8 0.4 18.70 205 0 0.8 0.8 41.09 175 0 0.8 1.0 49.10 165 0.8 0 0.2 18.06 205 0.8 0 0.4 35.54 185 0.8 0 0.8 57.29 145 0.8 0 1.0 58.29 125 0 1.2 0.2 5.36 195 0 1.2 0.4 23.70 185 0 1.2 0.8 40.45 165 0 1.2 1.0 49.73 155 1.2 0 0.2 17.45 215 1.2 0 0.4 30.85 185 1.2 0 0.8 61.41 145 1.2 0 1.0 64.85 13__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 2__________________________________________________________________________A furnish of 72% Thermomechanical pulp and 28% kraft pulp wasobtained from a paper mill and tested in the PDDT with the followingresults: Pounds per ton: poly(paravinyl Pounds per ton: Pounds per ton: Drainage TimepH phenol) Phenolic Resin PEO Fines Retention Secs. to 100 ml.__________________________________________________________________________4 0 0.8 0.2 -1.29% 184 0 0.8 0.4 -2.47 174 0 0.8 0.8 -2.33 174 0 0.8 1.0 1.06 184 0.8 0 0.2 4.14 174 0.8 0 0.4 10.12 164 0.8 0 0.8 22.34 164 0.8 0 1.0 32.76 154 0 1.2 0.2 -2.92 184 0 1.2 0.4 1.31 194 0 1.2 0.8 4.84 194 0 1.2 1.0 7.88 194 1.2 0 0.2 4.78 174 1.2 0 0.4 12.67 164 1.2 0 0.8 26.40 164 1.2 0 1.0 27.54 155 0 0.8 0.2 -0.51 195 0 0.8 0.4 38.94 165 0 0.8 0.8 45.90 165 0 0.8 1.0 62.03 145 0.8 0 0.2 11.11 195 0.8 0 0.4 21.87 195 0.8 0 0.8 46.54 155 0.8 0 1.0 59.04 135 0 1.2 0.2 7.86 185 0 1.2 0.4 28.00 195 0 1.2 0.8 62.54 135 0 1.2 1.0 62.70 125 1.2 0 0.2 9.42 205 1.2 0 0.4 18.52 205 1.2 0 0.8 49.47 165 1.2 0 1.0 53.89 14__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 3__________________________________________________________________________A furnish of 72% Thermomechanical pulp and 28% kraft pulp wasobtained from a paper mill and tested in the PDDT with the followingresults: Pounds per ton: poly(paravinyl Pounds per ton: Pounds per ton: Drainage TimepH phenol) Phenolic Resin PEO Fines Retention Secs. to 100 ml.__________________________________________________________________________5.1 0 0.26 *0.51 16.92 545.1 0 0.51 *0.51 47.40 345.1 0 1.04 *0.52 63.19 185.1 0 1.54 *0.51 65.85 175.1 0 1.98 *0.49 51.02 265.1 0.27 0 *0.53 10.30 585.1 0.51 0 *0.51 25.23 485.1 1.03 0 *0.52 68.34 95.1 1.54 0 *0.51 63.62 145.1 2.04 0 *0.51 56.35 145.1 0.52 0 **0.52 28.41 465.1 1 0 **0.5 80.33 95.1 1.49 0 **0.5 60.41 225.1 1.98 0 **0.49 48.34 165.1 0 0.5 **0.5 33.80 445.1 0 1 **0.5 52.56 265.1 0 1.54 **0.51 58.00 195.1 0 1.97 **0.49 56.70 23__________________________________________________________________________ *Polyox 303 from Union Carbide Corp. **Polyox 301 from Union Carbide Corp.
Two additional samples of poly(paravinylphenol) were used in the process according to the invention as follows: (1) Poly(paravinylphenol) from Maruzen Petrochemical Co., LTD., "Maruka Lyncur M", Grade S-2, CAS NO. 24979-70-2, Weight Avg. Molecular weight (manufacturer's data): 5,200; and (2) Poly(paravinylphenol) from Maruzen Petrochemical Co., LTD., "Maruka Lyncur M", Grade H-2, CAS NO. 24979-70-2, Weight Avg. Molecular weight (manufacturer's data): 23,000.
The resins were tested for performance together with Union Carbide Polyox 301 polyethyleneoxide for retention of fine particles in a newsprint pulp sample of 85% CTMP pulp and 15% kraft pulp. The comparison was done with 0.045 to 0.05% polyethylene oxide by weight of the pulp furnish. The Reichold BB-139 phenol formaldehyde resin is included for comparison.
TABLE 4__________________________________________________________________________COMPARISON OF HIGH AND LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHTPOLYPARAVINYL PHENOL PER CENT FINES RETENTIONMaruzen Maruzen Maruzen Maruzen Reichold ReicholdGrade S-2 Grade S-2 Grade H-2 Grade H-2 BB-139 BB-139Ratio of % Ratio of % Ratio of %phenolic/ Fines phenolic/ Fines phenolic/ FinesPEO retention PEO retention PEO Retention__________________________________________________________________________0.51 58.56 0.51 60.58 0.5 30.871.0 75.73 1.0 77.71 1.0 50.651.5 74.70 1.51 77.41 1.49 54.422.0 75.25 2.0 73.76 -- --3.01 60.33 3.01 56.97 -- --3.98 43.06 3.98 52.17 -- --__________________________________________________________________________
The data shows that at low ratios of poly(paravinyl-phenol) to PEO, there is an advantage for the higher molecular weight material for fines retention.
TABLE 5__________________________________________________________________________COMPARISON OF HIGH AND LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHTPOLYPARAVINYL PHENOL DRAINAGE TIME TO 100 ML.Maruzen Maruzen Maruzen Maruzen Reichold ReicholdGrade S-2 Grade S-2 Grade H-2 Grade H-2 BB-139 BB-139Ratio of Drainage, Ratio of Drainage, Ratio of Drainage,phenolic/ Seconds to phenolic/ Seconds to phenolic/ Seconds toPEO 100 ml. PEO 100 ml. PEO 100 ml.__________________________________________________________________________0.51 16 0.51 12 0.5 111.0 13 1.0 9 1.0 111.5 14 1.51 9 1.49 122.0 13 2.0 15 -- --3.01 13 3.01 16 -- --3.98 14 3.98 15 -- --__________________________________________________________________________
There is an advantage for the higher molecular weight material for more rapid drainage.
Thus it has been shown that poly(paravinyl phenol) is an effective substitute for phenol-formaldehyde resin and that under some circumstances performs more effectively on a pound for pound basis: as the pH is lowered from 5 to 4 the poly(paravinyl phenol)is consistently more effective than the phenolformaldehyde resin. The additional advantage of the poly(paravinyl phenol) is that it contains no formaldehyde.
|
A paper-making furnish, comprising poly(paravinyl phenol), also known as poly(hydroxy styrene), in admixture with polyethylene oxide, and a process for retaining fine particles in paper-making comprising adding poly(paravinyl phenol) and polyethylene oxide to a paper-making furnish, are disclosed.
| 3
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field on the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and in particular, to a semiconductor memory device including a SRAM (static random access memory).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Semiconductor memory devices include volatile memories which can retain information only when power is being turned on, and nonvolatile memories which can retain information even when power is turned off. The volatile memories include a SRAM (static random access memory) and a DRAM (dynamic RAM), and the nonvolatile memories include a mask ROM (mask read only memory), a PROM (programmable ROM), an EPROM (erasable programmable ROM), and an EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable ROM), and the like.
Among the volatile memories, the SRAM is frequently used in super computers and central portions of many computers, and in office automation equipment, and the like, because the timing of memory operation of the SRAM is easily achieved, no complicated refresh control is required thereby to facilitate the usage, and also the high speed operation is easily attained.
This SRAM has a structure, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, including switching transistors Q 1 and Q 4 , driving transistors Q 2 and Q 3 , and resistors R 1 and R 2 . An inverter is formed by the driving transistor Q 2 and the resistor R 1 , and another inverter is formed by the driving transistor Q 3 and the resistor R 2 , and in these two inverters, the output of one inverter is an input of the other inverter, and vice versa. A storage node N 1 at the junction point between the driving transistor Q 2 and the resistor R 1 , and a storage node N 2 at the junction point between the driving transistor Q 3 and the resistor R 2 are respectively connected to bit lines 200 through respective switching transistors Q 1 and Q 4 . The gates of the switching transistors Q 1 and Q 4 are connected to a word line 100. Furthermore, the switching transistors Q 1 and the driving transistor Q 2 form another inverter (hereinafter referred to as a Q 1 -Q 2 inverter), and the driving transistor Q 3 and the switching transistors Q 4 form still another inverter (hereinafter referred to as a Q 3 -Q 4 inverter).
In this SRAM, a high potential of the storage nodes N 1 and N 2 corresponds to a logic "1", and a low potential of the storage nodes N 1 and N 2 corresponds to a logic "0". Specifically, when the storage nodes N 1 is applied with a high potential, the driving transistor Q 3 is turned on to make the storage node N 2 to assume a low potential, and the driving transistor Q 2 is turned off to hold the storage modes N 1 at the high potential. Conversely, when the storage modes N 1 is applied with a low potential, the storage node N 2 is maintained at a high potential in a similar manner. This state is maintained as far as the power supply voltage is supplied, and as far as the potentials of the storage nodes N 1 and N 2 are not changed externally.
In the SRAM shown in FIG. 11, supposing that a certain memory cell (i-th row and j-th column) is designated. Here, when the word line 100 and a column selection line 300 are applied with a high voltage, since the switching transistors Q 1 , Q 4 , Q 5 , and Q 6 are turned on, potentials of the storage nodes N 1 and N 2 are read out, or data is written into the storage nodes N 1 and N 2 through a common bit line 400. In FIG. 11, although the resistors R 1 and R 2 are intended to represent load members, these resistors may be replaced by load transistors.
In the above-mentioned SRAM, it is important to design the memory cell so that it operates stably against non-uniformity of pattern shapes of elements and noise margin.
FIG. 12 shows an input/output characteristic of the Q 1 -Q 2 inverter and an input/output characteristic of the Q 3 -Q 4 inverter with respect to potentials of the storage nodes N 1 and N 2 just after rewriting of the memory cell (at the time when the switching transistors are in a turned-on state). As shown in FIG. 12, an output potential of the Q 3 -Q 4 inverter with respect to an input signal potential V 1 which is larger than a potential V T is represented by V 2 , and when this potential V 2 is inputted to the Q 1 -Q 2 inverter, its output potential is represented by V 3 . From this, it will be seen that the output potential of the Q 1 -Q 2 inverter approaches a point A. Conversely, when a potential smaller than the potential V T is inputted to the Q 3 -Q 4 inverter, the output potential of the Q 1 -Q 2 inverter will approach a point D. As shown here, the potential V T is a boundary of logics "0" and "1" for the output of the storage node N 1 , and represents a threshold value voltage. In this respect, points A to D represent the following states.
Point A: writing when the storage node N 1 is logic "1".
Point B: reading out when the storage node N 1 is logic "1".
Point C: reading out when the storage node N 1 is logic "0".
Point D: writing when the storage node N 1 is logic "0".
It has been known that the memory cell can be operated more stably when the area of a hatched portion formed by the input/output characteristic curve of the Q 1 -Q 2 inverter and the input/output characteristic curve of the Q 3 -Q 4 inverter becomes larger. In order to increase the area of the hatched portion, it is necessary to increase a β ratio of the switching transistors Q 1 and Q 4 to the driving transistors Q 2 and Q 3 as far as possible. In this respect, β and the β ratio is obtained from the following equations. ##EQU1##
Where, μ N is the carrier mobility, C ox is the gate capacitance, W eff is the effective channel width, L eff is the effective channel length, β S is of the switching transistor, and β D is β of the driving transistor.
Normally, it is known that a value of the β ratio is suitably about 2.5 to 5. From the equation (1), it is seen that in order to increase the β ratio as far as possible, β D may be increased as far as possible as compared with β S . In order to increase β D , it is required to increase the effective channel width of the driving transistor. As a result, the size of the driving transistor is made necessarily large. Accordingly, it becomes impossible to manufacture the driving transistor with a minimum size, and thus there is a problem in that the high integration of a semiconductor memory device is disturbed.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 62-230058 discloses a non-volatile semiconductor memory device including a SRAM and an EEPROM connected to each other. In this semiconductor memory device, the miniaturization and the high integration of the driving transistor are achieved by reducing a film thickness of a gate insulation film of the SRAM to the same thickness as the tunnel insulation film of EEPROM and reducing a resistance value thereby to reduce the area of the driving transistor. However, this prior art example relates to a semiconductor memory device having both the SRAM and the EEPROM, and it is not related to the SRAMs and logic LSI including SRAMs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is aimed to solve the problems mentioned above, and it is an object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device improved in the stability in a writing and reading operation without disturbing the high integration, and irrespective of nonuniformity of pattern shapes of elements and irrespective of noise margin or the like.
In order to achieve the object in the present invention, a semiconductor memory device comprises a memory cell. The memory cell includes a pair of inverters each having a load member and a driving transistor, an output of one inverter being connected to an input of the other inverter, an output of the other inverter being connected to an input of one inverter, and switching transistors respectively connecting storage nodes of the pair of inverters to bit lines, gates of the switching transistors being connected to a word line. The improvement in the semiconductor memory device resides in that a film thickness of an insulating film such as a gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors is thicker than a film thickness of a gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors of the inverters.
It is another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device in which the film thickness of the gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors is equal to a film thickness of a gate oxide film of all transistors having a metal-oxide-semiconductor (hereinafter, referred to as "MOS") structure in a peripheral circuit.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device in which the film thickness of the gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors is equal to a film thickness of a gate oxide film of all transistors having the MOS structure in the peripheral circuit.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device in which the film thickness of the gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors is equal to a film thickness of a gate oxide film of a part of the transistors having the MOS structure in the peripheral circuit, and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors is equal to a film thickness of a gate oxide film of the rest of the transistors having the MOS structure in the peripheral circuit.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device in which a relationship between the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is such that the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor:the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor=10:11 to 10:20.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device in which a relationship between the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is such that, preferably the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor:the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor=10:12 to 10:15.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor memory device comprising a memory cell including a pair of inverters each having a load member and a driving transistor, an output of one inverter being connected to an input of the other inverter, an output of the other inverter being connected to an input of one inverter, and switching transistors respectively connecting storage nodes of the pair of inverters to bit lines, gates of the switching transistors being connected to a word line. The improvement in semiconductor memory device resides in that a dielectric constant of a gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors is larger than a dielectric constant of a gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors of the inverters.
In one aspect of the present invention, from the above-mentioned equation (1), in order to make the β ratio larger as far as possible, it is required to make β S (β of the switching transistor) smaller than β D (β of the driving transistor). To attain this, there is a method of extending the gate length of the switching transistor (which serves also as a word line), or reducing the gate capacitance C ox .
When the gate length is extended, a memory area is increased by an amount corresponding to a widened word line width. On the other hand, in the method of reducing the gate capacitance C ox , it is possible to reduce β S without increasing the gate length. In addition, since the word line capacitance can also be reduced, it is effective and suitable in a high speed operation.
In this respect, the gate capacitance Cox is expressed by the following equation (2). ##EQU2## where, T ox is the oxide film thickness, ε ox is the relative permittivity of the oxide film, and ε o is the permittivity (8.9×10 -12 F/m) in a free space.
From the equation (2), it will be seen that when T ox is reduced, that is, when the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is reduced, the gate capacitance C ox will be increased.
Accordingly, when the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor is made thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor, it is possible to increase the β ratio.
In another aspect of the present invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is made equal to the film thickness of the gate oxide film of all the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, it is possible, in addition to the above-mentioned technical effect, to increase the driving capability of the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit. Accordingly, the high speed operation of the overall SRAM device can be attained.
In still another aspect of the present invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor is made equal to the film thickness of the gate oxide film of all the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, it is possible, as a result of this, to reduce the thickness of only the gate oxide film of the driving transistors of the SRAM. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the β ratio of the memory cell without reducing the hot carrier resistive property of the peripheral circuit. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the SRAM which is improved in the reliability and stability.
In still another aspect of the present invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors is equal to a film thickness of a gate oxide film of a part of the transistors having the MOS structure in the peripheral circuit, and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors is equal to a film thickness of a gate oxide film of the rest of the transistors having the MOS structure in the peripheral circuit, it is possible to obtain, in addition to the above-mentioned technical effect, the SRAM which is improved in the reliability and stability. Specifically, the gate oxide film of a circuit (for example, transfer gate, sense amplifier gate, and like) of which hot carrier deterioration appears to be relatively large in the peripheral circuit is made thick, and the gate oxide film of the other portion is made thin, thereby to obtain the SRAM which is improved in the reliability and the stability.
In still another aspect of the present invention, since it is arranged such that the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor:the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor=10:11 to 10:20, it is possible to obtain the SRAM which is improved in the reliability and the stability.
In still another aspect of the present invention, since it is arranged such that the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor:the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor=10:12 to 10:15, it is possible to obtain the SRAM which is improved in the reliability and the stability.
In still another aspect of the present invention, since the dielectric constant of a gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors is larger than the dielectric constant of a gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors of the inverters, in accordance with the equations (1) and (2), it is possible to increase the gate capacitance C ox , and thereby to increase the β ratio.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view of a semiconductor memory device illustrating a manufacturing process thereof in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 shows a circuit diagram of an SRAM.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an input/output characteristic of a Q 1 -Q 2 inverter and an input/output characteristic of a Q 3 -Q 4 inverter with respect to potentials of storage nodes N 1 and N 2 just after rewriting of the circuit shown in FIG. 11.
FIG. 13 is a layout diagram of a SRAM in another embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1 to 10 are partial sectional views illustrating manufacturing processes of a semiconductor memory device of the present invention. The semiconductor memory device includes on the same substrate, driver MOS transistors (corresponding to driving transistors) and transfer MOS transistors (corresponding to switching transistors) and MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit. In this respect, FIGS. 1 to 10 show a memory cell and a part of a peripheral circuit of the semiconductor memory device.
In a process shown in FIG. 1, after forming a P well 20 and an N well (not show) in an N-type silicon substrate 1 by a well-known technique, a thin oxide film is formed on the N-type silicon substrate 1, and a nitride film is further formed on the thin oxide film. Thereafter, the nitride film in an active region (to-be-formed transistor region) is selectively left, and the nitride film of the other portion is removed. Subsequently, channel stopper ions are ion implanted selectively in a non-active region of the N-type silicon substrate 1 to form a channel stopper 3. Then, an oxide film 2 having a thickness of 600 nm is formed in the non-active region by thermal oxidation thereby to separate elements from each other. Subsequently, the oxide film in the active region is removed, a gate oxide film 4 having a thickness of 15 nm is formed anew in the active region, and boron (B) for adjusting a threshold value is ion implanted in a channel region. Thereafter, a part (a portion in which the gate of the driver MOS transistor 5 contacts with the substrate 1 in a later process) of the gate oxide film 4 in a transfer MOS transistor region is selectively removed, and the N-type silicon substrate 1 in this part is exposed.
Subsequently, in a process shown in FIG. 2, a polysilicon film 5 having a thickness of 200 nm is formed by a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) technique in an atmosphere of 620° C. over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1 obtained in the process shown in FIG. 1, and then, phosphorous (P) is doped in the polysilicon film 5 by using POCL 3 , thereby to decrease a resistance of the polysilicon film 5. At this time, in the portion from which the gate oxide film 4 is removed in the process shown in FIG. phosphorous 21 is diffused. Next, a silicon oxide film 6 of 250 nm in thickness is formed over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1 by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C.
In a process shown in FIG. 3, the silicon oxide film 6 is selectively removed by anisotropy dry etching excepting a portion which is to be a gate region of a driver MOS transistor, and the remaining portion of the silicon oxide film 6 is used as a mask to remove the polysilicon film 5 and the gate oxide film 4 by dry etching. In the process, the gate oxide film (thickness of 15 nm) of the driver MOS transistor has been formed. Thereafter, a silicon oxide film 200 nm in thickness is formed over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1 by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C., and this film is etched back to form a spacer 7 on a side surface of a gate of the driver MOS transistor thereby to complete the gate of the driver MOS transistor.
In a process shown in FIG. 4, phosphorous having a relatively high concentration is ion implanted selectively in the to-be-formed drain 22, 23 regions in the N-type silicon substrate 1 obtained in the process shown in FIG. 3, and subsequently, arsenic having a high concentration is ion implanted to form the drains 22, 23. Thereafter, a gate oxide film 8 having a thickness of 18 nm is formed on the exposed portion of the N-type silicon substrate 1. In this process, the gate oxide film 8 (18 nm in thickness) of the transfer MOS transistor has been formed. In this respect, the film thickness of the gate oxide film 8 is made thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film 4 of the drive MOS transistor which is formed in the previous process.
In a process shown in FIG. 5, a polysilicon film 9 having a thickness of 100 nm is formed by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 620° C. over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1, and subsequently, phosphorous is doped in the polysilicon film 9 by using POCL 3 , thereby to decrease the resistance of the polysilicon film 9. Next, after forming a tungsten silicide film 10 having a thickness of 120 nm by the CVD technique, a silicon film 11 having a thickness of 100 nm is formed by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C.
In a process shown in FIG. 6, the silicon film 11 is selectively removed by the anisotropical dry etching with the exception of the to-be-formed gate region of the transfer MOS transistor and the to-be-formed gate region of the peripheral circuit, and the remaining silicon film 11 is used as a mask to remove the tungsten silicide film 10, polysilicon film 9 and the gate oxide film 8 by dry etching. At this time, the gate of the driver MOS transistor is protected by the silicon oxide film 6.
In a process shown in FIG. 7, phosphorous having a relatively low concentration is ion implanted in the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1 obtained in the process shown in FIG. 6. At this time, each gate formed in the previous process serves as a mask. Thereafter, a silicon oxide film 300 nm in thickness is formed by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C. over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1, and spacers 12 are formed on side surfaces of all the gates by etching back. Thereafter, an oxide film having a thickness of 5 nm is formed on exposed portions of the N-type silicon substrate 1 by thermal oxidation, and then arsenic is ion implanted in this portions to form a source and a drain.
In a process shown in FIG. 8, after forming a silicon oxide film 13 having a thickness of 100 nm by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C. over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1 obtained in the process shown in FIG. 7, the silicon oxide film 13 is selectively etched to open a contact hole to the driver MOS transistor. Next, a polysilicon film 14 having a thickness of 100 nm is formed by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 580° C. over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1. Thereafter, a wiring and high resistor pattern is formed selectively on the polysilicon film 14, and the polysilicon film 14 is removed leaving the wiring and high resistor portion. Then, arsenic is ion implanted selectively into the polysilicon film 14 of the wiring portion.
In a process shown in FIG. 9, after forming a silicon oxide film 15 having a thickness of 100 nm by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C. over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate obtained in the process shown in FIG. 8, a BPSG (boron-phoso-silicate glass) film 300 nm in thickness is formed by the CVD technique in an atmosphere of 430° C.
In a process shown in FIG. 10, after smoothing by a heat treatment the surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1 obtained in the process shown in FIG. 9, a contact hole for connecting a metal wiring 17 which is formed later the the N-type silicon substrate 1, and a contact hole for connecting the metal wiring 17 to the gate are opened. Subsequently, a metal wiring layer of an aluminum alloy is formed by sputtering over the whole surface of the N-type silicon substrate 1, and the desired metal wiring 17 is formed by patterning the metal wiring layer. Thereafter, an oxide film 18 is deposited by a plasma CVD technique, and a resist is coated on the oxide film 18. Then, the oxide film 18 is smoothed by etching back with a gas ratio having the same etching rate as the resist and the oxide film 18.
Thereafter, if desired, a contact hole is opened, and other wirings are formed, thereby to form a multilayer wiring, and to complete the semiconductor memory device.
In this manner, the semiconductor memory device having a structure in which the film thickness of the gate oxide film 8 of the transfer MOS transistor is thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film 4 of the driver MOS transistor is obtained.
In this embodiment, although the thickness of the gate oxide film 4 of the driver MOS transistor is made 15 nm, and the thickness of the gate oxide film 8 of the transfer MOS transistor is made 18 nm, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is preferable to satisfy the following relationship in which the thickness of the gate oxide film 4 of the driver MOS transistor:the thickness of the gate oxide film 8 of the transfer MOS transistor=10:11 to 10:20, or preferably 10:12 to 10:15.
Furthermore, in the embodiment, although the thickness of the gate oxide film 4 of the driver MOS transistor is made thinner than the thickness of other gate oxide films, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the thickness of the gate oxide film 8 of the transfer MOS transistor may be made thicker than other gate oxide films. And by doing so, it is possible to increase the driving capability of the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, and to achieve high speed operation of the overall semiconductor memory device.
Furthermore, the thickness of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor may be made equal to the thickness of the gate oxide film of a part of the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, and the thickness of the gate oxide film of the driver MOS transistor may be made equal to the thickness of the gate oxide film of the rest of the driver MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit. And by doing so, in the peripheral circuit, the gate oxide film of a circuit (for example, transfer gate, sense amplifier gate, and the like) of which hot carrier deterioration appears to be large is made thick and the gate oxide film of the other part is made thin, thereby to provide the semiconductor memory device in which the reliability and the stability are improved.
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 13 is a layout diagram of a semiconductor memory device (SRAM) processes by processes similar to that described in the foregoing. In FIG. 13, black portions represent gates of transfer MOS transistors and gates of driver MOS transistors.
The cell size of a SRAM which uses 0.5 μm design rule is 5.45×3.5=19.075 (μm 2 ), the β ratio=2.5. Furthermore, in a driver MOS transistor of this SRAM, a gate width (W eff )=1.25 μm.
In this SRAM, only the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor is made 15 nm, and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor is formed thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film of 11 nm of the driver MOS transistor. When this condition is introduced into the equations (1) and (2), the following numerical values are obtained in which in the transfer MOS transistor, the gate width (W eff )=0.917 μm, the cell size=5.15×3.5=18.025 (μm 2 ), and the cell size can be reduced by about 5%. From this, by making the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driver MOS transistor, it is confirmed that the miniaturization and the high integration of the driver MOS transistor can be achieved.
Furthermore, as regards the hot carrier characteristics, in the SRAM, the transfer MOS transistor is weaker than the driver MOS transistor. Accordingly, by making the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driver MOS transistor, it is possible to relatively improve the hot carrier resistive property.
In the embodiment, the β ratio is increased in view of the relationship between the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driver MOS transistor. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the β ratio may be increased, for example, by forming the gate oxide film of the driver MOS transistor with an oxide film having a high dielectric constant such as tantalum oxide or the like so that the dielectric constant of the gate oxide film of the driver MOS transistor is made larger than the dielectric constant of the gate oxide film of the transfer MOS transistor, thereby to increase the gate capacitance C ox of the driver MOS transistor.
Furthermore, in the embodiment, although an example of the manufacturing processes of the semiconductor memory device is described, the manufacturing method is not limited to this, and other manufacturing methods may be employed as far as it is possible to obtain a semiconductor memory device having a structure in which a film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor (transfer MOS transistor) is thicker than a film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor (driver MOS transistor).
It is apparent that the present invention is applicable to various types of SRAMs including an E/D type (a combination of a transistor (E type) applied with an input voltage and a transistor (D type) connected in series), a high resistance load type, a CMOS (complementary MOS), etc., to obtain similar technical effects.
As described in the foregoing, in the present invention, the following advantages are provided.
In one aspect of the invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor is made thicker than the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor of the memory cell, the gate capacitance of the switching transistor can be made smaller than the gate capacitance of the driving transistor. Accordingly, since β of the driving transistor can be made larger than β of the switching transistor without increasing the size of the semiconductor memory device, it is possible to increase the β ratio. As a result, the stability of a writing and reading operation of the semiconductor memory device is improved without disturbing the high integration, and irrespective of the non-uniformity of the pattern shapes of elements, and noise margin, or the like.
In another aspect of the invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is made equal to the film thickness of the gate oxide film of all the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, in addition to the above-mentioned advantage, the driving capability of the MOS transistor in the peripheral circuit can be increased. As a result, it is possible to achieve high speed operation of the overall semiconductor memory device.
In still another aspect of the invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor is made equal to the film thickness of the gate oxide film of all the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, the β ratio of the memory cell can be increased without degrading the hot carrier resistive property of the peripheral circuit. As a result, in addition to the above-mentioned advantage, the reliability and the stability of the semiconductor memory device can be improved.
In still another aspect of the invention, since the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor is made equal to the film thickness of the gate oxide film of a part of the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, and the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is made equal to the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the rest of the MOS transistors in the peripheral circuit, in addition to the above-mentioned advantage, the reliability and the stability of the semiconductor memory device can be improved.
In still another aspect of the invention, since the following relationship between the film thicknesses is adopted such that the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor:the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor=10:11 to 10:20, in addition to the above-mentioned advantage, the reliability and the stability of the semiconductor memory device can be improved.
In still another aspect of the invention, since the following relationship between the film thicknesses is adopted such that the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor:the film thickness of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor=10:12 to 10:15, in addition to the above-mentioned advantage, the reliability and the stability of the semiconductor memory device can be improved.
In still another aspect of the invention, since the dielectric constant of the gate oxide film of the driving transistor is made larger than the dielectric constant of the gate oxide film of the switching transistor, the gate capacitance C ox of the driving transistor can be increased, and thus the β ratio can be increased.
|
A semiconductor memory device of the SRAM type includes a memory cell including a pair of inverters each having a resistor and a driving transistor connected in series forming a storage node at the junction point thereof. Switching transistors in the memory cell are respectively connected between the storage nodes and bit lines. A film thickness of a gate oxide film of each of the switching transistors (transfer MOS transistors) is larger than a film thickness of a gate oxide film of each of the driving transistors (driver MOS transistors).
| 7
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This is a continuation-in-part of a copending patent application, "Hardware Implementation of 2 Line/11 Element Predictor", Ser. No. 165,814, filed July 3, 1980, now abandoned.
This invention is an improved digital data compressor and more specifically comprises a predictor which can be used to compress digital data produced by the raster input scanning of both text and halftone images.
Data is usually compressed prior to transmission to reduce bandwidth, or prior to storage to reduce memory requirements. For this purpose, many encoding algorithms are available, most based on run length encoding of some kind. In the case of text transmission or storage, one example would be to transmit the run lengths of the (white space) strings of zeros, and the actual patterns of the (black print) one bits. In this case the compression ratio will improve as the zero strings become longer and the one bits become fewer.
With a given set of text documents, the compression ratio can be improved if a suitably designed predictor operates on the data prior to the encoding step. A predictor looks at the previous bits of the current line and the immediately adjacent bits of the previous line or two, and predicts from those bits what the current bit is. The actual current bit is then compared to the prediction. If the prediction is correct, the predictor output is a zero; if incorrect, the output is a one. For text inputs, a predictor may make the correct prediction as much as 99% of the time, resulting in a predictor output comprising long strings of zeros, an occasional one bit, and a good compression ratio at the encoder.
Of course, the transmitted or stored data is in predicted and encoded form, and cannot be subsequently used after receiption or retrieval from storage until it has been decoded and depredicted to reconstitute the original video. That results in the requirement that a compressor and decompressor be included in the system at added cost. However, the reduced bandwidth or memory requirement usually more than compensates for the increased hardware cost of the compressor and decompressor. Of course, the cost of this hardware should be minimized.
This hardware must also be designed to operate at high data rates. A common requirement is that the data for a full page of text at a reasonable level of image quality be transmitted in several seconds, and the compressor must keep up with this real time data rate.
A severe complication occurs when the original document is a halftone image. Not only is there very little white space in the original data, but there also is a screen pattern which systematically simulates continuous tones in rapidly changing black and white patterns. With a halftone original, predictors usually perform poorly. Thus, there is a need for a predictor that will compress halftone as well as text inputs.
One method of predicting a mixed set of documents is to use adaptive predicting. Here, two predictors are used, one designed for halftone and one for text, for example. Both operate on the data and at the end of the run, a comparison is made to determine the better predictor. Then, the data is put through the system a second time, using the selected predictor pattern. The main disadvantages of this system are that the throughput is less than half of that of a system using one predictor for both kinds of originals, and the hardware is more complicated.
The compression of a predictor can be improved by adding more bits to the pattern, but that increases hardware costs, and is limited by state-of-the-art ROM size. Also, a variation of the shape of the pattern will allow the predictor more effectively to compress some kinds of text at the expense of others. What is required is one predictor, using a minimum of bits, which can operate at high speed to produce a good compression ratio for a typical mix of text and halftone images.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It was discovered that with a text input, the bits immediately surrounding the current bit are of great value in predicting the current bit, but that with halftone images, the most important bits are the ones on the same or previous lines that are removed from the current bit by a distance corresponding to the screen pitch. Thus, to use the described embodiment as an example, bits within three pixels of the current bit are useful to predict text but bits separated by five, seven, eight and nine pixels are better to predict halftone images screened at 133, 100, 85 and 70 dots per inch, respectively. By using a pattern comprising six bits located close to the current bit, and using an additional five bits that are more distant, a predictor that works well on a variety of input documents can be produced.
The speed at which this predictor can process data is also an important aspect of the circuit design. One common method of increasing circuit speed is to process a plurality of bits in parallel. However, in the case of a predictor, this is usually impossible since the previous bit is needed in the process of predicting the present bit, resulting in a serial operation.
To enable this predictor to process four bits per clock, the pattern is limited to a pattern where only one bit in the preceeding four bit nibble is used, and a two level pipeline circuit is provided to allow the prediction to take place in two steps. The first level uses a pattern of ten bits in the current and previous lines to produce eight outputs which are clocked into the second level. On the next clock the previous nibble, just computed, is used to select the correct four outputs from the eight.
The resultant circuit is simple, can be built at low cost, and efficiently compresses halftone and text inputs at high speed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simple block diagram of the relationships between the compression and decompression units.
FIG. 2 is a prior art predictor pattern.
FIG. 3 is a simple predictor pattern for a halftone input.
FIG. 4 is the preferred bit pattern.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the coverage of the various components of the preferred bit pattern.
FIG. 6 shows the effectiveness of the preferred pattern components in table form.
FIG. 7 shows the bit patterns divided into four bit nibbles.
FIG. 8 is a simplified circuit for performing this prediction process.
FIG. 9 is a more detailed block diagram of a circuit for implementing the predictor process.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the registers and predictor PROMs.
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the command and data flag flip-flops.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the buffer memory.
FIGS. 13A and 13B are the contents of the Error PROMS.
FIGS. 14A and 14B are the contents of the Prediction PROMS.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows the relationships between the elements of a typical system which uses data compression. The data originates in an image input terminal, IIT, which typically scans an original to produce a raster of pixels. If the original is text, the data will be thresholded to produce a series of one or zero bits. If the original is an image, it is assumed that either the original is a halftone, or that the original is a continuous tone image subsequently screened in the IIT. Therefore, the input to the area predictor 10 is assumed to be either text or halftone data.
The area predictor 10 uses selected bits of the video of the previous line and previous bits of the current line to predict the current bit. A correct prediction results in a zero bit output to the encoder 11, and incorrect prediction results in a one bit.
The encoder 11 can be any one of a number of well known encoding circuits or algorithms. Run length and Huffman code encoders, and their variants, are suitable. Of course, the exact bit pattern of the predictor is chosen to match the mixture of input document types. The compressed output of the encoder 11 is then sent to the communication channel or storage medium 12.
After reception of the transmission or access from storage, the decoder 13 reverses the encoding process and the depredictor 14 reverses the prediction process to reconstitute the original video which can then be printed on an image output printer, IOT, to produce a hard copy.
FIG. 2 is an example of a prior art predictor pattern. Y is the bit to be predicted, X 4 is the previous bit on the current raster line and X 1 , X 2 and X 3 are the bits immediately above the Y bit on the previous raster line. These X bits have great predictive value with a text input. However, because of the cyclical nature of halftone data, this pattern cannot be used with halftone image material. The inclusion of additional bits in the FIG. 2 pattern would increase the effectiveness in any case.
FIG. 3 is a pattern which would work well for halftone data of a specific pitch, that is one with a dot to dot distance of eight pixels. The inclusion of additional bits to the immediate right and left of the X bit would enable the efficient prediction of halftone data over a range of values of dots-per-inch.
Combining the concepts of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 and optimizing the resultant pattern for the specific mix of documents expected and for the characteristics of the encoding algorithm, through computer simulation and analysis, resulted in the two line eleven element pattern of FIG. 4. The six bits closest to the predicted bit Y enable efficient prediction of text while the five leftmost bits enable efficient prediction of halftone data of 70, 85, 100 and 133 dots per inch. The second, third and fourth bits to the left of Y are ot used secondarily because they contribute little to the predictor operation and primarily because the exclusion of these bits enables the parallel prediction of four bit nibbles (Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , Y 4 of FIG. 7) with a minimum of circuitry, as will be explained below.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the conceptual basis for the ability of the preferred predictor to enable the efficient compression of several kinds of text and halftone data. T1 and T2 refer to the two different kinds of textual material, for instance, typed pages in portrait mode and forms in landscape mode. H1 and H2 refer to halftone data at two different pitches, 85 and 133 dots per inch.
The PRT1 column of FIG. 6 shows the percent error which will occur at the prediction comparison step when a predictor with a bit map of FIG. 4, optimized for a T1 type of text is used on all four kinds of documents. Similarly, the PRT2, PRH1 and PRH2 columns show the percent error resulting from predictors optimized for T2, H1 and H2 documents, respectively. Finally, the PAV column shows the percent error of the pattern of FIG. 4 when used on the four kinds of documents. Ideally, the PAV values for each row will be equal to the lowest error rates on each line. Inevitably, however, the compromise pattern will not work as well in each case as the one optimized for that document type, but the overall performance, as shown, is good enough to allow the system to operate successfully with a mixed input. The actual average error rate for a mixed set of input documents with the preferred predictor pattern is in the area of 1%. The worst case is for H2 type documents, but even there, a 1.5:1 system compression ratio is realized, with the worst case type of pictures.
FIG. 5 is a diagram of the concept of adding bits to the predictor pattern to increase the area of effective operation. Certain bits in the pattern enable the efficient prediction of certain kinds of input. The X bits closest the current Y bit enable the T1 and T2 areas while the more distant bits enable the H1 and H2 areas. The total pattern covers the entire range of document types. The optimization of a bit pattern is intended to minimize the intersection between document types. The ideal case will be a predictor which operates on each document type mutually exclusively.
FIG. 8 is a simplified schematic of the circuit required to predict four bits per clock period. The previous line buffer 15 is an FIFO shift register (or equivalent) exactly one scan line minus eight bits long. In operation, four bits video nibbles are received on the current line and are shifted, in parallel, in one line through registers D2, D1 and D0, and in the other line, through the previous line buffer 15 and registers LD4, LD3, LD2 and LD1. The latter line provides previous line data, and the former, current line data, to the address inputs of the four PROMs 16.
More specifically, for the previous line data, bits X 1 through X 6 , and for the current line data, bits X 7 through X 10 , are supplied as ten address inputs to the Y1 PROM. The X 11 bit is not supplied to the Y1 PROM. The Y1 PROM output is two bits, one bit signifying the correct predictor if the X 11 bit is a one, the other the predictor output if the X 11 bit is a zero.
During this same clock period the bit immediately to the right (in FIG. 7) of each bit marked "X" is used as an address bit for the Y2 PROM. Similarly, the second and third bits to the right address the Y3 and Y4 PROMs. The result is that eight possible PROM 16 output bits are clocked into the PROM latch 30. At the same time the four X 11 bits are clocked into the X 11 latch 31.
During the next clock period, the error PROM 17 receives the four sets of two possible predictor outputs from the PROM latch 30 and uses the four X 11 bits to determine each correct one, resulting in a Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4 output. During this same clock period, the PROM and X 11 latches are loaded as before to enable the next cycle. The result is a four bit output for every clock.
FIG. 9 is a less simplified block diagram of the circuit for performing this prediction process, and FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 are the associated detailed schematic diagrams.
In FIG. 9, each four bit input word is received at four bit register D6 and is shifted on each clock pulse through registers D5, D4, D3, D2 and D1. The contents of these registers are then available to the predictor as the current line of information as shown in the "Prediction Mask" portion of FIG. 9.
The output of register D6 is also coupled to RAM 1 and RAM 2 where the data is stored until the next raster. At that time, the data is output and shifted through registers LD5, LD4, LD3, LD2 and LD1 to provide the previous line data for the predictor.
In operation, while one RAM is being loaded with current line data, the other is outputting previous line data; and at the end of each scan line, the functions are reversed. A RAM address counter 19 provides address inputs to the RAMs.
FIG. 8 and accompanying text describes a two-step process for predicting each four bit nibble. This is shown in more detail in FIG. 9 as follows. Forty bits of data comprising the Prediction Mask are supplied to the Predictor PROM 16 as address inputs, to generate an eight bit output. Then the four bit D2 register output is used, along with the eight bit output of PROM 16 coupled through register 18, to address the error PROM 17 to produce the final four bit output.
The previous and current line data registers D6, D5, D4, D3, D2, D1, LD5, LD4, LD3, LD2 and LD1 are shown in schematic form in FIG. 10, and are interconnected to provide the data paths described in the text accompanying FIG. 9.
Because the data on the IPC Data 0-3 lines is clocked into the D6 register on all clocks whether it is valid or not, a valid data bit is transmitted along with each valid data nibble. In FIG. 9, this is shown as an IPC Data Ready signal input to flip-flop R6. Thereafter the valid data bit is clocked down through flip-flops R5 and R4 as the data is clocked through the current line registers D6, D5 and D4. Thereafter, the valid nibble in register D4 will be clocked into register D3 and subsequent registers only if register D4 receives a valid nibble. Therefore, registers D4 through D0 always have valid nibbles. As the valid nibbles are clocked through the D registers, the corresponding nibbles of the previous scan line are clocked through the LD registers so that the arrangement of the pattern nibbles is always in accordance with the Prediction Mask of FIG. 9. The data valid bit is always available to indicate whether the data at the same level is valid. Similarly, an IPC Command bit is shifted through flip flops C6, C5, C4, C3, C2 and CV to indicate that a line is complete. The actual devices are shown in FIG. 11, as shift registers c10 and d10. The line complete signal is used to switch RAM 1 and RAM 2 as described above.
On the first line of each page, the previous line in the mask is defined as all zeros. To guarantee this, a Zeros signal is used to control the LD4 register of FIG. 9 (actually a multiplexing latch) to select an all zero input which forces the previous line data in the registers to zero regardless of the RAM contents. All zeroes are also used for the previous line when constructing the first line after a prediction break.
The LD5 register of FIG. 9 is also a multiplexer, and is controlled by the line complete bit to select an output, alternately, from each of the RAMs. This device is shown in schematic form as device b06 of FIG. 10.
In the schematic of FIG. 10, the Hold register 18 provides buffering between the predictor PROM 16 and the error PROM 17.
FIG. 11 is a schematic of the command and data flag flip-flops implemented from register devices c10 and d10.
FIG. 12 comprises the RAM address counter 19, which is automatically incremented for each clock corresponding to each load and read cycle. The RAM itself is implemented from RAM devices a04, b04, c04, d04, a03, b03, c03 and d03.
FIGS. 13A and 13B are the code for the Error PROMs 17 of FIG. 10, and FIGS. 14A and 14B are the code for the Predictor PROMs 16 of FIG. 10.
As explained above, the prediction process is accomplished in two steps. In the first step, the leading ten elements are used to produce two alternatives for each bit position in the four bit output nibble. These ten elements are labeled 1-11 in FIG. 9, ad LD10 through LD42 and D03 through D22 at the inputs to the Predictor PROMs 16 of FIG. 10. For example, the first bit in the LD3 register of the Predictor Mask is line LD31 in FIG. 10.
The four Predictor PROMs 16 comprise a 1024 by 4 bit memory and contain the data of FIGS. 14A and 14B. The first line indicates the four bit contents of locations 0 through 7 in octal. The leading two outputs bits are not used, as shown in the schematic, and the suffix, B, is added to indicate that the number is written in octal notation.
The operation of each Predictor PROM, therefore, is to receive the ten leading predictor elements and to produce two outputs, one of which will be chosen as the correct output at the next stage. Specifically, in FIG. 10, the left most Predictor PROM 16 uses the ten inputs LD10, LD21, LD22, LD30, LD32, LD33, D03, D10, D11 and D13 to produce two outputs P0-1 and P0-0. The other three Predictor PROMs function identically to produce the remaining outputs, P1-1, P1-0, P2-0, P3-1 and P3-0.
These eight intermediate outputs are applied to the Error PROMs 17 along with the remaining four predictor elements D13-D22 and the four data bits to be predicted D20-D23.
To explain the operation of this stage, consider the upper half of FIG. 13A which corresponds to one half of the FIG. 10 Error PROM 17 labeled d09. The inputs are the two intermediate bits P0-0H and P0-1H; the last predictor element D13; and the data bit D20. The output Q2, labeled E0+C0 in the schematic, is as shown and may be described as the result of the first two logic equations at the bottom of FIG. 13A.
Inspection of the Prediction Mask of FIG. 11 would, at first glance, indicate that the data bit should be D30 (instead of D20) and the last element should be D23 (instead of D13). However, the second predictor stage occurs one clock period later than the first predictor stage, during which period the data in the Prediction Mask is shifted one nibble to the left.
The reminning three Y bits are processed identically, except that each is located one bit to the right of the last. Thus, the second stage predictor element is D20 and the data bit is D21.
The first column in FIGS. 13A and B and the SelCmd input lines to the Error PROMs 17 provide a capability to insert "End of Line" and other commands into the data stream on command.
The invention is not limited to any of the embodiments described above, but all changes and modifications thereof not constituting departures from the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be covered by the following claims.
|
A predictor bit pattern comprising selected bits of the current and previous raster scan lines and a method of predicting a plurality of bits per clock are disposed. Generally, a predictor is used prior to the encoding of data to increase the compression. The current bit in a bit stream is compared to the predicted value and a one is output when the two values are not equal. An efficient predictor will reduce the number of ones in a bit stream, which increases the zero run lengths and increases the efficiency of a run length encoding system. The described bit pattern contains bits close to the current bit to efficiently predict text data, bits distant from the current bit to efficiently predict halftone data, and ignores a plurality of intermediate bits to reduce hardware costs. A two step process is also described to allow a plurality of bits to be predicted in parallel. A circuit for performing this process comprises a buffer for storing the previous and current line data, two registers for holding the previous and current line prediction data patterns and two PROMs for performing the two step prediction.
| 6
|
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to data storage systems and in particular to a method of implementing a redundant array of independent drives (RAID) storage system.
BACKGROUND
[0002] As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. Accordingly, information handling systems may be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, an information handling system may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
[0003] An information handling system can be configured in several different configurations. The information handling system can range from a single, stand-alone computer system to a distributed, multi-device computer system, to a networked computer system with remote or cloud storage systems. Both local computer storage systems and remote or cloud storage systems can employ redundant arrays of independent drives (RAID) using ferromagnetic disk drives or solid state storage drives. Various “levels” of RAID configurations are well known to those in the field of data storage systems.
[0004] Regardless of the particular RAID configuration employed, the storage capacity may need to be expanded from time to time. Conventional capacity expansion methods for RAID-based storage systems generally require end user intervention to trigger an expansion operation. For example, it may be necessary for the customer or other end user to monitor the storage capacity utilization of a RAID volume in order to prevent data loss that could occur due to space limitations on the volume.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The description of the illustrative embodiments can be read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respect to the figures presented herein, in which:
[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates an example information handling system (IHS) within which various aspects of the disclosure can be implemented, according to one or more embodiments;
[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example storage system, in accordance with one or more embodiments;
[0008] FIG. 3 illustrates elements of a dynamic capacity expansion method;
[0009] FIG. 4 illustrates further elements of a dynamic capacity expansion method; and
[0010] FIG. 5 illustrates information handling system elements communicating to implement a dynamic capacity expansion of a RAID volume.
SUMMARY
[0011] Data storage methods disclosed herein may include receiving a utilization message indicating that the utilization of a RAID volume corresponding to a particular set of storage drives equals or exceeding a utilization threshold. An indication of desired additional capacity associated with the utilization message may be accessed and, responsive to determining that the RAID volume has free capacity greater than or equal to the desired additional capacity, the desired additional capacity with the existing storage drives may be provided by re-configuring the existing set of storage drives to expand the capacity of the RAID volume in accordance with the desired additional capacity.
[0012] If, however, it is determined that the RAID volume lacks free capacity greater than or equal to the desired additional capacity, the method may attempt to satisfy the desired additional capacity by incorporating one or more additional storage drives into the RAID volume. This feature of the method may include filtering unallocated or otherwise free storage drives according to a particular set of storage drive parameters to identify those available storage drives that are also compatible with the particular set of storage drives in the RAID volume.
[0013] Upon identifying one or more compatible storage drives, a determination of whether the volume span depth and volume span width limits associated with the RAID volume permit or preclude additional storage drives may be made. If additional storage drives are permitted, the method may include adding at least one of the compatible storage drive(s) to the RAID volume.
[0014] Compatible storage drives may refer to storage sharing one or more of the following storage drive features or characteristics in common: media type, e.g., HDD vs. SSD, storage protocol, e.g., SAS vs. SATA, a self-encryption characteristic, and a block size characteristic. In some embodiments, a compatible storage drive may share all of these characteristics in common with the particular storage drives in the RAID volume.
[0015] Available storage drives may also be filtered based upon storage capacity. For examples, available storage drives that are smaller, i.e., have less storage capacity, than the smallest storage drive in a RAID volume may be filtered out as in-compatible. In conjunction with the storage capacities of the existing storage drives and the available and otherwise compatible storage drives, adding an additional storage drive to the RAID volume may include adding a compatible storage drive having the smallest capacity that is equal to or greater than a capacity of the smallest drive in the particular set of storage drives.
[0016] Additional compatible storage drives, beyond the first compatible storage drive, may be added to the RAID volume until the RAID volume achieves additional capacity equal to or greater than the desired additional capacity, volume span limits associated with the RAID volume preclude adding an additional storage drive to the RAID volume, or no compatible storage drives remain available.
[0017] In some embodiments, the desired additional capacity may be calculated from the existing capacity and an expansion factor by accessing the expansion factor and determining the desired additional capacity, based on the product of the expansion factor and the existing capacity of the RAID volume.
[0018] After a RAID volume expansion is performed, a corresponding file system expansion may be performed to enable a host's operating system and application programs to utilize the additional capacity achieved.
[0019] In another respect, information handling systems disclosed herein may include a processor and a memory medium, accessible to the processor, including processor executable instructions such as an operating system and application programs. The IHS may further include a storage subsystem, including a storage controller and storage media, as well as a dynamic capacity expansion (DCE) module configured to perform storage configuration operations that include receiving a request to perform dynamic capacity expansion, the request including data indicative of a logical unit associated with the request, identifying a RAID volume associated with the logical unit, the RAID volume including a particular set of storage drives, and determining, based at least in part on existing capacity of the RAID volume, desired additional capacity. Responsive to determining that the RAID volume has free capacity greater than or equal to the desired additional capacity, the particular set of storage drives may be re-configured to expand the capacity of the RAID volume in accordance with the desired additional capacity. If the RAID volume lacks free capacity greater than or equal to the desired additional capacity, additional storage drives may be incorporated in the RAID volume by identifying compatible storage drives and verifying that the number of storage drives in the existing RAID volume does not preclude the use of any additional storage drives.
[0020] Dynamic capacity expansion as disclosed herein may include invoking a file system API to determine a file system utilization associated with a particular file system and obtaining vital product data from a port driver associated with the file system when the file system utilization exceeds a utilization threshold or limit. The DCE module may resides on a remote access controller of the information handling system wherein the remote access controller is configured to execute the DCE module and reconfigure the RAID volume. Responsive to completing a dynamic expansion of the RAID volume, a file system expansion may be initiated to enable the operating system and application programs to utilize additional capacity corresponding to the additional storage drive.
[0021] In still another aspect, a disclosed non-transitory computer readable medium may include DCE instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform any one or more of the following operations: receiving a request to perform dynamic capacity expansion, identifying a RAID volume associated with the request, the RAID volume comprising a particular set of storage drives, determining a desired additional capacity, and determining whether the RAID volume has sufficient free capacity including free capacity greater than or equal to the desired additional capacity. Responsive to determining that the RAID volume has sufficient free capacity, the particular set of storage drives may be re-configured to expand the capacity of the RAID volume in accordance with the desired additional capacity.
[0022] Responsive to determining that the RAID volume lacks sufficient free capacity, operations for expanding the capacity of the RAID volume with one or more additional storage drives may be performed. Additional storage drives may be added to the RAID volume subject to volume span limits associated with the RAID volume and the availability of compatible storage drives. Compatible storage drives may include storage drives that share one or more of the following storage drive features in common with the RAID volume storage drives: a media type, a storage protocol, a self-encryption feature, and a block size. To achieve storage efficiency, embodiments may filter the compatible storage drives according to size, i.e., storage capacity, and select the smallest compatible storage drive that is consistent with the storage drives in the existing RAID volume. In at least one embodiment, this process selects the compatible storage drive that equals or exceeds the size of the smallest storage drive in the existing RAID volume. For example, if a RAID 5 volume spanning 3 storage drives includes a 100 GB drive and two 80 GB drives and the set of compatible storage drives includes a 75 GB drive, a 90 GB drive, and a 110 GB drive, the 90 GB drive would be selected as the smallest compatible drive having a capacity greater than the capacity of the smallest drive in the RAID volume, 80 GB.
[0023] The above summary is not intended as a comprehensive description of the claimed subject matter but, rather, is intended to provide an overview of the applicable subject matter. Other methods, systems, software, functionality, features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed written description.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, specific exemplary embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosed embodiments. For example, specific details such as specific method orders, structures, elements, and connections have been presented herein. However, it is to be understood that the specific details presented need not be utilized to practice embodiments of the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, architectural, programmatic, mechanical, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the general scope of the disclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
[0025] References within the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “at least one embodiment”, or “some embodiments” and the like indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. The appearance of such phrases in various places within the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.
[0026] It is understood that the use of specific component, device, and/or parameter names and/or corresponding acronyms thereof, such as those of the executing utility, logic, and/or firmware described herein, are for example only and not meant to imply any limitations on the described embodiments. The embodiments may thus be described with different nomenclature and/or terminology utilized to describe the components, devices, parameters, methods and/or functions herein, without limitation. References to any specific protocol or proprietary name in describing one or more elements, features or concepts of the embodiments are provided solely as examples of one implementation, and such references do not limit the extension of the claimed embodiments to embodiments in which different element, feature, protocol, or concept names are utilized. Thus, each term utilized herein is to be given its broadest interpretation given the context in which that term is utilized.
[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram representation of an example information handling system (IHS) 100 , within which any one or more described features of the various embodiments of the disclosure can be implemented. For purposes of this disclosure, an IHS, such as IHS 100 , may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an IHS may be a handheld device, a personal computer, a server, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The IHS may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the IHS may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices, as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The IHS may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
[0028] Referring specifically to FIG. 1 , example IHS 100 includes one or more processor(s) 105 coupled to a system memory 110 via a system interconnect 115 , which may also be referred to herein as system bus 115 . The system memory 110 illustrated in FIG. 1 stores processor-executable instructions for various modules including firmware (F/W) 112 , basic input/output system (BIOS) 114 , operating system ( 0 /S) 116 and application(s) 118 . The IHS 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes local storage 121 , including a storage controller 122 coupled between system bus 115 and storage media 123 , within which can include stored data, software, and/or firmware (not specifically shown).
[0029] The IHS 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 further includes one or more input/output (I/O) controllers 130 coupling various I/O devices and corresponding I/O device signals to processors 105 via system bus 115 . FIG. 1 illustrates the various I/O devices as input devices 132 , output devices 134 , and device interfaces 136 . Input devices 132 may include, as non-limiting examples, a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or microphone. Output devices 134 may include, as non-limiting examples, a monitor, display device, speaker(s), and printer(s). The interface(s) 136 illustrated in FIG. 1 may include interfaces for coupling processor(s) 105 and/or system bus 115 to various devices including, as non-limiting examples, an optical reader, a universal serial bus (USB), a card reader, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot, and/or a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI). Device interface(s) 136 may also include one or more interfaces enabling IHS 100 to read data from or store data to removable storage device(s), including, as non-limiting examples, a compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD), flash drive, or flash memory card. In at least one embodiment, device interface(s) 136 may further include general purpose I/O interfaces such as I 2 C, SMBus, and peripheral component interconnect (PCI) buses.
[0030] The IHS 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a network interface device (NID) 140 that enables IHS 100 to communicate and/or interface with devices, systems, and services via an external network 150 using one or more communication protocols. Network 150 can include one or more personal area network components, local area network components, wide area network components, or a combination thereof. Any connection to IHS 100 that traverses network 150 can include one more wireline segments, one or more wireless components, or a combination thereof. For purposes of discussion, network 150 is indicated as a single collective component for simplicity. However, it is appreciated that network 150 can comprise one or more direct connections to other devices as well as a more complex set of interconnections as can exist within a wide area network, such as the Internet.
[0031] The network 150 illustrated in FIG. 1 provides IHS 100 with access to external storage 171 , which includes a storage controller 172 coupled to storage media 173 within which can be stored processor-executable instructions 174 , which can include application program instructions, firmware instructions, or a combination thereof, and one or more sets of data 175 . Storage media 173 can include a plurality of hard disk drives, solid state storage drives, or other storage media. In at least one embodiment, external storage 171 includes one or more RAID volumes. While FIG. 1 illustrates external storage 171 coupled to IHS 100 via network 150 , external storage 171 may be directly connected to IHS 100 as an external storage device.
[0032] Local storage 121 and external storage 171 represent persistent storage, i.e., storage media that retains data through one or more power cycles. Although FIG. 1 illustrates information handling system 100 with both local storage 121 and external storage 171 , other embodiments may omit local storage 121 while still other embodiments may omit external storage 171 .
[0033] Local storage 121 and external storage 171 are both illustrated including a storage controller and the corresponding storage media. The local storage controller 122 and the external storage controller 172 may implement analogous functionality, including functionality described below with respect to a generic storage controller illustrated in FIG. 2 .
[0034] The information handling system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a remote access controller 145 providing a first input to a network switch 147 that receives a second input from the network interface device 140 . In this embodiment, information handling system 100 may communicate with network 150 from either the RAC 145 or via NID 140 , depending upon switch 147 . In other embodiments, RAC 145 and an NID 140 may both have their own resources for connecting to network 150 and network switch 147 may be omitted. In still other embodiments, RAC 145 and NID 140 may share the connection to network 150 , possibly using distinct hardware addresses to distinguish between the two devices.
[0035] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the remote access controller 145 represents a resource for externally managing and configuring information handling system 100 . Remote access controller 145 may enable functionality that facilitates deployment, updating, monitoring, and maintenance of information handling system 100 with or without a systems management software agent resident. In at least one embodiment, remote access controller 145 provides out of band control over configuration of information handling system 100 , thereby streamlining local and remote server management and reducing or eliminating the need for system administrators to physically visit a system even if the system is not itself operational. Remote access controller 145 may support or exhibit functionality analogous to functionality provided by an integrated remote access controller(iDRAC) from Dell, Inc.
[0036] With reference now to FIG. 2 , a storage system 201 may represent local storage 121 ( FIG. 1 ), external storage 171 ( FIG. 1 ), or both and may be configured to store data, software instructions, firmware instructions, or a combination thereof.
[0037] The storage system 201 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a storage controller 202 and storage media 203 . Storage controller 202 may be configured to control and manage the flow of commands and data to and from storage media 203 . The storage media 203 may include two or more storage drives (SDs) 205 configured as a storage entity referred to herein as RAID span 206 . The RAID span 206 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes two storage drives, 205 - 1 and 205 - 2 , however other embodiments may include three or more storage drives 205 . The relationship between data stored in the individual storage drives 205 of any RAID span 206 depends, at least in part, upon the RAID level of RAID span 206 . For example, in a RAID 1 embodiment of RAID span 206 , the data on storage drive 205 - 1 is copied or mirrored on storage drive 205 - 2 . A RAID 5 embodiment of RAID span 206 may include three or more storage drives 205 wherein a data block is striped across two or more of the storage drives and parity information is generated and stored on one of the storage drives.
[0038] The storage media 203 illustrated in FIG. 2 further includes a hot spare storage drives 240 . Hot spare storage drive 240 is a storage drive that may be used to replace a failing or failed storage drive in a RAID system. The presence of an available hot spare storage drive 240 within storage media 203 may reduce recovery time when a storage drive 205 employed in RAID span 206 fails.
[0039] The storage controller 202 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be configured to read and write to RAID span 206 in storage media 203 . The illustrated storage controller 202 include an interface subsystem 210 and control logic 212 . Interface subsystem 210 may manage communications between control logic 212 and IHS 100 ( FIG. 1 ).
[0040] Storage manager firmware 214 may group storage drives 205 into one or more RAID volumes and may be configured to manage the reading and writing of data to storage media 203 in compliance with a particular RAID level to improve storage reliability and/or storage read/write performance. Hot spare manager firmware 216 may manage the rebuilding of data in hot spare storage drive 240 when one or more storage drives 205 in storage media 203 fail.
[0041] Control logic 212 may include functional modules or processes including storage manager firmware 214 and hot spare manager firmware 216 . Each of the storage controller components may include the ability to communicate with each other via a communication fabric, which may represent particular messaging signals communicated over particular signal lines (not illustrated in FIG. 2 ). At least some functions, modules, routines, methods and processes disclosed herein, including automated capacity expansion methods, may be implemented as executable code and/or logic within storage controller 202 .
[0042] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware components and basic configuration depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described herein may vary. For example, the components within IHS 100 ( FIG. 1 ) are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative to highlight components that can be utilized to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, other devices/components may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted. The depicted examples do not convey or imply any architectural or other limitations with respect to the presently described embodiments and/or the general disclosure.
[0043] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrate example methods for implementing automated capacity expansion, sometimes referred to herein as dynamic capacity expansion (DCE), including automated capacity expansion of a RAID volume. In at least one embodiment, prior to performing operational elements of the methods illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , a pair of DCE configuration attributes are specified, determined, obtained, or otherwise accessed. A first DCE configuration attribute, referred to herein as the volume utilization threshold, indicates a threshold value for a utilization parameter. The volume utilization threshold may indicate a utilization value at or above which DCE may be triggered. For example, an administrator may stipulate that DCE kicks in when 90% of a particular volume has been utilized by specifying 90% as the volume utilization threshold. A second DCE attribute, referred to herein as the expansion factor, may determine or otherwise convey the amount of additional capacity desired when DCE is invoked. The expansion factor may be specified as a percentage and the desired additional capacity may refer to the specified percentage of the current capacity of a RAID volume. For example, an administrator may specify an expansion factor of 10% to indicate that additional capacity equal to 10% of the existing capacity is desired each time DCE is triggered.
[0044] At least some of the operations described with respect to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 may be performed in the context of an IHS 100 that includes external storage such as the external storage 171 illustrated in FIG. 1 . In any of these embodiments, any one or more of the operations represented in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 may be performed by or in conjunction with one or more elements of IHS 100 . As one non-limiting example, the remote access controller 145 of IHS 100 may be in communication with external storage 171 via network 150 and may perform one or more operations to implement, facilitate, or support DCE of external storage 171 . Similarly, in embodiments of IHS 100 that may lack an external storage resource, the remote access controller 145 may communicate with storage controller 122 of local storage 121 to implement DCE.
[0045] FIG. 3 illustrates a capacity expansion method 300 that may be executed when the volume utilization threshold specified in the configuration setting described above is reached. Volume utilization monitoring may be performed by the storage controller 202 ( FIG. 2 ), remote access controller 145 of FIG. 1 , or another element of IHS 100 .
[0046] The method 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 begins with the sending (block 302 ) of a utilization threshold event message indicating that the utilization of the existing RAID volume has reached or exceeded the volume utilization threshold. In one embodiment, the storage controller 202 ( FIG. 2 ) may perform the monitoring of the applicable RAID span 206 . Storage controller 202 may communicate the utilization threshold event message to the remote access controller 145 , thereby enabling DCE without regard to whether processor 105 and system memory 110 are in an operational state.
[0047] The utilization threshold event may trigger a determination of the additional capacity desired. In at least one embodiment, the expansion factor parameter indicates a percentage and the desired additional capacity is computed as the product of the existing capacity and expansion factor. In other embodiments, the desired additional capacity may be a particular amount of additional capacity that does not change as a function of the existing capacity or that changes in a non-linear way.
[0048] A DCE module within remote access controller 145 may respond to the utilization threshold event by determining (operation 304 ) whether the existing storage drives 205 of the RAID span 206 that triggered the utilization threshold event have any free storage space. If there is any free space available, the DCE module may determine (operation 306 ) whether the storage space that is available equals or exceeds the desired additional capacity. If the free space available on the existing drives 205 of the RAID span 206 equals or exceeds the desired additional capacity, the DCE module may issue (operation 308 ) a capacity expansion command instructing the storage controller to re-configure the existing storage drives 205 of the RAID span 206 to capture at least some of the unallocated storage available on the existing storage drives. The amount of available storage that the storage controller captures during this reconfiguration may be equal to the desired additional capacity.
[0049] If the DCE module determines, during operation 304 , that the existing storage drives 205 have no free space available or determines, during operation 306 , that the existing storage drives 205 do not have free space equal to or exceeding the desired additional capacity, the DCE module may determine (operation 310 ) whether the existing RAID span 206 has reached its maximum span length or maximum span depth. If at least one of the span length and span depth of the existing RAID span 206 is less than the maximum span length, the DCE module may then proceed (operation 312 ) to determine whether the capacity of the existing RAID span 206 might be increased using one or more additional storage drives according to a method described below with respect to FIG. 4 . On the other hand, if the RAID span 206 is already at its maximum span depth and length, the DCE module concludes (operation 314 ) that no capacity expansion is possible.
[0050] To perform volume expansion with additional drives as illustrated in FIG. 4 , the DCE module may determine whether there are any available storage drives by first filtering (operation 402 ) the population consisting of all available storage drives according to a number of compatibility criteria or parameters to identify any available storage drives that are compatible with the existing storage drives 205 of the RAID span 206 . In at least one embodiment, the available drives may be filtered based on compatibility parameters including, as non-limiting examples, storage media type, granularity or block size, e.g., 512 v. 4K block sizes, storage protocol, e.g., SATA protocol, SAS protocol, etc., security, (e.g., self-encrypting device (SED) vs. non-SED), and device size, i.e., capacity. The filtering of operation 402 may be done to select only those drives that are compatible with the storage drives 205 of the existing RAID span 206 .
[0051] After filtering the available storage drives to identify available and compatible storage drives, the DCE module may then determine (block 404 ) whether there are any compatible storage drives available to participate in capacity expansion. If the DCE modules determines, in operation 404 , that there are no available and compatible storage drives, the DCE module terminates (operation 406 ) because capacity expansion is not possible.
[0052] Once any compatible drives have been identified by the filtering, the DCE module may begin the process of identifying particular drives to use in the capacity expansion by sorting (block 410 ) the drives in an ascending order based on capacity size. In at least one embodiment, the best drive to provide additional storage is a drive that has just enough storage to satisfy the expansion request. After sorting the available and compatible drives according to their size, the DCE module may begin a loop in which available and compatible storage drives are added incrementally until either the additional desired capacity is achieved or the RAID span equals or exceeds one or both of its depth thresholds.
[0053] The method 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 thus includes a determination (operation 418 ) of whether the volume span length and depth limits have been reached. If the span length and depth limits have been reached, method 400 terminates (operation 422 ) after concluding that no automatic capacity expansion is possible.
[0054] If the span depth and length limits have not been breached, the DCE module may then add (block 412 ) one drive at a time from the sorted list of available and compatible drives to the RAID span 206 until either: (a) the requested expansion is achieved (block 414 ), there are no more available and compatible drives left in the sorted list (operation 416 ), or a volume span length or depth limit is reached (operation 418 ). If method 400 determines that there are no more available drives or that a volume span length or span depth limit has been reached, then the requested expansion cannot be achieved and the method terminates. If the requested expansion is reached successfully, the administrator may issue (block 420 ) a command to the storage controller to perform capacity expansion using the additional drives.
[0055] The following examples assume that the administrator has specified 90% for the volume utilization threshold and 10% for the expansion percentage.
[0056] Expansion using available disk group space. Consider a system in which a 100 GB RAID 1 volume exists on two 250 GB drives. If the volume utilization reaches 90 GB (90%), the storage controller sends an event and the DCE module checks if the existing disk group has space to expand the volume to 110 GB (10% of existing volume size). Since the drives have 150 GB space available, the DCE module will trigger an expansion using 10 GB of the available 150 GB and expand the volume to 110 GB, leaving 140 GB of storage available on each drive. If the volume utilization reaches 90% a second time, the DCE module will trigger an expansion using 11 GB of the available 140 GB and expand the volume to 121 GB, leaving 129 GB of storage available on each drive. If the volume utilization reaches 90% a third time, the DCE module will trigger a third expansion using 12.1 GB of the available 129 GB and expand the volume to 133.1 GB, leaving 116.9 and so forth.
[0057] Expansion using additional drives ( FIG. 4 ). Consider a system that has three drives of 100 GB each in a 200 GB RAID 5 volume. If the volume utilization reaches 180 GB (90%), the storage controller sends an event and the DCE module checks if the existing disk group has space to expand the volume to 220 GB (10% of existing volume size). Since the disk group does not have any free space, the DCE module will kick in and add one or more compatible drives, if any, until the entire volume can be expanded to 220 GB. For example, if there are three compatible drives, one with 70 GB of capacity, a second drive with 80 GB of capacity, and a third drive with 100 GB of capacity, the DCE module may select the 100 GB drive as the smallest compatible drive with sufficient storage to satisfy the request for 220 GB of allocated capacity. Note that in this example, although the 80 GB drive could be used to create a 240 GB RAID 5 volume on 4 drives, the 80 GB drive is considered incompatible since it is smaller than the smallest drive in the existing volume.
[0058] FIG. 5 illustrates interaction between a dynamic capacity expansion engine 502 of remote access controller 145 and a host system 510 to expand the capacity of the applicable RAID span and to thereafter perform file system expansion to enable the host operating system and application programs to utilize the added capacity.
[0059] As shown in FIG. 5 , a service module 512 running on a host system 510 invokes file system APIs 522 to determine the current file system usage capacity. If the file system usage capacity equals or exceeds the utilization threshold, service module 512 may obtain “page 83 ” vital product data (VPD) from the SCSI driver 524 for the applicable file system. Service module 512 may then transfer this information to remote access controller 145 . The DCE engine 502 on remote access controller 145 may then find the appropriate RAID volume using the page 83 VPD and perform the expansion of the RAID volume.
[0060] Once DCE 502 performs expansion of the RAID volume, expansion of the corresponding file system may be performed to ensure that expanded capacity can be utilized by the OS 520 and application programs. To perform the necessary file system expansion, service module 512 may be notified by DCE engine 502 when the RAID volume expansion is complete. Service module 512 may respond to the RAID volume expansion completion notification by performing the actual file system expansion using file system APIs 522 .
[0061] Thus, the described processes perform dynamic capacity expansion for RAID volumes based on utilization threshold and an expansion factor and thereby reduce or eliminate the need for the customer to monitor storage capacity utilization and to intervene as needed.
[0062] Any one or more processes or methods described above, including processes and methods associated with the FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 flow diagrams, may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium or, more simply, a computer readable medium including processor-executable program instructions, also referred to as program code or software, that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform or otherwise results in the performance of the applicable operations.
[0063] A computer readable medium, which may also be referred to as computer readable memory or computer readable storage, encompasses volatile and non-volatile media, memory, and storage, whether programmable or not, whether randomly accessible or not, and whether implemented in a semiconductor, ferro-magnetic, optical, organic, or other suitable medium. Information handling systems may include two or more different types of computer readable medium and, in such systems, program code may be stored, in whole or in part, in two or more different types of computer readable medium.
[0064] Unless indicated otherwise, operational elements of illustrated or described methods may be combined, performed simultaneously, or performed in a different order than illustrated or described. In this regard, use of the terms first, second, etc. does not necessarily denote any order, importance, or preference, but may instead merely distinguish two or more distinct elements.
[0065] Program code for effecting described operations may be written in any appropriate combination of programming languages and encompasses human readable program code including source code as well as machine readable code including object code. Program code may be executed by a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, including, as non-limiting examples, a graphics processor, a service processor, or an embedded processor or controller.
[0066] Disclosed subject matter may be implemented in any appropriate combination of software, firmware, and hardware. Terms including circuit(s), chip(s), processor(s), device(s), computer(s), desktop(s), laptop(s), system(s), and network(s) suggest at least some hardware or structural element(s), but may encompass non-transient intangible elements including program instruction(s) and one or more data structures including one or more databases.
[0067] While the disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the disclosure encompasses various changes and equivalents substituted for elements. Therefore, the disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments expressly disclosed, but encompasses all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
[0068] As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, indicate the presence of stated features, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
|
A method of operating a redundant array of independent drives (RAID) includes obtaining, by a remote access controller, a utilization threshold and an expansion factor corresponding to a RAID volume comprising a set of existing storage drives. An indication of a utilization event indicative of a utilization of the RAID volume exceeding the utilization threshold may be received and an indication of additional capacity requested may be identified. Responsive to determining that the RAID volume has un-allocated capacity at least equal to the additional capacity, the RAID volume may be reconfigured using the existing storage drives. Responsive to determining that the RAID volume lacks un-allocated capacity greater than or equal to the additional capacity, the RAID volume may be reconfigured by identifying compatible storage drives comprising available storage drives compatible with the existing storage drives and reconfiguring the RAID volume to include a particular compatible storage drive.
| 6
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a coating device for uniform coating of a traveling web of material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pressurized coater which eliminates the captive pond associated with pressurized pond coaters, and provides the coating material in the form of a flowing stream of liquid coating composition which flows in the same direction as the web movement in a vortex-free coater reducing wall shear stress on the coating material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One of the most significant changes in light weight coated (LWC) paper production is the use of the pressurized pond coater. The pressurized pond coater such as short-dwell coaters has enabled the paper maker to improve productivity while maintaining coated paper quality. The term "short-dwell" refers to the relatively short period of time that the coating is in contact with a web of paper material before the excess is metered off by a trailing doctor blade. Prior art short-dwell coaters consist of a captive pond just prior to a doctor blade. The pond is approximately 5 cm in length and is slightly pressurized to promote adhesion of the coating to the paper web. The excess coating supplied to the sheet creates a backflow of coating. This coating backflow provides a wetting line and thus, to some extent, excludes the boundary layer of air entering with the sheet and eliminates skip coating. The excess coating is typically channeled over an overflow baffle and collected in a return pan before returning to tanks to be screened.
While pond coaters are extensively used in coating paper webs, such coaters suffer from a major problem. The flow in the coating chamber of the pond upstream of the doctor blade contains recirculating eddies or vortices which can result in coat-weight nonuniformities and wet streaks or striations in several ways. For example, these eddies can become unstable due to centrifugal forces and result in the generation of unsteady flow and rapidly fluctuating vortices, which deteriorate the coating uniformity and its quality. Also, the vortices tend to entrap small air bubbles which result in the buildup of relatively large air inclusions in the coating liquid which tend to accumulate in the core region of the eddies. Vortex fluctuations tend to force these air inclusions into the blade gap. This adversely affects the coating quality. Usually, the presence of air inclusions results in regions of lower coat weight which are 2-4 cm wide and about 10-100 cm long, known in the industry as "wet streaks". These problems are discussed in an article "Principles of Hydrodynamic Instability: Application in Coating Systems", C. K. Aidun, Tappi Journal, Vol. 74, No. 3, March, 1991.
Previously, geometries utilizing streamlined boundaries in coating devices have been employed to eliminate the formation of recirculating eddies or vortices. See, e.g., Aidun, U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,551 entitled "Coating Device for Traveling Webs," wherein curvilinear geometries are employed for the elimination of vortices and flow instability due to centrifugal forces, and for the avoidance of harmful pressure fluctuations which could result in coat-weight nonuniformities. The elimination of recirculating eddies or vortices also reduces the possibility of entrapping air pockets or air bubbles in the core of the vortices which could reach the blade gap and could result in coat-weight nonuniformities and wet streaks.
Additionally, the walls of the coating composition application chamber in conventional coating devices are considered rigid and do not deform under the effect of hydrodynamic pressure, and thus exert shear stress by the flow on the boundaries in contact with the coating liquid. Such wall shear stress on the coating liquid creates flow separation from the applicator walls in the application chamber which also results in coat-weight nonuniformities and wet streaks, as well as, recirculating eddies and vortices. Pranckh, F. R., and Scriven, L. E., "The Physics of Blade Coating of Deformable Substrate," 1988 Coating Conference Proc., TAPPI Press, Atlanta, Ga., (1988) have provided a detailed analysis of blade coating using a finite element approximation method including the complex interactions of the boundary in addition to the solution of the flow field and free surface location. The blade was modeled as a thin, inextensible, elastic solid and the substrate deformed due to normal stresses. In Aidun, U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,376 entitled "Floatation Coating Device for Traveling Webs," one of the applicator walls is designed to be a floating or moving wall or belt. The effect of the floating applicator wall is to reduce vortices through the use of a moving substrate, e.g. a suspended belt, as the applicator wall which moves with a given speed with the liquid to prevent flow separation and recirculation inside the application chamber. The floatation coating device for traveling webs seeks to alleviate recirculations in a fixed domain pressurized pond coating system. The combination of a moving applicator wall and a sufficient flowrate allow for the design of a vortex-free coater configuration.
Development of high speed blade coating is of particular interest in the industry to enhance production, and to reduce cost the analysis of the coating process which is complex because the governing equations of fluid motion are non-linear and the free-surface position is part of the unknown. Moreover, the non-linear constitutive behavior of typical coating fluids increases the complexity.
It would be desirable to provide a coating device which has the coating advantages of a short-dwell coater, but which did not have the problems associated with recirculating eddies or vortices and the entrapment of air pockets or air bubbles in the core of the vortices.
It would be further desirable to provide a coating device with reduced shear stress on the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition in the application chamber as the coating composition downstreams.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a coating device which receives a liquid flow of a carrier fluid introduced in the direction of the travel of the web positioning the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition between the carrier fluid and the web with reduced shear stress on the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition in the application chamber as the coating composition downstreams.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a coating device which receives the flow of carrier fluid through a channel for directing air flow into the coating composition application chamber below the flow of the liquid coating composition reducing shear stress on the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a vortex-free short-dwell coating device.
These and other objects will become more apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to coating devices for application of coating material to the surface of a web or a flexible substrate. Such coating devices employ a pressurized channel where a flowing stream of the coating liquid comes into contact with the substrate. The coating liquid first enters at the upstream side of the channel wetting the substrate as it flows in the same direction with the substrate. A doctor element is positioned at the downstream side of the channel where the excess coating in the channel follows the contour of the boundary formed by the doctor element and leaves the channel.
The present invention is further directed toward the study of flow patterns in blade coating to develop high-speed coaters, wherein the coater may be modified to provide an air layer between the coating liquid and any lower boundary. The air layer thus serves as a carrier fluid.
The coater devices of the described embodiments provide two inlet channels and an outlet channel. The first inlet channel carries the coating liquid, and the second channel can be used to pump the carrier fluid, e.g. air, into the coating head to pressurize the chamber and to keep the contact wetting line at the upstream section attached to the substrate. The air pressure can vary from zero to any level appropriate for the coating operation. The air layer serves as a carrier fluid removing the wall shear stress on the coating liquid in the channel, and thus the coating flow for the operation of the device may proceed without flow separation from the wall (i.e., in a vortex-free mode) at relatively low flow rates appropriate for commercial applications. The excess coating liquid and all of the air leave the coater head at the outlet channel. The blade is used to meter the excess coating from the substrate.
Accordingly the pressure inside the channel may be increased above ambient pressure, if necessary, in order to prevent air entrainment into the coating liquid. However, the system may also operate at ambient pressure if air entrainment is not an issue. The revised vortex-free coater and computation simulation of the flow in the system are presented below. The computation simulations assume ambient pressure in the air layer and, therefore, consider the coating layer just upstream of the blade.
Briefly summarized, the present invention relates to high speed coating methods and apparatus for applying a liquid coating composition on a web of material as the web travels along a path through the device from an upstream direction to a downstream direction with a doctor element being spaced from the web and extending across the path of the web transversely of the direction of travel of the web. A coating composition application chamber receives the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition from the upstream direction to the downstream direction, and comprises an upstream interior side wall and an upstream boundary wall for directing the liquid coating composition flow into the application chamber, and the doctor element for spreading and defining the thickness of the liquid coating composition on the web at the downstream side of the application chamber. The coating composition application chamber is further adapted for receiving a liquid flow of a carrier fluid introduced at the upstream side of the application chamber in the direction of the travel of the web positioning the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition between the carrier fluid and the web, the liquid coating composition flowing from the upstream side of the application chamber in the direction of the travel of the web to the doctor element defining a path which the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition downstreams in the direction of travel of the web with reduced shear stress on the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition in the application chamber as the coating composition downstreams.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a short-dwell coating device according to the invention;
FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the short-dwell coating device according to the invention;
FIG. 1C represents a domain description in cross-section for the described studies of the short-dwell coating devices according to the invention;
FIG. 2 represents a gap region description of the domain for short-dwell coating devices;
FIG. 3 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as a mesh drawing representation of the domain;
FIG. 4 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as streamlines in the domain;
FIG. 5 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as mesh of applicator channel exit;
FIG. 6 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as streamlines in applicator channel exit;
FIG. 7 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as pressure contours in applicator channel exit;
FIG. 8 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as mesh of gap region;
FIG. 9 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as streamlines in gap region;
FIG. 10 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as velocity field in gap region;
FIG. 11 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as pressure contours in gap region;
FIG. 12 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as mesh of blade tip region;
FIG. 13 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as streamlines in blade tip region;
FIG. 14 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as pressure contours in blade tip region;
FIG. 15 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as horizontal velocity profile at midpoint of blade tip;
FIG. 16 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as horizontal velocity profile at endpoint of blade tip;
FIG. 17 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as horizontal velocity profile at Γ 6 ;
FIG. 18 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as pressure distribution along the blade;
FIG. 19 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as pressure distribution along the substrate;
FIG. 20 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as pressure distribution along the blade tip;
FIG. 21 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as coating thickness vs inlet flowrate;
FIG. 22 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as film flowrate vs inlet flowrate;
FIG. 23 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as coating thickness vs thickness under web;
FIG. 24 illustrates the web speed variation shown as coating thickness vs web speed;
FIG. 25 illustrates the web speed variation shown as coating thickness vs reynolds number; and
FIG. 26 illustrates the web speed variation shown as coating thickness vs capillary number.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
As shown in FIG. 1A, the short-dwell coating device 10 of the present invention includes of a first continuous channel 12 for receiving a liquid coating composition material 14 which passes through a coating application chamber 16 which is in contact with a roll or web 18 of material which is to be coated. The coating device 10 further includes of a second continuous channel 20 for receiving a liquid flow of a carrier fluid such as air 22 which also passes through a coating application chamber 16 positioning the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition 14 between the carrier fluid 22 and the web 18 of material which is to be coated. For purposes of orientation and discussion, the coating chamber has an upstream side and a downstream side with respect to movement of the web with the upstream side being to the left of FIG. 1A. The use of the terms "horizontal" and "vertical" are with respect to a horizontal orientation of the web 18. The web 18, however, is usually supported on a counter roll and has a slight curvature in the region of the coating application chamber 16.
The coating devices described herein include a blade or doctor element 24 which is spaced from the web 18 for defining the thickness of the coating on the web 18. The doctor element 24 extends across the 18 web transversely to the direction of the web motion. The doctor element also forms a downstream boundary wall of the coating chamber 16 and extends downwardly for a further distance to define the downstream wall of an exit plenum or outlet channel 26 formed between the doctor element 24 and a downstream interior wall 28 in the embodiment of FIG. 1A, for the circulation of the liquid flow of the carrier fluid, e.g., air 22 which circulates with the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition 14 through the coating application chamber 16 as the web 18 of material which is coated.
In FIG. 1A, an upstream boundary wall 30 defines the upstream side of the coating device 10. The upstream boundary wall 30 extends downwardly for a further distance to define the upstream side of an entrance plenum of the first channel 12. The upstream boundary wall 30 terminates at its uppermost end in contact with the web 18 via a contact line or wetting line 32 of the liquid coating composition 14, thus preventing air entrainment at the upstream section 34. As shown, the terminal end 36 of the upstream boundary wall 30 preferably has a curvilinear shape so that this terminus of the upstream boundary wall is substantially tangential to the web 18. The upstream boundary wall 30 and its terminal end 36 also extend across the web transversely to the direction of the web motion.
The coating device 10 and particularly the coating application chamber 16 are represented in cross-section in FIG. 1A. The embodiment of FIG. 1A provides interior walls including an upstream interior side wall 38, an interior top wall 40 and an downstream interior side wall 42. The interior walls 38, 40 and 42 in combination with the upstream boundary wall 30 and the doctor element 24 define the coating composition application chamber 16 of the embodiment. The coating composition application chamber 16 is further adapted for receiving the liquid flow of the carrier fluid 22 as a fluid layer introduced from the upstream side of the application chamber substantially parallel to and in the direction of the travel of the web supporting the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition 14 between the fluid layer 22 and the web 18.
The fluid layer opposite the web defines a top interior fluid layer wall above the interior top wall 40 and the fluid layer opposite the doctor blade defining a downstream interior fluid layer wall adjacent the downstream interior side wall 42. The top interior fluid layer wall of the carrier fluid 22 provide a layer which substantially conveys the liquid coating composition 14 from the terminating curvilinear section of the upstream interior wall in the direction of the travel of the web to the doctor element 24. The coating device 10 also provides the upstream boundary wall 30 and the upstream interior side wall 38 as upwardly inclined in a direction toward the downstream side; the downstream interior wall 42 and the doctor element 24 being downwardly inclined in a direction toward or away from the upstream side. Accordingly, the upstream walls 30, 38, the top interior fluid layer wall and web 18, the downstream interior fluid layer wall and doctor element 24 thus define a path in which the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition 14 downstreams in the direction of travel of the web 18 to at least reduce wall shear stress on the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition from the interior fluid layer wall as the coating composition downstreams thereon, reducing the formation of recirculating eddies and vortices in the coating composition.
FIG. 1B shows an another embodiment of a short-dwell coating device 50 of the present invention which includes of a first continuous channel 52 for receiving the liquid coating composition material 14 which passes through a coating application chamber 56 in contact with the web 18 to be coated. The coating device 50 also includes of a second continuous channel 54 for receiving a liquid flow of the carrier fluid, e.g., air 22 which also passes through the coating application chamber 56 positioning the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition 14 between the carrier fluid 22 and the web 18 of material which is to be coated, as in the embodiment of FIG. 1A discussed above. The FIG. 1B embodiment however does not utilize the interior top wall 40 and downstream interior side wall 42 of FIG. 1A, and thus allows the carrier fluid 22 to exit into the open area of the coating application chamber 56, which may be provided under pressure. At an upstream opening 58 of the second continuous channel 54, the liquid coating composition material 14 is pressed as a layer against the web 18. The flow rate of the liquid coating composition material 14 is reduced in the FIG. 1B embodiment, with respect to the FIG. 1A embodiment, and an approximately 1 mm. thick layer the liquid coating composition material 14 adhering to the web 18 travels the 5 to 10 centimeters in the coating application chamber 56 to a doctor element 60 biased with a load 62 to spread and define the thickness of the liquid coating composition 14 on the web 18. As in the FIG. 1A embodiment, the doctor element 60 also extends across the path of the web 18 transversely of the direction of travel of the web 18.
Pressure provided at the upstream opening 58 of the second continuous channel 54 is desirable where the liquid coating composition material 14 is layered against the web 18 to prevent air entrainment by maintaining the contact or wetting line of the liquid coating composition 14 with the web 18, as discussed above. Advantageously however, any pressure provided in the coating application chamber 56 of the FIG. 1B embodiment is reduced downstream of the opening 58, and thus the likelihood of downstream entrainment by the carrier fluid itself is reduced.
The coating device 50 and particularly the coating application chamber 56 are represented in cross-section in FIG. 1B. The embodiment of FIG. 1B provides an upstream interior side wall 64 and an upstream boundary wall 66 for directing the liquid coating composition flow into the application chamber 56. The coating composition application chamber 56 also is adapted for receiving the liquid flow of the carrier fluid 22 introduced at the upstream side of the application chamber 56 in the direction of the travel of the web 18 positioning the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition 14 between the carrier fluid 22 and the web 18. The liquid coating composition 14 thus flow from the upstream side of the application chamber in the direction of the travel of the web 18 to the doctor element 60 defining a path which the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition downstreams in the direction of travel of the web with reduced shear stress on the flowing stream of the liquid coating composition in the application chamber as the coating composition downstreams.
The embodiments described concern the study of modified vortex-free coater configurations in an effort to investigate the hydrodynamic behavior of the current system at very low flow rates. Avoidance of flow separation and recirculation is shown in studies by way of computer modelling. The flow field and the free surface boundary location are solved using a Galerkin finite element approach for web speeds ranging from 15 m/s to 30 m/s and flow rates from 4 to 7 liter/sec./mete (1/s/m). Several mechanisms of instability are present due to the complexity of the domain in coating devices. The non-linear constitutive behavior of typical coating fluids increases the complexity. Boundaries within such high speed coating devices are typically flexible, permeable, and unknown in different regions. Accordingly, the flow is modeled as being nearly parallel throughout the majority of the domain, with the important exception of the region in which the web and the blade converge forcing some of the liquid under the blade tip and the rest to curve and flow down the blade.
In the gap region, between the substrate and the blade tip, the flow is nearly parallel and experiences high shear rates. Squires theorem requires that the first instability in parallel shear flows occur due to a two-dimensional instability. In the returning flow, the possibility of centrifugal instabilities to three-dimensional disturbances exist. The flow field of a blade coater with a lower free surface is examined. The flow is assumed to be incompressible, two-dimensional and steady. The effects of flowrate and web speed variation on the design will provide insight into the optimal operating conditions. A further analysis of the stability of the resulting solutions to 2-D and 3-D disturbances will provide additional information. The velocity field, pressure field, and location of the two free surfaces of the blade coater is depicted in FIG. 1C with parameters detailed in Tables 1 and 2. The region of particular interest is shown in FIG. 2, here the blade (G 4 ) and the web (G 2 ), converge to form a gap with a vertical cross-section length (blade gap) of 50 microns. A portion of the fluid pumped in at the inlet (G 1 ) proceeds through the gap and coats the substrate, while the excess is scraped off and flows nearly parallel to the blade.
TABLE 1______________________________________Fluid Parameters______________________________________ρ density 1200 kg/m.sup.3μ.sub.o zero shear rate 1.0 kg/(m-s) viscosityμ.sub.∞ infinite shear rate 0.05 kg/(m-s) viscosityγ surface tension 0.05 kg/s.sup.2c Carreau exponent 0.65K time constant 0.01 sU.sub.web web velocity varies from 15-30 m/sU.sub.inlet centerline velocity on varies from 2-5 m/s inletq.sub.inlet inlet flowrate varies from 4-7 l/s/m______________________________________
TABLE 2______________________________________Geometry Parameters______________________________________L.sub.inlet inlet length 0.0025 mL.sub.gap gap length 50 E-6 mL.sub.ace applicator channel 0.5 mm exitL.sub.thick blade thickness 1.25 mmL.sub.blade blade length (modeled) 60.104 mmL.sub.web web length (modeled) 59.551 mm<.sub.blade angle of blade 45°C.sub.t coating thickness O(10 μm)W.sub.t vertical distance from O(100 μm) web to free surface at C--C______________________________________
The problem can be defined in a dimensionless manner. The inlet cross-section length and web velocity are used as the length and velocity scales. Table 3 relates the dimensionless quantities to the parameters given in Tables 1 and 2.
TABLE 3______________________________________Dimensionless Quantities______________________________________Re Reynolds Number ##STR1##Ca Capillary Number ##STR2##We Weber Number ##STR3##______________________________________
The equations governing the flow in the coater are continuity and momentum ##EQU1## Here σ ij denotes the stress tensor, is assumed to be of the form
σ.sub.ij =-pδ.sub.ij +τ.sub.ij
Where τ ij denotes the deviatoric stress tensor with the constitutive relation
τ.sub.ij =2με.sub.ij
Where ε ij is the rate of strain tensor, given by ##EQU2## The fluid for the current application is assumed to be shear thinning, the dynamic viscosity is approximated by the Carreau constitutive model
μ=μ.sub.∞ +(μ.sub.o -μ.sub.∞) 1+K.sup.2 ε.sub.ij ε.sub.ij !.sup.(n-1)/2 (3)
where μ o and μ.sub.∞ denote the zero and infinite shear rate viscosities. The parameters in the Carreau model are determined based on the behavior of typical coating colors.
The above equations are non-dimensionalized using the velocity of the web and the width of the inlet channel as the velocity and length scales respectively
U.sub.s =U.sub.web, L.sub.s =L.sub.inlet
The velocity and pressure are scaled using the velocity and dynamic pressure scales ##EQU3## The superscript * denotes dimensionless variable. The independent variables, position and time, are scaled using the velocity and length scales ##EQU4## The body force f i is non-dimensionalized ##EQU5## The continuity, momentum, and constitutive relations can respectively be expressed in dimensionless form as ##EQU6## The Dirichlet boundary conditions for this coating system are specified as ##EQU7## Neumann conditions are applied at the outflow boundaries
σ.sub.n.sup.* |.sub.r.sbsb.5 =σ.sub.n.sup.* |.sub.r.sbsb.6 =0 Γ.sub.5 =>exit, Γ.sub.6 =>gap exit
On the free surfaces (Γ 7 and Γ 8 ) the kinematic condition is given by ##EQU8## When the flow is independent of time this condition reduces to
μ.sub.i *n.sub.i =0 (7)
where n i is the unit vector normal to the surface.
The dynamic boundary condition requires the stress to be continuous across the interface, therefore the normal and tangential stresses are respectively given by ##EQU9## The fluid surface tension, γ, is constant, therefore the tangential component of the traction vector is zero. The above dynamic boundary condition is non-dimensionalized by ##EQU10##
The above non-dimensional equations (4) and (5) with the constitutive relation (6) and appropriate boundary conditions completely describe the flow field. The finite element method is employed via FIDAP to solve for the velocity and pressure at discrete points within the domain. The unknown boundary location is determined in a fully coupled manner by simultaneously requiring the condition (7) be satisfied on the free surfaces.
The governing equations, constitutive relation, and boundary conditions completely define the given blade coating problem. The domain is discretized using 9-noded, isoparametric, quadrilateral elements. The velocity is approximated over the element using biquadtratic basis functions and the pressure with bilinear basis functions. The free surface boundary is determined by satisfying the steady state kinematic and dynamic conditions in a fully coupled manner.
The nonlinearity of the governing equations requires an iterative solution approach. The stokes flow in the fixed domain provides an initial guess for the Newton-Raphson iteration procedure. Parameter continuation methods are used to assist in the variation of the parameters to reach the desired solution for given boundary conditions. Convergence is achieved when the norm of the solution change in between iterations is less than 10 -3 .
The resulting coater configurations and streamlines are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 for the cases listed in Table 4. A noticeable change in the free surface location is apparent as the flowrate is varied. An increase in flowrate results in a larger vertical cross-section under the web, a decrease in exit cross-section width on G 5 , and an increase in the exit velocity magnitude on the same boundary.
The desire to avoid recirculating flow and minimize surface defects leads us to examine closely three regions where flow separation and recirculation is possible; the meniscus just aft of the applicator channel, the corner where the blade and web converge to construct the gap, and the blade tip where a meniscus forms and the substrate is coated. The mesh, streamlines, and pressure contours are plotted for these three regions in FIGS. 5-14. As demonstrated in these figures, the results show no flow separation or flow recirculation. A true vortex-free coating flow system exists at low flow rates (4 1/s/m) and high coating speeds (20 m/s).
The velocity profiles in the gap region provide insight into the coating quality. FIG. 15 shows the horizontal, non-dimensional velocity profile at a location A--A on the blade tip while FIG. 16 depicts the profile at location B--B, the endpoint of the blade tip. FIG. 17 illustrates the effect of flowrate variation shown as horizontal velocity profile at Γ 6 , the gap exit. At the static contact line it is clear that the formation of the meniscus slightly affects the velocity profile. The apparently linear pressure distribution along the blade tip, FIG. 20, indicates an almost constant pressure gradient in the gap that increases with the flowrate. These velocity profiles and pressure distribution demonstrate a nearly Poiseuille-Couette velocity distribution, the linear combination of flow between two walls at a relative velocity to one another and flow between stationary walls with a constant pressure gradient. Thus, the coating flowrate and thickness increase slightly with the increase in the inlet flowrate due to the larger pressure gradient, see FIGS. 21, 22 and 23. The portion of the coater where the blade and web form a converging channel is much more affected by the flowrate variation.
Examination of the corner region formed by web and blade, presented in FIG. 8, shows significant free surface shape variation with flowrate variation. As the flowrate is decreased the free surface migrates toward the gap threatening to entirely disappear into the gap with further reduction of the inlet flowrate. The corresponding streamlines are shown in FIG. 9.
The pressure along the blade and substrate are shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, all graphed quantities are non-dimensionalized. Table 6 can be used to convert all variables to dimensional quantities. Away from the gap the pressure remains fairly constant. Within the gap region the pressure peaks at the leading edge of the blade, just upstream of the gap. The maximum pressure increases as flowrate increases. At higher flowrates, the pressure increases in a more gradual manner, exhibiting a more distinct plateau. Following the peak, the flow field experiences sub-ambient pressures and then adjusts to the ambient exit pressure. The pressure contours in the gap region, shown in FIG. 11, indicate that a decrease in flowrate causes a larger pressure gradient but decreases the value of the maximum pressure.
TABLE 5__________________________________________________________________________Case Study - Effect of Web Speed Variation U.sub.web U.sub.P q.sub.inlet q.sub.film C.sub.i WeCase m/s m/s l/s/m l/s/m μm Re Ca l/ReCa__________________________________________________________________________C6V15 15 3.6 6 0.409921 27.42438 45 300 1/13500C6V20 20 3.6 6 0.552128 27.66575 60 400 1/24000C6V25 25 3.6 6 0.695813 27.873 75 500 1/37500C6V30 30 3.6 6 0.841083 28.0655 90 600 1/54000C7V15 15 4.2 7 0.410793 27.48275 45 300 1/13500C7V20 20 4.2 7 0.553462 27.7325 60 400 1/24000C7V25 25 4.2 7 0.698024 27.9615 75 500 1/37500C7V30 30 4.2 7 0.844202 28.1695 90 600 1/54000__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 4__________________________________________________________________________Case Study - Effect of Flowrate Variation U.sub.web U.sub.inlet q.sub.inlet q.sub.film q.sub.exit C.sub.i W.sub.i WeCase m/s m/s l/s/m l/s/m l/s/m μm μm Re Ca l/ReCa__________________________________________________________________________C4V20 20 2.4 4 .5481175 3.61508 27.465 208.4447 60 400 1/24000C5V20 20 3 5 .550354 4.611883 27.575 259.0522 60 400 1/24000C6V20 20 3.6 6 .552128 5.60895 27.66575 309.472 60 400 1/24000C7V20 20 4.2 7 .553462 6.52 27.7325 354.6727 60 400 1/24000__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 6______________________________________Conversion to Dimensional Unitsdimensionle web multiply dimensionalssquantity scale speed by units______________________________________p* ρU.sub.s.sup.2 = ρU.sup.2.sub.web 15 m/s 0.270 E + 6 Pap* ρU.sub.s.sup.2 = ρU.sup.2.sub.web 20 m/s 0.480 E + 6 Pap* ρU.sub.s.sup.2 = ρU.sup.2.sub.web 25 m/s 0.750 E + 6 Pap* ρU.sub.s.sup.2 = ρU.sup.2.sub.web 30 m/s 1.080 E + 6 Paq* U.sub.s L.sub.s = U.sub.web L.sub.inlet 15 m/s 37.5 l/s/mq* U.sub.s L.sub.s = U.sub.web L.sub.inlet 20 m/s 50.0 l/s/mq* U.sub.s L.sub.s = U.sub.web L.sub.inlet 25 m/s 62.5 l/s/mq* U.sub.s L.sub.s = U.sub.web L.sub.inlet 30 m/s 75.0 l/s/mu.sub.i * U.sub.s = U.sub.web 15 m/s 15 m/su.sub.i * U.sub.s = U.sub.web 20 m/s 20 m/su.sub.i * U.sub.s = U.sub.web 25 m/s 25 m/su.sub.i * U.sub.s = U.sub.web 30 m/s 30 m/sx.sub.i * L.sub.s = L.sub.inlet all 0.0025 m______________________________________
Table 5 gives results for the variation of the web speed for two flowrates; 6 and 7 1/s/m. The increase in web speed is effectively an increase in the two non-dimensional parameters characterizing the flow, the Reynolds Number and the Capillary Number. Here we find that as the inertial effects are magnified, the pressure gradient increases while the maximum pressure decreases. Along the web, a gradual pressure adjustment followed by a sharp pressure peak is observed at lower Reynolds Numbers. The effects of increase in web speed appear to have a qualitative relation to the effects of decreasing the flowrate.
A nearly Poiseuille-Couette velocity profile is again present in the gap region. Increasing web speed forces a greater amount of fluid to exit the gap through viscous shear and the nearly constant pressure gradient. Coating thickness increase is observed with an increase of web speed, as shown in FIGS. 24, 25 and 26.
The results of the present analysis exhibit qualitative agreement with those of Pranckh & Scriven (1988), as discussed above in connection with the background of the invention. The graphical flow solution in the present study, FIGS. 8-14, should be compared to those of Pranckh & Scriven for the velocity field, streamlines, and pressure contours of their base case. Pranckh & Scriven looked at the pressure distribution along the substrate for their base case and another case where both the Reynolds Number and flowrate were increased. In their base case Pranckh & Scriven found the pressure distribution had an inflection point, or plateau, followed by a peak just prior to the leading edge of the blade. Pranckh & Scriven found increasing the Reynolds Number and flowrate decreased the maximum pressure and eliminated the pressure plateau.
In the described embodiments it is determined that the pressure profile along the substrate has a peak just prior to the gap. The slope of the pressure plateau and the dimensionless pressure peak were also found to decrease with increasing Reynolds Number. The described embodiments also investigate the effects of the variation of the web speed (or Re| q=const and Ca| q=const ) and flowrate (q| Uweb=const ) on the coating thickness, see FIGS. 24, 25 and 26. Similar to Pranckh & Scriven, it is found that the coating thickness varies nearly linearly with the increase in Reynolds Number, Capillary Number, and flowrate.
While preferred embodiments of the invention has been shown and described for the apparatus and method for coating devices for traveling webs in which a flowing stream of liquid coating composition flows in the same direction as the web movement in a vortex-free coater reducing wall shear stress on the coating material, other embodiments of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the claims.
Appendix:
Nomenclature
δ ij Kronecker delta
ε ij rate of strain tensor
γ surface tension
Γ i boundary
η height of free surface
μ dynamic viscosity
μ o zero shear rate viscosity
μ.sub.∞ infinite shear rate viscosity
ρ density
σ ij stress tensor
σ n normal component of the traction vector
σ t tangential component of the traction vector
τ ij deviatoric stress tensor
Ca Capillary Number
C t coating thickness
c Carreau exponent
f i component of gravitational acceleration
H Gaussian mean curvature of the free surface
K time constant
L ace applicator channel exit
L blade blade length (modeled)
L gap gap length
L inlet inlet length
L s length scale
L thick blade thickness
L web web length (modeled)
1/s/m (liter/sec)/meter
m/s meter/sec
n i unit normal vector
p pressure
p a ambient pressure
q exit flowrate exiting along blade
q film flowrate exiting gap
q inlet inlet flowrate
Re Reynolds Number
S singularity
t time
t i unit tangent vector
U inlet centerline velocity on inlet Poiseuille profile
U s length scale
U web web velocity
u i velocity
We Weber Number
W t vertical distance from web to free surface at C--C
x i Cartesian coordinate
< blade angle of blade
* superscript denotes dimensionless variable
|
Coating devices for application of coating material to the surface of a web or a flexible substrate utilizing the study of flow patterns in blade coating to develop high-speed coaters, wherein the coater may be modified to provide an air layer between the coating liquid and any lower boundary. The coater devices of the described embodiments provide two inlet channels and an outlet channel. The first inlet channel carries the coating liquid, and the second channel can be used to pump the carrier fluid, e.g. air, into the coating head to pressurize the chamber and to keep the contact wetting line at the upstream section attached to the substrate. The air layer serves as a carrier fluid removing the wall shear stress on the coating liquid in the channel, and thus the coating flow for the operation of the device may proceed without flow separation from the wall (i.e., in a vortex-free mode) at relatively low flow rates appropriate for commercial applications. The excess coating liquid and all of the air leave the coater head at the outlet channel. A coating composition application chamber receives the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition from the upstream direction to the downstream direction. The coating composition application chamber is adapted for receiving a liquid flow of a carrier fluid introduced at the upstream side of the application chamber in the direction of the travel of the web positioning the liquid flow of the liquid coating composition between the carrier fluid and the web.
| 3
|
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to high affinity immunoreagents which are specific for the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally-cleaved) form(s) of prostate specific antigen (PSA or hK3). It also relates to the discrimination of prostate cancer from healthy asymptomatic men or benign prostatic conditions by an analytically sensitive immunoassay, employing the aforementioned immunoreagents, for the specific determination of the single-chain, intact (not internally cleaved) form(s) of free, noncomplexed PSA (free SCINT PSA), or by combining the result from this immunoassay with immunoassays measuring any other forms of the prostatic kallikreins, PSA or hK2, either by forming various ratios of these or by combining them with other means, e.g. using logistic regression and/or artificial neural networks. The invention may be used for detection of prostate cancer both in screening of asymptomatic individuals as well as in distinguishing cancer from benign conditions in men presenting with clinical symptoms (e.g. lower urinary tract symptoms, LUTS). Further, the invention may be used to improve the staging and grading of prostate cancer as well as to provide improved means to detect recurrency of cancer at early stage and provide improved means to monitor therapeutic response at various stages of disease. Suitable biological specimens for the immunoassay determinations are mainly serum, plasma or whole blood samples, but the invention may also be applied to other biological fluids such as urine and seminal fluid samples.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The publications and other materials used herein to illuminate the background of the invention, and in particular, cases to provide additional details respecting the practice, are incorporated by reference.
[0003] Prostate-specific antigen (PSA; also designated hK3) and human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2) are two closely related serine proteases highly expressed, predominantly in prostatic tissue. [Wang et al. Invest Urol 1979; 17:159-163, Lilja J Clin Invest 1985; 76:1899-1903, Chapdelaine et al. FEBS Lett 1988; 236:205-208]. The PSA gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 19 and has >84% nucleotide sequence identity with hK2. The two proteins also show extensive similarity in amino-acid sequence (79%) but the expression rates are quite different (hK2 mRNA levels amount to ˜10-20% of PSA mRNA levels) [Schedlich et al. DNA 1987; 6:429-437]. PSA is synthesized as a 261 amino acid preproform from which the 17-21 amino acid signal peptide is cleaved and released in the secretion process. The remaining zymogen form of PSA is activated to an active serine protease by cleavage of 3-7 amino acid propeptide [Lövgren et al Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 1997; 238; 549-555]. Recently, recombinant hK2 was shown to convert in vitro inactive recombinant proPSA into active mature PSA [Lövgren et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1997; 238:549-555, Takayama et al. J Biol Chem 1997; 272:21582-21588, Kumar et al. Cancer Res 1997; 57:3111-3114]. Therefore, hK2 is likely a physiological activator of proPSA. Enzymatically active PSA is secreted into seminal fluid at high concentrations (0.2-5 mg/mL) [Christensson et al. Eur J Biochem 1990; 194:755-763, Ahlgren et al. 1995 J Androl 16:491-498]. In semen, PSA degrades the seminal vesicle derived gel-forming proteins semenogelin I and II, causing liquefaction of semen and release of progressively motile spermatozoa [Lilja J Clin Invest 1985; 76:1899-1903]. The action of PSA generates hydrolysis of peptide bonds, mainly C-terminal, of certain tyrosine- and glutamine residues in semenogelin I and II [Malm et al. The Prostate 2000; In press]. By contrast, hK2 generates distinctly different cleavage patterns in semenogelin I and II compared to those generated by the action of PSA, though it is presently unclear whether the hK2 action on the gel proteins has physiological significance [Lövgren et al. Eur. J. Biochem. 1999; 262; 781-789].
[0004] Enzymatically active PSA has been shown to manifest unique substrate specificity with limited similarity to chymotrypsin-like proteases [Lilja et al. J Biol Chem 1989; 264:1894-1900 Christensson et al. Eur J Biochem 1990; 194:755-763, Malm et al. The Prostate 2000; In press]. The active single-chain form of PSA forms stable covalent complexes with several extracellular protease inhibitors, such as α 1 -antichymotrypsin (ACT), α 2 -macroglobulin (AMG), pregnancy-zone protein (PZP), protein C inhibitor (PCI), and α 1 -antitrypsin (API) [Christensson et al. Eur J Biochem 1990; 194:755-763, Stenman et al. Cancer Res 1991; 51:222-226, España et al. Thromb Res 1991; 64:309-320, Christensson and Lilja Eur J Biochem 1994; 220:45-53, Zhang et al. Prostate 1997; 33:87-96]. In blood, the predominant immunodetectable form of PSA is covalently linked in complex with ACT and only a minor fraction is in a free, noncomplexed form (PSA-F) [Stenman et al. Cancer Res 1991; 51:222-226, Lilja et al. Clin Chem 1991; 37:1618-1625].
[0005] LNCAP (lymph node cancer of the prostate) is a human metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma cell line that was isolated in 1977 from a needle aspiration biopsy of a patient with confirmed metastatic prostate cancer. Various forms of free PSA have been found in spent cell culture medium of LNCAP cells. Corey et al. and Väisänen et al. reported LNCAP cells to produce zymogen forms of PSA (proPSA) and a mature intact form of PSA. However, the LNCaP cells do not appear to produce any internally cleaved forms of PSA, by contrast to PSA from seminal fluid which partially occurs as enzymatically inactive forms due to internally cleavage(s) mainly between Lys 145 and Lys 146 [Christensson et al. Eur J Biochem 1990; 194:755-763]. The zymogen form of PSA has been found also in serum of patients with prostate cancer. Since the zymogen form of PSA is enzymatically inactive, it cannot form complexes with serpins and is likely to remain in a free form in the circulation. There are also other, contradictory reports on the nature of the free PSA form occurring in serum, stating that it is a cleaved, inactive form resulting from internal cleavage(s) or that it represents an unclipped mature but enzymatically inactive form of PSA.
[0006] The incidence of prostate cancer has increased during the last decade mainly due to prolonged lifetime and increased screening. This fact underlines the need of improved diagnostic approaches and new treatments. Analysis of PSA in serum is well established in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate-cancer (PCa) patients [Oesterling J Urol 1991; 145:907-923]. However, raised serum concentrations of PSA are also found in patients with other prostatic diseases, for instance benign hyperplasia of the prostate (BPH) [Hudson et al. J Urol 1989; 142:1011-1017]. The discovery of several different molecular forms of PSA in serum have significantly improved the specificity of diagnosis and monitoring for PCa. Patients with BPH have higher proportions of free-to-total PSA (i.e. PSA-F+PSA-ACT+ other quantitatively less important PSA-serpin complexes), or free-to-complexed PSA in serum than patients with PCa. This has resulted in the use of free-to-total PSA (also called percent free PSA) to distinguish between BPH and PCa in men with moderately elevated PSA levels in serum [Stenman et al. Cancer Res 1991; 51:222-226, Christensson et al. J Urol 1993; 150:100-105]. Although this has improved the specificity for PCa, there is still considerable overlap between the two groups of men and therefore a great need for markers, which provide further improved discrimination of men with cancer from normal men and men with benign conditions.
[0007] Immunizations of mice with purified PSA have resulted in generation of monoclonal antibodies against PSA and hK2. Many monoclonal antibodies cross react with PSA and hK2 due to the extensive identity in primary structure of the two proteins. However, specific immunoassays that selectively measure free PSA, complexed PSA and hK2 have been developed by us and others. At present, there are no immunoassays available that specifically recognize various candidate forms of free PSA.
OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY
[0008] The object of the present invention is to enable the determination of human single-chain intact, i.e. not internally cleaved, mature and/or zymogen forms of prostate specific antigen (SCINT PSA) from a sample containing such antigen.
[0009] Another objective of the present invention is to provide an immunoassay for the quantitative determination of SCINT PSA in a sample containing such antigen.
[0010] A further objective of the present invention is to provide a method for differentiating patients with cancer of the prostate (PCa) from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and/or healthy male subjects without PCa, patients with aggressive PCa from patients with indolent PCa, and/or patients with clinically localized and/or confined PCa from patients with extraprostatic extension of PCa and/or PCa with metastatic spread to lymph nodes or bone marrow.
[0011] The present invention thus concerns an antibody, wherein said antibody does bind with high affinity to human single-chain intact, i.e. not internally cleaved, mature and/or zymogen forms of prostate specific antigen (SCINT PSA). The antibody, obtainable through immunization with an uncleaved form of PSA and selected by its differential reactivity with the intact and internally cleaved forms, does not bind to a nicked PSA (PSA-N), wherein said PSA-N has been formed by internal peptide bond cleavage(s) of SCINT PSA resulting in two-chain or multi-chain PSA.
[0012] The present invention also concerns an immunoassay for quantitative determination, in a sample, of a human single-chain intact, i.e. not internally cleaved, mature and/or zymogen forms of prostate specific antigen (SCINT PSA), or alternatively nicked PSA forms (PSA-N), wherein said PSA-N has been formed by internal cleavage(s) of SCINT PSA resulting in two-chain or multi-chain prostate specific antigen (PSA) forms, which SCINT PSA or PSA-N may occur both free and/or complexed. The immunoassay uses an antibody, which does bind with high affinity to said SCINT PSA, but does not bind to PSA-N.
[0013] The present invention further concerns a method for differentiating
[0014] i) patients with cancer of the prostate (PCa) from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and/or healthy male subjects without PCa,
[0015] ii) patients with aggressive PCa from patients with indolent PCa and/or
[0016] iii) patients with clinically localized and/or organ confined PCa from patients with extraprostatic extension of PCa and/or PCa with metastatic spread to lymph nodes or bone marrow.
[0017] The method comprises the following steps
[0018] a) human single-chain intact, i.e. not internally cleaved, prostate specific antigen (SCINT PSA) free and/or complexed is determined,
[0019] b) a marker value, which is a function of determined SCINT PSA is established, and
[0020] c) the established marker value is used for differentiation of said patients.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TABLES AND DRAWINGS
[0021] [0021]FIGS. 1 a - 1 d . Four screening methods used in the search for novel anti-PSA antibodies.
[0022] [0022]FIG. 2. Epitope mapping of novel and previously characterized Mabs in relation to each other in a 2-D model of PSA. Overlapping circles indicate that the Mabs cannot sandwich each other. Touching circles indicate detectable interference (competition) in binding to PSA, whereas nonoverlapping circles indicate that the Mabs detect independent epitopes and can sandwich other antibodies in the other nonoverlapping circles. Antibodies located in white circles are specific for PSA whereas antibodies in black circles cross react with hK2. Antibody circles (cross pattern) denote the novel antibodies developed in this study.
[0023] [0023]FIG. 3. Epitope groups of PSA in a 3-D model structure. Antibodies that bind to linear peptide sequences are mapped to this model. Seven independent antigenic domains are shown. Mab 5A10 binds to the peptide sequence consisting of amino acids 84-91, Mab 2E9 aa 80-83, Mab 10 aa 150-164, Mab 3C1 and Mab 4H5 aa 1-11 (i.e. aa 3,5-6, and 8-11), and Mab H164 and Mab 2C1 aa 50-64 as reported previously [Piironen et al Protein Science 1998;7:259-69]. E73 binds to peptide sequence aa 215-229. The new 5H6 Mab is mapped to an epitope located very close to the epitope of Mab E73, as 5H6 was bound to the adjacent peptide sequence aa 225-237. Mabs 4D4 and 5C3 were bound to peptide sequence 136-144 which is a previously unrecognized antigenic epitope on PSA. The internal cleavage site between Lys145 and Lys146 is also indicated in the figure, as well as the catalytically active site in the vicinity of the Mab 4D4 and Mab 5C3 epitopes.
[0024] [0024]FIGS. 4 a - 4 c . Reactivity of antibodies with PSA reactivity of each antibody with an isoenzyme was compared to the median reactivity of all antibodies with that isoenzyme. Reactivity with intact isoform A was set as 100%. Antibody groups are numbered 1-5 based on antibody binding regions according to the ISOBM epitope nomenclature. Pools A-E were used 1 ng/well and Eu-Mabs 50 ng/well.
[0025] [0025]FIG. 5. The free SCINT-PSA assay standard curve.
[0026] TABLE 1. Summary of the results from immunizations and fusions.
[0027] TABLE 2. Summary of antibody characteristics.
[0028] TABLE 3. Discrimination of cancers and noncancers using single or combined parameters in the PSA-T range below 5 μg/L. Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney-U test.
[0029] TABLE 4. Discrimination of cancers and noncancers using single or combined parameters in the PSA-T range below 10 μg/L. Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney-U test.
[0030] TABLE 5. Discrimination of cancers and noncancers using single or combined parameters without restrictions as to the concentrations of PSA-T. Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney-U test.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] Design and development of analytical procedures to address the nature of the different forms of free PSA could add new discriminatory information to the diagnostics of prostate cancer. An anti-proPSA antibody would enable specific and sensitive measurement of the zymogen forms of the protein. Despite the high immunogenic nature of the LNCaP PSA, we were unable to generate antibodies specific for or with strong preference for the PSA-zymogen, e.g. antibodies which specifically recognizes the entire PSA-propeptide or parts of this propeptide. The aim of this project was to develop anti-PSA antibodies against various PSA forms produced by the metastatic cancer cell line LNCaP and to employ these antibodies in immunoassays to provide specific detection and quantitative measuremerents of the concentrations of different PSA fractions that may be enzymatically inactive (and therefore unable to form the covalent linkages with the different serpin-type complexing ligands such as ACT, AMG, or API e.g. PSA-zymogen forms .{i.e. proPSA}, enzymatically inactive single-chain mature forms, various internally cleaved forms or other inactive forms remaining in noncomplexed form in serum due to as yet unidentified reasons).
[0032] We here report:
[0033] 1. The development and production of monoclonal antibodies that specifically and with high affinity recognize the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally cleaved) mature and/or zymogen PSA-form(s) but which do not recognize internally cleaved two- or multi-chain forms.
[0034] 2. Optimization of a highly sensitive two-site immunoassay, using antibodies, which selectively recognize the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally cleaved) mature or zymogen form(s) and combined with antibodies which recognized free, noncomplexed PSA to measure the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally cleaved) mature or zymogen form(s) of free, noncomplexed PSA (free Single-Chain INTact noncomplexed PSA or free SCINT-PSA). This assay is applicable for samples of serum, plasma or whole blood as well as other biological fluids.
[0035] 3. Application of this assay to a study population (N=281) of serum or plasma samples obtained from asymptomatic men aged 50 to 66 years old initially presenting with a concentration of total PSA of 3 μg/L or more. The diagnosis of PC was based on sextant biopsy. The performance of this assay alone or in combination with other forms of kallikreins (PSA or hK2) to separate noncancers from PC were studied and compared to other established diagnostic procedures.
[0036] 4. Design of a highly sensitive two-site immunoassay for the measurement of the single-chain intact (i.e. both mature- and zymogen-forms) occurring as both free and complexed PSA-forms. This is accomplished using antibodies which selectively recognize the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally cleaved) mature and zymogen form(s). These antibodies are combined with independently binding antibodies which recognize both free and complexed PSA-forms with equal affinity (SCINT-PSA). This assay is applicable for samples of serum, plasma or whole blood as well as other biological fluids.
[0037] 5. Design of a highly sensitive two-site immunoassay which selectively measures internally cleaved PSA-forms independent on whether they occur as free or complexed PSA-forms (i.e. nicked PSA or PSA-N). This assay design first uses a large excess of antibodies which selectively recognize the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally cleaved) mature and zymogen form(s). This is carried out in order to inhibit or block the binding of the intact single-chain PSA by another antibody which bind PSA at an epitope overlapping with that defined by the first blocking antibody. After addition of such an overlapping antibody (used for detection or capture), a third independently binding antibody suitable as a sandwiching partner to the second antibody is added to complete the immunoreaction. Due to the design of the assay, solely PSA which is internally cleaved at Lys145-Lys146 will be measured independently on whether it occurs in free or complexed forms.
[0038] This invention relates to the development of high affinity immunoreagents specific for SCINT-PSA. By employing these high affinity antibodies, the invention also relates to the establishment of very sensitive immunoassays, highly specific for the measurements of the concentration of free SCINT-PSA and SCINT-PSA to be used to discriminate men with prostate cancer from healthy asymptomatic men or those with benign prostatic conditions. The invention may be used for PCa detection both in screening of asymptomatic individuals as well as in distinguishing cancer from benign conditions in men presenting with clinical symptoms (e.g. lower urinary tract symptoms, LUTS). In addition, the invention may be used to improve the staging and grading of prostate cancer as well as to provide improved means to detect recurrency of cancer at early stage and provide improved means to monitor therapeutic response at various stages of disease.
[0039] According to the invention, specific monoclonal antibodies can be developed which detect the single-chain, intact (i.e. not internally cleaved) mature and/or zymogen form(s) of PSA with high affinity. More detailed analysis of such antibodies show that they are unable to recognize a two-chain form of PSA presenting with an internal cleavage between Lys145 and Lys146. This form constitutes one commonly occurring nicked (i.e. internally cleaved) form of PSA in seminal plasma as well as in the circulation.
[0040] According to the invention, immunoassays which specifically detect free SCINT-PSA can be performed on serum, plasma and whole blood samples as well as on other biological fluids such as urine or seminal plasma obtained from the individuals under investigation. Furthermore the calculated difference between free SCINT-PSA and PSA-F will yet provide another important parameter that of nicked PSA (PSA-N).
[0041] As aforementioned, the access to the SCINT-PSA specific monoclonal antibodies also provides an opportunity, described in this invention, to design an immunoassay whereby the nicked PSA can specifically be quantified by completely blocking SCINT-PSA with the help of the SCINT-PSA specific antibodies claimed in this invention, then proceed with detection of the nicked PSA forms through the use of PSA antibodies no longer reactive with the intact free or intact complexed PSA forms. Such a design enables nicked PSA (whether free or complexed) to be measured without the use of free-PSA antibodies.
[0042] According to the central findings of this invention, the use of the immunoassay specific for free SCINT-PSA as an efficient tumor marker can be either realized by using free SCINT-PSA or the calculated PSA-N alone or using either of these parameters in combination with any of the different forms of free, complexed, and total PSA and/or hK2 (e.g. total PSA or total hK2, complexed PSA or complexed hK2, any specific protease inhibitor in complex with PSA or any specific protease inhibitor in complex with hK2, total concentrations of free PSA [i.e. single-chain intact mature and zymogen forms+various internally cleaved two- or multi-chain forms] or total concentration of free hK2, and/or various internally cleaved two- or multi-chain forms of free PSA or various internally cleaved two- or multi-chain forms of free hK2).
[0043] According to a further aspect of the invention the combination of free SCINT-PSA, SCINT-PSA or PSA-N with other measured forms of PSA can be performed by forming various ratios or algorithms of the measured parameters such as:
[0044] the ratio of free SCINT-PSA or PSA-N to total free PSA
[0045] the ratio of free SCINT-PSA or PSA-N to total PSA
[0046] the ratio of free SCINT-PSA divided by the total concentration of free PSA multiplied by the ratio of total PSA divided by the total concentration of free PSA
[0047] the ratio of free SCINT-PSA divided by the total concentration of free PSA multiplied by total PSA
[0048] or alternatively by:
[0049] the use of logistic regression analysis of the various measured parameters into receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses.
[0050] the use of various artificial intelligence approaches such as artificial neural networks.
[0051] According to a further aspect of the invention, it is preferentially applied to a subset of patient samples mainly characterized by moderately elevated levels of total or complexed PSA, i.e. concentrations of PSA where the diagnostic discrimination of cancer and noncancer conditions by total or complexed PSA alone is less reliable and in which the cancers detected are more likely to be organ-confined and eligible for curative treatments. Such an area is frequently defined as total PSA ranges from 3 or 4 to 20 μg/L but can be defined differently as regards both the lower limit (which can be even lower, e.g. 2.0 or 2.5 μg/L) or the higher limit (which can be even higher or lower, e.g. 8.0, 10, 12 or 15 μg/L).
[0052] According to still another aspect of the invention, the concentrations of SCINT-PSA or PSA-N alone or in combination with other measured parameters e.g. by using various ratios, logistic regression analysis or artificial intelligence approaches can also be used to identify sub-groups of the identified prostate cancer patients, more specifically those prostate cancers that are likely to remain indolent or progress slowly from those cancers that are likely to progress more aggressively. Other clinical applications of the invention may relate to the discrimination of pathologically organ-confined disease from disease stages with extraprostatic extension, either locally advanced or metastatic disease. Yet another clinical application of the invention may relate to the detection of early recurrence of cancer after curative treatment procedures, or to provide improved means in monitoring of therapeutic response at various stages of disease.
[0053] Different immunogen structures were used to develop monoclonal antibodies against different free PSA-forms; (i) affinity-purified PSA from LNCaP cells of which half the protein was recovered in mature single-chain form, and half was recovered in the −5 or −7 zymogen form. The second immunogen structure consisted of a 14 amino acid synthetic peptide including the pro-sequence of PSA and the seven first amino-terminal amino acids (APLILSRIVGGWEC) conjugated to KLH and BSA. Various screening methods were used to identify antibodies, which detect PSA isolated from LNCaP cells with different signal intensity than PSA from seminal plasma.
[0054] Characterization of the epitope groups of PSA in a 3-D model structure using antibodies binding to linear peptide sequences showed that the new 5H6 Mab mapped to the peptide sequence aa 225-237 which is very close to the previously characterized epitope of Mab E73. Mabs 4D4 and 5C3 were bound to peptide sequence 136-144. This is a previously unrecognized antigenic epitope on PSA which neighbors the internal cleavage site between Lys145 and Lys146, as well as the catalytically active site in the vicinity of the Mab 4D4 and Mab 5C3 epitopes. Mabs 4D4, 5C3, and 5H6 recognized free PSA and PSA-ACT complex with similar affinity, but did not recognize hK2.
[0055] Mabs 4D4 and 5C3 had affinity constants of 2.5×10 9 1/M and 2.7×10 9 1/M respectively for proPSA and intact forms of PSA. They recognized seminal plasma PSA significantly less than proPSA, and the amount of Mabs 4D4, 5C3 bound to fractions that predominantly (95%) contains internally cleaved PSA at Lys145-Lys146 was only 5% compared to the amount of antibody bound to pools which contained only intact PSA.
[0056] The invention will be described in more detail by the following experimental section.
[0057] Experimental Section
[0058] Methods and Materials
[0059] Reagents and Instrumentation
[0060] Freund's complete and incomplete adjuvants were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, Mo.). Cell culture 96-well plates were obtained from Nunc (Denmark), Roller bottles from Corning (N.Y.) and Celline bioreactors. from Integra (Germany). Optimem 1 with Glutamax-1 and HAT supplement (hypoxanthine, aminopterin and thymidine) are products of Life Technologies (Gibco BRL, Scotland). Heat inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) was from Hyclone (Logan, UT). Sp 2/0 mouse myeloma cells were obtained from ATCC (Rockville, Md.). The synthetic −7 to +7 proPSA peptide was from Dr. Hans Lilja (University of Lund, Malmö, Sweden). The 1234 Delfia Plate fluorometer, Delfia Eu-labelling kit, microtitration plates coated with rabbit anti-mouse IgG, anti-PSA Mab H117, anti-PSA Mab 2E9 or streptavidin, Delfia Assay buffer, wash solution and enhancement solution were from PerkinElmer Life Sciences (Turku, Finland). HiTrap Protein G affinity column, Superose 12 HR 10/30 FPLC column for gelfiltration, PBE 94 Polybuffer exchanger and Polybuffer 96 for chromatofocusing were from Amersham Pharmacia Biotech AB (Uppsala, Sweden). Amino-terminal sequence analysis were done with an Applied Biosystems model 477A pulsed liquid sequencer connected to an online Applied Biosystems model 120A phenylthiohydantoin amino acid analyzer (Perkin Elmer, Norwalk, Conn.). Monoclonal antibodies 5A10, 2E9, 2H11, 3C1, 4H5 and 2C1 have previously been characterized. MAbs 66 and 10 were a kind gift of from Dr. O. Nilsson (CanAg Diagnostics, Göteborg, Sweden). MAbs H117, H179, H164 and H50 were obtained from Abbott (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill.). Antibody E73 was a kind gift from Dr. Elisabeth Paus (The Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway).
[0061] Immunogens.
[0062] Three different immunogen structures were used in order to develop antibodies against free forms of PSA. LNCaP PSA had previously been purified with affinity chromatography from spent cell culture medium. About half of the protein was in mature one-chain form of PSA, and half was in the −5 or −7 zymogen form. The second immunogen structure consisted of a 14 amino acid synthetic peptide including the pro-sequence of PSA and the seven first amino acids from the aminoterminal sequence (APLILSRIVGGWEC). This peptide was coupled to KLH and BSA using the Imject Immunogen EDC Conjugation Kit (Pierce, Ill.). A third immunogen used was a mutated form of hK2, (fXahK2), in which two amino acids from the prosequence were changed. The point mutations in the prosequence render hK2 uncapable of autoactivation and cleavage of the prosequence. Second and third immunogen structures were used in immunizations in order to raise anti-proPSA antibodies. The immunizations and fusions with the peptide and hK2 were done essentially as described below for LNCaP PSA.
[0063] Immunizations.
[0064] Table 1 summarizes the immunizations that were made. Balb/c mice were immunized by intraperitoneal injection with varying amounts of the immunogen emulsified with Freund's complete adjuvant (Sigma). Booster doses were given at 3-4 week intervals. The total immunization times varied from 2 to 10 months. A final booster was given three days before the mice were killed. The splenic lymphoid cells were fused with myeloma cells Sp2/0 at a 1:1 ratio as described previously. The fused cells were harvested in cell culture 96-well plates in Optimem containing 20% fetal calf serum and HAT supplement.
TABLE 1 Summary of immunizations and results from fusions. Total PSA mAbs Amount of immuni- Used positive further immuno- Number of sation time screening cell lines charac- Fusion Immunogen gen (μg) boosters (months) methods (%) terised 1 LNCaPPSA 30-60 3 3 1, 4 7 5F12 2 LNCaPPSA 30-60 3 4 1, 4 10 7C4, 5F7 3 LNCaPPSA 60-100 3 4 1, 4 10 4 LNCaPPSA 60-100 4 7 2, 4 1 5 LNCaPPSA 60-100 4 7 2, 4 16 4D4, 5C3, 5H6, 7G1 6 LNCaPPSA 30-60 4 8 1, 2, 3, 4 18 7 LNCaPPSA 60-100 4 8 1, 2, 3, 4 19 8 LNCaPPSA 30-60 4 10 4 9-16 Peptide 10-130 2-4 2-4 3, 4 0-1 17-20 fXahK2 35-60 3 3 4 0-1
[0065] Screening Methods.
[0066] Several different screening methods were used. Common for all the methods was that they were designed to recognize antibodies, which detect PSA produced by LNCaP cells somewhat differently than PSA obtained from seminal plasma. Four screening methods are presented in FIG. 1 a - 1 d . In all the methods hybridoma supernatants were incubated overnight at +4° C. either in microtitration wells coated with rabbit anti-mouse antibody (methods 1, 2 and 4 or in microtitration wells coated with streptavidin and biotinylated synthetic peptide (method 3). After incubation, plates were washed four times. Detection of bound antibody was performed as described in FIGS. 1 a - d . For signal development, Delfia enhancement ion was used 200 μl/well. The signals were measured with a 1234 Delfia fluorometer.
[0067] Characterisation of Antibodies.
[0068] Purified proteins. LNCAP PSA was produced and purified as described by Väisänen et. al. LNCaP proPSA and mature PSA forms were separated using chromatofocusing, which separates these forms based on their different pI values. The pH gradient was from 8.5 to 6 and buffers used were 0.025M ethanolamine-CH 3 COOH pH 8.5 and Polybuffer pH 6 (diluted 1:10). Chromatofocusing was done using 30 ml Polybuffer exchanger gel packed into C 10/40 column and ÄKTAexplorer 100 system (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech AB Uppsala, Sweden). The flow rate was 0.3 ml/min and 3.6 ml fractions were collected. Prior to fraction collecting {fraction (1/10)} volume of 2M Tris-HCl pH 8 was added to each fraction tube. Each fraction was measured for PSA concentration using the Prostatus PSA free/total kit (PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Turku, Finland). Fractions containing PSA from one peak area were pooled and subjected to aminoterminal sequencing.
[0069] Separate pools of purified seminal plasma PSA were a generous gift from Dr. U-H Stenman. Pools A, B, C, D and E contain different amounts of internally cleaved PSA as described by Zhang et al. . Pools A and B contain only intact PSA. Pools C and D contain intact form of PSA and PSA forms that have been internally cleaved at Arg85-Phe86 and Lys145-Lys146. Pool D contained also a minor part of PSA cleaved between Lys182-Ser183. Pool E contained mostly internally cleaved form Lys145-Lys146. The staining intensities in SDS-PAGE suggested that the amount of intact PSA in pools C, D and E was roughly 20%, 10% and less than 5%, respectively.
[0070] HK2 was produced with the baculovirus expression system and purified as described by Lövgren et al. . Preparation and purification of PSA-ACT in vitro has been described earlier
[0071] Epitope Mapping.
[0072] Previously characterized MAbs were used in sandwich assays in all possible combinations with the investigated MAbs to determine the binding sites on the PSA molecule.
[0073] Peptide Mapping.
[0074] Synthetic 15 mer peptides overlapping the whole PSA sequence were used for the determination of specific binding sites of antibodies that recognize continuous epitopes. Europium-labeled MAbs were incubated with biotinylated peptides attached to streptavidin plates as described by Piironen et al. .
[0075] Specificity and Binding to Various PSA Forms.
[0076] Using a suitable partner antibody, the specificity of the new MAbs was determined using PSA, hK2 and PSA-ACT complex. In addition, binding to various PSA forms was determined using pools A, B, C, D and E of PSA purified from seminal plasma as described by Zhang et al. , and using proPSA purified from LNCaP PSA as described by Väisänen et al.
[0077] Affinity of Mabs.
[0078] The affinity constants of Eu-labeled MAbs were determined as described previously earlier using 2E9 or H117 as capture antibodies and PSA purified from seminal plasma or purified hK2. The affinities were calculated using the Scatchard method.
[0079] Immunoassays.
[0080] A two-site immunoassay protocol was developed for the specific determination of free SCINT-PSA. This design used (i) Mab 5C3 that mapped to an epitope containing the peptide sequence aa 136-144 in PSA, which (ii) was combined with a previously characterized free-specific Mab (5A10) which was mapped to an epitope containing peptide sequence aa 84-91. Biotinylated preparations of Mab 5C3 were immobilised to streptavidin coated plates using 200 ng Mab in 200 μL Assay Buffer in a 60 min incubation at room temperature. Following a wash step to remove unbound biotinylated Mab, 50 μL standard or sample was added per well followed by 100 μL Delfia buffer and incubated at room temperature for 60 min under continuous shaking. After washing twice, 100 μL Delfia assay buffer containing 100 ng Eu-labelled Mab 5A10 was added per well and incubated for 60 min at room temperature under continuous shaking. Following a final wash (6×), 200 μL per well of Delfia Enhancement solution was added. After shaking for 5 min the signal was measured in a 1232 Delfia Plate fluorimeter. The conentrations of the unknown samples were calculated from a standard series (0.05 to 200 μg/L PSA) of recombinant baculovirus produced proPSA.
[0081] Other immunoassays used were: Delfia ProStatus F/T PSA (from Perkin-Elmer, Wallac, Turku, Finland), and an investigational assay for hK2 [Becker et al. Clin Chem 2000;46:198-206].
[0082] Clinical Study Population.
[0083] The study population consisted of two hundred and ninetyone (291) men, aged 51-66 years, participating in a population based prostate cancer screening study in the area of Gothenburg, Sweden, and initially presenting with a concentration of total PSA>3 μg/L [Becker et al. Urology 2000; 55:694-699]. Prior to performing DRE, TRUS and a TRUS guided sextant biopsy, additional serum and EDTA plasma samples were obtained. After clotting (serum) and centrifugation performed within 3 hours after venipuncture, the samples were frozen at 70° C. For this study we used the EDTA plasma sample which was thawed immediately before performing the immunoassays. The sextant biopsies revealed prostate cancer in 79 men out of the 291 tested.
[0084] Statistical Analyses.
[0085] Descriptive statistics were given as medians, upper and lower quartiles (25 and 75 percentiles). Mann-Whitney nonparametric tests were performed to test whether there were statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in PSA-T, PSA-F, free SCINT-PSA, PSA-N, hK2, hK2/PSA-F, PSA-F/PSA-T, free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F, free SCINT-PSA/PSA-T, PSA-N/PSA-T, (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F)×PSA-T, (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F)×PSA-T×hK2, (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F)/(PSA-F/PSA-T) between the two groups of patients (cancers and noncancers). This analysis was performed both on the total patient material as well as for various subgroups selected on the basis of the PSA-T range.
[0086] Results
[0087] Immunizations and Screenings
[0088] Our aim was to find novel antibodies that would recognize various molecular forms of PSA specifically present in cancer. Antibodies that gave very high positive signal or recognized the tested PSA forms from LNCaP differently compared to PSA from seminal fluid were produced and characterized further. Table 1 summarizes immunizations that were made, number of PSA positive cell lines and MAbs that were further characterized from each fusion. All finally characterized MAbs were from fusions where LNCaP PSA was used as an immunogen. Some cell lines from peptide fusions were positive for the synthetic peptide, but further testing showed, that antibodies did not recognize the entire PSA molecule. Also, some anti-PSA positive cell lines were obtained from fXahK2 fusions, but these antibodies could not distinguish LNCaP PSA from seminal plasma PSA, and were therefore not characterized further.
[0089] Antibody Characteristics
[0090] Epitope mapping. Novel MAbs were tested with various antibody combinations to define their binding site on the PSA molecule. Based on the results, a 2-D epitope map was constructed (FIG. 2). The binding sites of novel anti-PSA MAbs are presented in relation to previously characterized MAbs.
[0091] Different binding regions of 83 anti-PSA monoclonal antibodies have been described by Paus et al. in the ISOBM study, where binding regions from 1 to 6 are mapped in a 2-D and 3-D model. The binding regions of novel anti-PSA antibodies were compared to binding sites of previously characterized MAbs.
[0092] 5F12 mapped to group I free-PSA specific antibodies that bound to same epitope as previously characterized MAb 5A10 (#25) in the ISOBM study. Interestingly, 5F12 also blocked MAb PSA10 (#72) binding, which belongs to antibody group 3a. 7G1 was bound to an epitope close to H50 (#57) and PSA10 in antibody group 3a. 7G1 was also somewhat inhibited by antibody 2H11 (#41), which belongs to group 5b antibodies. Also 5F7 and 5H6 were bound to an area overlapping with MAbs H50 and PSA10 binding sites. Further, 7C4, 4D4 and 5C3 bound to an area close to the binding site(s) of Mabs H164, H50 and 2H11, which is located near antibody group 5b.
[0093] Peptide mapping. Three of seven tested MAbs bound to linear biotinylated 15 mer peptides overlapping the entire PSA sequence (table 1).
[0094] 4D4 and 5C3 antibodies were both bound to 15 mer peptide sequences 130 ASGWGSIEPEEFLTP 144 and 136 SIEPEEFTLTPKKLQC 149. The common amino acid sequence for these two overlapping 15 mer peptides is sequence 136 SIEPEEFLTP 144. A common internal PSA cleavage site is located between amino acids Lys145 and Lys146 which renders PSA inactive.
[0095] 5H6 was bound to the C-terminal peptide of PSA (225 YRKWIKDTIVANP 237). Another antibody (E73) has been characterized to bind close to the C-terminal part of PSA molecule (data not shown). MAb E73 was bound to the 15 mer peptide (215 RPSLYTKVVHYRKWI 229) which is partially overlapping to that recognized by 5H6.
[0096] Results from peptide binding studies were combined with the data presented by Piironen et al. to create a 3-D epitope map showing seven independent antigenic domains on the PSA moiety (FIG. 3).
[0097] Specificity of the Mabs. 5F12 was a free PSA specific antibody. 7C4, 4D4, 5C3, 5F7 and 5H6 recognized free PSA and PSA-ACT complex with similar affinity, but did not recognize hK2. 7G1 recognized free PSA, PSA complexed with ACT, and hK2 with similar affinity.
[0098] Binding to various PSA forms. Binding of new MAbs to different PSA forms was tested using sandwich assay formats with different previously characterized capture antibodies and new MAbs as tracers. Binding was studied to mature intact PSA, compared to mature internally cleaved PSA forms, and to proPSA. Significant differences in binding to various PSA isoforms was found only for MAbs 4D4 and 5C3.
[0099] Clones 4D4 and 5C3 recognized seminal plasma PSA with lower signal intensity than proPSA using screening method 4. These antibodies were further tested with different pools of PSA isolated from seminal plasma that contained various amounts of internally cleaved PSA, i.e. two- or multi-chain forms There was only 5% of antibody (4D4, 5C3) bound to pool E that predominantly (≈95%) contains PSA that is internally cleaved between Lys145-Lys146 compared to the amount of antibody (set at 100%) bound to pools A and B, which contained only intact single-chain PSA. Therefore, these antibodies may only recognize PSA forms where there is no internal cleavage at Lys145-Lys146, such as in LNCaP PSA, which was used as an immunogen. FIGS. 4 a - 4 c illustrate the reactivity of different antibodies with pools A-E of seminal plasma PSA. Antibodies were tested in sandwich assay format that used H117 coated plates or streptavidin plates coated with biotinylated 5A10 as capture. Antibodies are designated according to different binding regions illustrated in the ISOBM study.
[0100] Affinity of Mabs. Affinity constants of MAbs are listed in table 2. All the characterized MAbs showed high affinity for seminal plasma PSA (Ka>1×10 9 1/M). 7G1 had very high affinity for both PSA and hK2 (Ka=2×10 10 1/M). 4D4 and 5C3 had affinity constants of 2.5×10 9 1/M and 2.7×10 9 1/M respectively for proPSA and intact PSA forms. In addition, 4D4 and 5C3 were tested for their affinity for pools of seminal plasma PSA that contain internally cleaved forms (pools C, D and E). The affinity constants of these two MAbs decreased with increasing amounts of internally cleaved PSA forms. Affinity of 4D4 and 5C3 for pool E PSA could not be determined using the Scatchard method due to very low affinity (data not shown).
TABLE 2 Summary of antibody characteristics. Affinity Mab-Eu Binding to Antibody Specificity* l/M peptide sequence 5F12 PSA-F n.d negative 5F7 PSA-T 6.4 × 10 9 negative 7C4 PSA-T 1.8 × 10 9 negative 4D4 PSA-T 2.5 × 10 9 135-144 5C3 PSA-T 2.7 × 10 9 135-144 5H6 PSA-T 4.4 × 10 9 225-237 7G1 PSA-T + hK2 2 × 10 10 negative
[0101] SCINT-PSA Immunoassay Performance
[0102] A typical standard curve is shown in FIG. 5. The analytical detection limit (background+2 SD) was ≦0.05 μg/L and the standard curve was linear up to the highest standard point used (50 μg/L). Within and between assay variation were below 6 and 8 percent respectively over the concentration range from 0.2 to 50 μg/L.
[0103] Measurement of Free SCINT-PSA, PSA-F, PSA-T and hK2 in Study Population Sera
[0104] The median concentrations (and 25- and 75-percentiles) of the different measured parameters free SCINT-PSA, PSA-F, PSA-T and hK2 as well as combinations of these into various ratios or algorithms are given in Table 1 to 3 for the whole study
TABLE 3 Discrimination of cancers (N = 197) and non-cancers (N = 79) using single or combined parameters without restrictions as to the concentrations of PSA-T. Statistical analysis was performed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney-U test. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) is shown in bold characters, borderline statistical significance (p 0.05-0.1) in italics. Non-cancers Cancers Mann-Whitney-U Parameter Median (25-, 75-% iles) Median (25-, 75-% iles) p-value PSA-T 4.01 (3.01, 5.71) 5.25 (3.79, 11.8) <0.0001 PSA-F 0.88 (0.57, 1.37) 0.94 (0.58, 1.65) 0.435 free SCINT-PSA 0.43 (0.29, 0.59) 0.48 (0.35, 0.85) 0.0063 PSA-N (PSA-F - free SCINT-PSA) 0.41 (0.23, 0.81) 0.34 (0.16, 0.61) 0.0271 hK2 0.044 (0.031, 0.066) 0.060 (0.033, 0.101) 0.0018 hK2/PSA-F 0.052 (0.032, 0.077) 0.069 (0.043, 0.115) 0.0027 PSA-F/PSA-T 0.20 (0.16, 0.28) 0.15 (0. 10, 0.18) <0.0001 free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F 0.47 (0.39, 0.59) 0.59 (0.48, 0.78) <0.0001 free SCINT-PSA/PSA-T 0.10 (0.076, 0.134) 0.084 (0.065, 0.115) 0.0055 PSA-N/PSA-T 0.104 (0.067, 0.164) 0.055 (0.024, 0.095) <0.0001 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F) × PSA-T 2.03 (1.33, 2.89) 2.80 (2.08, 7.06) <0.0001 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F) × PSA-T × hK2 0.094 (0.055, 0.167) 0.202 (0.115, 0.457) <0.0001 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F)/(PSA-F/PSA-T) 2.31 (1.43, 3.51) 4.23 (2.58, 6.29) <0.0001
[0105] [0105] TABLE 4 Discrimination of cancers (N = 54) and non-cancers (N = 187) using single or combined parameters in the PSA-T range below or equal to 10 μg/L. Statistical analysis was performed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney-U test. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) is shown in bold characters, borderline statistical significance (p 0.05-0.1) in italics. Non-cancers Cancers Mann-Whitney-U Parameter Median (25-, 75-% iles) Median (25-, 75-% iles) p-value PSA-T 3.92 (2.98, 5.47) 4.07 (3.48, 5.28) 0.35 PSA-F 0.83 (0.56, 1.29) 0.66 (0.48, 1.02) 0.058 free SCINT-PSA 0.42 (0.28, 0.57) 0.38 (0.28, 0.55) 0.023 PSA-N (PSA-F - free SCINT-PSA) 0.39 (0.23, 0.73) 0.27 (0.14, 0.49) 0.0043 hK2 0.043 (0.030, 0.064) 0.048 (0.029, 0.065) 0.448 hK2/PSA-F 0.054 (0.034, 0.077) 0.067 (0.042, 0.101) 0.024 PSA-F/PSA-T 0.21 (0.16, 0.28) 0.16 (0.14, 0.19) 0.0002 free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F 0.47 (0.39, 0.59) 0.58 (0.45, 0.76) 0.0018 free SCINT-PSA/PSA-T 0.10 (0.079, 0.136) 0.096 (0.071, 0.118) 0.253 PSA-N/PSA-T 0.103 (0.068, 0.167) 0.071 (0.039, 0.107) 0.0002 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F) × PSA-T 1.94 (1.29, 2.70) 2.36 (1.90, 2.96) 0.0035 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F) × PSA-T × hK2 0.092 (0.087, 0.158) 0.158 (0.087, 0.266) 0.0004 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F)/(PSA-F/PSA-T) 2.32 (1.42, 3.50) 3.42 (2.22, 5.58) <0.0001
[0106] [0106] TABLE 5 Discrimination of cancers (N = 38) and non-cancers (N = 128) using single or combined parameters in the PSA-T range below or equal to 5 μg/L. Statistical analysis was performed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney-U test. Statistical significance (p < 0.05) is shown in bold characters, borderline statistical significance (p 0.05-0.1) in italics. Non-cancers Cancers Mann-Whitney-U Parameter Median (25-, 75-% iles) Median (25-, 75-% iles) p-value PSA-T 3.38 (2.58, 3.99) 3.72 (3.18, 4.12) 0.057 PSA-F 0.65 (0.48, 0.92) 0.58 (0.42, 0.72) 0.063 free SCINT-PSA 0.33 (0.23, 0.45) 0.35 (0.24, 0.42) 0.063 PSA-N (PSA-F - free SCINT-PSA) 0.32 (0.20, 0.52) 0.20 (0.13, 0.35) 0.0055 hK2 0.039 (0.025, 0.051) 0.042 (0.029, 0.060) 0.589 hK2/PSA-F 0.059 (0.036, 0.082) 0.076 (0,047, 0,117) 0.086 PSA-F/PSA-T 0.20 (0.16, 0.28) 0.16 (0.13, 0.19) <0.0001 free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F 0.49 (0.41, 0.60) 0.59 (0.50, 0.73) 0.0012 free SCINT-PSA/PSA-T 0.10 (0.077, 0.141) 0.094 (0.075, 0.118) 0.1688 PSA-N/PSA-T 0.097 (0.067, 0.159) 0.063 (0.039, 0.095) 0.0001 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F) × PSA-T 1.58 (1.11, 2.12) 2.12 (1.73, 2.59) <0.0001 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F) × PSA-T × hK2 0.078 (0.049, 0.146) 0.158 (0.090, 0.248) 0.0023 (free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F)/(PSA-F/PSA-T) 2.40 (1.44, 3.57) 3.71 (2.62, 5.84) <0.0001
[0107] population, for patients with PSA-T≦10 and for PSA-T≦5. Statistical analysis between cancers and noncancers were performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test.
[0108] Statistical analysis of the immunoassay measurements of the whole clinical study material (i.e. no PSA-T restrictions as shown in Table 3), reveals that the levels of both PSA-T (p<0.0001), free SCINT-PSA (p=0.0063) and of hK2 (p=0.018) as well as the single parameter PSA-N (p=0.0271) were significantly different for the cancer compared to the noncancer group whereas PSA-F (p=0.435) could not differentiate between the two groups. All two-parameters ratios, most notably PSA-F/PSA-T, free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F and PSA-N/PSA-T (all p<0.0001), discriminated well between the two groups. The proportion (medians) of free SCINT-PSA relative to PSA-F was 47 percent in noncancers compared to 59 percent in cancers (p<0.0001). The three- or four-parameter algorithms also separated cancers and noncancers with high statistical significance.
[0109] In the PSA-T range<10 μg/L (Table 4) of the single parameters only free SCINT-PSA and PSA-N discriminated between cancers and noncancers. Especially noteworthy is the fact that median concentrations of PSA-N was 0.39 μg/L in noncancers and 0.27 μg/L in cancers (p=0.0043). Of the two-parameter ratios, PSA-F/PSA-T (p=0.0002), PSA-N/PSA-T (p=0.0002), free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F (p=0.0018) discriminated well between the two clinical groups as did all the three- and four parameter algorithms. The proportion (medians) of free SCINT-PSA relative to PSA-F was 47 percent in noncancers compared to 58 percent in cancers (p=0.0018).
[0110] In the PSA-T range<5 μg/L (Table 5) of the single parameters only PSA-N discriminated between cancers and noncancers. Median concentrations of PSA-N was 0.32 μg/L in noncancers and 0.20 μg/L in cancers (p=0.0055). Of the two-parameter ratios, PSA-F/PSA-T (p<0.0001), PSA-N/PSA-T (p=0.0001), free SCINT-PSA/PSA-F (p=0.0012) discriminated well between the two clinical groups as did all the three- and four parameter algorithms. Also in this PSA-T range the proportion (medians) of free SCINT-PSA relative to PSA-F was very similar to that of the whole study material i.e. 49 percent in noncancers compared to 59 percent in cancers.
[0111] Discussion and Conclusions
[0112] One objective of the present study was to produce anti-PSA antibodies against PSA forms produced by metastatic cancer cell line, LNCAP, and to compare these antibodies to a large set of previously characterized antibodies obtained from immunizations with seminal plasma PSA. We wanted to obtain novel anti-PSA antibodies against different isoforms of free PSA in order to develop specific immunoassays for their detection. One aim was to develop anti-proPSA antibodies. In addition to immunizations using LNCaP PSA as an immunogen, a synthetic peptide consisting of amino acids −7 to +7 was conjugated to carrier protein and used in immunizations. Also a mutated form of hK2, fXahK2, was used in immunizations. This form contains a mutated propeptide that prevents the autoactivation of the zymogen-protein which results from the loss of the propeptid. Since hK2 and PSA have 79% amino acid identity, anti-PSA specific antibodies were expected to be generated from fXahK2 fusions.
[0113] About 50 percent of the purified LNCaP PSA consisted of single-chain mature form and to about 50 percent of zymogen form. Eight LNCaP PSA fusions generated more than thousand wells that were positive for PSA. 125 cell lines were selected, grown and tested with several different methods. Most of the antibody characteristics were very similar to the previously characterized anti-PSA antibodies. However, three novel antibodies with previously unknown epitope characteristics were obtained. Two novel antibodies (4D4 and 5C3) were bound to an epitope adjacent to the most common internal peptide cleavage site in PSA (Lys 145 -Lys 146 ) and one antibody (5H6) was bound to the C-terminal peptide of the protein. Synthetic peptide fusions and fXahK2 fusions did not produce any novel anti-PSA antibodies.
[0114] 4D4 and 5C3 bound to linear peptide sequence adjacent to Lys145-Lys146 cleavage site. These antibodies were very similar in their PSA isoform specificity and affinity even though they were from different clones. They did not recognize hK2. 4D4 and 5C3 inhibited the activity of PSA towards chromogenic peptide substrate (data not shown), which was expected since the catalytically active site of PSA has been mapped next to the internal cleavage site Lys145-Lys146 (FIG. 3). When these antibodies were tested with seminal plasma PSA pools that contained different amounts of internally cleaved PSA forms, it could be seen that these antibodies did not recognize PSA that was internally cleaved between Lys145 and Lys146. Internal cleavage of PSA at Lys145-Lys146 site results in the loss of enzymatic activity. Thus, 4D4 and 5C3 do not recognize PSA that is inactive due to internal cleavage at Lys145-Lys146.
[0115] 5H6, another novel antibody was bound to the C-terminal peptide of lasts 15 amino acids on the PSA molecule. This peptide is helical in native form and is located on the surface of the molecule. Amino acid 234 in PSA molecule is valine, but in hK2 it is alanine. Due to this difference in one amino acid, this antibody does not recognize hK2. Another antibody, E73 from Dr. E. Paus was also mapped to the C-terminal part of PSA, but the peptide sequence is only partly overlapping with the 5H6 binding site.
[0116] An immunoassay was constructed that used 5H6 as a tracer antibody. The idea of this assay was to study changes in the C-terminal part of PSA. Since 5H6 binds to the C-terminal peptide of PSA, it was thought that cleavage of amino acids at C-terminus might result in decrease of 5H6 binding to PSA. Väisänen et al. reported that mature LNCaP PSA grown with serum is inactive for unknown reason. Also Corey et al. reported similar results, showing that part of the inactive fraction of PSA could be activated with trypsin, but part remained in inactive form. Cleavage of amino acids at the C-terminus of PSA could change the conformation of the protein and possible render PSA inactive. LNCaP PSA forms from spent cell culture medium of LNCaP cells grown with serum or without serum were separated after affinity purification using chromatofocusing into proform and mature form of the protein. Different LNCAP PSA forms were tested with an immunoassay that used H117 as capture antibody and 5H6 as tracer antibody. We wanted to see whether these different LNCaP PSA forms differ in their C-terminal amino acid sequence. Immunoassay with 5H6 did not shown difference between these different PSA forms (data not shown).
[0117] Elevated serum PSA concentration may result from various urological problems other than prostate cancer and thus PSA is not cancer specific. However, the proportion of PSA-F to PSA-ACT complex in serum has been shown to be significantly higher in BPH than in prostate cancer [Stenman et al. Cancer Res 1991; 51:222-226, Christensson et el. J Urol 1993;150:100-5]. The mechanisms that result into the increased fraction of serum free PSA in BPH are not known. Björk et al. [Björk et el. Urology 1994;43:427-34] reported lack of ACT production in PSA-containing BPH nodules in contrast to cancerous tissues, where production of both PSA and ACT could be detected. This could lead to more PSA-ACT complex formation in cancer, and thus explain the difference in the amount of free PSA in BPH and prostate cancer. However, Jung et al. [Jung et al. Clin Chem 2000;46:47-54] demonstrated, that the amounts of different forms of PSA in prostatic tissue do not correlate with amounts or ratios of different PSA forms in serum. Thus, the isoform patterns seen in serum might not be a simple reflection of PSA isoform patterns in tissue. Instead, release of different proportions of enzymatically active or inactive forms of free PSA from neoplastic and benign cells might result in the difference of free-to-total PSA ratio in PCa and BPH.
[0118] There have been controversial reports about the nature of free PSA in serum. Zymogen form of PSA starting at amino acid −4 in serum of prostate cancer patients was reported by Mikolajczyk et al. [Mikolajczyk et el. Urology 1997;50:710-4]. LNCAP cells have been shown to produce proforms of PSA starting at amino acid −7 or −5 . These proforms have high isoelectric pI values that according to Väisänen et al. disappeared after incubation with hK2. These high pI points have also been found in serum of patients with advanced prostate cancer, but not with patients with BPH [Huber et al. Prostate 1995;27:212-9] Noldus et al. [Noldus et al. J Urol 1997;158:1606-9] however, did not detect any zymogen forms in high-grade prostate cancer patient's sera. Their purification methods did not exclude hK2, which could possibly cleave proPSA into the mature form during purification steps.
[0119] Answers to the different forms of free PSA could add new discriminatory information to the diagnostics of prostate cancer. An anti-proPSA antibody would enable specific and sensitive measurement of the zymogen forms of the protein. Despite the high immunogenic nature of the LNCaP PSA, we could not find antibodies specific or even with a stronger preference for the zymogen form of PSA.
[0120] There could be many reasons for not obtaining anti-proPSA antibodies. It has been shown that the PSA prosequence of mouse kallikreins is similar to kallikrein prosequences in human [Fukushima et al. Biochemistry 1985;24:8037-43].This could mean, that the propeptide is not immunogenic in mice. Also, due to the homology, mouse kallikreins might be able to conceivably cleave the human proPSA to mature PSA, resulting in the loss of prosequence. Additionally, the orientation of the prosequence in the PSA molecule is not known and it could be partly buried.
[0121] Characterization of various forms of free PSA from seminal plasma and prostate tissue has been one approach in understanding different molecular forms of free PSA and their relevance in different prostatic diseases. One explanation for the inactive free PSA forms are internally cleaved forms of PSA. Seminal plasma PSA has been shown to contain ˜30% internally cleaved PSA, where the most common internal cleavage site is at Lys145-Lys146 [Christensson et al. Eur J Biochem 1990;194:755-63] Noldus et al [Noldus et al. J Urol 1997;158:1606-9] detected this internally cleaved PSA form in high-grade prostate cancer patient's sera. Charrier et al. [Charrier et al. Electrophoresis 1999;20:1075-81] used two-dimensional electrophoresis in comparing pattern of PSA forms in BPH and PCa sera. They demonstrated that BPH sera contain more cleaved forms of free PSA than PCa sera. Internal cleavage sites have also been identified between Arg85-Phe86 and Lys182-Ser183 [Zhang et al. Clin Chem 1995;41:1567-73, Watt et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1986;83:3166-70]. A recently characterized novel form of PSA, “B-PSA”, that was isolated from benign transition zone tissue of BPH patients contains the internal cleavage site at Lys182-Ser183 [Mikolajzcyk et al. Urology 2000;55:41-5] In BPH nodule fluids Chen et al. [Chen et al. J Urol 1997;157:2166-70] reported PSA forms with internal cleavage sites at His54-Ser55, Phe57-His58, Lys145-Lys146 and Lys146-Leu147. It is not known, whether cleavages at these other sites except Lys145-Lys146 inactivate PSA.
[0122] Zhang et al. [Zhang et al. Clin Chem 1995;41:1567-73] reported an inactive mature unclipped form of PSA in seminal fluid that could not form complex with ACT. This intact, inactive PSA has been found also in serum [Mikolajczyk et al. Urology 1997;50:710-4, Noldus et al. J Urol 1997:158-1606-9, Qian et al. Clin Chem 1997,43:352-9] and in spent medium of LNCaP cells [Väisänen et al. Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases 1999;6:1-7, Corey et al. Prostate 1998;35:135-43]. At present there is no explanation for this inactive form of PSA.
[0123] There are separate antigenic areas on the PSA molecule (FIG. 3). The presence of these areas might lower the possibility of obtaining antibodies against less immunogenic areas. In this study, however, antibodies against two new previously unrecognized epitopes were found
[0124] Employing the novel and unique high affinity 5C3 or 4D4 Mabs described we were able to construct a simple and highly sensitive assay for free SCINT-PSA. These were used primarily as the detector antibodies with the free-PSA specific capture Mab 5A10. Since the two tracer Mabs in our hands behaved similarly we continued with only one of them, Mab 5C3. As evident from the epitope map (FIG. 2) Mabs 5C3 and 4D4 can easily be combined with other total PSA specific antibodies thus providing assays for complexed and free forms of SCINT-PSA.
[0125] Since free SCINT PSA by our definition consitute a subfraction of PSA-F, we could easily obtained the free nicked PSA (PSA-N) concentration by subtracting the free SCINT PSA level from that measured by a free PSA assay. This calculated parameter was shown to be a valuable parameter especially in forming the ratio PSA-N/PSA-T (or vice versa) to discriminate cancers from noncancers. It is evident from the 2-D epitope map (FIG. 2) that a direct measurement of nicked PSA can be constructed by using a preblocking step e.g. by Mab 5C3 and/or 4D4 whereby intact PSA, i.e. SCINT PSA is prevented, i.e. blocked, from further participation in the immunodetection. Of the selected sandwiching pair of antibodies one antibody (e.g. 2C1) would be on the basis that it recognizes an epitope overlapping the 5C3 and 4D4 specific epitope, and the other any other PSA antibody capable of good sandwich formation.
[0126] As seen from analyzing the clinical samples, a screening cohort, both free SCINT-PSA and PSA-N were both able alone or in a number of different combinations to discriminate in a highly significant manner between cancers and noncancers both for the whole cohort but also in the diagnostically difficult so called gray zone area of low (≦5 μg/L) or intermediate (≦10 μg/L) concentrations of PSA-T.
[0127] The combination of free SCINT-PSA and PSA-N with measurement of other forms of PSA or hK2 can naturally also be accomplished in other ways than forming ratios or other mathematical algorithms but also through combination by logistic regression. Combinations by logistic regression frequently provide even better discrimination than ratios calculated from the individual measurements from each patient. As combination through logistic regression, unlike the combination obtained through formation of ratios, does not provide a continuous variable, cut-off limits are not possible to define in these cases. Logistic regression analysis is instrumental in providing the basis for various “risk analysis systems that can provide medical decision support”. Other examples of such data handling systems are also: artificial neural networks (ANN), neuro fuzzy networks (NFN), multilayer perceptron (MLP), learning vector quantization (LVQ) [Freeman JA et al., In: Neural Networks: Algorithms, Applications and Programming Techniques, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1991; Zadeh L A Information and Control, 1965, 8:338-353; Zadeh L A , IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man and Cybernetics 1973, 3:28-44; Gersho A et al., In: Vector Quantization and Signal Compression, Kluywer Academic Publishers, Boston, Dordrecht, London 1992; Hassoun M. H., Fundamentals of Artificial Neural Networks, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London 1995]
1
5
1
15
PRT
Homo sapiens
1
Ala Ser Gly Trp Gly Ser Ile Glu Pro Glu Glu Phe Leu Thr Pro
1 5 10 15
2
16
PRT
Homo sapiens
2
Ser Ile Glu Pro Glu Glu Phe Thr Leu Thr Pro Lys Lys Leu Gln Cys
1 5 10 15
3
10
PRT
Homo sapiens
3
Ser Ile Glu Pro Glu Glu Phe Leu Thr Pro
1 5 10
4
13
PRT
Homo sapiens
4
Tyr Arg Lys Trp Ile Lys Asp Thr Ile Val Ala Asn Pro
1 5 10
5
15
PRT
Homo sapiens
5
Arg Pro Ser Leu Tyr Thr Lys Val Val His Tyr Arg Lys Trp Ile
1 5 10 15
|
This invention concerns an antibody wherein said antibody does bind with high affinity to human single-chain intact, i.e. not internally cleaved, mature and/or zymogen forms of prostate specific antigen (SCINT PSA). The antibody, obtainable through immunization with an uncleaved form of PSA and selected by its differential reactivity with the intact and internally cleaved forms, does not bind to a nicked PSA (PSA-N), wherein said PSA-N has been formed by internal peptide bond cleavage(s) of SCINT PSA resulting in two-chain or multi-chain PSA. This invention further concerns an immunoassay and a method for differentiating patients with cancer of the prostate (PCa) from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and/or healthy male subjects without PCa, patients with aggressive PCa from patients with indolent PCa and/or patients with clinically localized and/or organ confined PCa from patients with extraprostatic extension of PCa and/or PCa with metastatic spread to lymph nodes or bone marrow using said antibody.
| 2
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supporting means for assisting the movement of a user's arm to facilitate an operation of a mouse.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, computer mouse is carried out such that the mouse is moved on a sponge or rubber pad placed on a desk under a condition that an arm is supported by the desk or is held above the desk. Further a movable base, which is movable in a longitudinal or lateral direction on a plane, may be used so that the mouse is operated with the arm placed on this movable base.
A conventional art of such movable base is shown in FIG. 9, which can be freely moved on a plane. The description will be given below thereto. Rails 100 are first provided in parallel to each other, and movable rails 200 are provided to these rails 100 so as to be movable in a direction indicated by an arrow (a). Further, a movable base 300 is provided to these movable rails 200 so as to be movable in a direction indicated by an arrow (b). In this arrangement, the relative movement of the movable rails 200 in the arrow (a) direction and the relative movement of the movable base 300 in the arrow (b) direction cooperatively causes a horizontal movement of the movable base 300 on the plane (This cooperative movement is referred to as the horizontal movement).
In the conventional example, if the mouse is operated such that an arm operating the mouse is placed on a desk or floated above the desk, fatigue of the arm causes a problem in working efficiency. The use of the support base movable in the longitudinal or lateral direction as shown in FIG. 9 suffers from the problem to be solved mentioned below. When the mouse is moved under a condition that the arm operating the mouse is placed on the movable base during the operation of the personal computer, the movement of the arm needs not only the horizontal movement but also rotational movement around the movable base as its center on the plane. In case this conventional movable base is used to operate the mouse, this movable base, which does not rotate on the plane, makes it difficult to operate the mouse and rather leads to the arm fatigue. Therefore, a problem in working efficiency to be solved is raised.
When the lengths of the rails 100 and the movable rails 200 are, for instance, set substantially equal to each side of the movable base 300 to make the entire size small in FIG. 9, the practical utility lacks since the movable range of the movable base 300 on the plane becomes narrower. In case where the lengths of the rails 100 and the movable rails 200 are set long relative to the movable base 300 as shown in the Figure, the length of the rails is longer than the length of the arm from the elbow to the hand holding the mouse, and hinders the operation of the mouse. Consequently, a problem in working efficiency is caused.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the mouse for personal computer, and may be used in other application relating to a work to be done on a desk while laying an arm thereon such as drafting a drawing, writing a note and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an arm supporting base, in which its size is compact and it is possible to move horizontally and rotationally to prevent an occurrence of fatigue of an arm operating a mouse thereby to increase a working efficiency.
In the first feature of the present invention, the arm supporting base comprising a fixed base, at a center portion of which a circular hole is formed, a movable base disposed above the fixed base and on the bottom of which a boss being protruded through the circular hole is provided, at least three ball bearings provided on the fixed base around the hole, and a back plate larger in diameter than the hole to be fixed to the protruded tip end of the boss beneath the circular hole.
In the second feature of the present invention, two circular holes in which the movement of the movable base is allowed are formed at right and left portions of the elliptic fixed base, a plurality of ball bearings are provided around the respective circular holes, the elliptic movable base is put on the ball bearings and the horizontal movement of the movable base to the fixed base may be realized within the area of the circular holes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an assembly of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a vertically sectional view showing an arm supporting base in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a vertically sectional view showing a movable base in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a vertically sectional view showing a back plate in FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a vertically sectional view showing a fixed base in FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a vertically sectional view showing a bottom plate in FIG. 2.
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an assembly of one use example of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of a conventional art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Preferred embodiments according to first to second features of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, an arm supporting base is arranged in such a manner, as shown in FIG. 2, that a movable base 4 is supported on a fixed base 5 through balls 7 interposed between the movable base 4 and the fixed base 5, a boss 8 is protruded at a center of the movable base 4 through a circular hole 9 larger in diameter than the one of the boss 8 is opened in the fixed base 5, and a back plate 10 larger in diameter than the hole 9 is fixed to the tip end of the boss 8. Further, a height H 1 of the boss 8, as shown in FIG. 3, is set so as to form a slight clearance between the back plate 10 fixed to the boss 8 and a back surface of the fixed base 5.
Next, the description will be given with respect to the arm supporting base 1. In FIG. 1, the ball bearings are provided on the fixed base 5, the movable base 4 is put on these balls 7, and then a back plate 10 is fixed to the tip end of the boss 8 with a screw 15, so that the movable base 4 is prevented from being removed from the fixed base 5. A height H 2 (see FIG. 3) of a flange of the movable base 4 and a diameter of each of the balls 7 are determined in such a manner as a slight clearance is formed between a lower edge 17 (see FIG. 3) of the flange of the movable base 4 and an upper surface of the fixed base 5 in this condition. The height H 1 of the boss 8 in FIG. 3 is so determined that a slight clearance is formed between the back plate 10 and a back surface 501 (see FIG. 5) of the fixed base 5 under a condition that the movable base 4 is placed on the balls 7 and the back plate 10 is fixed to the boss 8 with the screw 15 as shown in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 3, the sectional shape of the movable base 4 is of a dish having a flange 18 of the height H 2 so that the movable base 4 hides the balls 7 in such a manner that the balls 7 are prevented from being viewed externally to thereby improve the external appearance, and the movable base 4 moves rotatably more on the balls 7 to thereby make the parallel and rotational movements on a plane freely within the range of the circular hole 9. The upper surface 19 is recessed, so that a pad 12 (see FIG. 2) can be attached thereto. The boss 8 is formed at a center of the movable base 4, and a threaded hole 801 is formed in this boss 8 (see FIG. 3).
As shown in FIG. 5, the sectional shape of the fixed base 5 is of a dish having a flange 21 of the height H 4 so as to define a space in which the back plate 10 is movable. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the circular hole 9 having the diameter D 2 larger than the diameter of the boss 8 is provided at a center of the fixed base 5, and a plurality of the ball bearings are disposed around this circular hole 9. If the inner side of the flange 18 is brought into contact with the ball bearings during the movement of the movable base 4 placed on the balls 7, the smooth movement of the movable base 4 owing to the balls 7 is lessened. For this reason, the diameter of the boss 8, the diameter D 2 of the hole 9 and the pitch circle diameter P 1 of the ball bearings are so determined as to prevent the inner circumferential surface of the flange 18 from being contacted with the ball bearings. That is to say, the inner circumferential surface of the flange 18 is not contacted with the ball bearings under a condition that the boss 8 is contacted with the inner edge of the circular hole 9 during the movement of the movable base 4.
The inner diameter D 9 of each of receptacles 13 of the ball bearings is slightly larger than the diameter of the ball 7, and the depth H 8 thereof in equal to or slightly larger than the radius of the ball 7. With this arrangement, the ball 7 can roll smoothly within the ball receptacle 13, and the simple assembly can be made by merely falling the ball 7 into the ball receptacle 13 to make the ball bearings.
As shown in FIG. 4, the diameter D 1 of the back plate 10 is larger than the diameter D 2 of the circular hole 9 to prevent the back plate 10 from being pulled out through the circular hole 9, wherever the movable base 4 is located. The back plate 10 is fixed to the tip end of the boss 8 with the screw 15 as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the movable base 4 and the fixed base 5 are unified together. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, by arranging the ball bearings around the circular hole 9 with the pitch circle diameter P 1 at the same angular intervals, the inclination of the movable base 4 can be avoided in the case where the boss 8 is contacted with the inner edge of the circular hole 9, i.e., in the case where the movable base 4 is most offset from the fixed base 5. The back plate 10 is also designed to avoid the inclination of the movable base 4. In FIG. 4, the back plate 10 is formed at its center with a screw passing hole 20.
As shown in FIG. 5, a boss 14 having the same height as the height H 4 of the flange 21 is provided on the back surface of the fixed base 5. This boss 14 is positioned so as not to be contacted with the outer periphery of the back plate 10 under a condition that the boss 8 shown in FIG. 3 is contacted with the inner edge of the circular hole 9. This permits the free movement of the boss 8 within the circular hole 9. The boss 14 is provided with a threaded hole 141. As shown in FIG. 6, a bottom plate 6 is provided with a screw passing hole 601 passing therethrough, and a flange 602 is formed, which is fitted into the inner edge of the flange 21 of the fixed base 5.
Next, the assembling process will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The balls 7 are first fallen into the ball receptacle 13 to make the ball bearings and then covered by the movable base 4 placed thereon in such a manner as the boss 8 is protruded through the circular hole 9. The back plate 10 is fixed to the tip end of the boss 8 with the screw 15 under this condition. In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 6 is fixed to the bosses 14 with the screws 16 while being contacted with the fixed base 5 through the ball bearings.
Next, the effect of the embodiments thus constructed will be described. The description will be given with respect to the arm supporting base 1 first. In case where the mouse is operated with the arm placed on the pad 12 shown in FIG. 2, the movable base 4 moves as follows: That is, since the movable base 4 is supported on the fixed base 5 with the balls 7 interposed between the fixed base 5 and the movable base 4, the movable base 4 may move horizontally in parallel with the fixed base 5 in association with the horizontal movement of the arm. If the hand makes such movement as to operate the mouse right and left, the movable base 4 is free responded to the mouse operation. In association with the motion of the hand, the movable base 4 can make both the horizontal and rotational movements on the fixed base 5.
The boss 8 is protruded at the center of the movable base 4 through the circular hole 9 of the fixed base 5 larger in diameter than the boss 8, and the boss 8 is located within this circular hole 9. This arrangement permits the boss 8 to freely move within the circular hole 9 provided in the fixed plate 5 without restriction against the above-noted movements of the movable base 4, as well as delimits the movable range of the boss 8 to prevent the movable base 4 from being pulled out from the fixed base 5.
The back plate 10 larger in diameter than this circular hole 9 is fixed to the boss 8, and the height H 1 (see FIG. 3) of the boss 8 is set so that a slight clearance is formed between the back plate 10 fixed to this boss 8 and the back surface 501 (see FIG. 5) of the fixed base 5. This can permit the movement of the movable base 4 while associating the fixed base 5 and the movable base 4 by the back plate 10. In such manner, the ball bearings are interposed between the movable base 4 and the fixed base 5, the boss 8 provided on the movable base 4 is permitted to freely move within the circular hole 9 opened in the fixed base 5, the movable range of the movable base 4 is delimited without restricting the smooth movement of the movable base 4, and the movable base 4 and the fixed base 5 are unified together by the back plate 10. Therefore, the balls 7, the boss 8, the circular hole 9 and the back plate 10 can be accommodated in the inside of the movable base 4 and the fixed base 5, and the movable range of the movable base 4 can be set largely while making the entire size compact.
In the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the arm supporting base 1 comprises circular holes 9 in which the movement of the movable base 4 is allowed are formed at right and left portions of the elliptic fixed base 5, a plurality of ball bearings provided around the respective circular holes 9 and the elliptic movable base 4 put on the ball bearings. In FIG. 7, the numeral sign 35 indicates a fixing-hole for fixing the arm supporting base 1 to the desk or the like. In this embodiment, since a plurality of ball bearings are disposed at left and right portions of the fixed base 5, the load of arm operating the mouse is dispersed at each bearing. Therefore, the more efficient movement of the arm operating the mouse may be realized.
FIG. 8 shows how to use a use example of the present invention in which a supporting base fitting recess 24 for fittingly mounting the arm supporting base 26 is provided in an end of a plate-like mat base 23, and a pad holding recess 25 for holding a mouse pad 22 is provided adjacent to the supporting base fitting recess 24.
According to the first feature of the present invention, the hole is provided in the fixed base, a plurality of the ball bearings are provided around the circular hole, and the movable base is put on the balls received in the ball receptacles, so that the movable base is supported to make the horizontal movement on the plane with respect to the fixed base as well as to make the own rotation of the movable base. The boss is protruded at the center of the movable base through the circular hole 9, the back plate larger in diameter than the circular hole is fixed to the boss, the height of the boss is set so as to form a slight clearance between the back plate fixed to the boss and the back surface of the fixed base, and the boss is permitted to move within the circular hole, so that the movable range of the movable base is delimited without restricting the movement of the movable base, and the fixed base and the movable base are unified together by the back plate. Thus, the mouse operation can be facilitated with the arm placed on the movable base to prevent an occurrence of the fatigue of the arm and enhance the working efficiency.
According to the second feature of the present invention, the arm supporting base comprises circular holes in which the movement of the movable base is allowed are formed at right and left portions of the elliptic fixed base, a plurality of ball bearings provided around the respective holes and the elliptic movable base put on the ball bearings. Since a plurality of ball bearings are disposed at right and left portions of the fixed base, the load of arm operating the mouse is dispersed at each bearing. Therefore, the more efficient movement of the arm operating the mouse may be realized.
|
In order to make an arm supporting base small, to enable the arm supporting base to move horizontally and rotatably, to prevent an occurrence of a fatigue of the arm operating a mouse for personal computer and to enhance the efficiency of work, a plurality of ball bearings are interposed between a movable base and a fixed base in such a manner as the movable base is prevented from being removed from the fixed base and the movable base may move in all directions relatively to the fixed base in a certain range.
| 0
|
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 301,459, filed Jan. 25, 1989 which in turn is a division of Ser. No. 035,627, filed Apr. 3, 1987, now abandoned, and whose disclosure is incorporated herein as though fully set forth herein.
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fluid bearing assembly and more particularly to a completely and automatic axially self-adjusting fluid operated bearing system in which there is a space between the relatively rotating parts which are supported in spaced relation by a fluid, and wherein the bearing system is especially adapted for use at relatively high rotational speeds.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Reference is made to the above identified application and the discussion of the prior art and the background of the invention, all of which is applicable to the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
As is apparent from the prior application identified, one of the major problems with fluid operated bearings, in contrast to roller bearings and the like, is maintaining dynamic balance of the relatively rotating parts. This is so because the relatively stationary and rotating parts essentially ride on a fluid film such as a gas or air. It is also the case that because the gap between the relatively rotating parts is a fluid gap, the rotating part may move axially, orbitally (tilting from one end to the other) or radially (epicyclically) with respect to the relatively nonrotating part. Quite obviously, for use of an air bearing as a spindle for precision rotating components such as a spindle for a circuit board drilling or routing machine or the like, it is important that the rotating part rotate around a true center axis of rotation, as fully explained in the prior application previously identified and as to which reference is made.
While the above patent application describes a fluid bearing system having three axes of freedom and describes important structures for assuring proper performance of such a bearing, the present invention addresses an important improvement over the structures previously described in that by control of certain geometry, there is essentially complete axial self-adjusting of the bearing system such that the fluid gaps are automatically kept at the correct gap clearances for proper dynamically balanced operation of the bearing system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The bearing of this invention is fluid operated and includes a rotating shaft on which is mounted front and rear cones which are preferably externally tapered, the shaft being driven by a motor or turbine or other suitable drive means. The shaft is supported in a housing which in turn supports a front and rear shell, or journal, such that a clearance exists between the respective shells and cones. The shells are mounted within the housing such that the shells are free to move axially, radially or orbitally a relatively small amount, such that there is formed a clearance or a fluid gap between the opposed surfaces of the shell and the associated cone, such that the bearing literally rides on air. The shells do not rotate during operation of the bearing system and include inner surfaces which essentially match the conical outer surface configuration of the cones. The inner surface of the shells are also impervious to the passage of fluid, such as air, but the shells are provided with passageways to permit flow of pressurized fluid into the gap.
The dynamics of the operation of a fluid or gas bearing are such that variations in operation, due to any number of different operating and dynamic balance conditions, tend to cause the gap(s), usually fluid gaps, to change dimension and which tends to cause instability during operation even if provision is made to permit movement of the shells, supported in the housing by relatively low frictional seals or supporting members and which permit relative movement between the shells and the shell supporting structure, the latter typically supported in the housing.
Perhaps the greatest factors which effect operation of the bearing system are thermal effects resulting from the heat generated during bearing operation and stress effects due to the relatively high rotational speed. Typically, the bearings of this invention operate at rotational speeds of from between about 10,000 rpm and about 120,000 rpm or higher. Even relatively small changes in dimension, for example of the shells, shaft and the like, may cause fluid gap dimension changes which may, in turn, adversely affect the rotational dynamics of the bearing system as a whole.
By this invention, provision is made to effect virtually automatic axial self-adjustment of the bearing system as a whole by utilizing a differential area so as to bias one shell, usually the front shell, by fluid pressure while the other shell, usually the rear shell, is held in position by a biasing means such as a spring which exerts an axial force to maintain the rear shell properly positioned to establish the proper gap between the rear cone and the rear shell, In effect, the one shell is spring biased towards the associated bearing cone while the other shell, because of the differential in area, as will be described, is pressure biased towards its associated cone.
In one form, one shell is spring biased in one direction due to the orientation of the shell and associated cone while the other shell is biased in the opposite direction by fluid pressure operating on the differential area, again due to the orientation of that cone and associated shell. In any case, the one shell is spring biased towards its associated cone and the other shell is pressure force biased because of the differential diameter due to the fluid pressure, towards its associated cone. The result is that each of the bearing cones and their associated shells are maintained in their optimum relative positions of optimal relative fluid gap dimensions regardless of the thermal expansion effects of the various components of the total bearing system. A further complication is that the thermal effects may vary during operation of the bearing and are generally related to the rotational speed of the fluid bearing, especially if an electrical motor is used as the power source for rotating the shaft. This is true even if a liquid is used in an attempt to keep the bearing cool during operation.
It is thus a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved fluid operated bearing system in which the bearing system is fully and completely and automatically axially self-adjusting.
Another object of this invention is to provide a bearing system of the type described in which thermal effects tend to cause dynamic changes in the operation of the bearing system and wherein provision is made for automatically axially self-adjusting the bearing system so as to maintain proper operation thereof by compensating for such thermal changes.
Another object of this invention is to provide a fluid operating bearing having spaced bearing elements on a rotatable shaft in which shells, associated with the bearing elements, are biased by a spring in one case and by fluid pressure in the other case, towards the associated bearings in order to maintain automatically the proper gap between the bearing and shell pairs.
These and other objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention as will be described in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred forms of the invention for purposes of illustration thereof and which are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view in section of a typical fluid operated bearing system in accordance with the present invention in which the bearing system is used in a relatively high speed spindle;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view, in section, of the front end of the bearing assembly in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, in section, of the front end of a modified form of bearing assembly in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred form of the fluid bearing 10 is illustrated in the form of a high speed spindle assembly which includes a housing 13 of steel, for example, the latter provided with a side opening 14 through which electrical wires may pass. Located within the housing which also includes passageways for cooling liquid, not shown and for flow of fluid, is a hollow shaft 15. The hollow shaft includes a drawbar 17, on one end of which is a well known tool holding collet assembly generally designated 20.
The drawbar is driven by and moveable axially within the hollow shaft. In the retracted position, as shown, the collet grips a tool, the drawbar being biased in the retracted position by a machined spring 25 which is threaded on the other end 26 of the shaft as illustrated. Further details of the machined spring are described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,653 issued Feb. 3, 1987 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,700 issued on Dec. 13, 1988. The end of the drawbar includes a flat 28 which bears against the spring 25 and a driving connection between the shaft 15 and the drawbar 17 is provided by a hexagonal opening in the shaft and a mating hexagonal outer portion of the shaft as indicated at 30, although a splined connection may be used if desired.
The rear end of the housing 13 is closed by a cap 31, sealed by an o-ring 32, while the front end of the housing is also sealed by a screw cap 34 and an o-ring seal 36, the front cap including an aperture 37 through which front end of the shaft and the collet assembly extend, as shown. The rear end of the housing includes a standard collet actuating assembly such as an axially moveable pneumatically operated piston 40. Pressure in the space 42 between the piston 40 and the cap 31 forces the piston towards the front of the bearing against a spring 43, one end of which bears against the back of the piston and the other end of which bears against an adjusting nut 50 which is threaded to the housing. The piston carries a bottom 53 which is slidable in an aperture 54 of the nut and sealed by an o-ring 56. The button contacts the flat 28, urging the drawbar forward to release the collet; upon release of the pressure in space 42, the spring 43 urges the piston to the rear while the spring nut 25 urges the drawbar to the rear.
In the form illustrated, power to drive the shaft is provided by a stator 60 supported in the housing and a rotor 62 mounted on the shaft. The shaft 15 also carries axially spaced conical bearing elements 65 and 66, the rear and front bearing elements, respectively, which may, for example be made of hard anodized aluminum. The rear conical bearing 65 includes an inner tapered opening 68 which mates with the correspondingly tapered portion 69 of the shaft, as shown, the taper being about 8 degrees to form a gripping rather than locking taper. The rear bearing is axially slotted and pinned to the shaft by a pin 71, such that the rear bearing cone 65 rotates with the driven shaft, but upon assembly or removal, may be moved axially of the shaft.
Associated with the rear bearing cone is a rear shell 80, the latter preferably totally of graphite and treated to be impervious to the flow of gas through the body of the shell and not supported in an aluminum housing. As shown, the rear bearing cone is oriented such that the small diameter end thereof faces to the rear while the associated shell includes a conical aperture 82 which basically matches the contour of the outer surface 83 of the rear cone, thus providing a fluid gap 85 therebetween when fluid pressure is introduced into the assembly. The rear shell is supported within but spaced from the housing by two axially spaced spring biased continuous resilient seal elements 88 and 89 which may, for example, be lip seals of Teflon as described in detail in the patent application previously referred to, and which fully encircle and contact the outer surface of the shell 80.
Positioned between the seal element 88 and the back side of the adjusting nut is an annular seal spacer 91 which may also be a machined spring, while located in a shoulder 92 in the inside surface of the housing is a second seal spacer 94 having an radially inwardly extending section 96 which assists in removing the rear cone from the shaft during disassembly. When fluid is introduced into the bearing assembly through an inlet on the housing an through passageways in the housing, not shown, fluid flows into the annular chamber 98 between the seals 88 and 89 and through passageways 100 provided in the shell 80 for flow into the fluid gap 85. The pressure tends to force the seal elements axially apart and against the associated spacers. Located between the spacer 91 and the spring nut 25 is an annular main spring 105, one end of which bears against the back side of the adjusting nut and the other end of which bears against the back face and against a shoulder 106 of the rear shell 80.
The main spring may have a spring constant of about 1,500 pounds per inch or greater and functions to hold the rear shell in place with respect to the rear cone. Associated with the front cone 66, which is mounted on the shaft by an interference fit, is a front shell 110, the latter having a tapered inner surface 112 which essentially matches the contour of the outer surface 114 of the rear cone to provide a fluid gap 115 therebetween when fluid is introduced into the bearing assembly. In the form illustrated, the front cone is oriented such that the small diameter end faces to the front or away from the rear cone. The front shell is pinned to the inside of the front housing as indicated at 117 so that during operation, the front shell does not rotate. During assembly and disassembly, the front shell can be rotated with the front cap.
The front shell is supported within but spaced from the housing by two axially spaced spring biased continuous resilient seal elements 118 and 119 which may, for example, be lip seals of Teflon as described in detail in the patent application previously referred to, and which fully encircle and contact the outer surface of the shell 110.
Positioned between the seal element 118 and received in a shoulder in the housing is an annular seal spacer 121 which may also be a machined spring, while a shoulder 122 in the inside surface of the front cap forms a second seal spacer 124. When fluid is introduced into the bearing assembly, fluid flows into the annular chamber 128 between the seals 118 and 119 and through passageways 130 provided in the front shell 112 for flow into the fluid gap 115. The pressure tends to force the seal elements axially apart and against the associated spacers. The front shell is made of the same material as the rear shell, while the front cone is made of the same material as the rear cone. The use of these respective materials prevents galling should the cones contact the respective shells.
The structure as above described is basically that previously described in the previously identified patent application of which this is a continuation in part. Yet, there are differences. In order to achieve automatic axial self-adjusting, the rear shell is held in place by being biased by the main spring towards the associated bearing cone. This establishes the fluid, preferably gas, gap between the rear cone and the rear shell. Generally, the fluid pressure does not provide the axial force to position the rear shell properly, this is provided by the main spring. In the case of the front shell, however, the situation is different.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the front cone is provided with a differential diameter, i.e., the diameter D1 is greater than the diameter D2. Thus, the area of D1 is A1=pi/4×D1 2 , while the area of D2 is A2=pi/4×D2 2 . The difference in area, A1-A2, is the area on which the pressure of the fluid acts and creates a force equal to F=P×(A1-A2), where F is the force, P the fluid pressure and A1 and A2 as described. The result is that the force is in an axial direction tending to force the shell towards the associated cone, i.e., the open wide end of the shell is forced over the narrow end of the cone. The result is that the spring assists in forming the proper gap at the rear shell-cone combination and the force generated by the pressure and differential diameter tends to form the proper gap at the front shell-cone combination thereby establishing the proper fluid gap dimensions in the respective gaps.
Should thermal expansion or stress cause any change or changes in dimension, the system automatically compensates since the system is self-adjusting axially. It is also to be noted that the ability of the bearing to respond as may be needed for automatic accurate axial self-adjustment is in part related to the relatively low friction of the seals associated with the front shell. The friction of those seals is between 3 and 6 pounds in a bearing in which the major diameter of the front cone is about 1.628 inches while the major diameter, D1 of front shell is 1.775 inches, with a minor diameter, D2, of 1.668 inches. With these dimensions, the bearing will support about 80 pounds of axial thrust and the biasing thrust of the front shell is between 20 to 26 pounds for proper operation.
FIG. 2 illustrates a modified form of the front shell for use in bearings to be used for spindles for drilling and routing. In such a structure, the front and rear cones are oriented so that the minor diameters are facing each other and the major diameter of the cones are facing away from each other. In this case the shells are such that the small diameter openings face each other and the large diameter openings face away from each other. The result of this change is to result in the spring for the front bearing exerting a force in the opposite direction. The main spring 105 is located on the shoulder 96 of the seal spacer at one end and bears against the front face of the rear shell as will be apparent from an examination of FIG. 1. Thus, the spring still forces the shell towards the cone, but since the cone is oriented with the major diameter facing to the rear, the spring urges the associated shell to the rear.
As shown in FIG. 2, wherein the same reference numerals have been used for basically the same parts, the front bearing and shell assembly are shown to illustrate this form of the invention. The larger diameter D1a is at the front end of the shell 110a, i.e., nearer to the front end cap 34, with the front seal 119 positioned against the shoulder 122 of the front cap, as described. In this form, the rear seal spring holder 121a, sealed to the housing 13 includes a shoulder 131 which receives the rear seal element 118 and the shell, the shell 110a being pinned to the rear spring holder 121a by a pin 117a. Here the minor diameter is D2a, at the reduced diameter 132 at the rear of the shell 110a, while the major diameter is at D1a. Since the differential diameters result in an effective working area which faces to the front of the bearing, i.e., towards the major diameter of the cone associated with the front shell, the force exerted for axial adjustment is directed towards the large diameter end of the cone in order to position the shell properly on that cone, i.e., towards the front of the assembly, indicated by the arrow F1, as is required.
FIG. 3 illustrates another form of the front shell and cone assembly which is a variant of that illustrated in FIG. 1. Again the same reference numerals have been used for the same parts. In this form, the rear end of the front shell 110b is provided with a radially extending shoulder 150 which is of a dimension to clear the inside diameter of the housing at that region. The rear seal 119b of the front shell bears against that shoulder while the front seal 118 bears against the shoulder 122 of the front cap. In this form, the major diameter is D1b which is effectively the major diameter of the shell and the small increment 153 of the rear seal which extends radially beyond the shoulder 150 and between the radial end of the shoulder and the opposite inner wall of the housing. The minor diameter D2b, which is less than the major diameter, extends to the region just to the rear of the front seal 118b of the front shell. Again, the result is that the differential diameter creates a force which biases the front shell towards the large diameter end of the cone, i.e., to the rear, again providing the self-adjustment as described.
In comparing the structure of FIG. 1 with that of FIG. 3, it is apparent that since the front shell is the moveable component, the friction is between the inside peripheral component of the seals and the outer surface of the shells. In the case of the structure of FIG. 3, since the front shell is axially moveable, the friction is between the inside peripheral surface of the front seal 118b and the outside peripheral surface of the seal 119b, i.e., the inside wall of the housing which is smooth steel. This may result in less frictional resistance with respect to movement of the seals. In the case of the structure of FIG. 1, the sliding friction is basically between the inside peripheral region of the seals and the opposing surface of the shell. Since the shell is of graphite, the sliding friction is relatively low, as already noted.
There has thus been described various structural arrangements for achieving automatic and essentially complete axial self-adjustment of the gap dimensions of a fluid, and preferably gas operated bearing, and which achieves and exhibit the advantages as set forth herein.
|
An essentially completely and automatically self-adjusting fluid bearing assembly includes at least a front and rear bearing cone mounted for rotation with a driven shaft. Associated with each cone is a shell, such that a fluid gap exists between the shell and the associated cone. One of the shells, usually the rear shell, is held in place and biased by a spring or the like to urge the shell towards the associated cone to form the proper fluid gap while the other shell is provided with a differential diameter. Due to the differential diameter, the fluid pressure operates to urge the front shell towards the front cone thus keeping the fluid gaps in the proper fluid gap dimensions. Various structures are described.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the design of cardiac pacemakers and more particularly to the timing control of a rate responsive cardiac pacer. The isovolumic contraction time (IVCT) of a beating heart is used as a control parameter for a rate adaptive cardiac pacer. Thus, the pacer is responsive to metabolic demand.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Patients who suffer from severe bradycardia or chronotropic incompetence require implantation of a cardiac pacemaker in order to restore a normal resting heart rate. Such pacers usually have a fixed rate or a narrow range of externally programmable rates, so they are also efficacious in meeting metabolic demand at low levels of exercise. However, the inadequacy of a fixed pacing rate or a narrow range to meet metabolic demands at rest and during exercise led to the development of rate responsive pacemakers. Rate responsive pacers were developed to provide a rate increase that is commensurate with prevailing metabolic demand. The pacer assesses metabolic demand by a variety of methods, then automatically adjusts its escape interval upwards or downwards to provide a cardiac output commensurate with this demand. Such pacers are an improvement over the fixed rate pacers, but some models available on the market suffer from either a lack of sensitivity to changing conditions indicative of metabolic demand, a lack of specificity or a lack of sufficient speed in response to changes. An example of pacers that suffer from a lack of specificity are those that are controlled by activity detectors. For example, the Activitrax® pacer sold by Medtronic, Inc. uses body motion or various vibrations as a basis for developing a rate adjusting control signal. Difficulty arises in distinguishing these motions or vibrations from artifacts produced by passive vibration or by motion that is not associated with a metabolic demand increase. The control signal is introduced into the timing sensor of the pacer, resulting in an inappropriate rate response.
Other relatively nonspecific pacers are those that base motion detection on respiration parameters, such as transthoracic impedance. The respiratory impedance signal obtained in this manner is commonly contaminated by body motion artifacts, such as arm movements, which unduly increase the rate beyond what is dictated by the prevailing metabolic needs.
A lack of sensitivity is common in temperature-controlled pacers. There exists a normal physiologic lag between onset and level of exercise and the point at which the body temperature rises by an amount that will alter the pacer's rate. This slow response can also be unpredictable. Pacers using QT interval as a control parameter are also relatively slow in reacting to changed metabolic needs. They tend to be non-specific and some are erratic. Self-acceleration is common in these pacers, because the physiologic signal used for rate control predisposes them to positive feedback.
As is explained in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,921, these difficulties are overcome by use of a pacer algorithm for a rate adaptive pacer based upon pre-ejection period (PEP). This biological signal seems to be ideal for controlling pacing in such rate adaptive pacemakers, since it is fast, specific and sensitive. PEP is the time interval either from the onset of QRS or from the pacing spike, whichever occurs first, to the onset of ventricular ejection. Furthermore, PEP is linearly related to ECG cycle length variation induced by changing metabolic needs. To practically implement a PEP-controlled pacemaker, the signal from which PEP is measured should be obtained directly from within the heart. It is recommended that this signal be derived via the impedance technique, since it permits the detection of a right ventricular volume waveform from which PEP can be measured using conventional pacing leads. For example, the onset of ventricular ejection can be derived from the right ventricular impedance signal, which is inversely proportional to ventricular volume. Thus, a sudden rise in impedance indicates a sudden reduction in ventricular volume, which in turn is indicative of the onset of ejection. Using this type of measuring device, PEP is consequently re-defined as the interval from the QRS or pacing spike to a sudden increase in ventricular impedance. PEP is thus an electro-mechanical interval, comprised of two major sub-components: the electro-mechanical lag (EML), which is the time from the onset of electrical activity, to the onset of mechanical activation of the ventricle, and the isovolumetric contraction time (IVCT), which goes from the onset of mechanical activation to the onset of ventricular ejection.
The artificial electronic pacemaker described in the aforereferenced patent is adapted to alter the stimulus pulse rate of its pacing pulse generator in response to metabolically determined variations in PEP which parallel the normal atrial rate variations from the same stimuli. In this manner, rate is adjusted as a function of the cardiac output requirements of the body so that rate is commensurate with the needs of the individual. An electric signal that depends on the PEP is used to regulate the pulse generator's escape interval in any of the conventional pacing modes, including the AAI, VVI, DVI, VDD and DDD modes. Specifically, this pacemaker system comprises a first device that senses the beginning of each natural QRS waveform in the ECG signal. If there is no natural QRS signal within an escape interval to cause the heart to beat, then the artificial stimulus pulse provided as a substitute by the pacemaker is sensed. In either case, the sensed signal corresponds to the time the heart is being signaled to initiate ventricular contraction. After a delay extending to the beginning of the IVCT, the ventricles begin to contract, but blood is not yet being ejected. A second sensor is used to detect the precise moment the blood pressure in the contracting ventricle equals the static diastolic pressure in the aorta or pulmonary artery or when blood begins to flow in these vessels or other arteries. This time corresponds to the onset of ventricular ejection and constitutes the end of the PEP. Thus, using the time of the beginning of the QRS complex and the time of the subsequent signal indicative of ventricular ejection being sensed, the time interval between the two represents the PEP. A signal proportional to the variable PEP and, hence, to variable physiological requirements is used to adjust the pacemaker's escape interval and, therefore, its stimulation pulse rate.
The use of PEP as a control parameter is not without some complications because several physiological conditions exist that are not adequately sensitive to PEP as a control parameter. Among these are right bundle branch block (RBBB) and left ventricular extrasystoles. Bundle branch block is a conduction abnormality within specialized fibers of the ventricular walls. The Purkinje system, including the bundle branches, is a branching complex of nervous tissue, specialized for the conduction of electrical depolarizations through the central regions of the heart. These specialized tissues permit a much more rapid conduction of the heart beat to occur than would ordinarily exist if the electrical depolarization were simply transferred from cardiac cell to cardiac cell. This blockage of conduction need not be complete. The depolarization can follow an altered pathway and thus be manifested as a lengthened depolarization interval on a standard electrocardiogram of the ventricle (e.g., QRS complex). These bundle branch blocks are usually assumed to be related to a specific lesion in one of the major divisions of this nervous system, whether left or right. However, some are not explained on this basis alone and are thought to be related to disease states of the ventricles, such as myocardial hypertrophy (heart enlargement). Right bundle branch block involves the portion of this conduction system that supplies the contraction stimulus to the right ventricle. This condition causes the overall ventricular depolarization (QRS) to be lengthened, due to a synchronous excitation of the two ventricles. In the presence of right bundle branch block (RBBB), the onset of intrinsic electrical activity takes place in the left ventricle. Since the electrical impulses originated in the opposite ventricular chamber and must travel through the Purkinje system and myocardium, the right ventricle is depolarized much later than the left. This delay is added to the electro-mechanical lag, prolonging PEP. Right ventricular PEP, in consequence, will be longer if the electrical depolarization of the heart starts in the left ventricle.
A similar situation will take place in case of left ventricular extrasystoles. Variation of PEP may also occur when PEP is measured from an intrinsic beat as compared to a paced beat. An intrinsic QRS is sensed by the pacemaker from 20 to 50 ms after its onset, depending on sensitivity settings, dV/dt, and peak QRS voltage, whereas a pacing artifact is recognized right at its onset by the pacemaker algorithm. In this situation, a sensed beat will have a shorter PEP than a paced beat.
To avoid the inconveniences caused by pacing/sensing offset, bundle branch blocks, and even pseudo-fusion beats (a non-capturing pacing spike delivered on a non-sensed QRS), it becomes necessary to develop a system exclusively using a mechanical interval as an indicator of metabolic need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The foregoing objects and advantages of the invention are achieved by providing a novel rate-responsive pacemaker using an intracardiac, exclusively mechanical interval, namely, the isovolumic contraction time (IVCT) as a control signal responsive to metabolic demands. This control signal proportional to IVCT is injected into the timing circuit of a standard rate adaptive pacemaker to enhance the pacer's ability to respond in direct relation to the patient's changing metabolic needs as he performs his daily activities. A typical configuration of a rate adaptive pacemaker using IVCT for rate control is described in which either the right or left heart IVCT may be used. Accordingly, the pacing rate of the pacemaker is determined by the duration of IVCT. Since pacing interval and IVCT are linearly related, a simple conversion factor can be used to transform the duration of IVCT into the duration of the pacemaker escape interval. Although both right and left heart IVCT may be used for rate control, for the sake of simplicity, only the right heart parameters will be described herein. The device is capable of operating in most of the available modes (VVIR, DDDR, DDIR, AAIR), and has provisions for multiprogrammability, data storage, bidirectional telemetry, among other standard functions.
To measure IVCT, the device has two inputs: one, signaling the onset of mechanical activation of the ventricle, which is the start of IVCT, and another, signaling the onset of ejection, the end of IVCT. The time interval between these two events is the duration of IVCT, which is processed by the pacemaker to determine the escape interval (pacing rate), through a simple conversion algorithm, analogous to what is available in my prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,921. Onset and end points of IVCT are detected by biological sensors in the form of pressure, volume or flow transducers. Several combinations of these transducers may be used to measure onset of mechanical activation (start of IVCT) and onset of ejection (end of IVCT).
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The aforementioned objects and advantages of the invention will become subsequently apparent and 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 thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.
FIG. 1 depicts a functional block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, using one example of a combination of two sensors; and
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the logic means used in the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A preferred embodiment of the cardiac stimulating apparatus incorporating the present invention is illustrated by the block diagram of FIG. 1, in which onset and end points of IVCT are detected by biological sensors. These sensors may take the form of pressure, volume or flow transducers. Many readily available sensors could be used, as long as they provide an accurate signal and fulfill criteria for chronic implantability. Among these alternatives, onset of mechanical activation (start of IVCT) and onset of ejection (end of IVCT) may be detected by several combinations of these transducers. For clarity, a reduced list of possible sensor alternatives is provided:
1. ONSET OF MECHANICAL ACTIVATION (start of IVCT): Several biological signals and corresponding sensors may be utilized for the detection of the onset of contraction of the right ventricle, including:
(a) Onset of pressure rise (pressure transducer): A piezo-electric semiconductor embedded in the pacing lead, close to the tip, can be used as an indicator of the onset of IVCT, by signaling an abrupt pressure rise. It is known that during IVCT, as its name implies, ventricular volume does not change (isovolumetric) although there is ongoing contraction of the myocardium which increases the pressure.
(b) Onset of myocardial motion (impedance transducer): Driving a low-current AC signal through the heart via standard bipolar pacing electrodes permits the detection of impedance changes associated with volume changes. Ideally, the driving signal should be directed to the heart through a pair of electrodes different from those used for sensing. This configuration provides the best signal to noise ratio and gives an accurate representation of instantaneous volume. If driving the carrier and sensing are done from the same pair of electrodes, the system is more sensitive to local motion, producing distortion of the volume waveform. Local motion occurs when myocardial fibers contract in the vicinity of the electrode, producing significant overall impedance changes. Local motion indicates the very onset of ventricular activation, since the initial events taking place between the endocardium and electrode are a reflection of heart shape change but not of volume change.
(c) Tricuspid valve closure (sound transducer): Closure of the tricuspid valve produces a distinctive high frequency sound detectable with a piezo-electric microphone embedded in the pacing lead in the vicinity of the tricuspid valve. It could be used as an indication of the onset of mechanical activation. Although it follows the onset of contraction, the error is small, and for practical purposes it could be considered equivalent to the true onset of mechanical activation.
2. ONSET OF EJECTION (end of IVCT):
(a) Reduction of ventricular volume (impedance method): For the right ventricle, the most efficacious means of detecting the onset of ejection with an implantable device is by the impedance method. An abrupt impedance rise is indicative of an abrupt volume decrease, which in turn is a manifestation of the onset of ventricular emptying (ejection).
(b) Peak dP/dt (pressure transducer): The peak rate of pressure rise in the right ventricle is closely associated with the onset of ejection. During IVCT, ventricular pressure rises without volume changes, until the pulmonic valve opens. At this point, ejection begins and the rate of rise of pressure slows down. Generally, peak right ventricular dP/dt may either coincide with the onset of ejection, may precede it slightly or may closely follow it.
Given the above alternatives, the IVCT controlled pacemaker may utilize any of the following combinations to obtain the value of IVCT for rate control:
1. Pressure transducer, used for the onset of ventricular contraction and for the onset of ejection, as determined from its first derivative (dP/dt): IVCT is the time interval from the onset of pressure rise (contraction) to the peak dP/dt (onset of ejection). With this configuration a pressure transducer is used for detection of both endpoints.
2. Pressure transducer used for the onset of contraction, impedance transducer for the onset of ejection: With this configuration a lead comprising a set of conventional pacing electrodes and an embedded pressure transducer in the same lead is necessary.
3. Impedance transducer for the onset and end of IVCT: With this configuration a standard bipolar or unipolar pacing lead could be used.
4. Sound transducer (microphone) for the onset of contraction, impedance transducer for the onset of ejection: This system is similar to #2, with the exception that a sound transducer is used instead of the pressure transducer. In fact, the same piezo-electric semiconductor may be used for sound, pressure and dP/dt. Other combinations are also possible, but the four mentioned above are the most practical ones.
Referring now to FIG. 1, an example of a system using a dual transducer configuration (pressure and volume) is described. Other systems using a single transducer configuration, as shown above, may be utilized as well. The system described uses standard biological sensors, lead electrodes and externally programmable pacing parameters, as known in the art.
The pressure sensor signal is processed in block 1. The sensor may be of the piezoelectric type, as known in the prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,813), and embedded near the tip of the pacing lead. Simultaneously, block 2 delivers a constant current carrier signal to the lead electrodes and receives the resulting impedance signal, which is directed to block 4 for the detection of ventricular volume, in a manner similar to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,987. The onset of sudden volume reduction is detected and a corresponding signal is delivered to block 5. Block 3 detects the onset of pressure rise and also delivers a signal to block 5. IVCT is measured in block 5 a the time interval between the onset of pressure rise, as signaled by block 3 and the onset of ventricular ejection, as signaled by block 4. Logic circuitry present in block 6 adjusts the escape interval of the pacemaker pulse generator 7 in relation to the measured value of IVCT. Pulse generator 7 then delivers a pulsed discharge, via standard cardiac electrodes, in the known manner. A clock function 8 continuously registers clock pulses and increments a timing value.
As described above, the onset or end of IVCT may be detected using impedance, pressure or sound methods. FIG. 2 depicts an implantable preferred means for performing the comparator and differentiator functions required to obtain the timing values that enable measurement of the duration of IVCT. In the example described, either closure of the tricuspid valve or the change in impedance which occurs with onset of contraction of the ventricle are selected to mark the onset of IVCT. In this example, measurement of pressure marks the end of IVCT.
Sensors, generally designated as 10, include microphone 12 for sensing the sound emitted as the tricuspid valve closes, impedance sensor 14 for sensing instantaneous impedance values within the ventricular cavity, and pressure transducer 16 for sensing instantaneous pressure values. Programmable switch SW l selects between sound 12 or impedance 14 detection means. Whether a microphone pickup is used to detect sound, or an impedance sensing circuit is used to detect instantaneous impedance within the ventricle, an analog signal train is delivered to an A/D converter 18, such as a Delta Modulator. A/D converter 18 digitizes the analog signal into a serial bit stream. A 32 kHz clock 20 is coupled with the A/D converter 18 and the data is clocked into a register 22 whose data output lines are fed into one set of inputs to a comparator 24. A predetermined reference or threshold value is programmed into N-bit register 26, whose outputs are also fed into comparator 24. When a match occurs between the preprogrammed reference or threshold value from register 26 and the data value from register 22, the comparator 24 outputs a "start" signal to interval counter 28. Using clock 20, the interval counter 28 initiates a count of regularly occurring clock pulses.
In this example, a pressure transducer sensing circuit 16 is used to define the onset of ventricular ejection, signaling the end of the IVCT period. As shown at 16, the pressure sensing circuit produces a p vs. t analog waveform. This signal is fed to differentiater 30, whereby it is differentiated using standard methods and the resultant signal is fed to peak detector 32. At peak detector 32, the maximal dP/dt signal is selected. This signal is used to define the onset of contraction of the ventricle, the end of IVCT. Thus, it is fed to interval counter 28, wherein this signal is used to inhibit the counter, ceasing the accumulation of regularly occurring clock pulses. The timing value held in interval counter 28 at this moment is thus captured. Since it is directly proportional to the duration of IVCT, this signal can be injected directly into a standard digital pacer pulse generator 34. Within the control means of digital pacer pulse generator 34, the IVCT duration signal developed in counter 28 is used to modify the pacer's escape interval for applying stimulating pulses to heart 36.
If analog RC timing circuitry is used in the pacer, the count in counter 28 can be converted in a D/A converter to an analog current proportional to IVCT and injected into the timing capacitor to vary the pacer's escape interval.
This invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the Patent Statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices and that various modifications, both as to equipment details and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.
|
A rate responsive pacemaker uses isovolumic contraction time (IVCT) as a control signal responsive to metabolic demands. This control signal is injected into the timing circuit of a standard rate adaptive pacemaker to enhance the pacer's ability to respond in direct relation to the patient's changing metabolic needs as he performs his daily activities. A typical configuration, uses the duration of either right or left heart IVCT for rate control. The device has two inputs to measure IVCT: one, signaling the onset of mechanical activation of the ventricle, and another, signaling the onset of ejection. The time interval between these two signals is the duration of IVCT, which is processed by the pacemaker to determine the escape interval.
| 0
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 61/308,150 filed on Feb. 25, 2010, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
FIELD
The disclosure relates generally to a portable cooler for carrying food and beverages. More specifically, the disclosure provides a cooler with several compartments for storing warm, dry, refrigerated, and/or frozen goods.
BACKGROUND
Coolers are routinely used for transporting goods from one location to another. These coolers may have many compartments to store goods such as beverages, frozen/cooked food, and other items. In addition, these coolers may include dry ice/ice, heat sources, etc., for keeping the items in each compartment at a different temperature.
In some of these designs, one compartment of the cooler may be insulated from others. Insulation between compartments keeps heat/refrigeration confined to a small space, thereby allowing some of the compartments to keep goods warm and other compartments to cool them down. For instance, if ice is placed in one of the compartments of the cooler, the insulated walls of the cooler would allow the cooling effect of and any moisture generated from the ice to be confined to the single compartment. Thus, food/other items placed in adjacent compartments would be protected from the cooler temperatures and higher moisture content of the ice cold compartment. This scenario would be advantageous in situations where, for instance, dry food (e.g., cookies, chips, peanuts, etc) would spoil if placed in prolonged contact with moisture. To provide this insulation, walls between adjacent compartments may be coated with materials such as cloth and/or thermal packs, among other things.
Similarly, in other cooler designs, the walls separating adjacent compartments may be conductive (e.g., by being made out of a conductive material like metal, etc.), thereby allowing heat/refrigeration to pass readily from one compartment to another. With this configuration, a temperature gradient can be created between adjacent compartments. Using the earlier example of ice placed in one of the compartments, a conductive wall between the compartment with ice and an adjacent one may result in the adjacent compartment maintaining a temperature that is cooler than room temperature but at the same time warmer than the ice cold compartment (assuming, of course, that diffusion takes a certain amount of time to equilibrate the temperatures of the two compartments). In addition, moisture may be blocked from entering the adjacent compartment, thereby resulting in cooler with a cool, dry compartment and an ice cold, wet compartment.
If dry ice is used to cool any of the compartments in a multicompartment cooler, moisture generation is not an issue; however, the manipulation of temperature gradients between compartments may be controlled by the use of insulating and conductive barriers between compartments as discussed above. The use of thermal insulators/conductors between compartments provides only a crude level of control for maintaining a temperature differential between compartments.
In addition, conventional coolers are purchased as single size coolers, meaning that they can be used only in one size. Thus, in situations where only a small number of goods are to be transported in the cooler, a large cooler will have a significant amount of unfilled space. Similarly, in situations where a large number of goods are to be transported in the cooler, a smaller cooler will not suffice, thus resulting in the need for use of multiple coolers.
BRIEF SUMMARY
The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.
To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present disclosure is directed to a multicompartment cooler configured to allow more control over the temperature of each compartment.
A first aspect of the disclosure provides a multicompartment portable cooler with adjustable vents to allow cold air to move into lower compartments and warm air to move into upper compartments.
A second aspect of the disclosure provides an enhanced modular cooler that allows some of the compartments to be removed if needed. Other enhanced characteristics of the cooler include a delivery flag that is triggered by the opening of the cooler lid and a brochure receptor for housing documents that may need to accompany the contents of the cooler.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and the advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
FIG. 1 a illustrates a portable cooler with adjustable vents in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 1 b illustrates a multicompartment cooler 100 b with an assembled base compartment in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 2 illustrates the change in temperature of milk placed in a cooler with and without a cooling source in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 3 illustrates the results of yet another experiment in which a heating element was placed into a base compartment of a multicompartment cooler with the outside temperature being cold in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 4 illustrates the results of another experiment in which the vents between an intermediate compartment and a base compartment were closed when the intermediate compartment includes a cooling element and the base compartment is empty in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 5 illustrates a portable cooler with enhanced features, such as an automatic delivery flag and a transparent brochure receptor, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 6 a illustrates a portable cooler with a delivery flag in the upright position in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 6 b illustrates a portable cooler with a delivery flag in the resting position in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following description of the various embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which aspects may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Aspects described herein provide a multicompartment portable cooler with improved features for temperature and moisture control. The cooler is configured to transport a variety of goods, including food, beverages, and medicine, among other things.
FIG. 1 a shows a portable cooler in accordance with at least one aspect of the disclosure. Cooler 100 a may be manufactured out of various materials, including plastic and wood, among other things. Cooler 100 a may include a base compartment 101 a , an intermediate compartment 103 a , and a lid 105 a . The base compartment 101 a may include a number of features such as handles 107 a , ribs 109 a , and a heating/cooling element 111 a . Handles 107 a may allow the cooler 100 a to be transported from one place to another with relative ease. Meanwhile, ribs 109 a may give the floor and/or sidewalls of base compartment 101 a topography. There may be several advantages to incorporating a base compartment 101 a with ribs 109 a . For instance, if there is any moisture due to condensation, melting, or unexpected spills on the floor of base compartment 101 a , food items may avoid direct contact with the moisture, thereby preventing the food from becoming too soggy, spoiling, and/or other undesirable consequences. It should be noted that while ribs 109 a are shown only for base compartment 101 a , ribs 109 a may be found in any of the other compartments of cooler 100 a.
Heating/cooling element 111 a may be implemented in various ways for regulating temperature within base compartment 101 a . In one embodiment, element 111 a may include a heating element such as a chemical heating pad and/or a powered heating element, among other things. Element 111 a may be attached to the roof of base compartment 101 a with screws, adhesive, or using other techniques. In other embodiments, temperature element 111 a may be a cooling element, such as a container for dry ice and/or a powered refrigeration component, among other things. While temperature element 111 a is shown on top of base compartment 101 a , it should be noted that element 111 a may be found anywhere within base compartment 101 a.
Cooler 100 a may also include an intermediate compartment 103 a above the base compartment 101 a . Intermediate compartment 103 a may be designed such that it fits into base compartment 101 a through a variety of means. In one embodiment, intermediate compartment 103 a may include a recess 113 a around the periphery of its base to allow the intermediate compartment 103 a to fit snugly into base compartment 101 a . To allow this type of mating, the walls of intermediate compartment 103 a may be angled give the intermediate compartment 103 a a larger surface area at the top of the compartment compared to the surface area at the bottom of the compartment. Intermediate compartment 103 a may include its own handle 115 a for assembling the cooler 100 a and/or transporting it from one location to another. In other embodiments, intermediate compartment 103 a and base compartment 101 a may be affixed together with screws, adhesives, and caulk, among other materials.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, the intermediate compartment 103 a may include adjustable vents 117 a to allow cold/hot air to move between adjacent compartments. Adjustable vents 117 a may be manufactured in the floor of intermediate compartment 103 a . Vents 117 a may include a slideable panel to open and close adjustable vents 117 a . When adjustable vents 117 a are opened, temperature element 111 a may cause cold/hot air to diffuse from the base compartment 101 a to intermediate compartment 103 a.
Moreover, further enhancement and adjustment of the diffusion process is possible with the inclusion of more than a single heating/cooling element, such as including temperature element 121 a as a heating/cooling element and temperature element 111 a as a heating/cooling element. If both temperature elements 111 a and 121 a function as cooling elements (or heating elements), then cooling (heating) may occur more quickly, again with the net result of intermediate compartment 103 a having an overall higher air temperature than base compartment 101 a . Alternatively, additional temperature elements (or temperature elements of increased/decreased size or quantity) could be included to alter temperatures, cooling/heating times and longevity.
Experimental tests were conducted to measure the temperature of milk cartons placed in a multicompartment cooler 100 a compared to the temperature of similar cartons of milk placed in a conventional single compartment cooler. In this test, the multicompartment cooler 100 a had dry ice placed in the intermediate compartment 103 a , milk was placed in the base compartment 101 a , and the vents 117 a between the base compartment 101 a and intermediate compartment 103 a were completely opened to allow cool air to move into base compartment 101 a and keep the milk placed therein cool.
FIG. 2 shows the change in temperature of milk placed in a cooler with and without a cooling source (e.g., dry ice) in an intermediate compartment 103 a (and the temperature outside the cooler is warm) in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. In the experiment shown in FIG. 2 , milk was placed in the base compartment 101 a of a multicompartment cooler. As a note, water and milk freezes at 32° F. Also, as is commonly known, frozen water/milk occupies more volume than liquid milk/water; therefore, if a container holding a limited quantity of milk/water reaches the freezing temperature of the milk/water, the container will break due to the increased volume of the contents. In FIG. 2 , the “temperature change subject milk” line represents the condition where dry ice was placed in the intermediate compartment 103 a , milk was placed in the base compartment 101 a , and vents 117 a were opened. Meanwhile, the “temperature change control milk” line represents the condition where no dry ice was placed in a standard one compartment cooler. In both cases, the temperature change of the milk in the base compartment 101 a was measured versus time. As shown in FIG. 2 , when dry ice is added to the intermediate compartment 103 a (with vents 117 a open) of a multicompartment cooler, milk placed in the base compartment 101 a is kept cooler over time than the case where no dry ice is placed in a standard one compartment cooler. Thus, the cooling effect shown in FIG. 2 establishes one example of the functionality of the vents 117 a (i.e., the vents 117 a effectively transfer the cool air from the compartment with the dry ice to the base compartment 101 a . More specifically, the cool air in the intermediate compartment 103 a with the dry ice sinks through the vents 117 a to cool the milk in the base compartment 101 a.
FIG. 3 shows the results of yet another experiment in which a heating element (e.g., a chemical heating pad, etc.) was placed into a base compartment 101 a of a multicompartment cooler with the outside temperature being cold in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. FIG. 3 shows that, by placing a heating element into the base compartment 101 a of a multicompartment cooler, the length of time before the contents of the intermediate compartment 103 a of the cooler (in this case, milk) freezes may be increased. As shown in the graph of FIG. 3 , at time 16:12, the experiment was started for the case where a heating element was placed into base compartment 101 a (“subject milk”) and the case where no heating element was placed into a standard one-compartment cooler (“control milk”). The point at which the “subject milk” line and the “control milk” line dramatically change slope (18:36 for the “control milk” line and 19:04 for the “subject milk” line) is the point at which the milk container breaks due to the milk freezing. Thus, FIG. 3 clearly shows that by adding a heating element to a multicompartment cooler with the vents 117 a open, the length of time before the contents (e.g., milk containers) of the cooler break (i.e., freeze) may be prolonged. Moreover, because the compartmentalized cooler started out colder at 16:12, had the compartmentalized cooler started at the same temperature as the control, the compartmentalized cooler would likely have gone longer before the milk container in the compartmentalized cooler broke.
Finally, FIG. 4 illustrates the results of another experiment in which the vents 117 a between an intermediate compartment 103 a and a base compartment 101 a were closed when the intermediate compartment 103 a includes a cooling element (e.g., dry ice) and the base compartment 101 a is empty (the temperature outside the cooler is warm), in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. In the graph of FIG. 4 , the “standard cooler” line represents the temperature over time within a cooler without any cooling element placed inside the cooler. Moreover, the “base compartment” line represents the temperature over time within the base compartment 101 a of a multicompartment cooler with a cooling element placed in the intermediate compartment 103 a and the vents 117 a between the base compartment 101 a and the intermediate compartment 103 a fully closed. Finally, the “intermediate compartment (contains cooling element)” line represents the temperature over time within the intermediate compartment 101 a of a multicompartment cooler with a cooling element placed in the intermediate compartment 103 a and the vents 117 a between the base compartment 101 a and the intermediate compartment 103 a fully closed. FIG. 4 shows that there is some “leakage” of cool air from the intermediate compartment 103 a to the base compartment 101 a even when the vents 117 a are closed. However, even though there is leakage between the intermediate compartment 103 a and the base compartment 101 a , FIG. 4 also shows that a temperature differential is still maintained between the two compartments over time when the vents 117 a are closed.
The importance of temperature control within the various compartments of multicompartment cooler system 100 a is underscored by the fact that bacteria, etc. may grow in food/drink products that are at the wrong temperature (See M. H. Zwietering et al., “Modeling of Bacterial Growth with Shifts in Temperature,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1994, pp. 204-213 and D. A. Ratkowsky et al., “Relationship Between Temperature and Growth Rate of Bacterial Cultures,” Journal of Bacteriology, 1982, pp. 1-5.)
As indicated by the experimental results discussed above, when adjustable vents 117 a are closed, hot/cool air from temperature element 111 a may be confined to base compartment 101 a . In yet other embodiments, adjustable vents 117 a may be partially opened and closed to allow for a desired amount of diffusion between the base compartment 101 a and intermediate compartment 103 a . Thus, vents 117 a may allow the user of cooler 100 a to precisely control the temperature/moisture differential between base compartment 101 a and intermediate compartment 103 a.
In addition, adjustable vents 117 a may be opened and closed manually or automatically. If opened manually, a user may be required to turn a knob attached to the slideable panel of vents 117 a . Alternatively, if opened automatically, the slideable panel of vents 117 a may be powered by a circuit within cooler 100 a.
Although only one intermediate compartment 103 a is shown in FIG. 1 a , cooler 100 a may include any number of intermediate compartments 103 a , stacked one on top of another. Multiple intermediate compartments 103 a may be secured one on top of another by the same technique used to secure base compartment 101 a with a single intermediate compartment 103 a . Alternatively, different techniques may be used to secure each intermediate compartment 103 a to the compartments above and below.
Cooler 100 a may also include a lid 105 a to close off the top. Lid 105 a may include a ridge 119 a to allow the lid to fit snugly into the intermediate compartment 103 a . Lid 105 a may also include a temperature element 121 a to heat/cool the intermediate compartment 103 a . In some embodiments, temperature element 121 a may lie in a recess in lid 105 a . In other embodiments, temperature element 121 a may be affixed to a wall of intermediate compartment 103 a.
FIG. 1 b illustrates a multicompartment cooler 100 b with an assembled base compartment 101 b in accordance with at least one aspect of the disclosure. Assembled base compartment 101 b includes subcompartments 103 b , 105 b , and 107 b . Base compartment 101 b has been assembled into subcompartments 103 b , 105 b , and 107 b by using removable compartment dividers, such as the one shown separating subcompartment 103 b and 105 b . It should be noted that while base compartment 101 b is shown with only three subcompartments, any number of subcompartments may be included in base compartment 101 b by using a different number of compartment dividers. Also, FIG. 1 b illustrates how beverage containers 109 b may be placed in subcompartment 103 b of base compartment 101 b . Although FIG. 1 b shows only the base compartment 101 b with subcompartments, similar approaches for creating subcompartments may be used for other compartments that are a part of cooler 100 b.
FIG. 5 illustrates a portable cooler with enhanced features, such as an automatic delivery flag and a transparent brochure receptor in accordance with at least one aspect of the disclosure. The portable cooler 200 shown in FIG. 2 may include a base 207 , a base compartment 201 , an intermediate compartment 203 , and a lid 205 . The base 207 may be used to lift the cooler such that the base compartment 201 is not in contact with the floor. This scheme may ensure that the base compartment 201 is not scratched, stained, or otherwise damaged by direct contact with the floor. More importantly, base 207 may ensure that the contents of base compartment 201 are protected in the event that chemicals, spills, and/or unwanted moisture on the floor are able to damage the base compartment 201 enough to harm the contents, if the base compartment 201 were in direct contact with the surface on which cooler 200 rests. In addition, base 207 may help to maintain a desired internal temperature of cooler 200 by insulating the base compartment 201 from thermal diffusion against the floor.
Base compartment 201 may fit snugly into a recess in base 207 or base 207 may fit snugly into a recess in base compartment 201 . As before, base compartment 201 may include a handle 209 , ribs 211 , and/or a removable compartment divider 227 . In addition, base compartment 201 may include a transparent brochure receptor 223 . Brochure receptor 223 may be used to house documents related to the contents of cooler 200 and/or about an entity making the delivery. For instance, if a beverage company is delivering alcoholic beverages in cooler 200 , the company may include details about different types of alcohol packed, contact information for the company, and/or other relevant information. Although these features are shown only for base compartment 201 , they may be included in any of the intermediate compartments 203 that are a part of cooler 200 .
Other features of cooler 200 shown in FIG. 2 include handle 215 and recess 213 for intermediate compartment 203 . Recess 213 may aid in mating compartment 203 with base compartment 201 .
In addition, lid 205 may include a delivery flag 225 that may automatically flip down once the lid 225 is opened. The delivery flag may initially be flipped up when the cooler is delivered to its intended destination. FIG. 6 a shows a portable cooler 601 a with a lid closed and a delivery flag in the upright position in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. For example, if milk cartons are delivered in cooler 200 of FIG. 5 , the delivery agency may place the cooler 200 outside a customer's home. When the customer discovers that the delivery has been made and opens lid 205 to unpack cooler 200 , a hinge that opens lid 205 may simultaneously move delivery flag 225 down to its resting position. FIG. 6 b shows a portable cooler 601 b with a lid open and a delivery flag in the resting position in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.
In addition, cooler 200 of FIG. 5 may be modular such that any of the compartments, dividers, brochure receptors, handles, and/or lids may be interchangeable from one location to another. For instance, a lid for a cooler with a base compartment secured to an intermediate compartment topped off with the lid may be used to close another cooler with just a single compartment. In other words, the parts used to assemble cooler 200 may be used to assemble coolers of various sizes and complexities. As another example, by adding and removing compartment dividers to/from the compartments of cooler 200 , coolers may be custom designed to fit the needs of a user for a particular application.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
|
This disclosure presents a stackable, multicompartment portable cooler with enhanced climate control and delivery features. The cooler may include adjustable vents for precisely controlling the temperature differential between adjacent compartments, a brochure receptor for including information about the delivery, and/or an automatic delivery flag for notification purposes. In addition, the cooler is modular and may be assembled/disassembled through the use of removable compartment dividers that subdivide the stacked main compartments into many subcompartments.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Technical Summary:
The present invention relates to an enzyme electrode or an electrochemical biosensor which is suitable for the electrochemical determination of the concentration and/or for the survey of one of several components that may be present in a fluid test sample. As an enzyme system, generally every dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) or dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) dependent system can be considered. These systems combine the selectivity of enzymes with the sensitivity of amperometric detection and are of great interest to the diagnostics industry. The reduction of the nicotinamide co-enzymes (NAD and NADP) is particularly important because they are produced in reactions catalyzed by dehydrogenases. Dehydrogenase catalyzed reactions according to the equation: ##STR1## play an important role in biological cells and analytical reactions. Several hundred different dehydrogenases are known which Selectively catalyze the conversion of various substrates into products. When the substrate is oxidized, the coenzymes NAD + and NADP + are reduced to NADH and NADPH respectively. These co-enzymes are a necessary element in the reaction due to their ability to act with enzymes to form an energy transferring redox couple.
B. State of the Art:
A variety of reactions relevant to the field of biochemical analysis which use NAD(P) dependent oxireductases are at least in principle capable of being carried out through the use of such enzymes, cf. D. W. Moss et al in N. W. Tietz (Ed.), Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, Pp. 619-763, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1986. Generally, the change in the coenzyme, NAD(P)H concentration is determined by optical methods which can cause problems when colored or turbid samples are processed. As an alternative, electrochemical methods, in the form of biosensors, can be used.
It is known that the direct oxidation of NAD(P)H on an electrode surface requires a very high overpotential which leads to undesired phenomena such as electrode fouling or strong interference by contaminating substances. A number of publications and patents published in recent years have dealt with overcoming such problems, partly by the use of mediator molecules. The substances are initially reduced by NAD(P)H and then oxidatively regenerated in a second step at the anode. The use of a mediator facilitates the use of a lower electrochemical potential as compared to direct NAD(P)H oxidation. This is illustrated by the following equations: ##STR2## Examples for such mediators are often dyestuffs, like methylene blue, Meldola's Blue, Nile Blue, or Toluidine Blue L. Gorton, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. 1, 82 (1986), 1245-1258!. These compounds often have the disadvantage that they themselves are reoxidized at such a high potential that all the relevant interferences are not always suppressed. In particular, in case of the determination of analytes in blood or urine, is it necessary to avoid the direct oxidation of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), acetaminophen, bilirubin, and uric acid. This makes an oxidation potential in the range of 0 to 150 mV (versus silver/silver chloride reference) desirable. Furthermore, a high chemical turnover rate between NAD(P)H and the mediator as well as between mediator and the anode is desirable to obtain a sufficiently high current density. This aspect is crucial in particular for a desired miniaturization of biosensors and is not or only insufficiently covered by previously described mediators. The data of Table 8 herein demonstrate that the present mediator can meet this standard. In the case of a low turnover rate between NAD(P)H and mediator, there is observed an increase of the apparent oxidation potential in the presence of substrate. Furthermore, many of the prior art mediators are not sufficiently soluble in aqueous solution thereby necessitating the use of organic solvents and complex coating techniques for applying these mediators to an electrode. This limits the number of useable carrier materials for the biosensor, in particular in the field of polymers.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and it is an object of the present invention to provide mediators for the electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH or NADPH on carbon electrodes, particularly those produced by screen printing techniques. It is a further object of this invention to provide electrodes bearing the present mediators and NAD(P)H having an oxidation potential where current saturation occurs which is in the range of from 0 to 150 mV as measured against a silver/silver chloride reference electrode with the ability to obtain current densities on the order of 100 μA/cm 2 at 5 mmol/L NAD(P)H. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide mediators which are soluble in aqueous media and which do not inhibit enzymatic activity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The objects of the present invention are met by the use of diazacyanines of Formula I: ##STR3##
Referring to Formula I, A represents the remaining members of an aromatic or quasiaromatic 5 or 6 membered heterocyclic ring which can optionally be benzanellated;
R 1 is alkyl, alkenyl, alkinyl, cycloalkyl or aralkyl;
Z is the residue of a moiety of one of the formulae II, III or IV ##STR4##
In the foregoing formulae:
R 2 , R 3 , R 5 , R 6 and R 8 are independently hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aralkyl, aryl or a saturated heterocyclic group; or
NR 2 R 3 is pyrrolidino, piperidino, morpholino, piperazino or N-alkylpiperazine or N-alkylpiperazino;
R 4 and R 7 are independently hydrogen, alkyl, alkoxy, halogen, hydroxy, nitro, cyano, alkanoylamino or alkylsulfonylamino; or
R 3 and R 4 together are a --CH 2 CH 2 -- or --CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 -- bridge which is optionally substituted with alkyl;
R 9 and R 10 are independently hydrogen, alkyl, alkoxy, halogen, hydroxy, nitro, cyano, alkanoyl or alkylsulfonyl;
m, n and p are independently 0, 1 or 2; and
X - is an anion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 shows measured response curves obtained by plotting currents against glucose concentration for an aqueous glucose solution and whole blood.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the above formula for the diazacyanines useful in the present invention, suitable counteranions (X - ) are any organic or inorganic anions which are not themselves redox-active in the range of working potentials of the electrical biosensor. Exemplary of anions which may be employed are chloride, tetrafluoroborate, hydrogensulfate, sulfate, dihydrogenphosphate, hydrogen phosphate, methylsulfate, ethylsulfate, acetate, phenylacetate, benzoate, methylsulfonate, benzenesulfonate and toluenesulfonate. If the anion used is polyvalent, such as sulfate or hydrogenphosphate, X - is one equivalent of such polyvalent anion.
According to the present invention, preferred diazacyanines for use as mediators are those in which the heterocycle is represented by the formula: ##STR5## and is thiazole, benzothiazole, thiadiazole, pyrazole, indazole, imidazole, benzimidazole, triazole, pyridine, quinoline or pyrimidine or is represented by one of the formulae: ##STR6## where R 1 is C 1 to C 8 alkyl, C 3 to C 8 alkenyl, C 3 to C 8 alkinyl, C 4 to C 7 cycloalkyl or C 7 to C 9 aralkyl which are unsubstituted or substituted with fluorine, chlorine, bromine, hydroxy, C 1 to C 4 alkyl, C 1 to C 4 alkoxy, cyano or C 1 to C 4 alkoxycarbonyl;
R 2 , R 3 , R 5 , R 6 , R 8 , R 14 and R 15 are independently hydrogen, C 1 to C 8 alkyl, C 3 to C 8 alkenyl, C 4 to C 7 cycloalkyl, C 7 to C 9 aralkyl or C 6 to C 10 aryl which are unsubstituted or substituted with halogen, hydroxy, C 1 to C 4 alkyl, C 1 to C 4 alkoxy, cyano, C 1 to C 4 alkoxycarbonyl, C 1 to C 4 alkanoylamino, C 1 to C 4 alkylsulfonyl or tetramethysulfonyl;
NR 2 R 3 and NR 14 R 15 are independently pyrrolidino, piperidino or morpholino;
R 4 and R 7 are independently C 1 to C 8 alkyl; C 1 to C 8 alkoxy, hydroxy, fluoro, chloro, bromo, nitro, cyano, C 1 to C 8 alkanoylamino or C 1 to C 8 alkylsulfonylamino;
R 3 and R 4 together are a --CH 2 CH 2 -- or --CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 -- bridge which is either unsubstituted or substituted with up to 3 methyl groups;
R 9 and R 10 are independently hydrogen, C 1 to C 8 alkyl, C 1 to C 8 alkoxy, hydroxy, fluoro, chloro, bromo, nitro, cyano, C 1 to C 8 alkanoyl or C 1 to C 8 alkylsulfonyl;
m, n and p are independently 0, 1 or 2;
R 11 and R 12 are independently hydrogen, C 1 to C 8 alkyl, C 1 to C 8 alkoxy, C 4 to C 7 cycloalkyl, C 7 to C 9 aralkyl, C 6 to C 10 aryl, fluoro, chloro, bromo or cyano;
R 13 is hydrogen, C 1 to C 8 alkyl, C 1 to C 8 alkoxy, fluoro, chloro, bromo or cyano; and
X - is an anion
wherein all of the alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxy and aralkyl groups are either straight chain or branched chain.
EXAMPLE I
Synthesis of Mediators
The preparation of the diazacyanines whose use as NAD(P)H mediators is the crux of the present invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,325 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,323 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,438 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,715 all of whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference. The synthesis is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,325 in columns 5-8, particularly column 5, line 65 to column 6, line 28. In a manner analogous to this synthesis, one can use amino heterocycles of the formula: ##STR7## diazotize and couple to anilines or indoles of the formulae: ##STR8## in the position marked with the arrow followed by quaternization with compounds of the formula:
R.sup.1 X
where X is a leaving group from which R 1 and X - in formula I are derived. This R 1 X can be, for example, methyl iodide, hydroxyethyl chloride or dimethyl sulfate. The conditions given in columns 7 and 8 for diazotization and quaternization may also be used.
EXAMPLE II
Evaluation of Mediators
Graphite rod electrodes (3 mm in diameter from Johnson Matthey Electronics, Ward Hill, Mass.) were prepared by contacting the rod with a silver wire, insulating all but the blunt end with heat shrink tubing after which the electrode's surface was polished with fine grit sandpaper followed by weigh paper. The electrode was immersed in a 1 mmol/L methanolic solution of the mediator to be tested immersed in 50 mL of phosphate buffer (25 mmol/L, pH 7.0). A cyclic voltammogram was run with 100 mV/sec. from --700 mV to +800 mV against a saturated calomel reference electrode. The anodic (E ox ) and cathodic E.sub.(red) peaks were determined. The results obtained using 38 representative compounds of the present invention are set out in Tables 1-6. From the data set out in Tables 1-6 it can be determined that the mediators tested meet the requirement of having a low oxidation potential to avoid electrochemical interference, while maintaining some reserve for system dependent shifts.
TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR9##example R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 R.sup.4a R.sup.4b R.sup.13 X.sup.- E.sub.ox /mV E.sub.red /mV__________________________________________________________________________1 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H Cl.sup.- -111 -2982 CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 C(CH.sub.3).sub.2CH.sub.2CH(CH.sub.3) H H Cl.sup.- -235 -4983 CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 H NHSO.sub.2 CH.sub.3 H Cl.sup.- -98 -3694 CH.sub.3 (CH.sub.2).sub.2 OCOCH.sub.3 (CH.sub.2).sub.2 OCOCH.sub.3 H H H Cl.sup.- -142 -6355 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CONH.sub.2 CH.sub.3 ##STR10## H H H Cl.sup.- -218 -5156 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 H H OCH.sub.3 Cl.sup.+ -44 -551__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 2__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR11##ex-am-ple R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 R.sup.4a R.sup.4b R.sup.14 R.sup.15 X.sup.- E.sub.ox /mV E.sub.red__________________________________________________________________________ /mV7 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -342 -4498 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H (CH.sub.2).sub.4 CH.sub.3 OSO.sub.3.sup.- 3 -360 -4589 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -311 -43510 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2C.sub.6 H.sub.5 H H CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.3 Cl.sup.- -302 -44011 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H ##STR12## Cl.sup.- -116 -42212 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H H ##STR13## Cl.sup.- -289 -44513 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H H C.sub.6 H.sub.5 Cl.sup.- -289 -46214 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H ##STR14## Cl.sup.- -133 -43515 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H H ##STR15## ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -200 -47516 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H CH.sub.3 C.sub.6 H.sub.5 Cl.sup.- -298 -43517 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -307 -41318 CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -364 -48419 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OH ##STR16## Cl.sup.- -311 -42220 CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.2 C.sub.6 H.sub.5 H CH.sub.3 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -342 -47521 CH.sub.3 H C.sub.6 H.sub.5 OCH.sub.3 NHCOCH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH(OH)CH.sub.3 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -338 -46722 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H H ##STR17## Cl.sup.- -253 -44423 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 OCH.sub.3 H CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -298 -40024 CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 H NHCOCH.sub.3 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -431 -50725 (CH.sub.2).sub.2 CONH.sub.2 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H ##STR18## Cl.sup.- -239 -36426 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H ##STR19## Cl.sup.- -178 -40927 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H CH.sub.3 ##STR20## Cl.sup.- -253 -40828 CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H C.sub.6 H.sub.5 Cl.sup.- -67 -57829 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H H CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.2).sub.2 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -364 -490__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 3__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR21##example R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 R.sup.4a R.sup.4b R.sup.11 R.sup.12 X.sup.- E.sub.ox /mV R.sub.red /mV__________________________________________________________________________30 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H H H Cl.sup.- -298 -51231 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H CH.sub.3 H C.sub.6 H.sub.5 Cl.sup.- -250 -468__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 4__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR22##example R.sup.1 R.sup.16 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 R.sup.4a R.sup.4b X.sup.- E.sub.ox /mV E.sub.red /mV__________________________________________________________________________32 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 C.sub.6 H.sub.5 H H ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -333 -45333 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN H H ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -279 -405__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 5__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR23##example R.sup.1 R.sup.8 R.sup.9 R.sup.10 R.sup.14 R.sup.15 X.sup.- E.sub.ox /mV E.sub.red /mV__________________________________________________________________________34 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 NO.sub.2 H CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 Cl.sup.- +27 -28935 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CN CH.sub.3 H CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2 Cl.sup.- +150 -20036 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.3 CN CN CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 Cl.sup.- -36 -270__________________________________________________________________________
TABLE 6__________________________________________________________________________ ##STR24##example R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 R.sup.4a R.sup.4b R.sup.17 X.sup.- E.sub.ox /mV E.sub.red /mV__________________________________________________________________________37 CH.sub.3 C.sub.2 H.sub.5 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.6 H.sub.5 H CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 Cl.sup.- -413 -69838 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 H NHCOCH.sub.3 CH.sub.3 ZnCl.sub.3.sup.- -420 -623__________________________________________________________________________
EXAMPLE III
Cyclic Voltammograms of the Mediators
To measure the redox potentials, the substances to be tested were dissolved in water at a concentration of 2 mmol/L. On each of a series of screen printed carbon (graphite/carbon black mixture) electrodes (Acheson graphite ink, 3 mm 2 electrode surface activated by treatment in an oxygen plasma), 3 μL of this solution was applied and dried at room temperature. After 10 μL of phosphate buffer (25 mmol/L, pH 7.0) as physiological buffer was added, a cyclic voltammogram was run with 100 mV/sec. against a saturated Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Table 7 sets out the oxidation and reduction potentials which were obtained.
TABLE 7______________________________________Mediator E.sub.ox mV! E.sub.red mV!______________________________________17 -123 -44819 +29 -47714 -270 -43427 -190 -40443 +92 -70______________________________________
From Table 7 it can be determined that the potentials are higher on printed electrodes than on graphite rod electrodes.
EXAMPLE IV
NADH Oxidation/Titration
In the same manner as described for the cyclic voltammetry experiment, printed graphite electrodes were coated with the particular mediator compound being tested. After connecting the treated electrode to a potentiostat, 10 μL of NADH of varying concentration (0, 2, 5 and 10 mmol/L) in phosphate buffer (25 mmol/L, pH 7.0) were added. A working potential was then applied against a saturated Ag/AgCl electrode, and the electrical current measured after 5 seconds. The currents were plotted versus NADH concentration, Table 8 shows the determined slopes at different working potentials for different mediators:
TABLE 8______________________________________Mediator Working Potential mV! Slope μA/mM!______________________________________17 200 0.06010 100 0.15 300 0.369 100 0.1714 100 0.23 300 0.2427 100 0.31 300 0.3643 100 0.14 300 0.40______________________________________
From Table 8 it can be determined that the tested mediators demonstrate a high current density (0.2 μA/mM corresponds to 100 μA/cm 2 at 3 mm 2 electrode surface).
EXAMPLE V
Glucose Response Curve (Aqueous and Whole Blood)
A printed graphite electrode as used in Example III was coated with 3 μL of the following reagent solutions in which all percentages are w/v:
0.7% γ-Globulin
1.0% Polyvinyl pyrrolidone
0.1% Cremophor EL (surfactant)
0.85% NaCl
15 mmol/l NAD +
12 mM Mediator (17)
3.3 Units/μl Glucose dehydrogenase dissolved in
50 mM PIPES buffer, pH 7.0.
After the solution had dried at the electrode, it was connected to a potentiostat whereupon 10 μL of a solution with varying amounts of glucose (0 to 400 mg/dL) in phosphate buffer (25 mmol/L, pH 7.0) or in human blood (45% hematocrit) were added. The glucose concentration was adjusted by spiking it with a 25% aqueous solution and determining the actual concentration with a YSI STAT analyzer. The working potential was applied 15 seconds after applying the sample to a sensor and a current reading was taken after 5 seconds. The obtained currents were plotted against the glucose concentration. FIG. 1 shows the measured response curves for buffer solution and blood. From these response curves, it can be determined that an enzyme electrode made with the present mediators can be used to determine glucose in aqueous and blood solutions while leaving the enzyme activity intact.
|
A variety of diazacyanine mediators that are soluble in aqueous media and which do not inhibit enzymatic activity are provided for use on the surface of a working electrode of a electrochemical biosensor for electrochemical co-enzyme regeneration. The co-enzyme, dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) or dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), is oxidized to NAD + OR NADP + which is reduced by an oxidoreductase such as a dehydrogenase acting on a substrate. By applying the mediator together with NADH or NADPH to the surface of the working electrode, the voltage necessary to achieve oxidation is substantially reduced. Biosensor electrodes such as graphite electrodes may be produced-by screen printing techniques.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INTENTION
[0001] a. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a fixing structure for an ultra thin rolling bearing for use, for example, in an industrial robot, a machine tool, and medical equipment.
[0003] b. Related Art
[0004] A gantry bearing in a CT scanner is used as a rotating body bearing provided with an X-ray tube and photographing equipment typically used for image processing. The bearing is an ultra large size device having a bearing outer size of about 1 m and therefore typically coupled to the main body frame of the CT scanner using bolts when it is fixed to the frame.
[0005] FIG. 9 shows an example of the CT scanner used as a kind of medical equipment. As shown, in the CT scanner, X-rays generated by an X-ray tube device 50 are directed upon a subject 56 through a wedge filter 52 that equalizes the intensity distribution and a slit 54 that limits the intensity distribution. The X-rays passed through the subject 56 are received at a detector 58 and converted into an electrical signal for transmission to a computer that is not shown. The elements such as the X-ray tube device 50 , the wedge filter 52 , the slit 54 , and the detector 58 are mounted to a rotating base 64 in a substantially cylindrical shape rotatably supported at a fixed base 62 via a bearing 60 , and rotated around the subject 56 as the rotating base 64 rotates. In the CT scanner device, the X-ray tube device 50 and the detector 58 opposing each other rotate around the subject 56 , so that projection data covering every angle in every aspect in a plane of the subject 56 for examination is obtained, and a tomogram is obtained based on the data using a preprogrammed restructuring program.
[0006] The rotating base 64 of the device is coupled to the width side of the rotating ring (hereinafter referred to as “bearing rotating ring”) among the inner and outer rotating rings of the bearing 60 . The dominant frequency for vibration resulting from the rotation of the bearing 60 is determined based on the number of bolts or the number of areas fastened with the bolts and the number of revolutions of the bearing 60 . Meanwhile, the frame 62 fixed to the non-rotating ring (hereinafter referred to as “bearing fixed ring”) among the inner and outer rings of the bearing 60 tends to have a relatively low natural frequency because the rigidity of the structure is reduced to satisfy a need for a more compact and simple device. Therefore, the frequency of vibration resulting from the rotation of the bearing 60 matches the natural frequency of the structure, and resonance is caused.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is therefore a main object of the invention to reduce or prevent the resonance when the rolling bearing rotates.
[0008] The dominant frequency for vibration or associated noise occurs corresponding to a bolt number order component in the rotating speed (number of revolutions) of the bearing. So-called multi-angular distortion corresponding to the number of the fixing bolts is generated. When, for example, the bearing is fixed in seven positions, a septenary component in the rotating frequency is excited. The frequency determined based on the number of revolutions and the bolt number order component must not coincide with the natural frequency of the structure in order to reduce the resonance. According to the invention based on this finding, the rotating member is fixed using bolts (or areas fastened with the bolts) whose number does not cause resonance with the natural frequency of the structure. More specifically, according to the invention, in a fixing structure for a rolling bearing in which a bearing fixing ring is incorporated in a device and a rotating member is fixed to a bearing rotating ring using bolts, fastening areas with the bolts are set so that the natural frequency of the device as a whole is larger than the frequency of vibration resulting from the rotation of the rolling bearing.
[0009] As a gantry bearing in a CT scanner, an ultra thin rolling bearing includes: an outer member having a raceway at an inner circumference thereof; an inner member having a raceway at an outer circumference thereof; a plurality of rolling elements interposed between the raceways of the inner and outer members; and a cage holding the rolling elements at prescribed intervals. One of the outer member and the inner member is fixed to a rotating base of the CT scanner rotating around a subject, and the other is fixed to a fixed base of the CT scanner. In this way, the rotating base of the CT scanner is supported rotatably to the fixed base.
[0010] According to the invention, the dominant frequency band changes and resonance is reduced.
[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram for use in illustration of the basic concept of the invention. When the natural frequency of the structure such as a frame is 11.5 Hz, and the number of revolutions of the bearing is 180 rpm at maximum, the bearing rotating ring and the rotating member holding a heavy subject are connected with bolts in three positions in the circumferential direction, so that the peak frequency of the vibration resulting from the rotation of the bearing is not more than the natural frequency of the structure such as the frame, and resonance can be prevented. More specifically, in the example in FIG. 1 , the peak frequencies of 60 rpm, 120 rpm, and 180 rpm are shown as an example. If the number of fastening areas with the bolts are three, the peak frequency of vibration resulting from the rotation of the bearing and the natural frequency of the structure do not match in any of these three regions of 60 rpm to 180 rpm. Therefore, the resonance can be reduced.
[0012] Now, an embodiment of the invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a graph for use in illustration of an embodiment of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a front view of a rolling bearing;
[0015] FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a rolling bearing;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a front view of a cage;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a development plan view of a segment forming a cage;
[0018] FIGS. 6A to 6 C are power spectra when fixing is carried out in seven positions with bolts;
[0019] FIGS. 7A to 7 C are power spectra when fixing is carried out in three positions with bolts;
[0020] FIGS. 8A to 8 C are power spectra when fixing is carried out in two positions with bolts; and
[0021] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a CT scanner.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Now, an ultra thin rolling bearing shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described. In this example, FIG. 3 corresponds to a sectional view of the bearing 60 for use in the CT scanner in FIG. 9 . The bearing 60 includes an outer member 10 , an inner member 18 , rolling elements 26 , and a cage 28 as essential elements. The outer member 10 is in a ring shape and has a single raceway 12 at its inner circumference. The inner member 18 is in a ring shape and provided concentrically at the inner circumferential side of the outer member 10 and has a single raceway 20 at its outer circumference. A plurality of rolling elements 26 are interposed in a single row between the raceways 12 and 20 of the outer and inner members 10 and 18 . The cage 28 holds the rolling elements 26 at prescribed intervals in the circumferential direction. The balls are shown as the rolling elements 26 by way of illustration, but rollers may be used instead. The reference numeral 48 refers to a seal device that seals each of the openings at both ends of the bearing in a non-contact state.
[0023] The bearing 60 is an ultra thin bearing and the value φ of the ratio D B /PCD is not more than 0.03 (φ≦0.03) in which D B represents the diameter of the ball 26 and PCD represents the pitch circle diameter. This is normally applied to a large size bearing whose PCD is about in the range from 500 mm to 1500 mm. More specifically, when the ball size is ½ inches (12.7 mm) and PCD is 1041.4 mm, φ is 0.012.
[0024] The cage 28 is made of a resin material unlike a conventional metal material. As shown in FIG. 4 , the resin cage 28 is a split type having a plurality of resin segments 30 having a circular sectional shape connected in the circumferential direction to be in an annular form. As shown in FIG. 5 , a raised fitting portion 32 and a recessed fitting portion 34 are formed on the ends of each of the segments 30 . The recessed fitting portion 34 and the raised fitting portion 32 at ends of corresponding segments 30 are coupled with each other to couple the segments with each other, so that the annular cage 28 is formed. The segments 30 as shown each include a circular base portion 36 produced by dividing an annular member in a plurality of positions in the circumferential direction, pillar portions 38 extending in one direction in the axial direction from the base portion 36 , and a plurality of pockets 40 and 42 provided between adjacent pillar portions 38 .
[0025] The pockets 40 and 42 as shown are in different shapes. More specifically, the first pockets 40 have a retaining function for the ball 26 (including the capability of providing the balls at equal intervals) and the second pockets 42 have only the capability of providing the balls at equal intervals. The cage 28 according to the embodiment has these two kinds of pockets 40 and 42 alternately provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The shapes or structures of the pockets 40 and 42 are only by way of illustration, and the pockets may have, for example, a single shape. In other words, pockets having various shapes and structures may be employed depending on the conditions of how the bearing is used.
[0026] There is a clearance (pocket clearance) between the surface of the ball 26 and the pocket inner surfaces in the first and second pockets 40 and 42 . While the bearing rotates, the presence of the pocket clearance allows the cage 28 to move in the radial direction relatively to the ball 26 . The relative movement causes the cage 28 to contact one of the outer circumferential surface 22 of the inner member 18 or the inner circumferential surface 14 of the outer member 10 , so that the cage 28 is guided to rotate. In the shown embodiment, the outer circumferential surface 44 of the cage 28 is in contact with the inner circumferential surface 14 of the outer member 10 , and in this case, the cage 28 is driven by the driving force from the outer member 10 to rotate as it contacts the outer member 10 . Note that the inner circumferential surface 46 of the cage 28 may be contacted to the outer circumferential surface 22 of the inner member 18 to guide the cage 28 to rotate.
[0027] A screw hole 16 is formed on an end surface at one end (right side in FIG. 3 ) of the outer member 10 , and fastening means such as a bolt (not shown) is screwed in the screw hole 16 , so that the outer member 10 is fixed to the rotating base 64 of the CT scanner (see FIG. 9 ). A screw hole 24 is similarly formed on an end surface at the other end of the inner member 18 , and fastening means such as a bolt (not shown) is screwed in the screw hole 24 , so that the inner member 18 is fixed to the fixed base 62 (see FIG. 9 ). In this case, the outer member 10 serves as a rotating member that rotates together with the rotating base 64 , and the inner member 18 serves as a non-rotating fixed member. Depending on the structure of the CT scanner, the outer member 10 may serve as the fixed side and the inner member 18 may serve as the rotating side that rotates together with the rotating base 64 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the screw holes 16 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the outer member 10 , and the screw holes 24 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the inner member 18 . The fastening areas by the bolts are normally provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the number of bolts in each fastening area may be more than one, though an example with one bolt will be described for the ease of illustration. The structure of the CT scanner has low rigidity to reduce the weight of the scanner, and therefore its natural frequency is low. A peak frequency of vibration is generated when the gantry bearing in the CT scanner rotates. When the natural frequency of the structure and the peak frequency caused by the rotation are near, resonance is caused, which gives rise to noise or vibration. While the resonance could be prevented by changing the rigidity of the structure to change the natural frequency or by changing the number of revolutions of the bearing if possible, the number of bolts for fixing to the bearing rotating ring is changed in this example to prevent the resonance.
[0028] When, for example, the number of bolts is seven, and the number of revolutions of the bearing is 98 rpm (1.6 Hz), the vibration component is produced as 1.6 Hz×7=11.2≈11.5 Hz, which is maximum (see FIG. 6B ). In this case, when the number of revolutions is 98 rpm (about 100 rpm) and the natural frequency of the structure such as the frame is, for example, 11.5 Hz, the natural frequency of the structure and the vibration component of the bearing are equal, and resonance is generated. When, for example, the number of bolts is changed to three, the vibration component of the bearing is produced as 1.6 Hz (98 rpm)×3=4.8 Hz≈4.9 Hz (see FIG. 7B ), which is shifted from the natural frequency of the structure. Therefore, resonance is not generated.
[0029] Herein, FIGS. 6A to 6 C, FIGS. 7A to 7 C, and FIGS. 8A to 8 C each show a power spectrum or the root mean square of temporal or spatial fluctuation as a distribution of frequency components. The abscissa represents the frequency (Hz), and the ordinate represents the noise level (dB). In FIGS. 6A to 6 C, the bearing is fixed in seven positions in the circumference. Similarly in FIGS. 7A to 7 C, the bearing is fixed in three positions, and in FIG. 8A to 8 C, in two positions. The number of revolutions is 60 rpm (1 Hz) in FIGS. 6A, 7A , and 8 A, 98 rpm (1.6 Hz) in FIGS. 6B, 7B , and 8 B, and 120 rpm (2 Hz) in FIGS. 6C, 7C , and 8 C.
[0030] As in the foregoing, in the bearing fixed to the structure in the fastening areas provided at equal intervals on the circumference, the number of bolts is increased or reduced by at least one so that the number of bolts is not approximated to the value produced by dividing the natural frequency of the structure by the number of revolutions.
|
in a fixing structure for a rolling bearing in which a bearing fixing ring is incorporated in a device and a rotating member is fixed to a bearing rotating ring using bolts, fastening areas with the bolts are set so that the natural frequency of the device as a whole is larger than the frequency of vibration resulting from the rotation of the rolling bearing. This prevents generation of noise or vibration in the rolling bearing.
| 5
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority of the filing date of prior provisional application Ser. No. 60/867,611, filed Nov. 29, 2006, which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to devices and methods for framing openings in building walls, and more particularly, devices and methods for framing openings for doors, windows, storefronts, air conditioner unit installations, and other purposes in walls constructed of cast-in-place concrete.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a system that may be used to frame openings in walls. Such openings may include, but are not limited to, those for windows, doors, air conditioning units, store fronts, curtain walls, etc. In the present example, a framing system is used with an “Insulated Concrete Form” wall system provided by Nudura Corporation of Barrie, Ontario.
[0004] While the framing system of the present example will be described herein in the context of the Nudura wall system, it will be appreciated that the framing system of the present example (including variations thereof) may be used with a variety of other wall systems. Accordingly, it is contemplated that the Nudura wall system is simply one merely illustrative example of a wall system with which the framing system of the present example may be used; and that various other wall systems with which the framing system of the present example may be used will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0005] The Nudura wall system of the present example comprises a pair of insulating wall members and a plurality of webs or brackets positioned between the pair of insulating wall members. The brackets are configured to hold the pair of insulating wall members apart at a certain distance, and to receive and hold lengths or portions of reinforcing rods or other reinforcing members. With the wall members, brackets, and reinforcing members in place, concrete is poured in the space between the wall members, such that the wall members provide a form for the concrete. The wall members, brackets, and reinforcing members are left in place after the concrete has been poured and has cured.
[0006] It will be appreciated that certain situations may call for a window, doorway, storefront, curtain wall, or other opening to be formed in a cast concrete wall. For instance, in a Nudura wall system, it may be desirable to provide such openings before the concrete is poured. Such openings may be defined by a framing system such as the framing system of the present example. In particular, a framing system may be engaged with a Nudura wall system to define an opening, facilitate the alignment of the wall, and/or to prevent poured concrete from flowing into the opening. Furthermore, such a framing system may be left in place after the concrete has been poured, to form a framed opening ready to receive a door or a window, hardware associated therewith, or other members, structures or hardware which the opening is intended to accommodate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements in the several views. In the drawings:
[0008] FIG. 1 depicts perspective, plan, and end views of an exemplary framing member;
[0009] FIG. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view of an exemplary framing member engaged with a wall system;
[0010] FIG. 3 depicts a cross-sectional view of another exemplary framing member engaged with a wall system;
[0011] FIG. 4 depicts a cross-sectional view of yet another exemplary framing member engaged with a wall system;
[0012] FIG. 5 depicts a perspective view of exemplary framing members forming an exemplary framing system;
[0013] FIG. 6 depicts perspective, plan, and end views of an alternative framing member;
[0014] FIG. 7 depicts a perspective view of alternative framing members forming an alternative framing system; and
[0015] FIG. 8 depicts a partial cross-sectional view of another alternative framing member;
[0016] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an example of a wall system component with which a framing system described herein may be used;
[0017] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a sill member in a window opening;
[0018] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a jamb member in a window opening;
[0019] FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a header member in a window opening;
[0020] FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a header member in a door opening;
[0021] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a jamb member in a door opening;
[0022] FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a jamb member in a door opening;
[0023] FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a header member in a door opening; and
[0024] FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of another alternative, exemplary framing member used as a header member in a door opening.
[0025] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. To the extent that specific dimensions are shown in the accompanying drawings, such dimensions should be regarded as merely illustrative and not limiting in any way. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that such dimensions may be varied in any suitable way.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0026] The following description of certain examples of the invention should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. Other examples, features, aspects, embodiments, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, which is by way of illustration, one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different and obvious aspects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
[0027] FIG. 9 depicts an example of a wall system component 150 with which the framing system described herein may be used. The component 150 may include first and second panels such as wall members 102 , having length L, height H and thickness T, and having vertical edges 170 . Wall members 102 may be connected by a plurality of brackets 108 or other suitable connecting members having ends attached to each of wall members 102 . Brackets 108 or other suitable connecting members hold wall members 102 in a uniformly spaced-apart relationship, with inner surfaces 121 defining space 160 therebetween. Wall system components such as depicted in FIG. 9 are available from Nudura Corporation of Barrie, Ontario, in varying dimensions and specifications. A typical component 150 may have panels having height H=18″, length L=96″, and thickness T=2⅝″, with varying widths for space 160 depending upon the overall thickness of the wall required. The top and bottom edges 171 , 172 of members 102 may be formed with respectively mating features so that a plurality of components 150 may be interlockably stacked to form a section of a wall form, whereby concrete may be poured into space 160 to form a wall section having a concrete core and outer panels comprising wall members 102 . Wall members 102 may be formed of, for example, expanded polystyrene, which has insulating properties. Wall members 102 also may be formed with vertical grooves along the inner surfaces 121 thereof, into which concrete may flow when poured into space 160 , providing for interlocking and bonding of the concrete core with wall members 102 after the concrete hardens.
[0028] As shown in FIG. 1 , an exemplary framing member 10 comprises a first member 12 , a second member 14 , a third member 16 , a first outer flange 18 , a second outer flange 20 , a first inner flange 22 , and a second inner flange 24 . Each of the first inner flange 22 and second inner flange 24 has an anchor portion 26 . As shown, the second member 14 and third member 16 are each joined to a respective end of the first member 12 . The first outer flange 18 and first inner flange 22 extend from the second member 14 ; and the second outer flange 20 and second inner flange 24 extend from the third member 16 . The anchor portion 26 of the first inner flange 22 is oriented at an angle of approximately 135° relative to the first inner flange 22 . Similarly, the anchor portion 26 of the second inner flange 24 is oriented at an angle of approximately 135° relative to the second inner flange 24 . It will be appreciated, however, that each anchor portion 26 may be oriented at any other suitable angle relative to its corresponding inner flange 22 , 24 . For instance, first inner flange 22 and its anchor portion 26 may form an angle anywhere between approximately 1° and approximately 90°; anywhere between approximately 90° and approximately 179°; or any other suitable angle.
[0029] In the present example, first outer flange 18 terminates in an inwardly curling portion 28 . Inwardly curling portion 28 is oriented inward toward first inner flange 22 , then toward second member 14 . Similarly, second outer flange 20 terminates in an inwardly curling portion 30 . Inwardly curling portion 30 is oriented inward toward second inner flange 24 . Of course, as with any other component described herein, inwardly curling portions 28 , 30 may be configured in any other suitable way, or may be omitted altogether.
[0030] As is also shown in FIG. 1 , first outer flange 18 and first inner flange 22 are spaced to receive a first wall portion 100 and facilitate the alignment of the wall. In this example, first wall portion 100 comprises a wall member 102 and one or more sheets of drywall 104 positioned adjacent to the wall member 102 . Similarly, second outer flange 20 and second inner flange 24 are spaced to receive a second wall portion 106 , which also comprises a wall member 102 . Wall members 102 are separated by brackets 108 . In the present example, first wall portion 100 is provided as an interior wall for a structure; while second wall portion 106 is provided as an exterior wall for a structure. Of course, various structures or materials may be added to or near each wall portion 100 , 106 , including but not limited to paneling, masonry, stucco, Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS), insulation, siding, etc.
[0031] When framing member 10 of the present example is engaged with wall portions 100 , 106 , the first inner flange 22 is adjacent to the inner surface of the wall member 102 of the first wall portion 100 ; while the inwardly curling portion 28 is adjacent to the outer surface of the drywall 104 . The second inner flange 22 is adjacent to the inner surface of the wall member 102 of the second wall portion 106 ; while the inwardly curling portion 30 is adjacent to the outer surface of the wall member 102 of the second wall portion 106 . It will be appreciated, however, that framing member 10 may engage wall portions 100 , 106 in a variety of alternative ways. It will also be appreciated that framing member 10 may engage a variety of other types of wall members.
[0032] FIG. 2 shows an alternative configuration for framing member 10 . In this variation, inner flanges 22 , 24 extend from first member 12 . Second member 14 extends outwardly from an end of first member 12 ; while third member 16 extends outwardly from the other end of first member 12 . First outer flange 18 and curling member 28 of this variation are configured similar to the configuration of these components 18 , 28 described above with respect to FIG. 1 . Second outer flange 20 of this variation is configured similar to the configuration of second outer flange 20 described above with respect to FIG. 1 ; while curling member 30 of this variation extends away from first member 12 after extending toward second inner member 24 . While curling member 28 is configured to engage drywall 104 (or any other interior wall covering), curling member 30 is configured to engage wall member 102 and brick 108 (or any other exterior building facade material). As is also shown, a gap 40 is provided between wall member 102 of first wall portion 100 and first member 12 . Another gap 42 is provided between first outer member 18 and drywall 104 . It will be appreciated that the orientation angles of anchor portions 26 with respect to inner flanges 22 can enable anchor portions 26 to serve to guide and ease engagement of wall members 102 with framing member 10 , or vice versa, during installation of framing member 10 . With framing member 10 engaged with first and second wall portions 100 , 106 , concrete 110 is poured between first and second wall portions 100 , 106 . As shown, poured concrete 110 abuts first member 12 , inner flanges 22 , 24 , and anchor portions 26 . It will be appreciated that inner flanges 22 , 24 serve both to help secure wall members 102 in proper position and also to prevent concrete from flowing into gaps or spaces 31 , 40 during pouring, which may be desired if these spaces are preferably kept open to facilitate, for example, installation of hardware, wiring, etc. Anchor portions 26 are configured such that framing member 10 will be held securely in place after poured concrete 10 hardens.
[0033] FIG. 3 shows another alternative configuration for framing member 10 . In this variation, second member 14 may be regarded as either eliminated or integral with first member 12 . In other words, first outer flange 18 extends directly from first member 12 . As shown, this variation eliminates gap 40 , such that wall member 102 of first wall portion 100 abuts first member 12 . Similarly, drywall 104 abuts first member 12 . The configuration shown in FIG. 3 is otherwise similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 2 .
[0034] FIG. 4 shows yet another alternative configuration for framing member 10 . In this variation, the spacing between first outer flange 18 and first inner flange 22 is reduced relative to the spacing between such components 18 , 22 shown in FIG. 3 . Due to the reduction in this spacing, curling portion 28 abuts wall member 102 of first wall portion 100 , with a gap 44 being provided between first outer flange 18 and wall member 102 of first wall portion 100 . Curling portion 28 also abuts drywall 104 , but at an end of drywall 104 instead of at the inner surface of drywall 104 . Furthermore, curling portion 28 is configured such that, when framing member 10 and wall portions 100 , 106 are installed in place, the outer surface of drywall 104 will be substantially flush with first outer flange 18 . The configuration shown in FIG. 4 is otherwise similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 3 .
[0035] The various configurations for framing member 10 shown in FIGS. 1-4 are not intended to be exhaustive. It will therefore be appreciated that components of framing member 10 may be modified in a variety of ways. For instance, various components may be reconfigured, substituted, supplemented, or omitted. Similarly, relationships between such components relative to one another, and relationships between such components and wall portions 100 , 106 , may be varied in a variety of alternative ways.
[0036] FIG. 5 shows an example of how framing members 10 may be joined together to form a door frame 200 . In particular, ends of framing members 10 may be joined to define a door frame 200 , such as by welding, mechanical fastening, abutment, or using any other suitable technique, materials, or structures. Framing members 10 forming a door frame 200 may be engaged with wall portions 100 , 106 in any suitable fashion, including but not limited to such engagement as described above.
[0037] FIG. 6 shows yet another alternative framing member 50 . Framing member 50 of this example is similar to framing member 10 shown in FIG. 1 , except that an anchor strap assembly 52 is provided in lieu of anchor members 26 . Anchor strap assembly comprises an anchor strap mount 54 secured to first member 12 . An anchor strap 56 is secured to anchor strap mount 56 and extends away from first member 12 . The other components of framing member 50 are similar to those of framing member 10 shown in FIG. 1 . Framing member 50 is also configured to engage wall portions 100 , 106 in a manner similar to framing member 10 shown in FIG. 1 . When framing member 50 is engaged with wall portions 100 , 106 , and when concrete 10 is poured between wall portions 100 , 106 , anchor strap 56 is configured to engage poured concrete 10 . Accordingly, anchor strap 56 may secure framing member 50 in place in a manner similar to anchor members 26 .
[0038] FIG. 7 shows an example of how framing members 50 may be joined together to form a door frame 200 . In particular, ends of framing members 50 may be joined to define a door frame 200 , such as by welding, mechanical fastening, abutment, or using any other suitable technique, materials, or structures. Framing members 50 forming a door frame 200 may be engaged with wall portions 100 , 106 in any suitable fashion, including but not limited to such engagement as described above. As is also shown in FIG. 7 , a plurality of anchor strap assemblies 52 may be secured to each first member 12 .
[0039] FIG. 8 shows another variation of a framing member 60 . In this variation, framing member 60 comprises a thermal break 62 for reducing heat transfer through the framing member 60 when installed, for example, in an exterior wall, in which one portion of framing member 60 will be inside a climate controlled building and the other portion will be outside the building. Framing member 60 may be configured similar to, for example, framing member 10 shown in FIG. 1 , except that first member 12 is longitudinally separated into two portions—a first portion 64 and a second portion 66 . First portion 64 and second portion 66 each have cooperating joining features, such that the first and second portions 64 , 66 may be joined, for example, in an “S”-like configuration as shown. An insulating material 68 is provided between the cooperating joining features of first and second portions 64 , 66 . Insulating material 68 may comprise any suitable material, including but not limited to a foam, a caulking material, a rubber or plastic, or any other suitable material. Material 68 also may be comprised by a pre-formed, for example, extruded, strip, trim piece or fitting suitably designed to cooperate with the cooperating joining features of first and second portions 64 , 66 and effect, facilitate and/or secure the joining thereof. In one embodiment, insulating material 68 has lower thermal conductivity than the material of which first and second portions 64 , 66 are formed. Other suitable properties for material 68 , and substances of which material 68 may be comprised, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. It will also be appreciated that first and second portions 64 , 66 may be provided in various alternative configurations in lieu of or in addition to the “S”-like configuration shown in FIG. 8 , to effect a joining of first and second portions of a framing member and create a thermal break.
[0040] FIG. 10 shows a cross section of another variation of a framing member 70 configured to serve as a sill member, and in place atop wall members 102 and poured concrete 10 . Framing member 70 has first and second outer flanges 18 , 20 , and first and second inner flanges 22 , 24 . As shown, flange pairs 18 , 22 and 20 , 24 , respectively, position and hold respective wall members 102 and framing member 70 in suitable final installation position with respect to each other. Framing member 70 also has sill surface portion 76 , on which a window unit W may rest in installed position as shown. Alternatively, framing member 70 may be configured to accept installation of a door threshold (not shown) or any other component, depending upon the purpose of the framed opening. Particularly when a member such as framing member 70 is used as a sill member to frame a large horizontal opening such as, for example, a window or storefront opening over 3 feet wide, it may be desirable to provide a way to pour and/or vibrate concrete 110 beneath surface portion 76 , to eliminate the necessity for pouring and/or vibrating concrete before installation of framing member 70 , or moving framing member 70 , or making one or more access holes in wall members 102 . Accordingly, surface portion 76 may have one or more access holes 72 therethrough, of a suitable size and placement along the length of framing member 70 to permit pouring of concrete therethrough, into the space between wall members 102 . Additionally or alternatively, one or move access holes such as access hole 72 may be located on framing member 70 and used as access point(s) for insertion and use of a concrete vibrator. Following pouring and/or vibrating of concrete 10 through access hole 70 , an access plate 74 may be installed to cover access hole 72 , and may be fixed in place on framing member 70 via screws at its edges or any other suitable attachment or fastening means.
[0041] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 described herein may be formed to have the features depicted in the drawings, or other features, to accommodate various purposes. For example, referring to FIG. 3 , third member 16 may be formed so as to provide a framed opening and stop surfaces 17 for installation of a door (see, for example, FIGS. 13-17 ), including accompanying hardware. In the examples shown, door hinges H (see, for example, FIGS. 14 , 15 ) may be affixed to third member 16 by screws (not shown) driven through third member 16 and into the space 31 therebehind. Weather stripping or cushioning members may be installed against stop surfaces 17 . It will be appreciated, then, that a door stop member may be incorporated into a framing member at locations other than as shown in, for example, FIG. 3 . See, for example, FIGS. 13-17 . Similarly, various types of window tracks and other features of window frames may be incorporated into a framing member. Additionally, referring to FIG. 2 , it will be appreciated that outer flanges 18 , 20 may be incorporated to provide a finished appearance to walls. By way of example in FIG. 2 , and also FIGS. 16 and 17 first outer flange 18 is situated so as to cover and provide a finished appearance to drywall 104 installed around the opening, functioning in the manner of casing; and second outer flange 20 is situated so as to abut, provide a caulking surface, and provide a finished frame appearance where the frame meets masonry such as brick work 108 , functioning in the manner of brick molding. Alternatively, second outer flange 20 may be configured to engage, conceal edges, and provide a finished appearance when used in conjunction with, for example, siding, stucco or other exterior finishes. Alternatively, both first and second outer flanges 18 , 20 may be configured to engage, conceal edges and provide a finished appearance for drywall 104 , functioning as casing. See, e.g., FIGS. 13-15 . It will be appreciated, thus, that a framing member as described herein may be formed to include members to serve the functional and aesthetic purposes of door stops, window tracks or grooves to accommodate fixed or movable windows, moldings, sills, jambs, casings and the like.
[0042] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 described herein may be formed in a variety of ways. By way of example only, framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 may be formed by cutting and bending sheet or roll stock, by extrusion, or by any other suitable method. Flanges, curling portions, anchor members and any other included members may be formed to be integral with framing members, or may be affixed thereto by welding, adhesives, bonding, mechanical fastening such as screwing or riveting, cooperating joining features or any other suitable method.
[0043] Framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 described herein may be formed using a variety of materials. Various metals may be used, for example, steel, stainless steel, aluminum, etc. Alternatively, vinyl, fiberglass, fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP), other plastics or other materials may be used, including combinations of materials. For instance, in one variation, a steel framing member 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 may be reinforced with fiberglass. Similarly, any suitable process other than extrusion may be used to produce framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 .
[0044] It will also be appreciated that framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 may be subject to various forms of surface treatment. For instance, if protection from corrosion is required, all or part of a framing member 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 may be coated with paint, primer, rust inhibitor, or other coating(s), including combinations thereof. Framing members 10 , 50 , 60 , 70 may also be pre-finished, painted, varnished, anodized, galvanized, metal-coated, brushed, blasted or subject to any other suitable surface treatment for functional or aesthetic purposes.
[0045] An example of a method of constructing a building wall having an opening framed by a framing system of the present invention will now be described. By way of example, and referring to FIGS. 2 and 5 , a door frame 200 having, for example, framing members 10 such as member 12 serve as side door jamb members, may be prefabricated to specifications and delivered to the project site. The door frame assembly may then be placed in position as required by the building plans, affixed or anchored at the bottom upon a foundation wall, floor or other base as required, and adjusted to and held in vertical, plumb position by suitable temporary bracing. Thereafter, components of a suitable wall forming system such as wall members 102 , having vertical edges, may be moved toward framing member 10 , guided into alignment and engagement with inner flanges 22 , 24 using the angled guiding surfaces of anchor portions 26 . With wall members 102 in position abutting framing member 10 , concrete may be poured into the space between wall members 102 , and into the respective channels formed by member 12 , flanges 22 , 24 and anchor portions 26 , as shown in FIG. 2 . It will be appreciated that when the concrete hardens, framing member 10 will be securely held in place as a result of flanges 22 , 24 and anchor portions 26 thereof being encased by the hardened concrete.
[0046] Having shown and described various embodiments of the present invention, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Several of such potential modifications have been mentioned, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the examples, embodiments, geometrics, materials, dimensions, ratios, steps, and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of whatever claims recite the invention, and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the description.
|
Devices and methods are disclosed for framing openings for doors, windows, store fronts, air conditioning units and other purposes, in walls formed of cast-in-place concrete. The devices include a jamb member having attached first and second inner flanges with angled guide surfaces for guiding placement of a wall forming system in alignment and engagement therewith and for anchoring the jamb member following hardening of the poured concrete. A method includes use of the disclosed jamb member to frame an opening in a building wall.
| 4
|
This invention relates to caps for bottles or other containers and especially those used for liquids. The invention particularly relates to those caps which will show evidence of tampering and more particularly to those caps in which part of the cap, i.e. the tear ring, is destroyed or pulled off the remainder of the cap by the consumer in removing the cap from the container.
At the present time many materials and especially fluids, such as milk, are marketed in molded polyethylene jugs or bottles. The necks of the containers are molded with one or more parallel, external, circumferential beads therein to co-act with ribs on the caps so that the caps cannot be easily removed from the bottles without removing or otherwise destroying a portion of the cap placed thereon.
The caps are formed with one or more internal locking ribs that will cam over the external beads on the neck of the bottle as the cap is pushed down over them. In this way the cap will be secured on the neck of the bottle and cannot be easily removed therefrom without removing the locking bead formed as an integral part of the tear ring portion of the cap from the remainder of the cap.
Caps of this nature are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,446; 4,162,736; 4,166,552; 4,202,455, and 4,305,517. Each of these patents use a tear ring whereby the lower portion of the cap bearing the internal locking rib can be readily detached from the remainder of the cap thus indicating the the container has been opened following its initial sealing at its point of origin.
Each of these prior art caps has a significant drawback in that they can be removed, from the neck of the bottle upon which they have been placed, without pulling off the tear ring. The design of these caps is such that application of external lifting and/or twisting forces to these prior art caps permits sufficient flexing of the cap so that the locking rib, on the cap, will release from the beads, on the neck of the bottle, without first pulling off the tear ring. This unauthorized removal of the cap permits tampering with the contents without showing evidence on the cap of such tampering.
Further, because of the design of these caps, even after these tear rings have been removed, by the consumer, the remaining portion of these prior art caps can be difficult for the consumer to remove. Yet the cap can be too easily forced off the neck of the bottle by unexpected or undesirable causes such as by increasing the internal pressure within the bottle or by dropping the bottle. Also, for example, apple cider that has started to ferment will, because of rising internal pressure caused by warming, cause the prior art caps to pop open. Also applying pressure to the bottle or dropping the bottle can cause the prior art caps to fly off.
The present invention provides an improved cap for such bottles and is designed to avoid all the above described difficulties of the prior art while remaining compatible with all existing unthreaded bottle dimensions and cap application equipment.
An aspect of the invention is to provide a cap which, while its tear ring is intact, becomes even more securely fastened to the neck of the bottle when lifting and twisting forces are applied thereto and yet, once its tear ring is removed is readily and easily removable from and easily resealable onto the bottle by the consumer.
The cap of the present invention, because of its unique design, is also more resistant to internal pressure forces caused by dropping or squeezing.
An additional aspect of the invention is to reduce the amount of force required to place the cap on the bottle thus allowing the use of thinner walled bottles and thereby saving material used in producing the bottle.
A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a press-on bottle cap which after the tear ring is removed, gives the consumer an audible signal as it is snapped on to the bottle.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a tamperproof cap that cannot be removed without removing the tear ring.
In its preferred embodiment, the invention will be described as a plastic cap which is to be pressed onto an externally beaded neck of a bottle where it locks on to the bottle and positively cannot be removed therefrom without removing or destroying a portion of the wall of the cap where it locks onto the bottle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is especially directed towards a molded plastic cap having a flat, smooth, disklike upper surface having a central region and a thicker outer rim region surrounding the central region, a thin walled exterior skirt descending smoothly down from the outer edge of the rim region, a score line extending circumferentially around the exterior skirt to divide the exterior skirt into an upper section and a lower tear ring section, continuous, circumferential, ribs on the inner wall of said skirt above and below said score line and an inner, positive sealing, guide skirt descending from the inner edge of said rim region, characterized by the central region of the said surface being thinner than the outer rim region and a small arcuate tab positioned on and orthogonal to the exterior skirt below the disklike surface but above the level of the uppermost circumferential rib on the inner wall of said skirt which tab is supported by an arcuate buttress, coextensive with a substantial portion of the lower surface of the tab, which extends below the level of the said uppermost circumferential rib.
Another embodiment of the present invention employs an inwardly directed ridge on the lower edge of the inner guide skirt which permits the inner skirt to be thinner and more flexible than the inner skirt found on the prior art caps while still providing sufficient strength to the inner skirt to permit easy application and improved sealing of the cap with the inner lip of the bottle.
Still further the present invention teaches that the cap of the present invention can be used with a new, improved and substantially simpler bottle neck design having a more uniform and hence stronger neck portion while remaining compatible with existing bottle dimensions and application equipment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view of a typical prior art cap in its intended environment on the neck of a bottle;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial section of the prior art cap of FIG. 1 in its intended environment on the neck of a bottle;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a cap according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial section of FIG. 3 showing the cap of the present invention in its intended environment on the neck of a bottle;
FIG. 5 is a top view of the cap of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the top of the present invention with the tear ring intact;
FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the top of the present invention; and
FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial section of FIG. 3 showing the cap of the present invention in its intended environment on a bottle having a new and improved neck design.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one type of prior art press-on cap as it might be commonly found seated on the neck of a bottle. The cap comprises a flat disc 10 having a planar upper surface 11 and a planar under surface 12 and a cantilevered lip 15. Descending from the under surface 12 of the disc are outer and inner skirts 13 and 14. The outer skirt 13 is set in from the outer edge 15 of disc 11 and is provided with a lower tear ring 13a which is designed to to be removed from the bottom of the outer skirt by tearing at a score line 16, i.e. a thinned portion in the wall of the skirt 13. This tearing of the score line is accomplished by lifting and pulling a descending tab 13b. The inner guide skirt 14 has a vertical elongated outer wall 17, a vertical inner wall 18 and a lower, downwardly tapered, outer edge 19 extending from the outer wall 17 to the inner wall 18. This cap is shown seated on the neck 20 of a typical bottle 21.
The inner wall of the outer skirt 13 is generally smooth except for a circumferential series of interrupted, small, generally V-shaped, upper internal ribs 22 and a circumferential series of interrupted, V-shaped, lower ribs 23. The lower ribs 23 are substantially larger than the upper ribs 22 and are positioned below the score line 16.
Typically the bottles on which such caps are used are often symmetrical about the axis of their neck, and generally are a blow molded polyethylene unit, having a suitably larger body merging to an externally beaded or threaded neck of reduced size. The container neck 20 is typically a cylindrical annulus having a sharply defined, inwardly directed, lip 26 having a precisely cut inner edge 31. The neck 20 also has an externally directed, horizontally undercut, peripheral bead 27 and a parallel, externally directed, horizontally undercut, lower peripheral bead 28 separated by an annular, inwardly directed, rounded swelling 29 between them.
The precisely cut inner edge 31 of the lip 26 and the inwardly directed, upper swelling 29 are designed to provide internal sealing surfaces with the vertical outer wall 17 of the inner skirt 14. The upper and lower externally directed beads 27 and 28 are designed to mesh with the internally directed ribs 22 and 23 on the outer skirt 13 and tear ring 13a.
The upper and lower beads 27 and 28, as shown, are generally L-shaped in cross section. The lower undercut surfaces of these beads interact with the ribs on the cap to provide the main cap retainer means.
Because the bottle and its neck are molded in a blow mold operation, separable dies are used to mold the neck. Because the dies may not be accurately aligned the precision of the beads 27 and 28 and especially the swelling 29 vary from molding machine to molding machine. Moreover such beads and the swelling 29 will have on them so called parting lines where the die parts meet one another.
Either wear or misalignment of the dies will greatly accentuate the parting lines.
Such parting lines, especially where they cross the swelling 29 can cause the seal, in the region of the sealing surface 32, i.e. where the swelling 29 meets the wall 17 of the inner skirt 14, to fail.
In some cases these accentuated parting lines can, by bearing on the wall 17 of the inner skirt 14, cause sufficient flexing or twisting of the cap such that the seal at the cut edge 31 of lip 26 to also fail and leak.
The present invention as will be discussed below prevents such leakage or seal failure from occurring.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 all are various views of and illustrate the improved cap 40 of the present invention which is formed as an integral synthetic plastic unit. The cap 40 has a flat upper surface 41, approximately 13/8 inches in diameter, formed of a central region 42, typically 0.030 inches thick, and a thicker annular rim region 43, typically 0.040 inches thick, surrounding the central region 42. An outer, annular skirt 44, approximately 0.030 inches in thickness, descends smoothly from the outer edge of the surface 41. The juncture of surface 41 and the skirt 44 is slightly rounded so that it has the shape of a waterfall. An annular inner skirt 45, usually 0.040 inches thick, coaxial with outer skirt 44, serves as an interior seating guide and descends from the inner edge of the rim region 43 at its juncture with the central region 42. The rim 43, the outer skirt 44, and the inner skirt 45 form a generally U-shaped cavity into which the neck of a bottle fits.
The outer skirt 44 is provided with a lower tear ring 44a which is designed to be removed from the bottom of the outer skirt by tearing at a score line 46, i.e. a thinned portion in the wall of the outer skirt 44. Tearing of this score line is accomplished by lifting and pulling of a descending tab 44b.
The interior skirt 45 has a vertical inner wall 47, an outer wall 48 substantially parallel to the inner wall 47, an annular, coaxial ridge 49 formed by a 0.10 inch thick step on inner wall 47 and a downwardly and inwardly sloping outer wall region 48a behind ridge 49, this sloping wall portion 48a extends from a point above the ridge 49 on wall 48 to the bottom of ridge 49. The ridge 49 is of a height that is less than three fourths that of the height of the sloping portion 48a. The inwardly tapered inner wall 48a is set at an angle of between 20 and 40 degrees and provides a guiding function to assure quick and accurate seating of the cap on the bottle neck. The ridge 49 not only strengthens the lower edge of the inner skirt so that the thickness of the inner skirt may be greatly reduced from that thickness required by the prior art while allowing great flexibility in the inner skirt 45 thus assuring improved seating of the cap of the present invention on the bottle neck as will be further discussed below.
Outer skirt 44 is axially longer than inner skirt 45 when originally assembled on the bottle but is axially shorter than inner skirt 45 when tear ring 44a is detached. That is the inner skirt 45 extends below the tear ring 46.
The interior wall of the outer skirt 44 is generally smooth except for a single continuous, circumferential, generally V-shaped upper rib 52, extending about 0.030 inches above the inner surface 44a of the outer skirt 44 towards the inner skirt 45, and a single, continuous, circumferential, generally V-shaped lower rib 53 which typically extends 0.025 inches above the surface 44a towards the inner skirt 45. The rib 52 can extend above this surface in the range of 0.010 inches to 0.060 inches. The lower rib 53 is substantially larger in mass than the upper rib 52 and is positioned below the score line 46 so that the score line falls between the ribs 52 and 53. The outer surface of the skirt 44 is smooth and interrupted only by a substantially rigid, arcuate, lifting tab 54 covering, an indicated by the angle A, about thirty degrees of the surface of the skirt. It has been found that this lip can cover up to about one quarter of the circumference of the rim, i.e. subtend an angle of about 90 degrees, without adversely affecting the present invention. This tab 54 extends 0.090 inches and at a right (90 degrees) angle to the outer surface of the outer skirt 44 and is supported underneath by an arcuate buttress 54a. Desirably this tab 54, when subtending an angle of 30 degrees has a radius of approximately 0.40 inches. The upper, planar surface of tab 54 is positioned approximately 0.090 inches below the upper surface of the rim 43 and is approximately 0.120 inches above the score line 46. The arcuate buttress 54a is formed with a lower surface sloped at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the surface of tab 54 and begins approximately 0.015 inches in from the outer edge of tab 54 thus creating a small overhanging ledge 54b. A release tab 44b descends from the tear ring 44 for easy manual removal of the tear ring 44a when the cap is to be removed from a container.
The caps of the present invention can be readily used with the blow molded polyethylene bottles of the prior art and thus the bottle in this figure uses the same number identification as that of FIG. 2. Again the neck 20 is typically a cylindrical annulus having, by cutting, a sharply defined, inwardly directed lip 26 and an externally directed, horizontally undercut, peripheral bead 27 and a parallel, externally directed, horizontally undercut, lower peripheral bead 28 having an annular inwardly directed swelling 29 between them.
After molding of the bottle, the lip 26 is cut to provide an internal smooth cylindrical sealing surface 31 with the inner surface 48 of the inner skirt 45. The upper and lower external beads 27 and 28, of the bottle, are designed to mesh with the internally directed ribs 52 and 53 on the outer skirt 44 and tear ring 44a.
The upper and lower beads 27 and 28, on the bottle, are generally L-shaped in cross section. The lower undercut surfaces of these beads provide the main cap retainer means while the tear ring 44a remains attached to the outer skirt 44.
The cap of the present invention is operatively mounted on the container by being pressed on over the open neck as will be discussed below.
In automatic machinery for installation of these caps on a container neck, the caps are usually fed in succession from the bottom of a stack and towards the container neck. A feature of the present invention is the ability of the inclined wall portion 48a of the outer wall 48 of the inner skirt 44 to center itself on the lip 26 during transfer of the cap onto the container neck regardless of the angel at which the cap approaches the neck. This ensures that the cap is applied to the neck such that the cut lip 26 is forced into its final sealing position in the U-shaped region.
When the cap 40 of the present invention is pressed onto the container neck, it is guided and centered by the the sloped lower wall potion 48a engaging and sliding past the cut lip 26 causing the lip 26 on the neck 50 to be guidably received within the U-shaped region formed by rim 43, outer skirt 44, and inner skirt 45, as the cap is pushed further onto the bottle. Because the lip 26 is precisely cut to the diameter of the inner wall 48 of the inner skirt 43 and because the lip 26 is cut after the bottle is molded no flash or defects remain on the sealing edge 31 and the sealing surface 31 slides along the inner wall 48 of the inner skirt until the lip 26 is firmly seated within the U-shaped region and the sealing surface 31 forms a firm sealing contact with the surface of the inner wall surface 48.
Because the ridge 49 stiffens the inner skirt 45, the portion of the wall of the skirt 45 lying above the ridge may be significantly thinned thus permitting the skirt 45 to flex as it is pressed on the neck of the bottle. This feature together with the sloped wall 48a assure centering of the cap on the neck regardless of the approach angle of the cap as it is applied to the bottle. The inherent flexibility of the outer skirt enables the ribs 52 and 53, on the outer skirt 44 to cam outwardly just enough to pass the bottle neck beads 27 and 28. After the ribs pass the neck beads the outer skirt returns to its initial shape. In this way the primary locking rib 53 co-acts with neck bead 28 to prevent unauthorized removal of the cap from the container. Simultaneously the cut edge of the lip 26 forms a liquid tight seal at surface 31 between the inner surface 48 of the inner skirt 45 and the cut edge of lip 26.
Because the rim region 43 is thicker than the central disk and because the the inner skirt 45 is flexible a positive pressure is applied between the inner wall surface 48 of inner skirt 45 and the cut edge of lip 26 such that positive sealing occurs at all times at surface 31. Also, because the central region 42 is thinner than the rim region 43, the juncture 43a where the central region and the rim join together acts as a living hinge such that the central disk can flex without causing the inner skirt interior wall 48 to break its seal with the cut lip seating surface 31. This reduces the possibility of leakage when the bottle's internal pressure rises.
Furthermore this cap thwarts any attempt to remove the cap, from the bottle upon which it has been placed, before removal of the tear ring 44a, because the smoothness and smallness of the arcuate perpendicular beveled tab 54 prevents sufficient exterior lifting pressure from being applied to the cap which would be sufficient, with the tear ring unruptured, to flex or bend the outer skirt enough to permit the ribs to pass by the neck beads.
Moreover by placing the outer lifting lip 54 below the the upper edge of the rim region 43 the effectiveness of the interlocking action of the ribs and the beads, during lifting of the cap with the tear ring attached, is further enhanced when a lifting force is applied because of the inwardly directed vector of force resulting from the sloping buttress 54a.
When it is desired to open the container, the tab 44b must be gripped and twisted, rupturing the wall of the outer skirt 44 along the weakened score line 46 until the tear ring 44a is entirely removed from the cap.
Once the tear ring 44a is removed the outer skirt consists only of the upper portion 43 above the score line 46 and the cap may be readily removed because the outer wall now flexes enough such that rib 52 passes i.e. cams over, the the upper bead 27. This occurs with only an easy upward pressure being applied to the protruding tab 54. In the event the bottle is not emptied, the cap may be easily remounted over the bottle neck and still provide both a sufficient holding action to prevent accidental removal of the cap and good seating and sealing action between the lip 26 and the inner wall 48 of the inner skirt 44.
Thus there has been described a cap formed to guide itself reliably onto a sealed and locked position when simply pushed onto the container neck, and which cannot be removed with twisting or pulling without removal of the external lower skirt by pulling on the tab 44b.
Referring, in greater detail, to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 it should be noted that the tab 54 is arcuate in form and this arcuate form, in conjunction with the angled buttress 54a prevents anyone from having a large enough bearing surface against which lifting, rotational forces can be applied which are sufficient to force the cap off the bottle while the lower outer skirt 44a remains attached. The angled buttress 54a is such that any force applied thereto before the lower skirt 44a is removed causes the upper bead to more firmly seat against the respective rib with which it is aligned thus the unauthorized removal of the caps is made still more difficult. This occurs because the lower skirt 44a stiffens the entire structure and prevents the upper cap edge 44 from flexing sufficiently to permit the bead 52 from riding over the rib 27. Moreover the angled supporting buttress reduces the amount of force that a finger or thumb can apply to the cap, for as the finger applies greater lifting force it is caused to slip upwards along the slope of the buttress. As the finger slips upward, the normal human reaction is to apply still more inward pressure. This increased pressure causes the interference between rib 52 and bead 27 to increase thus making it still more difficult to remove the cap. However the small lip 54b that extends beyond the buttress 54a provides sufficient grip for the force the user's finger need apply to remove the cap after the lower tear band has been removed. Thus this lip allows the user to easily lift off the cap once the tear band has been removed and yet is so small as to not permit sufficient lifting force to be applied as to cause the ribs to slip past the beads prior to removal of the tear band.
It should be noted in FIG. 7 that the upper rib 52 can be made slightly enlarged, i.e. the inwardly directed bump 52a, at a point opposite the lifting tab 54. This bump 52a extends approximately 0.030 to 0.050 inches above the remainder of the surface of the rib and towards the center of the disk. The addition of this bump 52a has been found to significantly increase the holding power of the cap prior to the time the lower tear ring 44 is removed without affecting the removal of the cap after the lower tear ring is removed.
In FIG. 8 there is shown, in partial cross section, the neck of an improved bottle which will accept both the new cap of the present invention as well as the caps of the prior art. This newly created bottle neck design is one in which the internal swelling and mating recess for the lower rib has been greatly reduced over that of the prior art bottle neck design. By substantially reducing such horizontal sections, i.e. the swelling, in the neck of the bottle, more material is directed to the vertical sections, thus making the neck stiffer. This results in a stronger bottle neck because the cross sectional thickness of the material in the neck remains substantially uniform, i.e. between 0.020 and 0.030 inches in thickness, through out its entire length. This permits a reduction in the size of the upper bead, on the cap, which, in turn, requires less pressure to apply the cap both before and after the tear band has been removed.
As in the prior art, the bottle is symmetrical about the axis of its neck, and has a blow molded body merging to an externally beaded neck of reduced size. Again the container neck 80 is typically a cylindrical annulus with a sharply defined, inwardly directed, lip 86 having a precisely cut inner edge 81. The neck also has an externally directed, horizontally undercut, upper peripheral bead 87 and a parallel, externally directed, horizontally undercut, lower peripheral bead 88.
By redesigning the upper and lower beads 87 and 88 as shown in FIG. 8 and as described below significant benefits are realized.
The upper and lower beads 87 and 88, as shown, are generally L-shaped in cross section with sharp undercut ledges defining the upper surfaces of the recesses in which the ribs on the cap interact and become located thereby to provide the main cap retainer means.
The several distinct features of the present invention include the inclined wall surface 83 between the lip 86 and the upper bead 87 as well as the extended vertical wall surface 84 lying between the beads 87 and 88.
When the cap 40 of the present invention is pressed onto this improved container neck, the lower rib 53, on the cap, begins to slide over the neck and the cap is then guided and centered by the the sloped portion 48a engaging and sliding past the cut lip 26. As the juncture of the slope 48a with the wall 48 slides past the lip the lower rib 53 begins riding over the vertical surface 84 following which the upper rib 52 begins sliding along the slope 83. Then after the lower rib 53 passes the lower edge of the bead 88 the upper rib also passes the lower edge of the upper bead 87. When both ribs 52 and 53 so pass the lower edge of the respective beads 87 and 88 the cap is secured on the bottle. This use of a larger bead 87 provides a greater snap action when the customer replaces the cap after the tear ring has been removed thus increasing customer confidence that a good seal has been obtained.
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is 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 tamper evident push-on type integral synthetic plastic closure cap for an externally beaded container neck, the body of the cap being formed with a thin central disk region, a thicker surrounding rim region, an interior ridged inner skirt provided with an interior sloping wall portion descending from the inner edge of the rim region, and an outer skirt descending from the outer edge of the rim region, the outer skirt being provided with an arcuate, buttressed lifting tab extending horizontally from a portion of the outer skirt, two inward projecting ribs on the internal side of the skirt, a circumferential weakened region in the skirt disposed between the ribs separating the skirt into distinct upper and lower regions and a descending tear tab projecting downwardly from the lower edge of the lower region of said skirt so that lifting of the tab will break the wall of the skirt and separate the skirt at the weakened region to detach the lower skirt and rib from the remainder of the cap by tearing along the circumferential weakened region.
| 1
|
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to extrusion methods, in particular for shaping polymer solutions or polymer fluids.
Cellulose and other polymers can be dissolved in suitable solvents and transferred by controlled solidification into a desired shaped article. If this shaped article is constituted by fibres, fibrils and the like, reference is also made to a spinning process. Cellulose is dissolved for example in aqueous solutions of amine oxides, in particular solutions of N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO), in order to produce spinning products, such as filaments, staple fibres, films, etc., from the obtained spinning solution. This occurs by precipitation of the extrudates in the water or diluted amine oxide solutions once the extrudates of the extrusion die are guided via an air gap into the precipitation bath.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,698 relates to an extrusion or spinning method for cellulose solutions in order to shape cellulose into fibres. In this case, a fluid spinning material—a solution of cellulose and NMMO (N-methylmorpholine N-oxide) or other tertiary amines—is shaped by extrusion and brought into a precipitation bath for solidification and expansion. This method is also known as the “lyocell” method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,221 and DE 2913589 describe methods for producing cellulose filaments or films, wherein the cellulose is drawn in fluid form. These documents describe a spinning process in which cellulose is dissolved in tertiary amine oxide, wherein the obtained cellulose solution is pressed via a die, is extruded via an air gap into a spinning funnel, and is discharged at the end of the spinning funnel in the form of continuous fibre. The spinning funnel used is equipped with a feed means and a discharge means for the spinning bath.
A further method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,284, in which elongate shaping capillaries are used to shape a cellulose material.
WO 93/19230 A1 describes a further development of the lyocell method, in which the cellulose-containing spinning material is cooled immediately after the shaping process before introduction into the precipitation bath.
WO 94/28218 A1 describes a method for producing cellulose filaments, in which a cellulose solution is shaped into a number of strands via a die. These strands are introduced into a precipitation bath (“spinning bath”) through a gap around which gas flows and are discharged continuously.
A shaping device and a further variant of the lyocell method are described in WO 03/057951, wherein the cellulose-containing spinning material, after shaping, is conveyed via a shielding region and then via a cooling region.
In EP 0 430 926 B1, a spinneret with a spinneret head and a spinning plate is presented, wherein the spinning plate consists of a stable carrier plate provided with bores. Spinneret plates, in which spinning capillaries are formed, are inserted into the aforementioned bores.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,932 A relates to a method for producing lyocell fibres with the known steps of extrusion of the cellulose fibres, passing of said fibres through an air gap with an airflow, and introduction into a precipitation bath. A range from 95° C. to 125° C. is mentioned as a possible temperature in the spinning cell. The extrusion pressure of some embodiments is to be between 20 and 100 bar. A pressure difference between the spinning material and the pressure in the air gap is not described. In addition, there is no information concerning the pressure and temperature at which extrusion is to be performed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,909 A is a further document that describes a lyocell method. Temperatures between 70° C. and 115° C. are specified in examples 6 to 12. Lower spinning temperatures will demonstrate improved spinning behaviour. There is no information concerning pressure.
U.S. 2005/220916 A1 describes a lyocell spinning method with spinning temperatures between 80° C. and 102° C. No information concerning pressure is provided however.
DE 100 43 297 A1 specifies a spinning temperature of 85° C., but does not specify pressure.
The publication “The Temperature of Fibres during Air-Gap Wet Spinning: Cooling by Convection and Evaporation”—Volker Simon (Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer. Vol. 37, No. 7, pp. 1133-1142, 1994) presents courses of events in the spinning process. It is stated that the polymer material fed into the air gap contains water and that the water evaporates at the surface of the spinning fibre during the spinning process and this water evaporation has a cooling effect on the spinning fibre. It is concluded that the fibre temperature during extrusion is relatively high and the water concentration in the spinning environment is increased by the evaporation of the water from the fibre.
It is specified that the result is that the water vapour gradient causes the water vapour mass flow to be guided from the fibre in the direction of the surrounding environment. The water evaporation taking place in the filament is enabled by the quantity of water located in the filament, whereby a strong cooling effect, greater than with melt spinning, is produced. In a further statement, it is mentioned that the spinning material used in the NMMO method consists of a non-solvent (water), a solvent (amine oxide=NMMO) and cellulose. The author ultimately comes to the conclusion that the solvent does not evaporate during the shaping process.
SUMMARY
It has been found in accordance with the invention that the extrusion and subsequent cooling may lead to undesirable particle formation and deposits at the extrusion openings or to contaminations of the individual spinning fibres. For example, immediately after extrusion and cooling, individual constituents of the material to be shaped may thus break away in the form of solid particles from the spinning fibres, which are still fluid, and may damage the apparatus or compromise the quality of the product. The object of the present invention is to provide improved extrusion or spinning methods which can avoid these disadvantages.
The present invention therefore provides a method for producing solid cellulosic shaped articles, in particular filaments, staple fibres, films or non-woven fabrics, from a solution of cellulose, NMMO (N-methylmorpholine N-oxide) and water by extruding the solution through one or more extrusion openings under pressure and solidifying the shaped articles, in particular filaments, staple fibres, non-woven fabrics or films, in a collecting bath, wherein the solution is guided through an air gap between the extrusion openings and the collecting bath, wherein the temperature of the extrusion solution at the extrusion openings is below 105° C. and the pressure difference between the pressure of the spinning solution immediately before extrusion and after extrusion (in particular in the air gap) is between 18 and 40 bar. It has been recognised in accordance with the invention that, during the extrusion or spinning of cellulose shaped articles, not only is water separated from the shaped fluid in the air gap, but also particles of NMMO (N-methylmorpholine N-oxide) are formed as well as the NMMO degradation products NMM (N-methylmorpholine) and M (morpholine). These particles exiting from the polymer flow have a detrimental effect on the spinning method and not only damage the surface of the shaped articles, but also adhere to the extrusion openings and compromise the spinning fibres during the spinning method itself, wherein this may lead to spinning defects, fibre adhesions and fibre breaks. It has been recognised in accordance with the invention that the particle formation and the separation thereof from the extrudate is most pronounced at a processing temperature of the polymer solution from 105° C. to 110° C. The spinning solution is therefore extruded at lower temperatures in accordance with the invention. The restructurings in the spinning solution during the extrusion process, which leads to particle formation and for example can be determined by the enthalpy ( FIG. 5 ), are reduced by the selection of lower temperatures. This process is additionally particularly pronounced during the transition of the spinning solution in the air gap from high pressures before extrusion to lower pressures after extrusion. Lower pressure differences, for example in the range from 8 to 40 bar, are therefore implemented in accordance with the invention.
In preferred embodiments the temperature of the solution is between 80° C. and 98° C., preferably between 84° C. and 96° C. The temperature may be at least one of 80° C., 81° C., 82° C., 83° C., 84° C., 85° C., 86° C., 87° C., 88° C., 89° C. or 90° C. The temperature is preferably at most one of 104° C., 103° C., 102° C., 101° C., 100° C., 99° C., 98° C., 97° C., 96° C., 95° C., 94° C., 93° C., 92° C., 91° C., 90° C., 89° C. or 88° C. The particle formation can be reduced and the spinning behaviour therefore improved by each temperature reduction.
The pressure difference is preferably between 10 bar and 38 bar, in particular between 13 bar and 35 bar. More specifically, the pressure difference may be at least 8 bar, 9 bar, 10 bar, 11 bar, 12 bar, 13 bar, 14 bar, 15 bar, 16 bar, 17 bar, 18 bar, 19 bar, 20 bar, 21 bar, 22 bar, 23 bar, 24 bar, 25 bar, 26 bar, 27 bar, 28 bar, 29 bar, 30 bar or more. Low pressure differences are particularly preferably selected, for example of at most 40 bar, 39 bar, 38 bar, 37 bar, 36 bar, 35 bar, 34 bar, 33 bar, 32 bar, 31 bar, 30 bar, 29 bar, 28 bar, 27 bar, 26 bar, 25 bar or less.
The pressure of the spinning solution (spinning fluid) immediately before extrusion, for example the pressure in an extrusion chamber upstream of the extrusion openings, in specific embodiments may be between 13 and 50 bar, preferably between 14 and 49 bar, between 15 and 48 bar, between 16 and 47 bar, between 17 and 46 bar, between 18 and 45 bar, between 19 and 44 bar, between 20 and 43 bar, between 21 and 42 bar, between 22 and 41 bar, between 23 and 40 bar, between 24 and 39 bar, between 25 and 38 bar or between 26 and 37 bar.
The pressure after extrusion, for example in the air gap, is usually at ambient pressure, but may also be a negative pressure or overpressure. The pressure difference is preferably selected such that the differences between the deformation enthalpy of the cellulose/NMMO/water solution following the pressure expansion are lower at the spinning temperatures. For example, the pressure may be between 0.1 bar and 10 bar. The pressure after extrusion is preferably at least 0.5 bar, particularly preferably at least 1 bar, 2 bar, 3 bar, 4 bar, 5 bar, 6 bar, 7 bar, 8 bar, 9 bar, 10 bar or more. Here, in specific embodiments, the pressure may be at most 10 bar, 9 bar, 8 bar, 7 bar, 6 bar, 5 bar, 4 bar, 3 bar, 2 bar, 1.5 bar, 1 bar or less. A shaping process of this type with overpressure in the air gap can be performed in a pressure vessel. The shaped articles are preferably produced discontinuously in this pressure vessel and are removed after a specific produced quantity by opening the pressure vessel. In this case, the medium in the collecting bath, for example water, can also be replaced discontinuously, since NMMO and the decomposition products can collect during the spinning process. With an excessively high NMMO concentration in the collecting bath, the solidification of the shaped articles could be compromised. Alternatively, the medium can be introduced and removed continuously into/from the pressure vessel by overpressure, as is the case with processes at normal pressure.
In preferred embodiments a lateral gas flow is provided in the air gap. The gas flow is used to discharge from the spinning chamber any particles that separate from the polymer material (cellulose/amine oxide/water) and potentially also to cool the spinning fibres before entry into the collecting bath (spinning bath) in which the fibres are ultimately solidified by precipitation of the polymer cellulose. The gas flow can be divided twice or more into individual partial flows, possibly by flowing through a number of nozzle openings. One or more partial flows can be heated (hot partial flow) or cooled (cold partial flow). For efficient discharge of the particles, at least one hot partial flow is provided at a temperature greater than the melting point of the particles (NMMO in the form of adsorbed water of hydration), for example above 75° C. The hot partial flow is preferably adjacent to the extrusion openings, with the result that the extruded solution first passes by the hot partial flow and then the other (cold) partial flows in order to avoid in particular particle adhesion to the extrusion device and crystallisation of the particles. Crystallisation of the particles in the region of the extrusion openings would cause the solids (particles) thus produced to negatively influence the course of the spinning process in the air gap, and would also cause the crystallisation heat produced to be introduced into the extrusion area, which is likewise counterproductive to an optimal shaping process. The gas is preferably air or an inert gas which does not react with the spinning solution or the separated particles or is suitable to lead away a resulting crystallisation enthalpy. The gas flow can be introduced into the air gap by a fan or a fan device, possibly with a flow-guiding arrangement. A further flow-guiding arrangement may also serve to discharge the gas flow in a controlled manner from the spinning region or air gap.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, one or more components (such as NMMO) solubilising the cellulose is/are therefore separated from the extruded solution, preferably by the gas flow fed laterally. In particular, the components separated by the laterally fed gas flow can be discharged from the spinning field on the flow-off side. The discharge components are preferably components that can be crystallised, in particular those that can crystallise out from the cellulose solution in the event of cooling processes or pressure changes in the air gap.
The gas flow is preferably between 30 to 300 liters/h of gas per mm of length of the region of the extrusion openings in the gas flow direction or between 0.15 and 20 liters/h of gas per mm 3 of spinning field volume in the air gap. The gas flow, in preferred embodiments, may also be between 40 to 275 liters/h, 50 to 250 liters/h, 60 to 225 liters/h, 70 to 200 liters/h, 80 to 175 liters/h, 90 to 150 liters/h or 100 to 130 liters/h of gas per mm of length of the region of the extrusion openings in the gas flow direction. Dimensioned alternatively, the gas flow may preferably be between 0.15 and 20 liters/h, between 0.25 and 18 liters/h, between 0.4 and 16 liters/h, between 0.5 and 14 liters/h or between 0.6 and 12 liters/h of gas per mm 3 of spinning field volume. These gas flows are either the individual flows of 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 partial flows or the total flow through the air gap. The region between the extrusion openings and the collecting bath is preferably flushed substantially completely by the lateral gas flow in order to discharge particles along the entire length and width of the spinning fibres. The lateral gas flow is preferably laminar in order to avoid swirls, which only discharge the particles inefficiently.
A plurality of extrusion openings may be provided in the direction of the lateral gas flow, the gas flow flushing over all extrusion openings in succession.
As already noted, a partial flow of the lateral gas flow is preferably heated, preferably by an extrusion plate comprising the extrusion openings and/or by a heating element in a fan, in order to prevent particles separating from the polymer solution (cellulose/amine oxide/water) from crystallising out at the extrusion openings from the spinning solution or the formed fibres after the extrusion process and in order to avoid deposits at the extrusion openings or on the spinning fibres. These particles are generally crystallisation products or decomposition products, which can be discharged at increased temperature in order to avoid a deposition and the feeding of crystallisation heat by direct cooling. The cold partial flow is a cold partial flow of the gas, for example at air temperature. The temperature of the hot partial flow is preferably above the melting point of the expected particles. In the case of a spinning fluid of cellulose-NMMO-water, which is normally extruded at temperatures from 80° C. to 105° C., particles formed from NMMO hydrate are anticipated. The hot partial flow should therefore have a temperature of at least 75° C. The region of the cold partial flow and of the hot partial flow border on one another directly, with the result that the extruded solution experiences no considerable turbulences or differences in the gas flow velocity in the direction of extrusion. A gentle transition into the cold flow region is thus attained, and the depositions and breaking out of solidified particles from the polymer solution is prevented. In the cold partial flow, the tackiness of the solution still in the fluid phase between the extrusion openings and the collecting bath (a “precipitation bath” for solidification of the solution) is reduced. This cooling is not to take place immediately after the extrusion openings however, since it has been found that depositions and blockages of the openings may occur as a result and that, as has been demonstrated in accordance with the invention, the solvent constituents escaping from the polymer material by expansion evaporation could crystallise if cooled directly and could lead to an undesirable input of heat. In particular, it has been found that even a heating in this region in front of the openings is advantageous. It has also been demonstrated in the tests that a certain covering or flow-guiding element of the collecting bath surface is advantageous so that moisture is not introduced into the spinning field via the collecting bath. The cover may be positioned at a suitable angle to the direction of extrusion and collecting bath surface so that the extrusion process can be designed optimally.
The hot partial flow is preferably passed by the extrusion openings at hot temperatures with a difference from the temperature of the solution of at most 20° C., in particular preferably at most 10° C. or 5° C. The temperature of the cold partial flow is preferably between 0 and 50° C.
The embodiments of the present invention are specifically characterised by a controlled flow of gas through the region between the extrusion opening and collecting bath. Individual gas-guiding regions, in particular for the hot partial flow and the cold partial flow, are formed by controlled flow introduction. The individual partial flows of the gas flow, in particular of the hot partial flow and of the cold partial flow, are passed by the extruded polymer solution at substantially the same speed. The direction of extrusion is approximately normal to the direction of flow of the gas. The gas flow is fed only from one side onto the shaped solution containing cellulose material.
The region between the extrusion opening and collecting bath, the solution still being fluid in this region, is also referred as the liquidus region. The solution is solidified by entry into the collecting bath. Reference is made to a solidus region. In accordance with the invention, there is preferably no provision of shielding regions without gas flow in the liquidus region.
To attain a laminar gas flow along the extrusion device, a guide element may be provided. The gas flow may thus be guided in a laminar manner along the extrusion openings, even if it is guided over a curved path (for example with a curved or arched extrusion opening region on the extruder or spinning device). The gas flow is generally also guided over a curved path above the collecting bath, above the solidus line, depending on the gas flow via the extrusion device.
The region between the extrusion openings and the collecting bath is preferably flushed substantially completely by the lateral gas flow. Turbulences at the edges of the gas flow are thus avoided. The feedthrough of the shaped material through various gas zones at different flow rates, including stationary gases, is also avoided.
The fan or the introduced gas flow is preferably arranged at an acute angle to the direction of extrusion. The gas flow obtains a flow component in the direction of extrusion at an angle slightly inclined with respect to the direction of extrusion, whereby a gentler progression of the solidifying solution is attained. The extrusion device likewise has to be adapted to the flow guidance, with the result that a slight inclined position of the extrusion device is advantageous. This is a further measure in order to prevent solidifying particles from separating from the solution flow. The spinning viscosity of the extrudates can also be influenced to a certain extent by the inclined position of the extrusion device, since extrudates positioned on the gas onflow side experience a quicker viscosity change than extrudates positioned on the exhaust gas side. Due to a suitable guide element, the gas can be guided in a laminar manner around the extrusion device in spite of the inclined onflow direction. Suitable guide elements are, for example, baffle plates or vents, with or without vacuum/suction. The gas flow can be directed onto the collecting bath at an acute angle, with the result that a dynamic pressure is created on the onflow side. The surface of the medium can thus be plunged in the collecting bath/precipitation bath. The spinning fibres on the onflow side are thus exposed to the gas flow for longer than the fibres on the flow-offside. For example, the acute angle may be less than 85°, in particular less than 80°, less than 75°, less than 70°, less than 65°, less than 60° or less than 55°. The acute angle is preferably at least 30°, at least 35°, at least 40°, at least 45°, at least 50°, at least 55°, at least 60°, at least 65°, at least 70° or at least 75°. In addition, a dynamic pressure is produced at the surface of the collecting bath due to this acute angle of the fan arrangement, whereby the medium contained in the bath decreases on the fan side/onflow side. Different residence times are thus produced in the fan flow for the fluids (spinning fibres) on the onflow side and on the flow-off side. This optimises the different residence times with different viscosities of the fluids due to different temperatures on the onflow side (generally cooler) and on the flow-off side (warmer due to the cold gas flow heated by the fluid).
In addition, it is possible to allow the extruded fluid to flow at an acute angle onto the collecting bath. Due to due extrusion openings (spinneret) arranged in such an inclined manner, the spinning fibres experience different residence times in the gas flow region from the fan on the flow-off side and on the onflow side. On the onflow side, the temperature in the fibres is much lower than on the flow-off side, whereby different viscosities of the cellulose fluid are produced. These residence times are preferably longer in the case of higher viscosity (generally on the onflow side) than with lower viscosities (generally on the flow-off side). The acute angle is preferably at least 10°, at least 20°, at least 30°, at least 40°, at least 50°, at least 60°, at least 70°, at least 80°, or less than 85°, in particular less than 80°, less than 75°, less than 70°, less than 65°, less than 60° or less than 55°. The angle is preferably between 10° and 45°.
Before the extrusion through the extrusion openings, the solution can be collected and/or temperature-controlled in an extrusion chamber. Additives of different chemical and physical origin can also be added to the solution before extrusion, for example in the chamber. The extrusion chamber is preferably heated by a heating element, for example by a heat transfer medium, which is guided in heating channels. This heating element or a further heating element can also be used to heat the extrusion openings. The openings can be formed in an extrusion plate, which preferably has a heating element. The coefficient of thermal conduction of the extrusion plate is preferably in the region of the coefficient of thermal conduction of metals, for example it may be between 5 to 100 W/mK, preferably 10 to 60 W/mK. The extrusion plate and the material of the fan (in particular the partition walls between the individual discharge openings of the fan), can be produced from different materials, such as steel, high-grade steel, ceramic, sintered metals, aluminium, plastic, non-ferrous metals or noble metals. Preferred materials are all irons, iron alloys, chromium-nickel steels, nickel steels (for example Hastelloy materials), titanium, tantalum, silicon carbide, glass, ceramic, gold, platinum and also plastics. Special materials are alloys having a high molybdenum content or nickel, chromium and molybdenum alloys for resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion or nickel-copper alloys with high tensile strength. Material examples include Hastelloy C (high resistance to corrosion), Hastelloy B (precipitation-hardening high-temperature alloy), Inconel (resistance to stress corrosion cracking in petrochemical applications), Incoloy (high strength and resistance with respect to high temperatures and with respect to oxidation and carburisation) and Monel (high tensile strength, resistant to corrosion). A material having a thermal conductivity from 5 to 100 W/mK, particularly preferably from 10 to 60 W/mK, is preferably selected.
The extrusion plate can be fastened arbitrarily to the extrusion device, including by means of detachable fastenings for easy exchange of the plate. The plate can also be welded on, glued on or flanged on or fastened by clamps or rivets. The extrusion plate may also be coated, in particular to repel the extruded material or the particles separating from the polymer material or for improved transfer of heat.
The extrusion plate preferably has a thickness of at most 20 mm, particularly preferably at most 15 mm, at most mm, at most 10 mm or at most 8 mm. The extrusion openings formed in the extrusion plate are formed via specially designed spinneret plates, wherein the spinneret plates have a thickness of at least 0.25 mm; 0.5 mm; 0.75 mm; 1.0 mm; 1.25 mm; 1.5 mm; 2.0 mm; 3.0 mm; and/or at most 1.0 mm; 1.25 mm; 1.5 mm; 0.2 mm or 3.0 mm.
The heated partial flow is preferably heated by an extrusion plate comprising the extrusion openings and/or by a heating element.
The fan preferably contains a plurality of discharge openings for the gas flow. For example, a plurality of channels may be provided in the fan for this purpose. These channels are preferably arranged in a close-fitting manner, for example in a honeycomb form. To create a hot partial flow, one side of the fan may be heated, wherein the heat for heating may be passed on to a certain extent through the separations between the channels, continuously in a decreasing manner. The channels which lead to the cold partial flow should thus remain largely unheated or should be heated to the desired low temperature.
A plurality of extrusion openings is preferably provided in the direction of the lateral gas flow. The extrusion openings can be provided on a cambered, that is say curved, extrusion plate, wherein the angle of curvature a at the edge of the extrusion plate to the direction of extrusion is an acute angle. The angle of curvature a is preferably less than 85°, in particular less than 80°, less than 75°, less than 70°, less than 65°, less than 60° or less than 55°. This embodiment is preferably combined with the aforementioned guide element to remove and/or feed the gas flow. The gas flow is thus guided along the extrusion plate along the cambered or curved region. The profile of the formation of the extrusion openings can be adapted by a curvature to the profile of the surface of a liquid in the collecting bath. By flowing the solution into the collecting bath, the surface of the liquid is curved there, whereby, with a flat guidance of the extrusion openings, the middle material jets require a longer travel time than the outer material jets. Inhomogeneities may thus be produced by different residence times in the cold partial flow. These are avoided in accordance with the invention.
The solution, which is shaped in accordance with the invention by extrusion, is a viscous fluid, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,698 or W003/057951 A1. Cellulose solutions in the range from 4 to 23% cellulose are preferably used for the processing into extrusion products. The spinning solution preferably consists of the following components: cellulose 10-15%, amine oxide (NMMO=N-methylmorpholine N-oxide 77-75%), water 12-9%.
When carrying out the method according to the invention, besides the reagents stabilising the spinning solution, such as gallic acid propyl ester in alkaline spinning material, the spinning solution may also be mixed with additional additives for setting specific product properties by means of incorporation, said additives being used in textile and technical fibre processing. Such additives may be: matting means (TiO 2 ), contrast media (BaSo 4 ), activated carbon or soot particles, silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), dyes, cross-linking agents, higher-order alcohols for setting the slip properties of the spinning solution or for improving and/or delaying the coagulation behaviour of the dissolved cellulose in the collecting bath, biopolymers of any type, naturally occurring polyaminosaccharides, carbohydrates and proteins as well as minerals and vitamins, and organic and inorganic materials suitable for ion exchange. Furthermore, the method according to the invention may also be implemented with polymer mixtures based on biopolymers and synthetically produced polymers.
Additives which lower the melting point of NMMO hydrate crystals are preferably added. Such additives are, for example, polymers such as PEG or chaotropic substances. The spinning solution may thus be kept at even lower temperatures during the spinning or extrusion method according to the invention, which more effectively avoids the particle-forming processes. Due to suitable additives, the temperature of the solution at the extrusion openings may also be between 70° C. and 80° C., preferably at least 71° C., at least 72° C., at least 73° C., at least 74° C., at least 75° C., at least 76° C., at least 77° C., at least 78° C., at least 79° C. or at least 80° C., or at most may be at the temperatures already mentioned, but also at most 87° C., at most 86° C., at most 85° C., at most 84° C., at most 83° C., at most 82° C., at most 81° C. or at most 80° C.
The discharge openings can be selected in any form in order to shape the solution. Elongate openings for shaping films or small, round openings for shaping filaments or fibres are possible. The openings are preferably at most 2 mm, at most 1.5 mm, at most 1.2 mm, at most 1.1 mm or at most 1 mm narrow or in diameter. The openings may be at least 0.05 mm; at least 0.075 mm; at least 0.1 mm, at least 0.2 mm, at least 0.3 mm, at least 0.4 mm, at least 0.5 mm, at least 0.6 mm, at least 0.7 mm, at least 0.8 mm or at least 0.9 mm narrow or in diameter. After the discharge, the solution is indeed in the shaped state, but is still in fluid phase and is located in the liquidus zone.
Media, liquids and/or temperatures in/at which the solution solidifies can be provided in the collecting bath. For example, liquids or solutions can be used in which the cellulose is not soluble and thus precipitates. Alternatively or additionally, lower temperatures can be selected, at which the cellulose solidifies in the solidus zone. The filaments, staple fibres, fibres or films according to the invention can be produced by precipitation that is continuous at least occasionally. The filaments, staple fibres, fibres or films can be discharged continuously or discontinuously from the collecting bath. The medium or the liquid in the collecting bath may also be renewed continuously or discontinuously. The temperature of the collecting bath can be controlled to a specific temperature, for example by heating or cooling elements or by control of the medium change.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be illustrated further by the following figures and examples without being limited to these specific embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 1 shows an extrusion device with extrusion openings 1 and a fan 2 with gas flow discharge openings 3 . The extrusion openings 1 are provided on an extrusion plate 6 that is curved in the direction of the gas flow. The entry into a collecting bath is denoted by point 8 . The extrusion device further has flow-guiding elements 7 , which can be provided on the onflow side (a) and/or on the flow-off side (b). The flow-guiding element, besides the gas flow guidance, has a second purpose, specifically the covering of the collecting bath, such that the transfer of moisture of the collecting bath into the spinning field is reduced. FIG. 1 b shows different alternative positions for the flow-guiding element 7b.
FIG. 2 shows a three-dimensional illustration of a spinning field of an extrusion device with an air gap.
Extrusion openings are illustrated by points, from which spinning fibres (not illustrated) exit. A spinning gas volume of which the nature is measured and influenced in accordance with the invention is defined around the fibres.
FIG. 3 shows a device for particle measurement comprising a spinneret 1 , the indicated direction of flow of the spinning material 1 , a sampling probe 3 and a particle counter 4 .
FIG. 4 shows the measured particle size distribution (Dp) as a function of the number of particles. The individual superimposed curves show the distribution from the largest distance between the probe and the collecting bath (upper curve) to the smallest distance (lowermost curve). The frequency of the particles increases with greater distance from the spinneret.
FIG. 5 shows examinations of the heat tone of cellulose/amine oxide/water mixtures, as also occur in the spinning field, at different temperatures and pressures. An exothermic decomposition reaction is initiated at all pressures from a temperature of approximately 190° C. Surprisingly, an endothermic process, which is absent at higher pressures, appears at 1 bar in the range from 60° C. to 150° C. with a maximum at 105° C. to 110° C. This can be attributed to rearrangements in the crystal structure of the spinning solution and to evaporation processes, which indicate a delivery or absorption of heat from/into the polymer solution and the substances released respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLE
In accordance with this example, an extrusion device as illustrated in FIG. 1 is used. In this form, an extrusion device contains an extrusion plate 6 , which is curved in the direction of the gas flow, with a profile at extrusion openings 1 which reproduces the profile of the surface of a water bath as a collecting bath when the material fluid flows thereinto. As a result of extrusion under pressure, the material fluid is shaped by the shape of the extrusion openings, for example into filaments, and is drawn further by passing through the gas flow. As a result of cooling, the tackiness is reduced in order to prevent adhesion upon entry into the water bath.
During operation, an extrusion device according to FIG. 1 was tested when spinning cellulose filaments with a cellulose-NMMO-water solution.
Example 1
Analysis of the Conditions in the Air Gap
A spinning solution (cellulose: 12.9%, NMMO 76.3%, water 10.8%, all % in % by weight) is produced by mixing an aqueous amine oxide solution and cellulose by removing excess water in an evaporation process upstream of the spinning process, wherein the cellulose (the polymer) dissolves in the concentrated solvent to form a polymer material. Already during this solution production process, which is carried out at negative pressure, it was established that NMMO, NMM (N-methylmorpholine=decomposition product of NMMO) and M (morpholine=decomposition product of NMMO and NMM, NMMO=N-methylmorpholine N-oxide) and also water can be separated in the evaporation process via the gas phase.
The spinning process results in expansion evaporation as a result of the extrusion of the spinning material because the spinning material fed to the extrusion nozzle is under a suitable conveying and extrusion pressure and this extrusion pressure is decreased to the ambient pressure of the system once the respective melt particle has exited from the spinneret bore. Spinning pressures up to 250 bar are usual in a spinning method, depending on the composition (cellulose concentration of the spinning solution). Due to the previously mentioned expansion evaporation or due to the pressure relief of the spinning solution from the high pressure level, at temperatures from 90 to 110° C., to a low pressure level (lower ambient temperature), a violent bubbling movement of the solubilising components (NMMO and H 2 O) is produced in the filament. The vapour bubbles forming rise from the cellulose solution (flash vaporisation). The escaping particles therefore enter the air gap space in a highly accelerated manner.
Due to the expansion (evaporation of the solubilising components), the energy necessary to evaporate the solubilising components is removed from the spinning solution flow, wherein the filament cools by itself as a result of the energy withdrawal. It has surprisingly been found that not only water (Simon, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer. Vol. 37, No. 7, pp. 1133-1142, 1994), but also NMMO, NMM and M are evaporated from the spinning solution.
Since the composition of the solubilising component in the spinning solution (NMMO hydrate) is at such a ratio that the evaporated solubilising component (NMMO hydrate) transitions into the crystal form at temperature conditions below 75° C., the particle formation was observed during and after the spinning process and an attempt was made to control this by modifying the process parameters in order to provide a microclimate in the air gap region for an optimally progressing spinning process.
Aerosols and crystals transported away can be easily determined in the flow-off region of the spinneret and are not present in the onflow region of the nozzle. These aerosols, besides the gaseous components, such as air (O 2 and CO 2 ), CO, NMM and M, also consist of the NMMO hydrate compound formed (monohydrate). It is known that there are various forms of NMMO in the form of adsorbed crystallisation water.
Sampling from the Spinneret Flushing Gas:
The spinning gas was sampled as representatively and loss-free as possible on the exhaust air side, which is charged with aerosols. This was achieved using a measuring probe, wherein the probe was designed in accordance with VDI2066. The design was implemented individually so that isokinetic sampling was ensured.
The sampling line was introduced beneath the spinneret, wherein the positioning of the probe was varied over the height of the air gap and over the distance between the sampling probe and the nozzle midpoint. FIG. 3 shows the measuring arrangement.
Carrying Out the Measurement:
The measurement of the aerosol ejected from the spinning process was carried out using an optical particle counter of the SMPS type (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer™ Spectrometer) by TSI.
With this method, the particles are electrically charged and are then fractionated in a differential mobility analyser (DMA). The fraction is counted using a condensation core counter. In principle, any fractions can be isolated from the aerosol and counted by varying the control voltage at the DMA. The entire distribution is thus obtained gradually.
The condensation core counter can detect particles from approximately 3 nanometers in diameter. With regard to particle size, the system is limited upwardly to approximately 1 micrometre of particle diameter.
Sampling was performed in accordance with VDI 2066 using a probe which was fabricated from steel (1.4301) and which was encased and designed as a counterflow heat exchanger. Temperatures between 0° C. and 60° C. were able to be set, wherein the drawn spinning gas volume flow rate was set between 3 m/s and 4 m/s.
The air feed at the spinneret was arranged closely along the longitudinal side of the nozzle and screened the spinneret from the side so that transverse flows by drag could be excluded.
The precipitation bath surface was also covered laterally and on top on the onflow side and also on the flow-off side so that no moisture could be drawn during the measurement.
Filter measurements were also performed for the chemical analysis of the drawn aerosol product in order to analyse the particles in terms of mass in addition to the size analysis. PTFE membranes with pore diameters from 200 to 300 nanometers were used for the filter measurements.
The temperature of the measuring probe was set to 18° C., and in any case so high that no crystallisation of water contained in the air was possible, so that the measurement result could not be falsified. In this case, the spinning gas temperature was approximately 60° C. The probe was not cooled any lower in order to avoid condensate and crystallisation formation as detailed above as a result of drawn moisture from the ambient air, since, in accordance with the thesis forming the basis of the invention (separation of NMMO monohydrate crystals from the spinning polymer solution), a feed of moisture via condensate formation would have led to the dissolution of the NMMO monohydrate crystals and it would not have been possible to measure the particle size and number.
FIG. 4 shows a particle size distribution for various positions of the aerosol measurement. It can be derived from FIG. 4 that the frequency of particles in the aerosol increases with greater distance from the nozzle. From this, it can be derived that the particles must originate from a condensation/crystallisation process, wherein the crystallisation or the frequencies of particles increases with greater distance from the nozzle.
Since the probe was cooled to 18° C., as a result of which no water crystals could form, the measurement results clearly indicate the presence of aerosols that can be condensed or crystallised. The crystallisation product is to be attributed to an NMMO hydrate compound. The proportion of water in the NMMO monohydrate compound is only approximately 13%.
Due to the arrangement according to the invention of the treatment zones of the spinning fibres in the air gap and supply with corresponding flushing gas, the microclimate can be influenced and set in such a way that the nucleation or crystallisation of the NMMO hydrate compound (crystal compound) can be prevented or delayed in the region of the extrusion openings.
Severe cooling in the region of the air gap, but particularly immediately after the shaping, results in increased crystallisation of the previously evaporated NMMO hydrate immediately after the exit from the extrusion opening, whereby the crystallisation heat is introduced into the gas space and the released heat heats the gas space or consequently negatively influences the spinning process.
Results of the Aerosol Filter Sampling
It was found during the measurements that the material filtered from the spinning gas quickly blocks the filter pores of the PTFE filter membrane.
NMMO monohydrate as a crystallised produce could also be determined via tests carried out by light microscopy. These observations also correspond in so far as NMMO monohydrate crystallises and forms deposits, in the case of a continuously operating spinning device, in the flow-off region, but also in an onflow region not constructed optimally, particularly with use of open jet blasting. In any case, the deposition of crystals could be detected by conducting the spinning exhaust gas flow past a cooled metal surface, since the NMMO crystal forms can deposit on the cooled surface.
Example 2
Polymer Expansion Effects at Different Pressures
Flash evaporation of the spinning material occurs, at least for the water content of the pre-heated spinning solution at boiling temperature, due to the pressure reduction during the extrusion process.
It is assumed, based on the test results, that a certain segregation or separation of the homogeneous mixing phase at least at the polymer solution surface (extrudate surface) occurs as a result of the pressure relief during the spinning process caused by an expansion of the polymer. Two heterogeneous mixing phases, specifically the extrudate core formed from a homogeneous mixture of cellulose/amine oxide/water and the extrudate surface formed from an enrichment of amine oxide and water, for example in the form of crystallisation water, and/or water vapour mixed with thermal decomposition products (from amine oxide=NMM (N-methylmorpholine, M=morpholine)) are formed. This segregation may lead to the formation of a second phase in the extrudate. Due to nucleation and growth of crystal nuclei, this may lead to spinodal decomposition or the enrichment of polymer solution constituents at the boundaries of the dissolved polymer. It is in any case to be assumed that, due to this expansion process of the polymer solution jet, the fibrillary structure of the filaments formed in a fibre-like manner has already formed upon entry into the solvent-containing collecting bath (spinning bath) and the fibrils are only loosely connected via cellulose chains. A further segregation process therefore takes place in the spinning bath, since, due to the incompatibility with excess water supply, the polymer solution in the spinning bath experiences spontaneous spinodal decomposition and the looser cross-linking network of cellulose molecules formed additionally by the expansion evaporation is ripped open under the spinning bath swelling. Even with extrusion products such as filaments and staple fibres from a solution of cellulose/amine oxide/water, an increased fibrillation tendency can typically be detected on the finished, dry product, which can be attributed to the segregation and enrichment during the extrusion process.
In any case, the spinning solution is heated to a temperature above the boiling point in the air gap. The throttling of the “overheated” spinning solution flow introduced by the spinneret and expansion causes the spontaneous evaporation of NMMO/NMM/N/water at the filament surface in the gas space.
The flash evaporation observed in the spinning solution occurs since the pre-heated spinning material enters an environment of lower pressure, wherein the released quantity of solvent (mixture) implicitly functions on the one hand to cool the polymer flow exiting from the nozzle relief device. In other words, the pressure drop of the polymer flow (cellulose solution) from, for example, 20-50 bar to ambient pressure leads to an overheating of the polymer solution. The new pressure set in the shaped polymer solution spreads at high speed over the polymer material expanding in the air gap environment. At the same time, the pressure relief is accompanied by a change to the specific volume.
The temperature change is slowed by material transfers, such as heat transfers, at the phase boundary, with the result that it is to be assumed that a thermodynamic equilibrium of the polymer solution or spinning solution is no longer present in the spun fibre.
In thermodynamics, the direct transition of a material from the gaseous state of matter to the solid state of matter is also referred to as resublimation.
No liquid state of matter exists with the pressure and temperature conditions under which resublimation occurs. These conditions are also referred to, independently of the direction of the phase conversion, as sublimation pressure and sublimation temperature, or as the sublimation point.
Any substance, during the course of its resublimation, releases what is known as sublimation heat, which is equal to the sum of melting heat and evaporation heat.
The pressure relief and change to the thermal economy (heat tone effects) of the spinning solution were examined experimentally as follows.
To examine the heat tone effects, the spinning solution was passed through a pressure DSC equipped with sensors and liquid nitrogen cooling in a perforated crucible and was subjected to the following temperature program.
Heating: 30° C. to 300° C., heating rate 10° C./min; atmosphere nitrogen, test pressure: 1, 25, 50, 100 and 150 bar.
The test results at various test pressures are illustrated in FIG. 5 . It can be seen from FIG. 5 , carried out at a measuring pressure of 1 bar, that a process progressing endothermically occurs from approximately 58-60° C. The peak temperature of the endothermic process lies between 105 and 110° C.
This endothermic effect clearly describes the fact that shifts in the crystal structure of the spinning solution occur in the range from 60° C. or evaporation processes are also introduced, which indicate heat delivery and absorption from/into the polymer solution and the released substances respectively. As a result of a further heat feed, the exothermic decomposition of the spinning material is initiated from 190° C.
At the higher pressures of 25, 50, 100 and 150 bar, it can be seen that the endothermic effect of the spinning solution is supressed in the temperature range 60 to 150° C. and is shifted to higher temperatures. A reason for this behaviour can be clearly cited as the pressure with the evaporation of the components located in the spinning solution. It is also interesting that the exothermic reactions of the spinning solution introduced at higher measuring temperatures occur to a smaller extent than with the 1 bar measurement.
Since the spinning process, due to the generated spinning pressure (function of the spinning solution concentration, the molecular weight (DP value, “degree of polymerisation”, average degree of polymerisation of the cellulose) of the mass throughput, the viscosity, the temperature, the spinneret diameter, the spinneret length), is necessarily relieved of pressure to ambient pressure upon discharge (usual pressure range of 15-100 bar), it is clear from the measured enthalpy curve that, with the relief pressure difference before and after extrusion, the polymer solution is subjected to an endothermic effect. This effect is strongest at the peak maximum at 105° C. to 110° C. In accordance with the invention, this teaching is reversed in order to operate the extrusion spinning process at lower temperatures.
Example 3
Spinning Device
An NMMO spinning material consisting of a mixture of pulps of the MoDo Crown Dissolving-DP 510-550 and Sappi Saiccor DP 560-580 type was produced continuously in the following composition: cellulose 12.9%, amine oxide (NMMO-N-methylmorpholine N-oxide) 76.3%, water 10.8%.
The solution was produced following aqueous enzymatic pretreatment and suspension production by evaporating off excess water under vacuum in a reaction vessel subject to continuous flow at a temperature of 97-103° C. Known stabilisers were added in order to stabilise the NMMO/water solvent. As is known, the cellulose solution was stabilised using gallic acid propyl ester in alkaline spinning material and solvent. For safety-relevant solution production, it is advantageous for the heavy metal ion content to be controlled and not to exceed a value of 10 ppm as a cumulative parameter (of metal ions and non-ferrous metal ions). A pulp having a cellulose α (alpha) content of greater than 90% is preferably used for the solution production (α content determined as unsoluble fraction in 17.5% NaOH). The carbonyl group content of the used pulp was <0.1%. The carboxyl group content of the pulp likewise fluctuated in the region of <0.1%. It should be noted that the alkaline and alkaline earth ion content in the pulp is <350 ppm. The density of the produced solution was 1,200 kg/m 3 at room temperature. The zero shear viscosity of the spinning material, set via the pulp mixing components, may be up to 15,000 Pas, measured at 75° C. Depending on the processing temperature selected in the spinning process, the zero shear viscosity may fluctuate in the range from 500 to 15,000 Pas. Due to the shear-thinning behaviour of the spinning solution, the viscosity at spinning shear rates falls, depending on the selected processing temperature, to a range below 100 Pas and is likewise highly dependent on the cellulose concentration in the spinning solution.
An NMMO solution was used as the spinning bath necessary for the spinning process, wherein the NMMO concentration was held in the range between 18 and 23% and at a temperature from 15 to 28° C. by the addition of aqueous condensate. The metal cations and non-ferrous metal cations located in the spinning bath had a concentration of <0.25 mg/l. The alkaline and earth alkaline concentration in the spinning bath ranged from 30 to 50 mg/l.
The spun spinning solution as described above was subjected to a test program in accordance with accompanying Table 1.
A rectangularly drilled nozzle metal sheet (material high-grade steel) of different thickness was used as a spinneret. The spinneret openings were formed in the manner of capillary bores in the nozzle metal sheet. A geometry for the bore hole form was used with which the spinning solution runs in a conical part into the spinning hole and, after the conical part, is conducted into a cylindrical part of the bore hole before the spinning material is pressed out into the air gap with simultaneous drawing, was used as the bore hole form. The material drawn into fibrils was then dipped into the spinning bath for solidification and ultimate fibre formation.
The spinneret openings were held at a temperature, as stated in example Table 1.
The air gap between the spinneret openings and the spinning bath surface constitutes the spinning gas volume. The spinning gas volume is formed from the spinning field and the gas gap height associated with the spinning field.
The spinning fibres passed transversely through the temperature-layered gas space (spinning volume), wherein they were passed continuously in this gas space through the spinning gas flow 1 and the spinning gas flow 2 during the spinning process. Test 8 and Test 9 were carried out without the feed of a spinning gas flow 2 .
The fibre formation or coagulation of the drawn cellulose solution was then performed in the spinning bath, which was attached beneath the spinneret openings.
The drawn fibres exiting from the spinning bath were removed continuously by means of a discharge member.
During the tests, the spinning gas exhaust gas flow was measured on the flow-off side of the spinning field for aerosol particles, wherein the particle size and concentration are illustrated in Table 1 in accordance with each test.
It could surprisingly be determined that it is possible to detect a dependency of the aerosol particles released from the cellulose solution via the variation of the spinning pressure and the spinning temperature. A release of aerosol particles induced by temperature and spinning pressure could thus be determined, wherein a lower aerosol release could be determined in the spinning temperature range between 87° C. and 94° C. at a spinning pressure between 22 and 34 bar (tests 5, 6 and 7).
The spinning behaviour was additionally determined visually, under consideration of the number of spinning errors, such as fibre breaks and adhesions. The spinning behaviour was classified from 1 (best) to 5 (worst), wherein the method according to the invention demonstrated the best behaviour in accordance with tests 5, 6 and 7.
If the spinning solution had the same composition over all tests, but was spun at higher spinning temperatures and spinning pressures, a much higher aerosol particle concentration can be determined in the gas flow through which the spinning material is passed. Since the aerosol particles crystallised already at temperatures of 20° C., the detected particles can only be assumed to be NMMO 2,5 hydrate, NMMO 1 hydrate or pure NMMO discharged during the spinning process as a result of expansion evaporation. The aerosol particles can also be easily detected, besides the aerosol measurement by means of a measuring apparatus, by deposition on a cooled depositing plate arranged after the spinning field. Besides the crystallised amine oxide (NMMO hydrate), NMMO-typical decomposition products (which are produced during production of the spinning material), such as NMM (N-methylmorpholine), M (morpholine) and other solution-specific degradation products, can also be separated from the spinning material.
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Test 4
Test 5
Test 6
Test 7
Test 8
Spinning solution temperature
° C.
105
107
110
109
92
87
94
112
Throughput per hole
g/hole min
0.025
0.025
0.050
0.050
0.025
0.034
0.025
0.050
Diameter
mm
0.100
0.100
0.100
0.100
0.070
0.080
0.070
0.070
Nozzle length
mm
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.50
1.50
1.00
Spinning fibre discharge rate
Titre
dtex
1.40
1.42
1.41
1.39
1.43
1.38
1.40
1.43
Discharge rate
m/min
27.9
27.9
55.7
55.7
27.9
38.5
27.9
55.7
spec. hole density
fibres/mm 2
3
3
2.5
2.5
3
3
3
2.5
Cross-sectional area of holes (fibres)
0.024
0.024
0.020
0.020
0.012
0.015
0.012
0.010
at the nozzle discharge without the
swell per mm 2 of nozzle area
Cross-sectional area of the
0.00035
0.00036
0.00035
0.00035
0.00036
0.00035
0.00035
0.00036
filaments at the end of drawing
Averaged filament cross-sectional
0.010
0.010
0.008
0.008
0.005
0.006
0.005
0.004
area per mm 2 of nozzle area
Volume of the filaments with full
0.589
0.589
0.491
0.491
0.289
0.377
0.289
0.241
discharge area, cylindrical
Volume of the filaments with
0.239
0.239
0.199
0.199
0.118
0.154
0.118
0.099
averaged filament cross-sectional
area
Spinning field volume/per mm of
mm 3 /mm
25
50
25
25
25
25
25
25
nozzle width
Spinning gas volume in the spinning
mm 3
24.761
49.761
24.801
24.801
24.882
24.846
24.882
24.901
field = spinning field volume
minus volume of filaments with
averaged discharge area
Ratio of spinning field total
factor
104.809
209.581
125.451
125.477
211.096
162.689
211.208
252.048
volume/averaged fibre volume
Fibre volume in % of spinning field
%
0.954
0.477
0.797
0.797
0.474
0.615
0.473
0.397
total volume
Number of spinning fields in the gas
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
flow direction
spec. spinning gas flow 1 feed over
liters/h
150
250
275
280
60
60
60
250
number of spinning fields
per mm of
spinneret
length
spec. spinning gas flow 2 feed over
liters/h
125
50
25
30
100
100
100
0
number of spinning fields
per mm of
spinneret
length
spec. spinning gas treatment flow 1
liters/h
7.5
12.5
13.8
14.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
12.5
per spinning
field
spec. spinning gas treatment flow 2
liters/h
6.25
2.50
1.25
1.50
5.00
5.00
5.00
—
per spinning
field
Measured particle concentration in
μg/m 3
2.80E+04
3.20E+04
3.35E+04
3.05E+04
2.98E+04
3.20E+04
3.47E+04
3.38E+04
the spinning exhaust gas flow
Spinning gas flow feed per mm 3
liters/h
0.55
0.30
0.60
0.62
0.32
0.32
0.32
0.50
of spinning field volume
per mm 3 of
spinning
field
conc. =
15
10
20
19
10
10
11
17
removal in
μg/h per
mm 3 of
spinning
field
Number of air changes in the
5.50E+05
3.00E+05
6.00E+05
6.20E+05
3.20E+05
3.20E+05
3.20E+05
5.00E+05
spinning field
Spinning behaviour
2
2
2-3
2-3
1-2
1-2
1-2
2-3
Test 9
Test 10
Test 11
Test 12
Test 13
Spinning solution temperature
° C.
114
117
119
121
124
Throughput per hole
g/hole min
0.050
0.025
0.025
0.050
0.050
Diameter
mm
0.070
0.050
0.050
0.050
0.050
Nozzle length
mm
1.50
1.00
1.50
1.00
1.50
Spinning fibre discharge rate
Titre
dtex
1.42
1.40
1.41
1.44
1.42
Discharge rate
m/min
55.7
27.9
27.9
55.7
55.7
spec. hole density
fibres/mm 2
2.5
3
3
2.5
2.5
Cross-sectional area of holes (fibres)
0.010
0.006
0.006
0.005
0.005
at the nozzle discharge without the
swell per mm 2 of nozzle area
Cross-sectional area of the
0.00036
0.00035
0.00035
0.00036
0.00036
filaments at the end of drawing
Averaged filament cross-sectional
0.004
0.002
0.002
0.002
0.002
area per mm 2 of nozzle area
Volume of the filaments with full
0.241
0.147
0.147
0.123
0.123
discharge area, cylindrical
Volume of the filaments with
0.099
0.062
0.062
0.052
0.052
averaged filament cross-sectional
area
Spinning field volume/per mm of
mm 3 /mm
25
25
25
25
25
nozzle width
Spinning gas volume in the spinning
mm 3
24.901
24.938
24.938
24.943
24.948
field = spinning field volume
minus volume of filaments with
averaged discharge area
Ratio of spinning field total
factor
252.101
404.401
404.265
479.976
480.360
volume/averaged fibre volume
Fibre volume in % of spinning field
%
0.397
0.247
0.247
0.208
0.208
total volume
Number of spinning fields in the gas
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
flow direction
spec. spinning gas flow 1 feed over
liters/h
275
250
250
275
350
number of spinning fields
per mm of
spinneret
length
spec. spinning gas flow 2 feed over
liters/h
0
25
25
75
75
number of spinning fields
per mm of
spinneret
length
spec. spinning gas treatment flow 1
liters/h
13.8
12.5
12.5
13.8
17.5
per spinning
field
spec. spinning gas treatment flow 2
liters/h
—
1.25
1.25
3.75
3.75
per spinning
field
Measured particle concentration in
μg/m 3
3.86E+04
3.65E+04
4.50E+04
4.18E+04
4.95E+04
the spinning exhaust gas flow
Spinning gas flow feed per mm 3
liters/h
0.55
0.55
0.55
0.70
0.85
of spinning field volume
per mm 3 of
spinning
field
conc. =
21
20
25
29
42
removal in
μg/h per
mm 3 of
spinning
field
Number of air changes in the
5.50E+05
5.50E+05
5.50E+05
7.00E+05
8.50E+05
spinning field
Spinning behaviour
2-3
3-4
3-4
4
4
|
A method is provided for producing solid cellulose filaments or films from a solution of cellulose, NMMO (N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide) and water, including pressure-extruding the solution by one or more extrusion openings and by solidifying the filaments or films in a precipitation bath. The solution is guided between the extrusion opening and the precipitation bath by an air gap, the temperature of the solution on the extrusion opening being lower than 105° C. and the pressure difference in the air gap between the pressure of the solution immediately prior to extrusion and after extrusion is between 8 and 40 bar.
| 3
|
RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation application of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 09/841,200 entitled “FLYING INSECT TRAP”, filed Apr. 24, 2001, now abandoned, which is based on Provisional Application No. 60/200,448 filed Apr. 28, 2000.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to insect traps, and more particularly to traps for flying insects which use ultraviolet (UV) light to draw the insects into the trap where they are immobilized on adhesive-coated boards, paper or other medium.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of ultraviolet light to attract insects in a localized area and then to immobilize the insects on an adhesive medium or “glue board” is known. Further, it is known to provide food scents and pheromones to attract flies and other insects into the interior of the trap and onto the adhesive medium. One prior trap disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,211, is intended to be mounted on a wall and have a decorative cover so that occupants of the room cannot normally see the UV lamps directly. Such decorative traps have application primarily in eating areas of restaurants or the like so that the UV lamps provide indirect lighting on an adjacent wall, but the lamps themselves are not directly visible at eye level. Of course, the insects cannot directly perceive the light source unless the insect is at a sufficiently high altitude. This is believed to have a negative effect on the overall catch effectiveness of the trap since insects are believed to be attracted to the UV light source by sensing light emanating from the source, just as insects are attracted to windows because they sense the incoming light radiated from the sun. Most prior traps are not of a decorative design. The interior of these traps, many of which use electrocution techniques for killing the insects but some of which also use UV light to attract the insects and glue boards to trap them, may be readily viewed by occupants of a room in which they are used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, unlike wall-mounted decorative units for use primarily in the eating areas of restaurants, is designed for heavier commercial or industrial use. For example, flies are attracted to and collect in large numbers in the production areas of commercial kitchens, bakeries, food processing plants, and storage areas in supermarkets, warehouses, hospitals, poultry and egg ranches, as well as in all food preparation areas where the decorative appeal of the trap is not as important as trapping effectiveness.
Thus, the present invention provides two separate UV lamps arranged generally in the same horizontal plane and spaced slightly laterally from one another. The lamps are mounted in an elongated housing which has upright sidewalls and a base, but which is provided with open grills adjacent the horizontal plane in which the UV lamps are mounted so that the lamps can be viewed directly in a range of elevations extending from slightly below the horizontal plane of the lamps to a region well above the lamps. Moreover, the shape of the housing in side profile is such that it curves upwardly and inwardly of the UV lamps, as one proceeds from the level of the UV lamps upward. This increases the access of the insects to the UV lamps, not only by sight, but by ingress, from an angle slightly below the horizontal to approximately 80° above the UV lamps. Access is provided on both sides of the housing to increase the effectiveness even more. In addition, curved reflective surfaces are placed at an incline to the center of the unit and above the UV lamps to project an image of the UV lamps outwardly and downwardly so that it can be perceived from most regions in a room and extends the viewing angles well below the horizontal. Thus, an insect in front of the unit sees not only the UV lamp directly, but the image of the lamp, and this occurs on both sides of the unit.
Furthermore, the insect trapping medium, which is commercially available, has a sticky or tacky surface impregnated with the attractants described above. The medium is stored in a cartridge until use. The trapped insects become encapsulated in a take-up section, while simultaneously a fresh adhesive surface is automatically advanced from a source spool. U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,211 teaches the use of a cartridge for housing the trapping medium in a roll and dispensing it for usage under timed motor power. The present invention improves such a cartridge design by housing a roll of trapping medium in a cartridge made of two mating sections which are preferably identical and interchangeable to reduce parts and inventory. The two housing sections couple together to form a substantially closed container encompassing the trapping medium either for storage when the medium has not been used, or for disposal when the trapping medium is filled with insects.
After shipment or storage, when it is desired to replace an existing cartridge, the new cartridge is split apart manually, without the need for tools, and the two housing sections are separated by hand to a distance sufficient that they may fit into receptacles in the trap. One of the housing sections is placed in a receptacle and coupled to the drive shaft of an electric motor which, when energized, drives a take-up spool for winding the spent trapping paper into the associated housing section, while metering out unused trapping medium from the other housing section which is stored in a remote receptacle.
The intermediate section of the trapping medium between the two housing sections slides along a flat table spaced immediately below the two UV lamps. After the trapping medium is fully spent and it is desired to dispose of the trapping medium and replace it with a new cartridge, the two housing sections of the cartridge are removed from their respective receptacles (the one driven by the motor is disconnected from the motor), and the two housing sections of the cartridge are then manually assembled together and secured, encompassing the spent medium and insects for disposal without having to touch the spent medium or insects. The trailing edge of the trapping medium may be manually wound into the driven cartridge section, without touching the trapping medium.
The trapping medium, as it passes over the support table beneath the UV lamps, passes over and occludes an aperture in the table below which there is mounted a light sensor. When the trapping medium runs out, the trailing edge passes over the aperture, and the sensor senses the light from the UV source, indicating that the unit is out of trapping medium. The unit generates an audible alarm to signal that the cartridge must be removed and replaced.
Another feature of the invention is that the motor which draws the adhesive-coated trapping medium out of one cartridge section and into the other when the trapping medium is assembled in the trap, may be set in one of two different motor speeds so that the trapping mediums is metered out either more slowly or more rapidly, as desired, and depending upon use conditions.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed disclosure of the preferred embodiment accompanied by the attached drawings, wherein identical reference numerals will refer to like parts in the various views.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is an upper, frontal perspective view of the inventive insect trap with the cartridge door open and the cartridge sections split in preparation for insertion into the trap;
FIG. 2 is an upper, frontal perspective view similar to FIG. 1 with the cartridge door closed and the front grill removed to view the interior of the trap;
FIG. 3 is an upper, frontal perspective view of the split cartridge which houses the trapping medium;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but at a slightly different angle so as to show the drive shaft of the motor which winds the trapping medium;
FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the trap of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 6 is a right side view of the inventive trap;
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the inventive trap;
FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken through the sight line 8 — 8 of FIG. 7 ;
FIG. 9 is an end view of the two cartridge sections placed in a closed position and just before locking sections together; and
FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the portion of FIG. 9 enclosed by the line 75 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Turning first to FIG. 1 , reference numeral 10 generally designates a trap for flying insects. The trap 10 comprises a housing generally designated 11 and a replaceable cartridge 12 for housing and supplying trapping medium shown in the form of an elongated web and designated 13 in FIG. 1 . The cartridge 12 is seen in FIG. 1 with first and second complimentary and similar sections 15 , 15 A spread apart for insertion into the trap 10 , as will be described. In FIG. 3 , the cartridge sections 15 , 15 A have been disconnected from each other, and if the cartridge sections are spread further apart, the exposed surface of the trapping medium 13 will, of course, be increased. A feature of the invention is that the same cartridge design may be used for different size traps having different lengths of exposed trapping medium, as persons skilled in the art will appreciate.
Returning now to FIG. 1 , the housing 11 is elongated laterally to accommodate two fluorescent lamps, to be described. The housing 11 has a left upright sidewall 18 and a right sidewall 19 . Sidewalls 18 and 19 are generally flat with inwardly turned flanges for connecting to the other housing walls and the grills. Terms such as “left,” “right,” “front,” and “rear” have reference to a viewer looking on the elongated side (the “front”) of the housing which receives the cartridge 12 of trapping medium. From a full description of the invention, it will be appreciated that the insect trap is equally accessible to an insect from the front, seen in FIG. 1 , or the rear of the trap. The housing may be made of metal or plastic.
The housing 11 also includes a bottom wall 20 which is integral with the sidewalls 18 , 19 . A cartridge door 22 is pivotally connected to the bottom portions of the sidewalls 18 , 19 , respectively, at 23 ( FIG. 1 ) and 24 (FIG. 6 ). The cartridge door 22 is seen in the lowered position in FIG. 1 , permitting access to the interior of the housing 11 . Specifically, the housing 11 defines a space or receptacle 25 for receiving the left cartridge section 15 A and a corresponding space or receptacle 26 for receiving the right cartridge section 15 . The cartridge sections are installed in the direction of the arrows shown. On the right side of the cartridge door 22 , there is an aperture 28 , the purpose of which will be discussed below.
The two receptacles 25 , 26 are separated and partially defined by a metal box 30 which houses the electrical connections, drive motor and the ballast and wiring for the UV lamps, to be described. In the top wall 31 of the metal box 30 , there is an aperture 32 . First and second UV lamps 34 , 35 are mounted in the housing 11 with conventional fluorescent lamp sockets. Beneath the aperture 32 (which is below the lamp 35 ) within the box 30 is a light sensor (photo transistor) 33 ( FIG. 8 ) which is responsive to the light emanating from the UV lamp 35 , to generate an electrical signal upon detection of light from the lamp 35 to actuate an audible alarm shown at 36 in FIG. 8 and housed within the box 30 . Other light sensing elements than the photo transistor 33 disclosed herein, may be used to sense incident light passing through the aperture 32 and actuate the audible alarm which, in the illustrated embodiment is a piezo audio transducer which is commercially available. There are many other audible alarms commercially available which are capable of being actuated in this matter and producing desirable audible signals to indicate to the user that the trap has an exhausted supply of trapping medium and the cartridge needs to be replaced, and a new one installed. Moreover, there are mechanisms other than the aperture and lightsensing photo transistor disclosed for generating the signal to actuate the audible alarm. For example, a ball-shaped mechanical sensor could be placed above a detent in the top wall of the box 30 and biased downwardly toward the detent, but maintained in a raised position if the trapping medium is present, and then released to fall into the detent when the trapping medium is exhausted, actuating a position or limit switch which upon movement of an armature supporting the ball when it falls from resting on the trapping medium into the detent covered by the trapping medium. There are many other equally effective devices for assessing the presence of the trapping medium. The UV lamps 34 , 35 are fluorescent UV lamps generating light in the near ultraviolet and visible range. Such lamps (sometimes called “black light” lamps) are commercially available and currently used in traps to attract flying insects.
Referring now to FIG. 8 , the UV lamps 34 , 35 are tubular; and their axes extend horizontally in substantially the same plane. The lamps are spaced slightly apart (approximately two inches or so) so that one lamp, for example, lamp 34 , occupies one longitudinal chamber 34 A of the housing 11 , and the other lamp 35 occupies the other longitudinal chamber 35 A of the housing 11 .
Referring now to FIGS. 6 , 7 and 8 , the housing 11 also includes a top wall 21 which has the same width as the bottom wall 20 . That is, it extends between the two sidewalls 18 , 19 and is affixed to the flanges of those sidewalls. However, the top wall 21 has a depth (i.e., front to rear distance) ( FIGS. 7 and 8 ) which is less than the depth of the bottom wall 20 . Thus, the upper portions of the sidewalls are curved inwardly as they proceed upwardly (see FIGS. 2 , 6 and 8 ). This shape provides insect access to the interior of the housing directly from the front or rear (see FIGS. 5 and 7 ); and it also provides access from above, for example, in the direction of the arrows 37 , 38 in FIGS. 6 and 8 . Top access to the interior of the housing is also seen in FIG. 7 .
Referring now to FIG. 2 , the arrangement of sidewalls 18 , 19 , front cartridge wall 22 and top wall 21 define a large ingress opening 40 for insects. A similar ingress opening at the rear of the unit is shown at 41 , FIG. 7 . The forward and rearward ingress openings 40 , 41 are provided with protective wire grills, designated respectively, 43 and 44 , which cover the respective openings to prevent persons from placing their hands or fingers inside the unit. The grills permit easy ingress to flying insects, however.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 8 , located above the forward chamber 34 A which houses the forward fluorescent lamp 34 , there is a slightly curved inner wall 46 on which is mounted a highly reflective surface, such as metallized Mylar. The surface 46 is arranged so that the image of the forward UV lamp 34 is projected, mirror-like, out into the room. Due to the slight concave curvature of the wall 46 and the reflective material on it, the reflected image of the lamp 34 is enlarged. The bottom edge 46 A of the curved wall 46 is located slightly inward of, and above its associated lamp 34 . The wall 46 extends upwardly and outwardly to a position about four and one-half inches above the forwardmost surface of the lamp 34 (which is the horizontal forward edge of the glass envelope). A similar reflective wall 47 is provided in the rear chamber above the rear UV lamp 35 , and projecting a similar image of lamp 35 out toward the rear of the trap. The curved, reflective walls 46 , 47 partially define the two chambers 34 A, 35 A of the housing 11 .
Thus, insects within range, on either side of the trap, will see not only the direct image of a UV lamp, but also an enlarged reflective image. In addition, an insect which is slightly above the horizontal relative to the closest UV lamp (for example, the forward UV lamp 34 in FIG. 2 ), can, in addition, perceive a good portion of the rear lamp 35 because the lower edges of the curved inner walls 46 , 47 terminate slightly above the uppermost surfaces of the glass envelopes of the fluorescent UV lamps 34 , 35 , as best seen in FIG. 8 . Moreover, the included angle through which a lamp may be viewed (the “viewing angle”) is increased when the image of the reflected lamp on curved reflective surfaces 46 , 47 are considered. Referring to FIG. 8 , the reviewing angle is in the vertical plane of the page. An insect may perceive lamp 34 at an angle of almost 80° above the horizontal, at which point the upper portion of the curved wall 46 interferes with light transmission. An insect may perceive the lamp 34 directly at an angle of about 20° below the horizontal. However, an insect may perceive the image of the lamp 34 reflected off the curved surface 46 at a much greater angle below the horizontal. Thus the location and curvature of the reflective surface 46 increases the viewing angle. The angles given are estimates given in order to explain the principle involved and are not to be taken as limitations on the invention or as precise measurements. Persons skilled in the art will be able to modify the dimensional relations shown in the drawing while continuing to practice the invention.
The center portion of the top wall 21 is provided with a cut-out in the form of an elongated opening designated 36 which serves as a handle or carrier for the unit. In addition, the sidewalls 18 , 19 are provided in their upper central portions with smaller slots such as that designated 27 in FIGS. 1 and 6 for the left sidewall 18 for receiving hooks so that the unit may be suspended from a ceiling or the like by means of a chain provided with carrying hooks.
The UV lamps 34 , 35 are mounted in conventional sockets mounted to the sidewalls 18 , 19 ; and they are energized with a conventional ballast mounted within the box 30 which forms a protective housing or junction box.
Turning now to the cartridge 12 , the cartridge sections or halves 15 , 15 A may be substantially the same and interchangeable; therefore, only one section need be described in detail, and it will be understood that the corresponding structure on the other cartridge section will be identified by the same reference numeral followed by an “A”.
Turning then to the cartridge section 15 , it include first and second end walls 51 , 52 and an outer sidewall generally designated 53 . The end walls 51 , 52 and the sidewall 53 cooperate to provide a central opening generally designated 55 in FIG. 4 for receiving (dispensing, in the case of section 15 A) the adhesive trapping medium 13 . The sidewall 53 has a first planar section 56 , a curved intermediate portion 57 ( FIGS. 1 and 9 ) and a second planar section 58 which is parallel to the first planar section 56 having the same length but which has a shorter width, so that when the two cartridge sections are placed together ( FIG. 9 ) the adjacent edges of the larger planar sections 56 , 56 A of the two cartridge sections engage and close, but the adjacent edges of the two smaller planar sections 58 , 58 A provide an opening 59 in FIG. 9 . This opening permits a user to look in a cartridge to determine whether it is a new cartridge or a spent cartridge.
Returning now to the cartridge section 15 , it is provided with a spool member 60 which may be plastic and includes an elongated tubular shaft (see shaft 61 A for the left cartridge section 15 A in FIGS. 3 and 4 ). The shaft of the spool 60 is journaled in the end walls 51 , 52 of a cartridge section; and one end of the spool includes a circular flange 63 which is adjacent the outer surface of end wall 51 of the cartridge section 15 and slides against it when rotated. The adjacent portion of the shaft 61 is provided with a pair of opposing cantilever tabs, one of which is seen at 64 in FIG. 3 . The tabs 64 have a free end adjacent the flange 63 , but spaced inwardly slightly greater than the thickness of the wall 51 . The free ends of the tabs 64 are also spaced farther apart from each other than is the diameter of the aperture in the end wall 51 in which the shaft 61 fits. The spool is maintained in place because the tabs 64 bear against the inner surface of the end wall 51 , whereas the circular flange 63 bears against the outer surface of the end wall 51 . Dimensions are such that the spool 60 freely rotates relative to the end wall 51 . The spool may be removed by pinching the tabs 64 together so that they fit through the aperture in end wall 51 , and then sliding the spool out.
The outer surface of the flange 63 includes a pair of opposing finger tabs 67 , 68 so that the spool may be turned by hand, if desired, to advance the adhesive trapping medium manually.
The adjacent edges of the end walls 51 , 51 A and 52 , 52 A are also straight, and when the two cartridge sections are assembled together to form a container for the adhesive trapping medium, they engage one another, as seen in FIG. 9 . Each cartridge section end wall 51 , 51 A, 52 , 52 A is provided with a pair of locking tabs, designated 70 A, 70 B for the end wall 51 and 70 C, 70 D for the end wall 51 A in FIGS. 3 and 9 . Each of the locking tabs is L-shaped, in general, and includes a free extended finger such as the one designated 71 in FIG. 10 for the tab 70 A. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the portion of FIG. 9 enclosed by the line 75 . The fingers are provided with slightly extended pads or mounds designated 76 , 76 A for the fingers 70 A and 70 C shown in FIG. 10 , so that when the adjacent end walls of the cartridge sections are placed together, spaced axially apart so that the fingers of the tabs of one section may be aligned to engage with the fingers of corresponding tabs of the other cartridge section as seen in FIGS. 3 and 9 , facing opposite directions, the two cartridge sections may then be placed together so that their respective end walls engage, as shown in FIG. 9 . The two cartridge sections are then moved relative to each other so that the axes of their central shafts become aligned. This locking motion is illustrated in FIG. 10 by the direction of the arrows 86 . The tabs on the fingers inter-engage, with the pads on the fingers interlocking to secure the cartridge sections together, as seen in FIG. 10 . In short, the cartridge sections are unlocked in FIG. 9 and locked in FIG. 10 .
To insert a new cartridge, the cartridge sections are unlocked with a complimentary separating motion, and the two cartridge sections are then counter-rotated slightly and separated, as shown in FIG. 4 . The cartridge sections are aligned with the receptacles 25 , 26 of the trap housing, with the trapping web 13 located above the box 30 , to slide along the horizontal top 31 of the box 30 which supports the insect trapping web 13 . It will be understood that the same cartridge may be opened to create exposed regions of the trapping medium of different lengths, if desired, so that the same cartridge design could be used in traps of different sizes.
As the cartridges are placed in the receptacles, with the cartridge door 22 lowered to the position shown in FIG. 4 , the distal end of the shaft of the spool 60 engages and telescopely receives a shaft 71 of an electric motor mounted to the fixed far wall 20 A ( FIG. 6 ) of the trap 11 . The motor is conventional and provided with a rachet drive so that the spool may be manually wound, if desired. When in proper position, the web (or conventional glue board) rests on the top wall 31 of the enclosure box 30 . The heat from the ballast housed within the enclosure 30 warms the adhesive medium resting on the top wall 31 , making the glue more tacky, and thus more effective in securing insects. The warmth is also believed to increase the attractiveness of the adhesive medium to insects.
The leading edge of the insect trapping web 13 is secured to the shaft 61 of the cartridge section 15 (by tape, for example); however, the trailing edge is not secured to the shaft 61 A of the cartridge section 15 A. Thus, when the trapping material runs out, the trailing edge is pulled by means of the electric motor and wrapped around the spool 60 . When the cartridge is spent, the trailing edge of the trapping medium leaves the cartridge section 15 A and eventually passes over the aperture 32 in the top wall 31 of the box 30 , thereby admitting light from the source UV fluorescent lamp 35 to the sensor 33 housed in the box 30 which generates an electrical signal to trigger the audible alarm 36 .
Preferably, the upper surface of the insect trapping web 13 may be yellow and provided with pheromones, food scents to attract the insects once they get within the vicinity of the medium, and the upper surface of the web 13 is coated with an adhesive material to trap and immobilize the insects once they alight on the insect trapping surface. It may also be printed with images of flies which act as decoys.
The spool 60 may be turned manually not only to advance the insect trapping material if an unusually heavy catch has been made, but it may also be used to wind up the last section of the insect trapping medium when the insect trapping web is spent and it is desired to change the cartridge. When the cartridge is installed in the trap, and the lower cartridge door 22 is raised to the position shown in FIG. 2 , the spool 60 aligns with the aperture 28 , and a user may turn the spool by means of the tabs 67 , 68 .
The motor which drives the shaft 71 to advance the insect trapping web may have a plurality of speeds so that the advancing speed of the web may be adjusted for different conditions for different applications, or for changing conditions in the same site.
Having thus disclosed in detail the preferred embodiment of the invention, persons skilled in the art will be able to modify certain of the structure which has been disclosed and substitute equivalent elements for those illustrated while continuing to practice the principle of the invention, and is therefore intended that all such modifications or substitutions be covered as they embrace within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
|
A flying inspect trap includes large, multi-directional, oppositely facing ingress openings to elongated chambers housing UV lamps emitting insect attractant light. A disposable cartridge has two sections which mate together to form a container for a roll of adhesive trapping medium. The cartridge sections are opened and spread apart to fit beneath the UV lamps. A motor indexes the adhesive medium so that some unused portion is always available for trapping insects until the roll is exhausted. The spent roll is then rolled into one cartridge section externally; and the two cartridge sections are coupled together to encase the spent roll for disposal.
| 0
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/776,348, filed Feb. 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to triggers for emergency equipment used in aircraft. More specifically, the invention relates to redundant triggers for an inflation valve used to inflate emergency floatation devices used on aircraft.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Emergency flotation devices are required on many aircraft to provide emergency assistance to passengers and to save the aircraft in the event the aircraft experiences an emergency situation and is forced down in water. Emergency flotation devices generally include systems designed to float the aircraft, systems for emergency life rafts and life vests for individual occupants.
[0004] One example of an airplane flotation system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,776,865. The system includes inflatable bags located in a forward portion of an airplane and is manually operated by a pilot. The bags are stored in a non-inflated state within closed compartments. The system utilizes pressure cylinders to sequentially unlock doors of the compartments and inflate the inflatable bags. During operation, the pilot activates the pressure cylinder by pulling a first pull cord attached to a valve, thereby releasing pressurized fluid. After inflation, the pilot is required to second pull a cord that places the pressure cylinder into an intermediate position to block further fluid flow into the bags. The system provides no redundant trigger system.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 2,264,321 to Manson, describes a life-saving device that includes an inflatable life raft that is arranged in a compartment on the side of a vehicle such as an airplane. The compartment is closed by a pair of hinged doors that are spring-loaded to urge them into an opened position. The doors are held closed by pins that extend through meshing lugs that are included on the doors. A pull cord is secured to the pins and a valve on an inflating-fluid container so that pulling on the cord sequentially removes the pins from the lugs and operates the valve to permit the flow of fluid from the container to the raft. The cord fully disengages from the fluid container after the valve is operated. Similar to the previously described floatation system, this life-saving device provides no redundant trigger system.
[0006] In another example of a safety system that may be used for helicopters, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,842 to Winslow, a plurality of balloons fluidly coupled to a pressurized tank of carbon dioxide are employed throughout a vessel. The tank includes an outlet valve fitting that may be operated either by an electrically operated control or a manually operated pull. Both the electrically operated control and the manual pull are coupled directly to the valve fitting on the tank. As a result, replacement of either of the electric control or manual pull would require that the tank be handled, which creates a risk of damaging the tank. In addition, a larger space is required to mount the tank in the vessel because that space must be large enough to accommodate the controls in addition to the tank. Furthermore, because the manual and electric control connect directly to the valve there is no mechanism to assure that one control will not hinder the operation of the other. For example, if the movement of manual control lever was restricted, there is no mechanism that would assure that electric control could be used to release the inflation fluid.
[0007] In view of the above, there exists a need for an actuator box assembly for an emergency flotation system that provides the combination of manual and electrical trigger systems all within one assembly that may be mounted separate from the inflation fluid source.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The floatation system includes an emergency inflatable device, a source of pressurized inflation fluid, redundant trigger systems and an actuator box assembly that provides an interface between the redundant trigger systems. The actuator box assembly consists of a housing assembly, redundant input actuators which form parts of the redundant trigger systems, an output actuator and a pivot member that mechanically couples the actuators. The input actuators and the output actuator are mechanically coupled by the pivot member so that actuation of either input actuator activates the output actuator to deploy the floatation system. The input actuators may include both electromechanical and purely mechanical actuators. For example the actuator box assembly may serve as a way to trigger the discharge of the pressurized inflation fluid electrically as well as manually, if needed. In an embodiment, the electromechanical actuator is a linear actuator that includes an arm that translates when electrically activated and engages a portion of the pivot member. The linear actuator can apply a large amount of force on the pivot member to ensure valve activation and the dimensions of the pivot member may be selected to provide a mechanical advantage when utilizing the manual trigger assembly.
[0009] The actuator box assembly is configured so that it may be placed anywhere in the vessel between the trigger controls and the inflation fluid source. The actuator box assembly is primarily designed to provide an interface between the redundant trigger systems and the source of inflation fluid and to initiate inflation of the emergency inflatable by actuating a valve to allow the flow of pressurized fluid from the fluid source to the inflatable. In an embodiment, the primary trigger system is electrically activated. However, if the primary trigger system fails, the system includes a means to manually actuate the valve so that the inflatable may be deployed.
[0010] Such a manual backup trigger system may be especially important for situations where there is an electrical failure and the electrical firing of the system is not possible. For example, if a helicopter is forced to land in the water and deploy emergency floats, the pilot can actuate the valve electrically to discharge the inflation fluid to inflate the inflatable by simply pushing a button in the cockpit. However in the event that the electrical system on the helicopter fails, the pilot can also activate the valve to discharge the inflation fluid manually by pulling a pull cable or a lever or by squeezing a mechanical trigger.
[0011] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated from review of the following detailed description of the invention, along with the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is schematic of the actuator box assembly in an emergency floatation system.
[0013] FIG. 2 is an isometric partial exploded view of the actuator box assembly.
[0014] FIG. 3 is another isometric exploded view of the actuator box assembly.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a top view of the assembled actuator box assembly with the lid removed to show the contents as they are assembled in a non-deployed state.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a top view of the assembled actuator box assembly with the lid removed to show the contents as they are assembled in a deployed state.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a top view of the assembled actuator box assembly with the lid removed to show the contents as they are assembled in a manually deployed state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Referring to FIG. 1 , an emergency flotation system 10 in accordance with the present invention will be described. Emergency flotation system 10 generally includes a pressurized fluid source, such as an inflation reservoir 12 , that stores a pressurized fluid for selectively inflating an emergency inflatable device 14 , such as a life raft. The pressurized fluid may be any fluid capable of inflating an inflatable device, such as air, nitrogen or carbon dioxide. A pressure line 16 fluidly links inflation reservoir 12 with inflatable device 14 through a valve 20 and a latching assembly 18 . Valve 20 is normally closed so that fluid communication between inflation reservoir 12 and inflatable device 14 is prevented.
[0019] Emergency inflatable device 14 is preferably stored in an emergency compartment 15 and latching assembly 18 includes a plurality of latches 19 that are used to maintain emergency compartment 15 in a locked state. In the present embodiment, latches 19 may be configured so that they are activated and unlocked when valve 20 is opened and fluid is released from inflation reservoir 12 . The inflation fluid is free to flow to inflatable device 14 after latches 19 are unlocked. It should be appreciated, however, that any latches known in the art may be employed and it is not necessary that the latches be pressure activated. For example, separate manual or electromechanical latches may be used and pressure line 16 may extend directly from valve 20 to inflatable device 14 .
[0020] Floatation system 10 includes redundant triggering systems for activating the system and deploying inflatable device 14 . In the present embodiment, an electromechanical (EM) triggering system 27 is provided that may draw power from either a main power system 26 or an emergency power supply 24 included in the vessel. A purely mechanical backup triggering system 28 is also provided for redundancy. As will be described in greater detail below, the redundant triggering systems interface at an actuator box assembly 30 so that operation of either will trigger deployment of the floatation system 10 and so that operation of one trigger system is not hindered by the other.
[0021] EM triggering system 27 includes a switch 22 , a communication line 23 and an electromechanical input actuator 34 that is located within actuator box assembly 30 . Switch 22 , which may alternatively be a button or knob, preferably is located in the cockpit of the vessel. Switch 22 is configured so that toggling, pushing or turning it results in an electrical signal being sent through communication line 23 to EM input actuator 34 . The electrical signal may be any signal capable of activating EM input actuator 34 , such as a DC current.
[0022] Mechanical triggering system 28 includes a handle (not shown) that is coupled to a purely mechanical input actuator 32 , such as a pull cord or mechanical linkage or a combination thereof. Mechanical triggering system 28 is provided so that if EM triggering system 27 is inoperative (e.g., due to a power failure), floatation system 10 may still be deployed. It should be appreciated that the handle of mechanical triggering system 28 may be replaced by a lever or squeeze trigger if desired.
[0023] Actuator box assembly 30 provides an interface between EM triggering system 27 and mechanical triggering system 28 so that either may be used to deploy floatation system 10 . In particular, actuator box assembly 30 provides a mechanical coupling between EM input actuator 34 and mechanical input actuator 32 . It is desired to provide such an interface so that both trigger systems are not required to extend the full distance between the trigger device (i.e., switch 22 or the handle) and valve 20 of inflation reservoir 12 . Actuator box assembly 30 also allows the associated EM and mechanical actuators 34 , 32 to be mounted anywhere on the vessel separate from inflation reservoir 12 .
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 2-4 , an embodiment of actuator box assembly 30 according to the present invention will be described. Actuator box assembly 30 generally includes a housing assembly, mechanical input actuator 32 , electromechanical input actuator 34 and a mechanical output actuator 36 , which are coupled together through a pivot member 38 . The three actuators are coupled to each other within actuator box assembly 30 so that operation of either input actuator 32 , 34 is sufficient to activate output actuator 36 and so that each input actuator is free to activate output actuator 36 without being hindered by the other input actuator.
[0025] The housing assembly includes a housing body 33 , a cover 35 and a cover seal 37 , such as a gasket. EM actuator 34 , pivot member 38 and portions of mechanical input actuator 32 and mechanical output actuator 36 are mounted within housing body 33 and cover 35 is mounted to housing body 33 to enclose the components. Cover seal 37 is placed between housing body 33 and cover 35 during assembly so that the housing assembly is substantially watertight.
[0026] Housing body 33 includes boss 42 that is configured so that pivot member 38 may be rotatably mounted within the housing assembly. Boss 42 is generally cylindrical and extends from an inside bottom surface of housing body 33 . In addition, a plurality of actuator mounting features 39 , such as apertures, or threaded holes, are included in housing so that electromechanical actuator 34 may be mounted inside housing body 33 with mechanical fasteners, such as screws.
[0027] A connector mount 44 is also included so that an electric connector 46 , preferably a military standard waterproof connector, may be mounted to housing body 33 to provide an electric connection between portions of communication line 23 inside and outside of the housing assembly allowing actuator box assembly 30 to be easily removed from floatation system 10 . The housing assembly also includes through holes 49 so that portions of mechanical input actuator 32 and mechanical output actuator 36 may pass through the wall of housing body 33 . Preferably, seals are provided at each of through holes 49 so that the mechanical actuators may pass through housing body 33 without affecting the water resistance of the housing assembly. Housing body 33 also includes mounting pads 39 that allow actuator box assembly 30 to be fastened to the vessel.
[0028] Housing body 33 and cover 35 may be constructed from any material sufficient to protect the actuators and pivot member 38 from damage caused by ingress of liquid or mechanical shock. For example, suitable materials include plastics such as polycarbonate, composite materials such as carbon fiber, and metals such as aluminum, titanium and steel. Housing body 33 and cover 35 may be molded, machined or die cast.
[0029] Pivot member 38 is an elongate lever arm that includes a pivot collar 60 that is configured to be mounted on boss 42 . Pivot collar 60 is configured to receive a reduced diameter mounting portion 63 of boss 42 . A threaded bore 61 extends into boss 42 so that a fastener is inserted into boss 42 through pivot member 38 to retain pivot member 38 on boss 42 . It should be appreciated that any type of fastener may be used, such as screws, clips, cotter pins, etc. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that although the fastener preferably is removable, a permanent fastener may be employed if desired.
[0030] In the present embodiment, pivot member 38 is generally Z-shaped and includes a first portion 65 configured to interface EM input actuator 34 and a second portion 66 configured to interface mechanical input actuator 32 . Pivot collar 60 is located between first and second portions 65 , 66 of pivot member 38 . When pivot member 38 is mounted in housing body 33 pulling on one portion of pivot member 38 causes rotation of pivot member 38 in the same direction as pushing on the other portion. It should be appreciated that easy rotation of pivot member 38 relative to boss 42 may be assured by bearings, bushings or any lubrication desired.
[0031] It should also be appreciated that pivot member 38 may be any shape and may include arcuate camming surfaces. For example pivot member 38 may be a disk that is mounted at its center, or eccentrically, to boss 42 . As a further example, pivot member 38 may triangular or any other polygonal shape rotatably coupled to boss 42 . As a still further alternative, pivot member 38 may be a cart that translates linearly on guides or tracks. In addition, pivot member 38 may be dimensioned so that a mechanical advantage is provided to any particular actuator. For example, as shown, mechanical input actuator 32 is coupled to pivot member 38 further radially outward than output actuator 36 , which results in a greater force applied to output actuator 36 than is input to input actuator 32 .
[0032] A biasing assembly 67 is also included in actuator box assembly 30 that biases the rotation of pivot member 38 away from the direction of rotation used to deploy floatation system 10 . Biasing assembly 67 includes a spring 68 that extends between a boss 69 of housing body 33 and pivot member 38 . The spring rate of spring 68 is selected so that during operation the force exerted by input actuators 32 , 34 on pivot member 38 can overcome the counteracting force exerted by biasing assembly 67 on pivot member 38 . Biasing assembly 67 may be any device capable of biasing the rotation of pivot member 38 . In the present embodiment, spring 68 of biasing assembly 67 is a helical spring, but it should be appreciated that spring 68 may be any spring device such as a torsional spring.
[0033] EM input actuator 34 is a linear actuator that includes an electric motor 70 , an optional gear box 72 and a linear drive 74 that includes an extendable actuator arm 76 . A pivot member connector 78 of actuator arm 76 is configured to be engageable with pivot member, i.e., by abutting pivot member 38 so that extension of actuator arm 76 causes pivot member 38 to rotate. Pivot member connector 78 also includes guide arms 80 that prevent disengagement between pivot member 38 and connector 78 when actuator arm 76 is extended but allow disengagement when pivot member 38 is rotated by mechanical trigger system 28 , as described in greater detail below. It should be appreciated that EM input actuator 34 may be custom made or any of a number of commercially available actuators sufficient to rotate pivot member 38 as required.
[0034] Linear drive 74 converts the rotational movement provided by electric motor 70 and gear box 72 into linear motion of actuator arm 76 . Linear drive 74 may be any type of linear drive known in the art such as a lead screw, a ball screw, an acme screw or a rack and pinion. It should also be appreciated that the linear actuator may be any type of linear actuator and need not include a rotating electric motor. For example, EM input actuator 34 may be a solenoid similarly coupled to pivot member 38 . It should further be appreciated that the linear actuator may be replaced by any electromechanical actuator that is configured to rotate pivot member 38 . For example, any type of electric motor, such as a stepper motor or constant reluctance motor, may be coupled directly, or through a gear drive, to pivot member 38 without utilizing linear drive 74 .
[0035] Mechanical input actuator 32 is a pull cable. A first end of actuator 32 is coupled to the mechanical trigger (i.e., the handle) of mechanical trigger system 28 that is mounted in the vessel so that it is accessible to the operator. A second end of actuator 32 is coupled to pivot member 38 inside actuator box assembly 30 so that pulling the handle rotates pivot member 38 . The pull cable is preferably housed in a cable housing that protects the cable from damage. In addition, the cable housing preferably includes a friction reducing lining so that the pull cable may freely slide within the cable housing.
[0036] Mechanical output actuator 36 is also a pull cable in the present embodiment. A first end of output actuator 36 is coupled to pivot member 38 so that rotation of pivot member 38 by either input actuator 32 , 34 pulls output actuator 36 . A second end of output actuator 36 is coupled to valve 20 so that pulling output actuator 36 causes valve 20 to open so that floatation system 10 is deployed.
[0037] Referring to FIGS. 4-6 , operation of actuator box assembly 30 will be described. During normal operation of the vessel, inflation device 14 of floatation system 10 remains stowed and actuator box assembly is in a non-deployed state, as shown in FIG. 4 . In the non-deployed state, actuator arm 76 is in a retracted position and pivot member 38 abuts connector 78 under the influence of biasing assembly 67 . The abutment between pivot member 38 and connector 78 limits the rotation of pivot member 38 in the counter-clockwise direction. The force applied by biasing assembly 67 assures that pivot member 38 remains in contact with connector 78 and that pivot member 38 will not rotate under the influence of small movements of mechanical input actuator 32 or mechanical shocks exerted on actuator box assembly 30 .
[0038] In an emergency, floatation system 10 is preferably electrically activated by EM trigger system 28 . An operator utilizes EM trigger system 28 by activating switch 22 , which causes an electrical signal to travel through communication line 23 to EM input actuator 34 . The electrical signal causes EM input actuator 34 to extend actuator arm 76 which forces pivot member 38 to rotate in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 5 . In particular, extension of actuator arm 76 and engagement of connector 78 with pivot member 38 causes forcible abutment between connector 78 and pivot member 38 , thereby causing pivot member 38 to rotate. Clockwise rotation of pivot member 38 causes pivot member 38 to pull output actuator 36 , which activates valve 20 to deploy floatation system 10 .
[0039] In the event that the electrical triggering of valve 20 is not successful, for example during a complete electrical failure, mechanical trigger system 28 may be used to deploy floatation system 10 . The operator may utilize mechanical trigger system 28 by pulling the pull cable (i.e., mechanical input actuator 32 ) by grasping and pulling the handle. Pulling the pull cable causes pivot member 38 to rotate in the clockwise direction, as shown in FIG. 6 . Rotation of pivot member 38 causes output actuator 36 to be pulled which causes valve 20 to switch to an open position. Once open, valve 20 allows pressurized fluid to flow from the inflation reservoir and into emergency inflatable device 14 .
[0040] Each input actuator 32 , 34 is free to operate without being hindered by the other. When EM trigger system 27 is utilized, it causes pivot member 38 to rotate clockwise which makes the pull cable of mechanical input actuator 32 less taut. On the other hand, when mechanical trigger system 28 is utilized, pivot member 38 rotates and because EM input actuator 34 is engageable but not fixedly coupled with pivot member 38 , pivot member 38 is free to rotate away from connector 78 without hindrance.
[0041] While actuator box assembly 30 is described in the context of a trigger for an emergency floatation system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many additional uses for actuator box assembly 30 are readily identifiable. Actuator box assembly 30 could be used in any electromechanical trigger system where a fully manual backup system is advantageous.
|
An emergency floatation system for an aircraft includes an actuator box assembly that activates the floatation system either electrically or manually. The actuator box assembly is separated from a valve assembly of an inflation reservoir and provides an interface between an electromechanical trigger system and a redundant mechanical trigger system. The actuator box includes a pivot member that provides an interface for the redundant trigger systems and an output actuator. For normal operation a button in the cockpit is pressed which sends an electrical signal to an electromechanical actuator in the actuator box assembly. The electromechanical actuator rotates the pivot member, which operates the output actuator and opens the valve assembly. Alternatively, should the electrical system of the aircraft fail, the pilot or other occupant may activate the mechanical trigger system, thereby rotating the pivot member and activating the output actuator to open the valve assembly.
| 1
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to ink jet printers, and, more particularly, to a method of rasterizing image data printed on an address space associated with an intermediate transfer member.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Ink jet printers typically use one or more monochrome or color printheads to produce a printed document. In typical inkjet printers, the carrier moves horizontally across the print medium and the print medium is indexed in an advance direction independently between scans of the carrier. This motion allows typical inkjet printers to print using an orthogonal, rectilinear address space. That is, all addressable pixels are located on a rectangular grid with an orthogonal axis. Inkjet printers print on the print medium using a desired ink dot density, such as a 600×600 dots per inch (dpi) grid. This process produces a printed document of high quality; however, often the time associated with printing is undesirably long. Non-printing time occurs during which the printheads are mechanically moved without jetting ink. This waste of mechanical energy in turn leads to unnecessary delays before an image is placed on the print medium and delivered to the user.
[0005] In order to minimize the non-printing time in an ink jet printer, it is known to use an intermediate transfer member (ITM), wherein an image is printed onto a repeating surface, such as a cylinder, and transferred to a print medium in a subsequent operation. The use an ITM to print upon minimizes the time and mechanical energy wasted during non-printing operations and provides a known, controlled and repeatable surface upon which to form the image. During the printing operation, the ITM rotates at a fixed speed. At the same time, the carrier moves from one end of the ITM to the other end at a constant linear speed as to follow a helical path on the ITM. The entire imaging operation is performed with no stops or starts with either the carrier system or the ITM system, thus minimizing energy waste. Therefore, it is no longer possible to produce or use an orthogonal, square, rectangular address space with the printheads during printing.
[0006] A continuous ITM as described above is also used with laser printers. A laser beam typically is reflected from a rotating polygon mirror and traversed across a photoconductive ITM as the polygon rotates. This occurs very fast and thus the helical effect associated with each line of pixels is negligible.
[0007] Ink jetting printers may also include an ink jet cartridge having a printhead with multiple or redundant major columns of ink jetting orifices. Each major column typically consists of multiple, staggered columns of ink jetting orifices, with the major columns being spaced apart from and parallel to each other. By providing redundant major columns of ink jetting orifices, each including multiple staggered columns of ink jetting orifices, print artifacts caused by clogged nozzles, faulty circuitry or the like may be avoided.
[0008] What is needed in the art is a method of printing with an inkjet printer using a continuous ITM, wherein the helical effect associated with printing on the ITM is minimized.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention provides a method of operating an ink jet printer wherein the image data is skewed to offset the helical effect caused by printing on an intermediate transfer member.
[0010] The invention comprises, in one form thereof, a method of operating an inkjet printer. An intermediate transfer member is movable in an advance direction. A carrier supports a printhead, and is movable relative to the intermediate transfer member in a direction generally perpendicular to the advance direction. The printhead defines a plurality of raster lines extending over the intermediate transfer member at a non-perpendicular, fixed angle vector relative to the advance direction. A bitmap image is defined which corresponds to an image to be formed on the intermediate transfer member. A bitmap image includes a plurality of rows and columns of pixels, with at least one image data corresponding to each pixel. The bitmap image is skewed such that the image data for at least one column within the bitmap image is shifted a predetermined number of pixel locations, dependent upon the fixed angle vector.
[0011] The invention comprises, in another form thereof, a method of operating an ink jet printer. An intermediate transfer member is movable in an advance direction. A carrier supports a printhead, and is movable relative to the intermediate transfer member in a direction generally perpendicular to the advance direction. The printhead defines a plurality of raster lines extending over the intermediate transfer member at a non-perpendicular, fixed angle vector relative to the advance direction. A bitmap image is defined which includes an array of pixels. The bitmap image includes image data corresponding to each pixel. The bitmap image is skewed such that the image data for a selected pixel location is shifted to a different pixel location, dependent upon the fixed angle vector.
[0012] An advantage of the present invention is that the helical affect associated with printing on the continuous ITM is minimized.
[0013] Another advantage is that skewing of the image data to offset the helical affect may be selectively carried out depending on the quantitative value of the fixed angle vector.
[0014] Yet another advantage is that the spacing of the address space on the ITM and print medium may be varied by proportionally adjusting the linear carrier speed and rotational ITM speed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0016] [0016]FIG. 1 is a graphical illustration of a conventional method of printing with an inkjet printer;
[0017] [0017]FIG. 2 is a graphical illustration of a method of printing with an inkjet printer using an intermediate transfer member;
[0018] [0018]FIG. 3 is a graphical illustration of the geometric relationship associated with the helical effect of printing on an intermediate transfer member;
[0019] [0019]FIG. 4 illustrates a modified address space associated with an intermediate transfer member;
[0020] [0020]FIG. 5 illustrates another modified address space associated with an intermediate transfer member;
[0021] [0021]FIG. 6 illustrates yet another modified address space associated with an intermediate transfer member;
[0022] [0022]FIG. 7 illustrates rasterized image data after skewing to offset the helical effect associated with an intermediate transfer member;
[0023] [0023]FIG. 8 illustrates a printed image in an address space on an intermediate transfer member after being skewed as shown in FIG. 7;
[0024] [0024]FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of operating an inkjet printer of the present invention.
[0025] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a graphical illustration of a typical address space using an ink jet printer. A carrier 20 typically carries an ink jet cartridge (not specifically shown for simplicity sake) with one or more inks therein to be jetted onto print medium 22 , such as paper. Each color ink carried buy carrier 20 is associated with a respective print head (not shown) with a plurality of ink jetting orifices form therein. Carrier 20 is movable in a perpendicular direction 24 across print medium 22 , with respect to an advance direction 26 of print medium 22 . Each ink dot is placed at an addressable location (i.e., pixel) on print medium 22 , with the addressable locations defining an address space for placing the ink dots on print medium 22 . A portion of the address space on print medium 22 is designated with the reference number 28 . The address space 28 using a typical ink jet printer is an orthogonal, rectilinear address space. That is, all addressable pixels are located on a rectangular grid with an orthogonal axis. Carrier 20 moves across print medium 22 in scan direction 24 to place ink dots at selected pixel locations within address space 28 . Print medium 22 is then advanced in advance direction 26 and carrier 20 is again scanned across print medium 22 to place ink dots at selected pixel locations.
[0027] Although it will be appreciated that the address space consists of circles corresponding to the ink dots placed on print medium 22 , it should also be understood that a bitmap image is formed in the ink jet printer using suitable electrical processing circuitry, such as a microprocessor, memory, etc. The bitmap image consists of an array of square or rectangular cells arranged in an orthogonal, rectilinear manner. Image data for one or more colors of ink is associated with each cell or pixel in the bitmap image corresponding to ink drops which are to be placed on the address space overlying print medium 22 .
[0028] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, address space 28 is an orthogonal, rectilinear address space with a dot spacing of 600×600 dpi. Printhead 20 is assumed to traverse across the width of print medium 22 at a traveling speed of 26.66 inches per second. Each ink jetting orifice or nozzle of printhead 20 (not shown) is assumed to be capable of firing a single drop of ink every 125 microseconds (8,000 hertz rate), providing the orthogonal, square, rectilinear 600×600 dpi address space shown in FIG. 1. Each drop, represented by an open circle, is placed on a rectangular grid location at a spacing of about 42.33 micrometers (600×600 dpi) from the nearest drop in all directions. This is quite convenient since the majority of digital image formats are an orthogonal, square, rectilinear arrangement of pixels. Since the digital image defined by the bitmap image in the electronic circuitry of the printer matches pixels for spots, this makes for easy rasterization of images for printing.
[0029] Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an embodiment of a method of printing using a carrier 20 which is positioned in association with an ITM 30 . In the embodiment shown, ITM 30 is assumed to be a cylinder which rotates during printing; however, ITM 30 may also be in the form of a belt, etc. ITM 30 transfers an image formed thereon to print medium 22 .
[0030] Carrier 20 typically carries an inkjet cartridge having a printhead with a plurality of ink jetting orifices, and is positioned in association with ITM 30 such that ink dots may be placed on ITM 30 at selected pixel locations. Carrier 20 moves in a longitudinal direction across ITM 30 as indicated by arrow 32 , and ITM 30 is assumed to rotate at a selected rotational speed as indicated by arrow 34 . As carrier 20 translates and ITM 30 rotates, ink dots are placed on ITM 30 at selected pixel locations within a band 36 which helical around ITM 30 . For illustration purposes, a selected portion of an address space 38 within band 36 will be discussed in greater detail.
[0031] To the right of the cylindrical representation of ITM 30 , if the periphery of the cylinder was “unrolled”, is a two-dimensional representation consisting of a plurality of adjacent bands 36 positioned relative to each other at the same angular orientation at which carrier 20 helical around cylindrical ITM 30 . The ink dots placed within address space 38 therefore are not orthogonal and rectilinear with respect to each other. Carrier 20 (and the printhead carried thereby) no longer traverses along an orthogonal direction with respect to the media at a rate of 26.66 inches per second, but rather traverses along a fixed 6° angle vector at a rate of 26.66 inches per second. The possible ink dot placement locations within the illustrated portion of address space 38 therefore likewise extend at a 6° angle vector relative to each other as may be readily observed in the enlarged portion of address space 38 on the right of FIG. 2.
[0032] Also for explanation purposes, an approximate triangle 40 is shown overlying ITM 30 . Triangle 40 has a hypotenuse positioned generally parallel to an edge of band 36 , with the other two legs of the right triangle extending parallel and perpendicular to the axis of rotation of ITM 30 , respectively. Triangle 40 is shown in more detail in FIG. 3. The angle θ, corresponding to the helical or fixed angle vector of carrier 20 on ITM 30 , is assumed to be 6° as indicated above. Moreover, the hypotenuse represented by the letter C is assumed to be 26.66 inches per second as indicated above. Therefore, the rotational surface speed of ITM 30 is 26.52 inches per second and carrier 20 travels in a scan direction across ITM 30 at a speed of 2.5 inches per second. Expressed as a ratio, this is approximately a 1:10 ratio, expressed as rise over run. By varying the rotational speed of ITM 30 and the translational speed of carrier 20 , the actual scan speed of carrier 20 along band 36 may be selected with a different value.
[0033] As evident from the portion of address space 38 shown on the right of FIG. 2, each drop of ink from the printhead carried by carrier 20 is represented by an approximate circle. In the embodiment shown, each circle is assumed to be represented by an open 65 μm diameter circle, with the resulting address space being neither orthogonal nor rectilinear. There are spaces on ITM 30 (and in turn print medium 22 ) that are not addressable with this address space. There is also 100 percent dot overlap with this address space such that there exists wasted ink at locations where an ink drop is placed where a printed ink drop has already been placed.
[0034] Utilizing the ability to adjust timing between adjacent columns of ink jetting orifices in the printhead, the address space 38 described above with reference to FIG. 2 can be modified. By delaying one side of the printhead timing by 62.5 microseconds (42.33 μm at 26.66 inches per second), the overlapping drops can be moved, resulting in the address space shown in FIG. 4. This address space is uniform and rectilinear, but not orthogonal. The address space shown in FIG. 4 provides 100% addressability of all points on ITM 30 and print medium 22 . The address space shown in FIG. 4 is described herein as a skewed, rectilinear address space.
[0035] The printhead carried by carrier 20 has certain physical characteristics, such as a maximum firing frequency, thermal response times, etc. These physical characteristics and limitations may be associated with the electronics, heaters, ink flow channel geometries, ink, etc. The present invention optionally selectively adjusts the trajectory speed of carrier 20 , without adjusting the firing rate (e.g., 8,000 hertz) or the nozzle firing order, to provide a different address space without increasing the stress level, either thermally or electrically, upon the printhead electronics or power supply. When adjusting the trajectory speed of carrier 20 , the drive system for ITM 30 is adjusted by a relative amount such that the carrier 20 traverses over ITM 30 at the same fixed angle vector as before (e.g., 6°).
[0036] Referring to FIG. 5, the trajectory speed of carrier 20 is increased to 29.75 inches per second (in the direction of hypotenuse C in FIG. 3). This is a 12% increase in the trajectory speed, as compared to the previous trajectory speed of 26.66 inches per second. The resulting address space shown in FIG. 5 is uniform, but not rectilinear or orthogonal. The address space does provide 100% coverage; therefore, all points on print medium 22 can be addressed using this address space. The address space shown in FIG. 5 is very similar to the original skewed, rectilinear address space shown in FIG. 4, yet provides for a 12% increase in printing speed with only a small loss in perceived image quality or image information.
[0037] [0037]FIG. 6 illustrates an address space wherein the trajectory speed of carriage 20 is increased to 34.0 inches per second, a 28% increase over the original trajectory speed of 26.66 inches per second. The address space shown in FIG. 6 is uniform, but not rectilinear or orthogonal. The resulting address space provides near 100% coverage; therefore, all points on the print media 22 can be addressed. This address space provides near 100% coverage since the printed spots take on an approximate hexagonal packing structure. The address space shown in FIG. 6 can be described as a rotated, pseudo-hexilinear address space.
[0038] The trajectory speed of carrier 20 can be further increased to alter the address space on ITM 30 and print medium 22 . For example, the trajectory speed of carrier 20 can be increased to 39.0 inches per second (a 46% increase) or 53.33 inches per second (a 100% increase). At this latter trajectory speed of carrier 20 , the resulting address space no longer provides 100% addressability or coverage on ITM 30 or print medium 22 . This address space can be used in a draft printing mode, and is referred to herein as a draft skewed rectilinear address space.
[0039] As is apparent from each of the address spaces illustrated and described above in FIGS. 2 and 4- 6 , the ink dots are placed at a fixed angle vector relative to each other, regardless of the selected trajectory speed of carrier 20 . This in turn means that the image formed on print medium 22 is slanted at the same fixed angle vector. In other words, the resulting address space does not match pixel for pixel with typical computer raster formats. The present invention also skews the input bitmap image to reduce the effect of the slanted fixed angle vector caused by printing With ITM 30 .
[0040] More particularly, referring to FIG. 7, an input bitmap image formed in the electrical processing circuitry of the ink jet printer is illustrated. The input bitmap image is skewed by an angle equivalent to the helical or fixed angle vector associated with printing using ITM 30 . As described above, in the example shown, the 6° fixed angle vector may also be expressed as a ratio of 1:10. Using this ratio of the fixed angle vector, the input bitmap image is “pre-skewed” before it is mapped to the final address space. In the example of FIG. 8, the original image is shifted up one pixel for every 10 pixels (or at another appropriate rate depending upon the fixed angle vector). In other words, one or more of the columns are skewed 1 pixel for every 10 pixels in the cross direction. This working image is still fundamentally a square rectilinear grid. Therefore, it still lends itself to typical computer stored structures and manipulations.
[0041] With respect to the cylindrical ITM 30 shown in FIG. 2, the skewing of the bitmap image as described above with reference to FIG. 7 occurs in a direction which is opposite to the direction of rotation 34 of ITM 30 . By skewing the bitmap image in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of ITM 30 , the net effect is that the fixed angle vector associated with the address space is compensated to provide an improved print quality.
[0042] [0042]FIG. 8 illustrates placement of ink dots on the address space of ITM 30 and print medium 22 after the skewing operation is carried out as described above with reference to FIG. 7. In the embodiment shown, the letter “P” is printed on the address space. Normally, as show in the left hand block, the top of the letter “P” would continue in a downwardly angled direction corresponding to the fixed angle vector associated with printing the address space on the rotating ITM 30 . However, as is apparent in the right hand block, the printed pixel locations within each column in the array of pixel locations are shifted upwardly at a proportionate ratio to the fixed angle vector. In this example, the pixel locations within each column are shifted upwardly a distance of 1 pixel for every 10 pixels in a lateral direction. Keeping in mind that the actual ink dot is approximately {fraction (1/600)} inch, this provides an improved print quality to the printed image.
[0043] [0043]FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart for the inventive method of operating an inkjet printer as described above. At block 42 , the image data is mapped to a bitmap image within electrical processing circuitry in the ink jet printer. This generally consists of an array of square or rectangular pixels, with one or more image data associated with each pixel. For example, the printer may be a monochrome or a color printer, in which case one or more inks would typically be used to print the image, respectively. At block 44 , the bitmap image is skewed corresponding to the fixed angle vector associated with placing the image on rotating ITM 30 . This is carried out by skewing the pixel locations at a ratio corresponding to the fixed angle vector in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of ITM 30 , as described above with reference to FIG. 7. The image may be optionally resized by proportionally adjusting the scan speed of carrier 20 and the rotational speed of ITM 30 , as described above with reference to FIGS. 4 - 6 (block 46 ). At block 48 , the digital image may be optionally manipulated using a halftoning technique, as is known. For reference to halftoning techniques in general, reference is hereby made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,363,172; 6,356,363; and 6,307,647, which are owned by the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. At block 50 , the image data is mapped to the data stream used to fire the ink jetting heaters within the printhead carried by carrier 20 .
[0044] While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
|
In a method of operating an inkjet printer, an intermediate transfer member is movable in an advance direction. A carrier supports a printhead, and is movable relative to the intermediate transfer member in a direction generally perpendicular to the advance direction. The printhead defines a plurality of raster lines extending over the intermediate transfer member at a non-perpendicular, fixed angle vector relative to the advanced direction. A bitmap image is defined which corresponds to an image to be formed on the intermediate transfer member. The bitmap image includes a plurality of rows and columns of pixels, with at least one image data corresponding to each pixel. The bitmap image is skewed such that the image data for at least one column within the bitmap image is shifted a predetermined number of pixel locations, dependent upon the fixed angle vector.
| 1
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for the delivery of charge material to the interior of a shaft furnace and to apparatus for use in the practice of such methods. More specifically, this invention is directed to charging installations for blast furnaces and particularly to apparatus for delivering the raw material with which a furnace is to be charged to a rotary distribution chute positioned within the furnace. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
One of the most significant recent advances in blast furnace technology is the charging installation known in the art as the "bell less top". The "bell less top" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,812. Reference may also be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,929,240, 4,042,130, 4,071,166 and 4,074,816. The "bell less top" charging installation employs a rotary and angularly adjustable distribution chute which, prior to the present invention, has been supplied with material from a pair of intermediate storage hoppers. The success of the "bell less top" charging system is attributable to the fact that, by enabling the charging process to be more accurately controlled than has previously been possible, it has permitted the operating limits of furnaces which would otherwise have been equipped with conventional bell-type charging devices to be exceeded. The significant increase in the degree of control which may be exercised over the operation of a blast furnace with a "bell less top" allows furnace output to be optimized.
For further description of the construction and operation of the "bell less top", reference may be had to the aforementioned patents.
As noted above, prior "bell less top" charging installations have been characterized by a pair of juxtapositioned intermediate storage hoppers which were alternately placed in communication with the interior of the furnace, and thus the charge distribution chute, by apparatus which includes a material flow control or dosing valve. Isolation valves were also provided at both the feed and discharge ends of the intermediate storage hoppers since the hoppers must alternately be at atmospheric pressure to permit loading and at furnace pressure to permit discharging. The use of a pair of intermediate storage hoppers enables the charging of the furnace to proceed on an essentially continuous basis; the only interruptions necessitated being during the opening and closing of the isolation valves. Thus, in accordance with prior "bell less top" technology, a plurality of intermediate storage hoppers are employed and one storage hopper was filled while another was discharging its contents into the furnace. This results in the significant advantage that the productivity of the furnace is not limited by the charging installation.
The "bell less top" charging installations of the referenced patents, while unquestionably highly desirable for employment on modern large-capacity furnaces, are somewhat less cost effective for medium and small capacity blast furnaces. Further, both equipment costs and installation costs must be taken into account should it be desired to retrofit an existing furnace with a "bell less top" so as to upgrade the furnace. Thus, where an existing blast furnace is to be modernized by replacement of a bell-type charging installation with a "bell less top", the furnace operator must take into account the cost of the new apparatus and also the expenses which may be incurred in fitting the new apparatus to his existing furnace. The modernizing expense will, of course, include the cost of converting or modifying existing equipment such as the apparatus for conveying the charge material to the furnace, the super-structure which includes the bell tower, the foot bridges, etc. All of these expense factors have often worked to prevent the upgrading of existing furnaces by replacing their charging installations with charging apparatus of the "bell less top" type and have also resulted in decisions not to employ the "bell less top" on small and medium capacity blast furnaces.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has, as its principal object, alleviation of the above-discussed economic penalties through the provision of a new furnace charging system and technique which permits the "bell less top" technology to be adapted to small and medium capacity furnaces and also to be retrofitted onto existing furnaces with comparative ease. In achieving this primary objective, a charging installation in accordance with the present invention is characterized by a single intermediate storage hopper which is itself fed from a further temporary storage chamber or bin which is open to the ambient atmosphere. The delivery of material from the temporary storage bin into the intermediate storage hopper is controlled by an isolation valve. The isolation valve, which preferably has a valve member of "mushroom" shape, hermetically isolates the interior of the intermediate storage hopper from the ambient atmosphere and also supports charge material in the bin when in the closed position. The valve, when in the open position, permits rapid delivery of material into the intermediate storage hopper and distributes that material within the hopper in a circular pattern.
The present invention eliminates the need for a plurality of intermediate storage hoppers in a "bell less top" furnace charging installation and thus eliminates the various ancillary items of equipment which are required for a second such hopper in a "bell less top". These ancillary items of equipment include isolation valves, pressurization and depressurization devices, etc. Further, the elimination of the second intermediate storage hopper significantly reduces the space requirements for the "bell less top" charging installation and, in so doing, affords flexibility in selection of an installation position which will be compatible with existing equipment thereby minimizing installation costs. In particular, the single intermediate storage hopper of the charging installation of the present invention can be mounted between the uprights of the bell tower of a conventional charging installation.
The present invention has also necessitated devising a new charging process which permits the furnace to be charged in the shortest possible time; i.e., the present invention fulfills the criteria of charging the furnace without paying a significant penalty due to loss of the ability to load a first intermediate storage hopper while another intermediate storage hopper is having its contents discharged into the furnace. A charging process in accordance with the present invention is characterized by the cyclic combination of the following steps:
(a) Closing of the isolation valve between the intermediate storage hopper and the temporary storage bin;
(b) Pressurizing the intermediate storage hopper and subsequently establishing communication between the hopper interior and the interior of the furnace;
(c) Discharge of the contents of the intermediate storage hopper into the furnace while simultaneously filling the temporary storage bin;
(d) Isolation of the intermediate storage hopper from the furnace and depressurization thereof;
(e) Opening of the isolation valve to rapidly deliver the contents of the temporary storage bin into the intermediate storage hopper; and
(f) Introduction of additional charge material into the temporary storage bin and directly therethrough into the intermediate storage hopper while the isolation valve remains in the open condition.
The charging process outlined above is advantageously performed in a charging installation which is equipped with a feed device for the charge material which consists of a ramp with at least a pair of skips which are controlled so that while one skip is being loaded the other is discharging its contents into the temporary storage bin and vice versa. Thus, in one embodiment of a process in accordance with the present invention each charging "cycle" comprises the introduction into the furnace of a charge of material having a volume corresponding to the contents of the two skips. In this embodiment the delivery of charge material into the intermediate storage hopper during the steps (e) and (f) corresponds to the emptying of the first and second skips respectively and the delivery of material into the furnace in step (c) will consist of the passage into the furnace of a quantity of material equal to the contents of two skips. In accordance with a second embodiment, the quantity of material delivered to the furnace during step (c) corresponds to the volume of three skips and the temporary storage bin will receive the contents of two skips during either of steps (c) or (f).
Also in accordance with the present invention, the furnace charging process is automatically controlled in accordance with the contents of the intermediate storage hopper as determined by weighing. Thus, the intermediate storage hopper will be supported on load cells and will be dynamically isolated from the furnace and from the temporary storage bin by means of flexible compensator connections.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The present invention may be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements in the several FIGURES and in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation view, partly in section, of a shaft furnace charging installation in accordance with the present invention;
FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 schematically illustrate a furnace charging process employing the apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a schematic side elevation view, partly in section, depicting installation of the present invention on a first type of shaft furnace; and
FIG. 7 is a schematic side elevation view, partly in section, depicting installation of the present invention on a second type of furnace.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference now to FIG. 1, the top or throat section of a shaft furnace is indicated generally at 10. A rotatable and angularly adjustable charge distribution chute 12 is mounted in furnace 10 such that its material receiving end is aligned with the lower end of a vertical feed channel 14. The distribution chute 12 is driven, and thus controlled in position by, a mechanism 16 which may be of the type described in Belgium Pat. No. 801,031 or Luxembourg Patent application No. 80,112. Prior art drive mechanisms for chute 12 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,693,812, 3,814,403, 3,864,984, 3,880,302 and 4,042,130. In accordance with the present invention, the introduction of material with which the furnace is to be charged is effected via a "shut-off device" comprising a single intermediate storage hopper 18. Hopper 18 communicates with vertical feed channel 14 via a spout sub-assembly 20. A material flow control or dosing device 22 and a shut-off or isolation valve 24 are, in the manner known in the art, provided within spout sub-assembly 20.
According to one of the features of the present invention, the intermediate storage hopper 18 is surmounted by a further device for temporarily storing material with which the furnace is to be charged. This further temporary storage device consists of an open-topped chamber or bin 26. Communication between bin 26 and hopper 18 is controlled by means of an isolation valve 28. Valve 28 has a peripheral seating surface which interacts with a seat which is provided about the base of the lower frustoconical portion of bin 26. Valve 28, when in the closed position, hermetically seals the interior of hopper 18 from the ambient atmosphere. Valve 28 is operated by means, which have been omitted from FIG. 1 in the interest of clarity, including a swivel arm. The closure member of valve 28 is of the mushroom-shaped type, as shown in the drawing, whereby the valve can perform the secondary function of distributing the charge material exiting from bin 26 in rings in hopper 18. Valve 28 thus performs the three functions of insuring hermetically between hopper 18 and bin 26, permitting rapid discharge of material from bin 26 into hopper 18 when in the open position and controlling distribution of material falling from bin 26 into hopper 18. By employing valve 28 to perform functions which would otherwise require the use of separate material flow control and hermetic isolation valves, the height of the entire charging installation may be restricted. It is to be noted that in prior art "bell less top" charging installations the upper isolation valves associated with the storage hoppers performed only the function of insuring a hermetic seal between the interior of the hopper and the ambient atmosphere thus did not function to retain and/or regulate the flow of charge material being loaded into the intermediate storage hoppers. As evidenced by the above-referenced patents, in the prior art furnace charged material was not temporarily stored in any type of chamber or reservoir immediately upstream of the intermediate storage hopper.
Continuing with a discussion of FIG. 1, the material with which the furnace is to be charged is delivered to bin 26 by skips or buckets 32 which move on an inclined ramp 30. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a pair of skips 32 will travel in alternation with one skip descending the ramp 30 while the other is ascending to the position shown by skip 32 in FIG. 1.
In order to exercise control over the furnace charging operation, the rate of charge material flow into and out of intermediate storage hopper 18 is monitored by a weighing operation. The net weight of the material present in hopper 18 is computed by deducting the tare from the measured weight. The tare is the weight which is present between an upper compensator 34 and a lower compensator 36 when no charge material is in hopper 18. In order to measure the weight of the storage hopper 18 and its contents, the hopper must be capable of acting on the load cells and thus there can be no rigid communication between intermediate storage hopper 18 and the furnace 10. Accordingly, a flexible compensator 36 couples the charging installation, with the exception of feed channel 14 and distribution chute 12 and its drive mechanism, to furnace 10. Further, since the weight of bin 26 and its contents cannot be included in the tare, which must be constant, a flexible connection is also required between intermediate storage hopper 18 and bin 26. Since the prior art did not contemplate serial temporary storage of furnace charge material, with gravity feed from one storage position to the next, there has previously been no requirement for flexible coupling between an intermediate storage hopper and any portion of a furnace charging installatin physically positioned above the intermediate storage hopper.
The weighing operation is performed by three or four load cells such as the cells indicated at 40 and 42 in FIG. 1. The load or measuring cells are typically of the piezoelectric variety and measure the force exerted by the weight of intermediate storage hopper 18 and its contents. As shown in FIG. 1, the load cells 40 and 42 are mounted on an inwardly extended ledge 44 of a supporting frame 38. Frame 38 extends upwardly from furnace 10 and also functions to directly support the temporary storage bin 26.
Since a high pressure is maintained within furnace 10 during operation thereof, an ascending force is imposed on intermediate storage hopper 18 when valve 24 is in the open condition. The force resulting from furnace pressure will reduce the apparent weight of the hopper. The forces imposed upon intermediate storage hopper 18 with valve 24 open will be proportional to the difference between the cross-sectional area D of upper compensator 34 and the cross-sectional area d of the lower compensator 36. If the area of the two compensators were equal, the results of the weight measurement would not have to be compensated for the pressure induced forces. However, the diameter of compensator 34 is generally greater than that of compensator 36. Since the operating pressure of the furnace is constantly monitored, and the difference between D and d is a known constant, the results of the weighing operation can be automatically corrected by electronic means.
To further discuss the weighing operation, it has been known that the ascending force resulting from pressure may actually exceed the tare. Accordingly, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,166, it was previously considered necessary to prestress or bias the measuring cells in order to insure that they would not operate in their negative zone. In the present invention, as depicted in FIG. 1, the load cells 40 and 42 need not be biased since, due to the presence of the upper compensator 34, the upwardly directed pressure forces do not exceed the tare.
With reference now to FIGS. 2-5, an operational cycle employing the apparatus depicted schematically in FIG. 1 will be described. As used herein, the term "cycle" refers to a single discharge of the contents of the intermediate storage hopper 18 into the furnace 10 and a refilling of hopper 18. The duration of such a "cycle" is determined by the "outward and return journey" of a skip 32 on the ramp 30 including the time required for filling the skip at the bottom of the ramp and dumping the contents thereof into bin 26 at the top of the ramp. The term "cycle" will also be understood to refer to the time period for introducing the contents of two skips into the furnace. During such a "cycle" a complete and uniform layer of material is deposited on the charging surface with the end of spout 12 typically transcribing a spiral path proceeding inwardly from its most outwardly directed position to the center of the furnace; i.e., the discharge chute 12 will spiral inwardly from its shallowest angle with respect to horizontal to the vertical orientation. The flow of material out of hopper 18 must be coordinated with the speed of movement of the discharge chute 12 and for this purpose flow control device 22 will be automatically controlled in accordance with chute speed and position and the results of the weighing operation which determines the contents of hopper 18.
Optimum charging conditions dictate that the operation of the valves 24 and 28 must not occupy the greater part of the duration of a charging "cycle". Similarly, the greater part of a charging "cycle" should not be taken up by idle periods. The accuracy of the control which may be exercised over the charging "cycle" is directly related to the number of turns in the spiral movement transcribed by the end of the distribution chute 12 and thus the movement of the distribution chute should be maximized during each "cycle". These conditions may obviously be more easily fulfilled in accordance with the prior art technique of employing a pair of intermediate storage hoppers which are alternately discharged into the furnace. A principal consideration in accordance with the present invention is that the charging installation itself not limit the speed at which the skips may be loaded and emptied. Another consideration in accordance with the present invention is that the portion of the "cycle" during which material is being delivered into the furnace should be maximized.
As represented in FIGS. 2-5, the charging installation employs a pair of skips 32a and 32b. Starting from the portion of the "cycle" shown in FIG. 2, a first skip 32b has already discharged its contents into intermediate storage hopper 18 and the contents of skip 32a are being directly loaded into intermediate storage hopper 18 through the bin 26 and valve 28. Thus, during the phase of the "cycle" represented by FIG. 2, the lower isolation valve 24 is in the closed condition while valve 28 is in the open condition and the interior of hopper 18 is at atmospheric pressure. As soon as skip 32a is empty, valve 28 is closed and the pressure within intermediate storage hopper 18 is raised to a level approximately equal to that prevailing inside furnace 10. The pressurization of hopper 18, and also its depressurization, is effected by means known in the art which have been omitted from the drawing in the interest of facilitating understanding of the invention. As soon as the furnace pressure is established within hopper 18, valve 24 is opened and flow control member 22 withdrawn to the appropriate position so that the charging of the furnace can commence. The furnace charging portion of the "cycle" is depicted in FIG. 3 and it may be seen that the contents of intermediate storage hopper 18 are being distributed on the furnace hearth via the controllable distribution chute 12. During the period required for cycling the valves 24 and 28 and pressurizing the hopper 18, skip 32a has descended ramp 30 to the loading station and skip 32b, which was filled with material while skip 32a was being emptied as shown in FIG. 2, has returned to the top of ramp 30 and is discharging its contents into the temporary storage bin 26. The delivery of material from bin 26 into hopper 18 is prevented at this time by closed valve 28 which is supporting charge material in bin 26.
When substantially all of the furnace charge material has been released from hopper 18, the flow control device 22 and valve 24 are returned to the conditon shown in FIG. 2 and the intermediate storage hopper 18 is depressurized. The skip 32b will by this time have been emptied and, during depressurization of intermediate storage hopper 18, skip 32b will be descending toward the loading station and skip 32a will be ascending ramp 30. Valve 28 will, during depressurization of intermediate storage hopper 18, be closed and thus will be retaining the material from skip 32b in bin 26 as shown in FIG. 4. When depressurization has been completed, valve 28 will be opened and the contents of bin 26 will be quickly released into intermediate storage hopper 18. As the contents of bin 26 are being released into hopper 18, the full skip 32a will be approaching the top of ramp 30 as shown in FIG. 5. When skip 32a reaches the top of ramp 30 it will immediately begin to discharge its contents through bin 26 and valve 28 directly into hopper 18 as shown in FIG. 2. During the portion of the "cycle" depicted in FIG. 5, i.e., before skip 32a again reaches the top of ramp 30, the operation of this system may be temporarily stopped in order to insure that valve 28 is open and that bin 26 is empty. This verification will be automatically performed.
The apparatus of the present invention, and the operational sequence described above, provides the dual advantages that the flow of furnace charge material does not under normal circumstances interrupt or brake the synchronous alternating operation of the skips 32a and 32b and that the supply of material from the skips, in turn, does not interrupt the charging operation which occurs during the portion of the "cycle" depicted in FIG. 3. These advantages are as a result of the serial intermediate storage of at least a portion of the furnace charged material in bin 26 and subsequently in intermediate storage hopper 18.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a charging operation similar to that depicted in FIGS. 2-5 can be carried out with a charging "cycle" corresponding to the filling and emptying of three skips. If three skips are to be employed, the intermediate storage hopper 18 must be sized so as to be at least equal to the contents of three skips and, of course, the charging "cycle" is prolonged. Because of the increase in the time required to discharge the contents of the enlarged hopper 18, the contents of the third skip will be temporarily stored in bin 26 and this, in turn, requires an increase in the size of the bin. As an alternative, if it is either necessary or desirable to avoid increasing the size of the temporary storage bin 26, the third skip may be dumped during the portion of the "cycle" depicted in FIG. 2.
A charging installation in accordance with the present invention can be designed to be mounted as a single self-contained unit on an existing furnace. FIG. 6 illustrates how the present invention may be mounted on a shaft furnace of the type customarily employed in Europe. The furnace 10 of FIG. 6 is situated within the bounds of a square tower 50 which is designed to support the superstructure and essential items of the charging installation. Thus, in the FIG. 6 environment, the furnace itself does not perform a supporting function for the charging installation and, in the interest of employing the present invention, a "coneless throat" may be installed whereby the opening at the top of the furnace may be reduced when compared to that required for a charging installation which employs conventional charging bells. In the FIG. 6 installation a frame 46 is designed so as to be mounted directly on the furnace. Frame 46, in turn, includes a support beam 48 which, via load cells 40, supports the intermediate storage hopper 18. Frame 46 also supports the bin 26. Since only a single intermediate storage hopper 18 is employed, the overall width of the charging installation is reduced and no modifications have to be made to the existing furnace superstructure. Also, since the vertical axis of the intermediate storage hopper 18 is off-set with respect to the longitudinal axis of the furnace, the charging installation may be positioned so as to mate with an existing ramp 30.
FIG. 7 illustrates the modernization of a blast furnace 52 of the type commonly employed in North America. In FIG. 7, a "bell less top" charging installation in accordance with the present invention has replaced a bell-type or cone-type charging installation which has been represented at 54 in a broken line showing. Furnace 52 differs from furnace 10 of FIG. 6 in that it functions as the supporting member for the charging installation and auxiliary equipment. Thus, in the environment of FIG. 7, it is not possible to carry out any major conversions or modifications in the upper part of the furnace. In accordance with the present invention, use is made of an existing flange 56 which customarily forms a portion of a prior art bell-type charging system. A "floor" 58 is mounted from flange 56 to reduce the size of the opening at the furnace top. The driving mechanism 16 for the distribution chute 12 is supported above floor 58 as is the frame 60 for supporting the remaining elements of the charging installation. The "floor" 58 may be of hollow construction whereby it can be cooled by circulation of a liquid therethrough to thereby prevent excessive heating and to increase its mechanical strength.
It is significant that in both the FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 installations it is unnecessary to modify the bell tower of a prior charging installation.
While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various 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 illustration and not limitation.
|
Material to be deposited on the hearth of a shaft furnace serially passes through a pair of temporary storage containers positioned above the furnace. The uppermost storage container is in the form of a bin open to the ambient atmosphere while the lower storage container is provided with valves at either end whereby it may be hermetically sealed and subsequently brought to furnace pressure. The lower storage container is loaded while at ambient pressure, by releasing furnace charge material previously delivered to the upper storage container into the lower container and subsequently by delivering material directly to the lower container from a conveyor system through the lower container. The upper container is refilled with material while the lower container is at furnace pressure and is discharging its contents into the furnace.
| 5
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/213,821, filed Jun. 23, 2000, entitled “Quick Release Device.”
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to tensioners and, more particularly, to tensioners for band saw cutting blades and the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, band saws A generally include a frame B, a first pulley shroud C connected to the frame B, a manually rotatable tensioner, such as a screw-type tensioner D, removably and slideably attached to the frame B by slots E, a first pulley F (shown in phantom) rotatably attached to the screw-type tensioner D, a second pulley G (shown in phantom) lying in the same plane as the first pulley F and rotatably attached to the frame B, a second pulley shroud H connected to the frame B, a continuous cutting blade I attached to the first pulley F and the second pulley G, a blade guide attachment bar J, and a motor O connected to the second pulley G.
In normal operation, the cutting blade I must be tensioned to make the cutting blade I taut. Conversely, when the cutting blade I is worn or replacement is desired, the cutting blade I must be detensioned so that the cutting blade I can be removed from the first and second pulleys F,G.
Tensioning the cutting blade I is normally accomplished by positioning the cutting blade I on the first and second pulleys F,G and then moving the first pulley F, which lies in substantially the same plane as the second pulley G, directly away from the second pulley G. Detensioning is accomplished by moving the first pulley F toward the second pulley G. Movement of the first pulley F is facilitated by the screw-type tensioner D shown in FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 2, the screw-type tensioner D includes a tension body K that receives, usually in a common thread arrangement, a rotatable shaft L. The tension body K is fitted into the slots E formed by the frame B so that the tension body K is moveable with respect to the frame B, as illustrated by the arrows Y 1 and Y 2 . The tension body K further includes a shaft N that receives the first pulley F shown in FIG. 1 .
With continuing reference to FIG. 2, a first end M of the rotatable shaft L contacts the frame B, so that when the rotatable shaft L is rotated in a tightening direction, shown by arrow Z 1 , the tension body K and the first pulley F move in the Y 1 direction. This tightens the cutting blade I. When the rotatable shaft L is rotated in a loosening direction, shown by arrow Z 2 , the tension body K and the first pulley F move in the Y 2 direction. This creates slack in the cutting blade I.
Another type of manually rotatable tensioner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 769,497 to Seymour (hereinafter “the Seymour patent”). The Seymour patent discloses a tensioner having a rack and pinion arrangement actuated by a rotatable handwheel.
One drawback of the prior art manually rotatable tensioners, such as the screw-type and the handwheel-type discussed above, is that they are rotated incrementally by hand. Therefore, each time the cutting blade is retensioned, the correct number of turns of the rotatable shaft L or the handwheel must be approximated. This involves a process of trial and error, which is inaccurate and time consuming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To help eliminate some of the drawbacks of the prior art rotatable tensioners, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tensioner which is easily operated and does not require significant amounts of trial and error manipulation during retensioning of the cutting blade.
The present invention generally includes a method and apparatus for tensioning a belt, saw blade, or other continuous loop. One method to adjust the tension of a cutting blade installed on a band saw having a frame, a manually rotatable tensioner positioned adjacent to the frame, a first pulley rotatably connected to the manually rotatable tensioner, a second pulley spaced away from the first pulley, and a cutting blade strung between the first pulley and the second pulley includes the step of positioning an adjustable body between the manually rotatable tensioner and the second pulley. This step is followed by one or more of the following steps, including extending the adjustable body in a direction away from the second pulley and toward the manually rotatable tensioner so that the manually rotatable tensioner and the first pulley move in direction away from the second pulley or withdrawing the adjustable body in a direction toward the second pulley so that the manually rotatable tensioner and the first pulley move in a direction toward the second pulley. The adjustable body is preferably a rack, and the manually rotatable tensioner is preferably a screw-type tensioner having a manually rotatable shaft with opposing ends. Additional steps may include positioning the rack adjacent to an opposing end of the manually rotatable shaft, extending the rack in a direction away from the second pulley to tension the cutting blade, and withdrawing the rack in a direction toward the second pulley to detension the cutting blade.
Another method to adjust the tension of a cutting blade installed on a band saw having a frame, a screw-type tensioner positioned adjacent to the frame, the screw-type tensioner having a rotatable shaft with opposing ends, a first pulley rotatably connected to the screw-type tensioner, and a second pulley spaced away from the first pulley generally includes the steps of positioning a rack and a rotatable pinion gear between the screw-type tensioner and the second pulley, wherein the rack and pinion gear are connected by an intermeshed relationship, and the rack is movable by the pinion gear, extending the rack in a direction away from the second pulley to tension the cutting blade, and withdrawing the rack in a direction toward the second pulley to detension the cutting blade.
A band saw according to the present invention generally includes a frame having a motor connected to the frame, a first pulley and a second pulley, with the first pulley rotatably connected to the manually rotatable tensioner and the second pulley rotatably connected to the motor, a pull-type tensioner positioned between the manually rotatable tensioner and the second pulley, and a cutting blade strung between the first pulley and the second pulley. The manually rotatable tensioner is preferably a screw-type tensioner. The pull-type tensioner may include a mount defining a pivot shaft receiving orifice, a pivot shaft received in the pivot shaft receiving orifice, the pivot shaft having a first end and a second opposite end, a pinion gear positioned adjacent to the first end of the shaft, a handle positioned adjacent to the second opposite end of the shaft, and a rack connected by an intermeshed tooth relationship with the pinion gear. In operation, the handle is rotated in a first direction with respect to the mount, and the pinion gear acts to extend the rack in a direction away from the mount. When the handle is rotated in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, the pinion gear acts to withdraw the rack in a direction toward the mount.
These and other features of the present invention will be clarified in the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments taken together with the attached drawings in which like reference numerals represent like elements throughout.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of a band saw according to the prior art with a screw-type tensioner installed, the screw-type tensioner having a tension body and a manually rotatable shaft, wherein a second end of the manually rotatable shaft engages a frame of the band saw;
FIG. 2 is a perspective side view showing engagement of the manually rotatable shaft of the screw-type tensioner on the band saw frame of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a pull-type tensioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a front view of the pull-type tensioner shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the pull-type tensioner shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of a first pulley shroud being separated from a frame in preparation for installing the pull-type tensioner shown in FIGS. 3-5;
FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of a second section of a mount according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the second section of the mount shown in FIG. 7 being positioned between the first pulley shroud and a frame;
FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of the second section of the mount shown in FIGS. 7-8 positioned adjacent to a screw-type tensioner;
FIG. 10 is a top perspective view of a first section of the mount being attached to the second section of the mount, shown in FIGS. 7-9, by a fastener;
FIG. 11 is a top perspective view of the fastener shown in FIG. 10 being installed;
FIG. 12 is a top perspective view of the pull-type tensioner shown in FIGS. 3-5 and 9 - 11 being clamped to the frame with fasteners;
FIG. 13 is a top perspective view of the pull-type tensioner shown in FIGS. 3-5 installed on a band saw between the frame and a screw-type tensioner;
FIG. 14 is an exploded view of a pull-type tensioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the pull-type tensioner shown in FIG. 14 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A first embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 3-13, and is also described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/213,821, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Referring to FIGS. 3-5, and particularly FIG. 3, a pull-type tensioner 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention preferably includes a mount 12 having a first section 14 and a second section 16 . The first section 14 is generally C-shaped and includes a first bracket portion 18 , a second bracket portion 20 , and a third bracket portion 22 . The first bracket portion 18 forms a first fastener-receiving orifice 24 . The second bracket portion 20 is positioned perpendicularly adjacent to the first bracket portion 18 , with the second bracket portion 20 forming a first shaft-receiving orifice 26 , a second fastener-receiving orifice 28 , and a plurality of adjustment orifices 30 . The third bracket portion 22 is positioned perpendicularly adjacent to the second bracket portion 20 and opposite and parallel to the first bracket portion 18 . The third bracket portion 22 forms a rack orifice 32 .
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the second section 16 of the mount 12 forms a third fastener-receiving orifice 34 , a second shaft-receiving orifice 36 , and a rack guide 38 . The first section 14 of the mount 12 and the second section 16 of the mount 12 are formed from metal or other suitable material and are connected to one another by a fastener 40 (FIG. 3 only), such as a threaded screw, which is received by the second fastener-receiving orifice 28 formed by the second bracket portion 20 and the third fastener-receiving orifice 34 formed by the second section 16 .
As shown in detail in FIG. 4, when assembled, the first section 14 and the second section 16 of the mount 12 form a mount cavity 42 . As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a rack 44 , forming rack grooves 46 , is movably housed in the rack guide 38 formed by the second section 16 of the mount 12 .
With continuing reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, a handle attachment member 48 has a first side 50 and a second side 52 , with the second side 52 forming a pivot shaft orifice 54 , a handle orifice 56 , and a pin orifice 58 . The handle attachment member 48 is positioned adjacent to a first end 60 of a pivot shaft 62 , with the pivot shaft orifice 54 receiving the first end 60 of the pivot shaft 62 . A handle 64 , having a knob end 66 and a second handle end 68 , is received in the handle orifice 56 of the handle attachment member 48 . A pin 70 , biased by a spring (not shown), is received in the pin orifice 58 .
With continuing reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pivot shaft 62 extends from the second bracket portion 20 of the first section 14 of the mount 12 to the second section 16 of the mount 12 , with the first end 60 of the pivot shaft 62 received in the first shaft-receiving orifice 26 and a second end 74 of the pivot shaft 62 received in the second shaft-receiving orifice 36 . A pinion gear 76 is attached to the second end 74 of the pivot shaft 62 and is preferably positioned inside the mount cavity 42 . The pinion gear 76 forms pinion teeth 78 which intermesh with the rack grooves 46 of the rack 44 .
As shown in FIG. 4, when the pin 70 is inserted in a pin orifice 58 , the pin 70 protrudes beyond the second side 52 of the handle attachment member 48 and engages one of the plurality of adjustment orifices 30 (see FIG. 3 or 5 ) formed by the second bracket portion 20 of the mount 12 . With particular reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, when the pin 70 is pulled directly away from the first side 50 of the handle attachment member 48 , the handle 64 can be rotated in a first direction A 1 or a second direction A 2 (clockwise or counterclockwise).
The following few paragraphs describe the movement of various parts of the first embodiment of the present invention. For reference, it should be assumed that the rack 44 is initially positioned so that the rack 44 is withdrawn or housed in the rack guide 38 , and is not protruding through the rack orifice 32 formed by the third bracket portion 22 . Moreover, the handle 64 should initially be assumed to be approximately aligned at position P 1 , as viewed in FIG. 5 . The initial alignment of the rack 44 and the handle 64 is not critical to the overall operation of the present invention, but this alignment will provide the reader with a clear frame of reference. The frame of reference is important because if the handle 64 is positioned at position P 2 (opposite to position P 1 in FIG. 5) and the rack 44 is positioned so that it does not protrude through the rack orifice 32 , rotation of the handle 64 clockwise from position P 2 to position P 1 would extend the rack 44 away from the mount 12 , through the rack orifice 32 . The movement of the handle 64 would then initially be in a direction opposite to the movement direction of the rack 44 . Because the following describes coordinated movement between the handle 64 and the rack 44 , the initial starting orientations discussed above should be presumed.
With continuing reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, when the handle 64 is rotated in the first direction A 1 , the pivot shaft 62 and the attached pinion gear 76 rotate. Because the pinion gear 76 and the rack 44 (shown in FIG. 4) are engaged in a tooth and groove arrangement, the rotation of the pinion gear 76 causes the rack 44 (FIG. 4) to extend in a direction away from the mount 12 . When the handle 64 is moved in a second direction A 2 , opposite to the first direction A 1 , the rack 44 (FIG. 4) withdraws in a direction toward the mount 12 .
The first embodiment pull-type tensioner according to the present invention is preferably used in conjunction with a screw-type tensioner and can be installed on band saws in the following manner. The following steps and illustrations highlight a 14 ″ JET brand of bandsaw. However, the steps are also applicable to other popular brands of bandsaws.
Retrofitting a band saw 72 with a pull-type tensioner 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of disconnecting power to the band saw 72 for safety and loosening the screw-type tensioner 79 , if installed, by rotating the manually rotatable shaft 81 in a counterclockwise or loosening direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the next step is loosening the first pulley shroud 80 so that the first pulley shroud 80 can be pulled away from the frame 82 of the band saw 72 . The first pulley shroud 80 does not have to be completely removed, but only pulled slightly away from the frame 82 . As shown in FIG. 7, the next step is sliding the second section 16 of the mount 12 , with the rack 44 removed, between the frame 82 and the first pulley shroud 80 . As shown in FIG. 8, the next step is installing the rack 44 in the rack guide 38 formed by the second section 16 of the mount 12 . As shown in FIG. 9, the next step is sliding the first section 14 of the mount 12 over the frame 82 , with the rack 44 fully seated in the rack guide 38 and the handle 64 rotated and locked in the last available adjustment orifice 30 . This ensures that the pinion gear 76 engages the rack 44 in the proper position. As shown in FIG. 10, the next step is rotating the handle 64 in the first direction A 1 and attaching the first section 14 of the mount 12 to the second section 16 of the mount 12 using a fastener 40 . As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the next step is clamping the mount 12 to the frame 82 by fasteners 40 received by the first bracket portion 18 of the mount 12 and by fasteners 40 received by the second bracket portion 20 of the mount 12 . The first pulley shroud 80 is then retighted and the manually rotatable shaft 81 of the screw-type tensioner 79 is adjusted so that a rack-receiving surface 45 of the rack 44 engages the rotatable shaft 81 . Finally, power is restored to the band saw.
FIG. 13 shows the pull-type tensioner 10 according to the present invention positioned beside the frame 82 for clarity. However, in actual operation, the screw-type tensioner 79 fits in slots 83 . When the pull-type tensioner 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is installed on the frame 82 of a band saw 72 , the rotatable shaft 81 of the screw-type tensioner 79 should not have to be readjusted during subsequent tensioning or detensioning of a continuous cutting blade. Subsequent tensioning of the cutting blade is accomplished completely by the first embodiment pull-type tensioner by moving the pin 70 so that it no longer engages a corresponding adjustment orifice 30 . The handle 64 is then moved in the first direction A 1 , causing rotation of the pinion gear 76 . The rotating pinion gear 76 causes the rack 44 to extend away from the mount 12 and a second pulley 84 , which is spaced away from a first pulley 86 , until the rack-receiving surface 45 of rack 44 begins to exert a force on the rotatable shaft 81 of the screw-type tensioner 79 . The screw-type tensioner 79 and the first pulley 86 , rotatably attached thereto, thus also move in a direction away from the mount 12 and the second pulley 84 . This extension of the rack 44 and movement of the first pulley 86 away from the second pulley 84 tensions a cutting blade strung between the first pulley 86 and the second pulley 84 . The pin 70 is then moved into another adjustment orifice 30 to fix the handle 64 , rack 44 , and pinion gear 76 in place.
Detensioning a cutting blade is accomplished by moving the pin 70 so that the pin 70 no longer engages a corresponding adjustment orifice 30 . The handle 64 is then moved in a second direction A 2 . Rotation of the pinion gear 76 causes the rack 44 to withdraw in a direction toward the mount 12 and the second pulley 84 . This withdrawal of the rack 44 causes the screw-type tensioner 79 and the first pulley 86 , which is rotatably attached thereto, to move in a direction toward the mount 12 and the second pulley 84 . The movement of the first pulley 86 in a direction toward the second pulley 84 detensions the cutting blade strung between the first and second pulleys 86 , 84 .
A second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. The second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ is similar to the first embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 , with like reference numerals indicating like parts. However, while there are similarities between the embodiments 10 , 10 ′, such as the rack and pinion operation and the coordinated handle and rack movement discussed in detail above, there are some differences between the first and second embodiments.
For example, in the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the first bracket portion 18 of the first section 14 of the mount 12 described in connection with the first embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 is not required because the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ is bolted, welded, or otherwise connected to the frame, such as by the fasteners 40 shown in FIG. 14 . By comparison, the first embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 is clamped to the frame 82 . Second, as shown in FIG. 14, the mount 12 ′ of the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ does not form a rack guide 38 which envelops the rack 44 . Instead, the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ preferably includes a rack holder 88 which only supports the rack 44 . Finally, as shown in FIG. 14, the mount 12 ′ of the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ preferably defines one or more dovetail-shaped slots 90 A, 90 B which, as shown in FIG. 15, receive a tongue 92 defined by the handle 64 ′. As shown in FIG. 15, when the handle 64 ′ is moved in the first direction A 1 , the tongue 92 defined by the handle 64 ′ can be seated in the first dovetail-shaped slot 90 A. When the handle 64 ′ is moved in a second direction A 2 , the tongue 92 can be seated in the second dovetail slot 90 B.
The second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ is installed in generally the same way as the first embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 , except that the first pulley 86 and the first pulley shroud 80 are preferably completely removed from the frame 82 of the band saw during installation of the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ and then reinstalled. The added installation time of the second embodiment pull-type tensioner 10 ′ is offset by two safety features. First, as shown generally in FIG. 15, to disengage the tongue 92 from any of the dovetail-shaped slots 90 A, 90 B, the handle 64 ′ is first moved in the first direction A 1 until the tongue 92 clears a corresponding slot stop 94 , and then the handle 64 ′ is moved in a third direction A 3 until the tongue 92 clears the slot stop 94 . These movements, designed with safety in mind, help reduce the risk of accidental dislodgment of the handle 64 ′ during operation of the band saw 72 . Second, as shown in FIG. 14, the L-shape of the handle 64 ′ provides a visual indicator that the cutting blade is either tensioned or not tensioned. When the cutting blade is tensioned, the handle 64 ′ does not obscure a work platform of the band saw 72 . However, when the cutting blade is detensioned, a curved end 96 of the handle 64 ′ lays on the work platform, in front of the operational cutting surface of the cutting blade.
In sum, the present invention seeks to provide a quick, efficient method and apparatus for tensioning a continuous loop, such as a cutting blade. In operation, the present invention is preferably used in conjunction with existing screw-type tensioners.
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. Obvious modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
|
A method and apparatus for tensioning a continuous loop, such as a cutting blade installed on a band saw having a frame, a manually rotatable tensioner, a first pulley rotatably connected to the manually rotatable tensioner, a second pulley spaced away from the first pulley, and a cutting blade strung between the first pulley and the second pulley, generally including the steps of positioning an adjustable body, such as a reciprocally actuated rod, between the manually rotatable tensioner and the second pulley, extending the adjustable body in a direction away from the second pulley and toward the manually rotatable tensioner so that the manually rotatable tensioner and the first pulley move in direction away from the second pulley, withdrawing the adjustable body in a direction toward the second pulley so that the manually rotatable tensioner and the first pulley move in a direction toward the second pulley.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bird feeder, in particular, a bird feeder having an apertured floor member which is selectively removable for easy cleaning.
2. Background of the Related Art
Many different types and designs of bird feeders and bird houses have been developed and are used widely throughout the country. Examples of some of those designs which have been patented include Hoskins, U.S. Pat. No. 2,312,551, Luin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,296, Overpeck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,793, Brucker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,411, Riggi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,877, Ragen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,098, Currie, U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,069, and Demboske, U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,877.
One problem common to many types of bird feeders is the difficulty in cleaning the feeder, especially the bottom or floor of the feeder. After a period of time the seed and feed in the bird feeder will rot, some of the seeds will sprout, and crud will build up and become lodged within certain spaces and crevices in the feeder. Such conditions are naturally detracting to those birds that would otherwise feed on that feeder. Moreover, spoiled feed contributes to the spread of disease. Many diseases are transmitted among birds due to spoiled feed accumulated at the bottom of the feeder, a problem that is exasperated by the feeder not being cleaned on a regular basis.
It is therefore desirable to design a bird feeder which will keep birdseed and feed dry and unspoiled as long as possible, and more importantly, is easy to clean.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A bird feeder which includes a bird feed bin having an apertured floor member which is selectively removable from the bin for easy cleaning is disclosed. The bird feeder generally comprises a set of walls, roof and floor for defining a bird feed bin. The bird feed bin includes a compartment having an opening for receiving bird feed and an opening for dispensing bird feed. In particular, a hinged portion of the roof may be opened for depositing bird feed into the bin, and closed to cover and protect the feed from the elements. The bird feeder may also be designed so that, when the hinged portion of the roof is opened, certain portions or sections of one or more walls may be slidably removed, which facilitates assembly of the bird feeder, and facilitates cleaning.
As mentioned, the bird feeder is provided with a selectively removable apertured floor member. The apertured floor member is supported on an edge support surface on the inner periphery of a lower portion of the bird feed bin. The apertured floor member preferably consists of a perforated metal sheet or an expanded metal sheet having a pattern of apertures (i.e., holes) across the surface of the sheet. The apertured floor member is further provided with upward turned peripheral edges which enhance the rigidity of the floor member. The apertured floor member is made from a particular material which is strong enough to support the weight of the seed and feed without the need for additional support structures.
The primary object of the invention is to produce a bird feeder that is easier to keep clean than conventional feeders and to do so at a reasonable cost. The apertures (i.e., holes) in the floor member are naturally small enough to contain the bird feed and seed within the hopper or bin, but allow moisture to drain and air to circulate within the feeder in order to keep the seed dry and thereby reducing the occurrence of the seed becoming moldy or to sprout. The apertured floor member, with its upward turned edges, sits within the bottom or the hopper or bin like a tray, which can be selectively removed from and replaced within the bottom of the feeder. The floor member has a relatively smooth surface for easy cleaning. It is also made of a material that can be formed by bending, stamping, molding and the like, which results in a substantial savings in the manufacturing costs and shipping costs for such bird feeders. A sturdy, cost effective, easy-to-clean bird feeder will reduce the incidence of diseases being transmitted through rotten birdseed and lead to a healthier local bird population.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become 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.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The drawings, which constitute part of the specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention, include the following:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the bird feeder shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the bird feeder shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the selectively and slidably removable apertured floor member used in the first embodiment of the invention depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 6 is a close-up view of apertures in a typical sheet of perforated steel which may be use or forming the apertured floor member.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an apertured floor member of the type used in the second embodiment of the bird feeder shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a hopper-type feeder 10 comprises a first wall 11, a second wall 12, a third wall 13, a fourth wall 14, a roof 15 and a floor 16 for defining a bird feed bin 17. The first wall 11 is spaced apart from the second wall 12, and the third wall 13 is spaced apart from the fourth wall 14, in order to form a substantially rectangular box-like hopper. The first and second walls are preferably made of wood or other suitable material.
The third and fourth walls are mounted in a tongue-and-groove-like fashion to the first and second walls. Specifically, the first wall 11 has a first groove 18 near the side edge of the first wall 11, and the second wall 12 has second groove 19 near the side edge of the second wall 12. The third wall is slidably disposed within the first and second grooves in the first and second walls, respectively. Similarly, on the opposite side edges of the feeder, a third groove is provided in the first wall and a fourth groove is provided in the second wall. The fourth wall 14 is slidably disposed within the third groove in the first wall and the fourth groove in the second wall. The third and fourth walls are preferably made of a pane of glass, plastic, plexiglass or other transparent material so the birds can see the seed inside the feeder. The bird feed and seed is dispensed out through an undercut portion 20 of the third and fourth walls adjacent to the floor which provides a passage from the interior of the bird feed bin 17 to an exterior feeding area.
The roof 15 comprises a first portion 21 which is secured, by screws, nails, adhesive or other suitable fastening means, to the upper surface of the first and second walls. The roof 15 further has a second portion 22 which is hinged to the fixed first portion. The hinged portion of the roof is openable to an open position for depositing bird feed into the hopper, and a closed position for covering the hopper. When the hinged portion 22 of the roof is open, at least one plexiglass pane (i.e., the third wall 13) is selectively and slidably removable from the grooves in the first and second walls.
The floor 16 comprises an apertured floor member (discussed further below) which rests on the bottom of the bin. The floor member 16 rests on edge support surfaces on the inner periphery of the lower portion of the bin. Preferably, the floor edge support surfaces comprises at least a first edge support surface 23 on the inner lower portion of the first wall 11, and a second edge support surface 24 on the inner lower portion of the second wall 12. Ordinarily, only two edge support surfaces for supporting the floor are needed, although others may be added if desired. The apertured floor member is contained within the first wall 11, second wall 12, a first transverse brace 25 and a second transverse brace 26.
As mentioned, the floor comprises an apertured floor member 16. As used herein, the term "apertured floor member" means a tray-like member which is made of the material which has a pattern of holes 27 which permit moisture to be drained through the floor of the bird feeder, and yet has sufficient strength to support the weight of the bird feed and seed contained within the hopper without the need of additional structural support members (such as a wood frame of the type commonly used for window screening). The floor is preferably made of a perforated steel sheet, or an expanded steel sheet. Perforated steel sheets are sheets of steel having a pattern of holes which have been punched, pierced or bored into the material. Round holes are the most common, although other decorative design patterns are possible. Expanded metal sheets are sheets of metal which have a pattern of regular diamond-shaped openings joined by continuous uniform strands of material. The material is made by simultaneously slitting and stretching the material to expand it. The apertured floor member preferably has holes in the range of 1/16 to 1/8 inches, and bars (i.e., the solid portion of the material between the holes) in the range of about1/16 to 1/8 inches. Consequently, the apertures comprise about 25 to 75 percent of the surface area of the floor of the bird feeder. Suitable perforated or expanded steel sheets are available from, for example, McNichols Company, Tampa, Fla., and Metalex, Libertyville, Ill.
In this context, ordinary window screening and other wire cloth materials are considered not to be within the definition of, and not equivalent to, the apertured floor member, and in particular the perforated metal and expanded metal sheets described herein. Wire screens, mesh or cloth are basically made of interwoven wires. It is simply impractical to make a wire screen, mesh or cloth in which the wires are thick enough for the strength requirements, and also make the spaces (i.e., holes) between the wires small enough to hold the birdseed. Ordinary window screening is too light to have enough strength to serve the function required herein, at least without the use of additional framing or other structural support.
Certain plastics or fiberglass materials might be suitable for use in fabricating an apertured floor member, but the disadvantage in using such materials is that a special mold must be made in order to fabricate the part, which substantially adds to the cost.
The apertured floor member 16 further has at least one upward turned edge for enhancing the rigidity of the floor member. Preferably, the apertured floor member has a first substantially rigid upward turned edge 28 which is formed on one side edge of the floor member, and a second substantially upward turned edge 29 on the opposite edge of the floor member. The upward turned edges are easily and cost effectively manufactured with ordinary metal bending or stamping processes. With reference to the bird feeder disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first upward turned edge runs parallel to and abuts against the first transverse brace 25 which extends from the first edge support surface 23 on the lower portion of the first wall to the second edge support surface 24 on the inner lower portion of the second wall. Similarly, the second upward turned edge 29 of the floor member runs parallel to and abuts against the second transverse brace 26 which extends from the first edge support surface 23 on the lower portion of the first wall to the second edge support surface 24 on the lower portion of the second wall.
For larger hopper-type bird feeders, such as that depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, the floor member further comprises a central raised portion 30, which forces the bird feed outwardly towards the undercut feed dispensing portions in the third and fourth walls so that the birds may reach it and feed upon it. A bent surface, such as that used in the central portion of the floor member in the bird feeder depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, further adds to the structural rigidity of the floor member.
The apertured metal floor member of the bird feeder is specifically designed so that it is strong enough, by itself and without additional support members, to support the weight of bird feed within the bird feed bin. It has a pattern of holes which permit moisture to drain out of the feeder and to permit air to circulate within it. Most importantly, the floor member is easily removable from the bird feeder so that it may be scraped, hosed or otherwise cleaned by the owner. Specifically, the floor member may be removed by merely opening the hinged portion of the roof, sliding out the plexiglass pane, and lifting out the floor.
Specific structure details disclosed above are not to be interpreted in limiting the scope of the invention, but merely as a basis for the claims and for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in any appropriately detailed structure. Changes may be made in the specific structural details of that particular embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.
|
A bird feeder having an apertured floor member which is slidably and selectively removable for easy cleaning. A bird feeder bin is defined by a set of walls, a floor and a roof. When a hinged portion of the roof is opened, at least one section of the walls is slidably removable, and the apertured floor member is also slidably removable. The apertured floor member, which consists of a perforated or expanded steel sheet, provides a combination of sheet material with a pattern of holes which is strong enough to support the weight of the feed, permits drainage to keep the feed dry, and is rugged for scraping and cleaning.
| 0
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/336,340, filed on Jan. 20, 2006, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/782,173 filed on Feb. 18, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,646, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/132,536 filed on Apr. 24, 2002, now abandoned, which is entitled to the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/287,100 filed on Apr. 27, 2001, the contents of each application being incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] This invention relates to shaving devices in general, and to shaving devices having multiple blades in particular.
[0004] 2. Background Information
[0005] Modem safety razors include one to three blades disposed within a head that is mounted on a handle. Some safety razors have a disposable cartridge head and others have a handle and head that are combined into a unitary disposable. Although a variety of razor head configurations exist, razor heads typically include a frame made of a rigid plastic and one to three blades mounted in the frame. The frame includes a seat portion and a cap portion, and the one to three blades are disposed between the cap and the seat. The head further includes a guard disposed forward of the blade so that the person's skin encounters the guard prior to encountering the blade. The cap is disposed aft of the blade(s) so that the person's skin encounters the cap after encountering the blade. The guard and the cap orient the position of the person's skin relative to the blade(s) to optimize the shaving action of the blade. Modem safety razors are also known to include one or more comfort strips attached to the head. Comfort strips typically include an insoluble material mixed with a soluble material. In some instances, the soluble material itself facilitates the shaving process, and in other instances one or more shaving aid agents (e.g., lubricating agents, drag reducing agents, depilatory agents, cleaning agents, medicinal agents, etc) are added to the comfort strip to further enhance the shaving process.
[0006] The comfort and performance provided by a particular razor are critical to the commercial success of the razor. Improvements that benefit razor comfort and/or performance, however significant or subtle, can have a decided impact on the commercial success of a razor. One of the ways to increase the comfort of the razor is to reduce the number of strokes necessary to complete the shave. Each stroke of the razor provides an opportunity to irritate or cut the skin of the person being shaved. One of the ways to decrease the number of strokes necessary to complete the shave is to improve the performance of the razor. A razor that satisfactorily shaves the hair in a single stroke performs better that a razor that requires a plurality of strokes to provide the same shave. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a razor that outperforms existing razors, and one that is more comfortable to use than existing razors.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a razor that provides improved performance relative to existing razors, and one that is more comfortable to use than existing razors.
[0008] According to the present invention, a razor cartridge is provided that includes a frame, at least four razor blades, a guard that includes a contact surface, and a cap that includes a contact surface. The frame supports the razor blades. The guard is disposed forward of the razor blades and the cap is disposed aft of the razor blades. The razor blades are arranged so that the cutting edge of each razor blade is adjacent a plane that tangentially intersects the contact surfaces of the guard and the cap. As a result, each stroke of the razor exposes the surface being shaved to at least four razor blade cutting edges in succession. A unitary razor assembly that includes a head characterized in the same manner as the above-described cartridge is also provided. Hereinafter, the razor cartridge and razor assembly will be collectively described in terms of a cartridge unless otherwise specified.
[0009] The four or more razor blades of the present invention cartridge and razor assembly provide several advantages over currently available razor cartridges and razor assemblies. Most modern safety razors include one to three razor blades disposed between a guard and a cap. The cutting edge of each razor blade is positioned adjacent a plane (i.e., the “contact plane”) that tangentially intersects the contact surfaces of the guard and the cap. The contact plane represents the theoretical position of the surface being shaved. The position of a razor blade's cutting edge relative to the contact plane is described in terms of the “exposure” of the cutting edge. A cutting edge with “positive exposure” is one where the blade and its cutting edge extend through the plane and into the area normally occupied by the object being shaved. A cutting edge with “negative exposure” is one where the cutting edge of the blade is positioned below the plane and therefore does not intersect the contact plane. A blade with “neutral exposure” is one where the cutting edge of the blade is contiguous with the contact plane. In a single blade razor, the single blade must cut each hair at the prescribed height in one pass, or cut sections of each hair in multiple passes until the prescribed height of each of those hairs is reached. If the single blade razor is designed to cut at the prescribed height in a single pass, it is likely to have a substantial positive exposure. A problem with positioning a blade at a substantial positive exposure is that it increases the chance of skin irritation. On the other hand, if the single blade razor is positioned to have a slight positive, neutral, or negative exposure, the likelihood of irritation in one pass is diminished. However, the closeness of the shave possible with a single pass is also diminished, making it necessary to pass the razor over the same surface multiple times, which also increases the chance of skin irritation.
[0010] The present invention, in contrast, exposes the surface to be shaved to at least four razor blades in succession. The blades can be positioned in a variety of different exposure configurations to provide different “feels” or to tune the razor for different applications. In all cases, the work of cutting the hairs is distributed among the four or more razor blades. Each razor cuts a portion of the hairs and collectively the desired closeness of shave is provided in a single pass. The chance of irritation is consequently reduced.
[0011] The four or more blades of the present invention and the different blade exposure configurations possible therewith provide a multitude of options not possible with the one to three blade razors presently available. As stated above, there is a relationship between the exposure of the blade(s) and the chance of irritation, and a relationship between the number of razor passes and the chance of irritation. The present invention makes it possible to decrease the exposure of the blade(s) and the necessity to make multiple passes over the same skin surface. As a result, the chance of irritation is greatly reduced and the comfort and performance of the shaving device is improved.
[0012] In addition, the four or more blades of the present invention make it possible to provide a range of blade exposures not practically possible with two or three bladed razors. If, for example, the maximum amount of acceptable exposure change between adjacent blades is 0.2 mm, then a three bladed razor cartridge has a maximum collective blade exposure of 0.6 mm. Under the present invention, in contrast, the same maximum collective blade exposure would be 0.8 mm or greater. This increased range makes it possible, for example, to position the forward-most blade at a substantial negative exposure and the aft-most blade at a substantial positive exposure.
[0013] Another configuration possible with the present razor cartridge is one in which the range of razor blade exposure is similar to that found in presently available two or three bladed razors, but the amount of exposure change between adjacent blades is reduced. In this configuration, increased comfort and performance are provided because the amount of hair removed per blade is reduced.
[0014] Other configurations possible with the present razor cartridge include alternating blade exposures, or blades with incrementally decreasing or increasing blade exposure, or blades having different sharpnesses, or a cartridge having non-uniform interblade spacing.
[0015] These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in light of the detailed description of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a unitary razor.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic top view of a razor cartridge.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic front view of a razor cartridge.
[0019] FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a razor cartridge having four razor blades.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a razor cartridge having five razor blades.
[0021] FIGS. 6A-6E are diagrammatic views of razor blades relative to a contact plane.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , a razor assembly 10 (see FIG. 1 ) includes a handle 12 and head 14 attached to one another. The head 14 can be permanently attached to the handle 12 or it can be removably attached to the handle 12 as a replacement cartridge 16 (see FIGS. 2 and 3 ). In both instances, the attachment can be rigid or a pivot-type attachment. To facilitate this detailed description, the present invention will be described in terms of a replaceable cartridge 16 . However, the present invention can also assume the form of a unitary razor assembly having a handle and a head.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 2-5 , the cartridge 16 includes a guard 18 , a frame 20 , and four or more razor blades 22 mounted within the frame 20 . Each razor blade 22 has a cutting edge 24 that extends along the length of the blade 22 . The frame 20 includes a seat 26 , a cap 28 , and a plurality of spacers 30 . The razor blades 22 are disposed between the seat 26 and the cap 28 of the frame 20 . The cap 28 includes an exterior contact surface 32 . The terms “forward” and “aft”, as used herein, define relative position between two or more things. A feature “forward” of the razor blades 22 , for example, is positioned so that the surface to be shaved encounters the feature before it encounters the razor blades 22 , assuming that the cartridge 16 is being stroked in its intended cutting direction. The guard 18 is attached to the frame 20 forward of the cutting edges 24 of the razor blades 22 . A feature “aft” of the razor blades 22 is positioned so that the surface to be shaved encounters the feature after it encounters the razor blades 22 , assuming that the cartridge 16 is being stroked in its intended cutting direction. The cap 28 is disposed aft of the cutting edges 24 of the razor blades 22 .
[0024] The spacers 30 are disposed between the razor blades 22 to space the razor blades 22 apart from one another by a distance equal to the height of the spacers 30 . In some embodiments, the height of the spacers 30 between different pairs of razor blades 22 are varied to change the spacing between adjacent razor blades 22 as will be discussed in greater detail below. In some embodiments, the spacers 30 are shaped so that the razor blades 22 they separate are widthwise parallel with each other. In other embodiments, the spacers 30 are shaped so that the razor blades 22 they separate are widthwise skewed relative to each other; i.e., they diverge from one another traveling away from the cutting edge 24 .
[0025] A variety of guards 18 can be used with the present invention. Guards are well known in the art and will therefore not be discussed further here other than to say the present invention is not limited to being used with any particular type of guard. The guard includes an exterior contact surface 34 .
[0026] Now referring to FIGS. 4-6 , the cutting edge 24 of each razor blade 22 is positioned adjacent the contact plane 36 that tangentially intersects the exterior contact surfaces 32 , 34 of the guard 18 and the cap 28 . In one embodiment of the present invention (see FIG. 5 ), the cutting edges 24 of the razor blades 22 are contiguous with the contact plane; i.e., they each have a neutral exposure. In another embodiment (see FIGS. 6A, 6B , 6 D, and 6 E), the exposure of the four razor blades 22 increases from the forward-most razor blade to the aft-most razor blade; i.e., each of the four razor blades has a greater amount of exposure than the razor blade of which it is positioned aft. The forward-most razor blade 22 can be positioned to have a negative exposure, a neutral exposure, or a positive exposure and the other razor blades 22 are relatively positioned. FIG. 6A shows an equal amount of change of exposure from razor blade 22 to razor blade 22 , beginning with the forward-most razor blade to the aft-most razor blade. In another embodiment (see FIG. 6C ), the exposure of the four razor blades 22 can alternate; e.g., the forward-most razor blade 22 has a negative exposure; the next aft razor blade 22 has a positive exposure; the next aft blade 22 has a negative exposure; and the next aft razor blade 22 (which in a four blade embodiment is the aft-most blade) has a negative exposure. In still another embodiment (see FIG. 6D ), the amount of change of exposure from razor blade 22 to razor blade 22 , forward to aft, varies to suit the application. In a four blade cartridge 16 , for example, the second razor blade 40 which is adjacent the forward-most first razor blade 38 might have an exposure that is “x” amount greater than that of the forward-most first razor blade 38 ; the next aft third razor blade 42 might have an exposure that is “y” amount greater than that of the second razor blade 40 ; and the aft-most fourth razor blade 44 might have an exposure that is “z” amount greater than that of the third razor blade 42 ; where x>y>z. The position of the razor blades can also be collectively adjusted relative to the contact plane 36 , while maintaining the aforesaid “x, y, z” relative positioning. In this embodiment, the four razor blades 22 provides better performance than is possible with fewer razor blades 22 and the diminishing exposure of each razor blade 22 in the aft direction provides improved comfort for the person shaving. The decreasing rate of exposure from razor blade 22 to razor blade 22 also provides increased safety for those razor cutting edges positioned closer to the surface being shaved.
[0027] Adjacent razor blades 22 within the four or more razor blades 22 of the present cartridge 16 are typically equally spaced apart from one another. In some instances, however, it is desirable to utilize non-uniform interblade spacing. For example, FIG. 6E diagrammatically shows four razor blades 22 spaced apart from one another by distances “u, v, and w”, where u>v>w. The decreased interblade spacing provides greater comfort, and at the same time the four or more razor blades 22 of the present cartridge provide increased performance. As stated above, in some instances it may also be desirable to skew the angle between adjacent blades so that the adjacent blades 22 are not widthwise parallel to one another, but rather diverge from one another traveling in the widthwise direction, away from the cutting edge 24 . The diverging blades 22 facilitate the removal of debris generated during the shaving process.
[0028] The four or more razor blades 22 of the present cartridge are typically made of the same material and each has a cutting edge 24 with a sharpness similar to that of the other razor blades 22 . In some embodiments of the present cartridge 16 , however, the materials of the razor blades 22 and/or their sharpness are varied to provide advantageous characteristics. For example, the forward first and second razor blades 22 can be made with a sharpness greater than that of the aft third and fourth razor blades 22 . This arrangement is particularly desirable if the razor blades 22 having increased sharpness (i.e., the first and second) are positioned with negative or neutral exposure and the razor blades 22 having a standard sharpness (i.e., the third and fourth) are positioned with a positive exposure. The number of razor blades 22 allows the increased sharpness razor blades to be positioned away from surface being shaved and the standard sharpness razor blades to be positioned in close proximity to the surface being shaved, relatively speaking. The number of razor blades in this embodiment permits the sharper razor blades to operate where they are less apt to create irritation and still provide the improved performance, and the standard sharpness blades, which are less apt to cause irritation, to operate in a position where they can closely shave the surface. In a similar manner, the materials of the razor blades 22 can be varied to provide increased performance and/or comfort. For instances, in the above described example the razor blades 22 having a standard sharpness (i.e., the third and fourth) might include a coating that increases their durability.
[0029] Now referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 , in some embodiments the cartridge 16 further includes a plurality of skin flow members 46 disposed between adjacent razor blades 22 . The skin flow members 46 can be positioned with a positive, neutral, or a negative exposure. The skin flow members 46 engage the surface being shaved and help orient it relative to the razor blades 22 .
[0030] Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to the detailed embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
|
A razor cartridge is provided that includes a frame, at least four razor blades, a guard that includes a contact surface, and a cap that includes a contact surface. The razor blades are supported by the frame. The guard is disposed forward of the razor blades and the cap is disposed aft of the razor blades. The razor blades are arranged so that the cutting edge of each razor blade is adjacent a plane that tangentially intersects the contact surfaces of the guard and the cap. As a result, each stroke of the razor exposes the surface being shaved to at least four razor blade cutting edges in succession. A unitary razor assembly that includes a head characterized in the same manner as the above-described cartridge is also provided.
| 1
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a door lock wherein the roller catch comprises in addition to the pre-catch also a main catch into which the pawl drops. Sometimes a gap remains when closing an open door because the pawl reaches only the pre-catch of the roller catch. This means that the roller catch remains in its pre-catch position. In order to be.able to close the gap, the auxiliary motor means are provided which engage the roller catch. They have the task to further move the roller catch into its final position in which the pawl drops into the main catch. In the following, this final position will be referred to as “main catch position”. The door gap is now closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known door lock (DE 195 33 196 A1) two drive motors cooperate via two gears with a pivotable carousel support on which the pawl is positioned. One motor serves as a closing aid and the other motor as an opening aid. During closing, the pawl is pushed away by a pre-catch interruption lever until, by means of the locking part being inserted, the roller catch has reached its final main catch position relative to the pawl and the pawl drops into the main catch of the roller catch. Only thereafter, the drive motor is started and pivots the carousel support with the pawl so that the pawl rotates the roller catch past the main catch position into its rotational end position. In this case, a pawl that is entrained by the gear is provided, and the roller catch, after the pawl has dropped into its main catch, is still moved farther. An interruption of the drive motor is not provided and thus also does not result in a release of the transmission chain between the motor and the roller catch.
The known door lock requires a lot of space. During closing of the aforementioned door gap disruptions may result, for example, by an obstacle which projects into the door gap. Then it is required that any further movement of the roller catch is immediately interrupted and the pressure of the gear acting on the door is cancelled.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to develop a reliable door lock of the kind mentioned in the preamble of claim 1 which, on the one hand, improves the operating comfort but, on the other hand, is of a space-saving configuration. This is achieved according to the invention by one and the same drive motor being used for the closing aid as well as for the opening aid, by a transmission member being arranged in the gear and switchable between two switching positions, by the drive energy exerted by the drive motor reaching the transmission member but, as a function of the switching position of the transmission member, reaching alternatively behind the transmission member the roller catch or the locking pawl via one of two separate drive paths, wherein one drive path belongs to the closing aid and the other belongs to the opening aid.
According to the invention, one and the same drive motor can be used for the closing aid as well as for the opening aid. It is sufficient in this context to arrange in the gear a transmission member which can be controlled to alternate between two switching positions. The drive energy provided by the drive motor is transmitted on a common path to the transmission member. Behind the transmission member, however, the drive energy is alternatively guided on one of two separate drive paths. One drive paths belongs to the closing aid and the other to the opening aid. It depends only on the switching position of the transmission member onto which one of the two drive paths the drive energy is directed. Accordingly, the apparatus expenditure is substantially reduced.
For reversing the transmission member, it is recommended that the transmission member is secured by a spring force normally in that switching position in which the drive energy exerted by the drive motor is not transmitted to the roller catch, that the transmission member is connected with a switching device which, at a defined limit angle of the roller catch and/or of the pawl, is activated and transfers the transmission member into its other switching position wherein the drive energy exerted by the drive motor acts on the roller catch in the pulling shut direction, and that the switching device is deactivated in a disturbance situation during the pulling shut phase as well as in the main catch position and, by doing so, the transmission member is automatically returned by the spring force again into its switched off position. Usually, the transmission member is secured by a spring force in that switching position in which the drive energy of the drive motor does not reach the roller catch. This normal situation is also present in the open position of the roller catch up to a certain limit angle position of the roller catch as well as in the final main catch position. This limit angle position may be, for example, the pre-catch position of the roller catch. Only when the limit angle position of the roller catch during closing of the door has been reached, a switching device is activated which reverses the transmission member. This switching device engages the transmission member and transfers the transmission member into its other position where the drive energy of the drive motor acts on the roller catch and can pull it shut.
In the case of disruption, only the control impulse acting on the switching device must be turned off. Subsequently, the pulling shut phase is simply interrupted in that the switching device releases the transmission member and the latter is returned into its other switching position because of the spring force. Since the remaining gear portion connected to the roller catch is released, the roller catch is no longer arrested and the pressure acting on the door is relieved. Even the effect of the elastic door seals can result in a return movement of the roller catch. After switching of the transmission member has occurred in the pulling shut phase, it may be possible that the drive motor that has been set in motion as well as the drive members, positioned in front of and moved by the transmission member, will move still according to the principle of inertia, but the movement energy of these masses is no longer transmitted onto the roller catch. The roller catch is immediately set still, respectively, it can even rotate in the opposite direction.
Of independent inventive importance is the third embodiment according to which, for determining the respective position of the door, control means are provided which comprise two sensors and a control logic connected to the sensors, wherein one sensor responds to a certain angle position of the roller catch, or a certain position of the locking part of the door post supporting the locking part relative to the lock of the door, respectively, and, subsequently, will be referred to as roller catch sensor, while the other sensor responds to the drop of the pawl into the pre-catch as well as into the main catch of the roller catch and is therefore referred to as pawl sensor, and wherein the control logic evaluates commonly the individual signals coming from the two sensors and the different alternatives described in connection therewith. This door lock can also be used independent of a pulling shut aid and/or an opening aid. However, in individual situations the use in connection with a door lock according to the above described first and second embodiments is possible and will also be explained in the following description in more detail. The door lock according to the third embodiment concerns the following problem.
It is important to determine the respective position of the door unequivocally in order to, according to this determination, initiate further functions of the vehicle or to control them, for example, the interior illumination of the vehicle. For this purpose, sensors are used. In the past it was required to position the sensors within very tight tolerances for an exact position determination of the door. Moreover, the use of correspondingly exactly operating sensors was required. Finally, the high sensitivity of the sensors should not change during their service life. The manufacture of sensors with such high requirements is difficult and expensive. Moreover, the known sensors had to be exactly mounted which is cost-intensive. The invention avoids these disadvantages by special control means. In this connection the following effects result.
Because of the common evaluation of the individual signals of the two sensors, an exact positioning of these sensors with respect to the roller catch or with respect to the pawl is initially not required. Mounting of the sensors is therefore facilitated, faster, and can be performed less expensively. Moreover, the invention makes it possible to even use relatively imprecisely operating sensors because the summation evaluation of the signals allows to determine the respective door position very precisely. According to the invention it is also of no consequence when the sensitivity of the two sensors decreases over the course of time. In this case the summation-based control logic can determine very precisely the point in time.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further measures and advantages of the invention result from the claims, the following description, and the drawings. In the drawings, the invention is illustrated in several embodiments. It is shown in:
FIG. 1 a a plan view of the lower part of the inventive lock in the viewing direction of section line Ia—Ia of FIG. 1 c , when the roller catch is still in its open position but the door is on its way to being closed;
FIG. 1 b a plan view onto the lock, in the viewing direction according to arrow Ib of FIG. 1 c;
FIG. 1 c a side view of the lock, wherein the housing is not illustrated;
FIG. 1 d a perspective representation of an important portion of the lock illustrated in FIGS. 1 a to 1 c;
FIGS. 2 a - 2 c plan and side views of the lock, in analogy to FIGS. 1 a to 1 c , in a subsequent phase of the closing movement of the door when the locking part entrains the roller catch and has moved it into its pre-catch position;
FIGS. 3 a - 3 c the corresponding plan and side views in that movement phase of the door where the roller catch has been moved motorically by a closing aid according to the invention just into its main catch position and the closing aid is still switched on;
FIGS. 4 a - 4 c the same plan and side views of the lock, wherein the roller catch is also in the main catch position illustrated already in FIGS. 3 a to 3 c but the closing aid has been switched off;
FIGS. 5 a - 5 c the aforementioned views of the lock according to the invention after an opening aid has been activated and the roller catch has been returned into the open position illustrated in FIGS. 1 a to 1 c;
FIGS. 6 a - 6 c a differently embodied door lock of which only the three most important components are illustrated, together with two control means, which allow determination of the respective position of the door reliably;
FIGS. 7 a - 7 c in a representation corresponding to FIGS. 6 a to 6 c a variation of the embodiment of the control means; and
FIGS. 8 a - 8 d four alternative tables for the effectiveness of a control logic, correlated with the control means of FIGS. 6 a to 6 c and 7 a to 7 c , for detecting the respective door position.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The configuration of the lock is explained in more detail with the aid of FIGS. 1 a to 1 d . The door lock comprises a roller catch 11 which is subjected to a restoring force, illustrated by the force arrow 12 , of a spring, not shown in detail. The roller catch 11 is pivotably supported on a bearing pin 15 in a housing, not shown in detail, and is usually fastened on the door, not shown in detail. Instead of a side door, another type of door, for example, the rear hatch of a motor vehicle, could be concerned. The roller catch 11 comprises a slot-shaped receiving device 14 for a locking part 10 which is bracket-shaped in this embodiment. When the locking part is removed from the roller catch 11 , as illustrated at 10 ′ in FIG. 1 a , it is maintained by its spring-load 12 and rotary stops, not illustrated in detail, in an open position illustrated in FIG. 1 a . In this connection, the roller catch 11 with its receiving device 14 remains accessible from the exterior. The locking part 10 is usually fastened on the door post. The arrangement of the locking part 10 , however, can also be on the door, wherein the roller catch 11 is then stationarily positioned with its housing on the post. Based on the release position 10 ′ of FIG. 1 a illustrated in a dash-dotted line, the locking part 10 moves into the receiving device 14 , when the door is closed, and pivots thus the roller catch 11 , against its return force 12 , in the direction of the pivot arrow 15 , from the open position illustrated in FIG. 1 a into the pre-catch position illustrated in FIG. 2 a . The roller catch 11 comprises at least two catches 16 , 17 , i.e., a pre-catch 16 and a main catch 17 . A pawl 20 engages the catches 16 , 17 with its locking arm 21 when the roller catch 11 is in its already mentioned pre-catch position of FIG. 2 a or in a final main catch position illustrated in FIG. 3 a.
When the pre-catch position of FIG. 2 a has been reached, usually a gap remains between the door and the door post. The invention is now provided with a motor-driven closing aid. It is embodied in a special way and engages the roller catch. In the pre-catch position of FIG. 2 a the closing part 10 is already engaged by the roller catch. There is already a positive locking connection between 10 , 11 .
As illustrated by arrows 51 , 52 in FIG. 2 a , at least two sensors 51 , 52 are provided wherein one of them ( 51 ) becomes active when the roller catch 11 is in the pre-catch position illustrated in FIG. 2 . The other sensor 52 is activated when the pawl 20 has reached its pivot position illustrated in FIGS. 2 a and 3 a , wherein the locking arm 21 engages either the pre-catch 16 or the main catch 17 . The sensors 51 , 52 , when activated, send a signal to a schematically illustrated control logic 50 . The signals are evaluated therein, and for each situation the corresponding activities of the lock are activated which will be explained in more detail in the following. This can be explained more specifically with the aid of the table of FIG. 8 a.
The control logic 50 detects the open position of the roller catch 11 of FIG. 1 a when, according to the table of FIG. 8 a , first line, both sensors 51 , 52 do not release the signal. This holds true also for the initial rotational path of the roller catch 11 into the position illustrated in FIG. 2 a . However, when the pre-catch position of FIG. 2 a has been reached, both sensors 51 , 52 , according to the second column of table of FIG. 8 a , will send a signal. Thus, the control logic 50 will recognize unequivocally that the pre-catch position of FIG. 2 a has been reached. In the final main catch position of FIG. 3 a only the second sensor 52 will send a signal but not the first sensor 51 , as can be seen in the last line of the table of FIG. 8 a . This can also be unequivocally detected by the control logic 50 . This operation of the sensors 51 , 52 with the control logic 50 has the advantage that cumbersome adjustment of the sensors 51 , 52 with respect to the two sensing locations on the roller catch 11 or the pawl 20 are no longer needed. Suitable sensors are members, for example, Hall sensors, which respond to permanent magnets provided on 11 or 20 and entrained therewith.
When the roller catch 11 has reached its pre-catch position illustrated in FIG. 2 a , the control logic 50 will activate the “closing aid” until the main catch position of FIG. 3 a has been reached. Then the closing aid will be deactivated which results in the position of the components illustrated in FIGS. 4 a to 4 c . The switching on and switching off of the closing aid is realized by the components of the lock according to the invention which are designed in a special way.
As can be seen best in FIGS. 1 d and 1 b , 1 c , the closing aid comprises in this embodiment an electrically operated drive motor 30 having arranged downstream thereof a reduction gear comprised of several members. They include a worm gear 31 rotatably driven by the motor 30 which engages a worm wheel 32 . The worm wheel 22 is connected fixedly with the spur gear 33 for common rotation. Downstream of the spur gear 33 a special transmission member 35 is provided which in the present case is comprised of a tumbler wheel. The transmission member 35 can be switched between two switching positions, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 1 c and the other in FIG. 2 c . As can be taken from these Figures, the dash-dotted line illustrating the axle 40 of the tumbler wheel has two angle positions that differ from one another. The lower axle end indicated with 41 in FIG. 1 c is shaped like a ball joint at a defined location in the lock housing, not illustrated in detail, while the oppositely positioned other axle end 42 is tiltingly movable and is pivotably supported on a switching device 60 . The switching device comprises first a rocker 61 which is pivotably supported in the housing at 62 , and is connected via a crank guide 63 with a toothed gear segment 64 . The toothed gear segment 64 meshes with a pinion 66 of the motor 65 which is referred to as a “coupling motor” for reasons which will be disclosed in the following.
The tiltable axle end 42 of the tumbler wheel 35 in the present case is under the effect of a spring force indicated by the arrow 44 which has the tendency to maintain the axle 40 in the pivoted position, indicated in FIG. 1 c , relative to the spur gear 37 arranged downstream. In this connection, an upper toothing 36 provided at the tumbler wheel reaches a decoupled position relative to the spur gear 37 . On the other hand, a lower toothing 34 of the tumbler wheel 35 in this case remains still in engagement with the already mentioned spur gear 33 of this gear system. FIG. 1 c accordingly corresponds to a switch-off position of the transmission member 35 . The spring force 44 engages in a concrete embodiment on the pin 43 of the two segments 64 , which pin is illustrated in FIGS. 1 b and 1 d . The tooth segment 64 is supported in the housing at location 67 . A guide pin 68 provided on the rocker 61 comes to rest against one end of the crank guide 63 , and this determines the switch-off position of the tumbler wheel 35 relative to the aforementioned downstream spur gear 37 of the gear system. In FIGS. 1 a to 1 d the drive motor 30 as well as the coupling motor 65 are standing still.
Upon further closing of the door, the locking part 10 entrains the roller catch 11 and brings it into the pre-catch position illustrated in FIGS. 2 a to 2 c where, as mentioned above, the pawl 20 drops into the pre-catch 16 of the roller catch 11 . This fact, as has already been disclosed above, is detected by the sensors 51 , 52 and reported to the control logic 50 which transfers the aforementioned transmission member 35 , formed as a tumbler wheel, into the other position illustrated in FIG. 2 c . Now the tumbler wheel 35 engages with its upper toothing 36 with the already mentioned spur gear 37 . This provides a “switched-on” position of the transmission member 35 . Now the drive motor 30 is supplied with electrical current.
The drive energy of the motor 30 transmitted via the gear members 31 , 32 , 33 to the transmission member 35 is now further guided by the output path arranged downstream of the transmission member 35 of the pulling-shut aid. This output path includes the already mentioned spur gear 37 which is fixedly connected on a pinion 38 for common rotation. Also provided is a toothed gear segment 39 engaging the pinion 38 und fixedly connected to a shaft 53 for common rotation. Moreover, an output member 54 of this output path is fixedly connected to the shaft 53 which, in the present case, is in the form of a lever. The lever 54 is supported with its free end on the shoulder 55 illustrated in FIG. 2 a . The drive energy coming from the motor 30 results in a drive force provided via the transmission chain 31 through 39 and 53 , 54 illustrated by the arrow F 1 . It has the effect that the roller catch 11 is entrained and moved further in the direction of the pivot arrow 15 of FIG. 2 b . The locking part 10 engaging the roller catch 11 is also entrained until the main catch position of the roller catch 11 illustrated in FIG. 3 a is reached. By means of the locking part 10 the door has been closed by motor forces according to the pulling shut arrow 18 illustrated in FIG. 3 a . The gap of the door which was present up to this point is now closed.
In FIGS. 3 a to 3 c the pulling shut movement 18 is still illustrated in its end phase where there is still a drive connection between the motor 30 and the output member 54 of the gear via the activated transmission member 35 . In this last phase, the lever 54 provides a drive force F 2 which provides a greater torque onto the roller catch 11 than in the case of the pre-catch position illustrated in FIG. 2 a for the following reason.
The shoulder 55 for receiving the force F 1 in FIG. 2 a is the profiled end of an arc-shaped rib 56 seated on a disk surface of the roller catch 11 . The contact location is indicated by 57 in FIG. 2 a . The arm length r 1 between the drive-active lever 54 and the contact location 57 on the control end 55 of the rib 56 is relatively small. The drive moment results thus as a product of r 1 and F 1 . The corresponding torque acting on the catch roller 11 is determined by the torque arm r illustrated by a dash-dotted line in FIG. 2 a and longer than r 1 but also by the force component F 1 ′ which is smaller than F 1 . However, this ratio changes along the path to the main catch position of the roller catch 11 of FIG. 3 a.
In FIG. 3 a the contact location between the lever 54 and the shoulder 55 through 57 ′ has been moved so that the corresponding arm length r 2 of the torque exerted by 54 has become smaller. The spacing between the contact location 57 ′ and the axis 13 of the roller catch 11 is in approximation identical to that of FIG. 2 a . However, the force direction of F 2 has also changed. The drive force F 2 exerted by the lever 54 now acts fully on the roller catch 11 , at least, however, with a substantially greater force component in comparison to FIG. 2 a . The efficiency of the applied force F 2 in comparison to F 1 and F 1 ′ has become greater. The torque acting on the roller catch 11 in FIG. 3 a is greater relative to FIG. 2 a . The multiplication ratio of the gear between the drive motor 20 and the roller catch 11 has increased upon transition from FIG. 2 a to FIG. 3 a . The pulling force acting on the locking part 10 for pulling the door shut in the direction of arrow 18 has become greater.
This increase of the pulling force is very desirable. Between the door and the door frame there are, in general, elastic seals which in the last phase of the door closing movement must be compressed and therefore present a resistance to the pulling shut force. The thus resulting counter force increases thus in the last phase of the closing movement of the door. Also, the return force 12 acting on the roller catch 11 increases in this last movement phase. Accordingly, the sum of the counter forces, which occur during closing of the door and which must be overcome by the pulling shut aid, increases. Without the aforementioned increase of the pulling force according to the invention the operating point of the drive motor 30 which is embodied as a DC motor would be displaced because of the increasing counter force. Accordingly, a smaller rpm would result in accordance with the operating characteristic line of the motor 30 as a result of the increased motor load. The rpm determines however the motor noise. A change of rpm thus results in a change of the motor noise to lower frequencies, which is perceived as uncomfortable.
According to the invention, it is easily possible with the aforementioned means to compensate the increase of the counter force so that the rpm of the drive motor during the entire pulling shut phase is substantially maintained constant. During pulling shut of the door this results in a very pleasant, uniform motor noise. The invention thus makes it possible to operate the drive motor 30 during the entire pulling shut movement substantially at the same operating point of its characteristic line.
When, as already disclosed, the sensors 51 , 52 have recognized the main catch position of FIG. 3 a , the control logic moves the described transmission member 35 again into its switched-off position which can be seen in FIGS. 4 a - 4 c . The tumbler wheel 35 in FIG. 4 c is again in the angular position with its axis 40 pivoted away. This is carried out in that the switching device 60 is made inactive. For this purpose, the coupling motor 65 must only be switched off. This can have an effect on the spring force 44 acting on the transmission member 35 , against which previously the switching device 60 had worked by applying an electric current to the coupling motor 65 . Because of the described point of attack of the spring force 44 on the pin 43 of the toothed gear segment 64 , the toothed gear segment 64 is moved back from its position in FIG. 3 b into the position of FIG. 4 b . Accordingly, the guide pin 68 of the rocker 61 is moved to the other end of the crank guide 63 of the two gear segment 64 .
This switched-off position of the transmission member 35 from the aforementioned further drive path 37 to 39 and 53 , 54 is especially of great importance when during the previously described pulling-shut phase between FIG. 2 a and 3 a an emergency situation occurs which requires that the further closing of the door is immediately stopped. Such an emergency situation can be detected by the electric control logic in that, for example, the time required for the pulling shut process has been exceeded or that the electric current for driving the drive motor 30 has increased past a permissible limit or that power failure occurs. In this case, already on the way to the main catch position of the roller catch 11 of FIG. 3 a , the current supply of the coupling motor 65 is switched off. Already on the path, before reaching FIG. 3 a , a decoupling of the transmission member 35 from the drive path 37 to 39 and 53 , 54 of the pulling-shut aid positioned downstream is carried out. Even when according to the inertia principle the drive motor 30 set in motion and the moved drive members 31 to 33 in front of the transmission member 35 continue to run, the movement energy of these masses is no longer transmitted onto the roller catch 11 . The roller catch 11 no longer moves any farther, it can even be returned for the following reason.
Because of the elastic effect of the already mentioned door seals a counter force results. This counter force is sufficient in any case to move the roller catch 11 in an emergency situation again into its pre-catch position of FIG. 2 a . Such a switching off of the transmission member 35 can, of course, also be achieved by a manual actuation of an inner grip belonging to the door lock, an outer grip, or a remote control. In the main catch position of the roller catch 11 of FIG. 4 a to 4 c , of course, the drive motor 30 is also automatically switched off by the control logic.
The invention is also provided with an opening aid which can be activated by actuation of the inner or outer handle of the door or by actuation of a remote control. When pulling shut the door, the opening aid can also be actuated by the vehicle user. When desired, the opening aid can also be actuated automatically by the control logic 50 when the aforementioned emergency situation during closing of the door is present. In the switched-off position of FIG. 4 c with respect to the spur gear 37 belonging to the pulling shut aid, the transmission member 35 , as shown in FIG. 4 c , is actually in connection with the following drive path provided as the opening aid.
In this case, according to FIG. 4 c , the lower toothing 34 of the tumbler wheel 35 is still in engagement with the upstream spur gear 33 . Accordingly, a rotation of the drive motor 30 is now transmitted via the upper toothing 36 of the tumbler wheel 35 onto another spur gear 45 which is fixedly connected for common rotation to a shaft 46 .
The drive motor 30 rotates by the way in the same rotational direction as the previously described pulling shut aid according to FIGS. 2 a to 3 c . The upper end 67 of this shaft 46 can serve at the same time as the aforementioned bearing for the toothed wheel segment 64 belonging to the switching device 60 . A control cam 47 , illustrated in FIG. 4 a , is fixedly connected to the shaft 46 and forms the output of the drive path 45 , 47 belonging to the opening aid. In FIG. 4 a the rest position of this control cam 47 is illustrated. In this connection, the control cam 47 is supported on a control surface 23 , shown in FIG. 4 a , of a further lever 22 onto which the force 25 of a two-leg spring 24 , 24 ′ acts. One spring leg 24 ′ is supported on a stationary support location 26 in the housing while the other leg 24 provides the spring force 25 , indicated in FIG. 4 a by the arrow 25 , acting on the lever 22 . The spring 24 , 24 ′ represents a force storage for the lever for which reason the lever 22 in the following will be referred to as “storage lever”.
In the initial position of FIG. 4 a the spring force 25 of the storage lever 22 cannot yet act on the pawl 20 because, as mentioned above, the control cam 47 supports the storage lever 22 on its control surface 23 . However, this will change when for activation of the opening aid the drive motor 30 is further supplied with electrical current. Then the control cam 47 according to FIG. 4 a is moved in the direction of the rotational path 27 via the aforementioned second drive path 45 to 47 and releases increasingly the storage lever 22 . The pawl 20 is also under a spring load 28 in the counter direction as illustrated by arrow 28 ; even though, the higher spring force 25 exerted by the storage lever 22 is normally sufficient in order to lift the locking arm 21 of the pawl 20 out of the main catch 17 of FIG. 4 a or the pre-catch 16 of FIG. 2 a . The force transmission between the storage lever 22 and the pawl 20 is realized via the contact surface and counter contact surface 49 , 49 according to FIG. 4 a . Then the roller catch 11 is free and can be returned by the restoring force 12 acting on it into its open position of FIG. 1 a . Now the locking part 10 is again released and the door can be opened.
The end phase of the opening movement can be seen in FIGS. 5 a to 5 c . The locking part 10 has moved away relative to the roller catch 11 , in comparison to the situation of FIG. 4 a , in the direction of the opening arrow 19 of FIG. 5 a . The roller catch 11 has returned into the open position as a result of its restoring force 12 . The locking part 10 has been released from the receiving device 14 in the roller catch 11 . The rotation 27 of the control cam 47 described in FIG. 4 a is usually completed even before the control cam has reached a counter control surface 29 which, in this embodiment, is located on an extended arm of the pawl 20 . In a crash situation, however, or in other disturbances, it may occur that the pawl locking arm 21 is seated so tightly in the main catch 17 of the roller catch 11 that the spring force 25 of the locking lever 22 is not sufficient for releasing the pawl 20 . This is detected by sensors, for example, the described pawl sensor 52 . The drive motor 30 turns past the rotational position of the cam 47 illustrated in FIG. 5 a . This is illustrated in FIG. 5 a by the dashed arrow 27 ′. The cam 47 contacts, either in the case of the pawl engagement at 17 illustrated in FIG. 4 a or at 16 in FIG. 2 a , the aforementioned counter control surface 29 and forces the pawl locking arm 21 , with enhancement by the storage spring force 25 , out of the main catch 17 or pre-catch 16 .
After lifting the pawl 20 in the described disturbance situation or in the previously described normal situation of FIGS. 5 a to 5 c , the control cam 47 is again returned by the motor, in particular, in the direction of the counter rotation arrow 48 illustrated in FIG. 5 a . This is again made possible by the drive motor 30 because there is still a drive connection with the drive path 45 to 47 of the opening aid of the gear. For this purpose, the motor 30 must only be supplied with electric current in the opposite direction. The control cam 47 then again meets the control surface 23 of the storage lever 22 and moves it under tension of the movable spring leg 24 again into the rest position of FIG. 1 a . All of this can again be monitored by sensors. When the storage lever 22 is again in its initial position of FIG. 1 a , the counter current loading of the drive more 30 for this counter rotation 48 is stopped.
As has been mentioned already, the left position of the roller catch 11 according to FIG. 1 a to 1 d of the first drive path 37 to 39 as well as 53 , 54 , belonging to the pulling shut aid and positioned downstream of the transmission member 35 , is switched off. This gear portion is free. This results already after switching off the transmission member 35 in the main catch position of the roller catch 11 of FIG. 4 a to 4 c . At this point, no drive force coming from the drive motor 30 is exerted on the lever 54 . It can rest in the open position of FIG. 1 a or 5 a on the inner arc surface 58 of the rib 56 . A light spring tension acting on the lever 54 provides a defined position of the lever 54 on this arc surface 58 . This light spring tension also makes sure that, already before the beginning of the pulling shut movement according to FIG. 2 a to 2 c , the lever 54 is positioned at the described contact location 57 of the shoulder 55 according to FIG. 2 a.
For releasing the pawl 20 via an outer and/or inner handle or a remote control, a point of attack is provided, for example, a release pin 59 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 a and 4 c . Otherwise, the aforementioned counter control surface 29 can be provided, instead of on the pawl 20 , on the storage lever 22 and can be a monolithic, fixed component of the storage lever 22 . In this case, the pawl 20 is shortened in its length relative to that of FIGS. 1 a to 5 a . In this case, the contact surface 49 on the storage lever 22 and the correlated counter contact surface 69 on the pawl 20 according to FIG. 4 a are, however, maintained in order to be able to transmit the spring force 25 of the storage lever 22 as an opening aid onto the pawl 20 , as has been disclosed above. The one-part connection of the control and counter control surfaces 23 , 29 on the storage lever 22 can be provided in the form of an eye at the lever end area of the storage lever 22 , wherein the control cam 47 engages the eye opening. The eye has approximately an elongate oval shape with profiled edges. The control cam 47 then has a profiled contour. The control and counter control surfaces 23 , 29 are then positioned at oppositely arranged edges of this eye. This configuration has special advantages and, independent of the embodiments of the aforementioned Figures, has its own inventive importance.
As has been mentioned above, the control means for determining the respective position of the door, as disclosed in connection with FIGS. 1 a to 5 c and explained in connection with the table according to FIG. 8 a , have independent inventive importance. They can also be used in connection with a door lock that has neither a pulling-shut aid nor an opening aid or is provided only with an opening aid. The resulting advantages have already been disclosed in detail in the introductory portion of the description. The FIGS. 6 a to 6 c , on the one hand, and FIGS. 7 a to 7 c , on the other hand, show, based on the most important components of such door locks, two possibilities for the configuration of the control means.
In FIG. 6 a only the roller catch 11 , the pawl 20 which has been changed as disclosed in the last embodiment, and the two described sensors 51 , 52 of a door lock 70 are shown. The sensors 51 , 52 can be of any suitable configuration as is known in the art. They can be comprised of a mechanical or optical switch, a reed contact, a Hall sensor or other so-called sensor wire elements. The position illustrated in FIG. 6 a corresponds to that of FIG. 1 a which has been explained already with the aid of FIG. 8 a , line 1 . In this case, both sensors 51 , 52 do not send a signal to the corresponding control logic 50 , which is shown in FIG. 1 a while in FIG. 6 a only the electrical connecting lines 71 , 72 extending to the sensors are illustrated. The open position of the door is now unequivocally determined.
The situation of this door lock 70 illustrated in FIG. 6 b corresponds to the door position already explained in connection with FIG. 2 a . The locking part 10 is already positive-lockingly engaged by the roller catch 11 and the pawl 20 has dropped with its locking location 21 into the pre-catch. The roller catch 11 as well as the pawl 20 have flaps 73 and 78 , respectively, which in this door position reach into the area of the sensors 51 , 52 . Subsequently, as already explained in connection with the curve 8 a , the pre-catch position of the door is detected because both sensors 51 , 52 send a signal to the control logic 15 which is not shown in detail in FIG. 6 b.
In FIG. 6 c the main catch position of the door is present which has already been explained in connection with FIG. 4 a . The locking location 21 of the pawl 20 is then in the aforementioned main catch 17 of the roller catch 11 . The door is not completely closed. This is detected by means of the signals sent by the two sensors 51 , 52 to the control logic 50 , as has been explained above in connection with the last line of FIG. 8 a . This can be seen in FIG. 6 c in that the aforementioned flap 74 at the pawl 20 results in the signal “ 1 ”. At the roller catch sensor 51 , on the other hand, the corresponding flap 73 is removed and, instead, a cutout 75 of the roller catch 11 is in alignment with the sensor 51 . Accordingly, the sensor 51 is not activated. The control logic 50 in this scenario only receives the signal “ 0 ” from the sensor 51 , as can be seen in the table of FIG. 8 a.
In FIG. 7 a to 7 c an alternative embodiment of the door lock 70 ′ is shown, in particular, again in the same three positions as explained supra in connection with the lock 70 in FIG. 6 a to 6 c . Therefore, the above description applies here also. It is sufficient to only point out the differences.
In the door lock 70 ′ of FIGS. 7 a to 7 c only the bolt 76 of the locking part 10 is illustrated which has not yet been engaged by the receiving device 14 of the roller catch 11 in the open position illustrated in FIG. 7 a . This bolt 76 could be formed by one leg of a bracket-shaped locking part 10 as is illustrated perspectively in FIG. 1 d . In deviation from the previously disclosed door lock 70 the sensor 51 in the door lock 70 ′ of FIG. 7 a to 7 c does not cooperate with the roller catch 11 but with the locking bolt 76 . Accordingly, in the door lock 70 ′ the aforementioned flap 73 of FIGS. 6 a to 6 c can be eliminated. In analogy to FIGS. 6 a , the sensor 51 in door lock 70 ′ sends the signal “ 0 ” to the control logic 50 in the position illustrated in FIG. 7 a.
When the door is in the pre-catch position according to FIG. 7 b , the locking bolt 76 has reached the area of the corresponding sensor 51 , and, therefore, a positive signal is sent to the corresponding control logic 50 . Such a positive signal is provided because of the already described position of the pawl flap 74 , provided also in the lock 70 ′, at the pawl sensor 52 , as has already been described in connection with FIG. 6 b.
In FIG. 7 c the main catch position of the door is now present. The locking bolt 76 has been removed from the sensor 51 so that again the signal “ 0 ” is provided. For the same reason as in FIG. 6 c , the pawl sensor 52 in this case provides a positive signal.
In FIGS. 8 b to 8 d three further tables for the control logic 50 are listed which may result for a variation of the embodiment of the door locks 70 or 70 ′. As can be seen in the tables, the signals in the different positions are correlated in a different way relative to FIG. 8 a , but they are always unequivocal for the control logic. Therefore, as has been explained in connection with FIG. 6 a to 7 c , the logic can unequivocally detect each of the three positions of the door based on the signals. In order to obtain these signal variations in the three different door positions, it is only necessary to position the two sensors 51 and 52 differently relative to the afore described control locations 73 , 74 , 75 of the roller catch 11 and the pawl 20 or relative to the control bolt 76 . Another possibility is, of course, to position these control locations 73 to 76 differently while taking over the positions according to FIG. 6 a to 7 c for the two sensors 51 , 52 .
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
10 locking part
10 ′ release position of 10
11 roller catch
12 arrow of restoring force of 11
13 bearing pin of 11 , rotary axis
14 receiving device of 11 for 10
15 pivot arrow of 11 for closing or pulling shut
16 pre-catch of 11
17 main catch of 11
18 arrow of pulling shut movement of door (FIG. 3 a )
19 arrow of opening movement of door (FIG. 5 a )
20 pawl
21 locking arm of 20 ; locking location
22 storage lever
23 control surface on 22
24 first movable spring leg for 22
24 ′ second supported spring leg for 22
25 arrow of spring force of 24 (FIG. 4 a )
26 support location of 24 ′ (FIG. 4 a )
27 arrow of rotational movement of 47 for releasing 22
27 ′ further rotation of 47 in a crash situation (FIG. 5 a )
28 arrow of own spring-load of 20
29 counter control surface on 20 for 47 (FIG. 4 a )
30 drive motor
31 worm gear
32 worm wheel
33 spur gear
34 lower toothing of 35
35 transmission member, tumbler wheel
36 upper toothing of 35
37 spur gear, pulling shut drive path
38 pinion, pulling shut drive path
39 tooth gear segment, pulling shut drive path
40 axle of 35
41 first stationary axle end of 40
42 second movable axle end of 40
43 pin on 64 for 44
44 arrow of spring force for 35
45 spur gear, opening drive path
46 shaft, opening drive path
47 control cam, opening drive path
48 arrow of counter rotation of 47 (FIG. 5 a )
49 contact surface on 22 (FIG. 4 a )
50 control logic
51 first sensor, roller catch sensor
52 second sensor, pawl sensor
53 shaft, pulling shut drive path
54 output member of pulling shut drive path, lever
55 shoulder for 54 , control end of 56
56 arc-shaped rib on the 11 (FIG. 2 a )
57 first contact location between 55 , 54 (FIG. 2 a )
57 ′ second contact location between 55 , 54 (FIG. 3 a )
58 inner arc surface of 56 (FIG. 1 a )
59 release pin on 20 (FIGS. 4 a , 4 c )
60 switching device
61 rocker of 60
62 bearing of 61
63 crank guide in 64
64 tooth gear segment
65 coupling motor for 60
66 pinion
67 bearing of 64 , shaft end of 46
68 the guide pin on 61 for 63
69 counter contact surface on 20 (FIG. 4 a )
70 door lock (FIGS. 6 a to 6 c )
70 ′ door lock (FIGS. 7 a to 7 c )
71 electric line for 51
72 electric line for 52
73 flap on 11 (FIG. 6 b )
74 flap on 20 (FIG. 6 b )
75 cutout on 11
76 locking bolt of 10 at 70 ′ (FIGS. 7 a to 7 c )
F 1 drive force of 54 (FIG. 2 a )
F 1 ′ force component of F 1 for 11 (FIG. 2 a )
F 2 drive force of 54 (FIG. 3 a )
r arm length vpm drive moment for 11 (FIG. 2 a )
r 1 arm length for drive torque of 54 (FIG. 2 a )
r 2 arm length for drive torque of 54 (FIG. 3 a )
|
The invention relates to a door lock provided with a roller catch ( 11 ). When the door is closed an immobile locking part ( 10 ) moves into said roller catch ( 11 ), causing it to pivot from an open position into a preliminary or main latching position, the roller catch ( 11 ) being held by a latch. For greater user comfort and a more compact door lock the invention provides for the same drive motor ( 30 ) to be used as locking aid and as opening aid. A transmission element ( 35 ) which can be moved into two different positions is introduced into the gear assembly ( 31, 37 ). The drive energy generated by the drive motor ( 30 ) is transmitted in one position to the roller catch and in the other position to a second output track leading to the locking latch ( 20 ).
| 8
|
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to sewing machines, and in particular to a new and useful method and apparatus for sewing together two pieces of cloth while maintaining correct alignment of a pattern on the two pieces of cloth.
A method for the pattern-correct sewing together of two cloth parts or pieces having the same pattern structure is not yet known. A sewing machine is known (German OS 24 12 896) which can sew together two cloth parts in equal lengths. Here the length difference of the two ends of the cloth parts is measured by sensors, and via an evaluating system the positioning system for the feed means is influenced accordingly. Through German Pat. No. 24 37 377 a similar device is known, in which the feed correction is checked by a second sensor arrangement during sewing and the evaluating system carries out a correction of the feed related deviation.
In the arrangements according to the state of the art, therefore, only the offset of the ends of the cloth parts can be compensated during the sewing operation, in that the value of this offset is supplied to the evaluating system, which then, after calculation of the necessary correction, controls the displacement of the positioning system for the feed of the cloth parts. A pattern-correct sewing together of cloth parts is therefore not possible with the known arrangements. Instead, pattern-correct sewing was heretofore possible only by continuous visual control of the seamstress and correction when necessary. This work, however, requires great concentration and care and is possible only at very low sewing speeds with interruptions of the sewing operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for the pattern-or-structure-correct sewing together of several cloth parts or pieces.
Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for the pattern-correct sewing together of two pieces of cloth which each carry the same pattern structure, by a sewing machine with one cloth feed means arranged over and one cloth feed means arranged under the cloth pieces, a relative feed amount of the feed means being variable by at least one positioning system or relative cloth feed adjustment means which is capable of changing the relative position of the cloth pieces. The invention utilizes a sensor arranged upstream of a stitch forming point where the cloth pieces are to be sewn together, for generating signals that correspond to a position of each cloth, the signals being formed by the sensing of the pattern on each cloth piece. A signal processing unit is connected to each sensor for processing the signals and for generating a correction signal which is applied to the positioning system for adjusting the relative positions of the cloth pieces so that the patterns become aligned. Thereby the mutual difference of the pattern structure of the two cloth parts is determined continuously and is automatically compensated by correction of the positioning system for the cloth feed.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method wherein the single processing unit comprises an arithmetic unit which determines an offset between the two cloth pieces from a sequence of signals coming from the sensors, and operates to calculate a cross correlation function and a displacement from a normal aligned position of the cloth pieces and their patterns. The patterns may be sensed by illuminating the cloth pieces near an area where their position is to be measured and sensing the reflected light.
By evaluating the signal sequences, an unambiguous determination of the relative position of the two cloth parts can be achieved.
This can be accomplished by combining the signals from a short length of the fabric containing a fine structure of the pattern, and a larger length which contains a repeat pattern that is made up of the fine structure pattern.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for the pattern-correct sewing together of two cloth pieces which each carry the same pattern, comprising stitch forming means for forming a stitch at a stitch forming area, first cloth feed means for feeding one of the cloths in a feed path, second cloth feed means for feeding the other cloth in the feed path, relative cloth feed adjustment means connected to adjust the relative positions of the cloth pieces moving along the feed path, first and second sensor means each adjacent the stitch forming area and provided to sense the passing pattern of each respective cloth piece and to generate signals corresponding to the position of each cloth piece, and a signal processing unit connected to the sensors for receiving a sequence of signals and which can generate a signal corresponding to an offset between the positions of the two cloths, the offset signal being utilized to operate the relative cloth feed adjustment means to realign the patterns of the two pieces of cloth.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a device wherein the sensors each comprise a light receiving element which can optically sense the pattern of each cloth piece, the light-receiving element preferably comprising a row of light sensing members lying transversely to a feed direction of the cloth pieces on the feed path.
In particular, by using a short length of light-receiving elements in the feed direction and by measuring the integral over a sufficiently large area crosswise to the feed direction, a high resolution of pattern definition is obtained while the susceptibility of the method and system to error is low.
An alternative signal processing mechanism is feasible in an arrangement of the signal receiving elements wherein a matrix field of light sensors is provided in rows and columns. Such an arrangement permits a pattern position determination of the two cloth parts independent of the transport speed. To avoid blur due to motion, the non-transport phase of the intermittent cloth transport of the sewing machine can be utilized for signal reception.
A further object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine for the pattern-correct sewing together of cloth pieces having the same pattern, which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment is illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the Drawings:
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a periodically striped pattern structure for a piece of cloth, on an enlarged scale;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the sewing machine with the inventive control arrangement;
FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the sewing machine of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a measuring head for a sensor of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the signal processing unit of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a signal pattern at the output of a sensor during scanning of the pattern structure shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a signal pattern at the output of a transducer during scanning of a cloth piece having a certain pattern structure; and
FIG. 8 shows the correlator functions, calculated by the signal processing unit, of different regions of the signal pattern according to FIG. 7.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention illustrated therein comprises a sewing machine which is capable of stitching two or more cloth pieces together while maintaining correct alignment of a pattern carried by each of the pieces.
When outer garment parts are sewn together, frequently materials are used which have, in two directions which are perpendicular to each other, a periodically striped structure or pattern. For the pattern-correct sewing together of these cloth pieces or parts, usually only the structure in one of these two directions needs to be taken into consideration. Often the pattern or structure consists of a long period base structure, the so-called repeat, which is filled out by one or more short period fine structures extending over a limited part of the repeat. FIG. 1 schematically represents a detail from such a stripe structure in one direction. Here P denotes the repeat while P 1 and P 2 designate two different fine structure forms. For pattern-correct sewing, the two cloth parts to be sewn must match both with respect to the base structures P and with respect to the fine structures P 1 and P 2 .
FIG. 2 shows the side view of a part of a sewing machine which comprises in known manner a bottom plate 1 and a head 2. Received in the head 2 of the sewing machine is a presser bar 4 carrying a conventional presser foot 3, and also a needle bar 5, whose thread carrying needle 6 cooperates with a looper or a shuttle (not shown). For pushing forward two cloth parts 7 and 8 to be joined together, the sewing machine has an upper feeder 9 and a lower feeder 10.
The lower feeder 10 (FIG. 3) is carried by a holder 11 which is arranged below the bottom plate 1 and whose forked end embraces an eccentric 12 which is arranged on a shaft 13 mounted in the bottom plate 1. Eccentric 12 imparts to the feeder 10 a stroke movement with every stitch-forming process. The as yet free end of holder 11 is connected to a forked link 14 which is fastened on a shaft 15 likewise mounted in the bottom plate 1. For the drive of shaft 15, a shaft 16 which is parallel to shaft 15 and which is driving in connection with it, has an eccentric 17 fastened to it. An eccentric rod 18 of eccentric 17 is articulated on a journal 19. Mounted on journal 19 is a link 20, which by means of a journal 21 is connected to a crank 22 fastened on shaft 15. Laterally of the eccentric rod 18, on journal 19, a link 23 is fastened, which embraces a journal 25 carried by a crank 24. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the effective length of link 23 equals the effective length of link 20, so that when the two journals 21 and 25 are in alignment, shaft 15 remains at rest even though eccentric rod 18 moves.
To vary the ability of eccentric rod 18 to move shaft 15, crank 24 is clamped onto a setting shaft 26 which is mounted in the bottom plate 1 and which carries in addition a setting crank 27. Through an intermediate member 28 and an additional setting crank 29, the setting crank 27 is connected to an intermediate shaft 30 which is mounted on the bottom plate 1. A lever 31 is clamped to the free end of shaft 30. The lever 31 is connected by a ball-end pull rod 32 to one end of a rocking lever 33, which swivels about an axle 34 which is fixed to the sewing machine housing. The as yet free end of rocking lever 33 has a spherical projection 35 and protrudes into a positioning cam or cam slot 36 of a fixable adjusting wheel 37 disposed on an axle 38 which is held by the housing. The positioning cam 36 in the adjusting wheel 37 spirals relative to the wheel's axle 38 in such a way that stitch lengths of e.g. 1 to 6 mm can be adjusted for the lower feeder. A spring 39, surrounding the intermediate shaft 30 and fastened on the bottom plate 1 on one side, holds the projection 35 of rocking lever 33 in permanent abutment on one of the side walls of the adjusting cam 36.
At its lower end, the presser bar 4 (FIG. 2) is provided with a cross-piece 40 carrying a pin 41. On pin 41 is mounted a link 42 which by means of a journal 43 is articulatedly connected to the upper feeder 9. The feeder 9 is urged downwardly by a spring loaded ball 44 and receives its stroke movement from a lever 45 which is pivotably mounted on support 40 and whose free end engages a roller 46 from below. Roller 46 is carried by two lateral bearing webs of the upper feeder 9. The other end of lever 45 is connected through an intermediate member 47, to an angle lever 48 which is pivotably mounted on a journal 49 (FIG. 3) fixed to the housing. The angle lever 48 is articulated to an eccentric rod 50 which embraces an eccentric 52 rotatably mounted on a journal 51 in head 2. Eccentric 52 receives its drive from an intermediate member 53 which is rotatably mounted on a journal 54 which in turn is carried by the arm shaft crank 55a formed in one piece with the upper main shaft 55 of the machine. As a comparatively slight swinging motion of the angle lever 48 suffices to raise the upper feeder 9, the point of articulation of intermediate member 53 and eccentric 52 lies on a prolongation of the crank 55a of the upper main shaft 55 of the sewing machine.
To drive the upper feeder 9 (FIG. 2), an intermediate link 56 engages feeder 9 at journal 43. Link 56, by means of a journal 57 is connected to a rocking lever 58, which in turn is fastened on a rocking shaft 59 mounted in head 2 of the sewing machine (FIG. 3). The rocking shaft 59 derives its drive from a crank 60 fastened on it, which is connected through a link 61 to a crank arm 62 of an upper rocking shaft 63. The upper rocking shaft 63 is driven indirectly by an eccentric 64 arranged on the upper main shaft 55, its eccentric rod 65 embracing a journal 66 which is carried by two lateral webs of a yoke 67. At journal 66 there engages also a link 68, which is articulated by means of journal 69 to a crank 70 carried by the upper rocking shaft 63. By means of two mutually aligned bearing pins 71 and 71, yoke 67 is pivotably mounted on a positioning member 72 which is provided with an axle stub 73 and is pivotably mounted in the housing of the sewing machine. When the positioning member 72 is pivoted about its axle stub 73, the relative position between the bearing pins 71 and journal 69 changes and hence also the magnitude of the swinging motion of crank 70 changes.
To displace the positioning member 72, its axle stub 73 has fastened on it a link 74 which through a link 75 and a journal 76 engages at the upper end of a connecting rod 77. The lower end of the connecting rod is articulated to a positioning crank 78 which in turn is clamped onto the positioning shaft 26. By this arrangement a displacement of the adjusting wheel 37 for feed adjustment of the lower feeder 10 can be changed synchronously with the feed adjustment of the upper feeder 9.
To be able to vary the amount of feed of the upper feeder 9 to obtain equal feed lengths of the two cloth parts 7 and 8 relative to the amount of feed of the lower feeder 10, an adjusting system or relative adjustment means 80 is provided which comprises a step motor 81 as well as a control disc 83 arranged on a drive shaft 82 of the motor. A curved groove 84 is cut in disc 83, into which a pin 85 engages. The pin 85 is received by a rocking lever 86 which swivels about an axle 87 fixed to the housing and is articulatedly connected at its upper end to an intermediate member 88. The as yet free end of intermediate member 88 engages at journal 76 connecting the connecting rod 77 to link 75, and thus makes it possible, with the adjusting wheel 37 engaged, to vary the angular position of the two links 74 and 75 forming a bending joint, to vary the amount of feed of the upper feeder 9.
In the bottom plate 1 (FIG. 2) a stitch plate 89 is received, which has a cutout for passage of the lower feeder 10. Into a second cutout of the stitch plate 89 there protrudes a measuring head 90 of a sensor 91 for the lower cloth part 8. The surface of measuring head 90 ends at the surface of stitch plate 89. A light source 92 is connected, through a light guide 93 consisting of a plurality of optical fibers, to the measuring head 90, to which is connected, via a further light guide 94 also consisting of a plurality of optical fibers, an opto-electronic transducer 95, which includes a measuring point opposite the end points of the optical fibers and which is connected via a line 96 to a signal processing unit 97.
Arranged on a support 98 attached to head 2 is a light source 99 of an additional sensor 100. Light source 99 illuminates the surface of cloth part 7. Attached to the support 98 is a lens 101 as well as a measuring head 102, to which the light reflected by the measuring point is guided via lens 101 and which is connected by a light guide 103 to an opto-electronic transducer 104. The latter is connected via a line 105 to the signal processing unit 97, the output of which is in turn connected by a line 106 to the step motor 81. By insertion of an optical filter in the ray path between the light source and the measuring point, color structures of the cloth parts can be emphasized to increase their contrast.
Shaft 16 (FIG. 3) carries a pulse disc 108 bearing a plurality of line marks 107 and cooperating with a pulse generator 109. The line marks 107 are present on a part of the pulse disc 108 only, namely on that part which traverses the pulse generator 109 during the transport phase of feeder 10. Thus the pulse generator delivers clock pulses only during the transport phase of the sewing machine.
For exact coincidence of the delivered pulses with equal portions of a feed step of the feeders 9 and 10 of the same amount, the line marks 107 advantageously exhibit different angular distances adapted to the irregularly progressing feed movement. The angular distance between two adjacent line marks 107 represents a constant feed portion of a single feed step of the feeders 9 and 10.
The signal processing unit 97 (FIG. 5) comprises an input module 110, a storage module 111, a correlator module 112, a coordinate evaluating module 113, a microprocessor 114, and a correction system 115, which are connected together by appropriate lines.
Line 105 is connected to an amplifier stage 117, and line 96 to an amplifier stage 118, both being arranged in the input module 110 and connected to inputs of a multiplexer 119. The output thereof is connected to an A/D converter 120, which is connected via a bus line 121 to controllable digital switches 122, 123, 122' and 123' provided in the storage module 111. A memory 124, 125, 124', 125' is connected to each switch 122, 123, 122', 123', which in turn is connected to a digital switch 126, 127, 126', 127'. The outputs of the digital switches 126 and 126' are connected via a common bus line 128, and the outputs of the digital switches 127 and 127' via a common bus line 129, to inputs of the correlator module 112, which in turn is connected to the coordinate evaluating module 113, which contains a memory for the correction function and an evaluating system. Evaluating module 113 is connected to a bus line 130, with which also the microprocessor 114 and the corrections system 115 are connected. Via line 106 finally the correction system 115 is connected to the step motor 81 (FIG. 3).
The two measuring heads 90 and 102 (FIG. 4) are designed in such a way that their field of vision is small in the direction of movement of the cloth parts 7 and 8, while it is large in the direction normal thereto. Thereby a high resolution of the measuring system in the movement direction is obtained, while at the same time, due to summing of the light intensity crosswise to the feed direction, stochastic and systematic influences of the fabric pattern structure (e.g. caused by longitudinal stripes) are reduced. FIG. 4 shows the field of vision of measuring head 90 facing the cloth part 8, on an enlarged scale. As the figure shows, the field of vision consists of an inner row of end points of the fibers of the light guide 94 serving as light-receiving elements 94', and of two outer rows of end points of the fibers of light guide 93 serving as light emitting elements 93'. The light guides 93 and 94 are distributed over the total surface of the field of vision in such a way that a sufficiently uniform illumination and measuring sensitivity over the total field of vision is obtained. In the case of measuring head 102 for observation of the upper cloth part 7, only the light-receiving elements 94' of light guide 103 are in the field of vision.
Measurement of the mutual correlation of the cloth parts 7 and 8 is carried out by comparison of the signal delivered by opto-electronic tansducers 95 and 104 on the lines 96 and 105. FIG. 6 shows the signal course which would be produced by the cloth structure according to FIG. 1 at uniform movement at one of the transducers 95 or 104. The periods of the spatial base structure P and the fine structure P 1 and P 2 in FIG. 1 correspond to the base intervals and time periods P 1 and P 2 of the fine structures. If in FIG. 2 the cloth parts 7 and 8 are not offset relative to each other, uniform signal sequences will result on line 96 and 105, but if the cloth parts 7 and 8 are offset relative to each other, the signals at the transducers 95 and 104 will have a similar form, but will be displaced relative to each other in time. If the speed of the cloth parts 7 and 8 is known, this time shift is a measure of the offset v in space. If s 1 (t) is the signal resulting at the output of transducer 104, and s 2 (t) the signal resulting at the output of transducer 95, there applies in case of offset:
s.sub.2 (t)=s.sub.1 (t+t.sub.v) (1)
In known manner the delay t v at time t o is measured by formation of the cross-correlation function ##EQU1## T being the integration interval.
With equation (1) we find that ##EQU2## K 12 (t o ; τ) has its maximum at τ=t v . By calculation of the cross correlation function (2) and determination of the displacement parameter belonging to its maximum, the delay t v at measuring time t o is thereby determined.
When sewing the two cloth parts 7 and 8, which are placed by the seamstress under the presser foot 3 in approximately pattern-correct superposition, the two measuring heads 95 and 102 of the sensors 91 and 100 continuously pick up the brightness values via the light guides 94 and 103, respectively, to the transducers 95 and 104. In them the sum of the brightness values picked up by the light-receiving elements 94' of light guide 94 and of light guide 103, respectively, is measured, and the sum values are delivered as electrical signals separately via the guides 96 and 105 to the signal processing unit 97.
FIG. 7 illustrates the signal sequence of cloth part 8 during sewing, measured for example by transducer 95, a certain fabric pattern being assumed. On the other cloth part 7, having the same fabric pattern, the transducer 104 measures via the measuring head 102 a similar signal sequence, in which, according to the optical dimensions of the receiving system, the amplitude values may be changed and the signal sequence is offset according to the offset of the two cloth parts 7 and 8 relative to that measured at transducer 95. The signal values measured by the transducers 95 and 104 are supplied to the multiplexer 119 via lines 96 and 105 by way of the amplifier stages 117 and 118. With the control unit 116 alternately one of the signals is switched through to the A/D converter 120. As a result of the clock pulses delivered by the pulse generator 109 and proportional to the feed of the cloth parts 7 and 8, two signal sequences with equi-distant scanning values are obtained.
From the A/D converter 120, the digitalized signal values are sent to the bus line 121. Via the digital switches 122, 123, 122', 123', the control unit 116 controls the transmission of the digitalized signal values to the respective memories 124, 125, 124', 125'. As schematically shown in FIG. 7, the storage is overlapping, i.e. the signal values from start of sewing s 0 to sewing position s 1 are deposited in memory 124 for the upper cloth part 7 and in memory 125 for the lower cloth part 8. From this time on, the signal values in the feed section a are stored parallel, that is, in the memories 124 and 125 as well as in the memories 124' and 125'. From sewing position s 2 on, storage of the data in memories 124 and 125 is stopped, while storage in the memories 124' and 125' is continued up to sewing position s 4 .
Within the time required to cover the distance between sewing position s 2 and s 3 (feed section b), the control unit 116 controls via the digital switches 126 and 127 the read-out of the memory contents of memories 124 and 125 via the bus lines 128 and 129 to the correlator module 112. There the cross correlation function values from the two data sequences deposited in memories 124 and 125 are calculated from the data sequences of the respective evaluated regions of the two cloth parts 7 and 8. FIG. 8 shows correlation values of different zones A, B and C indicated in FIG. 7.
The correlation function values of the evaluated scanning zones, x,y and x', y', respectively, are then transferred into the coordinate-evaluating module 113, and the correlation maxima as well as their positions are calculated. By evaluation of the position and height of the maxima the offset of the two cloth parts 7 and 8 is calculated. The evaluation is controlled through the microprocessor 114. The latter then also brings about via the correction unit 115 a corresponding influence on on the step motor 81. To this end, a sequence of corrected signals is formed by the correction unit 115, depending on the offset of the two cloths parts 7 and 8. The correction signals are supplied in suitable manner via line 106 to the step motor 81 as step pulses for its displacement.
In the embodiment of the invention shown, if the positions of the patterns of the two cloth parts 7 and 8 differ, only the adjustment of the upper feeder 9 is changed relative to the adjustment of the lower feeder 10, using the device 80, in order thus to obtain coincidence of the patterns. Naturally it would be possible also to change the adjustment of the lower feeder 10 instead of the upper, or to change the adjustment of both feeders 9 and 10 accordingly.
If, despite the synchronous feed movement of the two feeders 9 and 10, one of the two cloth parts 7, 8 leads relative to the other, for instance the upper cloth part 7 relative to the lower cloth part 8, the step motor receives corresponding step pulses and imparts an intermittent rotary movement to shaft 82 and hence to the control disc 83. The rocking lever 86 executes a swinging movement about its axis 87 fixed to the housing and changes, through the intermediate member 88, the relative position of the two links 74 and 75. The connecting rod 77 then does indeed execute a pivoting movement about the journal which connects it to the positioning crank 78, but this movement remains without effect on the adjustment of the lower feeder 10 due to the locked adjusting wheel 37 and the crank 78 thus blocked. Due to the change of the flexed position of the two links 74 and 75, the positioning member 72 executes a pivoting movement about its axle stub 73, so that the journals 71 carrying the yoke 67 are brought closer to the axle of journal 69 and the stroke of the eccentric 64 acting on the upper rocking shaft 63 is reduced accordingly. Step motor 81 receives step pulses until the structural patterns of the two cloth parts 7 and 8 coincide again.
If during the sewing operation the two cloth parts 7 and 8 shift relative to each other in such a way that the lower cloth part 8 leads relative to the upper cloth part 7, then the step motor 81 receives oppositely directed step pulses and imparts to the control disc 83 a movement in opposite direction to its first rotary movement.
The rocking lever 86 then executes a movement in the opposite direction to its first swinging movement, whereby the flexed position of the two links 74 and 75 is changed oppositely and the journals 71 carrying the yoke 67 are moved away from the axle of journal 69. The stroke of the eccentric 64 acting on the upper rocking shaft 63 is thereby increased. This adjustment of the upper feeder 9 is maintained until the coincidence of the structured patterns of the two cloth parts 7 and 8 is restored.
It is evident from the above disclosure that the difference of the individual cloth parts 7 and 8 resulting during sewing are compensated immediately. The two cloth parts 7 and 8 can thus be joined in a pattern-correct manner with certainty, and shifts of position occurring during the sewing operation can be eliminated immediately. It is, of course, possible to design the control circuit of the step motor 81 so that its drive shaft 82 is brought back into a certain position (to its neutral starting position) after execution of each sewing operation, for example after the stopping of the upper main shaft 55 of the machine.
Instead of the described sequential data determination of a predetermined length zone of the two cloth parts 7 and 8, simultaneous determination of the measured values of the length zone is possible. To this end, instead of one row of light-receiving elements 94', a plurality of parallel rows of these light elements 94' are provided in the sensors 91 and 100.
The light-receiving elements 94 in each row are then joined together and connected to a measuring point. Thus, for each row of light-receiving elements 94' a measuring point is provided, the values of which can then be read into the memories 124 and 125 or 124' and 125' sequentially or in parallel by the signal processing unit 97 during a non-transport phase of the sewing machine.
Another possibility is to design the light-receiving elements 94' of the measuring heads directly as photo-sensitive elements. They may then consist of a matrix formed by photo diodes, provided they have a sufficiently large number of single elements sufficiently close together to obtain good resolution, the rows which extend crosswise to the feed direction being connected together.
For sewing fabric patterns extending obliquely to the feed direction, the sensor 91 of stitch plate 89 and the sensor 100 may be attached on its support 98 rotatable by certain degrees of angle, in order that their measuring heads 90,102 can adapt themselves to the structure of the cloth parts 7 and 8 then extending obliquely during feed. By this measure the row of light-receiving elements 94' can be adapted to the pattern, so that the intensifying effect caused by the linear merging of the light-receiving elements 94' is maintained in the pattern changes extending in the direction of the row.
Lastly, the field of vision of the sensors 91 and 100 may have rows of light elements 94' extending in the form of rays. For an obliquely extending fabric structure the light elements 94' of a row extending parallel to the structure are then connectable to the respective transducer 95 or 104.
While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
|
A method and apparatus for the pattern-correct sewing together of two pieces of cloth having the same pattern by a sewing machine with one cloth feed mechanism arranged over and one arranged under the cloth pieces, the feed quantity of which is variably by at least one positioning system relative to each other, uses a sensor arranged upstream of a stitch forming point for each cloth piece and a signal processing unit which processes signals from the sensors corresponding to the relative position of the cloth pieces and which influences the positioning system for the feed mechanism in accordance with the established relative position of the cloth pieces. For the pattern-correct sewing together of the two cloth pieces, the pattern structure of each cloth piece is continuously determined by the sensors by measuring values of a structure-or pattern-typical criterion. The found values are sent as signals to the signal processing unit, and the signals of both sensors, taken from the two cloth pieces within the same predetermined length before the stitch forming point, are stored independently of each other in the signal processing unit as signal sequences. From the signal sequences the signal processing unit determines the momentary offset between the two cloth parts by calculation of their degree of overlap and thereby controls the positioning system.
| 3
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0092844, filed on Sep. 22, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND
1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a microspeaker, and more particularly, to a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based piezoelectric microspeaker and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
The piezoelectric effect is the reversible conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy using a piezoelectric material. In other words, the piezoelectric effect is a phenomenon in which a potential difference is generated when pressure or vibration is applied to a piezoelectric material, and the piezoelectric material deforms or vibrates when a potential difference is applied thereto.
Piezoelectric speakers use the principle of applying a potential difference to a piezoelectric material to deform or vibrate the piezoelectric material and generating sound according to the vibration.
With the rapid progress of personal mobile communication, research on a subminiature acoustic transducer has been carried out for several decades. In particular, piezoelectric microspeakers have been researched due to their simple structures and ability to operate at low voltage.
In general, a piezoelectric microspeaker includes a piezoelectric plate having an electrode layer formed on each side, and a non-piezoelectric diaphragm. When voltage is applied through the electrode layers, the piezoelectric plate is deformed, which causes the diaphragm to vibrate and generate sound.
However, since the piezoelectric microspeaker has a lower sound output level than a voice coil microspeaker, there are few cases of it being put to practical use. Thus, a piezoelectric microspeaker which has a small size and a high sound output level is needed.
SUMMARY
A method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker, according to an embodiment, includes forming a lower drive unit by forming a first drive electrode by depositing and etching a thin first conductive layer on a substrate, forming a first piezoelectric plate by depositing and etching a thin first piezoelectric layer on the first drive electrode, and forming a first common electrode by depositing and etching a thin second conductive layer on the first piezoelectric plate; a diaphragm forming step of forming a diaphragm by depositing and etching a thin non-conductive layer on the first common electrode; and an upper drive unit forming step of: forming a second common electrode by depositing and etching a thin third conductive layer on the diaphragm, forming a second piezoelectric plate by depositing and etching a second thin piezoelectric layer on the second common electrode, and forming a second drive electrode by depositing and etching a thin fourth conductive layer on the second piezoelectric plate.
A method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker, according to another embodiment, includes: forming a lower drive unit by depositing and etching a thin first conductive layer and a thin first piezoelectric layer on a substrate in sequence; forming a diaphragm by depositing and etching a thin second conductive layer on the lower drive unit; and forming an upper drive unit by depositing and etching a thin second piezoelectric layer and a thin third conductive layer on the diaphragm in sequence.
The method may further include: before forming the lower drive unit, etching a part of the substrate to form a cavity in which the lower drive unit is subsequently formed.
A piezoelectric microspeaker, according to another embodiment, is fabricated according to one of the above-described methods.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to an embodiment.
FIGS. 2A to 2E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to another embodiment.
FIGS. 4A to 4E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to another embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment.
FIGS. 6A to 6E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment.
FIGS. 8A to 8E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments are shown. The general inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure is thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.
It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on” or “connected to” another element or layer, it may be directly on or directly connected to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” or “directly connected to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to an embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 1 , the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment includes a diaphragm 101 , a lower drive unit 102 and an upper drive unit 103 . The lower drive unit 102 and the upper drive unit 103 may be symmetrically formed with respect to the diaphragm 101 . The lower and upper drive units 102 and 103 may include drive electrodes 201 and 301 connected to a drive power source 110 , piezoelectric plates 202 and 302 which deform according to an applied voltage, and common electrodes 203 and 303 connected to a common power source 120 .
The first drive electrode 201 and the second drive electrode 301 may be connected with each other and to the drive power source 110 , and the first common electrode 203 and the second common electrode 303 may be connected with each other and to the common power source. For example, the drive power source may be an alternating current (AC) power source 110 , and the common power source 120 may be ground which provides a reference value of voltage generated from the AC power source 110 .
When the power sources 110 and 120 are connected as described above, electric fields are generated between the first drive electrode 201 and the first common electrode 203 and between the second drive electrode 301 and the second common electrode 303 , respectively. According to the generated electric fields, the piezoelectric plates 202 and 302 may deform, and the deformation may be applied to the diaphragm 101 . For example, when an AC voltage is applied to the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment, the piezoelectric plates 202 and 302 repeatedly contract and expand according to a change in voltage, which causes the diaphragm 101 to vibrate and generate sound.
Here, the electric fields generated between the first drive electrode 201 and the first common electrode 203 and between the second drive electrode 301 and the second common electrode 303 point in opposite directions. For example, a downward electric field may be generated between the first drive electrode 201 and the first common electrode 203 , and an upward electric field may be generated between the second drive electrode 301 and the second common electrode 303 . Thus, the deformation directions of the first piezoelectric plate 202 and the second piezoelectric plate 302 are also opposite to each other. Assuming that the first and second piezoelectric plates 202 and 302 have, for example, a disk shape, the second piezoelectric plate 302 may contract toward its center when the first piezoelectric plate 202 expands from its center to the periphery. Due to the piezoelectric plates 202 and 302 deforming in opposite directions under and on the diaphragm 101 , respectively, a deformation efficiency of the diaphragm 101 can be improved.
In the piezoelectric microspeaker of FIG. 1 according to this embodiment, the diaphragm 101 and the drive units 102 and 103 may be formed by depositing various materials in the form of thin layers on a substrate 104 and etching the deposited layers in specific shapes using a semiconductor fabrication process.
FIGS. 2( a ) to 2 ( e ) are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to an embodiment. This may serve as an example of a method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker of FIG. 1 .
The method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2A to 2 E.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 2A , an insulating layer 105 is formed by oxidizing the upper surface of the substrate 104 or depositing and etching a thin insulating layer on the substrate 104 . The insulating layer 105 provides insulation between the lower drive unit 102 to be formed and the substrate 104 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 2B , the first drive electrode 201 , the first piezoelectric plate 202 and the first common electrode 203 are formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer, a thin piezoelectric layer, and a thin conductive layer in sequence. The first drive electrode 201 , the first piezoelectric plate 202 , and the first common electrode 203 may constitute the lower drive unit 102 formed under the diaphragm 101 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 2C , the diaphragm 101 is formed by depositing and etching a thin polymer layer. At this time, the center of the diaphragm 101 can be formed to protrude according to the shape of the lower drive unit 102 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 2D , the second common electrode 303 , the second piezoelectric plate 302 and the second drive electrode 301 are formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer, a thin piezoelectric layer and a thin conductive layer in sequence. The second common electrode 303 , the second piezoelectric plate 302 and the second drive electrode 301 may constitute the upper drive unit 103 formed on the diaphragm 101 . In addition, in this process, the first drive electrode 201 can be electrically connected with the second drive electrode 301 , and the first common electrode 203 can be electrically connected with the second common electrode 303 .
Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 2E , the diaphragm 101 is released by etching through the lower side of the substrate 104 .
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to another embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 3 , in the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment, a lower drive unit 1102 and an upper drive unit 1103 may be symmetrically formed with respect to a diaphragm 1101 . The lower and upper drive units 1102 and 1103 may include drive electrodes 1201 and 1301 connected to a drive power source 110 , piezoelectric plates 1202 and 1302 deforming according to voltage, and common electrodes 1203 and 1303 connected to a common power source 120 .
The structure of FIG. 3 is different from the structure of FIG. 1 in that the diaphragm 1101 is formed to be flat. More specifically, while the center of the diaphragm 101 protrudes in the structure of FIG. 1 such that the edge of the diaphragm 101 is disposed at the same level as the lower drive unit 102 , the lower drive unit 1102 is formed at a relatively lower level in the structure of FIG. 3 such that the edge and center of the diaphragm 1101 are at the same level.
As described above, the first drive electrode 1201 and the second drive electrode 1301 may be connected to the drive power source 110 , and the first common electrode 1203 and the second common electrode 1303 may be connected to the common power source 120 . Thus, the deformation directions of the first piezoelectric plate 202 and the second piezoelectric plate 1302 are opposite to each other.
FIGS. 4A to 4E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to another embodiment. This may serve as an example of a method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker of FIG. 3 .
The method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4A to 4 E.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 4A , a cavity 401 is formed by etching a part of a substrate 1104 to make a space in which the lower drive unit 1102 will be formed, and an insulating layer 1105 is formed by oxidizing the substrate 1104 or by depositing a thin insulating layer on the substrate 1104 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 4B , the first drive electrode 1201 , the first piezoelectric plate 1202 and the first common electrode 1203 are formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer, a thin piezoelectric layer and a thin conductive layer in sequence. The first drive electrode 1201 , the first piezoelectric plate 1202 and the first common electrode 1203 may constitute the lower drive unit 1102 formed under the diaphragm 1101 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 4C , the diaphragm 1101 is formed by depositing and etching a thin polymer layer. At this time, a part of the lower drive unit 1102 is within the cavity 401 of the substrate 1104 , and thus the diaphragm 1101 can be formed to be substantially flat.
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 4D , the second common electrode 1303 , the second piezoelectric plate 1302 and the second drive electrode 1301 are formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer, a thin piezoelectric layer and a thin conductive layer in sequence. The second common electrode 1303 , the second piezoelectric plate 1302 and the second drive electrode 1301 may constitute the upper drive unit 1103 formed on the diaphragm 1101 . In addition, in this process, the first drive electrode 1201 can be electrically connected with the second drive electrode 1301 , and the first common electrode 1203 can be electrically connected with the second common electrode 1303 .
Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 4E , the diaphragm 1101 is released by etching through the lower side of the substrate 104 .
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 5 , in the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment, a lower drive unit 2102 and an upper drive unit 2103 may be symmetrically formed with respect to a diaphragm 2101 . The lower and upper drive units 2102 and 2103 may include drive electrodes 2201 and 2301 connected to a drive power source 110 , which may be an AC power source, and piezoelectric plates 202 and 302 deforming according to voltage.
The diaphragm 2101 is formed of a thin conductive layer, connected to a common power source, and thus can provide ground for drive voltage.
For example, when the first drive electrode 2201 and the second drive electrode 2301 are connected to the AC power source 110 and the diaphragm 2101 of the thin conductive layer is connected to ground 120 , electric fields are generated between the first drive electrode 2201 and the diaphragm 2101 and between the second drive electrode 2301 and the diaphragm 2101 , respectively.
Here, the electric fields point opposite directions. Thus, the first piezoelectric plate 2202 and the second piezoelectric plate 2302 deform in opposite directions according to the generated electric fields, and the diaphragm 2101 can vibrate according to the deformation.
FIGS. 6A to 6E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment. This may serve as an example of a method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker of FIG. 5 .
The method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6A to 6 E.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 6A , an insulating layer 2105 is formed by oxidizing the upper surface of a substrate 104 or by depositing a thin insulating layer on the substrate 104 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 6B , the first drive electrode 2201 and the first piezoelectric plate 2202 are formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer and a thin piezoelectric layer. The first drive electrode 2201 and the first piezoelectric plate 2202 may constitute the lower drive unit 2102 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 6C , an insulating layer 105 for insulation between the diaphragm 2101 and the first drive electrode 2201 is formed, and the diaphragm 2101 is formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer. At this time, the center of the diaphragm 2101 can be formed to protrude according to the shape of the lower drive unit 102 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 6D , the second piezoelectric plate 2302 is formed by depositing and etching a thin piezoelectric layer on the diaphragm 2101 , the insulating layer 2105 for insulation between the diaphragm 2101 and the second drive electrode 2301 is additionally formed, and then the second drive electrode 2301 is formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer. The second drive electrode 2301 and the second piezoelectric plate 2302 may constitute the upper drive unit 2103 . In addition, in this process, the first drive electrode 2201 can be electrically connected with the second drive electrode 2301 .
Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 6E , the diaphragm 2101 is released by etching through the lower side of the substrate 104 .
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 7 , in the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment, a lower drive unit 3102 and an upper drive unit 3103 may be symmetrically formed with respect to a diaphragm 3101 . The lower and upper drive units 3102 and 103 may include drive electrodes 3201 and 3301 connected to a drive power source 110 , and piezoelectric plates 3202 and 3302 deforming according to voltage, respectively.
The structure of FIG. 7 is different from the structure of FIG. 5 in that the diaphragm 3101 is formed to be substantially flat. More specifically, while the center of the diaphragm 2101 protrudes in the structure of FIG. 5 such that the edge of the diaphragm 2101 is disposed at the same level as the lower drive unit 2102 , the lower drive unit 3102 is formed at a relatively lower level in the structure of FIG. 7 such that the diaphragm 3101 has a generally flat structure.
As described above, the first drive electrode 3201 and the second drive electrode 3301 are connected to the drive power source 110 , and the diaphragm 3101 is formed of a thin conductive layer and connected to a common power source 120 .
FIGS. 8A to 8E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating a piezoelectric microspeaker according to yet another embodiment. This may serve as an example of a method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker of FIG. 7 .
The method of fabricating the piezoelectric microspeaker according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8A to 8 E.
First, as illustrated in FIG. 8A , a cavity 3401 is formed by etching a part of a substrate 3104 to make a space in which the lower drive unit 3102 will be formed, and an insulating layer 3105 is formed by oxidizing the substrate 3104 or by depositing a thin insulating layer on the substrate 3104 .
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8B , the first drive electrode 3201 and the first piezoelectric plate 3202 are formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer and a thin piezoelectric layer. The first drive electrode 3201 and the first piezoelectric plate 3202 may constitute the lower drive unit 3102
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8C , an insulating layer 3105 for insulation between the diaphragm 3101 and the first drive electrode 3201 is formed, and the diaphragm 3101 is formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer. At this time, a part of the lower drive unit 3102 is disposed within the cavity 3401 of the substrate 3104 , and thus the diaphragm 3101 can be formed to be generally flat.
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8D , the second piezoelectric plate 3302 is formed by depositing and etching a thin piezoelectric layer, the insulating layer 3105 for insulation between the diaphragm 3101 and the second drive electrode 3301 is additionally formed, and then the second drive electrode 3301 is formed by depositing and etching a thin conductive layer. The second piezoelectric plate 3302 and the second drive electrode 3301 may constitute the upper drive unit 3103 . In addition, in this process, the first drive electrode 3201 can be electrically connected with the second drive electrode 3301 .
Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 8E , the diaphragm 3101 is released by etching through the lower side of the substrate 104 .
It should be understood that the embodiments described herein should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodiment should typically be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in other embodiments.
|
A piezoelectric microspeaker fabricated by a method including: forming a lower drive unit by forming a first drive electrode by depositing and etching a first thin conductive layer on a substrate, forming a first piezoelectric plate by depositing and etching a first piezoelectric layer on the first drive electrode, and forming a first common electrode by depositing and etching a second conductive layer on the first piezoelectric plate; after forming the lower drive unit, forming a diaphragm by depositing a non-conductive layer on the first common electrode; and forming an upper drive unit by forming a second common electrode by depositing and etching a third conductive layer on the diaphragm, forming a second piezoelectric plate by depositing and etching a second piezoelectric layer on the second common electrode, and forming a second drive electrode by depositing and etching a fourth conductive layer on the second piezoelectric plate.
| 7
|
PRIORITY INFORMATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/441,521, filed on May 20, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The field of this invention is expanding tubulars and more particularly a gripping system for hangers or patches that is energized by longitudinal dimension change of the tubular induced by the expansion process.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] When downhole tubulars crack or otherwise need repair, patches or cladding are inserted to the proper depth and expanded into contact over the damaged area. As a result of expansion, the cladding assumes a sealed relation with the surrounding tubular. In other applications a hanger attached to a tubular string is inserted into a larger tubular. Expansion is used to anchor and seal the newly inserted string to the existing string.
[0004] Expansion is accomplished by driving a swage through the hanger or cladding. Applied hydraulic pressure from the surface is used to stroke a piston, which, in turn, drives the swage. An anchor assembly initially is energized to hold the hanger in response to applied pressure. Initially, the running tool that delivered the hanger is released when the anchor grabs the hanger to provide support for the hanger as the piston strokes the swage to obtain initial support. Once initial support is accomplished the anchor is released and the stroker for the swage is re-cocked for a repetition of the process until the swage passes through the hanger.
[0005] The specification for the tubular being repaired or the tubular in which the hanger is to be attached can vary widely. The condition of that tubular can also affect its internal diameter.
[0006] When using a swage that has a fixed dimension care must be taken to properly size it for the anticipated inside diameter where the patch or hanger is to be attached. The problem is that there is uncertainty as to the actual inside diameter after years of service. Additionally, a given swage size may be used for a variety of casing weights of a given size. If the actual diameter is smaller than anticipated, there may not be enough available force in the stroking mechanism for the swage to drive it through. In this case the swage will stall and the expansion cannot be properly completed without time-consuming trips out of the hole and replacement swages. Even worse, the swage could hang up in the hanger if it can't be driven all the way through.
[0007] One expensive way around this is to use a variable diameter swage that has the ability to change dimension in response to unexpected inside diameter dimension in the tubular in which the patch or hanger is to be attached. Fixed diameter swages are more economical and, in the past, some efforts have been made when using a fixed swage to compensate for unexpected variation from the planned inside diameter. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a prior technique for compensating for dimensional variations in the casing
[0008] Referring to FIG. 1 , a fixed diameter swage 10 is disposed inside the hanger or cladding 12 and the entire assembly is in position for expansion inside casing 14 . When hanger is mentioned it will be considered to also encompass other downhole structures such as patches or cladding. Hanger 12 has an exterior serrated surface 16 built into it for eventual engagement with the casing 14 , as shown in FIG. 2 . An inner sleeve 18 made of soft material underlays the serrations 16 . The intent is for the swage 10 to go inside sleeve 18 . If the inside diameter turns out to be smaller than anticipated, then the swage 10 will deform sleeve 18 by design. This can happen because sleeve 18 is made deliberately soft. The objective is to prevent the swage from stalling when the inside diameter of the casing turns out to be smaller than expected. Using sleeve 18 also helps to give the swage 10 an opportunity to provide sufficient contact force against casing 14 by the serrations 16 when the actual inside diameter turns out to be somewhat larger than expected. Yet the ability to provide flexibility and latitude for the actual inside diameter being smaller or larger than anticipated is limited in this design. The apparatus of the present invention seeks to provide greater latitude for diameter variations in both directions that may be incurred in the field. Additionally, the present invention seeks to improve the grip and provide resistance against release from net forces in opposed directions. One way this is accomplished is to take advantage of the phenomenon of longitudinal dimension change of the hanger under compressive or tensile stress that occurs as force is applied to drive the swage. The slip is articulated for radial extension from longitudinal shrinkage to allow a greater variation of inside diameters in which a proper grip can be maintained and the swage driven through without stalling. These and other advantages of the present invention will be more readily appreciated by those skilled in the art from a review of the description of the preferred embodiment and the claims, which appear below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] A slip for an expanding hanger or patch is disclosed. The slip is mounted over the hanger body and has an internal profile that nests within a mating profile on the exterior of the hanger. When the swage is forced through the hanger, the hanger shrinks longitudinally and as a result the slip is cammed radially to the extent the inside diameter of the surrounding tubing permits. As the swage is further advanced, the diameter of the hanger increases in the region where longitudinal dimension change has already taken place forcing the slip into preferably penetrating contact with the inside wall of the surrounding tubular.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a run in view of a prior art hanger;
[0011] FIG. 2 is the view of FIG. 1 in the set position;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a run in view of a part of a hanger showing the distinct slip and the camming mechanism;
[0013] FIG. 4 is the view of FIG. 3 with the slip set in the surrounding tubular without an opportunity to be cammed away from the hanger;
[0014] FIG. 5 is the view of FIG. 3 after the slip has had room inside the tubular inside diameter to be cammed out before being forced against the wall of the surrounding tubular;
[0015] FIGS. 6 a - 6 b shows the upper end of a hanger in the set position with slips disposed in mirror image orientation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] The overall layout can best be understood from FIG. 6 . The casing 20 has a split or an area of perforation 22 that needs to be covered with the hanger 24 . Alternatively, hanger 24 may be mounted at the uphole end of a tubing string (not shown) such that when it is expanded by the swage 26 the final result is support for the string from the casing 20 . Swage 26 has a fixed diameter and is mounted for sliding movement with respect to running tool 28 . Hanger 24 has a groove 30 into which a latch 32 on the running tool 28 is initially held. In this manner, a running string (not shown) can support the hanger 24 for proper placement in the casing 20 . Generally, the swage 26 is driven by a hydraulic stroker device (not shown). Initially, application of hydraulic pressure through the running string actuates the schematically illustrated anchor 34 for an initial grip of the hanger 24 . After some advancement of the swage 26 a grip is established between the hanger 24 and the casing 20 , as will be described below. Such expansion of the hanger 24 also results in a release of latch 32 from groove 30 . Thereafter, by cycles of applying and removing the hydraulic pressure, the swage 26 is advanced until it clears the opposite end of the hanger 24 . Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the anchor 34 can be mounted downhole of the swage 26 (as shown) or uphole of the swage 26 and still obtain sequential grips to allow repeated stroking to advance the swage 26 to its desired end of travel. The above-described technique for stepwise advancement of a fixed diameter swage 26 is a known procedure and sets the stage for the detailed description of the operation of the invention.
[0017] It should be noted that in FIG. 6 , the swage 26 is bearing down and initiating expansion by fixating the uphole end of hanger 24 . The lower end of hanger 24 is not restrained but merely held by the anchor 34 . The swage actually puts the hanger 24 in tension. For a diameter expansion of about 20% the length will decrease by about 5%. Alternatively, the swage can be forced in an uphole direction with the upper end of the hanger 24 being retained. In this situation, the hanger 24 will be in compression and the wall thickness will try to remain constant. Since the volume will remain constant after expansion, the length will shrink even more than expansion under tension. It is this change in length, as the expansion is underway that is employed in the present invention to push out the slips such as 36 and 38 to the wall of the casing across clearance 66 , if present. This use of longitudinal dimension change to drive the slip allows for greater flexibility to have the hanger 24 get a bite in a wider range of casing inside diameters than was possible in the prior designs.
[0018] Broadly stated, one aspect of the invention is the ability to take advantage of the longitudinal shrinkage of the hanger 24 , when placed under compressive or tensile stress from swaging.
[0019] FIG. 6 a illustrates slips 36 and 38 . Slip 36 has serrations or other surface treatment 40 so that upon expansion it can preferably penetrate into the wall of the casing 20 . The surface treatment 40 can also incorporate hard materials such as carbide inserts or it can be a regular pattern of protrusions or a series of rings or a thread or any other grip enhancing treatment or coating of the exterior of the slip 36 . Slip 36 is preferably a split ring with a single split longitudinally. Alternatively, the slip 36 can be a plurality of segments held to hanger 24 with a band spring or other retainer that can allow the segments to be cammed outwardly as will be described below. In another form, slip 36 can be a solid thin walled ring that can be cammed out if space permits by simply yielding or by fracturing. In the preferred embodiment slip 38 is identical to slip 36 and is installed in a mirror image manner. As seen in FIG. 6 a , slip 36 has a shoulder 42 adjacent to a mating shoulder 44 near the uphole end 46 of hanger 24 . Slip 38 is identical but is oppositely oriented so that it has a shoulder 48 near shoulder 50 on hanger 24 . Shoulder 48 is oriented closer to the downhole end of hanger 24 . While two mirror image slips 36 and 38 have been shown near one end of hanger 24 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that slips 36 and 38 can be in the same as opposed to mirror image orientation. Only one slip such as 36 or 38 can be used or even more than the two slips shown can be placed near a given end of the hanger 24 . The design of each slip can vary and some variations are suggested above. These variations can be mixed or matched.
[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of slip 36 with the casing 20 represented by a dashed line. Shoulder 42 is disposed close to shoulder 44 on hanger 24 . Hanger 24 has a recessed surface 52 that begins at shoulder 42 and a plurality of projections 54 . Typically, a projection 54 is trapezoidal in section and has opposed surfaces 56 and 58 that have intersecting slopes. In between is a preferably flat surface 60 . Slip 36 has an interior surface 62 with voids 64 that preferably conform in shape to projections 54 . Shape conformity is merely the preferred mode and is not essential. The indicated shape using inclined surfaces separated by a flat surface for the projections 54 or for conforming voids 64 is simply the preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention encompasses shapes that can nest during run in, as shown in FIG. 3 to allow a clearance 66 to exist. Then, when swage 26 begins moving into hanger 24 its length will decrease and to the extent a clearance 66 still exists, the nesting relation turns into a camming relationship as the slip 36 , or for that matter any other similarly mounted slip, is moved outwardly due to longitudinal shrinkage of the hanger 24 under stress loading. For example, if the planned expansion is about 20% the longitudinal shrinkage is approximately 5%. As shown in FIG. 5 , the further a given projection is from a point on the hanger 24 that is restrained the greater the offset between previously nested pairs of projection and corresponding depression. For example, projection 68 is fully misaligned from depression 70 so as to fully cam out the lower end 72 of slip 36 . Further uphole, projection 74 is somewhat less misaligned from depression 76 while still further uphole projection 78 is separated from but virtually still in alignment with depression 80 . FIG. 5 illustrates that where the inside diameter of the casing 20 permits, driving the swage 26 through hanger 24 will shorten it drawing the various projections about 5% of their original distance from the restrained point of the hanger 24 . Initially, until shoulder 42 on slip 36 engages shoulder 44 on hanger 24 any slack between the projections and depressions will be taken out. Thereafter, as the projections keep moving, shortening their original distance from the restrained point by about 5% or more depending on the amount of diametric expansion, due to longitudinal shrinkage the camming action commences to the extent a clearance to the inside casing wall is present. The maximum radial displacement due to shrinkage of the hanger 24 is shown in FIG. 5 . It happens when flat surface 60 is on interior surface 62 of the slip 36 . While the preferred embodiment has been shown with projections on the hanger 24 and nesting depressions on the slip 36 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the desired camming action can occur by presenting the projections on the slip 36 and the nested depressions on the hanger 24 . It is only after the camming action described above, which occurs due to shrinkage of the hanger 24 from the swage 26 moving through it, that the swage 26 can force the slip 36 into a preferably biting relation with the casing 20 through expansion of the diameter in the area of the slip 36 . The camming of slip 36 begins before the diameter under it is actually expanded.
[0021] One extreme is illustrated in FIG. 4 where the inside wall of the casing 20 is so close to slip 36 that camming action cannot occur. In this case, the applied stress that would otherwise result in longitudinal shrinking of the hanger 24 instead merely reduces the wall thickness of the hanger 24 since the slip 36 acts to fixate its end as the expansion begins.
[0022] While the preferred method described above is to longitudinally shrink the hanger 24 those skilled in the art will appreciate that it is the camming action caused by relative movement that results in the ability of the hanger 24 to compensate for inside diameters of the casing 20 . Thus any technique that results in a camming action to move a slip such as 36 outwardly, up to the point of closing an available clearance, where the camming takes place before the diameter under the slip is actually expanded, is within the scope of the invention, whether the camming is caused by shrinkage or growth of one member with respect to another or induced by other techniques.
[0023] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the lower end (not shown) of the hanger 24 can be similar to what has been illustrated for a slip layout in FIG. 6 . Alternatively, the slip arrangements can be different at opposing ends or slips can be used on only one end and still be within the scope of the invention.
[0024] After expansion, a net uphole directed dislodging force pushes shoulder 42 of slip 36 against shoulder 44 of hanger 24 to help the slip 36 dig in better to resist such force. In the opposite direction, the engagement between shoulders 48 and 50 also helps slip 38 retain its grip. In general, during the camming action, shoulder engagement between a slip and the hanger 24 converts what may have previously been longitudinal displacement into radially cammed movement.
[0025] Those skilled in the art will now appreciate that the present invention with slips that can be cammed out, or not, depending on the inside diameter of the casing 20 , allows the apparatus a greater flexibility to obtain the proper grip in a broader range of casing inside diameters than the prior designs such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . The radial range of camming is flexible from none to a maximum value where the slip is fully cammed out as a result of complete misalignment between a previously nested projection and depression or whatever the outer limit of the camming mechanism that is used due to the available relative movement. Optionally, resilient seals can be employed with the slips to enhance the sealing against the casing 20 .
[0026] The above description is illustrative of the preferred embodiment and many modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention whose scope is to be determined from the literal and equivalent scope of the claims below:
|
A slip for an expanding hanger or patch is disclosed. The slip is mounted over the hanger body and has an internal profile that nests within a mating profile on the exterior of the hanger. When a compressive force is applied to the hanger, it shrinks longitudinally and as a result the slip is cammed radially to the extent the inside diameter of the surrounding tubing permits. When the swage is advanced, the diameter of the hanger increases forcing the slip into preferably penetrating contact with the inside wall of the surrounding tubular.
| 4
|
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a system for channeling air through a cargo space, and more specifically, to a recessed air chute system.
[0003] 2. Background
[0004] Refrigerated trucks, trailers, containers, railcars, and various other types of cargo space have utilized a type of chute to channel the cold air from the blower section of a refrigeration unit to the cargo space to be cooled. Such refrigerated cargo space includes a refrigeration unit and connected blower unit to which one end of the chute is connected. The other end of the chute is open to the cargo space. These chutes are made of a textile material, e.g., canvas, cotton or similar material such as vinyl. These fabrics chutes are suspended from the ceiling or wall portion of the cargo space by snap fasteners or the like. These chutes extend approximately two-thirds of the length of the refrigerated cargo space. As these fabric chutes are flexible and suspended from the ceiling, they assume a semi-circular or catenary shape with reference to the ceiling of the cargo space.
SUMMARY
[0005] The present invention provides for channeling air through a cargo space.
[0006] In one implementation, a recessed air chute system for a cargo space is disclosed. The system includes: a front section including at least one front opening; a rear section including at least one rear opening; and at least one channel coupling the front section to the rear section, the at least one channel recessed into a ceiling of the cargo space, the at least one channel configured to receive and channel air blown into the at least one front opening through the at least one rear opening into the cargo space.
[0007] In another implementation, an apparatus for channeling air through a cargo space is disclosed. The apparatus includes: means for providing at least one front opening; means for providing at least one rear opening; and means for recessing at least one channel into a ceiling of the cargo space, the means for recessing configured to receive and channel air blown into the means for providing at least one front opening through the means for providing at least one rear opening and into the cargo space.
[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention should be apparent from the present description which illustrates, by way of example, aspects of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the appended further drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:
[0010] FIG. 1A is a bottom perspective view of a front section of conventional chutes connected to the blower section of a refrigeration unit for a cargo space;
[0011] FIG. 1B is a bottom perspective view of a rear section of the conventional chutes for a cargo space;
[0012] FIG. 2A is a bottom perspective view of a front section of a recessed air chute system in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 2B is a front view of the recessed air chute system showing the channels that are recessed into the ceiling of the cargo space;
[0014] FIG. 2C is a bottom perspective view of a rear section of the recessed air chute system in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 2D is a rear view of the recessed air chute system showing the channels that are recessed into the ceiling of the cargo space;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a rear view of a refrigerated truck or trailer including the recessed air chute system in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a rear view of a refrigerated truck or trailer including a recessed air chute system in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] As stated above, refrigerated trucks, trailers, containers, railcars, and various other types of cargo space have utilized a type of hanging vinyl chute to channel the cold air from the blower section of a refrigeration unit to the cargo space to be cooled. Such refrigerated cargo space includes a refrigeration unit and connected blower unit to which one end of the chute is connected. The other end of the chute is open to the cargo space. The disadvantages of such hanging chutes include constantly being subjected to damage during loading due to the loading equipment and/or the load tearing the chute. Another problem which has been observed with such chutes is that when the cargo load is stacked too high within the cargo space, the stacked load further tends to push the flexible or non-rigid chute against the top of the cargo space, thus creating a blockage of air which prohibits proper refrigeration of the load within the cargo space.
[0019] To address the above-stated disadvantages and problems using a hanging vinyl chute to channel the cold air from the blower section of a refrigeration unit to the cargo space, several embodiments of a recessed air chute design are proposed. In one embodiment, the recessed air chute includes channels built into the ceiling of the cargo space. After reading this description it will become apparent how to implement the invention in various implementations and applications. However, although various implementations of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these implementations are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of various implementations should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 1A is a bottom perspective view of a front section of conventional chutes 100 connected to the blower section 110 of a refrigeration unit 120 for a cargo space. FIG. 1A shows the conventional chutes 100 configured as hanging vinyl chutes to channel the cold air from the blower section 110 of a refrigeration unit 120 to the cargo space to be cooled. As shown, the blower unit 110 connects to the front section of the chutes 100 at connection points 130 , 132 . The rear section of the chutes are open to the cargo space (shown in FIG. 1B ). These chutes are made of a textile material, e.g., canvas, cotton or similar material such as vinyl. As stated above, these fabrics chutes are suspended from the ceiling or wall portion of the cargo space by snap fasteners 134 .
[0021] FIG. 1B is a bottom perspective view of a rear section of the conventional chutes 100 for a cargo space. FIG. 1B shows the rear section of the conventional chutes 100 which are open 140 , 142 to the cargo space. These chutes extend approximately two-thirds of the length of the refrigerated cargo space. As these fabric chutes 100 are flexible and suspended from the ceiling, they assume a semi-circular shape with reference to the ceiling of the cargo space.
[0022] As noted above, the disadvantages of such chutes include constantly being subjected to damage during loading due to the loading equipment and/or the load tearing the chute. Also during the operation of the refrigeration unit, some cool, moist air is constantly being channeled through the fabric chute. This causes the chute to become damp and moist. This moisture and dampness is conducive to bacterial growth and the formation of slime along the inner surfaces of the chute. Thus, when such chutes become contaminated, the air passing through also becomes contaminated and is circulated throughout the entire cargo area. This condition adversely affects the cargo contained within the refrigerated space. Moreover, because of the cost and labor involved in removing the chutes for cleaning, chutes are rarely cleaned. In the event they are cleaned, the chutes are subjected to rot due to moisture and the inability of the fabric chute to be fully dried. Further, when the cargo load is stacked very high within the cargo space, the stacked load further tends to push the flexible or non-rigid chute against the top of the cargo space, thus creating a blockage of air which prohibits proper refrigeration of the load within the cargo space.
[0023] FIG. 2A is a bottom perspective view of a front section of a recessed air chute system 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2A , the recessed air chute system 200 is built into the ceiling of the cargo space and includes two channels 200 a , 200 b . The recessed air chute system 200 connects to the blower section 210 of a refrigeration unit 220 through front openings 240 , 242 at the front section of the recessed air chute system 200 . Thus, the blower section 210 blows cold air into the openings 240 , 242 of the front section of the two channels 200 a , 200 b at connection points 230 , 232 . In other embodiments, the recessed air chute system 200 includes at least one channel to direct or channel the cold air from the front section to the rear section.
[0024] FIG. 2B is a front view of the recessed air chute system 200 showing the channels 200 a , 200 b that are recessed into the ceiling 250 of the cargo space. FIG. 2B also shows the front openings 240 , 242 into which the blower section 210 of the refrigeration unit 220 blows cold air. Typically, the thickness of a ceiling of the cargo space is configured to be in the range of about 2-4 inches. With the recessed air chute system (e.g., system 200 ) built into the ceiling 250 of the cargo space, the thickness of the ceiling is increased. However, in other embodiments, the thickness of the ceiling can be increased or decreased to any appropriate size or even remain the same. Therefore, with the recessed air chute system 200 built into the ceiling 250 of the cargo space, most of the disadvantages of the conventional chutes (e.g., the vinyl air chute system 100 of FIG. 1A ) should be eliminated.
[0025] FIG. 2C is a bottom perspective view of a rear section of the recessed air chute system 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2C shows the rear view of the recessed air chute system 200 having two channels 200 a , 200 b built into the ceiling 250 and having rear openings 260 , 262 . The cold air blown into the front openings 240 , 242 by the blower section 210 is passed through the channels 200 a , 200 b and out into the cargo space through the rear openings 260 , 262 . Although the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2C only shows two rear openings 260 , 262 , in other embodiments, the cold air can be circulated through the cargo space through multiple openings (i.e., three or more openings).
[0026] FIG. 2D is a rear view of the recessed air chute system 200 showing the channels 200 a , 200 b that are recessed into the ceiling 250 of the cargo space. FIG. 2D also shows the rear openings 260 , 262 through which the cold air blown into the front openings 240 , 242 by the blower section 210 is passed through the channels 200 a , 200 b and out into the cargo space.
[0027] FIG. 3 is a rear view of a refrigerated truck or trailer 300 including the recessed air chute system 200 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, the recessed air chute system 200 can be configured for other cargo space such as containers and railcars. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3 , the recessed air chute system 200 is built into the ceiling 250 of the cargo space to address the disadvantages of the conventional chutes (e.g., the vinyl air chute system 100 of FIG. 1A ). Further, the ceiling 250 includes two channels 200 a , 200 b.
[0028] FIG. 4 is a rear view of a refrigerated truck or trailer 450 including a recessed air chute system 400 in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 4 , the recessed air chute system 400 is built into the ceiling 250 and/or the side walls 410 , 412 of the cargo space. Thus, in one embodiment of the recessed air chute system 400 , air channels 200 a , 200 b are built into the ceiling 250 . In another embodiment of the recessed air chute system 400 , air channels 420 , 422 are built into the side walls 410 , 412 , respectively. In yet another embodiment of the recessed air chute system 400 , air channels 200 a , 200 b , 420 , 422 are built into the ceiling 250 and the side walls 410 , 412 . As stated above for the ceiling, the thickness of the side walls 410 , 412 of the cargo space which includes the recessed air chute system 400 may need to be increased as well.
[0029] With the improved air chute design of the recessed air chute system 200 or 400 shown in FIGS. 2A-2D, 3 and 4 , there is significant improvement in the air flow rate. For example, in one comparison test between the vinyl air chutes and the recessed channel chutes, the air flow rate increased from 0.9888 ft 3 /sec for the vinyl chutes to 11.27 ft 3 /sec for the recessed chutes. Other advantages of the recess air chute system 200 or 400 include clean design with no possible freight snag points and less maintenance costs.
[0030] The above description of the disclosed implementations is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these implementations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, while the embodiments above focus on embedding the recessed air chute system into the ceiling and/or the side walls, the systems can be embedded into other areas of the cargo space such as a floor or front wall. Thus, it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment of the invention and are therefore representative of the subject matter that is broadly contemplated by the present invention. It is further understood that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the art and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly limited by nothing other than the appended claims.
|
System and apparatus for channeling air through a cargo space including: a front section including at least one front opening; a rear section including at least one rear opening; and at least one channel coupling the front section to the rear section, the at least one channel recessed into a ceiling of the cargo space, the at least one channel configured to receive and channel air blown into the at least one front opening through the at least one rear opening into the cargo space.
| 5
|
This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/877,205, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Wireless Network Hybrid Positioning,” filed on Jun. 25, 2004, which is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/483,094, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Wireless Network Hybrid Positioning,” filed on Jun. 27, 2003; and this application also claims the benefit of and is a continuation in part of U.S. PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US2004/20920, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Wireless Network Hybrid Positioning,” filed on 28 Jun. 2004, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/483,094, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Wireless Network Hybrid Positioning,” filed on Jun. 27, 2003.
BACKGROUND
This disclosure relates in general to automated location determination and, more specifically, but not by way of limitation, to determining a location of a wireless device.
There is an ever growing desire to know geographic position of various mobile devices. For example, cellular phone operators are trying to comply with requirements to locate handsets for emergency purposes. Once position is known, emergency personnel can be dispatched to aid resolving the emergency. Knowing geographic location serves many other purposes such as geographic-tied advertising, child supervision, automated parolee supervision, reverse 911 fleet vehicle tracking, etc.
Conventional location techniques have difficulty accurately resolving location in certain situations. Satellite-based location systems suffer from inaccuracies when a clear view the sky is unavailable. Terrestrial-based systems require communication with several base stations that serve as known references during trilateration, but in some scenarios, since these systems were primarily designed for communication purposes there are not enough geographically dispersed base stations within communication range of the mobile device. Even when communication is possible to multiple base stations, multi-path induced inaccuracies can degrade the ability to resolve an accurate location.
Conventional location techniques have a wireless phone interacting with base stations associated with the service to which the wireless phone is subscribed. An almanac of base stations indicates to the wireless phone where the base stations are located. On most occasions, at least couple of base stations are visible to the wireless phone.
Cellular phones often have limited memory to store additional information. Base stations are constantly being added, removed or relocated in a cellular phone network. Almanacs of base stations are occasionally sent to cellular phones to aid in determining location. To communicate and store a large almanac is impractical on some cellular phones.
SUMMARY
A method and system that allow resolving the location of a wireless device are disclosed. Resolving the location in one embodiment relies upon accessing at least one cooperative base station and at least one uncooperative base station. The cooperative base station provides an almanac of base stations that are likely to be near the wireless device. Both cooperative and uncooperative base stations within range can be used to determine the location of the wireless device. The uncooperative base station is not generally available to the wireless device, but can be used to determine distance to the wireless device. An attempt by the wireless device to transport data or voice on the uncooperative base station may or may not be thwarted by the uncooperative base station.
In one embodiment, the population of base stations is reduced to produce a tailored almanac of base stations. The tailored almanac includes information to uniquely identify each base station, and may include location information for the base stations.
In another embodiment, any number of different base station types can be used. The base station could be a cellular phone base station, a wireless local area network, a wireless wide area network, a satellite, a terrestrial location beacon, or any other device that can wirelessly communicate in some mode with the wireless device in a manner that allows unique identification of the device and a distance measurement.
In a variety of other embodiments the general location of the wireless device is determined in different ways. Various embodiments might use the location function integral to the phone, the current cooperative base station and a presumed cell footprint, a number of base stations to find an overlapping cell footprint, a number of cooperative base stations to trilaterate the position, base stations and satellites to trilaterate the position, and/or one or more cooperative base stations that can determine range and angle. Different wireless devices have different capabilities, as do base stations, such that there could be a number of approaches used.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The features, objects, and advantages of embodiments of the disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like elements bear like reference numerals. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.
FIGS. 1A , 1 B and 1 C are a block diagrams of embodiments of a location determination system;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams of embodiments of a single-cell location system;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams of embodiments of a cell sector location system;
FIG. 4 is a diagram of an embodiment of an overlapping cell location system;
FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment of a trilateration cell system;
FIG. 6 is a diagram of an embodiment of a hybrid trilateration system;
FIG. 7 is a diagram of an embodiment of an angular ranging system;
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process for locating a position of a wireless device that has native location functions;
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of another embodiment of a process for locating a position of a wireless device that has limited location functions;
FIG. 10 is a diagram of an embodiment of system that gathers location information from uncooperative base stations;
FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process for gathering location information from base stations; and
FIG. 12 is a diagram of another embodiment of system that gathers location information from uncooperative base stations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1A , a block diagram of an embodiment of a location determination system 100 - 1 is shown. The location determination system 100 allows wireless devices 120 to find their geographic location or be located by remote entities by using satellites 152 (e.g., GLONASS, GPS, Galileo, EGNOS, Globalstar, IRIDIUM) and/or base stations 112 , 124 (e.g., cellular phone base station, a wireless local area network, a wireless wide area network, satellite phone, satellite Internet, or any other device that can be uniquely recognized and communicate with the wireless device 120 ). Cooperative base stations 112 are coupled to an almanac processor 122 by way of a wide area network (WAN) 110 in this embodiment, but other embodiments could use a local area network (LAN). The almanac processor 122 accesses a base station database 144 to tailor or customize an almanac according to the estimated location of the wireless device 120 .
A wireless device 120 can communicate with any number of devices to provide location information. In this embodiment, the wireless device 120 is a cellular phone that may have any number or combination of communication modes (e.g., GSM, CDMA, TDMA, WCDMA, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, WiFi, Bluetooth, WiMAX, 802.xx, UWB, satellite, etc.) to transfer voice and/or data with cellular, satellite, wireless data, and/or mesh networks by way of their base stations 112 , 124 . The wireless device 120 in other embodiments could be a tracking device, a child or parolee monitor, navigational device, wireless pager, wireless computer, PDA, asset tag, etc.
The supported communication modes for each wireless device 120 are stored in a device capability database 140 that includes information to help in determining an uncertainty factor for each location or distance measurement made by a particular wireless device 120 operating in any number of communication modes.
This embodiment shows cooperative base stations 112 , uncooperative base stations 124 and a satellite location beacon 152 that could each have different communication modes. For example, cellular base stations 112 , 124 might support TDMA and GSM, a satellite base station might support only CDMA, or another satellite base station might support only TDMA.
Base stations 112 , 124 are defined herein to allow some sort of data and/or voice transport. Base stations 112 , 124 are often affiliated with some entity (e.g., cellular or WiFi service provider) such that only subscribers or subscribers to another system with a roaming agreement can communicate with the base station 112 , 124 to pass data and/or voice traffic. The base stations 112 , 124 may be connected to a WAN or LAN to get a tailored almanac, but only cooperative base stations 112 provide a tailored almanac. The various base stations 112 , 124 may have any number of or combination of communication modes (e.g., GSM, CDMA, TDMA, WCDMA, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, WiFi, Bluetooth, WiMAX, 802.xx, UWB, satellite, etc.) to transfer voice and/or data with cellular, satellite, wireless data, and/or mesh networks.
There are cooperative and uncooperative base stations 112 , 124 . An cooperative base station 112 is one that allows data and/or voice communication with the wireless device 120 . In one example, voice communication can be supported by Voice over IP (VoIP). Uncooperative base stations 124 may not allow data and/or voice traffic, but do provide information useful in determining a location of the wireless device. Uncooperative base stations 124 provide some type of identifier and can often be used for ranging, which is a process where the distance between the base station 124 and the wireless device 120 is determined. The identifier in the case of a WiFi base station 124 , for example, includes a station identifier and MAC address. Also, some uncooperative base stations 124 allow ranging measurements, received signal strength indications and beacon signaling capabilities that can all be used to determine distance.
The base station database 144 stores the identifier information that can be used to uniquely identify each base station in that class of base stations. For example, each WiFi base station could include a MAC address as identifier information. As another example, a CDMA base station identifier could include SID, NID and Base ID or SID, MSC ID and Base ID. Characteristics of the base station 112 , 124 could be used in uniquely identifying the base station 112 , 124 . For example, if two base stations had the same station identifier, but only one supported a particular communication standard, the two could be uniquely identified. Typically, a wireless device 120 would support a subset of the various communication modes. Also stored in the base station database 144 is location information that is determined for each base station 112 , 124 by performing surveys of the area with the wireless devices.
In one embodiment, wireless devices 120 can be used to determine the location of each base station 112 , 124 , thereafter the location is reported back to the almanac processor 112 . The location information from various wireless devices 120 for each base station 112 , 124 is aggregated by the almanac processor 112 to update the base station database. As more location data points are gathered, they are weighted according to the accuracy of the location information provided by the wireless device 120 and used to resolve the location of the base station with ever increasing accuracy. The accuracy of each wireless device 120 could be stored in the device capability database 140 , which could have different accuracies for the various ways that a wireless device 120 could gather the information. Any uncertainty that the wireless device 120 could have in knowing its location could also be reflected in the accuracy weighting for the base station database 144 .
Various types of location beacons could be used by the wireless device 120 to aid in the location determination. This embodiment uses a satellite location beacon 152 , but pseudolites and terrestrial beacon systems such as LORAN could also be used. The more location references, generally, the better the location of the wireless device 120 can be determined.
This embodiment shows the almanac processor 122 separate from the cooperative base stations 112 , but each cooperative base station 112 or a class of cooperative base stations 112 could have an almanac processor 112 and/or databases 140 , 144 in other embodiments. Some embodiments could integrate the almanac processor 122 into the wireless device 120 . The base station and/or device capability databases 144 , 140 could also be in the wireless device 120 and updated periodically.
Referring next to FIG. 1B , another embodiment of the location determination system 100 - 2 is shown. In some embodiments, the base station database 144 is centrally located, but the base station database 144 is distributed regionally or in portions relevant to each cooperative base station 112 or a class of cooperative base stations 112 as a local almanac 158 in the present embodiment. For example, a first base station 112 - 1 , may store a portion of the base station database 114 for its footprint and all adjacent base station footprints in a first local almanac 158 - 1 . As another example, the first local almanac 158 - 1 may contain the base station database for all or select set of CDMA base stations. In yet another example, the first almanac 158 - 1 may not be geographically organized but contain the base stations which are part of a particular service provider network. As the centrally-located base station database 144 is updated, those changes are propagated to the various local almanacs 158 that might use the new information.
This embodiment does not use a satellite location beacon 152 or other type of location beacon, but has one or more communication satellites base stations 154 for use in voice and/or data communication. This embodiment of the communication satellite base station 154 could, but does not, have a local almanac 158 and/or databases 140 , 144 . The communication satellite base station 154 relies upon the almanac processor 122 to produce tailored almanacs. A satellite ground station 160 communicates with the almanac processor 122 by way of the WAN 110 .
Referring next to FIG. 1C , yet another embodiment of the location determination system 100 - 3 is shown. In this embodiment, a cooperative base station 112 is coupled to a local area network (LAN) that is coupled to an almanac processor 122 and device capability and base station databases 140 , 144 . The information in the device capability and base station databases 140 , 144 could be periodically updated or reconciled with remote master versions of these databases using a WAN or the like. The satellite base station 154 in this embodiment also includes an almanac processor 122 and device capability and base station databases 140 , 144 , even though that level of detail is not shown in the figure.
With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B , diagrams of embodiments of a single-cell location system 200 are shown. A cooperative base station 112 has a cell footprint 204 in which it can communicate with the wireless device 120 . FIG. 2A shows the uncooperative wireless base station 124 within that cell footprint 204 .
On occasion, the wireless device 120 is barely within the cell footprint 204 to communicate with the cooperative base station 112 , but has the ability to communicate with uncooperative base stations 124 outside this cell footprint as shown in FIG. 2B . A cell buffer zone 208 would include uncooperative base stations 124 outside the range of the cooperative base station 112 , but possibly within range of a wireless device 120 within range of the cooperative base station 112 . An uncooperative base station footprint 212 is shown for a base station 124 outside the cell footprint, but within communication range of the wireless device 120 . Including this base station 124 in the cell buffer zone 208 accommodates this scenario.
In this embodiment, the wireless device 120 is in communication range of a single cooperative base station 112 . In the cell footprint 204 of the cooperative base station 112 , there are eleven uncooperative base stations 124 . The cell buffer zone 208 has two more uncooperative base stations 124 . When the almanac processor 122 receives a request for a tailored almanac, information for the thirteen possible uncooperative base stations are included.
In one embodiment, the cooperative base station 112 may determine a range to the wireless device 120 and the almanac processor 122 could cull the list of thirteen to those that might fall within an annular ring around the cooperative base station 112 . The ring would be as thick as the range of the wireless device 120 when talking to the various uncooperative base stations 124 in a particular mode plus some error factor from determining the range to the cooperative base station 112 . For example, the wireless device 120 may have a range from the cooperative base station 112 of fifty measurement units with an error factor of ten percent. In one communication mode, the range from the wireless device 120 is fifteen units. In this example, the annular ring would begin at a radius of thirty and extend to seventy measurement units. Any base station 112 , 124 understanding that communication mode and within that annular footprint would be included in the tailored almanac. Of course, if the annular ring extended beyond the cell buffer zone 208 the radius of the ring would be curtailed appropriately.
As the wireless device 120 may have different modes of communication to the various types of base stations, the thickness could be different for each type of base station communication mode. Further, the wireless device 120 may receive almanac information on other cooperative base stations 112 that the wireless device 120 was unaware of.
In another embodiment, the almanac processor 122 might cull the number of base stations 112 , 124 included in the tailored almanac. In some cases, the density of base stations 112 , 124 is so great that including additional base stations 112 , 124 that are in close proximity would be of little aid in resolving the location of the wireless device 120 .
In some embodiments, the almanac processor 122 might exclude base stations 112 , 124 that don't have any way to uniquely identify them. For example, if two base stations had the same station identifier and did not provide any other codes to uniquely identify them, they both could be excluded from the tailored almanac. Often times, other identifiers in the communication protocol can be combined with identifiers to create a unique identifier that distinguishes the base stations 112 , 124 . In some cases, two or more base stations 112 , 124 that cannot be uniquely identified are so geographically separate that a unique identifier can be formulated by knowing the geographic location of interest such that they could still be used. Only one would be included in any tailored almanac.
Referring next to FIGS. 3A and 3B , diagrams of embodiments of a cell sector location system 300 are shown. This embodiment has six cell sectors 304 for a cooperative base station 112 , but other embodiments could have any number of cell sectors. The wireless devices 120 in the cell footprint 204 are divided among the cell sectors 304 such that the base station 112 knows which cell sector(s) 304 communicates with a particular wireless device 120 . The cell sector(s) that might have the wireless device 120 are forwarded to the almanac processor 122 . Any base stations 112 , 124 within the cell sector(s) 304 are forwarded to the cooperative base station 112 for relay to the wireless device 120 .
In the embodiment of FIG. 3A , a single cell sector 304 can communicate with the wireless device 120 . The almanac processor 122 would include those base stations 112 , 124 in that sector 304 along with those in a sector buffer zone 308 . The embodiment of FIG. 3B shows the wireless device 120 close to the edge between two cell sectors 304 such that both can receive communication. The almanac processor 122 could provide the base stations 112 , 124 in those two cell sectors 304 and a sector(s) buffer zone 308 around them to any wireless device 120 within or nearby that area.
With reference to FIG. 4 , a diagram of an embodiment of an overlapping cell location system 400 is shown. In this embodiment, two cooperative base stations 112 can communicate with the wireless device 120 such that the overlap in the cell footprints 204 is presumed to be the location of the wireless device 120 . The almanac processor 122 would query the device capability and base station databases 140 , 144 to determine how to tailor an almanac for this overlapping region 404 . A portion of the cell buffer zone 208 that overlaps the cell buffer zone 208 of the other cell footprint 204 and cell buffer zone 208 (and vice-versa) would also be analyzed for base stations 112 , 124 to include in any tailored almanac.
Referring next to FIG. 5 , a diagram of an embodiment of a trilateration cell system 500 is shown. In this embodiment, the wireless device 120 can communicate with three or more cooperative base stations 112 - 1 , 112 - 2 , 112 - 3 that are geographically separate. A general location of the wireless device 120 is determined by analyzing ranging information gathered by or from a number of cooperative base stations 112 . Time of arrival (TOA) readings from one cooperative base station 112 reduces the general location to a ring around that base station 112 . Two cooperative base stations 112 generating time difference of arrival (TDOA) ranging readings reduce the location to a hyperbole. Three or more can resolve the general location even further. In this embodiment, time of arrival and/or time difference of arrival measurements are used in the trilateration process.
However small the area becomes, a buffer around that area is determined to compensate for the error in the determination and address the range of the wireless device 120 to base stations 112 , 124 . The almanac processor 122 gathers information for the base stations 112 , 124 likely to be in communication range for each communication mode supported by the wireless device 120 .
With reference to FIG. 6 , a diagram of an embodiment of a hybrid trilateration system 600 is shown. This embodiment shows trilateration with different types of communication modes. The wireless device 120 receives ranging information from a satellite location beacon 152 and communicates with two cooperative base stations 112 - 1 , 112 - 2 . Between the three 152 , 112 - 1 , 112 - 2 , the general location can be trilaterated and forwarded to one of the cooperative base stations 112 in exchange for a tailored almanac.
Referring next to FIG. 7 , a diagram of an embodiment of an angular ranging system 700 is shown. The cooperative base stations 112 in this embodiment can estimate the angle of arrival (AoA) and distance to the wireless device. This ability allows determining a general location with a single cooperative base station 112 . Where the cooperative base station 112 can only determine AoA and not range, two cooperative base stations 112 - 1 , 112 - 2 can determine a general location.
The above embodiments do not rely upon uncooperative base stations 124 to find an initial location estimate, but request a tailored almanac from cooperative base stations 112 for refined location estimations. Some embodiments could report the base stations 112 , 124 and location beacons seen and any ranging estimates to those as part of a location request. The almanac processor 112 could take this information and determine a location using the device capability, mode of operation and base station databases 140 , 144 . In this embodiment, the initial gathering of location information is done without the benefit of a tailored almanac. Where the almanac processor 122 determines a more accurate location is required, a tailored almanac could be produced that indicates additional base stations 112 , 124 that are likely within range of the wireless device 120 .
With reference to FIG. 8 , a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process for locating a position of a wireless device 120 that has native location functions 800 is shown. The wireless device 120 could trilaterate to cooperative base stations 112 or satellite or ground location beacons to determine a general location in step 804 . In step 808 , the wireless device 120 reports the location estimate and requests a tailored almanac. Some wireless devices may store a base almanac of base stations 112 , 124 that is updated as new tailored almanacs are received.
In this embodiment, the location estimate could be further refined outside the wireless device in step 812 . For example, the cooperative base station 112 may have some location information from time of arrival or time difference of arrival. The general location is forwarded to the almanac processor 112 . In step 816 , the almanac processor 112 tailors an almanac by finding all base stations 112 , 124 that might be close enough to use in determining a location of the wireless device 120 . This takes into account all the modes of communication of the wireless device 120 that are compatible with the various base stations 112 , 124 , the likely range in those modes, and the likely location of the wireless device 120 . That tailored almanac is sent over the WAN 110 to the cooperative base station 112 and relayed to the wireless device in step 820 .
In step 824 , further location information is gathered by the wireless device 120 . This location information uses the tailored almanac and could involve uncooperative base stations 124 as well as cooperative base stations 112 . In this embodiment, the wireless device 120 analyzes the location information to refine the location estimate in step 828 . The location estimate is reported to an cooperative base station in step 832 . During the process of determining a location, the wireless device 120 may have location information for the base stations 112 , 124 in the tailored almanac or those not in the almanac yet. In step 836 , this location information together with the almanac-related information such as the identifications of the observed base stations is reported to an cooperative base station 112 and forwarded to the almanac processor 122 for updating the base station database 144 .
Referring next to FIG. 9 , a flow diagram of another embodiment of a process 900 for locating a position of a wireless device 120 that has limited location functions is shown. Some wireless devices have limited ability to independently determine their location. This embodiment relies on other parts of the location determination system 100 to analyze location information. In step 908 , the wireless device 120 requests a tailored almanac. The location is estimated by the various cooperative base stations 112 in step 912 .
That location estimate is passed to the almanac processor 122 for tailoring of almanac information in step 816 . In step 820 , the tailored almanac is sent to the wireless device 120 . Step 824 gathers further location information using the tailored almanac to find uncooperative base stations 124 . In step 916 , the gathered location information is forwarded to the cooperative base station 112 . Step 928 refines the location estimate using the location information. The refinement may be performed in the cooperative base station 112 , the almanac processor 122 or any other location in communication with the cooperative base station 112 . Any additional information gathered by the wireless device 120 is forwarded to the almanac processor 122 to refine the base station database 144 .
With reference to FIG. 10 , a diagram of an embodiment of system 1000 that gathers location information from uncooperative base stations 124 is shown. Once the tailored almanac is received by the wireless device 120 , it attempts to locate those base stations listed in the almanac. Shown in the embodiment of FIG. 10 is a dual-mode wireless device 120 that supports two communication modes. One communication mode has a first footprint 1012 - 1 and the second has a larger footprint 1012 - 2 . The tailored almanac would have all base stations 112 , 124 in the first footprint 1012 - 1 that use the first communication mode and all base stations 112 , 124 in the second footprint 1012 - 2 that use the second communication mode.
In some embodiments, the almanac processor could perform a motion estimation for the wireless device 120 such that footprints 1012 are adjusted for the likely position of the wireless device 120 when the tailored almanac would be used. Other embodiments, could just expand the footprint according the likely speed or maximum speed of the wireless device 120 should it travel in any direction. In yet other embodiments, a history of handoffs between various base stations can be used to tailor the almanac information.
Referring next to FIG. 11 , a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process 1100 for gathering location information from base stations 112 , 124 is shown. The process 1100 begins in step 1104 where the wireless device 120 checks for base stations 112 , 124 in the tailored almanac. This could be done by randomly choosing base stations in the almanac 112 , 124 . In some embodiments, the base stations 112 , 124 could be pre-randomized so that the wireless device 120 could take them in order.
In another embodiment, the almanac processor 122 could choose another scheme for organizing the base stations 112 , 124 to quickly find one. For example, they may be organized by communication mode and footprint 1012 size. The footprint of the almanac is more quickly covered by using communication modes with larger range.
Once one base station 112 , 124 in the almanac is found in step 1108 , it may be possible to exclude some of the base stations 112 , 124 in the almanac. After running through the various base stations 112 , 124 to find those in range of the wireless device 120 , the distance to each is estimated in step 1112 .
Uncooperative base stations 124 still give some information even though data communication is not possible. They will identify themselves, which indicates the wireless device 120 is close enough to communicate. Some uncooperative base stations 124 will indicate signal strength of a received signal. Other uncooperative base stations 124 will acknowledge a message and that propagation time can be correlated to a distance traveled. The signal strength of a signal from the uncooperative base station 124 can intimate distance when the initial or expected signal strength can be determined.
In some embodiments, the wireless device 120 gathers information on base stations 112 , 124 not included in the almanac in step 1116 . Often the base stations 112 , 124 self identify themselves. If resources are available, in step 1120 ranging may be performed to the unlisted base stations 112 , 124 for later report-back to the almanac processor. In other embodiments, the footprint of the base station or the overlaps of more than one footprint can be analyzed to determine the general location of the wireless device 120 .
With reference to FIG. 12 , a diagram of another embodiment of system 1200 that gathers location information from uncooperative base stations 124 is shown. The depicted uncooperative base stations 124 are those identified in a tailored almanac as likely to be in communication range. In this embodiment, three uncooperative base stations 124 - 1 , 124 - 4 , 124 - 5 operate in a first communication mode with first communication footprints 1212 - 1 , 1212 - 4 , 1212 - 5 ; two uncooperative base stations 124 - 2 , 124 - 6 operate in a second communication mode with second communication footprints 1212 - 2 , 1212 - 6 ; and one uncooperative base station 124 - 3 operates in a third communication mode with a third communication footprint 1212 - 3 . The current position of the wireless device 120 only allows communication with three uncooperative base stations 124 - 2 , 124 - 3 , 124 - 4 . Even without ranging measurements, this can narrow down the location of the wireless device 120 , but with ranging measurements, a very precise location can be determined.
The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
|
A system and method of locating a position of a wireless device in range of one or more base stations. Three signals are received that each contain a unique identifier for a base station. An estimate of the distance between the wireless device and each base station is performed. Previously determined locations for each base station are referenced. At least one of the three base stations is capable of communication to remote locations and unavailable to the wireless device for communication to remote locations.
| 7
|
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to new humanized monoclonal antibodies comprising an artificial modified consensus sequence at least of the FRs in the variable region of the heavy chain of human immunoglobulins.
The invention relates, furthermore, to humanized and chimeric monoclonal antibodies which are binding to epitopes of the Epidermal Growth Factor. The invention discloses the amino acid sequences of the responding antigen-binding site for this receptor.
The invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the said antibodies for the purposes of treating tumors like melanoma, glioma or carcinoma. The said antibodies can be used also for diagnostic applications regarding locating and assessing the said tumors in vitro or in vivo.
The specification relates to several technical terms which are here defined as follows:
"Humanized" antibodies mean antibodies comprising FRs of the variable regions and constant regions of amino acids located in the light and heavy chain which derive from human sources whereas the hypervariable regions derive from non-human sources.
"Chimeric" antibodies mean antibodies comprising variable and hypervariable regions which derive from non-human sources whereas the constant regions derive from human origin.
"FRs" mean the framework regions of an antibody and are found within the variable regions. In these regions a certain alteration of amino acids occurs.
"CDRs" mean the complementarity determining or "hypervariable" regions of an antibody and are found within the variable regions. These regions represent the specific antigen-binding site and show an immense exchange of amino acids. CDRs are primarily responsible for the binding affinity of the antigen.
"Consensus sequence" means a non-naturally occurring amino acid sequence as light or heavy chain variable regions and is used as substitute for the originally present non-human heavy or light chain variable regions. The consensus sequences is synthetic and therefore an artificial sequence of the most common amino acids of a distinct class or subclass or subgroup of heavy or light chains of human immunoglobluins.
"EGF" and "EGFR" mean the Epidermal Growth Factor and its receptor.
"V L " regions mean light chain variable regions.
"V H " regions mean heavy chain variable regions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The murine monoclonal antibody 425 (MAb 425) was raised against the human A431 carcinoma cell line and found to bind to a polypeptide epitope on the external domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). It was found to inhibit the binding of epidermal growth factor (EGF) at both low and high affinity EGFR sites (Murthy et al., 1987), Enhanced expression of EGFR is found to occur on malignant tissue from a variety of sources thus making MAb 425 a possible agent for the diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of human tumors. Indeed, MAb 425 was found to mediate tumor cytotoxicity in vitro and to suppress tumor cell growth of epidermoid and colorectal carcinoma-derived cell lines in vitro (Rodeck et al., 1987). Radiolabelled MAb 425 has also been shown to bind to xenografts of human malignant gliomas in mice (Takahashi et al., 1987).
EGF is a polypeptide hormone which is mitogenic for epidermal and epithelial cells. When EGF interacts with sensitive cells, it binds to membrane receptors; the receptor EGF complexes cluster and then are internalized in endocytotic vesicles. This is responsible for the phenomenon of "down-regulation". EGF binding induces a tyrosine kinase activity of the receptor molecule and induces synthesis of DNA.
The EGF-receptor is a transmembrane glycoprotein of about 170,000 Daltons (Cohen, 1982). It is the gene product of the c-erb-B proto-oncogene (Downward et al., Nature, Vol. 307, pp. 521-527, 1984). The receptor exists in two kinetic forms: so-called low affinity and high-affinity receptors.
The A431 carcinoma cell line expresses abundant EGF-receptors on its cell surfaces, and thus has been used in many studies to generate anti-EGF-receptor antibodies. However, the receptors on A431 differ from those of other cell types in the carbohydrate moieties attached to the polypeptide. Thus many antibodies raised against A431 membranes are directed against carbohydrates which are not common to all forms of the receptor molecule (e.g. Schreiber, 1983).
Other monoclonal antibodies are reactive with the protein moiety of EGF-receptors. These antibodies display a variety of properties upon binding to EGF-receptors, presumably dependent on the particular portion of the receptor molecule bound, and the isotype of the antibody. Some antibodies mimic some of the effects of EGF (agonists) and some inhibit the effects (antagonists).
Expression of EGF-receptors has been implicated in the progression of tumor growth. The gene for the receptors has been found to be the cellular analogue of the avian viral oncogene v-erb-B (Ulrich, 1984). In addition an association has been detected between late stages of melanoma development and extra copies of the chromosome carrying the receptor gene (Koprowski et al., Somatic Cell and Molecular Genetics, Vol. 11, pp. 297-302, 1985).
Because of EGF-receptors are expressed on a wide variety of solid tumors they provide a suitable target for anti-tumor therapy. However, there is a need in the art for a suitable anti-receptor antibody. Many of the known antibodies have properties which would be deleterious if used as anti-tumor agents. For example, antibodies which mimic the effects of EGF could stimulate the progression of the tumor rather than arresting it. Other antibodies which only bind to high or low affinity receptors could be less than optimally effective because EGF could still exert its effect through the unbound receptors. Still other antibodies convert low affinity receptors to high affinity receptors, which could exacerbate tumor growth rather than inhibiting it. Thus there is a need in the art for an anti-EGF-receptor antibody which would be suitable for anti-tumor therapy.
Although murine MAbs have been used for therapeutic treatment in humans, they have elicited an immune response (Giorgi et al., 1983; Jaffers et al., 1986). To overcome this problem, several groups have tried to "humanize" murine antibodies. This can involve one of two approaches. Firstly, the murine constant region domains for both the light and heavy chain can be replaced with human constant regions. Such "chimeric" murine-human antibodies have been successfully constructed from several murine antibodies directed against human tumor-associated antigens (Sun et al., 1987; Whittle et al., 1987; Liu et al., 1987; Gillies and Wesolowski, 1990). This approach totally conserves the antigen-binding site of the murine antibody, and hence the antigen affinity, while conferring the human isotype and effector functions. In the second approach only the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) from the mouse variable regions are grafted together with human framework regions (FRs) of both the light and heavy chain variable domains (V L and V H ). It is reasoned that this technique will transfer the critical and major portion of the antigen-binding site to the human antibody (Jones et al., 1986).
CDR grafting has been carried out for several rodent monoclonals (Jones et al., 1986; Reichmann et al., 1988; Verhoeyen et al.; 1988; Queen et al.; 1989; Co et al., 1991; Gorman et al., 1991; Maeda et al., 1991; Temptest et al., 1991). All retained their capacity to bind antigen, although the affinity was usually diminished. In most cases it was deemed necessary to alter certain amino acids in the human framework residues (FRs). Both chimeric and CDR grafted antibodies have proved superior to the mouse antibodies in the clinic (Hale et al., 1988; LoBuglio et al., 1989; Mathieson et al., 1990). However, a general teaching of which amino acids have to be changed, is not known and not completely predictable in any case.
EP 088 994 proposes the construction of recombinant DNA vectors comprising of a DNA sequence which codes for a variable domain of a light or a heavy chain of an immunoglobulin specific for a predetermined ligand. The application does not contemplate variations in the sequence of the variable domain.
EP 102 634 describes the cloning and expression in bacterial host organisms of genes coding for the whole or a part of human IgG heavy chain polypeptide, but does not contemplate variations in the sequence of the polypeptide.
EP 239 400 proposes that humanized antibodies can be obtained by replacing the antigen-binding site (hypervariable regions) of any human antibody by an antigen-binding site of a non-human, for example of a mouse or a rat antibody by genetechnological methods.
Thus, following this teaching, human or humanized antibodies can be manufactured having specific antigen-binding sites which were not available up to now in antibodies originating from humans.
Chimeric antibodies can be obtained by replacing not only the CDRs but the whole variable regions of the light and heavy chains. Chimeric antibodies, however, can still be immunogenic. Chimeric antibodies are, however, very useful for diagnostic purposes and optimizing humanized antibodies.
It could be shown that the affinity of the antigen-binding sites can be influenced by selective exchange of some single amino acids within the variable regions which are not directly part of the CDRs (Reichmann et al., 1988).
As consequence in the worst case, the binding affinity of the antigen can be completely lost if one works according to the teaching of the EP 239 400. This fact could be demonstrated by the inventors of the instant invention, who failed in constructing a correspondingly humanized antibody which was directed to epitopes of the EGF-receptor.
Therefore, it must be considered that the success of such a humanization depends on the constitution and conformation of the used variable regions and their interactions with the corresponding antigen-binding site. Thus, it is not completely predictable whether or which modifications within the variable domains of the antibody are necessary in order to obtain or to improve the binding of the antigen to the antibody.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, the invention has the object of providing a humanized monoclonal antibody which is, in particular, directed to the EGF-receptor, comprising an antigen-binding site of non-human sources and the FRs of the variable regions and constant regions of human origins, which are, if necessary, modified in a way that the specificity of the binding site can be conserved or restored.
In particular, the invention has the object of characterizing the hypervariable regions of the antigen-binding site of an antibody against the EGF-receptor and providing these CDRs within a humanized monoclonal antibody defined as above.
This antibody and its chimeric variant can play an important role as a therapeutic or diagnostic agent in order to combat tumors, as melanoma, glioma or carcinoma.
It has been found, that effective and specific humanized monoclonal antibodies can be easily obtained by using a consensus sequence of at least the heavy chain variable regions of human immunoglobulins. In particular, all those consensus sequences are suitable which have a good (at least 60-70%, particularly 65-70%) identity compared with the variable regions of the original non-human antibodies.
Furthermore, it has been found, that these consensus sequences have to be modified only to a low extent whereas sometimes much more modifications have to be undertaken using variable regions of naturally occurring human antibodies. Often no or only a few modifications in the amino acid sequence are necessary according to the invention in order to receive a good specific antigen binding. Thus, only a few amino acids must be replaced in getting a perfect binding of the EGF-receptor to the preferred humanized antibody according to the invention, whereas no binding can be obtained here according to the teaching of the EP 239 400. The modifications which are necessary according to the invention can be indicated with 0 to 10%, or preferably, 1 to 5% related to the exchange of amino acids.
A humanized monoclonal antibody according to the invention has the following advantage: a consensus sequence which is a sequence according to the most common occurrence of amino acid on a distinct position of a chain of human immunoglobulin of a defined class or subclass or subgroup, can be synthesized as a whole or as a part without problems. There is no dependence on the detailed knowledge or availability of certain individual antibodies or antibody fragments. That means that a wide range of individually and naturally occurring antibody fragments can be covered by providing a very restricted number of consensus sequences which are cloned into corresponding expression vectors. A consensus sequence may be favorable with respect to the immunogenicity in comparison with individual natural sequences which are known to be sometimes epitopes for other antibodies (for example anti-idiotypic antibodies).
Although only one preferred embodiment was made, a general principal teaching is disclosed according to the instant invention. It is not a mere accident with respect to the large number of possible sequences and combinations of sequences in the variable and hypervariable domains that the described teaching regarding the consensus sequence succeeded in constructing a humanized antibody directed to the EGF-receptor.
Furthermore, it has been found, that the heavy chains of the variable domains provide a greater contribution to the antigen-binding site than the corresponding light chains. Therefore, it is not necessary to modify in the same manner the light chain of a humanized antibody having a consensus sequence. This is an interesting aspect because it is known that the light chains in some known natural antibodies play the more important role than the corresponding heavy chains (see Williams et al., 1990).
Finally and above all, the invention provides for the first time the characterization, cloning and amplification by means of genetic engineering the antigen-binding site of a murine antibody against the EGF-receptor (MAb 425). Corresponding oligonucleotides could be synthesized which code for that antigen-binding site and for the whole variable domain of a humanized and chimeric monoclonal antibody. The invention provides, moreover, correspondingly effective expression vectors which can be used for the transformation of suitable eukaryotic cells.
Thus, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody comprising antigen bindings sites (CDRs) of non-human origin, and the FRs of variable regions and constant regions of light and heavy chains of human origin, characterized in that at least the FRs of the variable regions of the heavy chain comprise a modified consensus sequence of different variable regions of a distinct class or subgroup of a human immunoglobulin.
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody, wherein the FRs of the consensus sequence has a homology of at least 70% compared with the amino acid sequence of the FRs of the variable region of the non-human antibody from which the antigen-binding sites originate.
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody, having the following properties:
(a) binds to human EGF-receptors;
(b) inhibits binding of EGF to EGF-receptor;
(c) inhibits the EGF-dependent tyrosine kinase activity of EGF-receptor;
(d) inhibits the growth of EGF-sensitive cells.
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody, wherein the hypervariable regions of the antigen-binding sites comprise the following amino acid sequences:
______________________________________light chainCDR-1 --Ser--Ala--Ser--Ser--Ser--Val--Thr--Tyr--Met-- Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:2)CDR-2 --Asp--Thr--Ser--Asn--Leu--Ala--Ser-- (SEQ ID NO:2)CDR-3 --Gln--Gln--Trp--Ser--Ser--His--Ile--Phe--Thr-- (SEQ ID NO:3)heavy chainCDR-1 --Ser--His--Trp--Met--His--(SEQ ID NO:4)CDR-2 --Glu--Phe--Asn--Pro--Ser--Asn--Gly--Arg--Thr-- Asn--Tyr--Asn--Glu--Lys--Phe--Lys--Ser-- (SEQ ID NO:5)CDR-3 --Arg--Asp--Tyr--Asp--Tyr--Asp--Gly--Arg--Tyr-- Phe--Asp--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:6)______________________________________
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody, wherein the FRs of the variable regions which are not related to the antigen-binding sites comprise the following amino acid sequence:
______________________________________light chainFR-1 --Asp--Ile--Gln--Met--Thr--Gln--Ser--Pro--Ser--Ser--Leu--Ser--Ala--Ser--Val--Gly--Asp--Arg--Val--Thr--Ile--Thr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:7)FR-2 --Trp--Tyr--Gln--Gln--Lys--Pro--Gly--Lys--Ala--Pro--Lys--Leu--Leu--Ile--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:8)FR-3 --Gly--Val--Pro--Ser--Arg--Phe--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Thr--Asp--Tyr(Phe,Trp,His)--Thr--Phe--Thr--Ile--Ser--Ser--Leu--Gln--Pro--Glu--Asp--Ile--Ala--Thr--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:9)FR-4 --Phe--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Lys--Val--Glu--Ile--Lys--(SEQ ID NO:10heavy chainFR-1 --Gln--Val--Gln--Leu--Val--Gln--Ser--Gly--Ala--Glu--Val--Lys--Lys--Pro--Gly--Ala--Ser--Val--Lys--Val--Ser--Cys--Lys--Ala--Ser--Gly--Tyr--Thr--Phe--Thr(Ser)--(SEQ ID NO:11)FR-2 --Trp--Val--Arg(His)--Gln--Ala(Lys,His)--Pro(Val)--Gly--Gln--Gly--Leu--Glu--Trp--Ile(Val,Leu)--Gly--(SEQ ID NO:12)FR-3 --Lys(Arg,His)--Ala(Val,Pro--Gly)--Thr--Met--Thr--Val(Ala,Pro,Gly)--Asp--Thr--Ser--Thr--Asn--Thr--Ala--Tyr--Met--Glu(Asn)--Leu--Ser--Ser--Leu--Arg--Ser--Glu--Asp--Thr--Ala--Val--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--Ala--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:13)FR-4 --Trp--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Leu--Val--Thr--Val--Ser--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:14),______________________________________
and wherein the amino acids listed in the brackets are alternatives.
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody, wherein the constant regions of the heavy chain comprise the amino acid sequence of a gamma-1 chain, and the constant regions of the light chain comprise the amino acid sequence of a kappa chain of a human immunoglobulin.
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody, comprising a derivate of an amino acid sequence modified by amino acid deletion, substitution, addition or inversion within the variable and constant regions wherein the biological function of specific binding to the antigen is preserved.
Furthermore, the invention relates to an expression vector, suitable for transformation of host cells, characterized in that it comprises a DNA sequence coding for the variable and/or constant regions of the light and/or heavy chains of a humanized antibody.
Furthermore, the invention relates to humanized or chimeric monoclonal antibody, comprising hypervariable regions (CDRs) of antigen-binding sites of murine origin and the FRs of the variable regions of human or murine origin and constant regions of light and heavy chains of human origin, characterized in that the hypervariable regions comprise the following amino acid sequences,
______________________________________light chainCDR-1 --Ser--Ala--Ser--Ser--Ser--Val--Thr--Tyr--Met-- Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:2)CDR-2 --Asp--Thr--Ser--Asn--Leu--Ala--Ser-- (SEQ ID NO:2)CDR-3 --Gln--Gln--Trp--Ser--Ser--His--Ile--Phe--Thr-- (SEQ ID NO:3)heavy chainCDR-1 --Ser--His--Trp--Met--His--(SEQ ID NO:4)CDR-2 --Glu--Phe--Asn--Pro--Ser--Asn--Gly--Arg--Thr-- Asn--Tyr--Asn--Glu--Lys--Phe--Lys--Ser-- (SEQ ID NO:5)CDR-3 --Arg--Asp--Tyr--Asp--Tyr--Asp--Gly--Arg--Tyr-- Phe--Asp--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:6,______________________________________
and wherein the constant regions of the heavy chain comprise the amino acid sequence of a gamma-1 chain, and the constant regions of the light chain comprise the amino acid sequence of a kappa chain of a human immunoglobulin.
In particular, the invention relates to a humanized monoclonal antibody according to claim 12, wherein the FRs of the variable regions which are not related to the antigen-binding sites, are of human origin and comprise the following amino acid sequence,
______________________________________light chainFR-1 --Asp--Ile--Gln--Met--Thr--Gln--Ser--Pro--Ser--Ser--Leu--Ser--Ala--Ser--Val--Gly--Asp--Arg--Val--Thr--Ile--Thr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:7)FR-2 --Trp--Tyr--Gln--Gln--Lys--Pro--Gly--Lys--Ala--Pro--Lys--Leu--Leu--Ile--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:8)FR-3 Gly--Val--Pro--Ser--Arg--Phe--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Thr--Asp--Tyr(Phe,Trp,His)--Thr--Phe--Thr--Ile--Ser--Ser--Leu--Gln--Pro--Glu--Asp--Ile--Ala--Thr--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:9)FR-4 --Phe--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Lys--Val--Glu--Ile--Lys--(SEQ ID NO:10)heavy chainFR-1 --Gln--Val--Gln--Leu--Val--Gln--Ser--Gly--Ala--Glu--Val--Lys--Lys--Pro--Gly--Ala--Ser--Val--Lys--Val--Ser--Cys--Lys--Ala--Ser--Gly--Tyr--Thr--Phe--Thr(Ser)--(SEQ ID NO:11)FR-2 --Trp--Val--Arg(His)--Gln--Ala(Lys,His)--Pro(Val)--Gly--Gln--Gly--Leu--Glu--Trp--Ile(Val,Leu)--Gly--(SEQ ID NO:12FR-3 --Lys(Arg,His)--Ala(Val,Pro,Gly)--Thr--Met--Thr--Val(Ala,Pro,Gly)--Asp--Thr--Ser--Thr--Asn--Thr--Ala--Tyr--Met--Glu(Asn)--Leu--Ser--Ser--Leu--Arg--Ser--Glu--Asp--Thr--Ala--Val--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--Ala--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:13)FR-4 --Trp--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Leu--Val--Thr--Val--Ser--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:16)______________________________________
In particular, the invention relates to a chimeric monoclonal antibody according to claim 12, wherein the FRs of the variable regions which are not related to the antigen-binding site, are of murine origin and comprise the following amino acid sequences:
______________________________________light chainFR-1 --Gln--Ile--Val--Leu--Thr--Gln--Ser--Pro--Ala--Ile--Met--Ser--Ala--Ser--Pro--Gly--Glu--Lys--Val--Thr--Met--Thr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:15)FR-2 --Trp--Tyr--Gln--Gln--Lys--Pro--Gly--Ser--Ser--Pro--Arg--Leu--Leu--Ile--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:16)FR-3 --Gly--Val--Pro--Val--Arg--Phe--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Thr--Ser--Tyr--Ser--Leu--Thr--Ile--Ser--Arg--Met--Glu--Ala--Glu--Asp--Ala--Ala--Thr--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:17FR-4 --Phe--Gly--Ser--Gly--Thr--Lys--Leu--Glu--Ile--Lys--(SEQ ID NO:18)heavy chainFR-1 --Gln--Val--Gln--Leu--Gln--Gln--Pro--Gly--Ala--Glu--Leu--Val--Lys--Pro--Gly--Ala--Ser--Val--Lys--Leu--Ser--Cys--Lys--Ala--Ser--Gly--Tyr--Thr--Phe--Thr--(SEQ ID NO:19)FR-2 --Trp--Val--Lys--Gln--Arg--Ala--Gly--Gln--Gly--Leu--Glu--Trp--Ile--Gly--(SEQ ID NO:20)FR-3 --Lys--Ala--Thr--Leu--Thr--Val--Asp--Lys--Ser--Ser--Ser--Thr--Ala--Tyr--Met--Gln--Leu--Ser--Ser--Leu--Thr--Ser--Glu--Asp--Ser--Ala--Val--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--Ala--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:21)FR-4 --Trp--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Thr--Leu--Thr--Val--Ser--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:22)______________________________________
Moreover, the invention relates to an expression vector, suitable for transformation of host cells, characterized in that it comprises DNA sequences coding for the variable and/or constant regions of the light and/or heavy chains of a humanized or chimeric monoclonal antibody.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a process for the preparation of a humanized monoclonal antibody, comprising hypervariable regions (CDRs) of antigen-binding sites of non-human origin, and FRs of variable regions and constant regions of the light and heavy chains of human origin by cultivating transformed host cells in a culture medium and purification and isolation the expressed antibody proteins, characterized in
(a) synthesizing or partially synthesizing or isolating an oligonucleotide sequence which codes for an amino acid consensus sequence of different variable regions (FR-1 to FR-4) of a heavy chain of a class or a subgroup of a human immunoglobulin, wherein the used consensus sequence has a homology of at least 70% compared with the amino acid sequence of the FRs of the variable regions of the non-human antibody from which the antigen-binding sites originate, and wherein the consensus sequence is modified by alterations of maximum 10% of the amino acids in order to preserve the binding capability of the antigen to the hypervariable regions;
(b) synthesizing or partially synthesizing or isolating an oligonucleotide sequence which codes for an amino acid consensus sequence under the conditions given in (a) of different variable regions (FR-1 to FR-4) of a light chain of a class or a subgroup of a human immunoglobulin, or, alternatively, which codes for a corresponding natural occurring amino acid sequence;
(c) in each case synthesizing or partially synthesizing or isolating an oligonucleotide sequence which codes for the amino acid sequence of the hypervariable regions (CDRs) of the light and heavy chain corresponding to the hypervariable regions of the basic non-human antibody;
(d) in each case synthesizing or partially synthesizing or isolating an oligonucleotide sequence which codes for the amino acid sequence of the constant regions of the light and heavy chain of a human immunoglobulin;
(e) constructing one or several expression vectors comprising in each case at least a promoter, a replication origin and the coding DNA sequences according to (a) to (d), wherein the DNA sequences coding for the light and heavy chains can be present together in one or, alternatively, in two or more different vectors,
and finally,
(f) transforming the host cells with one or more of the expression vectors according to (e).
In particular, the invention relates to a process, wherein DNA sequences are used coding for the following amino acid sequences which represent the hypervariable regions (CDRs):
______________________________________light chainCDR-1 --Ser--Ala--Ser--Ser--Ser--Val--Thr--Tyr--Met-- Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:1)CDR-2 --Asp--Thr--Ser--Asn--Leu--Ala--Ser-- (SEQ ID NO:2)CDR-3 --Gln--Gln--Trp--Ser--Ser--His--Ile--Phe--Thr-- (SEQ ID NO:3)heavy chainCDR-1 --Ser--His--Trp--Met--His--(SEQ ID NO:4)CDR-2 --Glu--Phe--Asn--Pro--Ser--Asn--Gly--Arg--Thr-- Asn--Tyr--Asn--Glu--Lys--Phe--Lys--Ser-- (SEQ ID NO:5)CDR-3 --Arg--Asp--Tyr--Asp--Tyr--Asp--Gly--Arg--Tyr-- Phe--Asp--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:6)______________________________________
In particular, the invention relates to a process, wherein DNA sequences are used coding for the following amino acid sequences which represent the FRs of the variable regions:
______________________________________light chainFR-1 --Asp--Ile--Gln--Met--Thr--Gln--Ser--Pro--Ser--Ser--Leu--Ser--Ala--Ser--Val--Gly--Asp--Arg--Val--Thr--Ile--Thr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:7)FR-2 --Trp--Tyr--Gln--Gln--Lys--Pro--Gly--Lys--Ala--Pro--Lys--Leu--Leu--Ile--Tyr--(SEQ ID NO:8)FR-3 --Gly--Val--Pro--Ser--Arg--Phe--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Ser--Gly--Thr--Asp--Tyr(Phe,Trp,His)--Thr--Phe--Thr--Ile--Ser--Ser--Leu--Gln--Pro--Glu--Asp--Ile--Ala--Thr--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--(SEQ ID NO:9)FR-4 --Phe--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Lys--Val--Glu--Ile--Lys--(SEQ ID NO:10)heavy chainFR-1 --Gln--Val--Gln--Leu--Val--Gln--Ser--Gly--Ala--Glu--Val--Lys--Lys--Pro--Gly--Ala--Ser--Val--Lys--Val--Ser--Cys--Lys--Ala--Ser--Gly--Tyr--Thr--Phe--Thr(Ser)--(SEQ ID NO:11)FR-2 --Trp--Val--Arg(His)--Gln--Ala(Lys,His)--Pro(Val)--Gly--Gln--Gly--Leu--Glu--Trp--Ile(Val,Leu)--Gly--(SEQ ID NO:12)FR-3 --Lys(Arg,His)--Ala(Val,Pro,Gly)--Thr--Met--Thr--Val(Ala,Pro,Gly)--Asp--Thr--Ser--Thr--Asn--Thr--Ala--Tyr--Met--Glu(Asn)--Leu--Ser--Ser--Leu--Arg--Ser--Glu--Asp--Thr--Ala--Val--Tyr--Tyr--Cys--Ala--Ser--(SEQ ID NO:13)FR-4 --Trp--Gly--Gln--Gly--Thr--Leu--Val--Thr--Val--Ser--Ser(SEQ ID NO:14)______________________________________
Moreover, the invention relates to a process for the preparation of a chimeric monoclonal antibody having the biological function of binding to epitopes of the EGF-receptor, comprising hypervariable regions (CDRs) of antigen-binding sites and FRs of variable regions of murine origin and FRs of variable regions of murine origin and constant regions of the light and heavy chains of human origin by cultivating transformed host cells in a culture medium and purification and isolation the expressed antibody proteins, characterized in that the host cells are transformed with expression vectors according to one of the expression vectors.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a humanized or chimeric monoclonal antibody.
Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of humanized or chimeric antibody for the manufacture of a medicament directed to tumors.
Finally, the invention relates to the use of humanized or chimeric antibody for diagnostic locating and assessing tumor growth.
To sum up, the invention relates to a monoclonal antibody comprising a consensus sequence of variable regions of a heavy chain of a class or a subgroup of human immunoglobulins.
The entire disclosures of all applications, patents and publications, if any, cited above and below, and of corresponding European Patent application 91 103 389.2, filed Mar. 6, 1991, are hereby incorporated by reference.
Microorganisms and plasmids used in the invention:
(a) pRVL425 (=HCMV-RV L b425-k), deposited on Feb. 1, 1991, according to the Budapest Treaty at the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen (DSM) under the accession No. DMS 6340. The expression vector contains the sequences of the hypervariable regions (CDRs) of the murine antibody 425 and the FRs of the variable region and the constant (kappa) region of the light chain of the humanized antibody. R is standing for "reshaped".
(b) pRVH425 (=HCMV-RV H g425-γ), deposited on Feb. 1, 1991, according to the Budapest Treaty at the Deutsche Sammlung yon Mikroorganismen (DSM) under the accession No. DSM 6339. The expression vector contains the sequences of the hypervariable regions (CDRs) of the murine antibody 425 and the FRs of variable region and constant (gamma-1) region of the heavy chain of the humanized antibody. R is standing for "reshaped".
(c) pCVL425 (=HCMV-CV L 425-k), deposited on Feb. 1, 1991, according to the Budapest Treaty at the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen (DSM) under the accession No. DSM 6338. The expression vector contains the sequences of the FRs and hypervariable regions (CDRs) of the light chain variable region of the murine antibody 425 and the constant (kappa) region of the light chain of human immunoglobulin. C is standing for chimeric.
(d) pCVH425 (=HCMV-CV H 425-γ), deposited on Feb. 1, 1991, according to the Budapest Treaty at the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen (DSM) under the accession No. DSM 6337. The expression vector contains the sequences of the FRs and hypervariable regions (CDRs) of the light chain variable region of the murine antibody 425 and the constant region of the light chain of the human gamma-1 immunoglobulin. C is standing for chimeric.
(e) Hybridma cell line 425, deposited on Jan. 26, 1988, according to Budapest Treaty at the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) under the accession No. HB 9629. The cell line produces the murine antibody 425 which is directed to the EGF-receptor.
Other biological materials:
Other microorganisms, cell lines, plasmids, promoters, resistance markers, replication origins or other fragments of vectors which are mentioned in the application are commercially or otherwise generally available. Provided that no other hints in the application are given, they are used only as examples and are not essential according to the invention and can be replaced by other suitable tools and biological materials, respectively.
Bacterial hosts are preferably used for the amplification of the corresponding DNA sequences. Examples for these host are: E. coli or Bacillus.
Eukaryotic cells like COS (CV1 origin SV40) or CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells or yeasts, for example, are preferred in order to produce the humanized and chimeric antibodies according to the invention. COS and CHO cells are preferred.
General methods for manufacturing:
The techniques which are essential according to the invention are described in detail in the specification.
Other techniques which are not described in detail correspond to known standard methods which are well known to a person skilled in the art or are described more in detail in the cited references and patent applications and in standard literature.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 Schematic representations of the vectors used for the expression of chimeric and reshaped human antibodies. Restriction sites used in the construction of the expression plasmids are marked. The variable region coding sequences are represented by the dark boxes, constant regions by the light boxes, the HCMV promoter and enhancer by the hatched boxes, and the nucleotide fragment from the plasmid pSVneo by the speckled boxes. The directions of transcription are represented by arrows. FIG. 1A=plasmid HCMV-CV H 425-γl; FIG. 1B=plasmid HCMV-CV L 425-K; FIG. 1C=plasmid HCMV-RV H 425-γl; FIG. 1D=plasmid HCMV-RV L 425-K.
FIG. 2 The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the V H 425 (A) (SEQ ID NO:23 and SEQ ID NO:24), and V L 425 (B) SEQ ID NO:25 and SEQ ID NO:26), cDNA as cloned into pUC18. The amino acids contributing to the leader are underlined and CDRs are indicated by brackets. The splice sites between the variable regions and constant regions are also shown. The front and back PCR-primers and their annealing sites, used in the construction of the genes coding for the chimeric antibodies, are shown.
FIG. 3 The nucleotide (SEQ ID NO:27) and amino acid (SEQ ID NO:28) sequences of the synthesized gene fragment coding for reshaped human V H a425. The leader sequence is underlined and residues contributing to the CDRs are bracketed.
FIG. 4 Comparison of the amino acid sequences of mouse and reshaped human 425 variable regions. FIG. 4A shows the sequences of mouse V L (V L 425) and reshaped human V L S (RV L a425 and RV L b425). FIG. 4B shows the sequences of mouse V H (V H 425) and reshaped human V H S (RV H a425, RV H b425, RV H c425, RV H d425, RV H e425, RV H f425, RV H g425, RV H h425, and RV H i425). The FRs and CDRs are indicated. Amino acids are numbered according to Kabat et al., 1987.
The sequences in the figure have the following Sequence Identifiers:
__________________________________________________________________________ Panel A V.sub.L 425 RV.sub.L a425 RV.sub.L b425__________________________________________________________________________FR-1 15 7 7CDR-1 1 1 1FR-2 16 8 8CDR-2 2 2 2FR-3 17 9.sup.a 9.sup.bCDR-3 3 3 3FR-4 18 10 10__________________________________________________________________________ .sup.a Xaa.sub.15 = Phe .sup.b Xaa.sub.15 = Tyr
Panel B V.sub.H 425 RV.sub.H a RV.sub.H b RV.sub.H c RV.sub.H d RV.sub.H e RV.sub.H f RV.sub.H g RV.sub.H h RV.sub.H i__________________________________________________________________________FR-1 19 11.sup.c 11.sup.c 11.sup.c 11.sup.c 11.sup.d 11.sup.c 11.sup.d 11.sup.d 11.sup.dCDR-14 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4FR-2 20 12.sup.e 12.sup.e 12.sup.e 12.sup.f 12.sup.f 12.sup.f 12.sup.f 12.sup.e 12.sup.eCDR-25 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5FR-3 21 13.sup.g,i 13.sup.g,j 13.sup.h,j 13.sup.g,i 13.sup.g,i 13.sup.h,j 13.sup.h,j 13.sup.g,j 13.sup.h,jCDR-36 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6FR-4 22 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14__________________________________________________________________________ .sup.a Xaa.sub.15 = Phe .sup.b Xaa.sub.15 = Tyr .sup.c Xaa.sub.30 = Ser .sup.d Xaa.sub.30 = Thr .sup.e Xaa.sub.13 = Val .sup.f Xaa.sub.13 = Ile .sup.g Xaa.sub.1 = Arg, Xaa.sub.2 = Val, Xaa.sub.16 = Glu .sup.h Xaa.sub.1 = Lys, Xaa.sub.2 = Ala, Xaa.sub.16 = Glu .sup.i Xaa.sub.6 = Leu .sup.j Xaa.sub.6 = Val
FIG. 5 Molecular model of the mouse MAb 425 variable regions showing the location of particular amino acid residues in the backbone.
FIG. 6 Detection of binding to EGFR by ELISA. Antigen-binding activity was assayed in dilutions of transfected COS cell supernatants and plotted as optical density at 450 nm against concentration of IgG (quantitated by ELISA, see Materials and Methods). All versions of reshaped human V H regions were cotransfected with RV L a425 and are represented as follows: RV H a425 , RV H b425 ⋄, RV H c425 Δ, RV H d425 , RV H e425 □, RV H f425 , RF H g425 □, RV H h425 ∘, RV H i425 , RV H b425 co-transfected with RV L b425 is represented as ♦. A co-transfection of the chimeric VL425 and VH425 are represented as .
FIG. 7 Competition for binding to antigen. Panel A shows competition between labelled mouse 425 antibody and (1) unlabelled mouse 425 antibody (+) and (2) chimeric 425 antibody () produced by COS cells after co-transfection with HCMV-CV L 425-kappa and HCMV-C H 425-gamma-1. Panel B shows competition between labelled mouse 425 antibody and (1) unlabelled mouse 425 antibody (+) and (2) the reshaped human 425 antibodies produced by COS cells after co-transfection with HCMV-RV L a425-kappa and HCMV-RV H i425-gamma-1 (∘), and with HCMV-RV L a425-kappa and HCMV-RV H g425-gamma-1 (¤). In each case, the horizontal axis represents the concentration of inhibitor (ng/ml). The vertical axis represents percentage of inhibition of binding.
FIG. 8 An examination of the effects of different reshaped human V L regions on antigen-binding. Panel A shows antigen-binding by reshaped human antibodies produced in COS cells transfected with HCMV-CV L 425-kappa and HCMV-CV H 425-gamma-1 (), HCMV-RV L a425-kappa and HCMV-RV H g425-gamma-1 (¤), HCMV-RV L b425-kappa and HCMV-RV H g425-gamma-1 (.sub.▪) , HCMV-RV L a425-kappa and HCMV-RV H c425-gamma-1 (Δ), and HCMV-RV L b425-kappa and HCMV-RV H c425-gamma-1 (▴). Panel B shows competition for binding to antigen between labelled mouse 425 antibody and (1) unlabelled mouse 425 antibody (+) and (2) reshaped human 425 antibodies produced in COS cells co-transfected with HCMV-V L a425-kappa and HCMV-V H g425-gamma-1 (¤) and with HCMV-V L b425-kappa and HCMV-V H g425-gamma-1 (.sub.▪). In panel A, the vertical axis represents the optical density at 450 nm (OD 450 ) and the horizontal axis represents the concentration of IgG (ng/ml). In panel B, the horizontal axis represents the concentration of inhibitor (ng/ml) and the vertical axis represents percentage of inhibition of binding.
FIG. 9 Purification by gel filtration of reshaped MAb 425 on SUPEROSE 12™. Peak 2 represents IgG.
FIG. 10 Competitive binding of murine, chimeric and reshaped MAbs 425 to EGF-receptor (EGFR). The vertical axis represents the ratio bound (MAb) to total (MAID) in % (% bound/total). The horizontal axis represents the concentration of antibody (mol/l [log]).
∇ means MAb 425 murine
∘ means MAb 425 chimeric
, ▾ mean MAb 425 reshaped (V L b/V Hg )
FIG. 11 Competition of EGF and antibodies to EGF-receptor. The vertical axis represents % bound/total (MAb). The horizontal axis represents the concentration of antibody (mol/l [log]).
∘ means MAb 425 murine
Δ, ∇, ¤ mean MAb 425 reshaped (V L b/V Hg )
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Cloning and sequencing of variable region genes of MAb 425:
From the cDNA synthesis and cloning using the kappa chain primer, 300-400 colonies are preferably picked for screening. From the cDNA synthesis and cloning using the gamma-2a primer, 200-300 colonies are preferably for screening. After screening by hybridization using the two respective cloning primers, 20-30 light chain colonies and 10-20 heavy chain colonies give strong signals. Plasmid DNA is isolated from these colonies and analyzed by usual and commercially available restriction enzyme digests to determine the size of the cDNA inserts. Clones that appear to have inserts 400-500 bp or 500-600 bp for V L and V H cloning, respectively, are selected as candidates for sequencing. Three V L clones and three V H clones are sequenced on both strands using M13 universal and reverse sequencing primers. Of the three possible V L clones sequenced, one codes for a complete variable region and the others appeal to code for unrelated peptides. Two of the V H clones code for identical V H regions while the other appears to code for the V H region with the intron between the leader sequence and FR-1 still present. Apart from the intron, the third V H clone contains coding sequence identical to that of the first two clones. To verify the sequence of the V L region, three more cDNA clones containing inserts of the appropriate size are sequenced. Two of these give sequences in agreement with the first V L clone. The third is an unrelated DNA sequence. In the clones sequenced, not all of the original primer sequence are present. The extent of the deletions varies from clone to clone. These deletions, which probably occur during cDNA synthesis and cloning, may decrease the efficiency of the colony screening.
The V L and V H genes for MAb 425 are shown in FIG. 2. The amino acid sequence of the 425 V L and V H regions, are compared to other mouse variable regions in the Kabat data base (Kabat et al., 1987). The V L region can be classified into the mouse kappa chain variable region subgroup IV or VI. Within the FRs, the 425 V L region has an approximately 86% identity to the consensus sequence for mouse kappa subgroup IV and an approximately 89% identity to subgroup VI. The 425 V L region appear to use the JK4 segment. Examination of the VH region shows an approximately 98% identity to the FRs of the consensus sequence for mouse heavy chain subgroup II (B).
The choice of a suitable human variable region to serve as the basis of the reshaped human (or CDR-grafted or fully humanized) variable region is based on the extent of identity between the mouse variable region and the human variable region. If a consensus sequence is to be used as the basis of humanization, then according to the present invention, the identity should be greater than 65 to 70%.
Consensus sequences of human heavy chain variable regions are preferred for the design of reshaped human heavy chain variable regions. In the Examples, the consensus sequence for subgroup I of human heavy chain variable regions was used.
For the humanization of other antibodies, the consensus sequences for other human subgroups may be more suitable. The selected consensus sequences are usually modified at a few amino acid residues in order to recreate a fully-functional antigen-binding site. The number of amino acids changed is usually from 0 to 10% of the total number of amino acids in the variable region and, in the examples, is from 5 to 10%.
Construction and expression of chimeric 425 antibody:
Before the cDNAs coding for the VL and VH regions can be used in the construction of chimeric 425 antibody, it is necessary to introduce several modifications at the 5'- and 3'ends these include introducing appropriate restriction enzyme sites so that the variable region coding sequences can be conveniently subcloned into the HCMV expression vectors. It is necessary to re-create donor splice sites in the 3'-flanking regions so that the variable regions are spliced correctly and efficiently to the constant regions. The 5'-flanking regions are also modified to include a sequence that would create efficient initiation sites for translation by eukaryotic ribosomes (Kozak, 1987). These modifications are introduced using PCR primers. The used primers are indicated in Table 1.
TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________Oligonucleotides used for cDNA cloning, constructionof chimerics, and mutagenesis. Underlined sectionsdenote bases that anneal to the human framework.Number Sequence Description__________________________________________________________________________1. 5'-GTAGGATCCTGGATGGTGGGAAGATG-3' (SEQ ID NO:29) Light chain primer for cDNA synthesis.2. 5'-GTAGGATCCAGTGGATAGACCGATG-3' (SEQ ID NO:30) Heavy chain primer for cDNA synthesis.3. 5'-CTCCAAGCTTGACCTCACCATGG-3' (SEQ ID NO:31) Chimeric V.sub.H front primer.4. 5'-TTGGATCCACTCACCTGAGGAGACTGTGA-3' (SEQ ID NO:32) Chimeric V.sub.H back primer.5. 5'-AGAAAGCTTCCACCATGGATTTTCAAGTG-3' (SEQ ID NO:33) Chimeric V.sub.L front primer.6. 5'-GTAGATCTACTCACGTTTTATTTCCAAC-3' (SEQ ID NO:34) Chimeric V.sub.L back primer.7. 5'- ACCATCACCTGTAGTGCCAGCTCAAGTG Reshaped V.sub.L TAACTTACATGTAT TGGTACCAGCAG-3' (SEQ ID NO:35) CDR-1 primer.8. 5'- CTGCTGATCTACGACACATCCAACCTGGC Resphaped V.sub.L TTCT GGTGTGCCAAGC-3' (SEQ ID NO:36) CDR-2 primer.9. 5'- ACCTACTACTGCCAGCAGTGGAGTAGTCA- Resphaped V.sub.L CATATTC ACGTTCGGCCAA-3' (SEQ ID NO:37 CDR-3 primer. *10. 5'-AGCGGTACCGACTACACCTTCACCATC-3' (SEQ ID NO:38) Primer to introduce F71Y into RV.sub.L. **11. 5'-ATACCTTCACATCCCACTG-3' (SEQ ID NO:39) Primer to introduce S30T into RV.sub.H. **12. 5'-CGAGTGGATTGGCGAGT-3' (SEQ ID NO:40) Primer to introduce V48I into RV.sub.H. ***13. 5'-TTTAAGAGCAAGGCTACCATGACCGTGGA- Primer to introduce R66K, CACCTCT-3' (SEQ ID NO:41) V67A, L71V into RV.sub.H. *14. 5'-CATGACCGTGGACACCTCT-3' (SEQ ID NO:42) Primer to introduce L71V into RV.sub.H.__________________________________________________________________________
For each variable region cDNA two primers are preferably designed. In the front primers, 15 bases at the 3'-end of the primer are used to hybridize the primer to the template DNA while the 5'-end of the primer contains a HindIII site and the "Kozak" sequence. The back primers have a similar design with 15 bases at the 3'-end used to hybridize the primer to the template DNA and the 5'-end of the primer contains a BamHI site and a donor splice site. In the case of the light chain back primer, a BglII site is used instead of BamHI site because the cDNA coding for the V L contains an internal BamHI site (FIG. 2). The PCR reaction is preferably carried out as described in the examples.
The PCR-modified V L region DNA is cloned into the HindIII-BamHI sites of the HCMV light chain expression vector as a HindIII-BglII fragment. This vector already contains the human genomic kappa constant region with the necessary splice acceptor site and poly(A + ) sites. The entire PCR-modified V L fragment is sequenced using two primers that anneal to sites flanking the cloning site in the expression vector. Sequencing confirms that no errors have been incorporated during the PCR step. The PCR-modified V H DNA is cloned into the HCMV heavy chain expression vector as a HindIII-BamHI fragment and also sequenced to confirm the absence of PCR errors. A BamHI fragment containing the human genomic gamma-1 constant region is inserted into the HCMV-CV H vector on the 3'-side of the V H region. This fragment contains the necessary acceptor splice site for the V-C splice to occur in vivo and the naturally occurring poly (A + ) site.
The expression vectors containing the chimeric 425 V L and V H regions are co-transfected into appropriate eukaryotic cells, preferably COS cells. After approximately 72 h of transient expression, the cell culture medium is assayed by ELISA for human IgG production and for binding to EGFR protein. Amounts of human IgG detected in the media vary from 100-400 ng/ml. The chimeric antibody produced binds well to EGFR protein in a standard antigen-binding ELISA thus confirming that the correct mouse variable regions has been cloned and sequenced.
Initial design, construction and expression or reshaped human 425 light and heavy chains:
In designing a reshaped human 425 antibody, most emphasis is placed on the V H region since this domain is often the most important in antigen-binding (Amit et al., 1986; Verhoeyen et al., 1988). To select the human FRs on which to graft the mouse CDRs, the FRs of mouse MAb 425 V H region are compared with the FRs from the consensus sequences for all subgroups of human V H regions (Kabat et al., 1987). This comparison shows that the FRs of mouse MAb 425 V H are most like the FRs of human V H subgroup I showing an approximately 73% identity within the FRs and an approximately 65% identity over the entire V H regions.
A further comparison of the mouse 425 V H region with other mouse V H regions from the same Kabat subgroups is carried out to identity any FR residues which are characteristic of MAb 425 and may, therefore, be involved in antigen binding. The residue at position 94 of the mouse MAb 425 V H region is a serine while in other V H regions from mouse subgroup II (B), and also from human subgroup I, residue 94 is an arginine (Kabat et al., 1987). This amino acid substitution is an unusual one and, since position 94 is adjacent to CDR-3, it is at a surprisingly important position. For these reasons, the reshaped human 425 V H region is preferably designed based on the CDRs of mouse MAb 425 and FRs derived from the consensus sequence for human subgroup I FRs (as defined by Kabat et al., 1987). Positions 94 in FR-3 is made a serine as found in mouse MAb 425. At positions in the consensus sequence for human subgroup I FRs where no single amino acid are listed, the most commonly occurring amino acid at that position is selected. If there is no preferred amino acid at a particular position in the human consensus sequence, the amino acid that is found at that position in the sequence of mouse MAb 425 V H is selected. The resulting amino acid sequence comprises the first version (versions "a") of reshaped human 425 V H (FIG. 3). All subsequent versions of reshaped human 425 V H are modifications of this first version.
A 454 bp DNA fragment coding for the reshaped human 425 V H region, as described above, is designed and synthesized (see examples and FIG. 3). In addition to DNA sequences coding for the amino acids of reshaped human 425 V H region, this DNA fragment also contains sequences coding for a human leader sequence. The human leader sequence can be taken for example from antibody HG3 CL (Rechavi et al., 1983), a member of human V H subgroup I (Kabat et al., 1987). The synthetic DNA fragment also contains eukaryotic translation signals at the 5'-end (Kozak, 1987), a donor splice site at the 3'-end (Breathnach et al., 1978), and HindIII and BamHI sites at the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively, for subcloning into the HCMV expression vector.
A similar procedure is carried out for the design of the reshaped human 425 V L region. The FRs of mouse MAb 425 V L region are compared with the consensus sequences for all the subgroups of human V L regions (Kabat et al., 1987). Within the FRs, an approximately 71% identity is found between mouse 425 V L and human kappa V L subgroup III, and an approximately 70% identity with human kappa V L subgroup I. DNA coding for human FRs of human kappa V L subgroup I is already available from the reshaped human D1.3 V L region (EP 239 400, Winter) and reshaped human CAMPATH-1 (Reichmann et al., 1988). The design of the reshaped human V L regions in these two human antibodies is based on the structurally-solved human immunoglobulin REI protein (Epp et al., 1975). For these reasons, the human V L FRs from reshaped human D1.3 and CAMPATH-1H are also used in reshaped human 425 V L . A comparison of the FRs of mouse 425 V L region with FRs of other mouse antibodies from similar subgroups reveal no significant differences in amino acid residues at functionally important positions. No changes in the human FRs are necessary therefore. The amino acid sequence of the reshaped human 425 V L region version "a" is shown in FIG. 4.
To construct the reshaped human 425 V L region, three oligonucleotides are designed that contain internal DNA sequences coding for the three CDRs of mouse 425 V L region and also contain 12 bases at the 5'- and 3'-ends designed to hybridize to the DNA sequences coding for the human FRs in reshaped human D1.3 V L region (see oligonucleotides 7-9 in Table I). CDR-grafting is carried as described in the examples. After DNA sequencing of putative positive clones from the screening, the overall yield of the triple mutant is 5-15%, preferably 9-10%. A reshaped human 425 V L region containing no PCR errors is cloned as a HindIII-BamHI fragment into the light chain expression vector to create the plasmid HCMV-RV L a425-kappa (FIG. 1).
The two expression vectors bearing the reshaped human 425 V L and V H regions are now co-transfected into appropriate cells (see above) to look for transient expression of a functional reshaped human 425 antibody. After approximately 72 h, the cell supernatants are harvested and assayed by ELISA for human IgG. Human IgG can be detected at levels ranging from 100-500 ng/ml, however, in the ELISA assay for antigen binding, binding to EGFR is surprisingly undetectable. When the cells are co-transfected with HCMV-RV L a425-kappa/HCMV-CV H 425-gamma-1, human IgG is produced and it binds to EGFR. However, when cells are co-transfected with HCMV-CV L 425-kappa/HCMV-RV H a425-gamma-1, human IgG is produced but it does not bind to EGFR at detectable levels. From these unexpectable results, it is clear that further inventive modifications in the FRs of reshaped human 425 V H are necessary in order to get a functional antigen-binding site.
Modifications in the FRs of reshaped human 425 V H region:
Further changes in the FRs of reshaped human 425 V H region are made based on a molecular model of the mouse 425 variable region domains. The CDR loops of the reshaped human V H region are examined to see how they fit into the canonical structures described by Chothia et al., 1989. As a result of this analysis, certain changes in the FRs are made. Other changes in the FRs are made based on a functional reshaped human anti-Tac antibody that was also designed based on human FRs from subgroup I (Queen et al., 1989). Surprisingly, the V H region of mouse anti-Tac antibody is approximately 79% identical to the V H region of mouse 425 antibody. Now, according to the invention, a molecular model of the mouse 425 variable regions is made (FIG. 5). The model is based on the structure of HyHEL-5, a structurally-solved antibody whose variable regions exhibit a high degree of homology to those of mouse 425 antibody. As a result of the above analysis, amino acid residues at positions 30, 48, 67, 68 and 71 in the reshaped human 425 V H region are changed to be identical to the amino acids occurring at those positions in mouse 425 V H region. To dissect the individual effects of these changes, a variety of combinations of these changes are constructed and tested according to the invention.
In total, 8 new versions of the reshaped human 425 V H region are constructed (see FIG. 4). From the versions generated by the methods described in detail in the examples, other versions are made by recombining small DNA fragments from previous versions. Once all the desired versions are assembled preferably in pUC18, the reshaped human 425 V H regions are transferred as HindIII-BamHI fragments into the HCMV-V H expression vector thus generating versions "b" to "i" of plasmid HCMV-RV H 425-gamma-1 (FIG. 4).
Modifications in the FRs of reshaped human 425 V L region:
Although the corresponding cells co-transfected with vectors expressing the reshaped human 425 light chain, version "a", and chimeric 425 heavy chain do produce an antibody that bound to EGFR, the antibody with the reshaped human 425 light chain does not appear to bind as well as chimeric 425 antibody. Examination of the V L regions of mouse 425 and reshaped human 425 version "a" reveal that residue 71, which is part of the canonical structure for CDR-1 (L1), is not retained in version "a" (Chothia et al., 1989). The PCR-mutagenesis method (Kamman et al., 1989) is preferably used to introduce a Phe to Tyr change at this position. The HindIII-BamHI fragment generated from this mutagenesis is introduced into the HCMV-V L expression vector to generate HCMV-RV L b425-kappa (FIG. 4).
Analysis of the new versions of reshaped human 425 V H region:
The expression vectors containing reshaped human V H versions "a" to "i" are co-transfected into the above characterized cells with the expression vector containing reshaped human V L region version "a". After about 3 days, the cell supernatants are analyzed by ELISA for human IgG production. Levels of production vary between 50-500 ng/ml. The samples are then analyzed by ELISA for human IgG capable of binding to EGFR. The different versions of reshaped human VH regions result in a wide variety of levels of antigen binding (FIG. 6). In this ELISA assay for antigen binding, the various reshaped human 425 antibodies can be directly compared with chimeric 425 antibody, but no to mouse 425 antibody. This is because the antibody used to detect binding to antigen is an anti-human IgG antibody. The nine versions of reshaped human V H region can be grouped according to their ability to bind to EGFR. Reshaped human V H region version "g" and "i" provide the highest levels of binding, followed by version "c", "f", and "h", and then followed by version "b". In some experiments, version "e" gives low, but detectable, levels of binding. Versions "a" and "d" never give detectable levels of binding. A competition binding assay is used to directly compare the reshaped human 425 antibodies containing versions "g" and "i" of V H , and the chimeric 425 antibody, to mouse 425 antibody (FIG. 7). Since the antibodies in the cell supernatants are not purified and are, therefore, quantitated by ELISA, the results from the competition-binding assay are regarded as giving relative levels of binding rather than an accurate quantitation of affinity. Competition binding assays with samples from four experiments in, for example, COS cells provide consistent results with respect to relative levels of binding to antigen. Chimeric 425 antibody compete well with the labelled mouse 425 antibody and give a percent inhibition of binding just slightly less than that obtained when unlabelled mouse 425 antibody is competed with labelled mouse 425 antibody (FIG. 7, Panel A). Reshaped human antibody with V L a and V H g is better than that with V L a and V H i region (FIG. 7, Panel B). Comparison of the plateau points of the binding curves indicates that the reshaped human antibody with V H g competes with labelled mouse 425 antibody 60-80% as well as the unlabelled mouse 425 antibody does in the same assay. When the results using samples from four independent experiments in, for example, COS or CHO cells were averaged, reshaped human antibody containing V L a and V H g give a binding that is 60-80% that of mouse 425 antibody.
Based on these results, it is possible to comment on the relative contributions of individual residues in the FRs make to antigen binding. The most significant single change in this study is the L71V change. Without this change, surprisingly, no binding to antigen is detectable (compare versions "a" and "b" of V H ). The R67K and V68A changes are, surprisingly, also important for binding (compare versions "b" and "c", and versions "i" and "h" of V H ). While introduction of V48KI change alone, and V48I and S30T together, fail to produce significant antigen binding, changes at these positions do enhance antigen binding. The S30T change, surprisingly seems to have a greater effect than the V48I change (compare versions "g" and "i", and versions "f" and "i" of V H ).
Analysis of the new version of reshaped human 425 V L region:
The expression vector containing the RV L b425 was co-transfected into appropriate preferably eukaryotic cells with the expression vector containing reshaped human V H region versions "b", "c" or "g". Cell supernatants are harvested and assayed for human IgG production and then for human IgG capable of binding to EGFR (FIG. 8, Panel A). These results show that version "b" of reshaped human 425 V L region increases the binding to antigen. A competition binding assay is then carried out to compare reshaped human 425 antibodies with V L a plus V H g and V L b plus V H g to mouse 425 antibody. Reshaped human MAb 425 with version "b" of the V L region has a greater avidity for antigen. Thus, a F71Y change in the V L increases antigen binding. The reshaped human MAb 425 with V L b and V H g has an avidity for antigen greater than 60-80% of that of the murine MAb 425.
From other experiments, using a reshaped human antibody containing V L b plus V H g (Examples 10, 11) it can be seen, that the binding potency to EGFR is similar for chimeric, reshaped and murine antibodies.
The invention demonstrates that relatively conservative changes in the FR residues can strongly influence antigen-binding.
The molecular model of mouse 425 variable regions clearly shows this residue at position 30 in V H to be on the surface of the molecule, in the vicinity of CDR-1. In fact, H1, as defined by Chothia and Lesk, 1987, extends from residues 26 to 32, thus encompassing the residue at position 30. When the residue at position 30 is changed from Ser to Thr in the CAMPATH-1H antibody, it has no effect on antigen binding. When position 30 is changed from Ser to Thr in reshaped human V H 425, binding to antigen is improved. It appears that the amino acid at position 30 does play a role in antigen binding in this particular antibody-antigen interaction. Since the S30T change only improves antigen binding slightly and since the change is not essential for antigen binding, the Thr at position 30 has only a weak interaction with the antigen.
The residue change at position 71 in V H strongly influences antigen binding. This is surprising since the two residues tested at this position, Val and Leu, only differ by one methyl group. H2 of mouse 425 antibody is a member of H2, group 2 canonical structures as defined by Chothia et al., 1989. HyHEL-5 has an H2 with an amino acid sequence similar to that of the H2 of mouse 425 antibody. In HyHEL-5, a Pro at position 52A in CDR-2 packs into a cavity created by the small amino acid (Ala) at position 71 in the FRs. In the model of the mouse 425 variable regions, there is a similar interaction between Pro-52A and Val-71. Although in mouse 425 V H the Pro at position 52A is able to pack into the cavity created by Val at position 71, replacement of Val-71 with a Leu causes molecular clashing that could alter the conformation of the CDR-2 loop. For this reason, the V71L change in reshaped human VH425 re-creates the CDR-2-FR interaction as it occurs in mouse 425 V H . This, surprisingly, greatly improves the antigen-binding properties of the reshaped human 425 antibodies (compare reshaped human antibodies with versions "a" and "b" of V H in FIG. 6).
The change at position 71 in V L probably affects CDR conformation because residue 71 is a member of the proposed canonical structure for L1 (CDR-1) (Chothia et al., 1989). Residue 29 in CDR-1 is a buried residue and has a contact with residue 71 in the FRs. In mouse 425 antibody, residue 71 in V L is Tyr. In the human FRs used for constructing the reshaped human V L s, it is a Phe. It appears that the hydroxyl group found in Tyr, but not in Phe, has a role in maintaining the correct conformation of CDR-1.
From the molecular model of the mouse 425 variable regions, it appears that Lys-66 forms a salt bridge with Asp-86. Introduction of larger Arg residue at position 66 would disrupt the structure. Ala-67 may interact with CDR-2 and simultaneously changing residues 66 and 67 to Arg and Val, as in V H a425, could have an adverse steric effect on CDR-2. The residue at position 48 is known to be buried (Chothia and Lesk, 1987), and the model confirms this. Changing residue 48 from an Ile, as found in mouse 425 antibody, to a Val, as found in human V H regions of subgroup I, could affect antigen binding by generally disrupting the structure. The amino acid at position 48 is also close to CDR-2 and may have a subtle steric effect on the CDR-2 loop.
From the competition binding studies, the best reshaped human V L and V H regions are V L b and V H g. V H g has all 5 of the FR changes discussed above plus the change at position 94 that is included in the first version of reshaped human 425 V H region. The FRs in version "b" of reshaped human 425 V L region are 70% identical to those in mouse 425 V L region. The FRs in version "g" of reshaped human 425 V H region are 80% identical to those in mouse.
Therapeutic and diagnostic use of the antibodies:
The antibodies according to the invention can be administered to human patients for therapy or diagnosis according to known procedures. Typically the antibody, or antibody fragments, will be injected parenterally, preferably intraperitoneally. However, the monoclonal antibodies of the invention can also be administered intravenously.
Determination of appropriate titers of antibody to administer is well within the skill of the art. Generally, the dosage ranges for the administration of the monoclonal antibodies of the invention are those large enough to produce the desired tumor suppressing effect. The dosage should not be so large as to cause adverse side effects, such as unwanted cross reactions, anaphylactic reactions, and the like. Generally, the dosage will vary with the age, condition, sex and extent of the disease in the patient and can be determined by one of skill in the art. The dosage can be adjusted by the individual physician in the event of any counter indications, immune tolerance or similar conditions. Dosage can vary from 0.1 mg/kg to 70 mg/kg, preferably 0.1 mg/kg to 500 mg/kg/dose, in one or more doses administrations daily, for one or several days.
Preparations for parenteral administration includes sterile aqueous or non-aqueous solutions, suspensions, and emulsions. Examples of non-aqueous solvents are propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, vegetable oils such as olive oil, and injectable organic esters such as ethyl oleate. Aqueous carriers include water, alcoholic/aqueous solutions, emulsions or suspensions, including saline and buffered media. Parenteral vehicles include sodium chloride solution, Ringer's dextrose, dextrose and sodium chloride, lactated Ringer's or fixed oils. Intravenous vehicles include fluid and nutrient replenishers, electrolyte replenishers, such as those based on Ringer's dextrose, and the like. Preservatives and other additives may also be present such as for example, antimicrobials, antioxidants, chelating agents, and inert gases and the like.
The antibodies can be conjugated to a toxin such as ricin subunit A, diptheria toxin, or toxic enzyme. Alternatively it can be radiolabelled according to known methods in the art. However, the antibody of the present invention display excellent cytotoxicity, in the absence of toxin, in the presence of effector cells, i.e. human monocytes.
Solid tumors which can be detected and treated using the present methods include melanoma, glioma and carcinoma. Cancer cells which do not highly express EGFR-receptors can be induced to do so using lymphokine preparations. Also lymphokine preparations may cause a more homogenous expression of EGF-receptors among cells of a tumor, leading to more effective therapy.
Lymphokine preparations suitable for administration include interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor, and combinations thereof. These can be administered intravenously, Suitable dosages of lymphokine are 10,000 to 1,000,000 units/patient.
For diagnostic purposes the antibody can be conjugated to a radio-opaque dye or can be radiolabelled. A preferred labelling method is the Iodogen method (Fraker et al., 1978). Preferably the antibody will be administered as F(ab') 2 fragments for diagnostic purposes. This provides superior results so that background substraction is unnecessary. Fragments can be prepared by known methods (e.g., Herlyn et al., 1983). Generally pepsin digestion is performed at acid pH and the fragments are separated from undigested IgG and heavy chain fragments by Protein A-SEPHAROSE™ chromatography.
The reshaped human 425 antibodies according to the invention are less likely than either mouse or chimeric 425 antibodies to raise an immune response in humans. The avidity of the best version of reshaped human 425 antibody equals that of mouse or chimeric 425 antibody in the best embodiments of the invention. Binding studies show that the potency to compete with EGF for binding to EGFR under optimized conditions is the same for chimeric, reshaped and murine antibodies. Moreover, the reshaped human 425 antibodies are more efficacious, when used therapeutically in humans, than either the mouse or chimeric 425 antibodies. Due to the great reduction in immunogenicity, the reshaped human 425 antibody has a longer half-life in humans and is the least likely to raise any adverse immune response in the human patient.
The results of the defined MAb 425 show that humanized monoclonal antibodies having an artificial consensus sequence do not effect a remarkable minimum response. Further advantages are described above in the paragraph: Summary of the Invention.
Therefore, the value of the new antibodies of the invention for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes is extraordinarily high.
References cited in the specification:
Amit et al. (1986), Science 233, 747
Aviv et al. (1972), Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 69, 1408
Bernstein et al. (1977), J. Mol. Bio. 112, 525
Breathnach et al. (1978), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 75, 4853
Brooks et al. (1983), J. Comp. Chem 4, 187
Br uggemann et al. (1987), J. Exp. Med. 166, 1351
Carter et al. (1985), Oligonucleotide Sitedirected Mutagenesis in M 13, an Experimental Approach Manual, Anglian Biotechnology Ltd. Colchester
Chirgwin et al. (1979), Biochemistry 18, 5294
Chothia et al. (1987), J. Mol. Biol. 196, 901
Chothia et al. (1989), Nature 342, 877
Co et al. (1991), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 2869
Cohen (1982), J. Biol. Chem. 258, 1523
Downward et al. (1984), Nature 307, 521
Epp et al. (1975), Biochemistry 14, 4943
Epp et al. (1983), Eur. J. Biochem. 133, 51
Fraker et al. (1978), Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 80, 849
Gillis et al. (1990), Hum. Antibod. Hybridomas 1, 47
Giorgi et al. (1983), Transplant. Proc. 15, 639
Gorman et al. (1991), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88, 4181
Gubler et al. (1983), Gene 25, 263
Hale et al. (1988), Lancet, ii, 1394
Herlyn et al. (1983), Cancer Res. 43, 2731
Hoggenboom et al. (1990), J. Immunol. 144, 3211
Jaffers et al. (1986), Transplantation 41, 572
Jones et al. (1986), Nature 321, 14
Kaariten et al. (1983), J. Immunol. 130, 937
Kabat et al. (1987), Sequences of Proteins of Immunological
Interest. US Dept. Health and Human Services, US Government Printing Offices
Kammann et al. (1989), Nucleic Acids Res. 17, 5404
Koprowski et al. (1985), Somatic Cell and Mol. Genetics 11, 297
Kozak (1987), J. Mol. Bio. 196, 947
Levy et al. (1987), Gene 54, 167
Liu et al. (1987), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 3439
LoBuglio et al. (1989), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86, 4220
Maeda et al. (1991), Hum. Antibod. Hybridomas 2, 124
Martin (1990), D. Phil. thesis, Oxfor University
Martin et al. (1989), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86, 9268
Mathieson et al. (1990), N. Eng. J. Med. 323, 250
Murthy et al. (1987), Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 252, 549
Nakamaye et al. (1986), Nucleic Res. 14, 9679
Padlan et al. (1989), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86, 5938
Panka et al. (1988), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 3080
Queen et al. (1989), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86, 10029
Rabbitts et al. (1984), Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 113,
Rechavi et al. (1983), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 855
Reichmann et al. (1988), Nature 322, 21
Rodeck et al. (1987), Cancer Res. 47, 3692
Sayers et al. (1988), Nucleic Acid Res. 16, 791
Schreiber (1983), J. Biol. Chem. 258, 846
Sheriff et al. (1987), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 8075
Show et al. (1986), Proteins 1, 267
Suh et al. (1986), Proteins 1, 74
Sun et al. (1987), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84, 214
Sutcliffe (1988), Ph.D. thesis, London University
Takahashi et al. (1987), Cancer Res. 47, 3847
Takahashi et al. (1982), Cell 29, 671
Taylor et al. (1985a), Nucleic Acids Res. 13, 8749
Taylor et al. (1985b), Nucleic Acids Res. 13, 8764
Tempest et al. (1991), Biol. Technology 9, 266
Ulrich et al. (1984), Nature 309., 418
Verhoeyen et al. (1988), Science 239, 18
Verhoeyen et al. (1991), In Epenetos, A.A. (ed.), Monoclonal
Antibodies: Applications in Clinical Oncology, Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 37
Ward et al. (1989), Nature 341, 544
Whittle et al. (1987), Protein Eng. 1, 499
Williams et al. (1990), Tibtech 8, 256
EXAMPLE 1
Molecular cloning sequencing:
Total RNA was isolated from cell line W425-15 (ATCC HB 9629) which produces MAb 425. Approximately 9.6×10 7 cells were used to produce total RNA using the guanidinium-CsCl method (Chirgwin et al., 1979). Supernatants from the cells used for total RNA isolation were assayed by ELISA to ensure that the cells were producing the correct MAb in high amounts. Poly(A+) RNA was prepared (Aviv and Leder, 1972). Double-stranded cDNA was synthesized essentially according to the methods of Gubler and Hoffman (1983) except that primers homologous to the 5'-regions of the mouse kappa and gamma-2a immunoglobulin constant regions were used to prime first-strand synthesis (Levy et al., 1987). The design of the light chain primer was a 26-mer (oligonucleotide 1, Table I) (SEQ ID NO:29 which was designed based on published data (Levy et al., 1987; Kaariten et al., 1983). The design of the heavy chain primer was a 25-mer (oligonucleotide 2, Table I) (SEQ ID NO: 30) and designed based on published data (Kaariten et al., 1983; Kabat et al., 1987). Primers were designed and synthesized on an Applied Biosystems 380B DNA Synthesizer and purified on urea-acrylamide gels. After second-strand synthesis, the blunt-ended cDNAs were cloned into SmaI-digested pUC18 (commercially available) and transformed into competent E. coli cells, e.g. DH5-alpha (commercially available). Colonies were gridded onto agar plates and screened by hybridization using 32 P-labelled first-strand synthesis primers (Carter et al., 1985). Sequencing of double-stranded plasmid DNA was carried out using Sequence (United States Biochemical Corporation).
EXAMPLE 2
Construction of chimeric genes:
For each variable region, a front 5' and back 3' polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer was synthesized (oligonucleotides 3-6, Table I). PCR reactions were set up using 1 ng of pUC18 plasmid DNA containing the cloned cDNA, front and back PCR primers at a final concentration of 1 μM each, 200 μM of each dNTP, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 1.5 mM MgCl, and 0.01% gelatin (w/v). Amplitag DNA polymerase (Perkin Elmer Cetus) was added at 2.5 units per assay. After an initial melt at 94° C. for 1.5 min, 25 cycles of amplification were performed at 94° C. for 1 min, 45° C. for 1 min, and 72° C. for 3 min. A final extension step at 72° C. was carried out for 10 min. PCR reactions were phenol/chloroform extracted twice and ethanol precipitated before digesting with HindIII and BamHI. The PCR fragment coding for the V L Or V H region was then cloned into an expression vector. This vector contains the HCMV (human cytomelovirus) enhancer and promoter, the bacterial neogene, and the SV40 origin of replication. A 2.0 Kb BamHI fragment of genomic DNA coding for the human gamma-1 constant region (Takahashi et al., 1982) was inserted in the correct orientation downstream of the V H region fragment (see HCMV-CV H 425-gamma-1 in FIG. 1). This vector was later adapted by removing the BamHI site at the 3'-end of the constant region fragment thus allowing variable regions to be directly inserted into the heavy chain expression vector as HindIII-BamHI fragments (Maeda et al., 1991). The fragment coding for the V L region was inserted into a similar HCMV expression vector, in this case containing a BamHI fragment of genomic DNA, approximately 2.6 Kb in size, coding for the human kappa constant region and containing a splice acceptor site and a poly(A + ) (Rabbitts et al., 1984) (see HCMV-CV L -425-kappa in FIG. 1).
EXAMPLE 3
Molecular modelling of MAb 425 V L and V H :
A molecular model of the variable regions of murine MAb 425 was built on the solved structure of the highly homologous anti-lysozyme antibody, HyHEL-5 (Sheriff et al., 1987). The variable regions of MAb 425 and HyHEL-5 have about 90% homology.
The model was built on a Silicon Graphics Iris 4D workstation running UNIX and using the molecular modeling package "QUANTA" (Polygen Corp.). Identical residues in the framework were retained; non-identical residues were substituted using the maximum overlap (Snow and Amzel, 1986) incorporated into QUANTA's protein modeling facility. The main chain conformation of the three N-terminal residues in the heavy chain were substituted from a homologous antibody structure (HyHEL-10 (Padlan et al., 1989)) since their temperature factors were abnormally high (greater than the mean plus three standard deviations from the backbone temperature factors) and since they influence the packing of V H CDR-3 (H3) (Martin, 1990). The CDR-1 (L1) and CDR-2 (L2) sequences of the V L region and the CDR-1 (H1) and CDR-2 (H2) sequences of the V H region from MAb 425 corresponded to canonical forms postulated by Chothia et al. (1989). The main chain torsion angles of these loops were kept as in HyHEL-5. The CDR-3 (L3) sequence of the V L region and the CDR-3 (H3) of the V H region from MAb 425 did not correspond to canonical structures and, therefore, were modeled in a different way. The computer program of Martin et al. (1989) was used to extract loops from the Brookhaven Databank (Bernstein et al., 1977). The loops were then sorted based on sequence similarity, energy, and structure-determining residues (Sutcliffe, 1988). The top-ranked loops were inspected on the graphics and the best selected by eye. H3 was modeled on bovine glutathione peroxidase (Epp et al., 1983) in the region of residues 92-103. L3 was modelled on the murine IgA (J539) Fab fragment (Suh et al., 1986) in the region of residues 88-96 of the light chain.
The model was subjected to steepest descents and conjugate gradients energy minimization using the CHARm potential (Brooks et al., 1983) as implemented in QUANTA in order to relieve unfavorable atomic contacts and to optimize Van der Waals and electrostatic interactions.
EXAMPLE 4
Construction of humanized antibody genes:
The construction of the first version of the reshaped human 425 light chain was carried out using a CDR-grafting approach similar to that described by Reichmann et al. (1988) and Verhoeyen et al. (1988). Single-stranded template DNA was prepared from a M13mp18 vector (commercially available) containing a HindIII-BamHI fragment coding for the human anti-lysozyme V L region (EP 239 400, G. Winter). The FRs of this light chain are derived from the crystallographically-solved protein REI. Three oligonucleotides were designed which consisted of DNA sequences coding for each of the mouse MAb 425 light chain CDRs flanked on each end by 12 bases of DNA complementary to the DNA sequences coding for the adjacent FRs of human REI (oligonucleotides 7-9 in Table I (SEQ ID NO: 35-37). Oligonucleotides were synthesized and purified as before. All three oligonucleotides were phosphorylated and used simultaneously in an oligonucleotide-directed in vitro mutagenesis system based on the methods of Eckstein and coworkers (Taylor et al., 1985; Nakamaye and Eckstein, 1986; and Sayers et al., 1988). The manufacturer's instructions were followed through the exonuclease III digestion step. The reaction was then phenol/chloroform extracted, ethanol precipitated, and resuspended in 100 μl of TE. A volume of 10 μl was used as template DNA in a 100 μl PCR amplification reaction containing M13 universal primer and reverse sequencing primer to a final concentration of 0.2 μM each. Buffer and thermocycling conditions were as described in Example 2 with the exception of using a 55° C. annealing temperature. The PCR reaction was phenol/chloroform extracted twice and ethanol precipitated before digestion with HindIll and BamHI and subcloning into pUC18. Putative positive clones were identified by hybridization to 32 P-labelled mutagenic primers (Carter et al., 1987). Clones were confirmed as positive by sequencing. A V L region containing all three grafted CDRs was cloned as a HindIII-BamHI fragment into the V L expression vector to create the plasmid HCMV-RV L a425-kappa.
Version "b" of the reshaped V L was constructed using the PCR mutagenesis method of Kammann et al. (1989), with minor modifications. The template DNA was the RV L a subcloned into pUC18. The first PCR reaction was set up in a total volume of 50 μl and contained 1 ng template, M13 reverse sequencing primer and primer 10 (Table I) at a final concentrations of 1 μM, 200 μM dNTPs, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 1.5 mM MgCl, and 0.01% (w/v) gelatin. Amplitag DNA polymerase was added at a concentration of 1 unit per assay. The reaction was set up in triplicate. After melting at 94° C. for 1.5 min, the reactions were cycled at 1 min 94° C., 1 min 37° C., and 2 min 72° C. for 40 cycles, followed by an extension at 72° C. for 10 min. The reactions were pooled, phenol/chloroform extracted and ethanol precipitated before isolating the PCR product from a TAE agarose gel. A tenth of the first PCR reaction was then used as one of the primers in the second PCR reaction. The second reaction was as the first except the first reaction product and 20 pmol of M13 universal primer were used. Cycling was as described by Kammann et al. (1989). The HindIII-BamHI fragment was cloned into pUC18 and sequenced. A DNA fragment bearing the desired change was subcloned into the V L expression plasmid to create plasmid HCMV-RV L b425-kappa.
The first version of the reshaped human V H region of 425 was chemically synthesized. A DNA sequence was designed coding for the required amino acid sequence and containing the necessary flanking DNA sequences (see above). Codon usage was optimized for mammalian cells with useful restriction enzyme sites engineered into the DNA sequences coding for FRs. The 454 bp was synthesized and subcloned into pUC18 as an EcoRI-HindIII fragment. A HindIII-BamHI fragment coding for the reshaped humanized 425 heavy chain was then transferred into the V H expression vector, to produce the plasmid HCMV-RV H a-425-gamma-1.
Eight other versions of the reshaped humanized heavy chains were constructed by a variety of methods. The HindIII-BamHI fragment coding for the version "a" of the heavy chain was transferred to M13mp18 and single-stranded DNA prepared. Using oligonucleotides 11-13 (Table I), PCR-adapted M13 mutagenesis, as described above, was used to generate DNA coding for reshaped human 425 V H regions versions "d", "e", "f" and "g" in pUC18. These versions were subcloned into the heavy chain expression vector as HindIII-BamHI fragments to create plasmids HCMV-RV H d425-gamma-1, HCMV-RV H e425-gamma-1, HCMV-RV H f425-gamma-1, and HCMV-RV H g425-gamma-1.
Reshaped human 425 V H regions versions "b" and "c" were generated using the PCR mutagenesis method of Kammann et al. (1989) as described above. The template DNA was reshaped human 425 V H region version "a" subcloned into pUC18, and the mutagenic primer used in the first PCR reaction was either primer 13 or 14 (Table I) . After mutagenesis and sequencing, sequences bearing the desired changes were subcloned into the heavy chain expression plasmid to create plasmids. HCMV-RV H b425-gamma-1 and HCMV-RV H c425-gamma-1.
Reshaped heavy chain versions "h" and "i" were constructed from the pUC-based clones of existing versions. A 0.2 Kb HindIII-XhoI fragment from version "e" was ligated to a 2.8 Kb XhoI-HindIII fragment from either version "b" or "c" producing the new versions "h" and "i", respectively, The HindIII-BamHI fragments coding for these versions were subcloned into the heavy chain expression vector to produce the HCMV-RV H h425-gamma-1 and HCMV-RV H i425-gamma-1.
EXAMPLE 5
Transfection of DNA into COS cells:
COS cells were electroporated with 10 μg each of the expression vectors bearing the genes coding for the heavy and light chains. Briefly, 10 μg of each plasmid was added to a 0.8 ml aliquot of a 1×10 7 cells/ml suspension of COS cells in PBS. A BIO-RAD™ Gene Pulser was used to deliver a pulse of 1900 V, with a capacitance of 25 μF. The cells were left to recover at room temperature for 10 min before plating into 8 ml DMEM containing 10% fetal calf serum. After 72 h incubation, the media was collected, centrifuged to remove cellular debris, and stored under sterile conditions at 4° C. for short periods, or at -20° C. for longer periods, prior to analysis by ELISA.
EXAMPLE 6
The transfection of DNA into CHO cells was done according to Example 5.
EXAMPLE 7
Quantification of IqG production and detection of antigen binding:
Human IgG present in COS cell supernatants was detected by ELISA: In the ELISA assay for human IgG, 96-well plates were coated with goat anti-human IgG (whole molecule) and human IgG in the samples that bound to the plates was detected using alkaline phosphatase-conjugated goat anti-human IgG (gamma-chain specific). Purchasable purified human IgG was used as a standard. Binding to the antigen recognized by MAb 425 was determined in a second ELISA. Plates were coated with an EGFR protein preparation (obtainable, for example, according to Rodeck et al., 1980) and antibodies binding to EGFR were detected using either an anti-human IgG (gamma-chain specific) peroxidase conjugate (for chimeric and reshaped human antibodies) or an anti-mouse IgG (whole molecule) peroxidase conjugate (for the mouse MAb 425 antibody) (both conjugates supplied by Sigma). Purified murine MAb 425 was used as a standard.
EXAMPLE 8
Competition binding assay:
Murine MAb 425 was biotinylated using a correspondingly purchasable kit. ELISA plates were coated with an optimal dilution of the EGFR protein. Dilutions of the COS cell supernatants, in a volume of 50 μl, were mixed with 50 μl of the biotinylated murine MAb 425 (estimated by ELISA to be 1.75 μg/ml). Each COS cell supernatant was tested in duplicate. Plates were incubated at room temperature, overnight. Bound biotinylated murine MAb 425 was detected by the addition of a purchasable streptavidin horseradish peroxidase complex. A control with no competitor present allowed a value of percentage of inhibition or blocking to be calculated for each COS cell supernatant as follows:
100-[(OD.sub.450 of sample/OD.sub.450 of control)×100 ]
EXAMPLE 9
Different probes of murine, reshaped and chimeric MAb 425 were analyzed by SDS-Polyacrylamide-Gelspaceelectrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) according to Laemmli et al. 2.5 μg of each sample were applied to each well under non-reducing as well as under reducing conditions. Protein was visualized by Coomassie staining. Analysis of reshped, chimeric and murine MAbs 425 by SDS-PAGE under non-reducing and under reducing conditions shows that the samples have similar purity.
MW range of the antibodies: 180,000-200,000.
EXAMPLE 10
Reshaped MAb 425 was purified by gelspacefiltration on SUPEROSE 12™ (Pharmacia Corp. Sweden) (SUPEROSE 12 consists of Protein A coupled to beaded, cross-linked agarose with an average particle size of 10 to 12 μm.) according to standard methods. The antibody was eluted with PBS (pH 7.4, 0.8 M NaCl) (0.1M). A single peak (at 5 min) can be obtained (FIG. 9).
EXAMPLE 11
Biotin-labelled MAb 425 was Used to compete with unlabelled MAb 425 or derivates for binding to EGFR. Biotin-labelling occurred according to standard methods. EGFR was solubilized from A431 membranes by standard methods. A431 cells were commercially purchased. Detection was done after incubation with POD-conjugated streptavidin and substrate. From this data inhibition curves were constructed (FIG. 10). The curves show that the binding of the various antibodies are comparable.
EXAMPLE 12
Different probes of purified murine, chimeric and reshaped MAbs 425 were tested for their potency to compete with EGF regarding their binding to EGFR. The test was performed by competing 125 I-labelled EGF (Amersham Corp., GB) and various antibodies for binding to EGF-receptor positive membranes (A431). The test system is based on SPA technology (Amersham). The competition curves of the murine and the reshaped antibodies (3 probes) are nearly identical (FIG. 11).
__________________________________________________________________________SEQUENCE LISTING(1) GENERAL INFORMATION:(iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 42(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 10 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:SerAlaSerSerSerValThrTyrMetTyr1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 7 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:AspThrSerAsnLeuAlaSer15(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 9 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:GlnGlnTrpSerSerHisIlePheThr15(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 5 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:SerHisTrpMetHis15(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 17 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:GluPheAsnProSerAsnGlyArgThrAsnTyrAsnGluLysPheLys151015Ser(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 12 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:ArgAspTyrAspTyrAspGlyArgTyrPheAspTyr1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 23 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7:AspIleGlnMetThrGlnSerProSerSerLeuSerAlaSerValGly151015AspArgValThrIleThrCys20(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 15 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:8:TrpTyrGlnGlnLysProGlyLysAlaProLysLeuLeuIleTyr151015(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 32 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 15(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 15 can be Tyr,Phe, Trp or His."(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:9:GlyValProSerArgPheSerGlySerGlySerGlyThrAspXaaThr151015PheThrIleSerSerLeuGlnProGluAspIleAlaThrTyrTyrCys202530(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:10:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 10 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:10:PheGlyGlnGlyThrLysValGluIleLys1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 30 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 30(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 30 can be Thr orSer."(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:11:GlnValGlnLeuValGlnSerGlyAlaGluValLysLysProGlyAla151015SerValLysValSerCysLysAlaSerGlyTyrThrPheXaa202530(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:12:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 14 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 3(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 3 can be Argor His."(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 5(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 5 can be Ala,Lys or His."(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 6(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 6 can be Pro orVal."(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 13(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 13 can be Ile,Val or Leu."(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:12:TrpValXaaGlnXaaXaaGlyGlnGlyLeuGluTrpXaaGly1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:13:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 32 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 1(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 1 can be Lys,Arg or His."(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 2(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 2 can be Ala,Val, Pro or Gly."(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 6(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 6 can be Val,Ala, Pro or Gly."(ix) FEATURE:(A) NAME/KEY: Region(B) LOCATION: 16(D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note="Amino acid 16 can be Glu orAsn."(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:13:XaaXaaThrMetThrXaaAspThrSerThrAsnThrAlaTyrMetXaa151015LeuSerSerLeuArgSerGluAspThrAlaValTyrTyrCysAlaSer202530(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:14:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 11 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:14:TrpGlyGlnGlyThrLeuValThrValSerSer1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:15:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 23 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:15:GlnIleValLeuThrGlnSerProAlaIleMetSerAlaSerProGly151015GluLysValThrMetThrCys20(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:16:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 15 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:16:TrpTyrGlnGlnLysProGlySerSerProArgLeuLeuIleTyr151015(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:17:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 32 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:17:GlyValProValArgPheSerGlySerGlySerGlyThrSerTyrSer151015LeuThrIleSerArgMetGluAlaGluAspAlaAlaThrTyrTyrCys202530(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:18:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 10 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:18:PheGlySerGlyThrLysLeuGluIleLys1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:19:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 30 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:19:GlnValGlnLeuGlnGlnProGlyAlaGluLeuValLysProGlyAla151015SerValLysLeuSerCysLysAlaSerGlyTyrThrPheThr202530(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:20:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 14 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:20:TrpValLysGlnArgAlaGlyGlnGlyLeuGluTrpIleGly1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:21:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 32 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:21:LysAlaThrLeuThrValAspLysSerSerSerThrAlaTyrMetGln151015LeuSerSerLeuThrSerGluAspSerAlaValTyrTyrCysAlaSer202530(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:22:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 11 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:22:TrpGlyGlnGlyThrThrLeuThrValSerSer1510(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:23:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 501 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: double(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23:CGAGCTCGGCTGAGCACACAGGACCTCACCATGGGTTGGAGCTATATCATCCTCTTTTTG60GTAGCAACAGCTACAGATGTCCACTCCCAGGTCCAGCTGCAACAACCTGGGGCTGAACTG120GTGAAGCCTGGGGCTTCAGTGAAGTTGTCCTGCAAGGCTTCCGGCTACACCTTCACCAGC180CACTGGATGCACTGGGTGAAGCAGAGGGCTGGACAAGGCCTTGAGTGGATCGGAGAGTTT240AATCCCAGCAACGGCCGTACTAACTACAATGAGAAATTCAAGAGCAAGGCCACACTGACT300GTAGACAAATCCTCCAGCACAGCCTACATGCAACTCAGCAGCCTGACATCTGAGGACTCT360GCGGTCTATTACTGTGCCAGTCGGGACTATGATTACGACGGACGGTACTTTGACTACTGG420GGCCAAGGCACCACTCTCACAGTCTCCTCAGCCAAAACAACACCCCATCGGTCTATCCAC480TGGATTCCTCTAGAGTCGACC501(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:24:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 140 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:24:MetGlyTrpSerTyrIleIleLeuPheLeuValAlaThrAlaThrAsp151015ValHisSerGlnValGlnLeuGlnGlnProGlyAlaGluLeuValLys202530ProGlyAlaSerValLysLeuSerCysLysAlaSerGlyTyrThrPhe354045ThrSerHisTrpMetHisTrpValLysGlnArgAlaGlyGlnGlyLeu505560GluTrpIleGlyGluPheAsnProSerAsnGlyArgThrAsnTyrAsn65707580GluLysPheLysSerLysAlaThrLeuThrValAspLysSerSerSer859095ThrAlaTyrMetGlnLeuSerSerLeuThrSerGluAspSerAlaVal100105110TyrTyrCysAlaSerArgAspTyrAspTyrAspGlyArgTyrPheAsp115120125TyrTrpGlyGlnGlyThrThrLeuThrValSerSer130135140(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:25:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 462 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: double(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:25:TTCGAGCTCGGTACCCACAAAATGGATTTTCAAGTGCAGATTTTCAGCTTCCTGCTAATC60AGTGCCTCAGTCATACTGTCCAGAGGACAAATTGTTCTCACCCAGTCTCCAGCAATCATG120TCTGCATCTCCAGGGGAGAAGGTCACTATGACCTGCAGTGCCAGCTCAAGTGTAACTTAC180ATGTATTGGTACCAGCAGAAGCCAGGATCCTCCCCCAGACTCCTGATTTATGACACATCC240AACCTGGCTTCTGGAGTCCCTGTTCGTTTCAGTGGCAGTGGGTCTGGGACCTCTTACTCT300CTCACAATCAGCCGAATGGAGGCTGAAGATGCTGCCACTTATTACTGCCAGCAGTGGAGT360AGTCACATATTCACGTTCGGCTCGGGGACAAAGTTGGAAATAAAACGGGCTGATGCTGCA420CCAACTGTATGGATCTTCCCACCATCCAGGATCCGGGGATCC462(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:26:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 128 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:26:MetAspPheGlnValGlnIlePheSerPheLeuLeuIleSerAlaSer151015ValIleLeuSerArgGlyGlnIleValLeuThrGlnSerProAlaIle202530MetSerAlaSerProGlyGluLysValThrMetThrCysSerAlaSer354045SerSerValThrTyrMetTyrTrpTyrGlnGlnLysProGlySerSer505560ProArgLeuLeuIleTyrAspThrSerAsnLeuAlaSerGlyValPro65707580ValArgPheSerGlySerGlySerGlyThrSerTyrSerLeuThrIle859095SerArgMetGluAlaGluAspAlaAlaThrTyrTyrCysGlnGlnTrp100105110SerSerHisIlePheThrPheGlySerGlyThrLysLeuGluIleLys115120125(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:27:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 454 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: double(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:27:AAGCTTGCCGCCACCATGGACTGGACCTGGCGCGTGTTTTGCCTGCTCGCCGTGGCTCCT60GGGGCCCACAGCCAGGTGCAACTAGTGCAGTCCGGCGCCGAAGTGAAGAAACCCGGTGCT120TCCGTGAAGGTGAGCTGTAAAGCTAGCGGTTATACCTTCTCTTCCCACTGGATGCATTGG180GTTAGACAGGCCCCAGGCCAAGGGCTCGAGTGGGTGGGCGAGTTCAACCCTTCAAATGGC240CGGACAAATTATAACGAGAAGTTTAAGAGCAGGGTTACCATGACCTTGGACACCTCTACA300AACACCGCCTACATGGAACTGTCCAGCCTGCGCTCCGAGGACACTGCAGTCTACTACTGC360GCCTCACGGGATTACGATTACGATGGCAGATACTTCGACTATTGGGGACAGGGTACCCTT420GTCACCGTCAGTTCAGGTGAGTGGATCCGAATTC454(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:28:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 140 amino acids(B) TYPE: amino acid(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:28:MetAspTrpThrTrpArgValPheCysLeuLeuAlaValAlaProGly151015AlaHisSerGlnValGlnLeuValGlnSerGlyAlaGluValLysLys202530ProGlyAlaSerValLysValSerCysLysAlaSerGlyTyrThrPhe354045SerSerHisTrpMetHisTrpValArgGlnAlaProGlyGlnGlyLeu505560GluTrpValGlyGluPheAsnProSerAsnGlyArgThrAsnTyrAsn65707580GluLysPheLysSerArgValThrMetThrLeuAspThrSerThrAsn859095ThrAlaTyrMetGluLeuSerSerLeuArgSerGluAspThrAlaVal100105110TyrTyrCysAlaSerArgAspTyrAspTyrAspGlyArgTyrPheAsp115120125TyrTrpGlyGlnGlyThrLeuValThrValSerSer130135140(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:29:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 26 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:29:GTAGGATCCTGGATGGTGGGAAGATG26(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:30:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 25 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:30:GTAGGATCCAGTGGATAGACCGATG25(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:31:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 23 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:31:CTCCAAGCTTGACCTCACCATGG23(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:32:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 29 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:32:TTGGATCCACTCACCTGAGGAGACTGTGA29(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:33:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 29 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:33:AGAAAGCTTCCACCATGGATTTTCAAGTG29(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:34:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 28 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:34:GTAGATCTACTCACGTTTTATTTCCAAC28(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:35:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 54 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:35:ACCATCACCTGTAGTGCCAGCTCAAGTGTAACTTACATGTATTGGTACCAGCAG54(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:36:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 45 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:36:CTGCTGATCTACGACACATCCAACCTGGCTTCTGGTGTGCCAAGC45(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:37:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 48 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:37:ACCTACTACTGCCAGCAGTGGAGTAGTCACATATTCACGTTCGGCCAA48(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:38:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 27 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:38:AGCGGTACCGACTACACCTTCACCATC27(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:39:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:39:ATACCTTCACATCCCACTG19(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:40:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 17 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:40:CGAGTGGATTGGCGAGT17(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:41:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 36 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:41:TTTAAGAGCAAGGCTACCATGACCGTGGACACCTCT36(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:42:(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs(B) TYPE: nucleic acid(C) STRANDEDNESS: single(D) TOPOLOGY: linear(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:42:CATGACCGTGGACACCTCT19__________________________________________________________________________
|
Humanized and chimeric anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGF-R) monoclonal antibodies are disclosed, comprising an artificial modified consensus sequence for the heavy chain of the framework region of the variable region of a human immunoglobulin. Corresponding humanized and chimeric monoclonal antibodies which bind to epitopes of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) having specific amino acid sequences in the hypervariable regions responsible for EGF-R binding are also disclosed. These antibodies are therapeutically and diagnostically useful.
| 8
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/254,764, filed Sep. 26, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/324,939, filed Sep. 27, 2001, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] The following United States and PCT utility patent applications have a common assignee and contain some common disclosure:
“Method and System for Flexible Channel Association,” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,671, by Denney et al., filed Sep. 27, 2001, incorporated herein by reference; “Method and System for Upstream Priority Lookup at Physical Interface,” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,689, by Denney et al., filed Sep. 27, 2001, incorporated herein by reference; “System and Method for Hardware Based Reassembly of Fragmented Frames,” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/960,725, by Horton et al., filed Sep. 24, 2001, incorporated herein by reference; “Method and Apparatus for the Reduction of Upstream Request Processing Latency in a Cable Modem Termination System,” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/652,718, by Denney et al., filed Aug. 31, 2000, incorporated herein by reference; “Hardware Filtering of Unsolicited Grant Service Extended Headers,” U.S. Application No. 60/324,912, by Pantelias et al., filed Sep. 27, 2001, incorporated herein by reference; “Packet Tag for Support of Remote Network Function/Packet Classification,” U.S. application Ser. No. 10/032,100, by Grand et al., filed Dec. 31, 2001, incorporated herein by reference; and “Method and Apparatus for Interleaving DOCSIS Data with an MPEG Video Stream,” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,670, by Dworkin et al., filed Sep. 27, 2001, incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0010] 1. Field of the Invention
[0011] The present invention relates generally to communications networking, and more specifically, to media access control processing within a communications network.
[0012] 2. Related Art
[0013] In recent years, cable network providers have expanded the variety of services offered to their subscribers. Traditionally, cable providers, for instance, delivered local and network broadcast, premium and pay-for-view channels, and newscasts into a viewer's home. Some modern cable providers have augmented their portfolio of services to include telephony, messaging, electronic commerce, interactive gaming, and Internet services. As a result, system developers are being challenged to make available adequate bandwidth to support the timely delivery of these services.
[0014] Moreover, traditional cable broadcasts primarily require one-way communication from a cable service provider to a subscriber's home. However, as interactive or personal television services and other nontraditional cable services continue to strive, communications media used to support one-way communications must now contend with an increased demand for bi-directional communications. This results in a need for improved bandwidth arbitration among the subscribers' cable modems.
[0015] In a cable communications network, for example, a communications device (such as a modem) requests bandwidth from a headend device prior to transmitting data to its destination. Thus, the headend device serves as a centralized point of control for allocating bandwidth to the communications devices. Bandwidth allocation can be based on availability and/or competing demands from other communications devices. As intimated above, bandwidth typically is available to transmit signals downstream to the communications device. However in the upstream, bandwidth is more limited and must be arbitrated among the competing communications devices.
[0016] A cable network headend includes a cable modem termination system (CMTS) which comprises a media access controller (MAC) and central processing unit (CPU). The MAC receives upstream signals from a transceiver that communicates with remotely located cable modems. The upstream signals are delivered to the CPU for protocol processing. The protocol processing is conventionally defined by the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS™) for governing cable communications. Depending on the nature of the protocol processing, the CPU must be able to handle these operations efficiently and timely as to not impede performance. As more subscribers and/or services are added to the network, greater emphasis is placed on the MAC and CPU to sustain protocol processing with no interruption in service.
[0017] Therefore, a system and method that increase packet throughput capacity and sustain performance are needed to address the above problems.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES
[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate 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. Additionally, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a voice and data communications management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates a media access controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates a media access controller according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates a media access controller according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates an egress postprocessor according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates an I/O arbitrator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 7 illustrates a media access controller according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 8 illustrates an ingress processor according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 9 illustrates an ingress processor, MAP extract, and PHY MAP interface according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 10 illustrates an OOB ingress processor according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] FIG. 11 illustrates a media access controller with a bypass DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 12 illustrates a media access controller with FFT DMA according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 13 illustrates a media access controller according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
I. Introduction
[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates a voice and data communications management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. System 100 includes a supervisory communications node 106 and one or more widely distributed remote communications nodes 102 a - 102 n (collectively referred to as “remote communications nodes 102 ”). System 100 can be implemented in any multimedia distribution network. Furthermore, it should be understood that the method and system of the present invention manage the exchange of voice, data, video, audio, messaging, graphics, other forms of media and/or multimedia, or any combination thereof.
[0033] Supervisory communications node 106 is centrally positioned to command and control interactions with and among remote communications nodes 102 . In an embodiment, supervisory communications node 106 is a component of a headend controller, such as a cable modem termination system (CMTS) or a part thereof. In an embodiment, at least one remote communications node 102 is a cable modem or a part thereof. In another embodiment, supervisory communications node 106 is a CMTS and at least one remote communications node 102 is a component of a television set-top box.
[0034] As part of a cable modem, remote communications node 102 is configurable to host one or more services to a subscriber. The services include telephony, television broadcasts, pay-for-view, Internet communications (e.g., WWW), radio broadcasts, facsimile, file data transfer, electronic mailing services (email), messaging, video conferencing, live or time-delayed media feeds (such as, speeches, debates, presentations, infomercials, news reports, sporting events, concerts, etc.), or the like.
[0035] Each remote communications node 102 is assigned one or more service identifier (SID) codes that supervisory communications node 106 uses to allocate bandwidth. A SID is used primarily to identify a specific flow from a remote communications node 102 . However, as apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s), other identifiers can be assigned to distinguish between the remote communications node 102 and/or the flow of traffic therefrom. Accordingly, in an embodiment, a SID or another type of identifier is assigned to identify a specific service affiliated with one or more remote communications nodes 102 . In an embodiment, a SID or another type of identifier is assigned to designate a particular service or group of services without regard to the source remote communications node 102 . In an embodiment, a SID or another type of identifier is assigned to designate a quality of service (QoS), such as voice or data at decreasing levels of priority, voice lines at different compression algorithms, best effort data, or the like. In an embodiment multiple SIDs are assigned to a single remote communications node.
[0036] In an embodiment, supervisory communications node 106 and remote communications nodes 102 are integrated to support protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP), Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), or the like.
[0037] Communications management system 100 also includes an internodal infrastructure 105 . As shown in FIG. 1 , internodal infrastructure 105 provides interconnectivity among supervisory communications node 106 and remote communications nodes 102 . Internodal infrastructure 105 supports wired, wireless, or both transmission media, including satellite, terrestrial (e.g., fiber optic, copper, twisted pair, coaxial, hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC), or the like), radio, microwave, free space optics (FSO), and/or any other form or method of transmission.
[0038] All communications transmitted in the direction from supervisory communications node 106 towards remote communications nodes 102 are referred to as being in the downstream. In an embodiment, the downstream is divided into one or more downstream channels. Each downstream channel is configured to carry various types of information to remote communications nodes 102 . Such downstream information includes television signals, data packets (including IP datagrams), voice packets, control messages, and/or the like. In an embodiment, the downstream is formatted with a motion picture expert group (MPEG) transmission convergence sublayer. However, the present invention can be configured to support other data formats as would be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art. In an embodiment, supervisory communications node 106 implements time division multiplexing (TDM) to transmit continuous point-to-multipoint signals in the downstream.
[0039] The upstream represents all communications from remote communications nodes 102 towards supervisory communications node 106 . In an embodiment, the upstream is divided into one or more upstream channels. Each upstream channel carries bursts of packets from remote communications nodes 102 to supervisory communications node 106 . In the upstream, each frequency channel is broken into multiple assignable slots, and remote communications nodes 102 send a time division multiple access (TDMA) burst signal in an assigned slot. TDM and TDMA are described herein by way of example. It should be understood that the present invention could be configured to support other transmission modulation standards, including, but not limited to, Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (S-CDMA), as would be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s).
[0040] As shown in FIG. 1 , an embodiment of supervisory communications node 106 includes an upstream demodulator physical layer device (US PHY) 108 , a downstream modulator physical layer device (DS PHY) 110 , a media access controller (MAC) 112 , a memory 114 and a software application 120 . US PHY 108 forms the physical layer interface between supervisory communications node 106 and the upstream channels of internodal infrastructure 105 . Hence, US PHY 108 receives and demodulates all bursts from remote communications nodes 102 . In an embodiment, US PHY 108 checks the FEC field in the burst to perform error correction if required.
[0041] Conversely, DS PHY 110 forms the physical layer interface between supervisory communications node 106 and the downstream channel(s) of internodal infrastructure 105 . Hence, packets (containing voice, data (including television or radio signals) and/or control messages) that are destined for one or more remote communications nodes 102 are collected at DS PHY 110 and converted to a physical signal. DS PHY 110 , thereafter, transmits the signal downstream.
[0042] MAC 112 receives the upstream signals from US PHY 108 or provides the downstream signals to DS PHY 110 , as appropriate. MAC 112 operates as the lower sublayer of the data link layer of supervisory communications node 106 . As discussed in greater detail below, MAC 112 extracts voice, data, requests, and/or the like, and supports fragmentation, concatenation, and/or error checking for signals transported over the physical layer.
[0043] Memory 114 interacts with MAC 112 to store the signals as MAC 112 processes them. Memory 114 also stores various auxiliary data used to support the processing activities. Such auxiliary data includes security protocols, identifiers, and the like, as described in greater details below.
[0044] MAC 112 interacts with software application 120 via a conventional bi-directional bus 118 . Software application 120 operates on one or more processors to receive control messages, data, and/or voice from MAC 112 , and implement further processing. In embodiments, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or a similar device provides hardware assists to enable software application 120 to support the functions of MAC 112 . As shown, software application 120 includes a classifier/router 124 and a bandwidth (BW) allocation controller 128 . BW allocation controller 128 manages upstream and/or downstream modulation and bandwidth allocation. Classifier/router 124 provides rules and policies for classifying and/or prioritizing communications with remote communications nodes 102 . Classifier/router 124 also routes signals from remote communications nodes 102 to a destined location over backbone network 140 .
[0045] Backbone network 140 is part of a wired, wireless, or combination of wired and wireless local area networks (LAN) or wide area networks (WAN), such as an organization's intranet, local internets, the global-based Internet (including the World Wide Web (WWW)), private enterprise networks, or the like. As such, supervisory communications node 106 utilizes backbone network 140 to communicate with another device or application external to communications management system 100 . The device or application can be a server, web browser, operating system, other types of information processing software (such as, word processing, spreadsheets, financial management, or the like), television or radio transmitter, another remote communications node 102 , another supervisory communications node 106 , or the like.
II. Media Access Controller
[0046] In an embodiment, MAC 112 is an integrated circuit within a CMTS (shown in FIG. 1 as supervisory communications node 106 ). Accordingly, MAC 112 performs a variety of protocol processes defined by the CableLabs® Certified™ Cable Modem project, formerly known as DOCSIS™ (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification), that defines the interface requirements for cable communications. The functions performed by MAC 112 includes interfacing with US PHY 108 and DS PHY 110 , encrypting and decrypting data, storing packet data in queues, and/or DMA functions to exchange data with memory 114 . Although the present invention is described in reference to DOCSIS protocol processing, it should be understood that the present invention is intended to be inclusive of other types of communication protocols governing multimedia distribution networks. However, the highly integrated MAC 112 of the present invention includes several additional functions that reduces the quantity of components within a conventional CMTS, the power consumption, the processing burden on software application 120 , and/or the cost of the CMTS.
[0047] FIG. 2 shows the components of a highly integrated MAC 112 according to an embodiment of the present invention. MAC 112 includes an egress preprocessor 204 , an egress postprocessor 208 , a fragment reassembly controller 212 , an egress memory controller 216 , an ingress memory controller 220 , an ingress processor 224 , and an input/output (I/O) arbitrator 228 . The components communicate over bus 232 a and bus 232 b (referred to collectively herein as “bus 232 ”). In an embodiment, bus 232 is an internal-only split transaction bus with built-in arbitration to allow the components to communicate with each other and with a shared memory interface to memory 114 . It should be understood that although two buses 232 (i.e., bus 232 a and bus 232 b ) are shown in FIG. 2 , the present invention is adaptable to support more or fewer buses.
[0048] Egress preprocessor 204 receives signals (including voice, data, and/or bandwidth requests) from US PHY 108 . Egress preprocessor 204 performs preliminary signal processing that includes prioritizing the signals. An example of preliminary signal prioritizing is described in the application entitled “Method and System for Upstream Priority Lookup at Physical Interface” (U.S. App No. 09/963,689), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety. Egress preprocessor 204 interacts with egress memory controller 216 that sends the signals to queues located in memory 114 . In an embodiment, egress preprocessor 204 does not send the signals to a queue, but rather passes the signals to fragment reassembly controller 212 .
[0049] Fragment reassembly controller 212 interacts with egress preprocessor 204 to receive the signals from this component and/or with egress memory controller 216 to receive the signals from memory 114 . Fragment reassembly controller 212 identifies fragmented frames from the signals and reassembles the frames according to instructions provided in the header frames of the signals. Defragmentation is primarily performed on data packets. However, defragmentation can also be performed on voice or requests, although such signals are rarely fragmented in practice. An example of fragment reassembly is described in the application entitled “System and Method for Hardware Based Reassembly of Fragmented Frames” (U.S. App No. 09/960,725), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety.
[0050] In an embodiment, fragment reassembly controller 212 is programmable to terminate reassembly operations if error conditions are detected. Such error conditions include, for example, missing or out of sequence fragments. If such errors are detected, fragment reassembly controller 212 discards the affected frames. Nonetheless, upon completion of its processing operations, fragment reassembly controller 212 interacts with egress memory controller 216 to store the defragmented signals in queues within memory 114 .
[0051] Egress postprocessing 208 performs additional processing on the signals stored in the queues of memory 114 . The additional processing is explained in greater detail below. The operations implemented by egress postprocessing 208 typically occur after the signals have been evaluated and/or processed by fragment reassembly controller 212 . Egress postprocessor 208 also interacts with egress memory controller 216 to store the post-processed signals in priority queues within memory 114 . An example of storing signals in priority queues is described in the application entitled “Method and System for Upstream Priority Lookup at Physical Interface” (U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,689), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety.
[0052] Bus 232 a supports the transfer of signals among egress preprocessor 204 , fragment reassembly controller 212 , egress postprocessor 208 and egress memory controller 216 prior to processing by egress postprocessor 208 . Bus 232 b however supports communication with memory controller 216 upon completion of processing by egress postprocessor 208 . Bus 232 b also enables signals to be delivered to I/O arbitrator 228 .
[0053] I/O arbitrator 228 manages the exchange of communications between software application 120 and MAC 112 . In particular, I/O arbitrator 228 interfaces with bus 118 to deliver the signals to software application 120 . I/O arbitrator 228 also receives signals from software application 120 . Such signals include broadcast signals and control messages to be transported downstream. These signals are typically stored in memory 114 until MAC 112 is ready to process them. As such, ingress memory controller 220 interacts, over bus 232 b , with I/O arbitrator 228 to receive signals from software application 120 and store the signals in priority queues within memory 114 .
[0054] Ingress processor 224 interacts with ingress memory controller 220 to received the downstream signals from memory 114 . Ingress processor 224 formats and prepares the signals for delivery to DS PHY 110 , as described in greater details below.
[0055] FIG. 3 illustrates an another embodiment of MAC 112 . A separate egress preprocessor 204 (shown as egress preprocessor 204 a - 204 f ) is provided for each upstream channel of internodal interface 105 . Although hardware configuration of this embodiment supports only six upstream channels, the present invention can support greater or lesser quantities of upstream channels as would be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s). As such, the present invention can utilize one egress preprocessor 204 to process signals from multiple upstream channels as shown in FIG. 2 , utilize a plurality of single egress preprocessors 204 with each egress preprocessor 204 processing signals from a single upstream channel as shown in FIG. 3 , or a combination of both.
[0056] FIG. 4 shows the components of egress preprocessor 204 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Egress preprocessor 204 includes a PHY interface (UF) device 404 , a decryptor (decrypt) 408 , an unsolicited grant synchronization (UGS) detector 412 , a header (HDR) processor 416 , and a burst direct memory access (DMA) 420 .
[0057] PHY I/F 404 receives signals (i.e., voice, data and/or requests) from US PHY 108 . In an embodiment, PHY I/F 404 prioritizes the signals based on source and/or service. This is implemented by utilizing the SID and/or some other type of node or flow identifier. In an embodiment, PHY I/F 404 checks the header checksum (HCS) field in the burst to perforin error detection, if required. In another embodiment, PHY I/F 404 checks the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field in the burst for error detection.
[0058] Decrypt 408 receives signals from PHY I/F 404 and performs decryption. In an embodiment, decrypt 408 performs data encryption standard (DES) decryption. In another embodiment, decrypt 408 performs advanced encryption standard (AES) decryption. Other decryption standards can be used, including but not limited to public-key encryption, as would be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s).
[0059] Depending on the security protocol that is being deployed, decrypt 408 extracts intelligence information from the signal, and processes the intelligence information for decrypting the signal. In an embodiment, a baseline privacy interface (BPI) protocol is used to encrypt upstream bursts. Similarly, a BPI protocol secures downstream bursts to restrict access to authorized subscribers. However, other security protocols can be used, including but not limited to, security system interface (SSI), removable security module interface (RSMI), or the like.
[0060] As such, in an embodiment, decrypt 408 checks a BPI field in each signal to detect whether the BPI field is enabled. If the BPI field is disabled, the signal passes to UGS detector 412 and HDR processor 416 . Otherwise, decrypt 408 requests and receives key information from egress lookup controller 424 . Egress lookup controller 424 queries egress memory controller 216 and, therefore, memory 114 for the key information. Upon receipt of the key information, decrypt 408 compares the BPI sequence number in the signal header with the stored key information, and decrypts the signal based on the key information Decrypt 408 then passes the signal to UGS detector 412 with information specifying whether there is a mismatch.
[0061] On receipt, UGS detector 412 checks the signal for a UGS extended header. If found, UGS detector 412 queries egress lookup controller 424 for a UGS header value retrieved with the key information requested by decrypt 408 . UGS detector 412 compares the UGS extended header with the UGS header value. If the two UGS headers do not match, UGS detector 412 sends a write request to memory 114 to update the stored UGS header value. An example of a method and system for checking a UGS extended header are described in the application entitled “Hardware Filtering of Unsolicited Grant Service Extended Headers” (U.S. App No. 60/324,912), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety. Irrespective, UGS detector 412 passes the signal to HDR processor 416 and informs HDR processor 416 whether the two UGS headers match.
[0062] HDR processor 416 processes headers from the signals to extract requests. An exemplary process for extracting signals for sending on an alternative path is described in the application entitled “Method and Apparatus for the Reduction of Upstream Request Processing Latency in a Cable Modem Termination System” (U.S. App No. 09/652,718), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety. HDR processor 416 sends the requests to request queue DMA 428 . HDR processor 416 also forwards to request queue DMA 428 any information relating to mismatches detected in the UGS extended header and/or decryption key sequence number. Request queue DMA 428 accumulates the requests, UGS extended header mismatches, and/or decryption key sequence number mismatches from all six upstream channels, and sends the information to egress memory controller 216 for delivery to a request upstream egress queue located in memory 114 .
[0063] HDR processor 416 delivers the data and/or voice payloads to burst DMA 420 . In an embodiment, HDR processor 416 performs deconcatenation on the payload frames prior to sending the frames to burst DMA 420 . Burst DMA 420 sends the payload frames to egress memory controller 216 for delivery to queues in memory 114 .
[0064] As discussed, egress lookup controller 424 performs lookup operations by querying memory 114 (via egress memory controller 216 ) to retrieve BPI key information, and check BPI key sequence number for mismatches. Egress lookup controller 424 also retrieves UGS extended header information, and compares the information to the UGS extended header in the current signal for mismatches.
[0065] FIG. 5 shows the components of egress postprocessor 208 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Egress postprocessor 208 includes a HDR postprocessor 504 , a payload header suppression/expansion (PHS) processor 508 , and packet DMA 510 .
[0066] HDR postprocessor 504 evaluates the reassembled fragmented frames and performs deconcatenation, as required. PHS processor 508 fetches the relevant PHS rules to expand payload header suppressed packets. In an embodiment, PHS processor 508 expands packets suppressed according to DOCSIS Payload Header Suppression. In another embodiment, PHS processor 508 expands packets suppressed by the Propane™ PHS technology available from Broadcom Corporation of Irvine, Calif.
[0067] Packet DMA 510 receives the frame from PHS processor 508 . Packet DMA 510 sends the processed frames to egress memory controller 216 for delivery to output queues in memory 114 .
[0068] FIG. 6 shows the components of I/O arbitrator 228 according to an embodiment of the present invention. I/O arbitrator 228 enables signals to be exchanged over a packet port 118 a and a PCI port 118 b.
[0069] Packet port 118 a interacts with a MAC 616 , packet port ingress manager 612 , and a packet port egress manager 604 . In an embodiment, MAC 616 is configured to support an Ethernet data interface. However, MAC 161 can be any other type of high-speed data interface for moving packets in and out of MAC 112 .
[0070] Packet port egress manager 604 arbitrates among the upstream priority queues destined for packet port 118 a . More specifically, memory 114 includes packet port-destined, upstream priority queues. Packet port egress manager 604 interacts with egress memory controller 216 to retrieve packets from the upstream priority queues, and deliver the data to MAC 616 . MAC 616 delivers the signal to packet port 118 a over a gigabit media independent interface (GMII interface). It should be understood that a GMII interface is provided by way of example. In alternative embodiments, MAC 616 delivers the signal over other types of interfaces.
[0071] MAC 616 also receives signals from packet port 118 a , and delivers them to packet port ingress manager 612 . Packet port ingress manager 612 sends the signals to ingress memory controller 220 to store the signals in downstream priority queues in memory 114 . In an embodiment, the downstream signals are stored according to a DET tag specified in the signals. An example of a method and system for packet tag processing are described in the application entitled “Packet Tag for Support of Remote Network Function/Packet Classification” (U.S. application Ser. No. 10/032,100), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety.
[0072] PCI port 118 b interacts with a PCI bus interface unit (BIU) 636 , a PCI DMA 632 , a PCI bridge 640 , a PCI egress manager 620 , and a PCI ingress manager 624 . PCI egress manager 620 arbitrates among the upstream priority queues destined for packet port 118 b . More specifically, memory 114 includes PCI-destined, upstream priority queues. PCI egress manager 620 interacts with egress memory controller 216 to retrieve packets from the upstream priority queues, and deliver the data to PCI DMA 632 .
[0073] PCI ingress manager 624 receives downstream signals brought into MAC 112 by PCI DMA 632 . PCI ingress manager 624 sends them to ingress memory controller 220 to store the signals in downstream priority queues in memory 114 . In an embodiment, the downstream signals are stored according to a PCI descriptor specified in the signals.
[0074] PCI DMA 632 acts as a PCI master to move data between MAC 112 and software application 120 . PCI DMA 632 interacts with PCI BIU 636 which interfaces with the physical layer of 118 b.
[0075] PCI bridge 640 processes all PCI transactions where MAC 112 is the target of the transaction. All accesses by software application 120 to the PCI registers or PCI memories of MAC 112 pass through PCI bridge 640 .
[0076] FIG. 7 shows the components of ingress processor 224 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Ingress processor 224 includes a downstream PHY I/F 702 , a multiplexer (MUX) 704 , a timestamp generator 706 , a MPEG video input 708 , a MPEG encapsulator 710 , a downstream processor 712 , and an in-band DMA 714 .
[0077] In-band DMA 714 interfaces with bus 232 b to interact with other components of MAC 112 . For instance, in-band DMA 714 interacts with ingress memory controller 220 to retrieve downstream signals from the downstream priority queues of memory 114 . In-band DMA 714 also interacts with ingress memory controller 220 to fetch PHS rules and DES keys from memory 114 , as needed by other components of ingress processor 224 .
[0078] Downstream processor 712 receives signals from in-band DMA 714 . As described in further detail below, downstream processor 712 processes and/or formats the signals to be transmitted downstream to a destined remote communications node 102 .
[0079] Timestamp generator 706 , MPEG encapsulator 710 , and MPEG video input 708 perform DOCSIS downstream transmission convergence sublayer functions. Specifically, MPEG encapsulator 710 receives the signals from downstream processor 712 , and performs MPEG encapsulation. Timestamp generator 706 provides timestamp message generation. Additionally, MPEG video input 708 receives MPEG video frames, if so configured. An example of a method and system for interleaving MPEG video frames with data are described in the application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Interleaving DOCSIS Data with an MPEG Video Stream” (U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,670), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety.
[0080] MUX 704 receives and multiplexes the MPEG-formatted signals, timestamps and MPEG video frames. MUX 704 delivers the MPEG frames to downstream PHY I/F 702 . Downstream PHY I/F 702 delivers the MPEG frames to the external DS PHY 110 .
[0081] As intimated, downstream processor 712 receives the downstream signals from in-band DMA 714 , and processes the signals according to various DOCSIS protocols, such as header creation, header suppression, and/or encryption. FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment of ingress processor 224 that includes another embodiment of downstream processor 712 . In this embodiment, downstream processor 712 includes an encryptor 802 , a HDR processor 804 , and a PHS processor 806 .
[0082] PHS processor 806 receives the downstream signals and fetches the relevant PHS rules to suppress the packet headers. In an embodiment, PHS processor 806 performs DOCSIS Payload Header Suppression as specified by a downstream PCI descriptor or Packet Port DET tag from the signal.
[0083] HDR processor 804 receives the signals from PHS processor 806 and creates a DOCSIS header. The header is created according to a downstream PCI descriptor or Packet Port DET tag stored with the signal. HDR processor 804 also generates HCS and/or CRC fields for error detection. A CRC field is always generated when PHS is performed.
[0084] Encryptor 802 performs DES encryption on the signals from HDR processor 804 . If a BPI security protocol is being used, encryptor 802 fetches DES keys to perform encryption.
[0085] FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of MAC 112 that includes a MAP extract 904 and an upstream PHY MAP interface 916 . More specifically, FIG. 9 illustrates the interaction between ingress processor 224 , MAP extract 904 and upstream PHY MAP interface 916 . In an embodiment, MAP extract 904 monitors the downstream signals as they are being processed within ingress processor 224 . As described above, the downstream signals include data and/or voice packets, control messages, or the like. The control messages include MAP messages intended for remote communications node(s) 102 . The MAP messages, like other types of downstream signals, are delivered to MPEG encapsulator 710 for additional downstream formatting and subsequent transmission to the designated remote communications node(s) 102 , as previously discussed.
[0086] If, during the monitoring operations of MAP extract 904 , MAP messages are detected, MAP extract 904 receives the MAP messages from the downstream path controlled by ingress processor 224 . MAP extract 904 processes and/or forwards the MAP messages according to various protocols. Primarily, the MAP messages are delivered to upstream PHY MAP interface 916 . Upstream PHY MAP interface 916 interacts with timestamp generator 706 to receive timing information that is included with the MAP message. Subsequently, upstream PHY MAP interface 916 passes this information to US PHY 108 . US PHY 108 uses this information, which includes slot assignments, boundaries, and timing, to plan for the arrival of upstream bursts.
[0087] MAP extract 904 is also connected to a master-slave interface that enables MAC 112 to operate in a master or slave mode. An example of a MAC capable of operating in master or slave mode is described in the application entitled “Method and System for Flexible Channel Association” (U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,671), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety.
[0088] In master mode, MAC 112 provides MAP messages to other slave devices to control their upstream channels. As such, MAP extract 904 detects MAP messages from ingress processor 224 and send to the slave devices. These MAP messages are transported out the MAP Master interface to the slave devices.
[0089] Conversely, MAC 112 is operable to function in slave mode. As such MAP extract 904 receives MAP messages from a Master MAC 112 (not shown) from the MAP Slave interface. Additionally, the MAP messages are delivered to upstream PHY MAP interface 916 , so that US PHY 108 can plan for the arrival of the associated upstream bursts. Hence, MAP extract 904 parses MAP messages from both the downstream path of ingress processor 224 and the MAP Slave interface.
[0090] FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of MAC 112 that includes an outof-band (OOB) ingress processor 1002 . OOB ingress processor 1002 includes an OOB PHY I/F 1004 , and an OOB generator 1008 .
[0091] OOB generator 1008 interacts with ingress memory controller 220 over bus 232 b to retrieve signals from a downstream OOB queue located in memory 114 . On receipt of the OOB signals, OOB generator 1008 performs protocol operations as specified by a downstream PCI descriptor or Packet Port DET tag include with the signal. OOB PHY I/F 1004 receives the signal from OOB generator 1008 , and delivers the signal to an external OOB PHY device (not shown) over an OOB interface.
[0092] FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of MAC 112 that includes a bypass DMA 1104 . PHY I/F 404 detects signals having a bypass field enabled and forwards the signals directly to bypass DMA 114 . Bypass DMA 114 interacts with egress memory controller 216 to deliver the bypass signals, exactly as received, to bypass upstream egress queues located in memory 114 . Signals delivered to the bypass upstream egress queues via this path do not undergo DOCSIS processing of any kind. Bypass DMA 114 can be used, for example, for testing and/or debugging. In an embodiment, signals are sampled and tested and/or debugged per SID at a periodically programmable rate.
[0093] FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of MAC 112 that includes a FFT DMA 1204 . FFT DMA 1204 receives FFT signals from an external upstream PHY device (not shown) on a FFT interface. FFT DMA 1204 interacts with egress memory controller 216 to deliver the FFT signals to FFT upstream egress queues located in memory 114 .
[0094] FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of MAC 112 that includes several components described in FIGS. 2-12 above. Reference characters “A-H” illustrate the interaction between MAC 112 and other components of supervisory communications node 106 . Accordingly in FIG. 13 , reference character “A” illustrates US PHY 108 , “B” illustrates a SPI interface as described below, “C” illustrates an OOB interface as described above, “D” illustrates a MAP master interface as described above, “E” illustrates a MAP slave interface as described above, “F” illustrates memory 114 , “G” illustrates DS PHY 110 , and “H” illustrates software application 120 .
[0095] Bus 232 b is shown in FIG. 13 as bus 232 b ( 1 ) and bus 232 ( b )( 2 ). Bus 232 b ( 1 ) arbitrates communication of upstream signals that have been processed by egress postprocessor 208 . Bus 232 b ( 2 ) arbitrates communication of downstream signals with ingress processor 224 and OOB ingress processor 1002 .
[0096] Several bus bridges are provided to enable the components to use the other buses, as required. Bus 0 - 1 bridge 1302 provides interconnectivity between bus 232 a and bus 232 b ( 1 ). Bus 0 - 2 bridge 1304 provides interconnectivity between bus 232 a and bus 232 b ( 2 ). Bus 1 - 2 bridge 1306 provides interconnectivity between bus 232 b ( 1 ) and 232 b ( 2 ). These bridges allow communication between components on different bus segments.
[0097] Auxiliary processor 1308 is included to enable additional features, including a serial peripheral interface (SPI) processor 1310 and a clock/GPIO 1312 . SPI processor 1310 receives and/or transmits signals over a SPI port that allows for enhanced inputs and outputs. Clock/GPIO 1312 supports synchronization and/or reset operations.
[0098] As discussed above, MAC 112 , in embodiments, is a single integrated circuit. As such, each component of MAC 112 , as described above with reference to FIGS. 2-13 , is formed on or into a single microchip that is mounted on a single piece of substrate material, printed circuit board, or the like. In an embodiment, one or more components of MAC 112 are formed on or into a distinct secondary circuit chip (also referred to as a “daughter chip”), and later mounted on a primary integrated circuit chip. Thus, the primary chip is a single package containing all components of MAC 112 , which includes one or more daughter chips.
[0099] Referring back to FIG. 1 , US PHY 108 , DS PHY 110 , and MAC 112 are shown as separate components of supervisory communications node 106 . However, in embodiments of the present invention (not shown), US PHY 108 and DS PHY 110 are components of MAC 112 . Therefore, US PHY 108 and DS PHY 110 are integrated into the single integrated circuit containing the other components of MAC 112 .
[0100] It should be understood that although only one memory 114 is shown in FIG. 1 , the present invention is adaptable to support multiple memories. In an embodiment, memory 114 includes two upstream SDRAMs and one downstream SDRAMs. However, each upstream SDRAM primarily is used for distinct operations. For instance, one upstream SDRAM interfaces with egress memory controller 216 a and stores signals and/or auxiliary information to support the operations of egress preprocessor 204 , fragment reassembly 212 , egress postprocessor 208 , bypass DMA 1104 and/or FFT DMA 1204 . The second upstream SDRAM, for example, interfaces with egress memory controller 216 b and stores signals and/or auxiliary information to support the operations of request queue DMA 428 , egress postprocessor 208 , and/or I/O arbitrator 228 .
[0101] The downstream SDRAM primarily stores downstream signals and auxiliary information to support the operations of I/O arbitrator 228 , ingress processor 224 , MAP extract 904 , OOB ingress processor 1002 , and/or auxiliary processor 1308 .
[0102] As discussed, the bus bridges ( 1302 , 1304 , and 1306 ) allow communication between components on different bus segments. For instance, bus 0 - 1 bridge 1302 enables the use of a single egress memory controller 216 to access a single upstream SDRAM (i.e., memory 114 ). In another example, the bus bridges are used to allow the PCI target bridge 640 to access registers from components connected to bus 232 a and/or bus 232 b.
[0103] In an embodiment, memory 114 collects egress and ingress statistics to support DOCSIS OSSI Management Information Base (MIB) requirements. MAC 112 and memory 114 gather and store statistics per SID and/or on a particular channel or link. The statistics include the quantity of bits/bytes received, the quantity of packets received, the quantity of HCS errors, the quantity of CRC errors, and the like.
[0104] As discussed, memory 114 of the present invention include various distinct queues used to support the enhanced operations of MAC 112 . The queues include a DOCSIS high priority queue based on SID lookup, and/or a DOCSIS low priority queue based on SID lookup. An example of SID-lookup priority queues is described in the application entitled “Method and System for Upstream Priority Lookup at Physical Interface” (U.S. application Ser. No. 09/963,689), which is incorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety. Other priority queues of the present invention include a ranging messages queue, a non-ranging management messages queue, a bypass DMA queue, a requests queue, a FFT queue, and/or a pass-through queue (e.g., a PCI-to-Packet Port queue, and/or a Packet Port-to-PCI queue). The above nine queues are not intended to be exclusive. As would be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s), additional or fewer queues, memories, and/or memory controllers can be implemented and are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
III. Conclusion
[0105] FIGS. 1-13 are conceptual illustrations that allow an easy explanation of the present invention. That is, the same piece of hardware or module of software can perform one or more of the blocks. It should also be understood that embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In such an embodiment, the various components and steps would be implemented in hardware and/or software to perform the functions of the present invention.
[0106] While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in foam and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be understood that the method and system of the present invention should not be limited to transmissions between cable modems and headends. The present invention can be implemented in any multi-nodal communications environment governed by a centralized node. The nodes can include communication gateways, switches, routers, Internet access facilities, servers, personal computers, enhanced telephones, personal digital assistants (PDA), televisions, set-top boxes, or the like. Thus, 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.
|
A supervisory communications device, such as a headend device within a communications network, monitors and controls communications with a plurality of remote communications devices throughout a widely distributed network. The supervisory device allocates bandwidth on the upstream channels by sending MAP messages over its downstream channel. A highly integrated media access controller integrated circuit (MAC IC) operates within the headend to provide lower level processing on signals exchanged with the remote devices. The enhanced functionality of the MAC IC relieves the processing burden on the headend CPU and increases packet throughput. The enhanced functionality includes header suppression and expansion, DES encryption and decryption, fragment reassembly, concatenation, and DMA operations
| 7
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention refers to a method of producing and structuring molecular networks on a substrate. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a method of producing and structuring nanoscale molecular networks on a substrate. These networks can then be used either as a location mechanism for large molecules or as a mode of forming or transferring nanoscale patterns on to a surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It is highly desirable to be able to reproducibly deposit a controllable nanoscale pattern onto a surface. Such a pattern can then be used as either a containment vessel or as a means of surface lithography. Technological applications include high-speed computing, high density storage and display, and optical communications through devices such as the single-electron transistor and quantum dot laser.
[0003] Non-covalent directional interactions between different molecules provide a pre-determined recognition pathway which has been widely exploited in solution-based supramolecular chemistry to form functional nanostructures such as capsules, switches and prototype machines (for example Lehn, 2000).
[0004] Recently there have been major advances in transferring the protocols of supramolecular organisation to two dimensional surface based assembly (Hecht, 2003; de Feyter et al., 2003). Several groups have demonstrated structures which may be stabilised by hydrogen bonding (for example Barth et al., 2000), dipolar coupling (for example Yokoyama et al., 2001) or metal co-ordination (Lin et al., 2002). These include isolated rows (for example Barth et al., 2000), clusters (for example Furukawa et al., 2000) and networks (for example Berner et al., 2001) as well as more complex multi-component arrangements (de Wild et al., 2002).
[0005] The ability to create networks capable of accommodating a single fullerene molecule within their pores has been demonstrated previously (Gimzewski et al., 1997; Cuberes et al., 1997). However, accommodating only one molecule limits the scope of possible applications based on this approach to the positioning of isolated non-interacting molecules. Therefore, it is desirable to form a self-assembled surface network containing pores that are sufficiently large to accommodate several large molecules or nano-scale particles. Such a fundamental and major advance would give rise to many exciting technological and scientific opportunities.
[0006] The creation of such networks is possible using the deposition method described in patent application WO 02/086200, which concerns a deposition method for forming molecular and atomic patterns on a substrate. However, the control over the arrangement of the molecules is poor and determined by packing density. Instead, a controllable and reproducible method is required whereby the structure, dimensions and chemical functionality of the network is determined by the choice of molecules used to form the network, and the substrate on which the network is formed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention describes a method for producing a large area two-dimensional nanoscale network on the surface of a substrate. The network is formed by depositing a sub-mono-layer of molecule A onto the surface of the substrate followed by a different molecule B. The formation of the network relies on the hetero-molecular hydrogen bonding between molecules A and B to be stronger than the homo-molecular hydrogen bonding. Thus, by appropriate choice of molecules A and B, together with the substrate, it is possible to manipulate and control the structure, dimensions and chemical functionality of the network. The pores of the network can act as containment vessels for other molecules, atoms and nano particles that can be held non-specifically by Van der Waals forces or via chemical interactions/bonds which can be made to be specific for a chosen molecule. The pores can be made sufficiently large to accommodate several large molecules or atomic/molecular clusters or particles. Alternatively, the network can be used as a lithographic tool to form or transfer nanoscale patterns and structures on to a surface.
[0008] According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing and/or structuring a molecular network upon a substrate comprising the steps of:
depositing a first sub-layer comprising a first molecular species upon a surface; depositing a second sub-layer comprising a second molecular species upon the surface, the first and second molecular species being different molecular species; bonding at least at portions of the first molecular species to at least a portion of the second molecular species so as to form a molecular network.
[0012] Either, or both, of the first or, and, sub-layers may comprise sub-monolayer coverages of the first or, and, second molecular species respectively. Step (iii) may comprise hetero-molecular bonding between the first and second molecular species, typically hetero-molecular hydrogen bonding.
[0013] The method may include varying the structure and/or dimensions of the network by varying either, or both, of the first or, and, second molecular species. The method may include varying the chemical functionality, or/and the chemical selectivity, of the network by varying either, or both, of the first or, and, second molecular species.
[0014] The method may include retaining any one, or combination, of the following within at least one pore of the network: a molecule, typically not of the either of the first or second molecular species, an atom, a nano particle, one or more large, possibly macro, molecules, atomic cluster, molecular cluster. The method may include using non-specific Van der Waals interactions, or specific chemical interactions, or a combination of both, to retain any one, or combination, of the following within at least one pore of the network: a molecule, typically not of the either of the first or second molecular species, an atom, a nano particle, one or more large, possibly macro, molecules, atomic cluster, molecular cluster; within at least one pore of the network.
[0015] According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a photolithographic mask, or reticle, fabricated using the method of the first aspect of the present invention.
[0016] According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided an electronic, optoelectronic or photonic circuit fabricated using the mask, or reticle, of the second aspect of the present invention.
[0017] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a data storage medium fabricated using the method of the first aspect of the present invention.
[0018] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a display device according fabricated using the method of the first aspect of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] In the following the invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0020] FIG. 1 a is a schematic drawing of perylene tetra-carboxylic di-imide (PTCDI) molecule;
[0021] FIG. 1 b is a schematic drawing of melamine molecule;
[0022] FIG. 1 c is a schematic drawing of network formed by a melamine molecule and three PTCDI molecules;
[0023] FIG. 2 shows examples of other possible molecules suitable for network formation;
[0024] FIG. 3 a shows an STM image of PCTDI-melamine network. Scale bars, 3 nm;
[0025] FIG. 3 b is a schematic diagram showing the registry of the network with the surface;
[0026] FIG. 4 a shows an STM image of C60 heptamers trapped within nano-scale vessels of a Melamine-PTCDI network. Scale bar, 5 nm;
[0027] FIG. 4 b is a schematic diagram of C60 heptamer trapped within Melamine-PTCDI network;
[0028] FIG. 5 a shows an STM image showing the Melamine-PTCDI network, C60 heptamers and the raised C60 honeycomb network. Scale bar, 5 nm; and
[0029] FIG. 5 b shows an STM image of a low defect termination of a melamine-PTCDI network with C 60 (Scale bar, 10 nm).
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0030] Molecular entrapment in nanoscale vessels formed by surface supramolecular assembly, the method of self-assembly of a nano-scale network described here is a bimolecular method that requires the two molecules, A and B, to exhibit stronger hetero-molecular hydrogen bonding compared to homo-molecular hydrogen bonding, and also to have a compatible molecular geometry. Perylene tetra-carboxylic di-imide (PTCDI) 10 , illustrated in FIG. 1 a, and melamine 12 , illustrated in FIG. 1 b, are two such molecules that exhibit these properties. FIG. 1 c illustrates the compatibility of the molecular geometries of melamine 12 and PTCDI 10 which results in three hydrogen bonds 14 per melamine-PTCDI pair. It is understood that melamine 12 and PTCDI 10 are used in the following description to exemplify the invention only and other molecular pairs that exhibit the similar properties of compatible molecular geometry and strong hetero-molecular hydrogen bonding compared to homo-molecular hydrogen bonding may also be used. Examples of further molecules that can be used are shown in FIG. 2 .
[0031] The formation of the nano-scale network is a two stage process where a sub-monolayer of the molecule A is first deposited onto a prepared substrate. Molecule B is then deposited on the substrate and the network is formed. Methods of deposition that may be used to carry this out include, but are not limited to, ultra-high vacuum deposition and solution based deposition.
[0032] The melamine-PTCDI network illustrated in FIG. 3 was prepared under ultra-high vacuum conditions (base pressure ˜5×10 −11 Torr). PTCDI 10 and melamine 12 were placed in effusion cells and sublimed through heating to ˜360° C. and ˜100° C. respectively, onto a Ag/Si(111)-{square root}3×{square root}3R30° surface held at room temperature. The method of deposition and preparation of such substrates is well-known to those skilled in the art.
[0033] The first step in the formation of the network 18 was the deposition of 0.1-0.3 mono-layers of PTCDI 10 to form close packed islands and short chains on the surface of the substrate. Melamine 12 was then deposited while the sample was annealed at ˜100° C. The annealing provides sufficient thermal energy for molecules to detach from PTCDI islands and diffuse across the surface. These PTCDI molecules 10 interact with melamine 12 to nucleate the hexagonal network 18 which then grows through further capture of diffusing molecules.
[0034] STM images of the resulting melamine-PTCDI network 18 are shown in FIG. 3 a. The network has principal axes at 30° to those of the Ag/Si(111)-{square root}3×{square root}3R30° surface and a lattice constant 3{square root}3a o =34.6 Å. The geometry and dimensions of the nano-scale network formed by the bi-molecular pair is determined by geometries and dimensions of the two molecules used in the network's formation. The hexagonal structure seen with the melamine-PTCDI network 18 is determined by the threefold symmetry of the melamine 12 which forms the vertices of the network while the straight edges correspond to PTCDI 10 . Alternative geometries such as rectangles, wires and triangles are achievable through appropriate choice of molecules.
[0035] The use of bimolecular assembly using long molecules to define the edges of the network results in pores which are much larger than the constituent building blocks of the networks and enables their use as traps, or vessels, which may be used to co-locate several large molecules, clusters or particles. This potential is demonstrated through the sublimation of C 60 20 onto the hexagonal melamine-PTCDI network 18 top form a new fullerene nanophase—the heptamer 22 —in the pores. However, sublimation and other methods may be used to fill the pores with other technologically exciting molecular species or combination of species, clusters or particles.
[0036] FIG. 4 a shows an STM image acquired following the deposition of 0.03 monolayers (ML) of C 60 20 . Heptameric clusters 22 of C 60 20 , in which molecules are ordered in a compact hexagonal arrangement are seen to have formed within the pores. The clusters 22 formed in different pores are aligned, and are all oriented parallel to the principal axes of the Si(111) surface. The molecular arrangement of the heptamers 22 has been deduced from the STM images of FIG. 4 a and are shown in FIG. 4 b. Clusters of fewer molecules are also observed. For example there are clusters of six molecules in FIG. 4 a and clusters of 2-5 molecules have also been observed, while many pores remain empty for this coverage of C 60 20 .
[0037] As the coverage of C 60 20 is increased the fraction of pores capturing adsorbed molecules and stabilising heptameric clusters 22 increases. This is accompanied by the adsorption of C 60 20 directly above the PTCDI 10 and melamine 12 molecules reproducing the underlying hexagonal network 18 . STM images showing second layer C 60 20 , heptamers 22 and the melamine-PTCDI network 18 in close proximity are shown in FIG. 5 a.
[0038] A further increase in C 60 20 coverage results in a near perfect termination of the second layer as shown in STM images FIG. 5 b. An array of C 60 20 molecules sits directly above the melamine-PTCDI network 18 and the lateral positions within this array correspond exactly to those of a hexagonally close packed layer. However, the elevation of the hexagonal network's 18 constituent molecules results in an increase in their separation with molecules at the heptamer 22 edge and this arrangement thus constitutes a new surface phase of fullerene which is controlled and templated by the hydrogen bonded network.
[0039] Further deposition of C 60 20 up to a total of 3 ML does not lead to the formation of higher layers of fullerene on the hexagonal network. This observation is attributed to the absence of sites in the termination shown in FIG. 5 which are suitable for the stable nucleation of higher layers.
[0040] The foregoing description 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 process shown as described above. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents which may be resorted to can be considered to fall within the scope of the invention.
REFERENCES
[0000]
de Wild, M., Berner, S., Suzuki, H., Yanagi, H., Schlettwein, D., Ivan, S., Baratoff, A., Guentherodt H-J. & Jung, T. A. A novel route to molecular self-assembly: Self-intermixed monolayer phases. Chem. Phys. Chem. 3, 881-885 (2002).
Balzani, V., Credi, A., Raymo, F. M. & Stoddart, J. F. Artificial molecular machines. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 39, 3349-3391 (2000).
Barth, J. V., Weckesser, J., Cai., C., Gunter, P., Burgi, L., Jeandupeux, O. & Kern, K. Building supramolecular nanostructures at surfaces by hydrogen bonding. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 39, 1230-1234 (2000).
Berner, S., Brunner, M., Ramoino, L., Suzuki, H., Guentherodt, H-J. & Jung, T. A., Time evolution analysis of a 2D solid-gas equilibrium: a model system for molecular adsorption and diffusion. Chem.Phys.Lett. 348, 175-181 (2001).
Bohringer, M., Morgenstern, K., Schneider, W. D. & Berndt, R. Separation of a racemic mixture of two-dimensional molecular clusters by scanning tunneling microscopy. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 38, 821-823 (1999).
Chen, Q., Frankel, D. J. & Richardson, N. V. Self-assembly of adenine on Cu( 110 ) surfaces. Langmuir 18, 3219-3225 (2002).
Cuberes, M. T., Schlittler, R. R. & Gimzewski, J. K. Room temperature supramolecular repositioning at molecular interfaces using a scanning tunneling microscope. Surf. Sci. 371, L231-L234 (1997).
De Feyter, S. & De Schryver, F. C. Two-dimensional supramolecular self-assembly probed by scanning tunnelling microscopy. Chem. Soc. Rev. 32, 139-150 (2003).
Dmitriev, A., Lin, N., Weckesser, J., Barth, J. V. & Kern, K. Supramolecular assemblies of trimesic acid on a Cu(100) surface. J. Phys. Chem. B 106, 6907-6912 (2002).
Fujita, M., Fujita, N., Ogura, K. & Yamaguchi, K. Spontaneous assembly of ten components into two interlocked, identical coordination cages. Nature 400, 52-55 (1999).
Furukawa, M., Tanaka, H. & Kawai, T. Formation mechanism of low-dimensional superstructure of adenine molecules and its control by chemical modification: a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy study. Surf. Sci. 445, 1-10 (2000).
Gimzewski, J. K., Jung, T. A., Cuberes, M. T. & Schlittler, R. R. Scanning tunneling microscopy of individual molecules: beyond imaging. Surf. Sci. 386, 101-114 (1997).
Griessl, S., Lackinger, M., Edelwirth, M., Hietschold, M. & Heckl, W. M. Self-assembled two-dimensional molecular host-guest architectures from trimesic acid. Single Mol. 3, 25-31 (2002).
Hecht, S. Welding, organizing, and planting organic molecules on substrate surfaces—Promising approaches towards nanoarchitectonics from the bottom up. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 42, 24-26 (2003).
Keeling, D. L., Oxtoby, N. S., Wilson, C., Humphry, M. J., Champness, N. R. & Beton, P. H. Assembly and processing of hydrogen bond induced supramolecular nanostructures. Nano Lett. 3, 9-12 (2003).
Lehn, J. M. Toward complex matter: Supramolecular chemistry and self-organization. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 99, 4763-4768 (2002).
Lin, N., Dmitriev, A., Weckesser, J., Barth, J. V. & Kern, K. Real-time single-molecule imaging of the formation and dynamics of coordination compounds. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 41, 4779-4783 (2002).
Reinhoudt, D. N. & Crego-Calama, M. Synthesis beyond the molecule. Science 295, 2403-2407 (2002).
Seeman, N. C. DNA in a material world. Nature 421, 427-431 (2003).
Yokoyama, T., Yokoyama, S., Kamikado, T., Okuno, Y. & Mashiko, S. Selective assembly on a surface of supramolecular aggregates with controlled size and shape. Nature 413, 619-621 (2001).
|
The present invention describes a method for producing a large area two-dimensional nanoscale network on the surface of a substrate. The network is formed by depositing a sub-mono-layer of molecule A onto the surface of the substrate followed by a different molecule B. The formation of the network relies on the hetero-molecular hydrogen bonding between molecules A and B to be stronger than the homo-molecular hydrogen bonding. By appropriate choice of molecules A and B, together with the substrate, it is possible to manipulate and control the structure, dimensions and chemical functionality of the network. The pores of the network can act as containment vessels for other molecules and be made sufficiently large to accommodate several large molecules or atomic/molecular clusters or particles.
| 6
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices used in the drilling and operation of subterranean and subsea wells, primarily oil and gas wells. More particularly the invention relates to an improvement in the seals or ram rubbers used in variable bore ram blowout preventers, for preventing pressurized gases or liquids from blowing out of the well.
B. Discussion of Background Art
In drilling for natural gas or liquid petroleum, a drill string consisting of many lengths of threaded pipes screwed together and terminated by a drill bit head is used to bore through rock and soil. The drill bit head has a larger diameter than the pipes forming the drill string above it. The upper end of the drill string is rotated to transmit a rotary boring action to the drill bit head.
A specially formulated mud is introduced into an opening in an upper drill pipe, flowing downward through the hollow interior of the pipes in the drill string and out through small holes or jets in the drill bit head. Since the drill bit head has a larger diameter than the drill string above it, an elongated annular space is created during the drilling process which permits the mud to flow upwards to the surface. The purpose of the mud is to lubricate the rotating drill string, and to provide a downward hydrostatic pressure which counteracts pressure which might be encountered in subsurface gas pockets.
In normal oil well drilling operations, it is not uncommon to encounter subsurface gas pockets whose pressure is much greater than could be resisted by the hydrostatic pressure of the elongated annular column of drilling mud. To prevent the explosive and potentially dangerous and expensive release as gas and/or liquid under pressure upwards out through the drilling hole, blowout preventers are used. Blowout preventers are mounted in a pipe casing surrounding a drill hole, near the upper end of the hole.
Typical blowout preventers have a resilient sealing means which can be caused to tightly grip the outer circumferential surfaces of various diameter drill string components, preventing pressure from subterranean gas pockets from blowing out material along the drill string. Usually, the resilient sealing means of a blowout preventer is so designed as to permit abutting contact of a plurality of individual sealing segments, when all elements of a drill string are removed from the casing. This permits complete shutoff of the well, even with all drill string elements removed. Most oil well blowout preventers are remotely actuable, as by a hydraulic pressure source near the drill hole opening having pressure lines running down to the blowout preventer.
Ram blowout preventers (BOP's) utilize a pair of opposed semicircular disc-shaped sealing elements driven radially inwards into peripheral sealing contact with tubular pipe or similar drill string component extending through the bore of the BOP. Each of the semicircular ram sealing elements has a flat diametrical face into which a coaxial, semicircular notch is cut. The notches are adapted to conformally engage opposite halves of the cylindrical surface of a tubular drill string component.
Usually, resilient elements are incorporated into the ram sealing elements which allow the notched faces of the two sealing elements to form a tight seal against one another and against the periphery of the tubular drill string component. Providing resilient elements allows a pressure tight seal to be made around the periphery of tubular drill string components having a slight variation in outer diameter. The seal must be effective against well-hole pressures as high as 15,000 psi.
Variable bore ram rubbers or sealing elements are used in the drilling and workover of deep oil and gas wells when the drill string is made up of pipes of different sizes forming what is referred to as a tapered string. Ram rubbers of variable bore design are adapted to effect pressure tight seals against the peripheral surface of pipes of various diameters.
Variable bore rams in current use employ a special variable bore ram block which is different than fixed diameter ram blocks. The special variable bore ram blocks having a deeper cavity or, "rubber pocket" which is necessary to provide sufficient rubber to effect a positive seal. Because of the use of special ram blocks, variable bore ram assemblies are considerably more expensive than standard, fixed bore ram assemblies. Consequently, most small drilling operators do not use variable bore ram assemblies, and their use is limited even among larger operators. However, more extensive use of variable bore rams would be desirable, since such use can provide substantial savings in operating time, by eliminating the requirement of halting movement of drill pipe to change to a different size fixed bore ram assembly for each size of pipe in a drill string.
In addition to the operating time savings afforded by the use of a variable bore ram, there are safety advantages. Thus, a variable bore ram assembly may be actuated to form an effective blowout seal on piping of any diameter in the bore of the ram assembly.
On the other hand, with a fixed bore ram blowout preventer, if a drill string needs to be pulled quickly due to some emergency, the fixed bore ram assembly is unable to effect a seal when piping of smaller diameter than that which it is designed to seal is present in the bore of the ram assembly.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that it would be desirable to provide a new variable bore ram rubber which would fit in a standard, fixed bore pipe ram block. Also, it would be desirable to provide a new variable bore ram rubber which would overcome certain limitations inherent in existing variable bore ram rubbers, as will now be described.
Existing variable bore ram rubbers typically include a uniform thickness sealing element generally shaped in plan view cross section somewhat like a symmetrical semicircular arch. Additionally, some sealing elements have straight, coplanar legs joining the opposite ends of the arch, and extending laterally outwards therefrom. One such sealing element is installed in each of two opposed, semicircular ram blocks, the flat bases of the legs of opposing sealing elements abutting each other to form a pressure tight seal, and the concave semicircular surfaces of opposed arches sealing against opposite cylindrical sides of a tubular drill string component passing through the bore of the ram sealing assembly, the bore being defined by the union of the two semicircular cross-section arches.
To provide the necessary resilience to form an effective seal, existing sealing elements are usually made of metal segments or inserts interspersed in a molded rubber matrix. Typically, the metal segments or inserts are coextensive with the thickness dimension of the sealing element. Those inserts in the arch shaped section of the sealing element generally have a pie-shaped plan view cross-sectional shape, while the inserts in the legs joining the arch typically have rectangular cross sections.
The resilient sealing elements of ram blowout preventers require rugged metal inserts to be interspersed with the resilient rubber matrix to add strength to the sealing elements. Such strength is required because the required sealing forces on a five-inch diameter pipe can be as high as 500,000 lbs. Also, the sealing element is sometimes required to grip a long string of drill pipe to prevent it from falling down into the well hole. The weight of a string of 5-inch drill pipes can approach the tensile strength of the pipe, or 600,000 lbs.
Existing prior art variable bore ram sealing elements use a large number of metal inserts segments, typically 10 to several dozen. The large number of segments is used to permit the sealing elements to conform to various pipe sizes, usually in the range diameter between 31/2 inches and 5 inches.
Prior art variable bore ram sealing elements utilizing a large number of metal segments include Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,367, July 1, 1982, which discloses the use of non-overlapping segments, and Le Rouax, 3,915,426, Oct. 28, 1975, which discloses the use of overlapping segments.
The use of a substantial number of metal segments in existing variable bore ram sealing elements has a number of disadvantages. One such disadvantage results from the fact that every interface between segments has rubber which can extrude between the segments. Extruded rubber is pinched and cut off each time the seal is compressed into a closed position, decreasing the life of the seal.
Another disadvantage of using a large number of metal segments in a variable bore ram sealing element is that the small size of the segments makes their movement towards one another during compressive sealing somewhat unpredictable, owing to fact that some segments will stick and some will move more readily than others. This causes gaps in sealing effectiveness to occur, especially at the corners of the sealing elements, i.e., the junctions between the straight legs and arch of a sealing element half. Also, it would be desirable for the sealing element to have greater strength at the corners, where stresses are greater during compressive sealing. This strengthening is not feasible with existing sealing elements which employ a large number of metal segments of generally uniform size and shape.
With the aforementioned limitations of prior existing variable bore ram rubber seals in mind, the present invention was conceived of.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved variable bore ram rubber for ram blowout preventers having greater potential useful life than existing variable bore ram rubbers.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber which is usable in a variety of ram blocks.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber which can seal effectively around the periphery of tubular well components having a substantial range of different outer diameters.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber having metal segments which coact with one another and with the resilient matrix in which they are embedded to move in repeatable fashion when the ram rubber is compressed and released to close around or release a tubular drill string component.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber having a reduced number of metal insert segments.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber having different shaped inserts in different locations within the resilient matrix of the ram rubber, each shape being advantageously shaped to perform optimally at its particular location.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber which conforms exactly to the outer cylindrical wall surface of the largest pipe which the ram rubber is intended to accept, while conforming to substantially smaller pipes with a minimal amount of extrusion of resilient material.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variable bore ram rubber which has an enhanced capability for safely supporting various diameter tubular drill string components, including tapered components, of great weight.
Various other objects and advantages of the present invention, and its most novel features, will be particularly pointed out in this disclosure.
It is to be understood that although the invention disclosed herein is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages mentioned, the structural and operational characteristics of the invention described herein are merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, we do not intend that the scope of our exclusive rights and privileges in the invention be limited to the details of construction and operation described. We do intend that equivalents, adaptations and modifications of the invention which may be reasonably construed to employ the novel concepts of the invention described herein be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, the present invention comprehends an improved sealing element or ram rubber for variable bore ram blowout preventers used in oil and gas wells and the like.
The novel variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention has a conventional appearing exterior shape adapted to fit into existing semi-circular ram blocks. Thus, each of the two identical halves of the variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention is of generally uniform thickness and has a symmetrical arch-shaped, semicircular center section. Coplanar, laterally disposed legs join opposite ends of the arch, and extend laterally outwards therefrom. One such sealing element is installed in each of two laterally opposed, semicircular ram blocks. When the ram blocks are forced towards one another into a sealing position, the flat bases of the legs of opposing sealing elements abut each other to form a pressure-tight seal, and the concave, semicircular surfaces of opposed arches seal against opposite cylindrical sides of a tubular drill string component disposed longitudinally through the bore of the ram sealing assembly, the bore being defined by the union of the two semicircular cross-section arches.
The variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention includes metal inserts molded into a matrix of resilient material such as hard rubber. In contrast to prior art variable bore ram rubbers, which have a large number of metal segments or inserts of similar size and shape, the novel variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention uses a small number of inserts of three different shapes, each shape being particularly adapted to the location of the insert in the ram rubber.
Thus, the variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention has two identical end inserts, one each at the outer lateral end of each lateral leg of the ram rubber, a center insert positioned inwards of the central arch of the ram rubber, and two identical corner inserts, located at the junctions between the lateral legs and the arch. Each of the five inserts is positioned symmetrically about the longitudinal mid-plane of the ram rubber, and is symmetrically shaped about that mid plane. Also, each of the inserts has identically shaped parallel plate-like upper and lower parts joined together by a columnar pedestal section disposed perpendicularly between the plates.
In plan view, the end inserts have generally rectangular shaped parallel upper and lower plates conforming to the rectangular shape of the lateral legs of the ram rubber. Formed in the outer lateral ends the upper and lower plates are perpendicularly upwardly and downwardly projecting bars, respectively, giving the end inserts in elevation view an "L" shape. The outer lateral portions of the upper and lower plates of the corner inserts are generally rectangular shaped, and contain rectangular grooves in their upper and lower surfaces, respectively, to slidingly receive the inner facing upper and lower plates, respectively, of an adjacent corner insert. The inner lateral portions of the upper and lower plates of the corner inserts have an arcuate plan view shape, and contain rectangular grooves in their upper and lower surfaces respectively, to slidingly receive the upper and lower plates, respectively of an adjacent end of the single center insert. The parallel upper and lower plates of the center insert have concentric arcuate upper (inner) and lower (outer) edges, and radially disposed lateral edges, forming an annular segment of a circle.
The novel shapes and cooperative interactibility of the plates of the variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention provide improved durability and reliability. Additionally, the cross-sectional shapes of the pedestals joining the upper and lower halves of the plates are specially contoured to optimize the cold-flow of resilient matrix material during the compression and expansion of the ram rubber during sealing and unsealing on a pipe. Also, the junctions between the vertical face and the upper and lower faces of the upper and lower plates of the center and corner inserts are milled to form an acute angle between the surfaces, rather than a ninety degree angle. The sharp edges formed by the acute angles are effective in gripping piping extending through the bore of the ram rubber, even if the pipe is tapered.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the novel variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention, showing a typical blowout preventer ram block in which the ram rubber is intended to be installed.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, exploded view of the variable bore ram rubber of FIG. 1, showing a top plan view of the novel metal inserts used in the variable bore ram rubber.
FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the inserts shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the inserts shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a skeletal perspective view of the novel metal inserts used in the variable bore ram rubber of FIG. 1, prior to molding a rubber matrix around the inserts, and showing how each insert may slidably engage an adjacent insert.
FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of the variable bore ram rubber of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is an upper plan view of the variable bore ram rubber of FIG. 1, showing the ram rubber in a relaxed, uncompressed position, with no tubular member present in its bore.
FIG. 8 is an upper plan view similar to that of FIG. 7, but showing the ram rubber compressed against a five-inch diameter pipe.
FIG. 9 is an upper plan view similar to that of FIG. 8, but showing the ram rubber compressed against a three and-one half inch diameter pipe.
FIG. 10 is an upper plan view similar to that of FIG. 9, but showing the ram rubber compressed against a two and seven-eighths inch diameter pipe.
FIG. 11 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the ram rubber of FIG. 6 showing the corner inserts of the ram rubber contacting a tapered tubular well component disposed longitudinally through the bore of the ram rubber.
FIG. 12 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to that of FIG. 11, but displaced ninety degrees circumferentially from that of FIG. 11, and showing the center insert of the ram rubber contacting a tapered tubular well component.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, a variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention is shown in relationship to a typical ram blowout preventer in which the ram rubber is intended to be installed.
The variable bore ram rubber 20 according to the present invention is adapted to fit around a generally semicircular cross-section ram block A and is secured thereto by a rear C-shaped holder B. In a ram blowout preventer, two ram blocks A are positioned with the semi circular bores C in the front diametrical faces D of the ram blocks facing each other to form a longitudinally disposed bore adapted to receive tubular drill string components. Thus, a separate variable bore ram rubber 20 is required for each half of a ram blow out preventer. In operation of a ram blowout preventer, hydraulic rams drive opposed ram blocks radially inwards towards one another to enclose a tubular well component.
As shown in FIG. 1, the variable bore ram rubber 20 according to the present invention has a uniform thickness central longitudinal part 21 having a centrally located semi circular, outwardly concave arch section 22. Laterally disposed legs 23 having a laterally elongated rectangular plan-view cross-sectional shape extend laterally outwards from opposite base ends 24 of arch section 22. The two legs 23 have coplanar outer wall surfaces 25. In front elevation view, the outer lateral ends of legs 23 have vertically elongated, rectangular bars 26 perpendicularly and symmetrically disposed with respect to the longitudinal center plane of the central longitudinal section 21. Thus, in elevation view, the cross sectional shape of legs 23 is that of two "T"s lying horizontally with their bases adjacent.
An upper semicircular ring 27 of generally rectangular cross sectional shape joins the upper ends 28 of the rectangular bars 26. An identical lower semicircular ring 29 in longitudinal alignment with the upper semicircular ring 27 joins the lower ends 30 of the rectangular bars 26.
The variable bore ram rubber 20 is molded of a rigid rubber such as nitrile. The central longitudinal section 21 of the ram rubber 20 contains metal inserts of novel design, molded into the rubber matrix, and which will now be described.
Referring to FIGS. 2 through 5, the novel metal inserts forming part of the central longitudinal section 21 of variable bore ram rubber 20 are shown prior to being molded into a rubber matrix. As shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, ram rubber 20 has two end inserts 31, two corner inserts 32, and one center insert 33, for a total of five inserts. Each of the inserts 31, 32 and 33 is symmetrically shaped about the longitudinal center plane of the ram rubber 20. Also, each of the inserts 31, 32 and 33 has generally parallel generally flat plate-like upper and lower members, and respectively, joined by a column-like pedestal disposed perpendicularly between the upper and lower members.
As shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, the upper and lower plates 34 and 35 of the end inserts 31 have in plan view a generally rectangular shape. The rectangular plates 34 and 35 are elongated laterally, and conform generally to the shape of the lateral legs 23 of the ram rubber 21. Extending perpendicularly upwards from the outer lateral edge of upper plate 34 of each end insert 31 is a rectangular bar or tab 36, of approximately the same width and thickness as the horizontal portion of the plate. Thus, the end upper portion of an end insert has in front or rear elevation view the shape of a "L". Similarly a rectangular bar or tab 37 extends downward from the outer lateral edge of the lower plate 35, forming an inverted "L" shape which is a mirror image of the aforementioned, upper "L" shape.
Upper plate 34 and lower plate 35 of end insert 31 are joined by an elongated, circular cross-section cylindrical pedestal 38 extending perpendicularly between adjacent inner faces of the plates. Pedestal 38 is positioned midway between the front and rear longitudinal edge faces of plates 34 and 35, and laterally inwards a slight distance from the common outer plane of the vertically disposed end bars 36 and 37.
As shown in FIG. 3, the lower surface 39 of upper plate 34 of end insert 31 is milled to form a reduced thickness section 40 having a perpendicularly disposed rear lateral shoulder 41 located inwards a slight distance from the pedestal 38. Similarly, the upper surface 42 of lower plate 35 of end insert 31 is milled to form a reduced thickness section 43 having a perpendicularly disposed rear lateral shoulder 44 located inwards a slight distance from the pedestal 38.
End inserts 31 are preferably made of ASTM A-487 steel having a hardness of Rc 22 max and a tensile strength of at least 90,000 psi. The corner inserts, and the center insert, must sometimes support the entire weight of a drill string, to prevent the drill string from falling down into the well hole when piping above the ram blowout preventer is no longer supported. Therefore, the corner and center inserts are preferably made of a stronger material, such as Inconel 718 having a hardness of Rc 35-40 and a tensile strength of at least 135,000 psi.
Each corner insert 32 has vertically aligned upper and lower plates 45 and 46, the outer lateral portions of which have a generally rectangular plan-view shape. The upper surface 47 of upper plate 45 has a longitudinally disposed, shallow, box-shaped groove 48. Groove 48 is cut perpendicularly backwards from the front edge wall 49 of plate 45, and laterally inwards from the outer lateral edge 50 of plate 45, to form a rear laterally disposed shoulder 51 and an inner perpendicularly disposed shoulder 52.
Similarly, lower plate 46 has cut in its lower surface 53 a shallow box-shaped groove 54. Groove 54 extends perpendicularly backwards from the front edge wall 55 of plate 46, and laterally inwards from the outer lateral edge 56 of plate 46, to form a rear laterally disposed shoulder 57 and an inner perpendicularly disposed shoulder 58.
Groove 48 in upper plate 45 of a corner insert 32, and groove 54 in lower plate 46 of the corner insert, are provided to slidingly receive the milled lower surface 39 of upper plate 34 of an adjacent end insert 31, and the milled upper surface 42 of the lower plate 35 of the end insert respectively.
The inner lateral portion of the upper and lower plates 45 and 46 of each corner insert 32 have vertically aligned, arcuate plan view sections 59 and 60, respectively. Upper arcuate section 59 has concentric inner and outer arcuate edge walls 61 and 62, respectively. Similarly lower arcuate section 60 has concentric inner and outer arcuate edge walls 63 and 64, respectively.
The upper surface 65 of upper arcuate section 59 has a shallow groove 66 extending arcuately inwards from the outer radial edge 67 of the arcuate section to terminate in a radially disposed shoulder 68 near the junction of the arcuate section with the rectangular section of upper plate 45 of a corner insert 32. Similarly, the lower surface 69 of lower arcuate section 60 of lower plate 46 of the corner insert 32 has a shallow grove 70 extending arcuately inwards from the outer radial edge 71 of the arcuate section to terminate in a radially disposed shoulder 72 near the junction of the arcuate section with the rectangular section of the upper plate.
Upper plate 45 and lower plate 46 of corner insert 32 are joined by an elongated, uniform cross-section pedestal 73 extending perpendicularly between adjacent inner faces of the plates. As may be seen best by referring to FIG. 2, the pedestal 73 has a transverse cross-sectional shape similar to that of a tear drop having a flattened large-end base parallel to the outer longitudinal edge 74 of plate 45 and positioned near the junction of the outer longitudinal edge with the inner arcuate edge wall 61 of plate 45. The major axis of the tear drop shape is skewed arcuately to approximately parallel the contour of the inner arcuate edge wall 61 of plate 45. The cross sectional area of pedestal 73 is substantial, underlying a substantial portion of upper and lower arcuate sections 59 and 60 of upper and lower plates 45 and 46, respectively. The cross sectional shape of pedestal 73 performs a advantageous function in the operation of the ram rubber 20, as will be described later.
As shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, the variable bore ram rubber 20 according to the present invention has a single center insert 33. Center insert 33 has identically shaped vertically shaped upper and lower plate sections 75 and 76, respectively. Plate sections 75 and 76 have in plan view the shape of annular sectors of a circle having concentric outer (rear) and inner (front) arcuate edge walls 77 and 78, respectively, and left and right radial edge walls 79 and 80, respectively. The inner facing surfaces of upper plate section 75 and lower plate section 76 are undercut some distance inwards from radial edge walls 79 and 80 to form reduced thickness laterally disposed flanges adapted to slidingly engage arcuate grooves 66 and 70 of upper arcuate section 59 and lower arcuate section 60, respectively, of adjacent corner inserts 32.
Upper plate 75 and lower plate 76 of center insert 33 are joined by an elongated uniform cross-section pedestal 81 extending perpendicularly between adjacent inner faces of the plates. As may be seen best by referring to FIG. 2, the pedestal 81 has a transverse cross-sectional shape similar to that of a tear drop, with the major axis of tear drop aligned with the radial plan-view bisector of the plates. The small end of the tear drop faces rearward towards the outer or rear arcuate edge wall 77 of plates 75 and 76. The cross sectional area of pedestal 81 is substantial, and its shape is adapted to perform a advantageous function in the operation of the ram rubber 20, as will be described below.
The construction and operation of the variable bore ram rubber 20 according to the present invention may be better understood by referring to FIGS. 5 through 7. FIG. 5 illustrates the interrelationship of end inserts 31, corner inserts 32, and center insert 33, as described above. FIG. 5 also illustrates the approximate placement of the inserts in a mold, before the mold is filled with rubber to form the composite molded structure illustrated in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7. Prior to placing the metal inserts in a mold and preparatory to binding the inserts into a rubber matrix, those surfaces of the inserts which are intended to slidingly engage one another may be treated with a mold release agent. This minimizes adherence of rubber to those surfaces, and facilitates displacement of rubber from the treated areas during the flexing of the variable bore ram rubber. Even when mold release agents are applied to the appropriate surface of the inserts, the ram rubber is desirably cycled through a number of compressive sealing and expansive unsealing operations to decrease the effect of undesirable rubber-to-insert bonds which impeded compliant movement of the ram rubber.
FIG. 7 is an upper plan view of a variable bore ram rubber 20 according to the present invention, shown installed in a ram block A of the type shown in FIG. 1. Only the lower front face H of the ram block A appears in the figure, and is shown as a phantom line. Threaded metal screw inserts 82 extend perpendicularly into the rear faces 83 of legs 23 of the ram rubber 20. These are provided to accept fastening bolts for those ram blocks requiring use of fastening bolts.
As shown in FIG. 7, the variable bore ram rubber 20 is in a relaxed, open position. In this position, the rubber matrix in which inserts 31, 32 and 33 are molded extends outwardly from the outer vertical wall surfaces of the inserts to form a boundary layer 84.
FIG. 8 illustrates the configuration of variable bore ram rubber 20 when it and an identical lower ram rubber, which is not shown, in a mirror image position, are forced radially inwards towards one another by opposed hydraulic rams, to contact one another and the circumferential surface of a five-inch diameter pipe N. In this position, the contour of the concave arch section 22 of the ram rubber exactly conforms to the outer surface of pipe N, making an effective seal therewith.
FIG. 9 shows the configuration of variable bore ram rubber 20 forced against the circumferential surface of a smaller diameter (31/2 inch, for example) pipe, than the five inch diameter N of FIG. 8. Perpendicular force exerted on the front vertical faces of legs 23 caused by the hydraulic rams forcing opposed variable bore ram rubbers inwards towards one another causes the rubber of the variable bore ram rubber 20 to cold flow. The cold flow of the rubber causes the end inserts 31 to approach one another, i.e., move radially inwards towards pipe P. Corner inserts 32 are also forced radially inwards towards center insert 33.
In contrast to prior art variable bore ram rubbers having many segments or inserts and therefore many pedestals to impede the cold flow of rubber, the novel variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention has only three pedestals which substantially affect cold flow of rubber. These are the pedestals 73 of the two corner inserts 32, and pedestal 81 of the center insert 33. The skewed, tear drop shaped transverse cross sectional shape of pedestals 73 of the two corner inserts 32 is of the correct hydrodynamic shape to urge rubber flow arcuately inwards towards the rear of pedestal 81 of the center insert 33. Since the narrow end of the tear drop cross sectional shape of pedestal 81 of the center insert 33 points rearward, rubber flowing arcuately backwards of the pedestal urges it forward, forcing the center insert radially outwards towards the circumference of pipe P in the bore of the ram rubber. Thus, the novel use of a sparse number of inserts having a minimum number of hydrodynamically shaped pedestals results in a highly effective control of the cold flow of rubber in the variable bore ram rubber according to the present invention. Rubber from the variable bore ram rubber 20 needs only to extrude into two small crescent shaped regions 85 to form a complete and effective seal around the cylindrical surface of pipe P.
FIG. 10 shows the configuration of variable bore ram rubber 20 forced against the circumferential surface of the smallest diameter pipe Q which the ram rubber is intended to seal. For example, pipe Q may have a diameter of 2 7/8 inch. In FIG. 10, end inserts 31 have moved laterally inwards their maximum intended distance relative to corner inserts 32. Similarly, corner inserts 32 have moved inwards their maximum intended distance relative to center insert 33.
FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate a structural feature of the novel variable bore ram rubber 20 according to the present invention which affords a superior capability for supporting straight or tapered piping of great weight in the bore of the ram rubber, in a condition known as "hang off".
As shown in FIG. 11, the upper surface of upper arcuate section 59 of upper plate 45 of corner insert 32 is cut downwards at an angle of approximately 30 degrees at the junction of that surface with inner arcuate edge wall 61 of the upper arcuate section. Similarly, the lower surface of lower arcuate section 60 of lower plate 46 of corner insert 32 is cut upwards at an angle of approximately 30 degrees at the junction of that surface with inner arcuate edge wall 63 of the lower arcuate section. The resultant acute edge angles of 60 degrees are much more effective in biting into and holding pipe J than would be possible with conventional, ninety-degree edges. Thus corner inserts 32 are effective in biting into and holding small diameter section M of pipe J, as well as tapered section L and larger diameter section K.
As shown in FIG. 12, the upper surface of upper plate 75 of center insert 33 is cut downwards at an angle of approximately 30 degrees at the junction of that surface with inner arcuate edge wall 78 of the upper plate. Also, the lower surface of lower plate 76 of center insert 33 is cut upwards at an angle of approximately 30 degrees at the junction of that surface with inner arcuate edge wall 78 of the lower plate. The purpose of the acute edges thereby formed in the center insert 33 is exactly the same as described above for the corner inserts 32. In combination, the acute edges of the corner inserts 32 and center insert 33 provide an improved hang off capability, even if the variable bore ram rubber is tilted or cocked slightly with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe.
|
An improved sealing element for variable bore ram blowout preventers of the type using two semicircular ram blocks to urge a resilient sealing member into sealing circumferential contact with the circumferential surface of a tubular drill string component includes a generally uniform thickness member having in plan view the shape of a semi-circular arch with bar-shaped legs extending laterally outwards from opposite base ends of the arch. A plurality of metal inserts forms a skeletal structure around which is molded a rubber matrix to form the sealing member. Each insert has a pair of generally flat and parallel upper and lower plates joined together by a pedestal and interleaved with and slidable with respect to the plates of an adjacent insert. Two outer generally rectangular plan-view end inserts have inner lateral edges which slidably interleave with the two outer elongated rectangular lateral ends of each of two intermediate corner inserts. Each of the two corner inserts has an arcuate inner end which slidably interleaves with opposite ends of a single arcuate center insert. The pedestals joining the upper and lower halves of the two corner inserts, and the pedestal joining upper and lower halves of the center insert, each have different tear-drop shaped cross-sectional shapes which promote rubber flow into the sealing area when the seal is compressed.
| 4
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Priority is hereby claimed to provisional application Ser. No. 60/807,409, filed 14 Jul. 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERAL FUNDING
[0002] This invention was made with United States government support awarded by the following agency: NIH Grant Nos: CA117519 and RR021086. The United States has certain rights in this invention.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention is directed to isothiocyanate and glucosinolate compounds, anti-neoplastic pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds, and corresponding methods to inhibit the growth of tumors by administering the compounds or compositions to a subject in need of such treatment.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk of degenerative diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease (1-2). In particular, cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, watercress, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage are associated with these beneficial effects. Studies have implicated glucosinolates, and their downstream catabolites, isothiocynates (ITC's) as a likely source of these effects (3). For example, the glucosinolate glucoraphanin (compound 2; systematic name 4-methylsulfinylbutyl glucosinolate) is converted in plants to sulforaphane (compound 1; systematic name 1-isothiocyanato-4-(methylsulfinyl) butane. See FIG. 1 . Isothiocyantes are just one type of the many catabolic products of glucosinolates (4). Glucosinolates and ITC's have received significant attention in the past decade as potential chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents (5-6). For example, many ITCs have been shown to inhibit chemically-induced carcinogenesis through enhanced detoxification of reactive carcinogens via the induction of phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes such as glutathione-5-transferases, NAD(P)H:quinone reductase, epoxide hydrolase and UDP-glucuronosyl-transferases (7-11). ITC's also inhibit carcinogen activation by reducing expression levels of phase I drug-metabolizing enzymes and stimulating apoptosis of damaged cells (12-15). As one class of catabolites of glucosinolates, the ITC's (i.e., compounds having the structure S═C═N—R) are thought to be at least partially responsible for the reduced risk of degenerative diseases in humans associated with the consumption of vegetables.
[0005] Sulforaphane in particular is an ITC that has been implicated as both a chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent capable of inhibiting carcinogenesis Sulforaphane is especially abundant in broccoli and has attracted significant attention since its identification in 1992 (7).
[0000]
[0006] Accordingly, the need exists to explore isothiocyanate and glucosinolate compounds and related methods for use of these compounds as antitumor active and chemopreventive agents.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention relates to compositions of isothiocyanate and glucosinolate compounds and related methods for use of these compounds as antitumor active and chemopreventive agents. The invention is also directed to the use of these compounds to inhibit HDAC activity.
[0008] Thus, one version of the invention is direct to compounds of Formula I:
[0000]
[0009] wherein R is selected from the group consisting of dimethylpropyl, C 3 -C 10 mono- or bicycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 mono- or bicycloakenyl, halobenzyl, alkyloxybenzyl, tetrahydronaphthalenyl, biphenyl-C 1 -C 6 -alkyl, phenoxybenzyl-C 1 -C 6 -alkyl, and pyridinyl-C 1 -C 6 -alkyl, as well as N-acetyl cysteine conjugates thereof, and salts thereof. It is particularly preferred that R is selected from the group consisting of:
[0000]
[0010] The invention is further directed to a pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting neoplastic cell growth comprising one or more compounds listed in the immediately preceding paragraph, or pharmaceutically suitable salts thereof, optionally in combination with a pharmaceutically-suitable carrier. The carrier may be any solid or liquid carrier now known in the art or developed in the future.
[0011] The invention is also directed to a method of inhibiting growth of cancer cells. The method comprises treating the cancer cells with an effective growth-inhibiting amount of one or more compounds described in the previous paragraphs, or pharmaceutically suitable salts thereof. The method includes administering to a human cancer patient (or other mammalian patient) in need thereof which is effective to inhibit the growth of the cancer. The compound(s) may be administered by any route now known in the art or developed in the future, including parenterally, intraveneously, orally, etc.
[0012] Another version of the invention is directed to compounds of Formula II:
[0000]
[0013] wherein R is selected from the group consisting of:
[0000]
[0000] as well as N-acetyl cysteine conjugates thereof; and salts thereof.
[0014] These compounds may also be incorporated into a pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting neoplastic cell growth. Thus, the composition comprising one or more compounds recited in the immediately preceding paragraph, and/or a pharmaceutically suitable salts thereof, optionally in combination with a pharmaceutically-suitable carrier as described herein.
[0015] Likewise, the invention encompasses a method of inhibiting growth of cancer cells in mammals comprising administering to the mammal a cancer cell growth-inhibiting amount of one or more of compounds of Formula II as described above or a pharmaceutically suitable salt thereof. In this version of the invention, the amount of the administered Formula II compound yields an in vivo metabolite selected from the group consisting of:
[0000]
[0016] As in the prior methods, the amount of one or more of the compounds may be administered to a human cancer patient in need thereof (or other needful mammal) which is effective to inhibit the growth of the cancer. The compounds may be administered by any route now known in the art or developed in the future.
[0017] The invention also includes a pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting neoplastic cell growth comprising one or more isothiocyanate compounds recited in the preceding two paragraphs, as well as N-acetyl cysteine conjugates thereof, and pharmaceutically suitable salts thereof, and optionally in combination with a pharmaceutically-suitable carrier.
[0018] The invention also includes a method of inhibiting growth of cancer cells in mammals comprising administering to the mammal a cancer cell growth-inhibiting amount of one or more of compounds selected from the group consisting of:
[0000]
[0019] N-acetyl cysteine conjugates thereof,
[0020] and pharmaceutically suitable salts thereof.
[0021] Lastly, the invention includes a method of inhibiting histone deacetylase activity in mammals, including humans. The method comprises administering to the mammal a histone deacetylase activity-inhibiting amount of one or more of compounds of Formula II has described herein or a pharmaceutically suitable salt thereof.
[0022] For use in medicine, the salts of the compounds of Formulas (I) and (II) must be pharmaceutically suitable salts. Other salts may, however, be useful to make the compounds themselves, as well as their pharmaceutically acceptable salts. Pharmaceutically suitable salts of the compounds include all salts conventionally used in formulating pharmacologically active agents, including (without limitation) acid addition salts which may, for example, be formed by mixing a solution of the compound according to the invention with a solution of a pharmaceutically acceptable acid such as hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, methanesulphonic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, succinic acid, acetic acid, benzoic acid, oxalic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, carbonic acid or phosphoric acid. Furthermore, where the compounds of the invention carry an acidic moiety, suitable pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof may include alkali metal salts, e.g. sodium or potassium salts, alkaline earth metal salts, e.g. calcium or magnesium salts; and salts formed with suitable organic ligands, e.g. quaternary ammonium salts.
[0023] The present invention includes within its scope pro-drugs of the compounds of Formulas (I)-(II) above. In general, such pr-drugs are functional derivatives of the compounds of Formulas (I)-(II) which are readily convertible in vivo into the required compound of Formulas (I)-(II). Conventional procedures for selecting and preparing suitable pro-drug derivatives are described, for example, in “Design of Prodrugs,” H. Bundgaard, editor, Elsevier, © 1985.
[0024] Where the compounds according to the invention have at least one asymmetric center, they may accordingly exist as enantiomers. Where the compounds according the invention possess two or more asymmetric centers, they may additionally exist as diastereoisomers. It is to be understood that all such isomers and mixtures thereof in any proportion are encompassed within the scope of the present invention, including racemic mixtures, single enantiomer or diastereomers, and enantiomerically enriched mixtures.
[0025] The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising one or more compounds of this invention optionally in association with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Preferably these compositions are in unit dosage forms such as tablets, pills, capsules, powders, granules, sterile parenteral solutions or suspensions, metered aerosol or liquid sprays, drops, ampoules, auto-injector devices or suppositories; for oral, parenteral, intranasal, sublingual or rectal administration, or for administration by inhalation or insufflation. It is also envisioned that the compounds of the present invention may be incorporated into transdermal patches designed to deliver the appropriate amount of the drug in a continuous fashion.
[0026] For preparing solid compositions such as tablets, the principal active ingredient is mixed with a pharmaceutical carrier, e.g., conventional tableting ingredients such as corn starch, lactose, sucrose, sorbitol, talc, stearic acid, magnesium stearate, dicalcium phosphate or gums, mannitol, urea, dextrans, vegetable oils, polyalkylene glycols, ethyl cellulose, poly(vinylpyrrolidone), calcium carbonate, ethyl oleate, isopropyl myristate, benzyl benzoate, sodium carbonate, gelatin, potassium carbonate, silicic acid, and other conventionally employed acceptable carriers. The pharmaceutical dosage form may also contain non-toxic auxiliary substances such as emulsifying, preserving, or wetting agents, and the like. Conventionally the dry formulation is admixed with a pharmaceutical diluent, e.g. water, to form a solid preformulation composition containing a homogeneous mixture of a compound of the present invention, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. When referring to these preformulation compositions as homogeneous, it is meant that the active ingredient is dispersed evenly throughout the composition so that the composition may be easily subdivided into equally effective unit dosage forms such as tablets, pills and capsules. This solid performulation composition is then subdivided into unit dosage forms of the type described above containing from about 0.1 to about 500 mg of the active ingredient of the present invention. Typical unit dosage forms contain from about 1 to about 100 mg, for example, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100 mg, of the active ingredient.
[0027] The tablets or pills of the novel composition can be coated or otherwise compounded to provide a dosage form affording the advantage of prolonged action. For example, the tablet or pill can comprise an inner dosage and an outer dosage component, the latter being in the form of an envelope over the former. The two components can be separated by an enteric layer which, serves to resist disintegration in the stomach and permits the inner component to pass intact into the duodenum or to be delayed in release. A variety of materials can be used for such enteric layers or coatings, such materials including a number of polymeric acids and mixtures of polymeric acids with such materials as shellac, cetyl alcohol and cellulose acetate.
[0028] Solid dosage forms may also contain any number of additional non-active ingredients known to the art, including excipients, lubricants, dessicants, binders, colorants, disintegrating agents, dry flow modifiers, preservatives, and the like.
[0029] The liquid forms in which the novel compositions of the present invention may be incorporated for administration orally or by injection include aqueous solutions, suitably flavored syrups, aqueous or oil suspensions, and flavored emulsions with edible oils such as cottonseed oil, sesame oil, coconut oil or peanut oil, as well as elixirs and similar pharmaceutical vehicles. Suitable dispersing or suspending agents for aqueous suspensions include synthetic and natural gums such as tragacanth, acacia, alginate, dextran, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone or gelatin.
[0030] In the treatment of cancer in humans, suitable dosage level is from about 0.01 to about 250 mg/kg per day, preferably about 0.05 to about 100 mg/kg per day, and especially about 0.05 to about 5 mg/kg per day. The compounds may be administered on a regimen of 1 to 4 times per day, or on a continuous basis via, for example, the use of a transdermal patch, or 1-4 times every 28 days intravenously, similar to other cancer therapy treatment regimens.
[0031] The above-described compounds being effective to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, the compounds are suitable for the therapeutic treatment of neoplastic conditions in mammals, including humans. Cancer cell growth inhibition at pharmacologically-acceptable concentrations has been shown in human breast cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer cell lines.
[0032] Administration of the subject compounds and compositions to a human or non-human patient can be accomplished by any means known. The preferred administration route is parenteral, including intravenous administration, intraarterial administration, intratumor administration, intramuscular administration, intraperitoneal administration, and subcutaneous administration in combination with a pharmaceutical carrier suitable for the chosen administration route. The treatment method is also amenable to oral administration.
[0033] It must be noted, as with all pharmaceuticals, the concentration or amount of the polyamine administered will vary depending upon the severity of the ailment being treated, the mode of administration, the condition and age of the subject being treated, and the particular compound or combination of compounds being used. Thus, the dosages noted previously are guidelines only. Dosages above and below the stated ranges are explicitly encompassed by the invention. The dose administered is ultimately at the discretion of the medical or veterinary practitioner.
[0034] Liquid forms for ingestion can be formulated using known liquid carriers, including aqueous and non-aqueous carriers, suspensions, oil-in-water and/or water-in-oil emulsions, and the like. Liquid formulation may also contain any number of additional non-active ingredients, including colorants, fragrance, flavorings, viscosity modifiers, preservatives, stabilizers, and the like.
[0035] For parenteral administration, the subject compounds may be administered as injectable dosages of a solution or suspension of the compound in a physiologically-acceptable diluent or sterile liquid carrier such as water or oil, with or without additional surfactants or adjuvants. An illustrative list of carrier oils would include animal and vegetable oils (peanut oil, soy bean oil), petroleum-derived oils (mineral oil), and synthetic oils. In general, for injectable unit doses, water, saline, aqueous dextrose and related sugar solutions, and ethanol and glycol solutions such as propylene glycol or polyethylene glycol are preferred liquid carriers.
[0036] Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after review of the specification, claims and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[0037] FIG. 1 depicts the decomposition and metabolism of glucosinolates, as exemplified by glucoraphanin 1. Deglycosylation of glucosinolates 1 by myrosinase and subsequent rearrangement yields isothiocyanates, as exemplified by sulforaphane 2 that are further metabolized through the mercapturic acid pathway to yield cysteine-conjugates 3 which are moderate HDAC inhibitors.
[0038] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram depicting the general tripartate structure found in known, biologically-relevant histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. The majority of HDAC inhibitors are characterized as having three key elements: an enzyme-binding pharmacophore, a recognition affinity cap, and an intervening linker of specified length and limited functionality. Specifically shown in FIG. 2 are trapoxin B (4), trichostatin A (5), suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) (6), and pyroxamide (7).
[0039] FIGS. 3A and 3B are histograms presenting the IC 50 data from Calcein AM ( FIG. 3A ) and CellTiter Glo-brand ( FIG. 3B ) high-throughput cytotoxicity assays. Reciprocal IC 50 values are displayed for clarity, with the current figure representing an IC 50 range of 1.18 μM (compound 22, NCI/ADR RES cells) to >50 μM (e.g., compound 15, all cell lines). Compounds exhibiting IC 50 values greater than 50 μM were considered to be non-inhibitory (1/IC 50 =0) in all cell lines, with the exception of the NmuMG where 200 μM was used. The IC 50 value for each library member represents at least three replicates of dose-response experiments conducted over five concentrations at 2-fold dilutions. IC 50 values and corresponding error values can be found in Table 1. The five library member “hits” are shown at the top of FIG. 3A for structural comparison. FIG. 3A : Reciprocal IC 50 values calculated using the Calcein AM assay. Live cells were distinguished by the presence of a ubiquitous intracellular enzymatic activity that converts the non-fluorescent, cell-permeable molecule calcein AM to the intensely fluorescent molecule calcein, which is retained within live cells. FIG. 3B : Reciprocal IC 50 values calculated using the CellTiter-Glo-brand assay (Promega, Madison, Wis.). Live cells were observed by fluorescence via the enzymatic action of luciferase on luciferin, a process which is dependent and proportional to the cellular concentration of ATP. Du145=human prostate carcinoma; HCT-116=human colon carcinoma; Hep3B=human liver carcinoma; SF-268=human CNS glioblastoma; SK-OV-3=human ovary adenocarcinoma; NCI/ADR RES=human breast carcinoma; NCI-H460=human breast carcinoma; MCF7=human breast carcinoma; NmuMG=mouse mammary normal epithelial cells.
[0040] FIG. 4 is a histogram presenting IC 50 data from the MTT cytotoxicity assay in HT-29 cells. Reciprocal IC 50 values are displayed for clarity and range from 17.02 μM (28) to >50 μM (e.g., 15). Compounds exhibiting IC 50 values greater than 50 μM were considered to be non-inhibitory (1/IC 50 =0). The IC 50 value for each library member represents at least twelve replicates of dose-response experiments conducted over five concentrations. IC 50 values and corresponding error values can be found in Table 1. In this assay, live cells were distinguished by the intracellular enzymatic activity that converts the cell-permeable molecule MTT to strongly colored formazan crystals, which are retained within live cells and absorb light at 570 nm. HT-29=human liver carcinoma. * IC 50 >40 μM.
[0041] FIG. 5 is a histogram showing IC 50 data from the Calcein AM cytotoxicity assay for isothiocyanate compounds 2 and 12-25 as described herein against various neoplastic cell lines. Error bars represent standard error. The neoplastic cell types in the screen are the same as those used in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
[0042] FIG. 6 is a histogram showing IC 50 data from the Calcein AM cytotoxicity assay isothiocyanate compounds 26-40 as described herein against various neoplastic cell lines. Error bars represent standard error. The neoplastic cell types in the screen are the same as those used in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
[0043] FIG. 7 is a histogram showing IC 50 data from the CellTiter-Glo assay for isothiocyanate compounds 2 and 12-25 as described herein against various neoplastic cell lines. Error bars represent standard error. The neoplastic cell types in the screen are the same as those used in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
[0044] FIG. 8 is a histogram showing IC 50 data from the CellTiter-Glo assay isothiocyanate compounds 26-40 as described herein against various neoplastic cell lines. Error bars represent standard error. The neoplastic cell types in the screen are the same as those used in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Abbreviations and Definitions
[0045] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art of pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, biochemistry, and enzymology.
[0046] As used herein and in the claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a HDAC inhibitor” includes a plurality of such inhibitors and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. The terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” are used interchangeably herein. As used herein, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “characterized by,” and “having,” are synonymous and indicated an “open-ended” construction.
[0047] Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods and materials are now described. All cited publications are incorporated herein by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing the chemicals, cell lines, vectors, animals, instruments, statistical analysis and methodologies which are reported in the publications which might be used in connection with the invention. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the invention is not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.
[0048] The practice of the present invention will employ, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques of organic chemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, recombinant DNA, and immunology, which are within the skill of the art. Such techniques are explained fully in the literature. See, for example, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Ed., ed. by Sambrook, Fritsch and Maniatis (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989); DNA Cloning, Volumes I and II (D. N. Glover ed., 1985); Oligonucleotide Synthesis (M. J. Gait ed., 1984); Mullis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,195; Nucleic Acid Hybridization (B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins eds. 1984); Transcription and Translation (B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins eds., 1984); Culture Of Animal Cells (R. I. Freshney, Alan R. Liss, Inc., 1987); Immobilized Cells And Enzymes (IRL Press, 1986); B. Perbal, A Practical Guide to Molecular Cloning (1984); the treatise, Methods In Enzymology (Academic Press, Inc., N.Y.); Gene Transfer Vectors For Mammalian Cells (J. H. Miller and M. P. Calos, eds., 1987, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory); Methods In Enzymology, Vols. 154 and 155 (Wu et al., eds.), Immunochemical Methods In Cell And Molecular Biology (Mayer and Walker, eds., Academic Press, London, 1987); Handbook Of Experimental Immunology, Volumes I-IV (D. M. Weir and C. C. Blackwell, eds., 1986).
[0049] In order to provide a clearer and consistent understanding of the specification and claims, including the scope to be given such terms, the following definitions are provided.
[0050] A “therapeutically effective amount” of an active agent is the amount effective to inhibit the growth of neoplastic cells (i.e., tumors, both benign and malignant) in vivo when the compound is administered via any given route of administration. Thus, the therapeutically effective amount may vary considerably based upon the method of administration (oral, intravenous, inhalation, etc.) An effective amount of a compound of Formula I or II, or an analog thereof, is thus the amount of one or more of these substances, with or without a pharmaceutically suitable carrier, that is effective to inhibit the growth of neoplastic cells when administered to a patient suffering from (or suspected of suffering from) such neoplastic growth.
[0051] Abbreviations used herein include:
[0052] BITC=benzyl isothiocyanate
[0053] m-CPBA=meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid.
[0054] Di-2PTC=di-(2-pyridyl)-thionocarbonate
[0055] DIEA=diisopropylethylamine
[0056] DMF=dimethylformamide
[0057] DMSO=dimethylsulfoxide
[0058] EDTA=ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid
[0059] EtOAc=ethyl acetate
[0060] Et 2 O=diethyl ether
[0061] EtOH=ethanol
[0062] HDAC=histone deacetylase
[0063] HIF-1=hypoxia-inducible factor 1
[0064] HRMS (EI-EMM)=high-resolution mass spectrum (electron impact−exact mass measurement)
[0065] HRMS (ESI-EMM)=high-resolution mass spectrum (electrospray ionization−exact mass measurement)
[0066] ITC=isothiocynate
[0067] LRMS=low-resolution mass spectrum
[0068] MTT=2-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-3,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide
[0069] NMR=nuclear magnetic resonance
[0070] PEITC=phenethyl isothiocyanate
[0071] 6-PEITC=6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate and s
[0072] SAHA=suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid
[0073] THF=tetrahydrofuran
[0074] VEGF=vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
[0075] VHL=von Hippel Lindau tumor suppressor protein
Histone Deacetylases:
[0076] Angiogenesis, hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) are coupled through the actions of histone deacetylases 1 (HDAC1). The growth of new blood vessels into a cancer (angiogenesis) is required for continued growth of the tumor mass beyond 1-2 mm3. Increased numbers of blood vessels in breast cancer, and other cancers as well, correlates closely with metastasis and poor prognosis. Tumor hypoxia is a major inducer of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression (Kim et al., 2001, Nature Medicine 7: 437-443). VEGF expression is under the control of HIF-1, a heterodimeric transcription factor recognized as the key regulator of the hypoxia response in a variety of cell types (Kim et al. (2001) Nat. Med. 7: 437-443; Semenza (2000) Cancer and Metastatis Rev. 19: 56-65, Semenza, (2001) Curr. Op. Cell Biol. 13: 167-171; Ratcliffe et al. (2000) Nat. Med. 6: 1315-1316). Composed of HIF-1α and HIF-1β, HIF-1 activates the transcription of genes encoding angiogenic growth factors and vasomotor regulators. HIF-1 also regulates the expression of molecules involved in matrix modeling, iron transport/regulation and apoptosis/cell) proliferation. HIF-1α is constitutively expressed, whereas HIF-1β is induced by exposure of cells to hypoxia or growth factors. Importantly, HIF expression levels are characteristically increased in many cancerous tumor types as are a number of reductases (Saramaki et al. (2001) Cancer Gen. and Cytogen. 128: 31-34; Huss et al. (2001) Cancer Res. 61: 2736-2743; Cvetkovic et al. (2001) Urology 57: 821-825).
[0077] Under normoxic conditions, HIF-1α is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteosome system. This process relies upon the von Hippel Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor protein; interaction with HIF-1α affords the recognition component of an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex (Kim et al. (2001) Nat. Med. 7: 437-443). Hypoxia-associated reduction of VHL levels leads to HIF-1α accumulation and subsequent overexpression of proangiogenic (metastasis-associated) agents. Hypoxia and HIF-1α overexpression are hallmarks of many tumor types, particularly prostate carcinomas (Saramaki et al. (2001) Cancer Gen. and Cytogen. 128: 31-34; Cvetkovic et al. (2001) Urology 57: 821-825).
[0078] A tremendous amount of structure-activity relationship (SAR) data is now available for a wide array of HDAC inhibitors (19-20). The majority of effective HDAC inhibitors are characterized by a tripartate structure (21-24) that, to a certain extent, mimics the native substrate of HDAC action, ε-N-acetyl Lys (23). The enzyme affinity “cap” is connected to an enzyme active site binding/inactivating group via a linker devoid of elaborate functionality (see FIG. 2 ) (19-20). The established importance of linker length and linearity and the scarcity of high resolution structural information have led to the examination of broadly different cap structures (21-24). The resounding conclusion of this work is that ideal cap groups are typically very lipophilic, often containing one or more phenyl rings (19-24).
[0079] Notably, compound 3 (see FIG. 1 ) does not contain many of the structural features common among many potent HDAC inhibitors. Following the structural hypothesis established by Dashwood, the 4-(methylsulfinyl)-butyl moiety of 3 is vastly more polar than the cap groups of established HDAC inhibitors 4-7 depicted in FIG. 2 . Moreover, reports from the Yu laboratory have shown that significantly different degrees of lung tumor prevention are observed with phenethyl (PEITC) and 6-phenylhexyl (6-PEITC) and benzyl (BITC) isothiocyanates (17, 24). The present inventors thus suspected that 3 contains a sub-optimal linker length connecting the affinity cap group and the pharmacophore.
[0080] It was hypothesized that the combination of the non-optimal features of 3 as a HDAC inhibitor may be responsible for its relatively low levels of activity. It was further hypothesized that increased potency as a HDAC inhibitor would correlate to enhanced chemopreventive properties of the parent isothiocyanate. To test this hypothesis, the inventors constructed a panel of isothiocyanates whose functionality more-closely resembles known HDAC inhibitors. Resulting from these efforts, the inventors have identified multiple ITCs with improved potency and selectivity for cancerous cells relative to L-sulforaphane 2. And, while not being bound to any particular underlying biological mechanism, several trends in the structure-activity relationships of the ITCs have been observed that suggest that the chemopreventive properties of ITCs arises, in part, from their HDAC-inhibitor activity.
[0081] Thus, increased potency as a HDAC inhibitor correlates with enhanced chemopreventive properties of the parent ITC. Using a small library of synthetic isothiocyanates, several novel ITCs with bioactivities equal to or superior to sulforaphane have been identified. Also, the effects that the oxidation state of the sulfur, linker length, lipophilicity, and stereochemistry have on cytotoxicity of ITCs have been identified. This information both expands upon the structure/activity database for ITCs and is supportive of trends observed among HDAC inhibitors, further implicating the capability of ITCs to act as precursors of HDAC inhibitors.
Experimental Procedures
[0082] Chemicals and Reagents. All chemicals and reagents were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Milwaukee, Wis.) and used as received, unless specially noted. Anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 , DMF, and THF are Optima-grade solvents purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Milwaukee, Wis.) dispensed using a Glass Contour Solvent Dispensing System. Instrumentation. NMR spectra were acquired using Varian Unity Inova 400 and 500 MHz spectrometers with solvent as the internal reference. ESI mass spectra were acquired using an Agilent 1100 HPLC-MSD SL quadrupole mass spectrometer. High-resolution mass spectra of synthetic intermediates of sulforaphane and isothiocyanates were acquired at the University of Wisconsin Department of Chemistry Analytical Instrumentation Facility using electrospray ionization.
[0083] Syntheses of D,L-Sulforaphane and Erysolin. The syntheses of D,L-sulforaphane and erysolin were modified from a previously-reported procedure according to Scheme 1 (25).
[0000]
[0084] Procedures and spectral characterization of intermediates are described in the following paragraphs. Starting from 1,4,-dibromobutane, D,L-sulforaphane was obtained in 34% overall yield after five steps.
[0085] Syntheses of Isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates were synthesized from their corresponding commercially-available primary amines according to one of two general procedures according to Scheme 2 (25, 26).
[0000]
[0086] General Method A: Isothiocyanate Installation Using Thiophosgene. The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). A 0.50 M solution of thiophosgene (3 equiv) in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 was chilled to 0° C. under argon. A solution of the primary amine in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (1 mL/mmol) was added. If the hydrochloride salt of the amine was used, it was first neutralized using diisopropylethylamine (DIEA, 1-2 equiv). Finely-crushed NaOH (3 equiv) was then added and the resulting solution was allowed to warm to ambient temperature over 3 h. Products were concentrated in vacuo and any resulting solids were removed by filtration.
[0087] General Method B: Isothiocyanate Installation Using Di-(2-pyridyl)-thionocarbonate (Di-2PTC). The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Park, et al. (26). The primary amine was dissolved in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (14.5 mL/mmol) at ambient temperature and Di-2PTC (1 equiv) was added. The reaction was stirred under argon for 24 hours, followed by solvent removal in vacuo.
Syntheses of D,L-Sulforaphane and Erysolin:
[0088] Compound 9: 2-(4-bromobutyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione. The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). 1,4-Dibromobutane (4.400 mL, 36.457 mmols) was dissolved in anhydrous DMF (52 mL) and the resulting solution was chilled to 0° C. under argon. After 15 min, potassium phthalimide (3.459 g, 18.672 mmols) was slowly added to the stirring solution and the reaction was allowed to warm to ambient temperature under argon over 18 h. The reaction was concentrated in vacuo and co-stripped with anhydrous THF several times. Products were dissolved in 1:1H 2 O:EtOAc (200 mL) and the aqueous phase was extracted with EtOAc (3×100 mL). Combined organics were washed with brine, dried over Na 2 SO 4 , and filtered through a celite plug prior to concentration in vacuo. Silica gel chromatography (3:1 Hexane:EtOAc) and subsequent concentration afforded 3.466 g 9 as a white solid (66% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.85 (dd, J=5.4, 3.1 Hz, 2H), 7.73 (dd, J=5.4, 3.0 Hz, 2H), 3.73 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 2H), 3.45 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 1.89 (m, 4H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 168.5, 134.1, 132.2, 123.4, 37.1, 32.9, 30.0, 27.4. HRMS (ESI-EMM) calc'd for [M+Na]+ m/z 303.9949, found 303.9936.
[0089] Compound 10: 2-(4-(methylthio)butyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione. The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). Sodium thiomethoxide (3.808 g, 54.328 mmols) was dissolved in anhydrous DMF (40 mL) and chilled to 0° C. under argon. To this was added a solution of 9 (13.700 g, 48.559 mmols) in anhydrous DMF (95 mL). After 15 minutes at 0° C., the reaction was allowed to warm to ambient temperature over 18 h. The resulting solution was slowly poured into a stirring, ice-chilled bath of deionized water (800 mL). The precipitate was collected by filtration, washed with cold water, and redissolved CH 2 Cl 2 (400 mL). Organics were washed with brine, dried over Na 2 SO 4 , and concentrated in vacuo to afford 11.1 g 10 as pinkish-white crystals (92% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.84 (dd, J=5.4, 3.1 Hz, 2H), 7.72 (dd, J=5.4, 3.0 Hz, 2H), 3.71 (t, J=7.1 Hz, 2H), 2.54 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 2H), 2.09 (s, 3H), 1.80 (m, 2H), 1.65 (m, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 168.5, 134.0, 132.2, 123.3, 37.6, 33.7, 27.8, 26.5, 15.6. HRMS (ESI-EMM) calc'd for [M+Na]+ m/z 272.0721, found 272.0727.
[0090] Compound 11: 4-(methylthio)butan-1-amine. The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). Compound 10 (2.003 g, 8.035 mmols) was dissolved in absolute EtOH (48 mL) and hydrazine monohydrate (520 μL, 537 mg, 10.727 mmols) was added. This solution was heated to reflux for 3 hours, then cooled to 0° C. to fully-precipitate the solid. The solid was removed by filtration and was washed excessively with anhydrous Et 2 O (1 L). The filtrates were combined and concentrated in vacuo. Distillation at reduced pressure (6 mm Hg), b.p. 55° C.) afforded 762 mg 11 as a colorless oil (80% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 2.72 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 2H), 2.52 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 2H), 2.10 (s, 3H), 1.64 (m, 2H), 1.55 (m, 2H), 1.33 (bs, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ42.1, 34.4, 33.2, 26.7, 15.7. LRMS (ESI) calc'd for [M+H]+ m/z 120.1, found 120.1.
[0091] Compound 12: 1-isothiocyanato-4-(methylthio)butane (trivial name: erucin). The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). Thiophosgene (1.380 mL, 18.099 mmols) was dissolved in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (41 mL) and chilled to 0° C. under argon. Compound 11 (698 mg, 5.856 mmols) and NaOH (607 mg, 15.166 mmols) were added in sequence and the solution was allowed to warm to ambient temperature over 3.5 h. The resulting solution was concentrated in vacuo and filtered to remove any solid. Silica gel chromatography (3:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 795 mg 12 as a orange oil (84% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 3.55 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 2.53 (t, J=6.9 Hz, 2H), 2.09 (s, 3H), 1.87-1.68 (m, 4H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 129.4, 44.4, 32.8, 28.5, 25.4, 14.9. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 161.0333, found 161.0337.
[0092] Compound 13: 1-isothiocyanato-4-(methylsulfinyl)butane (trivial name: D,L-sulforaphane). The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). Compound 12 (795 mg, 4.930 mmols) was dissolved in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (7.0 mL) under argon. To this was slowly added a solution of m-CPBA (934 mg, 5.410 mmols) in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (6.25 mL). After 2 h, the reaction was diluted with CH 2 Cl 2 and the organics were washed with sat'd. NaHCO 3 , brine, and dried over Na 2 SO 4 prior to concentration in vacuo. Silica gel chromatography (2:1 CH 2 Cl 2 :CH 3 CN) and subsequent concentration afforded 735 mg 13 as a light yellow oil (84% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 3.58 (t, J=6.2 Hz, 2H), 2.71 (m, 2H), 2.58 (s, 3H), 1.95-1.81 (m, 4H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 129.8, 52.9, 44.3, 38.3, 28.5, 19.6. HRMS (ESI-EMM) calc'd for [M+Na]+ m/z 200.0180, found 200.0172.
[0093] Compound 14: 1-isothiocyanato-4-(methylsulfonyl)butane (trivial name: erysolin). The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). Compound 12 (283 mg, 1.754 mmols) was dissolved in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (2.5 mL) under argon. To this was slowly added a solution of m-CPBA (964 mg, 5.586 mmols) in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (5.0 mL). After 2 h, the reaction was diluted with CH 2 Cl 2 and the organics were washed with sat'd. NaHCO 3 , brine, and dried over Na 2 SO 4 prior to concentration in vacuo. Silica gel chromatography (CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 203 mg 14 as an off-white solid (60% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 3.56 (t, J=6.1 Hz, 2H), 3.01 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 2H), 2.86 (s, 3H), 1.90 (m, 2H), 1.81 (m, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 130.4, 53.5, 44.4, 40.6, 28.4, 19.6. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 193.0231, found 193.0230.
Syntheses of Isothiocyanates
[0094] General Method A: Isothiocyanate Installation Using Thiophosgene. The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Vermeulen, et al. (25). A 0.50 M solution of thiophosgene (3 equiv) in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 was chilled to 0° C. under argon. A solution of the primary amine in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (1 mL/mmol) was added. If the hydrochloride salt of the amine was used, it was first neutralized using diisopropylethylamine (DIEA, 1-2 equiv). Finely-crushed NaOH (3 equiv) was then added and the resulting solution was allowed to warm to ambient temperature over 3 h. Products were concentrated in vacuo and any resulting solids were removed by filtration.
[0095] General Method B: Isothiocyanate Installation Using Di(2-pyridyl)-thionocarbonate. The following procedure was adapted from that previously reported by Park, et al. (26). The primary amine was dissolved in anhydrous CH 2 Cl 2 (14.5 mL/mmol) at ambient temperature and di(2-pyridyl) thionocarbonate (1 equiv) was added. The reaction was stirred under argon for 24 hours, followed by solvent removal in vacuo.
[0000]
[0096] Compound 15: 1-isothiocyanato-2-methylpropane. Compound 15 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (206 μL, 311 mg, 2.705 mmols), isobutylamine (96 μL, 70 mg, 0.957 mmols), and NaOH (133 mg, 3.324 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 31 mg 15 as an orange oil (28% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 3.34 (d, J=6.2 Hz, 2H), 2.00 (nonet, J=6.7 Hz, 1H), 1.01 (d, J=6.7 Hz, 6H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 129.8, 52.6, 29.8, 19.9.
[0000]
[0097] Compound 16: 1-isothiocyanato-2,2-dimethylpropane. Compound 16 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (196 μL, 296 mg, 2.574 mmols), neopentylamine (112 μL, 83 mg, 0.854 mmols), and NaOH (137 mg, 3.424 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 55 mg 16 as a light-orange oil (40% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 3.26 (s, 2H), 1.02 (s, 9H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 57.3, 33.5, 27.1.
[0000]
[0098] Compound 17: isothiocyanatocyclopropane. Compound 17 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (903 μL, 1.362 g, 11.845 mmols), cyclopropylamine (271 μL, 221 mg, 3.871 mmols), and NaOH (488 mg, 12.197 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 35 mg 17 as an orange oil (9% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 2.89 (tt, J=7.0, 3.8 Hz, 1H), 0.93-0.87 (m, 2H), 0.87-0.81 (m, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 126.7, 25.5, 8.3.
[0000]
[0099] Compound 18: (isothiocyanatomethyl)cyclohexane. Compound 18 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (206 μL, 311 mg, 2.705 mmols), cyclohexylmethylamine (125 μL, 109 mg, 0.963 mmols), and NaOH (131 mg, 3.274 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (3:1 Hexane: CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 138 mg 18 as an orange oil (92% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 3.33 (d, J=6.3 Hz, 2H), 1.80-1.71 (m, 4H), 1.17-1.59 (m, 2H), 1.32-1.07 (m, 3H), 1.06-0.94 (m, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 129.5, 51.3, 38.7, 30.4, 26.1, 25.7. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 155.0769, found 155.0771.
[0000]
[0100] Compound 19: 1-isothiocyanatobenzene (PITC). Compound 19 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (182 μL, 274 mg, 2.383 mmols), aniline (87 μL, 89 mg, 0.956 mmols), and NaOH (127 mg, 3.174 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (25:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 19 as a colorless oil in quantitative yield. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.33 (m, 2H), 7.26 (m, 1H), 7.20 (m, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 135.5, 131.4, 129.7, 127.5, 125.9. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 135.0143, found 135.0149.
[0000]
[0101] Compound 20: 1-bromo-4-isothiocyanatobenzene. Compound 20 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (208 μL, 314 mg, 2.727 mmols), 4-bromoaniline (163 mg, 0.949 mmols), and NaOH (144 mg, 3.599 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (25:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 168 mg 20 as a white solid (83% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.46 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 2H), 7.08 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 137.1, 132.9, 130.7, 127.3, 120.9. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 212.9248, found 212.9245.
[0000]
[0102] Compound 21: 1-butyl-4-isothiocyanatobenzene. Compound 21 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (208 μL, 314 mg, 2.727 mmols), 4-butylaniline (150 μL, 140 mg, 0.938 mmols), and NaOH (123 mg, 3.074 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (25:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 21 as a light-yellow oil in quantitative yield. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.16 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 2H), 7.14 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 2H), 2.62 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 2H), 1.60 (m, 2H), 1.37 (sextet, J=7.4 Hz, 2H), 0.95 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 3H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 142.7, 134.8, 129.6, 128.7, 125.7, 35.4, 33.5, 22.4, 14.0. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 191.0769, found 191.0777.
[0000]
[0103] Compound 22: 3-(isothiocyanatomethyl)pyridine. Compound 22 was synthesized by Method B from 3-picolylamine (140 μL, 150 mg, 1.387 mmols), and di(2-pyridyl)thionocarbonate (325 mg, 1.399 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (1:2 Hexane:EtOAc) and subsequent concentration afforded 190 mg 22 as a yellow oil (91% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 8.62 (d, J=4.4 Hz, 1H), 8.59 (s, 1H), 7.70 (dt, J=7.9, 1.718 Hz, 1H), 7.36 (dd, J=7.8, 4.8 Hz, 1H), 4.76 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 149.7, 148.2, 134.6, 133.7, 130.1, 123.7, 46.4. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 150.0252, found 150.0248.
[0000]
[0104] Compound 23: 1-(isothiocyanatomethyl)benzene (BITC). Compound 23 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (480 μL, 724 mg, 6.295 mmols), benzylamine (200 μL, 196 mg, 1.831 mmols), and NaOH (224 mg, 5.606 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 127 mg 23 as a orange oil (46% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.34 (m, 5H), 4.68 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 134.1, 131.9, 128.8, 128.2, 126.7, 48.5. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 149.0299, found 149.0303.
[0000]
[0105] Compound 24: 2-(isothiocyanatomethyl)furan. Compound 24 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (206 μL, 311 mg, 2.705 mmols), furfurylamine (89 μL, 93 mg, 0.958 mmols), and NaOH (125 mg, 3.124 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (3:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 37 mg 24 as an orange oil (27% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.43 (m, 1H), 6.37 (dd, J=3.2, 1.8 Hz, 1H), 6.35 (bd, J=3.2 Hz, 1H), 4.66 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 147.5, 143.4, 135.1, 110.8, 108.9, 42.1. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 139.0092, found 139.0092.
[0000]
[0106] Compound 25: 1-bromo-2-(isothiocyanatomethyl)benzene. Compound 25 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (208 μL, 314 mg, 2.731 mmols), 2-bromo-benzylamine hydrochloride (213 mg, 0.959 mmols), DIEA (250 μL, 186 mg, 1.441 mmols), and NaOH (155 mg, 3.874 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 209 mg 25 as a reddish-orange oil (95% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.59 (dd, J=8.0, 0.8 Hz, 1H), 7.46 (dd, J=7.7, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 7.38 (td, J=7.4, 0.9 Hz, 1H), 7.23 (td, J=7.7, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 4.81 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 133.8, 133.4, 133.1, 130.1, 128.9, 128.1, 122.5, 49.3. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 226.9404, found 226.9405.
[0000]
[0107] Compound 26: 1-bromo-4-(isothiocyanatomethyl)benzene. Compound 26 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (196 μL, 296 mg, 2.576 mmols), 4-bromo-benzylamine (184 mg, 0.989 mmols), and NaOH (123 mg, 3.074 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 193 mg 26 as a reddish-orange oil (85% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.51 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 2H), 7.19 (d, J=84 Hz, 2H), 4.67 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 133.4, 133.3, 132.2, 128.7, 122.5, 48.3. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 226.9404, found 226.9410.
[0000]
[0108] Compound 27: 2-(Isothiocyanatomethyl)-1,2-dimethoxybenzene. Compound 27 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (182 μL, 274 mg, 2.387 mmols), 2,3-dimethoxy-benzylamine (167 mg, 1.001 mmols), and NaOH (130 mg, 3.249 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (4:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 to 3:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 164 mg 27 as a light yellow oil (78% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.08 (t, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 6.93 (m, 2H), 4.72 (s, 2H), 3.89 (s, 3H), 3.87 (s, 3H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 152.7, 146.6, 131.5, 128.0, 124.4, 120.3, 113.0, 61.0, 55.9, 44.1. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 209.0511, found 209.0502.
[0000]
[0109] Compound 28: 2-(isothiocyanatomethyl)-1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene. Compound 28 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (182 μL, 274 mg, 2.387 mmols), 2,4,6-trimethyoxy-benzylamine (185 mg, 0.938 mmols), and NaOH (123 mg, 3.074 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (1:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 to CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 218 mg 28 as a light yellow oil (97% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 6.52 (s, 2H), 4.64 (s, 2H), 3.87 (s, 6H), 3.84 (s, 3H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 153.8, 138.1, 133.3, 130.1, 104.1, 61.0, 56.4, 49.1. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 239.0616, found 239.0626.
[0000]
[0110] Compound 29: 5-(isothiocyanatomethyl)benzo[d][1,3]dioxole. Compound 29 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (220 μL, 332 mg, 2.885 mmols), 3,4-methylenedioxy-benzylamine (144 mg, 0.955 mmols), and NaOH (120 mg, 2.999 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 84 mg 29 as a off-white solid (45% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 6.79 (m, 3H), 5.98 (s, 2H), 4.60 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 148.3, 147.9, 132.5, 128.1, 120.8, 108.6, 107.8, 101.6, 48.8. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 193.0198, found 193.0202.
[0000]
[0111] Compound 30: 1-(isothiocyanatomethyl)naphthalene. Compound 30 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (220 μL, 332 mg, 2.887 mmols), 1-(methylamine)naphthalene (140 μL, 150 mg, 0.954 mmols), and NaOH (122 mg, 3.057 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 137 mg 30 as a off-white solid (72% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.86 (m, 3H), 7.60-7.41 (m, 4H), 5.07 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 133.9, 133.0, 130.6, 129.9, 129.6, 129.2, 127.2, 126.4, 126.0, 125.5, 122.7, 47.3. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 199.0456, found 199.0462.
[0000]
[0112] Compound 31: (S)-1-isothiocyanato-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene. Compound 31 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (208 μL, 314 mg, 2.731 mmols), (S)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthaleneamine (138 μL, 142 mg, 0.965 mmols), and NaOH (137 mg, 3.424 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 159 mg 31 as a yellow-orange oil (87% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.33 (m, 1H), 7.21 (m, 2H), 7.10 (m, 1H), 4.90 (t, J=5.3 Hz, 1H), 2.83 (dt, J=17.0, 5.9 Hz, 1H), 2.72 (ddd, J=17.0, 7.75, 6.1 Hz, 1H), 2.08 (m, 2H), 1.96 (m, 1H), 1.81 (m, 1H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 136.5, 133.3, 132.0, 129.6, 128.7, 128.4, 126.6, 55.9, 30.9, 28.7, 19.4. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 189.0612, found 189.0610.
[0000]
[0113] Compound 32: (R)-1-isothiocyanato-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene. Compound 32 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (182 μL, 274 mg, 2.387 mmols), (R)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthaleneamine (138 μL, 142 mg, 0.965 mmols), and NaOH (125 mg, 3.124 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 183 mg 32 as a light-yellow oil (100% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.32 (m, 11H), 7.20 (m, 2H), 7.10 (m, 1H), 4.89 (t, J=5.4 Hz, 1H), 2.83 (dt, J=17.0, 6.0 Hz, 1H), 2.72 (ddd, J=17.0, 7.6, 6.0 Hz, 1H), 2.08 (m, 2H), 1.96 (m, 1H), 1.81 (m, 1H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 136.5, 133.3, 132.0, 129.5, 128.6, 128.4, 126.6, 55.8, 30.9, 28.7, 19.4. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 189.0612, found 189.0603.
[0000]
[0114] Compound 33: 1-(isothiocyanatomethyl)-2-phenylbenzene. Compound 33 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (196 μL, 296 mg, 2.574 mmols), 2-phenylbenzylamine hydrochloride (213 mg, 0.969 mmols), DIEA (250 μL, 186 mg, 1.441 mmols), and NaOH (134 mg, 3.349 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 189 mg 33 as a deep-orange oil (87% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.49-7.45 (m, 1H), 7.43-7.32 (m, 5H), 7.27-7.23 (m, 3H), 4.55 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 141.4, 139.8, 132.0, 131.8, 130.4, 129.09, 128.6, 128.6, 128.4, 128.2, 127.8, 47.1. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 225.0612, found 225.0618.
[0000]
[0115] Compound 34: 1-(isothiocyanatomethyl)-3-phenylbenzene. Compound 34 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (196 μL, 296 mg, 2.574 mmols), 3-phenylbenzylamine hydrochloride (220 mg, 1.001 mmols), DIEA (250 μL, 186 mg, 1.441 mmols), and NaOH (134 mg, 3.349 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 34 as a deep-orange oil in quantitative yield. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.56-7.48 (m, 3H), 7.47-7.37 (m, 4H), 7.33 (m, 1H), 7.22 (m, 1H), 4.66 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 142.1, 140.4, 134.9, 132.6, 129.5, 129.0, 127.8, 127.2, 127.2, 125.7, 125.6, 48.8. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 225.0612, found 225.0609.
[0000]
[0116] Compound 35: 1-(isothiocyanatomethyl)-4-phenylbenzene. Compound 35 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (220 μL, 332 mg, 2.887 mmols), 4-phenyl-benzylamine (177 mg, 0.966 mmols), and NaOH (122 mg, 3.069 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 137 mg 35 as a off-white solid (64% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.58 (m, 4H), 7.43 (m, 2H), 7.35 (m, 3H), 4.71 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 141.5, 140.5, 133.3, 132.6, 129.0, 127.8, 127.8, 127.5, 127.2, 48.6. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 225.0612, found 225.0622.
[0000]
[0117] Compound 36: 1-(isothiocyanatomethyl)-4-phenoxybenzene. Compound 36 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (196 μL, 296 mg, 2.574 mmols), 4-phenoxybenzylamine (198 mg, 0.994 mmols), and NaOH (125 mg, 3.124 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 104 mg 36 as a light-orange oil (43% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.34 (m, 2H), 7.25 (m, 2H), 7.12 (tt, J=7.4, 1.1 Hz, 1H), 7.02-6.98 (m, 4H), 4.65 (s, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 157.7, 156.9, 132.5, 130.0, 129.0, 128.7, 123.9, 119.3, 119.1, 48.4. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 241.0561, found 241.0550.
[0000]
[0118] Compound 37: 4-isothiocyanato-2,3-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1,2-dihydropyrazol-5-one. Compound 37 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (208 μL, 314 mg, 2.727 mmols), 4-amino-antipyrine (196 mg, 0.964 mmols), and NaOH (110 mg, 2.749 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (EtOAc) and subsequent concentration afforded 235 mg 37 as a light-yellow solid (99% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.45 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 2H), 7.32 (m, 3H), 3.10 (s, 3H), 2.27 (s, 3H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 160.9, 147.9, 142.9, 134.1, 129.3, 127.5, 124.5, 103.6, 35.7, 10.9. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 245.0623, found 245.0635).
[0000]
[0119] Compound 38: 1-(2-isothiocyanatoethyl)benzene (PEITC). Compound 38 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (196 μL, 296 mg, 2.574 mmols), 2-pheymethylamine (122 μL, 117 mg, 0.966 mmols), and NaOH (131 mg, 3.274 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 97 mg 38 as a light-orange oil (61% yield). 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.33 (m, 2H), 7.26 (m, 1H), 7.21 (m, 2H), 3.70 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 2H), 2.97 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 137.1, 131.0, 128.9, 127.3, 46.5, 36.6. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 163.0456, found 163.0463.
[0000]
[0120] Compound 39: 1-(2-isothiocyanatoethyl)cyclohex-1-ene. Compound 39 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (206 μL, 311 mg, 2.705 mmols), 2-(1-cyclohexenyl)-ethylamine (135 μL, 121 mg, 0.966 mmols), and NaOH (140 mg, 3.499 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 39 as an orange oil in quantitative yield. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 5.54 (m, 1H), 3.53 (t, J=6.7 Hz, 2H), 2.31 (t, J=6.8 Hz, 2H), 2.01 (m, 2H), 1.91 (m, 2H), 1.67-1.60 (m, 2H), 1.60-1.52 (m, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 132.8, 131.0, 125.6, 43.8, 38.7, 27.9, 25.4, 22.9, 22.3. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 163.0769, found 163.0771.
[0000]
[0121] Compound 40: 2-isothiocyanato-1,1-diphenylethane. Compound 40 was synthesized by Method A from thiophosgene (220 μL, 332 mg, 2.887 mmols), 2,2-diphenylethylamine (192 mg, 0.974 mmols), and NaOH (123 mg, 3.061 mmols). Silica gel chromatography (5:1 Hexane:CH 2 Cl 2 ) and subsequent concentration afforded 40 as a light-yellow oil in quantitative yield. 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 7.30 (m, 4H), 7.25-7.16 (m, 6H), 4.31 (t, J=7.6, 1H), 3.99 (d, J=7.5 Hz, 2H). 13 C NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ 140.4, 131.9, 128.9, 128.0, 127.4, 51.4, 49.4. HRMS (EI-EMM) calc'd for [M]+ m/z 239.0769, found 239.0763.
[0122] Calcein-AM and Cell Titer-Glo Cytotoxicity Assays. All cell lines except NmuMG were maintained in RPMI medium 1640 supplemented with 10% (wt/vol) FBS and penicillin-streptomycin (PS) (100 units/mL and 100 μg/mL). NmuMG cells were maintained in DMEM supplemented with 10% wt/vol FBS, 10 μg/mL insulin, and penicillin/streptomycin (PS) (100 units/mL and 100 μg/mL, respectively). Cells were harvested by trypsinization using 0.25% trypsin and 0.1% EDTA and then counted in a hemocytometer in duplicate with better than 10% agreement in field counts. Cells were plated at a density of 10,000-15,000 cells per well of each 96-well black tissue culture treated microtiter plate. Cells were grown for 1 h at 37° C., with 5% CO 2 /95% air in a humidified incubator to allow cell attachment to occur before compound addition. Library members were stored at −20° C. under desiccating conditions before the assay. Library member stocks (100×) were prepared in 96-well V-bottom polypropylene microtiter plates. Five serial 1:2 dilutions were made with anhydrous DMSO at 100× the final concentration used in the assay. The library member-containing plates were diluted 1:10 with complete cell culture medium. The 10× stocks (10 μL) were added to the attached cells by using a Biomek FX liquid handler (Beckman Coulter). Library member stocks (10 μL) were added to 90 μL of cells in each plate to ensure full mixing of stocks with culture media by using a Biomek FK liquid handler with 96-well head. Cells were incubated with the library members for 72 h before fluorescence reading. Test plates were removed from the incubator and washed once in sterile PBS to remove serum containing calcium esterases. Calcein AM (acetoxymethyl ester) reagent (30 μL, 1 M) was added and the cells were incubated for 30 min at 37° C. Plates were read for emission by using a fluorescein filter (excitation 485 nm, emission 535 nm). An equal volume (30 μL) of cell titer-glo reagent (Promega Corporation, Inc.) was added and incubated for 10 min at room temperature with gentle agitation to lyse the cells. Each plate was re-read for luminescence to confirm the inhibition observed in the fluorescent Calcein AM assay.
[0123] MTT Cytotoxicity Assay. HT-29 cell lines were maintained in RPMI medium 1640 supplemented with 10% (wt/vol) FBS and 1% penicillin-streptomycin (PS) (100 units/mL and 100 μg/mL). Cells were harvested by trypsinization using 0.25% trypsin and 0.1% EDTA and plated at a density of 2,000-5,000 cells per well of each 96-well microtiter plate. Cells were grown for 24 h at 37° C., with 5% CO 2 /95% air in a humidified incubator to allow cell attachment to occur before compound addition. Library members were stored at −20° C. under desiccating conditions before the assay. Library member stocks (1000×) were prepared in falcon tubes (BD Biosciences). Five dilutions were made with DMSO at 1000× the final concentration used in the assay. The 1000× stocks (3 μL) were diluted with complete culture medium (3 mL). Each plate contained twelve replicates of cells treated with 0.1% DMSO in complete cell culture medium that served as an individual negative control. Library member stocks (1×, 200 μL) were added to aspirated cells and replicated twelve times on each plate. Cells were incubated with the library members for 24 h before optical density reading. Test plates were removed from the incubator and washed once in sterile PBS to remove serum containing library members. Freshly-made 10×MTT solution in sterile PBS (5 mg/mL) was diluted 1:10 in serum-free culture medium and was sterilized using a 0.2 μm filter. Diluted MTT solution (1×, 50 μL) was added to each well and the plates were incubated in the dark for 2 h. Test plates were centrifuged at 1800×g for 5 min at 4° C. using a Beckman GPR centrifuge. MTT solution was removed by aspiration and 100 μL DMSO was added to each well to lyse cells and solubilize formazan crystals. Test plates were incubated in the dark at room temperature for 10 min. Plates were read for optical density at 570 nm.
[0124] IC 50 Calculations. For each library member, at least three dose-response experiments were conducted on separate plates. For each experiment, percent inhibition values at each concentration were expressed as a percentage of the maximum emission signal observed for a 0 μM control. To calculate IC 50 , percent inhibitions were plotted as a function of log[concentration] and then fit to a four-parameter logistic model that allowed for a variable Hill slope by using XLFIT 4.1 (ID Business Solutions, Emeryville, Calif.). The results are presented in Tables 1-6 and in FIGS. 5-8 .
[0000]
TABLE 1
2
13
12
14
15
Cell Line
Assay
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
Du145
Calcein AM
5.25
0.91
6.25
0.30
16.68
8.05
5.24
0.85
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
6.10
0.31
8.62
0.43
25.78
2.13
4.00
0.22
>50.00
N/A
HCT-116
Calcein AM
2.94
0.91
6.13
0.27
22.57
4.91
4.16
0.66
27.55
7.02
Cell Titer-Glo
3.58
0.15
4.81
0.33
24.65
1.21
3.29
0.12
>50.00
N/A
Hep3B
Calcein AM
4.13
0.31
<3.13
0.51
12.45
4.02
3.46
0.08
32.77
8.32
Cell Titer-Glo
4.48
0.16
2.75
0.14
19.36
0.71
4.48
0.16
>30.00
N/A
SF-268
Calcein AM
11.04
2.01
5.69
1.82
4.54
2.69
4.72
0.85
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
6.16
0.24
6.22
0.26
8.89
0.44
3.70
0.30
>50.00
N/A
SK-OV-3
Calcein AM
7.60
1.04
5.65
0.66
14.55
2.89
4.84
0.67
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
4.67
0.65
9.90
0.66
15.99
0.84
6.99
0.29
>50.00
N/A
NCI/ADR-
Calcein AM
8.89
1.42
13.12
3.50
>30.00
3.31
9.99
1.18
>50.00
N/A
RES
Cell Titer-Glo
8.98
0.67
16.49
1.39
>30.00
3.73
11.11
0.60
>50.00
N/A
NCI-H460
Calcein AM
8.74
0.79
12.96
1.34
>50.00
N/A
10.01
0.47
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
5.94
0.86
10.14
0.81
45.29
4.91
6.87
0.60
>50.00
N/A
MCF7
Calcein AM
3.14
0.87
7.28
4.03
21.02
7.57
8.36
1.22
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
<3.13
9.41
8.59
1.93
13.99
1.70
2.28*
0.76
>50.00
N/A
NmuMG
Calcein AM
6.86
0.94
5.61
0.43
<12.50
0.00
7.90
0.47
>200.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
6.59
0.70
3.20
0.16
23.52
N/A
5.32
0.43
>200.00
N/A
HT-29
MTT
45.21
0.93
46.39
1.70
37.71
0.74
39.15
0.83
>50.00
N/A
Cancerous Average
5.26
7.61
21.99
5.32
>50.00
[0000]
TABLE 2
16
17
18
19
20
Cell Line
Assay
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
Du145
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
29.69
N/A
18.71
9.53
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
24.37
1.51
>50.00
N/A
41.37
2.20
HCT-116
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
21.34
21.91
2.27
>20.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
35.00
N/A
>50.00
34.94
20.93
1.30
>20.00
N/A
21.64
2.75
Hep3B
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
>30.00
N/A
42.08
9.85
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
>30.00
N/A
29.33
3.18
>20.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
SF-268
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
15.07
2.78
2.32
1.35
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
15.36
1.46
>50.00
N/A
24.90
1.45
SK-OV-3
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
>30.00
N/A
29.08
7.47
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
33.70
1.46
>50.00
N/A
19.59
2.63
NCI/ADR-
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
>20.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
RES
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
5.53
>20.00
N/A
23.11
1.89
NCI-H460
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
48.14
6.95
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
30.29
N/A
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
>20.00
4.13
10.44
0.84
MCF7
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
15.12
1.33
>30.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
26.68
4.89
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
12.56
0.78
33.31
3.66
>50.00
N/A
17.08
2.72
NmuMG
Calcein AM
49.44
4.50
>200.00
N/A
22.49
1.56
>200.00
N/A
182.75
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
26.80
4.97
>200.00
N/A
14.76
0.43
>200.00
N/A
21.45
1.19
HT-29
MTT
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
2.73
>50.00
N/A
>50.00
N/A
Cancerous Average
>50.00
>50.00
29.31
>50.00
>50.00
[0000]
TABLE 3
21
22
23
24
25
Cell Line
Assay
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
Du145
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
<1.88
N/A
5.37
0.62
>50.00
N/A
3.99
0.60
Cell Titer-Glo
48.02
3.65
2.91
0.32
4.64
0.41
>50.00
N/A
8.64
0.30
HCT-116
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
1.26*
0.62
11.54
4.29
>50.00
23.19
19.56
1.42
Cell Titer-Glo
19.36
0.82
2.04
0.21
3.19*
0.34
>50.00
N/A
3.88
0.21
Hep3B
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
3.64
1.08
22.46
N/A
>30.00
N/A
5.67
1.42
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
3.00
0.25
9.70
0.37
>30.00
N/A
16.28
0.91
SF-268
Calcein AM
21.52
44.50
2.68
0.53
11.50
N/A
>50.00
N/A
6.00
2.63
Cell Titer-Glo
32.13
3.35
2.46
0.19
8.27
0.30
>50.00
N/A
7.11
2.43
SK-OV-3
Calcein AM
15.89
7.09
2.60
0.48
7.18
1.89
>30.00
N/A
6.32
0.71
Cell Titer-Glo
31.38
2.21
2.21
0.06
8.86
2.33
>50.00
N/A
5.01
0.13
NCI/ADR-
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
2.27
N/A
15.52
4.59
21.57
11.71
>20.00
N/A
RES
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
1.18
0.06
11.48
0.77
>50.00
N/A
20.13*
0.88
NCI-H460
Calcein AM
>50.00
N/A
5.18
0.99
22.95
N/A
>50.00
N/A
19.41
2.45
Cell Titer-Glo
>50.00
N/A
4.51
0.18
14.46
1.19
>50.00
N/A
17.34
0.70
MCF7
Calcein AM
45.83
18.00
2.31
0.79
16.00
3.28
>50.00
N/A
6.76
1.15
Cell Titer-Glo
45.35
3.51
2.04
0.21
10.56
0.84
>50.00
N/A
2.73*
0.19
NmuMG
Calcein AM
71.91
8.50
<12.50
N/A
<12.50
N/A
150.68
29.67
11.34
1.17
Cell Titer-Glo
65.67
5.06
26.04
1.15
15.44
0.25
>200.00
N/A
4.60
0.62
HT-29
MTT
>50.00
N/A
21.33
0.65
31.45
1.03
>50.00
N/A
26.94
0.64
Cancerous Average
35.25
2.54
9.47
>50.00
10.14
[0000]
TABLE 4
26
27
28
29
30
Cell Line
Assay
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
Du145
Calcein AM
7.67
0.79
2.46
0.64
2.54
0.33
2.18
0.43
8.31
1.79
Cell Titer-Glo
10.09
0.49
8.24
0.21
4.80
0.17
6.24
0.17
16.76
1.06
HCT-116
Calcein AM
5.16
2.49
<1.88
N/A
9.23
N/A
>20.00
N/A
>20.00
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
9.80
0.36
6.72
0.78
4.55
0.35
4.77
0.30
4.55
0.34
Hep3B
Calcein AM
7.16
1.25
1.37
0.45
1.87
0.27
3.90
1.09
15.19
4.60
Cell Titer-Glo
6.80
3.99
4.87
0.43
3.21
0.17
4.30
0.42
19.79
1.02
SF-268
Calcein AM
10.91
N/A
4.26
1.01
4.61
0.75
2.55
0.73
2.00
0.17
Cell Titer-Glo
6.96
0.40
3.21
1.19
3.05
1.04
3.92
0.09
3.39
0.21
SK-OV-3
Calcein AM
3.94
0.38
2.55
1.07
3.93
0.85
2.79*
0.16
3.22
0.37
Cell Titer-Glo
7.17
0.12
5.47
0.06
4.75
0.16
4.44
0.14
4.89
0.29
NCI/ADR-
Calcein AM
>20.00
N/A
5.61
3.71
12.01
3.59
6.39
3.43
8.93
3.06
RES
Cell Titer-Glo
22.27*
1.61
20.83
4.08
15.20
0.71
9.77
0.53
9.71
1.21
NCI-H460
Calcein AM
15.98
1.41
15.78
3.53
11.94
0.78
9.59
0.71
12.64
3.11
Cell Titer-Glo
>20.00
0.80
16.09
1.13
10.81
1.11
11.47
1.14
13.27
1.77
MCF7
Calcein AM
7.08
2.41
5.81
0.82
5.75
N/A
3.15
0.74
<3.13
1.77
Cell Titer-Glo
5.92
0.61
3.22*
0.66
3.15
0.04
2.51*
0.60
2.27*
1.33
NmuMG
Calcein AM
18.27
2.32
5.59
0.90
2.94
0.35
<12.50
N/A
13.85
1.52
Cell Titer-Glo
9.77
0.73
3.78
0.26
2.09
0.10
16.99
1.06
21.45
1.19
HT-29
MTT
47.40
1.19
ND
ND
17.02
0.81
30.34
0.63
>50.00
N/A
Cancerous Average
10.67
6.37
6.53
5.77
9.16
[0000]
TABLE 5
31
32
33
34
35
Cell Line
Assay
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
Du145
Calcein AM
12.43
3.84
5.27
0.77
3.16
0.33
7.11
N/A
5.49
0.74
Cell Titer-Glo
17.37
0.93
8.66
0.45
5.25
0.30
3.87
0.08
10.95
0.39
HCT-116
Calcein AM
32.97
N/A
12.48
N/A
5.56
0.76
2.93
0.99
7.54
1.39
Cell Titer-Glo
12.19
0.46
9.05
0.39
4.64
0.22
3.33
0.16
4.83
0.21
Hep3B
Calcein AM
13.07
N/A
<3.13
6.93
10.63
2.34
6.90
1.35
4.33
0.64
Cell Titer-Glo
20.09
0.53
3.59
0.16
4.24
0.15
2.11
0.04
4.51
0.14
SF-268
Calcein AM
8.51
1.64
5.75
1.85
4.79
0.79
3.95
0.82
6.26
2.15
Cell Titer-Glo
10.52
0.69
7.73
0.46
6.39
0.39
3.39
0.15
4.40
0.12
SK-OV-3
Calcein AM
>30.00
N/A
5.18
0.49
5.93
3.67
4.92
ND
<3.13
0.67
Cell Titer-Glo
12.68
0.87
7.74
0.30
5.01
0.15
3.83
0.07
4.65
0.09
NCI/ADR-
Calcein AM
25.08
2.88
ND
ND
4.12
0.66
1.47*
0.40
6.73
2.16
RES
Cell Titer-Glo
30.87
2.81
ND
ND
4.11
0.09
2.23
0.22
12.09
0.84
NCI-H460
Calcein AM
25.41
0.14
18.73
2.74
6.44
0.24
3.53
1.20
10.47
1.56
Cell Titer-Glo
31.63
8.84
13.30
1.42
8.95
0.47
5.29
0.22
14.95
1.54
MCF7
Calcein AM
14.47
4.35
3.88
1.70
1.60*
0.14
2.52
0.19
2.91*
0.79
Cell Titer-Glo
14.44
6.05
7.83
0.46
3.63
0.09
2.13
0.03
6.72
0.25
NmuMG
Calcein AM
18.64
2.38
17.24
2.45
<12.50
5.06
5.95
0.46
<12.50
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
15.44
0.25
16.99
1.06
80.10
N/A
3.06
0.41
65.67
5.06
HT-29
MTT
>50.00
1.31
20.36
N/A
39.85
1.00
28.82
0.52
>50.00
N/A
Cancerous Average
17.23
8.27
4.96
3.27
7.89
[0000]
TABLE 6
36
37
38
39
40
Cell Line
Assay
IC IC 50 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
IC 50
SE
Du145
Calcein AM
12.16
9.52
>50.00
N/A
43.05
N/A
25.52
0.21
3.51
0.27
Cell Titer-Glo
8.24
0.43
>50.00
N/A
10.86
0.63
18.58
1.34
3.65
0.17
HCT-116
Calcein AM
4.19
0.31
>50.00
N/A
12.73
1.38
18.98
1.55
3.26
0.61
Cell Titer-Glo
3.55
0.04
>50.00
N/A
10.27
0.39
16.39
0.51
1.22*
0.01
Hep3B
Calcein AM
7.17
N/A
>50.00
N/A
46.25
5.63
28.46
3.71
3.58
0.10
Cell Titer-Glo
3.95
0.14
>50.00
N/A
11.12
0.54
16.11
0.97
4.30
0.05
SF-268
Calcein AM
6.17
1.31
>50.00
N/A
8.66
2.01
3.89
0.48
3.49
0.16
Cell Titer-Glo
5.06
0.18
>50.00
N/A
7.20
0.39
13.58
1.01
3.33
0.11
SK-OV-3
Calcein AM
3.93
0.97
>50.00
N/A
16.67
3.49
19.51
4.78
5.26
N/A
Cell Titer-Glo
3.99
0.07
>50.00
N/A
13.51
0.48
24.05
0.89
4.52
0.14
NCI/ADR-
Calcein AM
3.93
0.27
>50.00
N/A
10.54
4.66
12.19
2.93
3.95
0.63
RES
Cell Titer-Glo
3.30
0.18
>50.00
N/A
12.14
1.13
26.95
N/A
4.47
0.30
NCI-H460
Calcein AM
4.47
0.28
>50.00
N/A
12.10
0.74
28.63
3.41
9.91
1.00
Cell Titer-Glo
9.12
0.36
>50.00
N/A
13.67
0.45
36.35
4.18
5.64
0.41
MCF7
Calcein AM
6.34
0.76
>50.00
N/A
23.68
6.93
27.50
4.67
3.62
0.13
Cell Titer-Glo
6.16
0.24
>50.00
N/A
13.07
0.62
19.75
1.18
3.68
0.04
NmuMG
Calcein AM
<12.50
0.01
>200.00
N/A
<12.50
N/A
13.03
0.73
5.81
1.12
Cell Titer-Glo
186.59
N/A
>200.00
N/A
17.74
1.02
>200.00
N/A
3.62
0.30
HT-29
MTT
37.64
0.75
>50.00
9.51
33.18
1.00
45.28
0.95
22.95
0.82
Cancerous Average
4.84
>50.00
11.48
18.32
4.11
[0125] Syntheses of D,L-Sulforaphane and Erysolin. The syntheses of D,L-sulforaphane and erysolin were carried out as highlighted in Reaction Scheme 1, supra. This overall procedure was modified from previously-reported work by Vermeulen et al, both to increase yields and to obtain erysolin (25). Specifically, an excess of 1,4-dibromobutane was used to form the single-displacement SN2 product 9 upon addition of potassium phthalimide. The di-substituted product was the only significant side-product and 9 could readily be isolated using standard column chromatography procedures. Displacement of the remaining bromide in 9 was accomplished using a slight excess of sodium thiomethoxide. Trituration and the subsequent removal of residual water afforded 10 in consistently high yields. Deprotection of the phthalimide using hydrazine monohydrate under refluxing conditions, followed by distillation yielded 11 in 80% yield, a significant improvement over previous methods (25). Importantly, it was found that elimination of the acidic workup step and distillation of the oil 11 from the residual solid reaction by-product greatly reduced the net loss of product. Reaction of 11 with an excess of thiophosgene under basic conditions yielded the isothiocyanate 12. Using 12 as a common intermediate, oxidation products 13 and 14 were obtained using either stoichiometric or excess equivalents of m-CPBA. The published procedure that this synthetic effort was based upon reports a yield of 20% over 5 steps for 13 (25). The modification of this procedure as described herein raises the yield to 34% over 5 steps.
[0126] Construction of the Isothiocyanate Panel. Utilizing generalized procedures for conversion of a primary amine to an isothiocyanate, a small library of isothiocyanates was constructed. Commercially-available primary amines were selected for inclusion using a number of factors, including steric volume, alkyl ring size, aromaticity, methylene homologation of methylene units, ring substitution patterns, conformational restriction, and bioisosteric substitution. Primary amines were reacted with an excess of thiophosgene and isolated by standard column chromatography (Reaction Scheme 2A). Isothiocyanates were obtained in yields ranging from 9% to quantitative (Reaction Scheme 2B). It was observed that isothiocyanates with low molecular weights and small alkyl chains typically had the lowest yields, likely a result of their increased volatility and loss during purification. Additionally, it is believed that certain functionalities present in the primary amines were not entirely stable to the harsh thiophosgene conditions. Repeated attempts to obtain 22 using thiophosgene resulted in several unidentified breakdown products and a maximum yield of 14%. However, 22 could be obtained in 91% yield employing a different isothiocyanate-installing reagent (26). Substitution of thiophosgene for di-(2-pyridyl)thionocarbonate offered a milder and less toxic means to install isothiocyanates. Although this reagent is much more expensive than thiophosgene, we have observed that its general utility supercedes thiophosgene in nearly all regards (cost being a notable exception). Subjection of 3-picolylamine to di-(2-pyridyl)thionocarbonate readily provided 22.
[0127] Cytotoxicity of Isothiocyanates. The activity of library members was assessed using three cytotoxicity assays in a total of ten human cancer cell lines representing a broad range of carcinomas, including breast, colon, CNS, liver, lung, ovary, prostate, and a mouse mammary normal epithelial control line (see FIG. 3 ). The cytotoxicities of L-sulforaphane, D,L-sulforaphane, erucin, and erysolin were also examined. Although the absolute IC 50 values obtained using the MTT assay in HT-29 cells are nearly an order of magnitude higher than those obtained using the multiplexed high-throughput assays, the relative IC 50 values of ITCs are consistent. However, given the large difference in absolute value, IC 50 values obtained using the MTT assay were excluded when calculating average values.
[0128] L-Sulforaphane was found to be moderately cytotoxic with an average IC 50 of 5.26 μM across all eight human cancer cell lines but was nonspecific because it affected all cells, including NmuMG (IC 50 =6.59 μM), with similar efficiencies (Table 2). Five compounds were identified from the isothiocyanate library that exhibited overall enhanced activities relative to L-sulforaphane. Library members 22 (average IC 50 =2.54 μM), 33 (average IC 50 =4.96 μM), 34 (average IC 50 =3.27 μM), 36 (average IC 50 =4.84 μM), and 40 (average IC 50 =4.11 μM) appeared more potent than L-SFN. This was especially evident for 22, which was a highly potent cytotoxin against every human cancer cell line tested (1.18±0.06 μM in the case of NCI/ADR RES, ˜7.5-fold more potent than L-sulforaphane). Additionally, 22 displayed moderate selectivity for cancerous cells over NmuMG (26.04±1.15 μM, ˜4-fold less potent than L-sulforaphane). Taken together these data show that 22 has nearly a 30-fold increase in effectiveness relative to L-sulforaphane. See Table 2
[0129] Based on the results of cytotoxicity assays, several trends correlating ITC structure to activity were observed. The absolute stereochemistry and oxidation state of the sulfoxide moiety in L-sulforaphane appear to have an effect on the potency of an ITC-derived cytotoxin. Comparison of average IC 50 values for enantiomerically-pure 2 (average IC 50 =5.26 μM) and racemate 13 (average IC 50 =7.61 μM) indicate that the L-enantiomer may be more bioactive than the D-enantiomer in specific cell lines. If D-sulforaphane were completely inactive, the racemate 13 would be predicted to have and IC 50 2-fold higher than 2. The results suggest that D-sulforaphane and L-sulforaphane are equally cytotoxic in Du145, HCT-116, Hep3B, SF-268, SK-OV-3, NmuMG, and HT-29 cell lines; their IC 50 values lie within standard error of each other. However, notable differences in potency in NCI/ADR RES, NCI-H460, and MCF7 cells suggest that D-sulforaphane is less active in these cell lines (9%, 14%, and 0% bioactive, respectively). The observed cell line specificity for enantiomers could be explained by differences in mechanisms of action of the ITCs in individual cell lines. The level of oxidation of the sulfoxide in 2 also appears to have an effect on bioactivity. Thioether-containing 12 (average IC 50 =21.99 μM) has significantly higher IC 50 values than other sulforaphane-derived analogs while the sulfone 14 (average IC 50 =5.32 μM) displays similar cytotoxicities on par with 2. While not being tied to any particular biological phenomena or mechanism of action, this trend suggests that generalized oxidation of the sulfur is important for bioactivity, rather than a specific oxidation level. Because effective HDAC inhibitors are sensitive to small differences in the recognition/affinity capping region (27), the observed trend supports the original hypothesis that the 4-(methylsulfinyl)butyl cap group of 3 is non-specific and may be responsible for its relatively modest HDAC inhibition. These observations may have significant ramifications as 13 and 14 are much more amenable to synthesis.
[0000]
TABLE 6
Average IC 50 in Cancer
IC 50 in NmuMG
Compound
Cell Lines (μM)
Cell Line (μM)
2
5.26
6.59
13
7.61
3.20
12
21.99 a
23.52
14
5.32
5.32
15
>50.00 b
>200.00
16
>50.00
26.80
17
>50.00 c
>200.00
18
29.31 d
14.76
19
>50.00
>200.00
20
>50.00 e
182.75
21
35.25 f
65.67
22
2.54
26.04
23
9.47
15.44
24
>50.00
150.68
25
10.14
4.60
26
10.67
9.77
27
6.37
3.78
28
6.53
2.09
29
5.77
16.99
30
9.16
21.45
31
17.23
15.44
32
8.27 g
16.99
33
4.96
180.10
34
3.27
3.06
35
7.89
65.67
36
4.84
186.59
37
>50.00
>200.00
38
11.48
17.74
39
18.32
13.03
40
4.11
3.62
a IC 50 > 30.00 μM in NCI/ADR RES
b IC 50 = 27.55 μM in HCT-116, 32.77 μM in Hep3B
c IC 50 = 12.56 μM in MCF7
d Non-inhibitory in NCI/ADR RES
e Calculated solely from Calcein AM data
f Non-inhibitory in Hep3B, NCI/ADR RES, NCI-H460
g Not including data in NCI/ADR RES
[0130] Cytotoxicity assays also provided insight regarding the effect of incremental increases in linker length. Library members 19, 23, and 38 differ by the number of methylene groups connecting the isothiocyanate to the recognition/affinity group (phenyl). These three compounds have been studied quite extensively with noticeable differences in bioactivity (28-32). Phenyl isothiocyanate 19 (linker length n=0) was non-inhibitory in nearly all cell lines (average IC 50 >50.00 μM) while both 23 (n=1, average IC 50 =9.47 μM) and 38 (n=2, average IC 50 =11.48 μM) were moderately inhibitory. This trend is supportive of both the published bioactivities of these compounds and what is known about the structure-activity relationships of HDAC inhibitors. The difference of a single methylene in linker length can have a severe impact on the HDAC inhibitory properties of a small molecule as linkers that are too short fail to allow the pharmacophore to access deep within the HDAC cleft. Linkers that are too long do not provide a tight-fitting association of the recognition/affinity group with the enzyme (33). The results presented herein suggest that a minimum of one methylene group adjacent to the isothiocyanate is required to achieve appreciable levels of cytotoxicity.
[0131] Many effective HDAC inhibitors contain one or more planar, lipophilic functionalities as part of their recognition/affinity cap group, often as phenyl or phenyl-derived rings, that are thought to participate in critical interactions with the residues near the cleft of the active site (19-24, 33). Comparing the cytotoxicity of compounds 18, 23, 38, and 39 suggests the importance of this planar, aromatic functionality. Structural differences between fully-saturated 18 (average IC 50 =29.31 μM) and benzyl-derived 23 (average IC 50 =9.47 μM) suggests that saturation of the benzyl ring corresponds to over a 3-fold increase in potency. A similar effect is observed with the alkene 39 (average IC 50 =18.32 μM) and 38 (average IC 50 =11.48 μM). This effect appears to be partially cumulative, as the multiple phenyl rings of compounds 33 (average IC 50 =4.96 μM), 34 (average IC 50 =3.27 μM), 35 (average IC 50 =7.89 μM), 36 (average IC 50 =4.84 μM), and 40 (average IC 50 =4.11 μM) promote approximately another 2-fold increase in potency. However, as seen with structural isomers 33, 34, and 35, the connectivity of phenyl rings appears to also have an effect on the relative potency.
[0132] Interestingly, it was observed that the absolute stereochemistry of chiral compounds affects the potency of these cytotoxins. Compounds 31 and 32 can be regarded as enantiomers of a conformationally-restricted 23 and show differential IC 50 values compared to 23 and to each other. In general, R-enantiomer 32 was approximately 2.0-fold more potent than the S-enantiomer 31 and 1.2-fold more potent than 23. This effect was especially pronounced in Hep3B cells with the IC 50 s of 9.70±0.37 μM (23), 20.09±0.53 μM (31), and 3.59±0.16 μM (32). This suggests that 32 may more-closely resemble the bioactive conformation of 23; the increased potency of 32 may be attributed to the decrease in the entropy of free rotation upon interaction with its biological target (34). Moreover, this implies that the mechanism or mechanisms by which these compounds exert their cytotoxic behavior is able to differentiate between enantiomers, signifying some level of 3 D-scaffolding at the point of interaction.
[0133] Compound 22 warrants special discussion as the single most potent compound tested in this panel. In every human cell line, 22 was found to be as active or more so than 2 with an average IC 50 of 2.54 μM. Moreover, these effects can likely be attributed solely to substitution of the phenyl in 23 (IC 50 =11.48±0.77 μM, NCI/ADR RES cells) for the 3-pyridine (IC 50 =1.18±0.06 μM, NCI/ADR RES cells), a change that leads to as much as a 10-fold increase in potency in NCI/ADR RES cells. If ITCs are indeed precursors to HDAC inhibitors, the cysteine-conjugate of 22 would bear significant resemblance to the HDAC inhibitor pyroxamide 7, especially in respect to their similar 3-pyridine-derived recognition/affinity cap groups. Compound 7, currently in Phase I clinical trials, has been reported to have IC 50 values in the 1-20 μM range in several cell lines. In HCT-116 cells, 7 (IC 50 =6.5±0.5 μM) shows comparable levels of cytotoxicity to 22 (IC 50 =2.04±0.21 μM) (27, 35). Although the cytotoxicity of 22 is likely due to a combination of cellular mechanisms, including HDAC inhibition, it certainly implicates the importance of the pyridine nitrogen which may participate in crucial interactions with the HDAC active site rim. More importantly, compounds with potencies equal to or greater than 22 may provide another route by which to achieve the HDAC inhibition exhibited by 7.
[0134] In contrast, it is noteworthy to address compounds 33 and 36 for their enhanced selectivity toward cancerous cells over healthy cells (Table 2). Even though compounds 33 and 36 both exhibit potencies against cancer cells comparable to 2, they are significantly more selective for cancer cells over normal ones. While compound 2 is moderately selective with only 1.3 times increased specificity for cancer cells over NmuMG cells, 33 and 36 are 36.3- and 38.6-times more selective, respectively. This level of specificity far surpasses selectivities exhibited by other members of the isothiocyanate library. This selectivity is highly dependent on the precise structure of the parent ITC. Comparison of 33, 34, and 35 indicates that cell selectivity is only observed for 2-phenyl 33 (36.3-fold) and 4-phenyl 36 (8.3-fold); 3-phenyl 34 is non-selective.
[0135] A small library of ITCs has been synthesized and identified. Several ITC compounds from this library exhibit increased cytotoxicity and selectivity over L-sulforaphane in nine human cancer cell lines. Observations made correlating oxidation state, linker length, lipophilicity, and the stereochemistry of ITCs to their cytotoxicity fall in line with well-established trends found amongst known HDAC inhibitors. These results further indicate the capability of ITCs to act as precursors of HDAC inhibitors and further indicate the utility for synthetic ITCs disclosed herein to be used as dietary chemoprotectants to prevent neoplastic cell growth.
[0136] The small library of ITCs may also be administered in an animal subject, whether human or non-human animal in its prodrug form as a glucosinolate analog, such as a glucoraphanin analog. This glucosinolate analog yields a corresponding in vivo metabolite, i.e., an ITC compound. The ITC exhibits chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic activity against neoplastic cell types.
[0137] A general methodology for converting a glucoraphanin analog to a sulforaphane derived HDAC inhibitor is depicted in FIG. 1 . These metabolites resulting from the glucosinolate compounds may be formed based on myrosinase catalyzed deglycosylation and subsequent Lossen's Rearrangement, as shown below in Reaction Scheme 3:
[0000]
[0138] Here, the glucosinolate analog may have various substituent groups attached in place of the glucose moiety such that the glucose moiety is replaced by other sugars that are available in various glycorandomization libraries, such as that of Jon Thorson, of University of Wisconsin, USA. The R substituent may also be a natural or synthetic generic aglycone (which are commercially available). In an exemplary embodiment, the glucosinolate prodrug may be prepared as follows:
[0139] Crucial to the generation of new, myrosinase-activated HDAC inhibitors is the ability to equip inhibitor “cap” groups with the thioglucoside and O-sulfated anomeric thiohydroximate functionalities characteristic of Glucoraphanin (1). Myrosinase can effect thiosaccharide hydrolysis leading to Lossen rearrangement (shown in abbreviated form in Scheme 3). Numerous syntheses of glucosinolates have been published; the majority rely on the coupling of commercially available 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-β-D-gluocopyranose (45) with hydroximoyl chlorides. Thus, the retrosynthesis depicted in Scheme 4 may be used:
[0000]
[0140] Pivotal to these efforts is generating the hydroximoyl chlorides such as 46 from the primary amines. Aldehydes of the form 47 are easily attainable from corresponding alcohols (via Swern oxidation or Dess-Martin periodinane methods). The S-bearing carbon of the glucosinolate undergoes incorporation within the isothiocyanate moiety by virtue of myrosinase-promoted Lossen rearrangement. To date, it is unclear that myrosinase is involved in Lossen rearrangement other than to provide the starting material for the reaction. There are reports that once deglycosylated, the aglycone undergoes spontaneous Lossen rearrangement. Because of this mechanistic feature, members of the primary amine library initially used to identify ITCs of interest all lack one carbon unit for direct glucosinolate generation. The “missing” carbon is inserted by alkylation of primary amine-derived alkyl bromides with dithiane carbanion so as to afford one carbon homologated species 48. Where appropriate, primary amines of interest can be generated by the corresponding alkyl halide using any one of an assortment of conditions. Of particular interest are conditions shown in Scheme 5 wherein a highly reactive and transient diazonium ion is formed in situ leading to displacement by bromide ion to render 49, 39, and 40. Alternatively, a much milder method of amine halide interconversion may be used.
[0000]
[0141] With the alkyl halides in hand, dual one-carbon homologation and aldehyde installation is accomplished in two highly efficient ways. AIBN-induced radical carbonylation of 49 affords, in one step, the aldehyde 47 Yields for such conversions are fair to good although a notable restriction is that benzylic halides do not appear to be sufficiently trapped (following radical formation) by CO, providing instead the fully saturated products. Again, aldehydes such as 47 may be more directly attainable from commercially available alcohols via well known and simple oxidation procedures. Alternatively, the alkylation of alkyl halides with dithiane anion to afford compounds such as 48 is well known as is unmasking of such substances to the corresponding aldehyde (42, 43) Various examples are also available for bromide displacement with dithiane anion. With aldehydes such as 47, hydroximoyl chlorides of the form 46 may be generated using the well established sequence of oxime formation and N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS)-mediated chlorination (37, 44). Recent applications of this sequence of oxime formation followed by chlorination include work by Prato, Wexler and co-workers (44). Other examples of aldehyde-to-oximyl chloride conversions using Scheme 5 conditions are also available (44) The convergence of chloroximes with commercially available 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-β-D-gluocopyranose followed by the sequence of sulfation and deacetylation is extremely well established and has played a tremendous role in experiments to elucidate the structural determinants of myrosinase activity (38, 45). The sequence of sulfation and deacetylation depicted in Scheme 5 relies on chemistry developed by Botting and co-workers. Although almost all protocols for sulfation found in the literature are very similar, slight variations in the deacetylation procedure have been noted. Milder variations of Botting's glucosinolate deacylation procedure can be found (45). Crucial among such efforts has been the finding that, while myrosinase is extremely dependent upon the thiosaccharide structure, it is highly tolerant of different aglycone structures (38). This confirms chemical suspicions based on the diversity of natural product glucosinolates which all have the same thiosugar unit yet differ radically in aglycone structure.
[0142] The ability of myrosinase (commercially available from Sigma—product T-4528) to convert the glucosinolates described herein to their corresponding ITCs can be determined. These assays employ reaction conditions previously described by Botting and co-workers and the products of reaction are analyzed by reverse phase HPLC using ITCs as standards by which to detect myrosinase-promoted ITC formation.
[0143] A panel of reactions may be conducted in the presence and absence of myrosinase wherein HDAC inhibition is assessed. Myrosinase MYR1 from Brassica napus has been expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae , but there are no reports of similar experiments in human tissue culture (46). Myrosinase is an extraordinarily robust enzyme. The remarkable stability of myrosinase, even in tissue culture, has allowed elegant studies to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity of a number of glucosinolate-derived metabolites against an array of human cancer cell types (47). Based on these considerations and existing precedent, the cellular assays with slight modification may be performed. This approach is shaped in large part by the work of Palmieri and co-workers (47). Thus 22.5 U myrosinase are added to 1 mL of fetal bovine serum containing increasing concentrations of glucosinolates to which ˜2×10 6 HCT116 cells are added. Cells are then seeded 24 h before transfection into 60-mm culture dishes and transfections are performed as previously described.
REFERENCES
[0000]
1. Steinmetz, K. A., Potter, J. D. (1991) “Vegetables, fruit, and cancer. I. Epidemiology,” Cancer Causes Control 2, 325-357.
2. Block, G., Patterson, B., Subar, A. (1992) “Fruit, vegetables, and cancer prevention: A review of the epidemiological evidence,” Nutr. Cancer 18, 1-29.
3. van Poppel, G., Verhoeven, D. T., Verhagen, H., Goldbohm, R. A. (1999) “ Brassica vegetables and cancer prevention. Epidemiology and mechanisms,” Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 472, 159-168.
4. Fenwick, G. R., Heaney, R. K., Mullin, W. J. (1983) “Glucosinolates and their breakdown products in food and food plants,” CRC Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 18, 123-201.
5. Tseng, E., Scott-Ramsay, E. A., Morris, M. E. (2004) “Dietary organic isothiocyanates are cytotoxic in human breast cancer MCF-7 and mammary epithelial MCF-12A cell lines,” Exp. Biol. Med. 229, 835-842.
6. Fimognari, C., Nüsse, M., Rossano, C., Iori, R., Cantelli-Forti, G., Hrelia, P. (2002) “Growth inhibition, cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in human T-cell leukemia by the isothiocyanate sulforaphane,” Carcinogenesis. 23, 581-586.
7. Zhang, Y., Talalay, P., Cho, C. G., Posner, G. H. (1992) “A major inducer of anticarcinogenic protective enzymes from broccoli: Isolation and elucidation of structure,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 89, 2399-2403.
8. Zheng, G. Q., Kenney, P. M., Lam, K. T. (1992) “Phenylalkyl isothiocyanate-cysteine conjugates as glutathione S-transferase stimulating agents,” J. Med. Chem. 35, 185-188.
9. Morimitsu, Y., Nakagawa, Y., Hayashi, K., Fujii, H., Kumagai, T., Nakamura, Y., Osawa, T., Horio, F., Itoh, K., Iida, K., Yamamoto, M., Uchida, K. (2002) “A sulforaphane analogue that potently activates the Nrf2-dependent detoxification pathway,” J. Biol. Chem. 277, 3456-3463.
10. Basten, G. P., Bao, Y., Williamson, G. (2002) “Sulforaphane and its glutathione conjugate but not sulforaphane nitrile induce UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT1A1) and glutathione transferase (GSTA1) in cultured cells,” Carcinogenesis. 23, 1399-1404.
11. Zhang, Y., Kensler, T. W., Cho, C., Posner, G. H., Talalay, P. (1994) “Anticarcinogenic activities of sulforaphane and structurally related synthetic norbornyl isothiocyanates,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91, 3147-3150.
12. Hu, R., Hebbar, V., Kim, B.-R., Chen, C., Winnik, B., Buckley, B., Soteropoulos, P., Tolias, P., Hart, R. P., Kong, A.-N. T. (2004) “In vivo pharmacokinetics and regulation of gene expression profiles by isothiocyanate sulforaphane in the rat,” J. Pharm. Exp. Ther. 310, 263-271.
13. Bonnesen, C., Eggleston, I. M., Hayes, J. D. (2001) “Dietary indoles and isothiocyanates that are generated from cruciferous vegetables can both stimulate apoptosis and confer protection against DNA damage in human colon cell lines,” Cancer Res. 61, 6120-6130.
14. Jackson, S. J. T., Singletary, K. W. (2004) “Sulforaphane: a naturally occurring mammary carcinoma mitotic inhibitor which disrupts tubulin polymerization,” Carcinogenesis. 25, 219-227.
15. Kassahun, K., Davis, M., Hu, P., Martin, B., Baillie, T. (1997) “Biotransformation of the naturally occurring isothiocyanate sulforaphane in the rat: Identification of phase I metabolites and glutathione conjugates,” Chem. Res. Toxicol. 10, 1228-1233.
16. Myzak, M. C., Dashwood, R. H. (2006) “Chemoprotection by sulforaphane: Keep one eye beyond Keapl,” Can. Let. 233, 208-218.
17. Myzak, M. C., Karplus, P. A., Chung, F., Dashwood, R. H. (2004) “A novel mechanism of chemoprotection by sulforaphane: Inhibition of Histone Deacetylase,” Cancer Res. 64, 5767-5774.
18. Marks, P. A., Richon, V. M., Breslow, R., Rifkind, R. A. (2001) “Histone deacetylase inhibitors as new cancer drugs,” Curr. Op. Oncol. 13, 477-483.
19. Furumai, R., Komatsu, Y., Nishino, N., Khochbin, S., Yoshida, M., Horinuchi, S. (2001) “Potent histone deacetylase inhibitors built from trichostatin A and cyclic tetrapeptide antibiotics including trapoxin,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 98, 87-92.
20. Jung, M., Brosch, G., Kolle, D., Scherf, H., Gerhauser, C., Loidl, P. (1999) “Amide analogs of trichostatin as inhibitors of histone deacetylase and inducers of terminal cell differentiation,” J. Med. Chem. 42, 4669-4679.
21. Lavoie, R., Bouchain, D., Frechette, S., Woo, S., khalil, E. A., Leit, S., Fournl, M., Yan, P. T., Trachy-Bourget, M., Beaulieu, C., Li, z., Besterman, J., Delorme, D. (2001) “Design and synthesis of a novel class of histone deacetylase inhibitors,” Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 11, 2847-2850.
22. Wittich, S., Scherf, H., Xie, C., Brosch, G., Loidl, P., Gerhauser, C., Jung, M. (2002) “Structure-activity relationship of phenylalanine-containing inhibitors of histone deacetylase: In vitro enzyme inhibition, induction of differentiation, and inhibition of proliferation in friend leukemic cells,” J. Med. Chem. 45, 3296-3309.
23. Taunton, J., Hassig, C. A., Schreiber, S. L. (1996) “A mammalian histone deacetylase related to the yeast transcriptional regulator rpd3p,” Science. 272, 408-411.
24. Chung, F., Jiao, D., Conaway, C. C., Smith, T. J., Yang, C. S., Yu, M. C. (1997) “Chemopreventive potential of thiol conjugates of isothiocyanates for lung cancer and a urinary biomarker of dietary isothiocyanates,” J. Cell. Biochem. 27, 76-85.
25. Vermeulen, M., Zwanenburg, B., Chittenden, G. J. F., Verhagen, H. (2003) “Synthesis of isothiocyanate-derived mercapturic acids,” Eur. J. Med. Chem. 38, 729-737.
26. Park, S., Hayes, B. L., Marankan, F., Mulhearn, D. C., Wanna, L., Mesecar, A. D., Santarseiro, B. D., Johnson, M. E., Venton, D. L. (2003) “Regioselective covalent modification of hemoglobin in search of antisickling agents,” J. Med. Chem. 46, 936-953.
27. Remiszewski, S. W., Sambucetti, L. C., Atadja, P., Bair, K. W., Cornell, W. D., Green, M. A., Howell, K. L., Jung, M., Kwon, P., Trogani, N, Walker, H. (2002) “Inhibitors of human histone deacetylase: Synthesis and enzyme and cellular activity of straight chain hydroxamates,” J. Med. Chem. 45, 753-757.
28. Manesh, C., Kuttan, G. (2003) “Anti-tumour and anti-oxidant activity of naturally occurring isothiocyanates,” J. Exp. Clin. Can. Res. 22, 193-199.
29. Wattenberg, L. W. (1977) “Inhibition of carcinogenic effects of polycyclic hydrocarbons by benzyl isothiocyanate and related compounds,” J. Nat. Can. Inst. 58, 395-398.
30. Nakamura, Y. (2004) “Cancer chemoprevention by isothiocyanates: Cancerous cell-specific control of cell proliferation and its molecular mechanism,” Kankyo Hen'igen Kenkyu 26, 253-258.
31. Akagi, K., Masashi, S., Ogawa, K., Hirose, M., Goshima, H., Shirai, T. (2003) “Involvement of toxicity as an early event in urinary bladder carcinogenesis induced by phenethyl isothiocyanate, benzyl isothiocyanate, and analogues of F344 rats,” Toxicologic Path. 31, 388-396.
32. Tang, L., Zhang, Y. (2005) “Mitochondria are the primary target in isothiocyanate-induced apoptosis in human bladder cancer cells,” Mol. Cancer. Ther. 4, 1250-1259.
33. Miller, T. A., Witter, D. J., Belvedere, S. (2003) “Histone deacetylase inhibitors,” J. Med. Chem. 46, 5097-5116.
34. Khan, A. R., Parrish, J. C., Fraser, M. E., Smith, W. W., Bartlett, P. A., James, M. N. G. (1998) “Lowering the entropic barrier for binding conformationally flexible inhibitors to enzymes,” Biochem. 37, 16839-16845.
35. Kutko, M. C., Glick, R. D., Butler, L. M., Coffey, D. C., Rifkind, R. A., Marks, P. A., Richon, V. M., LaQuaglia, M. P. (2003) “Histone deacetylase inhibitors induce growth suppression and cell death in human rhabdomyosarcoma in vitro,” Clin. Can. Res. 9, 5749-5755.
36. Cottaz, S.; Henrissat, B.; Driguez, H. (1996) “Mechanism-based Inhibition and Stereochemistry of Glucosinolate Hydrolysis by Myrosinase,” Biochemistry 35, 15256-15259.
37. Davidson, N. E.; Rutherford, T. J.; Botting, N. P. (2001) “Synthesis, analysis and rearrangement of novel unnatural glucosinolates,” Carbohydrate Res. 330, 295-307.
38. Botti, M. G.; Taylor, M. G.; Botting, N. P. (1995) “Studies on the Mechanism of Myrosinase,” J. Biol. Chem. 270, 20530-20535.
39. (a) Volkmann, R. A.; Kelbaugh, P. R.; Nason, D. M.; Jasys, V. J. (1993) “2-Thioalkyl Penems: An Efficient Synthesis of Sulopenem, a (5R,6S)-6-(1(R)-Hydroxyethyl)-2-[(cis-1-oxo-3-thiolanyl)thio]-2-penem Antibacterial,” J. Org. Chem. 1992, 57, 4352-4361; (b) Dener, J. M.; Zhang, L.-H.; Rapoport, H. “An Effective Chirospecific Synthesis of (+)-Pilocarpine from L-Aspartic Acid” J. Org. Chem. 58, 1159-1166.
40. Katritzky, A. R.; Al-Omran, F.; Patel, R. C.; Thind, S. S. (1980) “Improved Methods for Conversion of Primary Amines into Bromides,” Perkin Trans 11890-1894.
41. Ryu, I.; Kusano, K.; Ogawa, A.; Kambe, N.; Sonada, N. (1990) “Free-Radical Carbonylation. Efficient Trapping of Carbon Monoxide by Carbon Radicals,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 112, 1295-1297.
42. (a) Grigg, R.; Markandu, J.; Surendrakumar, S.; Thornton-Pett, M.; Warnock, W. J. (1992) “X═Y-ZH Systems as Potential 1,3-Dipoles. Part 37 Generation of Nitrones from Oximes. Tandem Intramolecular 1,3-AzaprotioCyclotransfer—Intramolecular 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reactions. Class 4 Processes,” Tetrahedron 48, 10399-10422; (b) Adams, T. C.; Dupont, A. C.; Carter, J. P.; Kachur, J. F.; Guzewska, M. E.; Rzeszotarski, W. J.; Farmer, S. G.; Noronha-Blob, L.; Kaiser, C. (1991) “Aminoalkynyldithianes. A New Class of Calcium Channel Blockers” J. Med. Chem. 34, 1585-1593.
43. Dithiane cleavage to afford aldehyde: Langille, N. F.; Dakin, L. A.; Panek, J. S. (2003) “A Mild, Chemoselective Protocol for the Removal of Thioketals and Thioacetals Mediated by Dess-Martin Periodinane” Org. Lett. 5, 575-578.
44. (a) DaRos, T.; Prato, M.; Lucchini, V. (2000) “Additions of Azomethine Ylides to Fullerene C60 Assisted by a Removable Anchor” J. Org. Chem. 65, 4289-4297; (b) Lam, P. Y. S.; Adams, J. J.; Clark, C. G.; Calhoun, W. J.; Luettgen, J. M.; Knabb, R. M.; Wexler, R. R. (2003) “Discovery of 3-Amino-4-Chlorophenyl P1 as a Novel and Potent Benzamidine Mimic Via Solid-Phase Synthesis of an Isoxazoline Library” Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 13, 1795-1799.
45. (a) Lefoix, M.; Tatibouet, A.; Cottaz, S.; Driguez, H.; Rollin, P. (2002) “Carba-glucotropaeolin: the first non-hydrolyzable glucosinolate analogue to inhibit myrosinase” Tet. Lett. 43, 2889-2890; (b) Cassel, S.; Casenave, B.; Deleris, G.; Latxangue, L.; Rollin, P. (1998) “Exploring an Alternative Approach to the Synthesis of Arylalkyl and Indolylmethyl Glucosinolates” Tetrahedron 54, 8515-8524; (c) Mavratzotis, M.; Dourtoglou, V.; Lorin, C.; Rollin, P. (1996) “Glucosinolate Chemistry. First Synthesis of Glucosinolates Bearing an External Thio-Function” Tet. Lett. 37, 5699-5700.
46. Chen, S.; Halkier, B. A. (1999) “Functional Expression and Characterization of the Myrosinase MYR1 from Brassica napus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae” Protein Expression and Purification 17, 414-420.
47. Nastruzzi, C.; Cortesi, R.; Esposito, E.; Menegatti, E.; Leoni, O.; Iori, R.; Palmieri, S. (1996) “In Vitro Cytotoxic Activity of Some Glucosinolate-derived Products Generated by Myrosinase Hydrolysis” J. Agric. Food Chem. 44, 1014-1021.
|
The present invention provides glucosinolate and isothiocyante compounds and related methods for synthesizing these compounds and analogs. In certain embodiments, these glucosinolate and isothiocyanate compounds are useful and chemopreventive and or chemotherapeutic agents.
| 2
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 11/030,649, filed on Jan. 6, 2005 now abandoned, which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recent conflicts around the world highlight the combat effectiveness of RPGs. The RPG is often the key “force multiplier” for terrorist or extremist hostile forces. Helicopter downings by RPGs have become an increasingly deadly factor in recent major conflicts. Multiple incidents in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq have involved significant loss of life. Such incidents provide encouragement and disproportionate stature to hostile forces. Additionally, missiles and RPGs pose an emerging threat to passenger and cargo aviation as well as to ground transports.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention describes an expendable Rocket-Towed Barrier (RTB) system designed to prevent RPGs from reaching their targets. The system is comprised of:
Vehicular-mounted launch pod(s)
Multiple RTB expendable countermeasures
The system utilizes existing technologies for the identification and targeting of threats. The system takes advantage of the fact that RPGs and personnel-fired missiles are, in terms of combat projectiles, relatively slow-moving and there is a short time available to identify threats and launch countermeasures. Each RTB launch pod provides a zone of coverage. The actual RTB projectile does not need to precisely intercept the incoming munition. Furthermore, the launch of several RTB projectiles in a pattern toward the path of the incoming threat will provide a very high likelihood of interception. Unlike other proposals, such as explosive ball bearing grenades, this system presents an effective counter to lethal munitions while maintaining a low probability of collateral damage to non-combatants in the launch vicinity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is described with reference to the following figures, in which:
FIG. 1 shows the area of coverage provided by several rocket-towed barriers, superimposed upon the outline of a helicopter;
FIG. 2 shows a rocket-towed barrier on an intercepting course between a helicopter and a threat missile;
FIGS. 3A-3C show the launch sequence of a single rocket-towed barrier.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 , the launch pod is a simple weatherproof cluster of thermoplastic tubes. Launch pods 1 are attached to the host vehicle 2 in such a way that the launch tubes are directed toward the zone from which RPG protection is desired. The system interfaces with a threat identification system 3 , such as the BAE Systems ALQ-156 pulse-Doppler radar system, or the ALQ-2I2 IR warning system, both of which are now in widespread use. Threat direction and time-to-go data are used to determine the optimum firing time for the RTB countermeasures. In this respect, the system is almost identical to current chaff or IR decoy countermeasure systems, with the distinction that the present system is designed to physically intercept the threat munition, thereby providing a significantly greater degree of security. Additionally, IR and chaff decoy systems provide no defense against RPGs, which are essentially ballistic projectiles having no in-flight seek or guidance capabilities. In another embodiment, the countermeasure-firing pod is actively aimed using rapid-acting electromechanical or fluid powered actuators similar to systems in current use such as the Raytheon Phalanx Close In Weapon System (CIWS). Data from the radar system is used to point the countermeasure launch tube(s) on an approximate intercepting trajectory, taking account of velocities of the threat, the countermeasure, and the host vehicle. The present system would be smaller and simpler than current CIWS systems primarily because the rate of fire is much lower and the projectiles are self-propelled, requiring only a launch tube. An additional simplifying factor is that precise threat intercept (hitting a bullet with a bullet) is not a requirement of the present system. In yet a more complex embodiment, the RTB countermeasure may employ active guidance. This system would offer tracking and in-flight course correction. Assuming active guidance combined with accurate data on the flight path of the threat, it may be possible to deliver the threat munition back to its point of origin.
Expendable Countermeasure
Referring to FIG. 2 , the expendable RTB 4 utilizes a quick firing, single-stage solid-fueled rocket 5 . The RTB rocket 5 is similar in most respects to a hobby rocket, with necessary enhancements for sizing, flight stability, and mission reliability. The RTB rocket tows a mesh barrier 6 that, after launch, is inflated by aerodynamic forces. The inflated barrier provides a wide radius of coverage for intercept of incoming threats along the RTB flight path.
Towed Barrier
In one embodiment, the towed barrier 4 is in the shape of a small, flat drogue parachute. The drogue-shaped barrier is aerodynamically symmetric, resembling an aircraft-braking parachute, but is constructed of a mesh material that presents a physical barrier to oncoming munitions, while allowing most oncoming air to pass through. The mesh material may be Kevlar fiber, stainless steel braided cable, or a combination of materials. The mesh is optimized for strength and aerodynamic drag characteristics. The drogue tethers 7 are fixed to the tow rocket fuselage in such a way as to provide uniform pull force when the drogue is inflated. The tethers 7 are constructed to withstand the initial shock of encountering an RPG 8 . The tether system may employ an elastic element to partially dissipate the kinetic energy of a captured or diverted RPG. The drogue exploits aerodynamic forces to maintain maximum frontal area with respect to the RTB flight path. The drogue/rocket package is optimized for threat interdiction. The drogue is intentionally designed to slow the RTB rocket to the optimum velocity for maximum time-in-the-path of incoming threats. Mesh barriers of other shapes are operable with this system. In a further embodiment, a mesh barrier of rectangular frontal aspect is deployed. Larger barriers may employ multiple tow rockets in order to maintain the desired cross-section during threat interdiction.
Stowage
Referring to the cross-sectional diagram illustrated by FIG. 3A , in one embodiment the towed barrier 6 is packed with the RTB rocket 5 and the barrier tethers 7 in launch tube 9 . The barrier is folded and wrapped into a compact package that is formed around the rocket. At launch and as illustrated in the partial cross-sectional diagram of FIG. 3B , the rocket 5 first leaves the launch tube 9 pulling the barrier tethers 7 along behind it. Applicant points out that FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams in which certain dimensional relationships have been exaggerated (for example, the clearances between an outer surface of the RTB rocket 5 , the drogue 6 and an inner surface of the launch tube 9 ) in order to provide clarity as to the relative positioning among elements illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
As illustrated in FIGS. 3B and 3C , the tethers 7 in turn pull the drogue 6 out of its folded state and out of the launch tube 9 . As the drogue 6 clears the launch tube 9 and proceeds along the flight path, aerodynamic forces cause it to inflate to its maximum diameter as illustrated by element 6 ′ of FIG. 3C . Certain areas of the towed barrier 6 ′ may be subject to high heat from the tow rocket 5 . In particular, the area directly behind the tow rocket 5 may be subject to high heat. Since the countermeasure is expendable, and the flight duration is on the order of a few seconds, this would not seriously degrade the effectiveness of the system. In RTB systems with more demanding mission requirements, the towed barrier 6 , 6 ′ may be fitted with a heat protective coating in the area of the rocket exhaust. The drogue/rocket package 5 , 6 , 7 may be stored as a unit in its own expendable launch tube 9 . Such a system would facilitate quick and easy replacement of discharged countermeasures, much as is the case with current chaff dispensing systems. In another embodiment of the present invention, the complete launch tube units 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 may be incorporated into a magazine, or may be provided in an ammunition belt configuration.
Guidance
Rocket stabilization and guidance may take one of several forms depending on the system complexity as described above. Referring to FIG. 3 , in one embodiment fixed aspect aerodynamic fins 10 are used to stabilize the RTB rocket on its flight path. The fins may extend via spring pressure after ejection from the launch tube. Another embodiment provides inertial stabilization through the use of a spinning mass. A tubular section of the rocket fuselage spins around the axis of flight. The spin motion may be imparted via an ablative multi-vane impeller that is coupled to the rotating section and situated along the rocket axis. A portion of the rocket exhaust drives the impeller. Active guidance via moveable control surfaces may also be employed. Active guidance methods are established in the art, and are not an object of the present invention.
Additional Defensive Capabilities
The RTB rocket may carry flare or other IR countermeasures, thus doubling as a decoy for heat-seeking threats and attracting those threats into the effective radius of the RTB countermeasure.
Explosive Interdiction
The RTB may additionally be equipped with an explosive destruct charge 11 that destroys or disables threat munitions that are in the vicinity of the RTB. The destruct charge triggers when force on drogue tethers exceeds a predetermined value. The destruct charge combines with the physical barrier to provide enhanced capabilities to the RTB system. Explosive RTBs may be effective against threats that could defeat the drogue netting alone (such as SAMs and personnel fired missiles). In-flight arming of the destruct charge safeguards the host vehicle from accidental detonation and from detonation during the initial shock of the inflation of the towed barrier. In one embodiment, a MEMS G sensor integrates flight time away from host to provide a safe arming distance. Hall-effect sensors and spring-mounted magnet provide non-contacting force trigger. The towed barrier tethers are connected to the spring-mounted magnet. After arming, the appropriate force on the tethers brings the magnet sufficiently close to the hall-effect sensors to trigger an electrical impulse to the destruct charge. Additional destruct charge fusing methods could be employed including heat sensing, proximity, or time-delay methods.
|
A system providing a physical-barrier defense against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). The system is suitable for use on aircraft, ground vehicles, and ships.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an improvement on the copending application of Robert B. Enemark, entitled Battery Powered Smoke Detector, Ser. No. 718,686, filed Aug. 30, 1976, now abandoned and continued in application Ser. No. 872,674, which is incorporated herein by reference. The operation of the detector of that copending application which senses reduced or declining battery voltage only is to be distinguished from the object of the present invention which is to discriminate against batteries whose voltage may be adequate but which are unable to deliver sufficient energy to the smoke detector circuits particularly the detector alarm.
STATEMENT OF INVENTION
According to the invention battery powered alarm apparatus such as an optical or ionization type of smoke or other particle detector comprises power terminals for connection to a battery; means for detecting an alarm condition; alarm means responsive to the detecting means for signalling alarm condition, at least one of the detecting and alarm means being connected as a load across the battery terminals; and means for sensing the battery internal impedance under said load so as to actuate the alarm means when the battery impedance exceeds a preselected value.
DRAWING
The single FIGURE of the drawing is a schematic diagram of an optical smoke detector according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION
General Description
Power Supply 1
Clock Pulse Generator 2
Light Source 3
Smoke Senser 4
Logic Circuit 6
Alarm 7
Battery Monitor 8A
Battery Discriminator 8B
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
As an example of the invention the FIGURE shows an optical smoke detector of the type in which light from a source 3 is directed through a dark chamber accessible to smoke, the light being directed on a path indicated by arrows, which path is viewed by a photodiode D4 or other photocell of a smoke senser 4 as is well understood and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,076, for example. Light scattered by smoke or other particles from the path to the photocell excites the photocell and causes the smoke senser 4 to actuate the horn H of an alarm 7 through a logic or alarm control circuit 6. The smoke senser may be of the optical scattering type described, an optical obscuration type, ionization or other type which detects an alarm condition and causes an alarm to signal the condition audibly, visually or as by energizing a relay.
In the detector illustrated the light source 3, senser 4, logic circuit 6 and alarm 7 are powered by a supply including a battery B attached to power terminals b. A clock pulse generator 2 controls periodic supply of energy pulses from the battery B to the light source 3, senser 4, logic 6, and alarm 7 circuits during pulse intervals which are very short compared to each clock period before which they occur. The clock 2 also periodically controls supply of battery energy to circuit 8 including a battery monitor 8A and a battery discriminator 8B which are explained in detail hereafter.
Power Supply 1
The power supply includes a 9 volt battery B connected between the terminals b and a diode D5 (1N4001) which protects the detector circuits by short circuiting the battery if it is connected in incorrect polarity.
Clock Pulse Generator 2
The clock pulse generator 2 is an astable, asymmetrical multivibrator with two transistors Q1 (2N2907) and Q2 (D32H2) whose period between pulses is primarily determined by the discharge time of a 1 microfarad capacitor C3 through a 33 megohm resistor R2 although other impedances in the clock result in a clock period of about 15 seconds. A 100 microfarad capacitor C2 stores energy from the battery B through a 100 ohm resistor R1 and a 12 ohm resistor R6, and in turn repeatedly charges the clock timing capacitor C3 through the emitter-base circuit of the first transistor Q1, a blocking diode D1 (1N4454), a 22 ohm resistor R4 and the collector-emitter circuit of the second transistor Q2. The approximately 140 microsecond duration of each clock pulse is determined by this charging circuit.
Charging of the timing capacitor C3 causes the first transistor Q1 and then the second transistor Q2 to conduct for the pulse duration whereafter their loss of conduction starts the 15 second interpulse period. Conduction by the second clock transistor Q2 produces a negative going clock pulse 11 at the clock output terminal CL and also draws operating current through the LED D2. Of particular significance is that the clock transistor Q2 also draws current through a zener diode in the battery monitor circuit 8A, and through the resistor R1 in the battery discriminator circuit 8B, as described more fully hereafter.
Light Source 3
When conduction by the second clock transistor Q2 also draws operating current through the light emitting diode (LED) D2 of the light source 3, it thereby energizes the LED causing it to emit a light pulse at the beginning of each clock period.
Smoke Senser 4
Smoke in the light path from the LED will scatter light, or in some detectors obscure light, to the photodiode D4 of the smoke senser 4. In either case the photodiode or other photocell will produce a signal proportional to the light alteration by smoke. As the density of smoke increases, the pulsed light from the LED D2 is scattered in greater intensity to the photodiode D4, and its increased output to an operational amplifier U2 is applied to a level detecting transistor Q5 (2N3414). As is explained in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 718,686, the level detector is biased to conduct when the smoke concentration exceeds a predetermined density, for example a density which will attenuate a light beam 2% in one foot. Its collector voltage, previously close to the positive battery voltage as shown by the solid line voltage waveform 12, then drops toward the ground or maximal negative bus voltage (-) with each light pulse as shown by the broken line waveform 12*. This maximal negative smoke detection signal 12* is applied to the data input Da of the logic circuit 6.
Logic Circuit 6
The logic circuit 6 comprises two sections U1A and U1B of an integrated circuit (IC) including a dual data-type flip-flop such as RCA type CD4013AE described in RCA '74 Data Book SSD-2038 COS/MOS Digital Integrated Circuits, pages 68 and 69. Substantially in coincidence with the application of detection pulses 12* at the data input Da of the IC section U1A a pulse 11 is normally applied from the clock output CL to the clock input Ca of the same IC section U1A. The coincident application of detection signals 12* and clock pulses 11 cause the IC section U1A to increase its quiescent voltage 13 at its inverse output Q*a to an alarm level 13* as shown in the voltage waveforms adjacent output terminal Q*a. As described more fully in the above mentioned application Ser. No. 718,686 the alarm signal 13* causes two transistors Q4 (2N3414) and Q6 (D32H2) to drive a horn H in the alarm 7. A relay or other alarm output can be substituted for the horn.
Alarm 7
Battery Monitor 8A
The battery voltage monitoring circuit 8A basically comprises two 470 ohm resistors R8 and R9 and a 7 volt zener diode D3 in series with resistor R8. Resistor R8 is connected to the positive battery bus (+) through an isolating diode D7 (1N4001) and the zener diode is connected to the clock terminal CL so that the battery voltage is applied across resistor R8 and the zener diode D3. If the battery voltage is between approximately 7.5 volts and a rated 9 volts, for example, the zener diode will conduct each clock pulse interval applying a voltage through resistor R9 to the base of a monitor transistor Q3 thereby biasing the transistor to conduction during the clock pulse. Conduction of the monitor transistor Q3 raises the voltage at the data input Db of a second section U1b of the dual, data-type flip-flop, and causes the flip-flop output Qb to draw current through a resistor R11 and a capacitor C8 connected to the base of the first alarm transistor Q4. The horn conducts for the charging time of the capacitor C8, about 20 times the length of a clock pulse. As the capacitor C8 charges the first transistor conducts, in turn causing the second alarm transistor C6 to conduct and momentarily drive the horn H only on receipt of the first clock pulse transmitted by the monitor transistor Q3. The capacitor is charged at the occurance of the first succeeding clock pulse, but is discharged through the inverse outputs Q*a and Q* of the first and second flip-flops section U1A and U1B by the time of the second successive clock pulse again allowing the horn to be driven momentarily. Thus the horn sounds a distinctive trouble signal briefly at twice the clock pulse period, thereby doubling the time which the battery can continue the trouble signal.
Battery Discriminator 8B
Dry cell batteries occasionally are defective when new and unused in that they have a high internal impedance and are incapable of delivering their rated current at their rated voltage. While such deficiency might not be noticed immediately in a flashlight, the result in a smoke detector would be that the battery could supply energy to drive the alarm horn only briefly or not at all. Moreover, batteries of the same rated voltage may be chemically different. For example, a 9 volt alkaline battery, NEDA type 1604, which is desirable because of its moderate cost and easy availability, cannot be replaced in electronic circuits like those of a smoke detector with a 9 volt mercuric oxide, carbon zinc or zinc chloride battery because of the difference in chemistry and internal impedance. The discriminator circuit 8B detects such incompatible chemistry or the consequent high impedance of a battery and its inability to deliver energy at its rated voltage and amperage. The operation of the circuit 8B in discriminating against such chemically incompatible batteries is to be distinguished from operation of the circuit 8A which monitors a chemically compatible battery during its normal life and detects its inevitable voltage drop near end life.
The battery discriminator circuit 8B comprises a discriminator transistor Q7 which is normally non-conducting but which when conducting cuts the monitor transistor off. The discriminator circuit 8B thus cooperates with the battery voltage monitor circuit 8A, although each can operate independently. Conduction of the discriminator transistor Q7 is controlled by the voltage on a 450 microfarad storage capacitor C1 connected to the emitter of the transistor Q7, and the current-resistance (IR) drop of a normally 100 ohm resistor R1 coupled to the base of the discriminator transistor through a 1 kilohm resistor R14. The discriminator capacitor C1 is connected in parallel with the battery B but isolated from the battery positive bus (+) by the diode D7 paralleled by a one kilohm leakage resistor R13. The discriminator capacitor C1 stores the battery voltage while the battery is unloaded, that is before the clock pulse draws operating current, and holds that voltage at the emitter of transistor Q7 when the battery is loaded during the clock pulse. At the time of the clock operating current is drained from the battery through the discriminator resistor R1 and the LED D2 in series therewith under control of the clock transistor Q2. The discriminator resistor R1 has approximately the same impedance as the horn H, e.g. 50 to 150 ohms so as to approximate the load placed on the battery during alarm.
As previously stated the discriminator transistor is non-conducting normally that is with a good battery at the terminals b. If the new battery has improper chemistry as indicated by a high, e.g. greater than five ohm, internal impedance, this high impedance will be sensed by the comparison of the battery voltage stored in capacitor C1 at the transistor Q7 emitter with the IR drop of the battery current across the resistor R1. It can be assumed that the battery voltage is near rated voltage, else a voltage deficiency would have been detected by the battery monitor circuit 8A. Thus the increased internal battery impedance alters the ratio between internal resistance and external resistance and reduces the current which the battery can deliver below that needed to operate the horn H. The discriminator transistor Q7 is then caused to conduct and cuts off the monitor transistors so as to cause a trouble alarm signal previously described under the caption Battery Monitor 8A.
It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
|
A battery powered smoke detector includes a battery powered discriminator circuit which periodically senses the chemistry of the battery represented by its volt-ampere output and internal impedance. An external impedance comparable to the alarm circuit load on the battery is connected in parallel with the battery such as to trigger an alarm when the battery energy delivered through the impedance approaches a level inadequate to drive the alarm.
| 6
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/266,411, filed Feb. 2, 2001.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
“Not Applicable”
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a computer system and, more particularly, to a computer system for translating medical test results into plain language.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Medical tests are critical to the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions. Oftentimes, when a patient visits a physician, a number of tests and procedures are performed. However, the physician is unable to communicate the results of the tests and procedures during the same visit because the results are not available instantaneously. For example, when bodily fluids such as blood are extracted by a member of the physician's office staff, the fluids must be sent to a remote laboratory for analysis. In other cases, x-rays and other test results must be reviewed by specialists that are typically unavailable to review the results immediately. Accordingly, it is common for the patient to call the treating physician at a later date to receive the medical test results.
In the past, it has been difficult for physicians and members of their office staffs to document and respond to the high volume of patient and family calls in an efficient manner. In some offices, more than 200 calls per physician per day are common. Also, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) requires that each phone message receive the same documentation and scrutiny as a scheduled visit to the physician's office. Currently, as each call is received, the staff member receiving the call must verify the patient's name, the treating physician's name, record the time and date of the call and find the paper chart for the patient. Then, a nurse or physician's assistant must review the chart and decide whether the nurse is qualified to answer the question or whether the physician is required to answer the question. If the nurse is not capable of answering the question, the nurse must contact the physician to communicate the question, and provide the chart or other information needed to answer the question. Next, either the physician or nurse calls the patient to answer the question. Finally, the communication from the physician's office to the patient is documented.
There are numerous inefficiencies associated with this process. For example, for the most basic test results, the process involves the efforts of at least three individuals, and the inefficiencies associated with the receipt and communication of information from one person to the next. Moreover, the manual steps of receiving the patient's information and documenting each inquiry involve a great deal of effort on the part of the physician and office staff, and lead to numerous opportunities for human errors and omissions. From the patient's perspective, the process also presents a number of disadvantages. In addition to the time delay, the patient must initiate and receive the response at times dictated by the schedules of the office staff and physician. Additionally, the patient ultimately bears the costs of the administration required to respond to the calls and the time lost for the doctor to respond to the inquiries. Moreover, the patient can only receive the information through a phone call or subsequent visit instead of receiving the information at the time and in the format most convenient for the patient.
It is difficult to automate the process for a number of reasons. For example, the test results are typically in a form only understandable by physicians or other clinicians trained in the medical field. Thus, if the actual results of a test are simply communicated to the patient, the patient is likely to be confused as to the implications of the results, and will oftentimes call the physician to discuss the results. If this occurs, any benefit derived by delivering the results via a non-physician are essentially lost. Also, some results are inappropriate to deliver via an automated system, such as results indicating a critical illness. Similarly, the security of the results must be considered in automating the process.
Accordingly, there is a need for an effective system and method for receiving and responding to inquiries from patients regarding medical care test results. There is also a need for a system and method for documenting the receipt of the patient inquiry, the interpretation of the test results and the delivery of the results. A need also exists for a system and method for delivering medical test results in plain language that is understandable by a patient without medical expertise. Still another need exists for a convenient and secure system and method to exchange information between the patient and physician's office.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Generally described, a method for translating medical test results into plain language is provided. The method includes receiving a medical test result for a type of medical test and identifying a template or set of templates associated with the type of medical test. The method also includes selecting the template matching the medical test result and outputting a plain language explanation based on the selected template.
In a further aspect of the method, the method includes the steps of determining if the medical test results will be interpreted by a clinician, and selection of the appropriate template by the clinician.
In another further aspect of the method, the method includes the steps of receiving patient information and checking the patient information against a list of patients having authorization to receive the medical test results.
In another aspect of this method, the method includes distributing the results to a treating physician for review prior to the step of outputting the plain language explanation.
In another aspect of the invention, a computer system for translating medical test results into plain language is provided. The system includes a receiving component that receives a medical test result and an identifying component that identifies a template or set of templates associated with the medical test. The system further includes a selecting component that selects the template matching the medical test result and an outputting component that outputs a plain language explanation based on the selected template.
In a further aspect of the invention, a computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to translate medical test results into plain language is provided, by receiving a medical test result for a type of medical test, identifying a template or set of templates associated with the medical test, selecting the template matching the medical test result, and outputting a plain language explanation based on the selected template.
Additional advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in a description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a suitable computing system environment for use in implementing the present invention; and
FIGS. 2A-2E are flow diagrams illustrating a preferred method for translating medical test results to plain language.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method and system for translating medical test results to plain language. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable medical information computing system environment 20 on which the invention may be implemented. The medical information computing system environment 20 is only one example of a suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Neither should the computing environment 20 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplary environment 20 .
The invention is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
The invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices.
With reference to FIG. 1 , an exemplary medical information system for implementing the invention includes a general purpose computing device in the form of server 22 . Components of server 22 may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit, internal system memory, and a suitable system bus for coupling various system components, including database cluster 24 to the control server 22 . The system bus may be any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronic Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, also known as Mezzanine bus.
Server 22 typically includes therein or has access to a variety of computer readable media, for instance, database cluster 24 . Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by server 22 , and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and nonremovable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD), or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by server 22 . Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.
The computer storage media, including database cluster 24 , discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 1 , provide a storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for server 22 .
Server 22 may operate in a computer network 26 using logical connections to one or more remote computers 28 . Remote computers 28 can be located at a variety of locations in a medical environment, for example, but not limited to, a clinician's office, testing labs, medical billing and financial offices, hospital administration, and a patient's home environment. Clinicians include, but are not limited to, the treating physician, specialists such as surgeons, radiologists and cardiologists, emergency medical technicians, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, nurse's aides, pharmacists, microbiologists, and the like. The remote computers may also be physically located in non-traditional medical care environments such as schools, offices of non-physicians such as speech pathologists, mental health facilities, and the like, so that the entire health care community is capable of integration on the network. Remote computers 28 may be a personal computer, server, router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and may include some or all of the elements described above relative to server 22 . Computer network 26 may be a local area network (LAN) and/or a wide area network (WAN), but may also include other networks. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet. When utilized in a WAN networking environment, server 22 may include a modem or other means for establishing communications over the WAN, such as the Internet. In a networked environment, program modules or portions thereof may be stored in server 22 , or database cluster 24 , or on any of the remote computers 28 . For example, and not limitation, various application programs may reside on the memory associated with any one or all of remote computers 28 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.
A user may enter commands and information into server 22 or convey the commands and information to the server 22 via remote computers 28 through input devices, such as keyboards, pointing devices, commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball, or touch pad. Other input devices may include a microphone, joy stick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. Server 22 and/or remote computers 28 may have any sort of display device, for instance, a monitor. In addition to a monitor, server 22 and/or computers 28 may also include other peripheral output devices, such as speakers and printers.
Although many other internal components of server 22 and computers 28 are not shown, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such components and their interconnection are well known. Accordingly, additional details concerning the internal construction of server 22 and computer 28 need not be disclosed in connection with the present invention.
The method and system of the present invention receives medical test results and translates the results into plain language understandable by the patient. Although the method and system are described as being implemented in a WINDOWS operating system operating in conjunction with an Internet based system, one skilled in the art would recognize that the method and system can be implement in any system supporting the receipt and processing of medical result information.
As best seen in FIGS. 2A-2E , the present invention receives medical test result information and translates the results into plain language understandable by a patient with little medical knowledge. The types of medical tests capable of translation are numerous and include blood, urine and other tests related to bodily fluids, imaging tests such as x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests and mammograms, sensory tests related to vision, hearing, and speech, and cognitive tests. First, the results of the test are inputted into the system. Preferably, the results are inputted at one of the remote computers 28 . By way of example, the test results may either be input into the memory of the remote computer by a clinician or personnel associated with the clinician, or received directly from the output of a medical testing device. The test results could also be inputted directly into server 22 . At step 200 , the test results are received from one of the remote computers 28 , preferably via the network and central server.
Preferably, the medical test results include an identification of the patient, an identification of the treating physician ordering the test, and the results themselves. The patient and treating physician may be identified by name, number or other type of identification. The results may be in various forms, including numerical values, textual observations, images of X-rays, scans and/or photographs, or any of a number of recognized forms and formats of medical test results.
Once the medical test result input is received, the system compares the test type to a list of tests that can be translated at step 202 . The system has a stored list of medical tests that are capable of being translated by the system. This list is preferably stored in the database cluster 24 . At step 204 , the system determines if the test type is on the list stored in the system. If the test is not on the list, the system awaits the input and receipt of the next test result as indicated in step 206 . However, if the test type for the particular medical test result is on the list, at step 208 , the patient information component of the medical test result information is compared against a list of patients permitted to receive test results. The list of patients is preferably stored in the database cluster 24 and accessed by the control server 22 . The list does not necessarily include all of the treating physician's patients. For example, minors, incompetents, and others that should not be allowed direct access to the test results are excluded from the stored list. However, the list may include members of the patient's family, guardians and other individuals that have legal access to the patient's test results.
Next, at step 210 , the system determines if the patient is on the list. If the name or identification of the patient (or other authorized person) does not appear in the list, the system awaits the input and receipt of the next test result as indicated previously at step 206 . If the patient is on the list at step 210 , the system begins the process of translating the medical test result to a plain language interpretation as described in steps 212 through 234 .
At step 212 , the system determines if the medical test result will be interpreted by a clinician. If the result is not to be interpreted by a clinician, at step 214 , the system finds reference ranges of test values associated with the type of test. A template or a set of templates are stored within the system for each particular test type. For those tests capable of interpretation by the system independently of a clinician, each template is associated with one or more specific test result values or a range of test result values for each particular test type. In step 216 , the system selects the template that matches the reference value associated with test result or reference range within which the test result value falls. Then, at step 218 , the system determines whether the selected template includes a tagged placeholder or placeholders for insertion of additional data. If one or more placeholders are present in the selected template, at step 220 , additional data is embedded into the text of the template. The data may be numerical or textual result for the test, the date the test was performed, the name of the clinician performing the test, the name of the physician ordering the test, or any other type of predetermined text or value. If the template does not have tagged placeholders, step 220 is bypassed.
With reference back to step 212 , if the result is to be interpreted manually by a clinician, the test result is distributed to the clinician at step 222 . At step 224 , the clinician reviews the results, and, at step 226 , manually selects a potential template reflecting the clinician's interpretation of the results. For instance, a list of templates for the test type may be displayed, and one of the templates selected as the potential template corresponding the interpreted result. Once the clinician selects the potential template, the system determines if the potential template has tagged placeholders at step 228 . If the template has placeholders, the appropriate data is embedded in the template at step 230 . Once the information is embedded, the template is displayed to the clinician at step 232 . If the text of the potential template does not contain tagged placeholders, step 230 is bypassed and the potential template is viewed by the clinician without any additional information. Once the template is viewed by the clinician at step 232 , the clinician determines if the potential template is appropriate for the test results at step 234 , and inputs the determination into the system. If the clinician determines that the potential template is not appropriate for the test results, then the system returns to step 226 , and the manual selection steps are repeated.
Alternatively, instead of selecting from a list of potential templates, the clinician could manually select the results template from a set of potential templates in a variety of different ways understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. For instance, the first potential template of the set of potential templates could be viewed by the clinician automatically without any input from the clinician. If the text of the first template included a tagged placeholder, the appropriate data would be embedded prior to displaying the template. If the first template was deemed appropriate, the clinician could select the template as the results template. If the first template was not appropriate, the clinician could proceed to the next template in the set by indicating that the first template did not correspond to the test results. This process could be repeated until the appropriate template was identified by the clinician. In a variation of this alternative, each of a number of potential templates could be displayed simultaneous on a common display with any additional data embedded at the placeholders within the text of the templates. Then, the clinician could simply select the template corresponding to the test result.
In another alternative, the present invention contemplates manual selection of the appropriate potential template by the clinician without the steps of displaying the results template or determining if the potential template is appropriate. For instance, as more fully set forth below, if the clinician's interpretation indicated a positive or negative result, the clinician could select the appropriate potential template, and the system could identify any tagged placeholders, embed the additional data, and proceed directly to step 236 without displaying the results template to the clinician.
Once the results template is selected either automatically or manually, at step 236 , the system determines whether the template can be sent directly to the patient or must be sent to the physician first. Specifically, at step 238 , the system determines whether the result can be sent directly to the patient. If it cannot be sent directly to the patient, the system distributes the results to the physician for review and forwarding at step 240 . At step 242 , the physician reviews the results and forwards the completed results template to the patient.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention set forth above, a treating physician orders the test and a clinician performs the tests, and, in some instances, manually interprets the results. However, the system contemplates that a clinician other than the treating physician could order the test(s). Also, the test result could be manually interpreted by the treating physician rather than another clinician in the health care system. Notably, if the treating physician is the clinician making the manual selection at steps 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 and 234 , steps 240 and 242 are redundant and could be bypassed without departing from the scope of the invention.
Whether the result can be sent directly to the patient or not, the system ultimately determines the results distribution method for the patient at step 244 . Once the results distribution method is determined by the system, the results are distributed to the patient at step 246 as shown in FIG. 2E . Next, a private message is sent to the personal health information storage database at step 248 . Preferably, the message is communicated to a network through the Internet at step 250 and viewable with a web browser. The results may also be distributed to the patient by any of a number of communications devices. For example, the results may be distributed by faxing the results at step 252 , hand delivering or mailing a letter with the results at step 254 , sending the results via a pager at step 256 , sending the results as a voice message on a cellular phone as designated in step 258 , or distributing the results to another wireless device such as personal digital assistant (PDA) at step 260 .
In operation, an embodiment of the translation feature of the system is now described by way of example. When a patient visits the physician's office, a blood sample is taken. The physician sends the blood sample to a laboratory for a cholesterol test, and the lab determines the total cholesterol count of the patient. The laboratory technician inputs the medical test result information in a remote computer located in the laboratory. Specifically, the technician enters the patient's name, the physician's name and the results value at step 200 . In this example, the test results include a value of 205 mg/dl. The test results are communicated from the remote computer to the control server via the network 26 , preferably through a private network connection. Next, the system compares the cholesterol test type against the list of tests that are capable of translation at step 202 . At step 204 , the system determines that the cholesterol test is on the list of test types capable of translation. At step 208 , the system determines if the patient identified in the test results can receive the results by comparing the patient information component of the medical test results to the list of patients stored in the system.
At step 210 , the system determines that the patient is on the list and proceeds to determine if the result should be interpreted manually by a clinician at step 212 . Since a cholesterol test is of the type that does not have to be interpreted by a clinician, the system finds reference ranges associated with cholesterol test results. For example, for a cholesterol test, the reference ranges may be associated with low, borderline low, normal, borderline high, and high cholesterol values. Specifically, for purposes of this example, a normal range of cholesterol results may be between 160 to 200 mg/dl and a borderline high range may encompass results between 201 mg/dl to 240 mg/dl. Once the reference ranges are found for the particular type of test, at step 216 , the system selects the template for the reference range within which the test result value falls. In this example, for a cholesterol lab result of 205 mg/dl, falling within the range of values between 201 to 240 mg/dl, the predetermined “borderline high” template is selected.
Each of the templates includes information in plain language for the test results that fall within the reference range. Also, the template may contain a placeholder or placeholders for insertion of additional data for the particular test result. By way of this example, the template may have a first placeholder for the date on which the test was performed, and a second placeholder for inserting the numerical value of the patient's cholesterol level. By way of specific example, the template may read as follows:
“Your total cholesterol result on [first placeholder] is [second placeholder] mg/dl. Based on a normal range of 160 to 200 mg/dl, your result of [second placeholder] is considered borderline high. This may put you at increased risk for health problems such as heart disease and stroke. Therefore, you should speak with your doctor about ways to minimize your risk with changes in diet and exercise. Please read the attached documentation describing what cholesterol is, why it's important and how you can manage your own cholesterol.”
Once the system determines that the text of the template has tagged placeholders at step 218 , the date of the test and the test result value are embedded into the template at the appropriate placeholders at step 220 to generate the results template. Then, at step 236 , the system examines whether the results template can be sent directly to the patient. For the cholesterol test, if the system determines that the result can be sent to the patient at step 238 , the results may be distributed at step 244 without the review of the treating physician.
Alternatively, if the results template cannot be sent directly to the patient, the results are distributed to the physician for review and forwarding at step 240 . Once the physician reviews the results at step 242 , the results template is distributed in accordance with steps 244 and 246 and the physician's selection is recorded in the system. In this example, the distribution of results to the patient at 246 is made via a private message to the personal health information storage. Specifically, the results are incorporated in the patient's personal health record, and may be accessed via the Internet by the user at step 250 .
The preceding example describes the selection of the results template by determining the template having a range encompassing the numerical test result value. Alternatively, as mentioned previously, each of the results templates may correspond to one or more specific test result value rather than a range. For instance, the identified set could comprise a first template specifically corresponding to a medical test result of “POSITIVE” and a second template specifically correspondence to a medical test result of “NEGATIVE.” Likewise, the specific medical test result value could be input as a shorthand textual abbreviation or even a specific numerical value. It is also within the purview of the present invention to have some results templates of the identified set correspond to a range of values and other results templates within the set correspond to one or more specific value. For instance, one results template could correspond to a specific numerical test result value such as “0”, or a textual result value of “INCONCLUSIVE,” and each of the remainder of the results templates correspond to a range of numerical values.
In another alternative, the system could store a single results template for a medical test type. For instance, a single results template related to a test result of “NEGATIVE” could be stored, and identified by the system when the a medical test result of the relevant type was received. If the test result was negative, the single results template would be selected and output in accordance with the system. If the test was positive, the result could be distributed by a phone call, visit or other conventional method rather than via the system and method of the present invention.
In another example, mammogram results are interpreted via the system and method of the present invention. In this example, the patient has a mammogram performed. The results of the mammogram are stored in a remote computer at the physician's office and communicated to the control server 22 via a network 26 . Again, after the information is received at step 200 , the mammogram test is compared against the list of tests that are capable of being translated at step 202 . If the mammogram test is on the list, at step 204 , the patient information component of the medical test results is compared against a list of patients that can receive results. At step 210 , if the patient is on the list, the next step is to determine whether the result will be interpreted by the physician at step 212 .
Since a mammogram does not involve a specific value that falls within a range, the result is typically interpreted by a clinician. Accordingly, the results are distributed to a clinician for review at step 222 , and the clinician reviews the test results and selects one of a number of potential templates related to a mammogram test at step 236 , and the selection is recorded in the system. By way of example, the set may include templates for abnormal and normal results. If the abnormal result template is selected by the physician, the text may read as follows, with the placeholder indicated in brackets:
“Your mammogram performed on [date placeholder], has shown an abnormality and further tests are needed. It is very important that you call your physician for details of your report and to schedule the additional tests that may be necessary. A copy of your report has been forwarded to your physician. Please keep in mind that good breast care involves a combination of three important steps. 1. Monthly breast self examinations. 2. Yearly physical examination by your physician. 3. Periodic mammograms according to your age and physician's recommendations. For further reference, always remember to inform any new physician of the date and place of your last mammogram. Your original films will be kept as part of your permanent medical record at County Memorial Hospital.” Conversely, the normal template may read as follows: “Your mammogram performed on Oct. 1, 2000 did not show any sign of cancer. A copy of your report has been forwarded to your physician. Please remember that some cancers (about 8% to 10%) cannot be found by mammography alone, and that early detection requires a combination of monthly breast self-examinations, a yearly physical examination, and periodic mammograms. The American Cancer Society recommends the following time line for mammography examination.
AGE
RECOMMENDATIONS
35-40
Baseline (first) mammogram
40 and over
Yearly mammograms
Please continue regular self-examination and report to your physician any changes that concern you, even before your next appointment. For future reference, always remember to inform any new physician or mammography facility of the date and place of your last mammogram. Your original films will be kept as part of your permanent medical record at County Memorial Hospital.”
At steps 228 and 230 , the placeholder is identified and the date is inserted into the template at the placeholder. Then, the results template with the date is preferably display to the clinician at step 232 and selected at step 234 . Next, at step 236 , it is determined whether the test can be sent directly to the patient or must be sent to a physician first. Again, if the tests must be sent to the physician for review and forwarding, steps 240 and 242 are performed by the system. If not, the system goes to step 244 to determine the distribution method for the patient. Finally, at step 246 , the results may be distributed in any of a number of ways. For this example, the results could be distributed by a letter addressed to the patient as indicated at step 254 .
Alternatively, a single results template associated with a normal test result may be stored for a particular test type such as the mammogram described above. If the interpretation of the clinician indicated a test result of normal, the clinician would select the template and the results template would be distributed in accordance with the present invention. If the interpretation indicated an abnormal result, the clinician would not select the template, and would communicate the results by conventional methods.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is notes that substitutions may be made and equivalents employed herein without departing form the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.
|
A method for translating medical test results into plain language is provided. The method includes receiving a medical test result for a type of medical test and, after making a threshold determination whether the medical test result will initially be automatically interpreted by the computer system independent of clinician input, identifying a template or set of templates associated with the type of medical test. The method also includes selecting the template matching the medical test result and outputting a plain language explanation based on the selected template.
| 6
|
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 403,657, filed May 20, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,469.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to sound-damping ear plugs of the kind including an elongate body of elastic material surrounded by a sheath of flexible material, which is intended to be inserted in the auditory meatus or canal of an ear, and to the production of such ear plugs.
PRIOR ART
Ear plugs of the kind mentioned above, where the sheath or casing comprises a moulded rubber material or the like, have been known for a very long time. In such cases, the sheath is comparatively thick and made so that it is yielding but simultaneously has a tendency to return to its predetermined shape in an unloaded condition. The ear plugs can have a tapering or rounded tip or forward portion, and at their rear portion they can include or be provided with a specially formed gripping or retaining portion, intended for accommodation in the external ear. Examples of ear plugs of this kind are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,675 and DE OS 1,929,431.
Ear plugs of the kind mentioned in the introduction, where the sheath comprises a thin plastic film are also already known.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,521 discloses an ear plug comprising a cylindrical body made from a tacky polymeric material (silicone putty) entirely enclosed in a plastics film sheet swept round the body, and fused to a knob at the rear end of the body.
In our Swedish Pat. No. 7603411-5 there is described an ear plug comprising a body of mineral fibre material surrounded by a sheath of thin plastics film. The body comprises a substantially cylindrical portion, intended for insertion in the auditory meatus of an ear, and an expanded end portion intended for at least partially filling up the concha outside the auditory meatus after the plug has been inserted. The plastics film sheath is swept round the body so that longitudinal creases are formed in it, the plug being fixed by a circumferential heat weld being arranged in the film substantially at the juncture between the cylindrical portion and the expanded end portion.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a new ear plug of the kind mentioned in the introduction, in which the sheath comprises a thin flexible plastics material and which affords improved sound attenuation or damping properties as well as simplified handling.
An other object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus enabling the production of an ear plug in accordance with the above in an advantageous mode.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above-mentioned objects are achieved by the ear plug, as well as the method and apparatus for producing it being given the characterising features defined in the appended claims.
The inventive ear plug is thus distinguished in that the sheath is provided by deep-drawing a thermoplastic film or foil. Preferred plastics materials for the sheath are polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PUR) and particularly polyethylene (PE).
With regard to the plastics material is should have high values for tensile strength and elongation at break, and a relatively low value for the tensile yield. As far as possible, said values should be the same in different directions. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the plastics material should furthermore have small recovery after drawing, i.e. small shrinkage after drawing. The use of a plastics material with similar properties lengthwise and crosswise is especially advantageous, since the material can be extensively deep-drawn (i.e. the general thickness of the sheath in the drawn portions can be very small) with retained capacity of the sheath to maintain the enclosed elastic material in the desired shape. The radially or transversely acting pressure from the elastic material kept in the sheath will namely not have the opportunity of giving rise to a break in the casing in any direction with notable low strength.
The utilization of plastics material with the properties mentioned above enables the initial use of thin films or foils, and to allow the thickness of the deep-drawn sheath, seen in general, to be very small with retained ability of the sheath to effectively enclose a large amount of elastic material, simultaneously as the hearing protection plug can be easily inserted in the auditory meatus of an ear, and on such insertion can extremely well adjust itself to, and close off the auditory meatus. A large amount of elastic material in combination with easy insertion in the auditory meatus as well as good adjustment thereto signifies very good sound damping properties and excellent comfort.
By the sheath being deep-drawn, it has been found possible to vary the thickness distribution of the sheath while taking into account the plastics material used, shape of the plug etc., as will be accounted for in detail hereinafter.
In accordance with the invention, at the rear of the plug the sheath can be thicker and include a collar or flange portion outwardly and transversely directed, which gives a stiffening effect advantageous for insertion, and also makes handling of the plug very simple. After insertion of the ear plug, the collar or flange portion is intended to lie adjoining the orifice of the auditory meatus and just outside the latter. The sheath thickness in the collar portion is suitably substantially equal to the original film or foil thickness.
As previously mentioned, the drawn portion of the sheath surrounding the elastic material has a very small thickness, which can typically be one or a few tens of μm.
In an alternative embodiment, the sheath can have a thickness over the actual tip portion of the rounded-off plug substantially exceeding the general thickness of the sheath in the drawn-out portions which surround the elastic material. The thickness of the sheath across the actual tip portion can approach the original film or foil thickness. An embodiment of this kind makes it possible to arrange holes or perforations at the plug tip without risk of the sheath easily rupturing thereby. Such holes or perforations can be desirable, e.g. from the aspect of pressure equilization.
The deep-drawn sheath can advantageously have longitudinal rib-like zones with greater thickness than the main portion of the rest of it. It is particularly advantageous if these riblike zones connect a thicker collar portion and a thicker tip portion of the sheath so that a basket-like configuration is formed. This contributes to providing the plug with stiffness, which facilitates insertion of the plug in the auditory meatus without the accommodating ability of the plug thereto being affected unfavourably. The riblike zones do not need to have uniform thickness, e.g. they can have a thickness varying from tip portion to collar portion.
According to a first embodiment of an ear plug in accordance with the invention, the elongate body of elastic material has a tapering forward portion, which is substantially conical with a rounded-off tip, the sheath being thinner at this portion than at the rear portion of the body. The latter is generally outwardly curving or spool-shaped. In such a case the sheath advantageously forms a diameter-reduced neck portion on the plug at the rear end of the rear part of the body, in that the sheath goes into an outwardly directed collar or flange portion of the kind already mentioned. The tapering forward portion constitutes at least about 1/5, suitably between 1/4 and about 1/2, typically about 1/3 of the total length of the body or plug up to the neck portion.
Typically the thickness of the sheath at the tapering forward portion can, at least at the tip area, be from one or some tens of μm to some hundreds of μm. At the rear portion of the body, and especially at the neck and flange portion, the sheath thickness can typically be between about 0.2 and about 0.6 mm, preferably about 0.3-0.45 mm.
The thickness of the sheath increases, preferably substantially continuously, from the tip of the plug to its rear portion. A uniformly increasing thickness distribution has been found to be advantageous. However, the sheath can also be very thin at the forward portion and gradually increase relatively slowly in thickness from the plug tip and rapidly increase in thickness in conjunction with the changeover from the forward portion to the rear portion. and at least substantially have attained full thickness where the plug has its greatest width. The sheath can be somewhat thicker still in the neck and collar portion.
An ear plug according to this first embodiment is particularly advantageous in conjunction with a sheath material which was pronounced shrinkage effect and/or non-uniform properties with respect to longitudinal and transverse direction. Substantial advantages are gained with the ear plug. The thin sheath on the tapering forward portion of the plug makes it extremely pliable during insertion into the auditory meatus of an ear. The thicker sheath on the rear portion of the plug makes it stiff enough not to be wrinkled or pressed together in a disadvantageous mode during insertion, although the general yielding property of the plug is not affected in any negative mode. The special configuration of the rear portion of the plug, in combination with the good pliability of its forward portion thus affords that the whole plug admirably accomodates itself to, and closes off the auditory meatus, and subsequently remains there safely with retained great comfort. The configuration of the plug also means that it needs solely to contain so much elastic material as is necessary for closing off the auditory meatus, and that the correct insertion of this material is enabled without the plug needing to the provided with any special, complicated gripping or holding means.
According to a second preferred embodiment of an ear plug in accordance with the invention, the elongate body of elastic material similarly has a forward tapering portion, whereas the rear portion of the body does not have an equally well-defined spool shape, i.e. it is substantially cylindrical. In this case, the sheath has substantially the same thickness over the whole of the drawn area, onto which joins a thicker collar or flange portion. The thickness of the sheath in the collar portion may typically be between about 75 μm and about 200 μm, preferably about 100 μm, and otherwise in the range of 5-10 μm. The forward portion in this embodiment is suitably somewhat shorter, typically about 1/4 of the total body length.
When utilizing a thicker sheath portion at the tip portion itself, according to what has been described earlier (which is advantageous in conjunction with this embodiment) the thickness at the actual tip portion can typically be of the order of 80 μm. In this connection it has been found advantageous to utilize the previously described, stiffening, basket configuration for the sheath.
Ear plugs according to this second embodiment are especially advantageous in conjunction with a sheath material which does not have a pronounced shrinkage effect and which has the uniform properties in longitudinal and transverse directions.
This second plug embodiment also gives substantially the same advantages as accounted for the first embodiment, although the necessary stiffness for facilitating the insertion of the plug is obtained in a different mode, namely by more distinctly keeping together primarily the plug rear portion.
The elastic material can be fibrous and/or polymeric material, preferably mineral fibre material, and particularly so-called glass "down", possibly in combination with a core of polymeric material, especially foam plastics. Filler may be included. In conjunction with a core of polymeric material, the fibrous material is suitably present in the form of a layer surrounding the core and coming against the sheath. In a combination of this kind, the fibrous layer ensures very good engagement against the auditory meatus wall, while at the same time enabling the selection of material, e.g. the foam plastics material, with other factors in view, such as general sound-damping properties and cost.
The elastic material is preferably stratified and folded over or away from the tip portion of the plug. The material may constitute felt, web or sheet material folded back away from the tip of the plug and swept about the longitudinal axis thereof, The elastic material fills the sheath at least up to the neck portion of the plug.
Practical tests have shown that ear plugs in accordance with the invention afford extremely good sound damping properties. In comparison with ear plugs in accordance with our previously mentioned Swedish Pat. No. 7603411-5 (for which there is documentary evidence showing that they give very good sound damping) we have thus found that ear plugs according to the present invention afford substantial dampening increase at low frequencies (typically between 10 and 5 dB within the frequency range of 125-400 Hz) and give approximately just as good damping as said known plugs at higher frequencies. Since the damping increase is greatest at the lowest frequencies, and it is there that the need of damping is generally the greatest as well as the most difficult to achieve, the damping increase obtained in accordance with the present invention signifies a great advance.
The present invention also includes a method and apparatus for advantageous, preferred production of ear plugs of the kind discussed above.
The method in accordance with the invention is essentially distinguished in that a thermoplastics film or foil is deep-drawn to form a sleevelike sheath, preferably at least substantially corresponding to the desired plug shape, which is forwardly tapering and which has the desired sheath thickness distribution, and that the sheath is filled with elastic material.
The thickness distribution of the sheath can be influenced by the selection of film or foil (type and thickness), by suitably heating of the film or foil before deep-drawing (including graded heating of the area to be drawn), by selection of suitable drawing rate and by utilizing suitably formed die and/or mould. It has been found suitable, for example, when using a die to deep-draw the sheath, to allow the plastics film or foil freely to coact with the die in respect of the tapering forward portion of the sheath, but to guide the plastics film or foil into a cylindrical shape between die and a coacting encircling mould surface with respect to the rear portion of the sheath. The die may easily be given such a contact surface, and remaining conditions may be selected in such a manner that the sheath portion obtained over the actual tip portion of the body is not subjected to any deep drawing proper.
The previously discussed basket configuration can be achieved, for example, by sheath areas corresponding to the desired ribs being prevented from being drawn too much by having them subjected to friction and/or selective cooling. This can be achieved by a die body utilized for the deep-drawing having longitudinal portions which either are in the shape of ridges or are separated by walley-like portions.
In accordance with the invention, the deep-drawing can be done such that afer heating and forming to a sheath the thermoplastic film or foil can shrink during cooling in the joining area between the sheath portion and the enveloping portions of the plastics film or foil, so that there is formed a neck portion with a reduced diameter at the portion of the sheath opposite a tip or forward portion. The shrinkage means that the plastics film or foil in the appropriate area at least substantially returns from a drawn, thinner condition to the initial condition in respect of its thickness. When deep-drawing is carried out so that the formed sheath will be thinnest at a rounded tip portion of the sheath and so that the sheath increases therefrom in thickness, substantially to attain the original film or sheet thickness at the rear portion of the sheath, the previously mentioned shrinkage effect is aided simultaneously as there is ensured the outwardly curved form of the rear portion of the finished plug after filling with elastic material.
According to a first implementation of the method in accordance with the invention, the plastics film or foil is deep-drawn to a sheath simultaneously as the elastic material is inserted therein. In particular, the deep-drawing is accomplished by the actual insertion of the elastic material. The elastic material is hereby suitably formed about the free end of a plunger into an elongate body, forming a die body, the plastics film or foil being subsequently deep-drawn by means of, and about the die body, whereafter the plunger is removed so that the elastic material remains in the sheath obtained. Forming of the die body takes place to advantage by a piece of elastic material in the form of a web, felt, sheet or the like, being gathered or swept round or backwards about the plunger. The die formed in this manner will have longitudinal portions of the kind allowing the provision of the basket configuration of the sheath.
According to a second implementation of the method in accordance with the invention, the plastics film or foil is first deep-drawn by means of a die having a shape substantially conforming to the shape of the final plug, and which at least has an elastic surface layer, whereafter the elastic material is inserted in the sheath obtained by deep-drawing after removal of the die. The insertion suitably takes place by forming the elastic material to an elongate body about the free end of a plunger and thereafter thrusting the elastic material by means of the plunger into the sheath obtained by deep-drawing. This forming of the elastic material also takes place advantageously by a piece of elastic material in the form of a web, felt, sheet or the like being swept round or backwards about the plunger. To facilitate thrusting into the sheath it is suitable to provide an outer layer on the body of plastic material having low friction in relation to the sheath. This layer can advantageously include fibrous material, such as mineral fibres. The rest of the elastic material can hereby also constitute such material as has high friction relative to the sheath, e.g. certain kinds of foam plastics.
It is to be emphasized that sweeping round, or gathering a substantially uniformly thick square piece of elastic material about a suitably dimensioned plunger for inserting the material in the sheath (at or after shaping the latter) means that after removing the plunger, the elastic material is given a distribution in the sheath which corresponds extremely well to a plug shape suitable for the present invention.
In the second implementation of the method in accordance with the invention, the elastic material can also be inserted in the formed sheath in the form of smaller bits or pieces. These pieces can suitably first be stored in a compressed condition inside a tube, a plunger or the like, which is thereafter taken down into the sheath, the pieces then being pressed out from the tube, plunger or the like through a suitable opening simultaneously as the tube, plunger or the like is removed from the sheath.
In sequential forming of plug sheaths (and filling elastic material therein) starting from strip-like plastics film or foil material, a sequence of interconnected ear plugs may be obtained, which allows simple handling, and from which an individual ear plug can be simply removed when needed, particularly if fractural zones are arranged in the plastics strip around the outer collar or flange edge of each ear plug.
The apparatus in accordance with the invention is essentially distinguished in that it includes means for deep-drawing a thermoplastics film or foil into a sheath and means for filling the sheath with elastic material. These deep-drawing means include a die means and a coacting mould or form means, means for heating the plastics film or foil, and means for providing the plastics film or foil between the die and mould means, the die and mould means being adapted to be brought into mutual engagement from either side of the heated plastics film or foil, so that the latter is drawn over the die means and formed into a sheath over said die means and against the mould means. The die and mould means are preferably formed such that the plastics film or foil is first deep-drawn freely over the die means, and thereafter also formed between the outer surface of the die means and the inner forming surface of the mould means. The plastics film or foil is hereby in friction contact with the die means and the mould means, ad it is important for achieving the desired sheath thickness distribution that the drawing surface of the die means has low friction in respect of the plastics film or foil where the latter is to be drawn. It is also advantageous that the die means has at least some elasticity. The die means should have such lengths or on a rear portion be reduced in diameter and/or be so elastic that possible shrinkage effect of the drawn plastics film or foil is facilitated.
The mould means coacting with the die means can constitute a forming body with a cylindrical forming hole with a rounded edge at the form hole orifice in a contact surface for the plastics film or foil. This surface is suitably flat with extension at right angles to the axial direction of the forming hole. The forming hole is suitably a through-hole and has a diamter which is somewhat less than the greatest width of the finished ear plug (apart from the collar or flange), which is obtained when supplied elastic material expands after removal from the mould. The depth or length of the forming hole is at least equal to the rear portion of the finished plug. Means are suitably provided for holding the plastics film or foil during deep-drawing, said means clamping the film or foil against the contact surface about the mould orifice and at a distance therefrom such that possible shrinkage and collar formation can take place unhindered.
According to a first embodiment of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, the die means includes a plunger and means for providing the elastic material about the free end of the plunger, to form an elongate die body substantially corresponding to the plug body, whereby the plunger also constitutes said means for filling the formed sheath with elastic material, by the plunger being adapted for separation from said mould means after forming the sheath, while leaving the elastic material in the sheath. For shaping the die body a pre-shaping means is advantageously arranged above the mould means, the pre-shaping means having a forming through-hole, in line with the mould means forming hole and preferably with substantially the same diameter as the latter, the plunger being adapted for pressing a piece of elastic material down through the pre-shaping means (to form the die body by folding around the plunger) and further towards the plastics film or foil and down into the mould means. The pre-shaping means is preferably arranged immediately adjacent the mould means, said two means being disposed movable in relation to each other, so that the pre-shaping means can also constitute the previously mentioned clamping means for the plastics film or foil. Forming of the die body by folding a piece of elastic material in this way about a plunger end gives the die body a shape, especially a forward tapering portion, which advantageously permits drawing the plastics film or foil into a sheath with a thickness distribution desirable in accordance with the invention.
According to a second embodiment of the apparatus in accordance with the invention the die means includes a die body which has a shape generally corresponding to that of the finished plug, the body being elastic and preferably fibrous, at least in respect of an outer layer. In other words, the die body shall suitably have approximately the same properties as a die means obtained by the previously discussed folding of elastic material about a plunger end. Advantageously, the die body may comprise a soft felt material with an outward low-friction fibrous layer, and may include a forward conically tapering portion with a bluntly rounded tip, and a rear portion which is substantially cylindrical with a diameter somewhat larger than that of the forming hole. The length of the die body can be approximately equal to the length of the finished ear plug up to a possible neck portion or approximately equal to the total length of the finished ear plug. the die body being formed rearwardly in accordance with desired shaping of the neck and collar portion of the sheath. Means for filling the formed sheath with elastic material may in this second embodiment also include a plunger and a pre-shaping means, these having substantially the same general embodiment and function as in the apparatus according to the first embodiment.
If the plastics film or foil intended for forming the sheath includes superfluous material outside the collar or flange of the finished plugs after forming, the apparatus in accordance with the invention may include a stamping means for separating the superfluous material or for providing such fractural zones that an individual ear plug can easily be separated by hand, e.g. from a plastics film or foil strip containing a plurality of finished ear plugs. Such a stamping means can be adapted for coaction with a film or foil contact surface on a utilized mould means.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The invention will now be explained in more detail by means of embodiment examples while referring to the appended drawing, in which
FIG. 1 is a schematic enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a first embodiment of an ear plug in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a second embodiment of an ear plug in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic enlarged side view of a third embodiment of an ear plug in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic, enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the ear plug in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view partially in section illustrating a principle construction of an apparatus in accordance with the invention, especially suitable for producing ear plugs of the general configuration illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3; and
FIG. 6 is a view, of the same kind as in FIG. 5, of an apparatus in accordance with the invention, especially suited for producing ear plugs of the general configuration shown in FIG. 2.
The same reference denotations have been used in the figures for the same or mutally corresponding parts. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 the sheath thicknesses illustrated are not to scale, but are exaggerated with the object of clearly indicating the prevailing sheath thickness distributions.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The ear plug illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a deep-drawn sheath 1, which is of a thin film, e.g. of PVC-plastics, and which has the shape of an upwardly open axially elongate container, and an elastic, fibrous body 3 of mineral fibre material in the form of so-called glass down enclosed in the sheath. The plug has a lower, or in respect of insertion in an ear, a forward portion A and an upper or rearward portion B. The forward portion A is substantially conically tapering and terminates in a blunt rounded tip 5. The rear portion B of the plug is generally weakly spool-shaped or outwardly curving, apart from the sheath 1 projecting out in the form of a collar or flange 7 at the rear end of the plug, to form a neck portion 9 with reduced diameter. The sheath 1 is not the same over the whole plug, but has a thickness which is substantially different at the forward portion A of the plug compared with the rest of the plug. The forward portion of the sheath corresponding to the plug portion A thus has a thickness, which at the tip 5 is typically about 10-15 μm, and otherwise somewhat increasing but of the same order of magnitude. The rear portion 13 of the sheath typically has a thickness of about 0.1-0.3 mm, with the greatest thickness at the flange or collar 7. At the changeover to the forward portion 11 of the sheath, the thickness decreases relatively rapidly to the value applicable for said forward portion. This rapid thickness reduction begins below the area of the plug where it has its greatest width or diameter (apart from the flange or collar 7).
The sheath 1 has a smooth, slippery, outer surface which will give small friction against the auditory meatus wall when being inserted in an ear.
The flange or collar 7 projects transversally outwards and will constitute a grip or handling portion facilitating the general handling of the ear plug, as well as an annular "pressure plate" against which pressure can be applied by means of a finger tip in conjunction with pressing the ear plug into the auditory meatus of an ear. The flange or collar 7 will hereby also constitute in an advantageous manner a stop coacting with the parts of the exterior ear surrounding the auditory meatus opening, whereby a suitable position for the ear plug is ensured.
The fibrous body 3 substantially fills the sheath 1, i.e. up to and including the neck portion 9. The fibre material in the body 3 has a stratified structure, the plane of stratification being substantially parallel to the axis 15 of the plug. The material strata are folded over or back away from the tip 5 of the plug (as indicated at 17). The body 3 constitutes a piece of fibre felt, which is folded over and back away from the tip 5 about the axis 15 of the plug. The stratified structure and elasticity of the fibrous material ensures that the sheath is well filled out and that the plug is given its definite shape.
The ear plug illustrated in FIG. 2 has a deep-drawn sheath 1, e.g. of PUR Film, generally corresponding to that of the plug according to FIG. 1, but with the sheath thickness distribution being different in so far as the thickness increases more uniformly from the tip 5 of the plug to its neck portion 9. The plug further has an elastic body 3 which is built up differently. The body 3 comprises a core 21 of foam plastics with a thin layer of fibrous material 23 surrounding the core, said material being of mineral fibres and here in the form of so-called glass down. The fibrous layer constitutes a low-friction layer, which facilitates relative movements between the sheath and the foam plastics material when the plug adjusts itself to the auditory meatus of an ear when being inserted therein. The volumetric weight of the foam plastics is between about 30 and 50 kg/m 3 .
It is quite simply possible to make a plug according to FIG. 1 with filling according to FIG. 2 and vice versa.
The ear plug illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 has a sheath 1, e.g. of deep-drawn PE film, enclosing a fibrous body 3 of the same kind as in FIG. 1. The plug has a substantially conically tapering forward portion terminating in a bluntly rounded tip 5, and a slightly outwardly curving or substantially cylindrical rear portion, which is thus more distinctly kept together. The forward portion constitutes approximaterly 1/4 of the total plug length. The sheath 1 includes a forward portion 11, a rear portion 13' and a collar or flange 7. The plug has a suggestion of a neck portion 9 in conjunction with the flange 7. The sheath has substantially uniform thickness over the whole of the portion 11, 13' enclosing the body 3, excepting that the portion 12 of the sheath lying over the actual tip 5 has substantially greater thickness, and that the sheath has longitudinal rib portions 27 extending between and connecting the collar 7 and tip portion 12 and similarly having greater thickness. In FIG. 3 the thicker portions 7, 12 and 27 of the sheath 1 are denoted by shading. The general thickness of the sheath 1 is typically 5-10 μm, while the thickness at the collar or flange 7 is typically with the magnitude of 100 μm, in the area 12 typically with the magnitude of 80 μm and in the ribs typically with the magnitude of some tens of μm.
In FIG. 5 there is schematically illustrated the construction of an apparatus for producing an interconnected series of ear plugs in accordance with the invention, which in an advantageous way allows simple handling and packing of a large number of ear plugs. The main components of the apparatus are a mould sleeve 31, a preshaping member 32, a plunger 33 with associated guiding block 34, a supply plate or chute 35 for a glass down web 36, a cutting knife 37, a heat unit 38 for a plastics film strip 39 passing rectilinearly through the apparatus and from which the sheath 41 of the ear plugs 40 is thermoformed by deep-drawing in the mould sleeve, a punch pad 42 and a punch 43.
The mould sleeve 31 has a circular-cylindrical forming throughhole 45 for forming the sheath, and an upper, flat annular contact surface 46 for the plastics film 39, said surface joining onto the orifice of the forming hole 45 via a rounded edge 47. The mould sleeve 31 is disposed, in a manner not more closely described, for being displaceable vertically, as indicated by the double arrow 49, upwardly for bringing the sleeve into coaction with the pre-shaping member 32 arranged axially above, and downwardly for releasing an ear plug 40 produced in the mould sleeve. The pre-shaping member 32 has a circular-cylindrical pre-shaping throughhole 51, which is coaxial with the hole 45 and has the same diameter as the latter. At its top the pre-shaping hole 51 is expanded like a funnel, and opens out in a flat contact surface 52 running round the hole 51 for a square piece of glass down 53. The extension of the surface 52 corresponds to the glass down piece 53. For centering the piece 53 above the hole 51 the pre-shaping member 32 is provided on one or more sides with upstanding stop or locating members 54 at the edges of the surface 52. The lower portion of the pre-shaping member 32 is cylindrical, and at its lower outer edge it has an encircling stop projection 55 intended for coaction with the outer edge of the surface 46 of the mould sleeve 31, for clamping the plastics film strip 39 passing therebetween, when the mould sleeve is displaced upwards.
The plunger 33 is arranged coaxially with the hole 51 of the pre-shaping member 32 in a guide hole 57 in the guide block 34. The plunger has a diameter which is between about 1/3 and 1/2 of the diameter of the holes 45 and 51, and has a substantially flat end 58 with rounded edges. In a manner not more closely shown, the plunger is disposed for being thrust downwards (as indicated by the double arrow 59), sufficiently to press the glass down piece 53 through the pre-shaping hole down into the forming hole 45 as indicated by means of chain-dotted lines at 59, the piece 53 being formed into an elongate body, during passage through the pre-shaping hole 51, by being folded backwards and gathered around the end of the plunger 33, the plastics film strip between the mould sleeve 31 and member 32 being deep-drawn into a sheath 41 about the elongate body, when the latter is pressed down in the forming hole 45. Each glass down piece 53 is provided from the glass down web 36 in the chute 35, which is directed obliquely down towards the surface 52 to terminate a short distance therefrom, the web being fed in a way not shown in detail in the direction of the arrow 61 into engagement with the member 54, whereafter the cutting knife 37 cuts off the portion of the web 36 lying above the surface 52. The knife 37 is guided against a surface on the block 34 and coacts with an edge 63 on the pre-shaping member 32. The vertically reciprocal movement of the knife is indicated by the double arrow 65.
The heat unit 38 is disposed immediately before the mould sleeve 31, and has an upper and a lower portion between which passes the plastics film strip 39, the width of the strip somewhat exceeding the outside diameter of the mould sleeve 31. The heat unit is adapted for heating the central portion of the strip 39 to a width which somewhat falls below the inside diameter of the annular abutment 55. In this way the strip 39 will obtain unheated border areas, which facilitates its stepwise advance through the device with the aid of means not more closely shown. Heating can take place in an optional mode, e.g. by utilizing contact heat, convection heat, radiant heat or high frequency heat. A typical final temperature of the strip 39 when it leaves the unit 38 is about 170° C., when using PVC film, and about 130° C. when using PE film. With these temperatures in view, it can be suitable actively to cool the mould sleeve 31, e.g. by arranging channels in it for the passage of a cooling medium.
The punch pad 42 comprises a cylindrical sleeve with a throughhole 71, the diameter of which is somewhat larger than the greatest width of a manufactured plug 40. The hole 71 opens out with a rounded edge in an annular abutment surface 73 for the circular punch end 75 of the tubular punch 43. The punch end 75 is formed with teeth or the like, so that in co-action with the surface 73 it will give the flange or collar of the plug 40 an encircling tear-off line in the plastics film strip 39. The punch pad 42 is adapted movable, as indicated by the double arrow 77, to be moved up from below about a finished plug 40 dependent on the strip 39. The punch 43 is similarly movably arranged, as indicated by the double arrow 78, for being brought into contact with the pad 42.
The function of the described apparatus according to FIG. 5 is as follows, it being assumed that no plug has yet been produced and that a plastics film which shrinks, is utilized.
After the material web 36 has been fed forward and the knife 37 has cut off a piece 53 lying on the pre-shaping member, the piece is pressed by means of the plunger 33 through the member 32 down into the mould sleeve 31 (which is raised into coaction with the member 32), the heated plastic film portion retained between the member 32 and the mould sleeve 31 simultaneously being deep-drawn into a sheath 41 about the material piece 53, which has been gathered into an elastic body. After a certain time the sheath has cooled and has become fixed, shrinkage at the neck and flange portion having been obtained (not shown for the plug in the mould sleeve 31). The shrinkage is facilitated by the material piece 53 having such dimensions that the quantity of material at the neck portion of the plug is so small that compressibility there is very good. (The material at the neck portion consists of the corner portions of the square material piece 53).
The plunger 33 is now withdrawn, and the mould sleeve 31 is lowered so that the finished plug 40 is freely dependent from the strip 39. When the plug 40 is released from the mould sleeve 31 its cylindrical rear portion, when in the mould sleeve, will expand to its final outwardly curved form. The plastics film strip 39 with the plug 40 is now advanced a step, simultaneously as a new piece 53 is arranged on the pre-shaping member 32. The mould sleeve 31 is taken up again and the procedure described above is repeated to produce a second plug, subsequent to which a new advance is made (the punch pad 42 is assumed to be in the lowered position). After the mould sleeve 31 and punch pad 42 have been moved up into working position again, a new piece 53 is pressed down by the plunger 33 simultaneously as the punch 43 is lowered into engagement with the pad 42, the first-produced plug 40 in said pad being then provided with tear-off or fractural zones which allow it to be easily removed from the strip 39. The plunger 33 and punch 43 are now lifted up and the mould sleeve 31 and punch pad 42 are lowered, subsequent to which there is a new advance etc. The strip 39 with dependent produced plugs 40, fed out from the apparatus, is collected and suitable lengths of it may be removed and packed as desired. The produced plugs have, for example, the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1.
The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5 can, of course, also be utilized for producing ear plugs of the kind illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the perforations or holes 6 in the tip portion 5 of the produced plugs being suitably provided in the plastics film strip 39 at suitable intervals before the strip passes into the heat unit 38. A perforating device (indicated at 79 in FIG. 5) arranged under the path of the film strip can be utilized for perforation, this device including a vertically reciprocating perforating needle 80, the motion of which is controlled in time with the advance of the strip 39.
The embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention illustrated in FIG. 6 differs from the embodiment according to FIG. 5 primarily in that the plug sheaths 41 are formed separately first, and thereafter filled with sound-damping material, and that the finished plugs are individually completely separated from the strip 39.
The apparatus illustrated has an endless series of mould sleeves 131 coupled to each other, each of which entirely corresponds to the mould sleeve 31 in the apparatus of FIG. 5, and of which three are shown. The mould sleeves 131 are disposed for stepwise circulation so that each sleeve in turn assumes a sheath forming position I immediately after the heat unit 38, a sheath filling position II below a pre-shaping member 32 with associated plunger 33, and a plug separating position III below a tubular punch 143. Positions I, II and III are in register with the line of advance of the strip 39 through the apparatus. After position III, the mould sleeves 131 pass a position (not shown) where the finished plugs 140 are removed from the respective mould sleeve in a suitable mode, whereafter the sleeves return by degrees to position I. The coupling between the mould sleeves is indicated at 81.
A die 83 is disposed above position I for forming the sheath, the die being axially in register with the forming hole 45 of the mould sleeve 131 in position I. The die has a die body 85 arranged on the end of a rod 86 vertically guided in a block 87. The die 83 is adapted for reciprocatory motion as indicated by the double arrow 89. The die body 85, intended for coaction with the forming hole 45 for deep-drawing an intermediate heated portion of the plastics film strip 39, has a conically tapering and bluntly rounded forward portion, and a cylindrical rear portion with a rounded rear end. The length of the die body 85 and the stroke downwards of the die 83 are selected such that the rear rounded end of the die body in the forming hole 45 will allow free shrinkage at the neck and collar portion of the formed sheath. The die body 85 consists of a soft felt material with an outward fibrous layer having low friction relative the material in the strip 39. The rear cylindrical portion of the die body 85 has a diameter substantially the same, or somewhat larger than the diameter of the forming hole 45. It is emphasized that the rear end of the die body can also be formed with a neck and collar portion corresponding to what is desired for the produced ear plugs, control of possible plastics film shrinkage in this portion thus being enabled.
The die 83 is adapted for passing through a locking sleeve 91 arranged above the mould sleeve 131 in position I, said locking sleeve 91 being provided downwardly with an annular projection 155, corresponding to the projection 55 on the member 32 in the apparatus according to FIG. 5, and intended for coaction with the surface 46 on the mould sleeve 131 during deep-drawing. The locking sleeve 91 is thus movably arranged as indicated by the double arrow 93. The insertion of elastic material in the ready sheath 41 in position II is done by utilizing the pre-shaping member 32 and plunger 33 in the same way as for the apparatus according to FIG. 5. However, the member 32 does not need to be provided here with any abutment projection for coaction with the underlying mould sleeve 131, since the ready sheath 41 has sufficient stability in the area joining on to the strip 39.
The material pieces 153 are advanced to the pre-shaping member 32 in a cut condition via an advancing chute or plate 135 with the aid of a pusher means 137, as indicated by the arrow 138. In the chute 137 there is a hole 139 through which the die 83 can pass. The material pieces 153 are provided by a material web 136 being advanced a suitable distance out over a plate 141, whereafter a cutting knife 146, arranged movably above the forward edge 143 of the plate and guided by a block 145, is lowered to cut the projecting material web piece by coaction with the edge 143 of the plate 141, the cut-off piece falling down onto the chute 135. The motion of the cutting knife 146 is indicated by the double arrow 165.
The material web 136 comprises foam plastics 147 with a thin layer 148 of mineral fibres on its underside. the layer 148 gives low friction, the displacement of the material web 136 and material pieces 153 and downward pressing of the pieces in the sheaths 41 via the pre-shaping member 32. being thus facilitated.
The punch 143 utilized for separating finished ear plugs 140 from the strip 39 corresponds entirely to the punch 43 in the apparatus according to FIG. 5, apart from its punch end 175 not having teeth or the like. The mould sleeves 131 perform the same function as the punch pad 42 in the apparatus according to FIG. 5.
With regard to the function of the apparatus, the operational movements downwards of the die 83, plunger 33 and punch 143 suitably take place simultaneously. Aftter the formed sheath has been fixed and after withdrawal of said three members 83, 33 and 143, the mould sleeves 131 are advanced one step and a new material piece 153 is fed in. The advance of the mould sleeves 131 also involves a corresponding advance of the plastics film strip 39 from its storage means (not shown). The above-described sequence is then repeated. The used plastics film strip discharged from the apparatus, and containing holes corresponding to the ear plugs, can be easily collected, e.g. by allowing it to fall down into a container.
It is emphasized that all the driving and controlling means necessary for the movements of the different parts in the apparatuses according to FIGS. 5 and 6 easily can be implemented by any person skilled in the art, and therefore these means have not been shown or described. It should be further emphasized that the invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated, but changes and modifications are possible within the scope of the following claims.
|
The ear plug (40) includes an elongate body with a rounded tip portion and of an elastic material enveloped by a deep-drawn sheath (41) of thin flexible plastics film material. Rearwardly the plug preferably has a neck portion from which the sheath projects in the form of a stiffer collar or flange. Production of the ear plug includes deep-drawing a thermoplastic film or foil into a sheath with desired thickness distribution, and filling the sheath with elastic material (53). Filling may take place simultaneously with deep-drawing, the body of elastic material constituting a die for deep-drawing in a forming hole (45), or after the deep-drawing. In the latter case, an elastic die body is used to advantage, the shape of which generally corresponds to that of the finished plug, for deep-drawing in a forming hole suited to the die body.
| 0
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to transducer apparatus and, more particularly, to a phase-sensitive transducer apparatus of the type comprising first and second relatively movable members wherein the first relatively movable member has a plurality of windings and the second relatively movable member has a winding, and means for applying a first input signal to one of the windings of the first relatively movably member and a second input signal to another of the windings of the first relatively movable member, an output signal being developed, as by induction, on the winding of the second relatively movable member. In this type of transducer apparatus, the first and second input signals are generally sinusoidal in nature of substantially identical frequency and peak amplitude and are phase-displaced by a predetermined amount (e.g. 90°), and the output signal is substantially constant in peak amplitude and variable in phase during relative movement of the first and second relatively movable members.
Phase-sensitive transducer apparatus of the above type have been used in systems where it is desired to sense and record and/or control movement of a movable element. This is generally accomplished by kinematically coupling one of the two relatively movable members, above defined, to the movable element in order that they are able to move in synchronism. The first relatively movable member may remain fixed and be considered a stator, in the case of a rotary transducer, or a scale, in the case of a linear transducer. Likewise, the second relatively movable member be coupled to the movable element and be considered a rotor, in the case of a rotary transducer, or a slider, in the case of a linear transducer.
Assuming for the purpose of future explanation that the transducer is of the linear type, the output signal from the single slider winding will be phase-modulated in the sense that its peak amplitude will remain constant and its phase will change during movement of the slider relative to the scale. Then, by appropriately demodulating the output signal, a position signal may be derived that is periodic in nature in response to slider movement, wherein each new period of the position signal is indicative of movement of the slider and thus corresponding movement of the movable element. A phase-sensitive transducer apparatus of this general type as used in a position measuring system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,010.
Phase-sensitive transducer apparatus can also be used in conjunction with a servo control system to control the direction and speed of movement of a movable element. In such context, a means would be provided for deriving a position signal from the slider output signal which alternates during movement of the slider and thus movable element relative to the scale between predetermined first and second voltage levels. In many such servo control systems, velocity information is derived from the position signal, as by differentiation techniques, and both velocity information and position information are used in controlling the direction and speed of movement of a movable element. An example of one such servo system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,665.
In most contemporary servo systems utilizing a position signal as derived from a transducer apparatus, whether phase or amplitude sensitive, movement of the controlled movable element is generally detected by sensing "zero-crossings" of the position signal. By the term "zero-crossings" in its broader context, it is meant those portions of the position signal which ideally cross an imaginary line half-way between the positive-going and negative-going peaks. In a phase-sensitive transducer apparatus, the position signal would normally alternate between ground or zero voltage and a positive (or negative) peak voltage, thereby making the "zero-crossings" equal to one-half the peak voltage. Consequently, it would be necessary, if a phase-sensitive transducer of this type were used in a servo control system employing "zero-crossing" detection, to carefully adjust the detection system for one-half peak voltage detection. It should be clear that any amplitude fluctuations and offset errors that occur in the position signal would make accurate "zero-crossing" detection extremely difficult, thereby leading to possible servo errors.
Copending U.S. application Ser. No. 670,463 filed on Mar. 25, 1976 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,789 in the name of Kenneth W. Cocksedge and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses an improved phase-sensitive transducer apparatus that is capable of offsetting the initially generated position signal by an amount equal to one-half the peak amplitude thereof in order for it to be substantially balanced about a predetermined reference potential, such a ground (zero) voltage. Generally speaking, this is accomplished by using a comparator to compare the initially generated position signal with a d-c reference signal that has a voltage level substantially equal to one-half the peak amplitude of the position signal. The d-c reference signal is derived from the same d-c power supply that is used to establish the peak-amplitude level of the position signal.
As disclosed in the aforesaid application Ser. No. 670,463, the generated position signal is derived by obtaining, through filtering techniques, the d-c average of a pulse signal of constant peak amplitude and variable pulse width that is generated as the slider is moved relative to the scale. Although the phase-sensitive transducer apparatus disclosed in that application has worked quite well, it will be appreciated that errors might occur if the pulses vary substantially from a truly ideal waveform, e.g. they have different rise times than fall times or they do not go all the way to ground due to saturating offsets or the like. In either of these events, the d-c average voltage level of the pulse signal might be different than one-half the peak amplitude at a time when this relationship would normally be true if the pulse signal were idealized in format. More specifically, the d-c average of the pulse signal defines a locus of points during relative movement of the slider and scale, which locus of points constitute the initially generated position signal. Normally, the pulse signal would be expected to have a d-c average voltage level equal to one-half the peak voltage when at a 50% duty cycle. However, if the pulses are not ideal, the d-c average voltage at this duty cycle may be different than one-half the peak voltage.
Since the offsetting reference voltage level in the apparatus of application Ser. No. 670,463 is always equal to one-half the peak voltage, if the pulse signal is not ideal, when it is at a 50% duty cycle the d-c average thereof may not equal one-half the peak voltage. Consequently, when the position signal is offset by one-half the peak voltage, the points on the offset position signal corresponding to a 50% duty cycle of the pulse signal from which the position signal is derived may not occur at a zero voltage level, i.e. the desired condition for truly accurate "zero-crossing" detection. Accurate "zero-crossing" detection is especially important in the case of disk drives, where the zero voltage points of the position signal may be used to define the centers of tracks on the disk.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a phase-sensitive transducer apparatus with an improved signal offset means that is substantially insensitive to non-idealities of the waveform of any pulse signal or signals from which the position signal may be derived.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a phase-sensitive transducer apparatus is provided comprising first and second relatively movable members, said first relatively movable member having a plurality of windings and said second relatively movable member having a winding, means for applying a first input signal to one of the windings of said first relatively movable member and a second input signal to another of the windings of said first relatively movable member, an output signal being developed on the winding of said second relatively movable member, said first and second input signals being sinusoidal in nature of substantially identical frequency and peak amplitude and being phase-displaced by a predetermined amount, and said output signal being substantially constant in peak amplitude and variable in phase during relative movement of said first and second relatively movable members; means responsive to said first input signal and to said output signal for generating a position signal indicative of the relative movement of said first and second relatively movable members, said position signal alternating during such relative movement between first and second voltage levels; means responsive to said first input signal and to said second input signal for generating a d-c reference signal having a voltage level substantially equal to the voltage level of said position signal when said first input signal and said output signal are phase-displaced by said predetermined amount; and comparator means responsive to said position signal and to said d-c reference signal for offsetting said position signal by an amount represented by the voltage level of said d-c reference signal.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the first and second signals are phase-displaced by 90° and the means for generating a position signal comprises a first Exclusive OR-gate having a first input for receiving a squared-up first input signal and a second input for receiving a squared-up output signal. The output of this first Exclusive OR-gate is a pulse signal of substantially constant peak amplitude and variable pulse width as the relatively movable members are moved relative to one another. The means for generating a position signal also includes filter means for supplying a signal constantly representing the d-c average of the pulse signal.
If the pulse signal had an ideal waveform, when the squared output signal reached the point during relative movement of the slider and scale of being 90° phase-displaced with respect to the squared first input signal, the resultant 50% duty cycle of the pulse signal would be manifest at the output of the filter means as a d-c voltage equal to one-half the peak voltage of the pulse signal. If there are imperfections in the pulse signal waveform which result in the d-c average at the 50% duty cycle point being at a different voltage level than one-half the peak amplitude, it is precisely this different voltage which will be used to offset the position signal so that the points thereof corresponding to 90° phase differences between the first input signal and the output signal will nonetheless occur at zero potential.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment, therefore, the means for generating the d-c reference signal comprises a second Exclusive OR-gate, desirably matched with the first Exclusive OR-gate. The second Exclusive OR-gate has a first input for receiving the squared first input signal and a second input for receiving the squared second input signal. Since, in the preferred embodiment, these signals are 90° out-of-phase, the output of the second Exclusive OR-gate will be a pulse signal of substantially constant peak amplitude and constant pulse width with a 50% duty cycle. A filter means coupled to the output of the second Exclusive OR-gate generates a constant d-c reference at a voltage level equal to the voltage level of the initially generated position signal when the first input signal and the output signal are 90° phase displaced, i.e. when the pulse signal at the output of the first Exclusive OR-gate has a 50% duty cycle.
It is thus clear that whatever the d-c average of the pulse signal at the output of the first Exclusive OR-gate when at a 50% duty cycle, it will substantially exactly equal the d-c level of the reference signal so that all points of the offset position signal corresponding to 90° phase-displacements between the first input signal and the output signal will be at zero voltage.
These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be more completely described below in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of the present invention as used in conjunction with a servo control system for controlling the movement of a movable element;
FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic diagram of various components of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3A and 3B depict idealized waveforms for various of the signals noted in FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 depicts various non-idealized waveforms for various of the signals noted in FIGS. 1 and 2; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the position transducer shown in FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, a phase-sensitive transducer apparatus 10 is shown for generating a plurality of position signals K, K, N and N, each representative of the positional movement of a movable element 12. The position signals may be used in or with any suitable apparatus or system requiring as an input a signal or signals representative of the positional movement of the movable element 12. For example, and as shown in FIG. 1, the position signals K, K, N and N may be coupled to a servo control system 14 which operates upon the position signals to generate an error signal on an output line 16 to control a drive assembly 18, which may include a drive motor and associated driver circuits (both not shown) for moving the movable element 12.
The servo control system 14 may be of any suitable type having the need for any one or more of the position signals as inputs thereto. An example of a servo control system which would operate upon all four position signals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,665. As shown in that patent, an exemplary movable element to be controlled may include the head carriage of a disc drive device. It is clear, however, that the movable element 12 could be any element capable of controlled movement along a prescribed path. Other examples are a rotatable print wheel and a print carriage of the type employed in a serial printer, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,163.
As shown in FIG. 1, the phase-sensitive transducer apparatus 10 comprises a multi-phase sine-wave generator 20 which may be of any well-known conventional type capable of generating a plurality of mutually phase-displaced sine-wave signals. A presently preferred multi-phase sine-wave generator is a quadrature oscillator capable of generating a pair of 90° phase-displaced sine-wave signals A and B, as shown in FIG. 3A. Quadrature oscillators of this type are entirely conventional and well known and thus will not be described in detail herein.
The two 90° phase-displaced sinusoidal signals A and B are forwarded to a position transducer 22 which operates upon these signals to generate an output signal C which is substantially constant in peak amplitude, but variable in phase during movement of the movable element 12. The variable phase relationship is shown diagramatically in FIG. 3A by signals C∠0° - C∠270°, which represent what the phase relationship of signal C would be at various spaced positions of the movable element 12 corresponding to 90° phase shifts in the signal C. The use of 90° phase shifts is, of course, merely exemplary.
Referring for a moment to FIG. 5, a presently preferred position transducer 22 includes a pair of relatively movable members, such as a scale 24 and a slider 26, wherein the scale 24 is fixed in position by suitable means (not shown) and the slider 26 is kinematically coupled by suitable means (also not shown) to drive 18 for movement synchronously with movement of the movable element 12. The scale 24 comprises a plurality of windings displaced in space phase. Desirably, the scale 24 comprises two windings 28 and 30 displaced in space-quadrature, i.e. 90° space phase. The slider 26 has a single winding 32. The signals A and B developed by the generator 22 are respectively coupled to the scale windings 28 and 30 and the signal C is developed from the single slider winding 32. Movement of the slider 26 relative to the scale 24 corresponds to movement of the movable element 12 and causes the constant amplitude variable phase signal C to be developed. The relative positional relationship of the windings 28 and 30 relative to the winding 32 determines the phase of the signal C, as is conventional and is more completely described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,010.
The signal C from the position transducer 22 and the signals A and B from the generator 20 are each applied to individual amplifier and squarer circuits, shown collectively by way of convenience as a single block 34 in FIG. 1. The amplifier and squarer circuits 34 convert the sinusoidal signals A, B and C to respective square-wave signals D, E and F. As used herein, the term "square-wave" shall be deemed to include both square and rectangular waveforms. It will be noted in FIG. 3A that signal D has the same frequency and phase as signal A and signal E has the same frequency and phase as signal B. Thus, signals D and E are 90° phase-displaced. With respect to signal F, it, like signal C, has a constant amplitude and is variable in phase during movement of the movable element 12 and thus movement of the slider 26 relative to the scale 24. Again, such variation in phase is shown diagramatically by showing what the phase relationship of signal F would be at each of 4, 90° phase-shifted positions. As with signal C, signal F would be constant phase if the movable element 12, and thus the slider 26, were stationary.
The amplifier and squarer circuits 34 may be of any well known, conventional type. An examplary amplifier and squarer circuit that could be used for the conversion of the signals A, B and C to the signals D, E and F (one such circuit for each such conversion) is disclosed in the above-mentioned copending application Ser. No. 670,463. As shown in FIG. 3A, which, by the way, depicts idealized waveforms, it is preferred that the peak amplitude of the signals D, E and F all be substantially at the same level, i.e. V A . This would be possible if the identical amplifier and squarer circuits were utilized, such as the one disclosed in application Ser. No. 670,463, wherein the power supply bias used to determine the peak amplitude of the square-waves is at the level, V A .
As indicated previously, the servo control system 14 is preferably of a type requiring as inputs the four position signals K, K, N and N. To this end, the signal F is applied from its associated amplifier and squarer circuit 34 to one input of each of two substantially identical phase-sensitive demodulators 36 and 38. As will be described in more detail below in connection with FIG. 2, the demodulator 36 compares the signal F as against the signal D and the demodulator 38 compares the signal F as against the signal E. In response to such comparison, the demodulators 36 and 38 respectively generate signals G and L (FIG. 3B), which may be characterized as two 90° phase-displaced pulse signals each having the same constant peak amplitude, i.e. V A , with a pulse width that is variable in response to movement of the movable element 12, and thus the slider 26.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the signals G and L, like signal F, are shown in idealized format at various stages of movement of the movable element 12 corresponding to slider positions defining 90° phase-shifts in the signals C and F. The variance in pulse width will be noted as the slider is moved, i.e. the pulse width of signal G will vary from a maximum (infinite) at G∠180° to a minimum (zero) at G∠0°, whereas the pulse width of signal L will vary from a maximum (infinite) at L∠270° to a minimum (zero) at L∠90°. Should the slider 26 and thus movable element 12 be fixed, each of the signals G and L would have a constant pulse width, the extent of which would be determined entirely by the relative positional relationship between the scale windings 28 and 30 and the slider winding 32.
The signals G and L are respectively coupled to a pair of filter and amplifier circuits 40 and 42 which are desirably substantially identical and which filter, offset and amplify the signals G and L to derive the position signals K and K, and N and N, respectively. The specific manner by which this is accomplished and the nature of the position signals K, K, N and N will be more completely described below. At this point, however, it will be noted with reference to FIG. 3B that the position signals desirably have a triangular waveform in response to movement of the movable element 12, wherein each positive and/or negative peak, or every one or every other zero-crossing can be used to detect progressive movement of the movable element 12.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the phase-sensitive demodulators 36 and 38 are each preferably comprised by an Exclusive OR-gate 44 and 46, respectively. The gates are preferably comprised by matched components for reasons to be discussed below. The Exclusive OR-gate 44 has a pair of input terminals for respectively receiving the signals D and F from the associated amplifier and squarer circuits 34. Similarly, the Exclusive OR-gate 46 has a pair of input terminals for respectively receiving the signals E and F from the associated amplifier and squarer circuits 34. In operation, the Exclusive OR-gates 44 and 46 will each produce a high output whenever, and only if, the two inputs differ, and a low output whenever, and only if, the two outputs are the same. The resultant output signals G and L are shown in FIG. 3B where, as indicated earlier, they are each shown in idealized form and, by way of convenience, at varying positions of the scale windings 28 and 30 relative to the slider winding 32, which positions correspond to 90° phase-displacements of the signal.
Still referring to FIG. 2, the filter and amplifier circuits 40 and 42 are preferably identical in all respects and so only one will be described in detail. In such description, like components will be designated by the same reference indication. Thus, the circuit 40 includes a unity gain low-pass filter comprised of a capacitor C1 in parallel with a resistor R1 and coupled between a first input of an amplifier 41 and the output thereof. The signal G from the Exclusive OR-gate 44 is applied through another resistor R1 to the first input of the amplifier 41. A second input of the amplifier 41 is connected to ground through a resistor R2, desirably equal to 1/2 R1.
A signal I (shown as I in FIG. 3B) developed at the output of amplifier 41 is coupled through another resistor R1 to one input of a comparator 48, desirably in the form of a differential amplifier. A second input of the comparator 48 is coupled through still another resistor R1 to the output of another filter and amplifier circuit 50 for a purpose to be described in detail below, and through yet another resistor R1 to ground. The output of the comparator 48 represents the signal K shown in FIG. 3B. As is conventional, the output of comparator 48 is fedback through a resistor R1 to the first input thereof.
The signal K at the output of the comparator 48 is also coupled through another resistor R1 to a first input of a unity gain inverting amplifier 52. A second input of that amplifier is grounded through a resistor R2. The output of the amplifier 52 represents the signal K and, as is conventional, the output is fedback to the first input through another resistor R1. The signal K as shown in FIG. 3B is idealized in the sense that it is derived from the signal G, whose pulses are shown in FIG. 3B in idealized format. The significance of this will be explained in more detail below.
Although only circuit 40 has been described in detail, it should be noted that a signal M (shown as M in FIG. 3B) is developed at the output of the low pass filter of circuit 42, which is 90° phase-displaced from signal I, since the circuit 42 receives the signal L from the Exclusive OR-gate 46, which signal is 90° phase-shifted from signal G. Additionally, the circuit 42 generates different output signals N and N, although in a manner entirely equivalent to the generation of signals K and K by circuit 40. Signal N is shown in FIG. 3B.
Before describing the operation of the circuits 40 and 42, it is necessary to discuss the significance and manner of generation of the signal that is applied to the second inputs of the comparators 48 in circuits 40 and 42. This signal, signal J, is depicted in ideal format as J in FIG. 3B.
Referring then to FIGS. 1 and 2, a reference generator 54 is included in the phase-sensitive transducer apparatus 10. It is coupled to the amplifier and squarer circuits 34 that convert the signals A and B to signals D and E, respectively. More specifically, it compares the signals D and E and generates a signal H at its output in responsive to such comparison. Desirably, the reference generator 54 is comprised of an Exclusive OR-gate 56 that is matched in all respects with both Exclusive OR-gates 44 and 46, i.e. all three Exclusive OR-gates are preferably matched. The Exclusive OR-gate 56 has first and second inputs for respectively receiving the signals D and E and an output at which the signal H is developed. As shown in FIG. 3B, signal H is a pulse signal of constant peak amplitude (V A ), frequency and phase. Since the signals D and E are desirably 90° out-of-phase, then the signal H desirably has a 50% duty cycle.
The filter and amplifier circuit 50 includes a unity gain low-pass filter comprised of a capacitor C1 in parallel with a resistor R1 and coupled between a first input of an amplifier 58 and the output thereof. Desirably, the amplifier 58 is identical to the amplifiers 41 of circuits 40 and 42. The signal H from the output of the Exclusive OR-gate 56 is applied through a resistor R1 to the first input of amplifier 58. A second input of the amplifier 58 is grounded through a resistor R2. The output of amplifier 58, i.e. signal J, is coupled through a resistor R1 to the second input of comparator 48 of both circuits 40 and 42, as indicated above.
Referring to FIG. 3B, it will be noted that the signal J represents the d-c average of the signal H. Where the pulses of signal H are idealized, as shown in FIG. 3B, the d-c average will be precisely equal to the peak amplitude of signal H, i.e. V A , divided by two. Signal J may be generally considered a d-c reference signal having a voltage level representative of the d-c average of the pulse signal H. Since the signal H is representative of the condition that its two inputs are 90° out-of-phase, the voltage level of signal J will be substantially equal to the voltage level of signal I when the input signals D and F to Exclusive OR-gate 44 are 90° out-of-phase, and substantially equal to the signal M when the input signals E and F to Exclusive OR-gate 46 are 90° out-of-phase. The benefits of this relationship form an important aspect of the present invention, as will become clear below.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the precise manner in which the position signals K, K, N and N are generated will be described. The output signal G from the Exclusive OR-gate 44 is filtered by the unity gain low-pass filter (C1, R1, 41, R1) of circuit 40 to generage the position signal I which, as shown in FIG. 3B, represents the locus of points defining the d-c average of the signal G during movement of the slider 26 relative to the scale 24. If the slider 26 were not moved relative to the scale 24, then the d-c average of the signal G would be at a constant voltage level. The position signal I that is generated during relative movement of the slider 26 and scale 24 will ideally have a negative peak amplitude of -V A , a positive peak of zero volts and a frequency directly proportional to the speed of relative movement between the slider 26 and scale 24.
The signal I is then compared in comparator 48 of circuit 40 with the signal J. As stated above, signal J represents the d-c average of signal H. Since signal H has a constant 50% duty cycle, signal J is a constant d-c level which ideally equals V A /2. Ideally, the d-c average of signal G will be at V A /2 when it is at a 50% duty cycle, i.e. when the slider 26 is moved to a location relative to scale 26 such that the signal F is 90° out-of-phase with the signal D. The comparator 48 causes the signal I to be offset by the d-c voltage level of signal J so that the points on the signal I that correspond to the signals D and F being 90° out-of-phase will be at zero voltage in the offset position signal K, as shown in FIG. 3B. Of course, the peak-to-peak voltage of signal K will be equal to the peak-to-peak voltage of signal I, as determined by the unity gain of the comparator amplifier 48.
The signal M developed at the low-pass filter (C1, R1, 41, R1) of circuit 42 is compared in the comparator 48 of that circuit with the signal J. Ideally, and as with the signal G, the d-c average of signal L will be at V A /2 when it is at a 50% duty cycle, i.e. when the slider 26 has reached a position relative to the scale 24 such that the signal F is 90° phase-displaced from the signal E. The comparator 48 of circuit 42 causes the signal M to be offset by the d-c voltage level of signal J (ideally -V A /2), so that the points on the signal M that correspond to the signals E and F being 90° out-of-phase will be at zero voltage in the offset position signal N, as shown in FIG. 3B.
Suppose now that the pulses generated for signals G and L were not ideal, e.g. they have different rise times and fall times. Referring to FIG. 4, a signal G' is shown at one representative relative position, e.g. G'∠90°, where the pulses are shown to rise slower then they fall. The d-c average of signal G' at this particular angular position, i.e. signals D and F are 90° phase-displaced, should ideally be V A /2 since the signal G' has a 50% duty cycle at this position. However, due to the above non-ideality in signal G', the actual d-c average of signal G' will be somewhat less than V A /2, e.g. V B . It will be appreciated that errors might thereby arise if it were attempted to offset the signal I' by V A /2 (ideal), instead of V B (actual), which would be required to insure that the points on the offset position signal K' (FIG. 4) corresponding to the signals D and F being 90° out-of-phase would occur at zero voltage.
In accordance with the invention, the d-c reference signal J that is used to establish the offset voltage has a level which always represents the d-c average of signal H and thus is always representative of a condition where the signals D and F are 90° out-of-phase and the signals E and F are 90° out-of-phase. Now then, by insuring that the Exclusive OR-gates 44, 46 and 56 are all matched, it will be appreciated that whatever non-idealities are present with respect to the pulses of signal G', for example, they will likewise and identically be present with respect to signal J'. Accordingly, if the d-c average of signal G' at the 90° phase-displaced condition of signals D and F is less than V A /2, i.e. V B , the d-c average of signal J' will be substantially equal to V B so that when they are compared by the comparator 48 of circuit 40, the resultant signal K' at these 90° phase-displaced conditions of signals D and F will be at zero voltage (see FIG. 4.)
As indicated previously, all three amplifier and squarer circuits 34 are desirably identical and contain matched components so that any idealities that occur in the generation of the square-wave signals D, E and F will be equally present in each. For similar reasons, the low-pass filters of circuits 40, 42, and 50 are desirably identical and contain matched components. It will thus be appreciated that any variations in the amplitude of the power supply voltage, V A , or any ripple or noise superimposed thereon, will have no effect on the location of the null points in the signals K, K, N and N. Further, even if the signals A and B are not precisely 90° out-of-phase, e.g. 89° out-of-phase, the null points of the signals K, K, N and N will remain unchanged relative to their locations for a true 90° phase displacement condition.
Although the invention has been described with respect to a presently preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications, substitutions, etc. may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in and by the following claims.
|
A phase-sensitive transducer apparatus comprises first and second relatively movable members, the first relatively movable member having a plurality of windings and the second relatively movable member having a winding. Means are included for applying a first input signal to one of the windings of the first relatively movable member and a second input signal to another of the windings of the first relatively movable member. An output signal is developed on the winding of the second relatively movable member. The first and second input signals are sinusoidal in nature of substantially identical frequency and peak amplitude and are phase-displaced by a predetermined amount, and the output signal is substantially constant in peak amplitude and variable in phase during relative movement of the first and second relatively movable members. Further means is included which responds to the first input signal and to the output signal for generating a position signal indicative of the relative movement of the first and second relatively movable members, the position signal alternating during such relative movement between first and second voltage levels. Also, additional means is included which responds to the first input signal and to the second input signal for generating a d-c reference signal having a voltage level substantially equal to the voltage level of the position signal when the first input signal and the output signal are phase-displaced by said predetermined amount. Comparator means is included which responds to the position signal and to the d-c reference signal for offsetting the position signal by an amount represented by the voltage level of the d-c reference signal.
| 6
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-055109, filed Mar. 12, 2012, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
The present disclosure relates to a sewing machine that is capable of performing sewing at a designated position on a work cloth.
A sewing machine is known that can set a sewing position and a sewing angle where a desired embroidery pattern to be sewn on a work cloth. For example, a sewing machine that is provided with an image capture portion uses the image capture portion to capture an image of a marker that an operator has affixed to the work cloth in a designated position. Based on the captured image of the marker, the sewing machine automatically sets the sewing position and the sewing angle for the embroidery pattern.
SUMMARY
However, in order for the sewing machine that is described above to set the sewing position and the sewing angle automatically, it is necessary for the operator to affix the marker to the work cloth. Moreover, after the sewing machine has set the sewing position and the sewing angle for the embroidery pattern, the sewing machine cannot perform the sewing if the operator does not peel off the marker that is affixed to the work cloth. Therefore, cases occur in which the work of affixing the marker to the work cloth and peeling the affixed marker off of the work cloth is burdensome for the operator.
The present disclosure provides a sewing machine on which the operator can easily set the position on the work cloth where the sewing to be performed.
Embodiments provide a sewing machine includes a detector, a processor, and a memory. The detector is configured to detect ultrasonic waves transmitted from a specification-enabled area. The memory stores non-transitory computer-readable instructions that instruct the sewing machine to perform specifying a prescribed position based on a positional relationship between a transmission area and the specification-enabled area, the transmission area being an area that is at least a portion of a sewing-enabled area and being an area that includes a position of a transmission source that transmits the ultrasonic waves, the prescribed position being a position of an embroidery frame when the entire transmission area is included in the specification-enabled area, the embroidery frame being configured to be mountable in the sewing machine and configured to hold a work cloth, and the sewing-enabled area being an area in which the sewing machine is able to perform sewing on the work cloth that is held by the embroidery frame, moving the embroidery frame to the specified prescribed position, specifying a transmission position based on the ultrasonic waves that are detected by the detector, the transmission position being a position of the transmission source that transmits the ultrasonic waves, and performing a sewing operation based on the specified transmission position, the sewing operation being an operation by which the sewing machine performs the sewing on the work cloth that is held by the embroidery frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sewing machine on which an embroidery device is mounted;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the sewing machine on which the embroidery device is mounted;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a receiver;
FIG. 4 is a front view of the receiver;
FIG. 5 is a section view of the receiver in the direction of a line V-V that is shown in FIG. 4 ;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram that shows an electrical configuration of the sewing machine;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory figure of a method for computing designated coordinates;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device, on which an embroidery frame is mounted, and a specification-enabled area;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device on which the embroidery frame is mounted and the specification-enabled area;
FIG. 10 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device on which the embroidery frame is mounted and the specification-enabled area;
FIG. 11 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device on which the embroidery frame is mounted and the specification-enabled area;
FIG. 12 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device on which the embroidery frame is mounted and the specification-enabled area;
FIG. 13 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device on which the embroidery frame is mounted and the specification-enabled area;
FIG. 14 is an explanatory figure of the embroidery device on which the embroidery frame is mounted and the specification-enabled area;
FIG. 15 is a flowchart that shows main processing; and
FIG. 16 is an explanatory figure of a table.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be explained with reference to the drawings. The configuration of a sewing machine 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 . The top side, the bottom side, the left side, and the right side in FIG. 2 respectively correspond to the top side, the bottom side, the left side, and the right side of the sewing machine 1 . A side on which operation switches 21 are provided is defined as the front side of the sewing machine 1 .
The sewing machine 1 includes a bed 11 , a pillar 12 , an arm 13 , and a head 14 . The bed 11 is a base portion of the sewing machine 1 , and the bed 11 extends in the left-right direction. The pillar 12 extends upward from the right end portion of the bed 11 . The arm 13 extends to the left from the upper end of the pillar 12 such that the arm 13 is opposite of the bed 11 . The head 14 is located on the left end of the arm 13 . A needle plate 34 (refer to FIG. 2 ) is disposed on the top face of the bed 11 . A feed dog (not shown in the drawings), a feed mechanism (not shown in the drawings), a shuttle mechanism (not shown in the drawings), and a feed adjustment motor 83 (refer to FIG. 6 ) are provided underneath the needle plate 34 (that is, inside the bed 11 ). The feed dog may be driven by the feed mechanism and move a work cloth by a specified feed amount. The feed amount for the feed dog may be adjusted by the feed adjustment motor 83 . Note that the feed dog is not operated in a case where an embroidery device 2 is mounted on the sewing machine 1 and used, as will be described later.
A needle bar 29 and a presser bar 31 extend downward from the lower end of the head 14 . A sewing needle (not shown in the drawings) can be attached to the lower end of the needle bar 29 . A presser foot 30 can be attached to the lower end of the presser bar 31 . The presser foot 30 may press on a work cloth 100 . A needle bar mechanism (not shown in the drawings), a swinging mechanism (not shown in the drawings), and a swinging motor 80 (refer to FIG. 6 ) are provided in the head 14 . The needle bar mechanism may move the needle bar 29 up and down. A sewing machine motor 79 (refer to FIG. 6 ) may drive the needle bar mechanism. The swinging mechanism may swing the needle bar 29 to the left and to the right. The swinging motor 80 may drive the swinging mechanism.
In the present disclosure, the sewing machine 1 is used in a state in which the embroidery device 2 has been mounted on the sewing machine 1 . The embroidery device 2 can be mounted on and removed from the bed 11 of the sewing machine 1 . The embroidery device 2 includes a body 51 and a carriage 52 . When the embroidery device 2 is mounted on the sewing machine 1 , the embroidery device 2 and the sewing machine 1 are electrically connected.
The carriage 52 is provided on the top side of the body 51 . The carriage 52 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction. The carriage 52 includes a frame holder 55 , a Y axis moving mechanism (not shown in the drawings), and a Y axis motor 87 (refer to FIG. 6 ). The frame holder 55 is a holder on which an embroidery frame 35 (refer to FIG. 1 ) can be removably mounted. An embroidery frame of a size and shape that are different from those of the embroidery frame 35 can also be mounted on and removed from the frame holder 55 . As an example, an embroidery frame 36 (refer to FIG. 13 ) with a different (smaller) size can be mounted on and removed from the frame holder 55 instead of the embroidery frame 35 . The frame holder 55 is provided on the right side face of the carriage 52 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the embroidery frame 35 has a known structure. The embroidery frame 35 is configured to hold the work cloth 100 by clamping the work cloth 100 between an inner frame and an outer frame, although this is not shown in detail in the drawings. The work cloth 100 that is held in the embroidery frame 35 may be positioned on the top side of the bed 11 and below the needle bar 29 and the presser foot 30 . The Y axis moving mechanism may move the frame holder 55 in the front-rear direction (the Y axis direction). The moving of the frame holder 55 in the front-rear direction causes the embroidery frame 35 to move the work cloth 100 in the front-rear direction. The Y axis motor 87 may drive the Y axis moving mechanism. A CPU 61 (refer to FIG. 6 ) of the sewing machine 1 controls the Y axis motor 87 .
An X axis moving mechanism (not shown in the drawings) and an X axis motor 86 (refer to FIG. 6 ) that may move the carriage 52 in the left-right direction (the X axis direction) are provided in the interior of the body 51 . The moving of the carriage 52 in the left-right direction causes the embroidery frame 35 to move the work cloth 100 in the left-right direction. The X axis motor 86 may drive the X axis moving mechanism. The CPU 61 of the sewing machine 1 controls the X axis motor 86 .
As shown in FIG. 2 , receivers 94 , 95 are provided on the rear portion of the lower end of the head 14 . The receiver 94 and the receiver 95 have the identical structures. The receiver 94 is provided on the rear part of the bottom face of the head 14 at the lower left edge of the head 14 . The receiver 95 is provided on the rear part of the bottom face of the head 14 at the lower right edge of the head 14 . The receivers 94 , 95 are separated from one another by the length of the head 14 in the left-right direction. The receivers 94 , 95 are configured to detect ultrasonic waves. The receivers 94 , 95 will be described in detail later.
As shown in FIG. 1 , a cover 16 that can be opened and closed is provided in the upper portion of the arm 13 . A spool 20 may be accommodated under the cover 16 , that is, approximately in the central portion inside the arm 13 . An upper thread (not shown in the drawings) that is wound around the spool 20 may be supplied from the spool 20 to the sewing needle that is attached to the needle bar 29 , by way of a thread guard portion (not shown in the drawings) that is provided in the head 14 . The operation switches 21 , which include a start-and-stop switch, are provided in the lower portion of the front face of the arm 13 .
A liquid crystal display (hereinafter called the LCD) 15 is provided on the front face of the pillar 12 . A screen that includes various types of items, such as commands, illustrations, setting values, messages, and the like, may be displayed on the LCD 15 . A touch panel 26 is provided on the front face of the LCD 15 . By using a finger or a special touch pen to touch a location on the touch panel 26 that corresponds to an item that is displayed on the LCD 15 , an operator can select a pattern to be sewn or a command to be executed. Hereinafter, an operation that the operator performs by using the touch panel 26 is referred to as a panel operation.
As shown in FIG. 2 , connectors 39 , 40 are provided on the right side face of the pillar 12 . An external storage device (not shown in the drawings) such as a memory card or the like can be connected to the connector 39 . The sewing machine 1 may acquire embroidery pattern data and various types of programs from the external storage device that is connected to the connector 39 . A connector 916 is configured to be connected to the connector 40 . The connector 916 is configured to be connected to a cable 912 that extends from an ultrasound pen 91 (described later). The sewing machine 1 may supply electric power to the ultrasound pen 91 through the connector 40 , the connector 916 , and the cable 912 , and the sewing machine 1 may also acquire electrical signals that are output from the ultrasound pen 91 .
The ultrasound pen 91 will be explained. The ultrasound pen 91 includes a pen body 910 and a pen tip 911 . The shape of the pen body 910 is a bar shape. The pen tip 911 is provided on one end of the pen body 910 . The tip of the pen tip 911 is pointed. The pen tip 911 is able to move between a projecting position and a retracted position. The projecting position is a position in which the pen tip 911 projects slightly to the outside of the pen body 910 . In a state in which an external force is not acting on the pen tip 911 , the pen tip 911 is positioned in the projecting position. When a force acts on the 911 that is in the projecting position in the direction toward the pen body 910 , the pen tip 911 moves into the pen body 910 , and the pen tip 911 shifts to the retracted position. When the force that is acting on the pen tip 911 ceases, the pen tip 911 returns to the projecting position.
A switch 913 (refer to FIG. 6 ), a signal output circuit 914 (refer to FIG. 6 ), and an ultrasound transmitter 915 (refer to FIG. 6 ) are provided inside the pen body 910 . The switch 913 may switch between an ON state and an OFF state in accordance with the position of the pen tip 911 . The switch 913 may switch the output states of the signal output circuit 914 and the ultrasound transmitter 915 .
When the pen tip 911 is positioned in the projecting position, the switch 913 is in the OFF state. In a case where the switch 913 is in the OFF state, the signal output circuit 914 does not output an electrical signal, and the ultrasound transmitter 915 does not transmit ultrasonic waves. On the other hand, the pen tip 911 is shifted to the retracted position by the operator's pressing of the pen tip 911 against a desired position on the work cloth 100 , for example. The switch 913 is switched to the ON state by the positioning of the pen tip 911 in the retracted position. When the switch 913 is in the ON state, the signal output circuit 914 outputs an electrical signal to the sewing machine 1 through the cable 912 , and the ultrasound transmitter 915 transmits ultrasonic waves.
Note that the sewing machine 1 may use the receivers 94 , 95 to detect (receive) the ultrasonic waves that are transmitted from the ultrasound pen 91 , although this will be described in detail later. Based on the detected ultrasonic waves, the sewing machine 1 may specify the position of the transmission source of the ultrasonic waves, that is, the ultrasound transmitter 915 that is provided in the ultrasound pen 91 . The sewing machine 1 may perform sewing based on the specified position.
The receiver 94 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 . The receiver 95 has an identical structure to that of the receiver 94 . Therefore, an explanation of the receiver 95 will be omitted. The lower left side, the upper right side, the upper left side, the lower right side, the top side, and the bottom side in FIG. 3 respectively define the front side, the rear side, the left side, the right side, the top side, and the bottom side of the receiver 94 .
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the shape of the receiver 94 is a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is slightly longer in the up-down direction. The receiver 94 is provided with an opening 941 in the center of the lower portion of front face of the receiver 94 . The shape of the opening 941 is an ellipse whose long axis extends in the left-right direction. A surrounding portion 942 that is a portion that surrounds the opening 941 is a tapered surface (an inclined surface) that becomes larger toward the front side. As shown in FIG. 5 , a panel 943 and a microphone 944 are provided in the interior of the receiver 94 . The microphone 944 is positioned on the inner side of the opening 941 . As shown in FIG. 5 , a connector 945 is mounted on the rear face of the upper end of the panel 943 . The connector 945 is configured to be connected to a connector (not shown in the drawings) that is provided in the sewing machine 1 .
The electrical configuration of the sewing machine 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 6 . A control portion 60 of the sewing machine 1 includes the CPU 61 , a ROM 62 , a RAM 63 , an EEPROM 64 , and an input/output interface 65 . The CPU 61 , the ROM 62 , the RAM 63 , the EEPROM 64 , and the input/output interface 65 are connected to one another through a bus 67 . Programs that the CPU 61 may use to perform processing, data for a plurality of types sewing patterns that the sewing machine 1 may use to perform sewing, as well as data and the like, are stored in the ROM 62 . Data that indicate settings of the sewing machine 1 and the like are stored in the EEPROM 64 .
The operation switches 21 , the touch panel 26 , and drive circuits 71 , 72 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 84 , 85 are electrically connected to the input/output interface 65 . The drive circuits 71 , 72 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 84 , 85 may respectively drive the feed adjustment motor 83 , the sewing machine motor 79 , the swinging motor 80 , the LCD 15 , the receivers 94 , 95 , the X axis motor 86 , and the Y axis motor 87 . An amplifier circuit that is included in the drive circuit 76 may amplify and transmit to the CPU 61 the ultrasonic wave signals that are detected by the receivers 94 , 95 .
The electrical configuration of the ultrasound pen 91 will be explained. The ultrasound pen 91 includes the switch 913 , the signal output circuit 914 , and the ultrasound transmitter 915 . The switch 913 is configured to be connected to the signal output circuit 914 and the ultrasound transmitter 915 . The signal output circuit 914 is configured to be connected to the input/output interface 65 . The signal output circuit 914 may output electrical signals to the CPU 61 through the input/output interface 65 .
A method for specifying a position on the work cloth 100 that is designated by the ultrasound pen 91 will be explained with reference to FIG. 7 . By pressing the pen tip 911 of the ultrasound pen 91 against the work cloth 100 , the operator can designate a specific position on the work cloth 100 . Hereinafter, the position on the work cloth 100 against which the pen tip 911 of the ultrasound pen 91 has been pressed is referred to as a designated position. Note that, as will be described later, the sewing machine 1 can specify the designated position by specifying the position of the transmission source of the ultrasonic waves. Therefore, in a precise sense, the position that is specified as the designated position is not the position on the work cloth 100 against which the pen tip 911 is pressed, but is the position of the ultrasound transmitter 915 that is provided in the ultrasound pen 91 . However, the pen tip 911 and the ultrasound transmitter 915 are located extremely close to one another. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the position of the ultrasound transmitter 915 is regarded as the position on the work cloth 100 against which the pen tip 911 is pressed, that is, as the designated position. Hereinafter, the left-right direction, the front-rear direction, and the up-down direction in the sewing machine 1 are respectively defined as the X axis direction, the Y axis direction, and the Z axis direction. The left-right direction and the up-down direction in FIG. 7 are respectively equivalent to the X axis direction and the Y axis direction.
The sewing machine 1 may specify the designated position in the form of coordinate information (an X coordinate, a Y coordinate, and a Z coordinate). In the present embodiment, an example is used in which the origin point (0, 0, 0) of the coordinate system is the center point of a hole (a needle hole) through which the sewing needle may pass. The needle hole is formed in the needle plate 34 (refer to FIG. 2 ). The plane on which the Z coordinate is zero is equivalent to the top face of the needle plate 34 . Coordinates B that indicate the position of the receiver 94 are defined as (Xb, Yb, Zb). Coordinates C that indicate the position of the receiver 95 are defined as (Xc, Yc, Zc). Coordinates E that indicate the designated position are defined as (Xe, Ye, Ze). The respective Z coordinates of the receivers 94 , 95 indicate the heights of the receivers 94 , 95 in relation to the top face of the needle plate 34 . The coordinates B (Xb, Yb, Zb) and the coordinates C (Xc, Ye, Zc) are stored in the ROM 62 in advance. Hereinafter, the coordinates E are referred to as the designated coordinates E. The distance between the designated coordinates E and the coordinates B is referred to as the distance EB. The distance between the designated coordinates E and the coordinates C is referred to as the distance EC.
Based on the Pythagorean theorem, the distances EB, EC can be described by the coordinates B, C, E. The relationship between the distance EB and the coordinates B, C, E is described by Equation (1) below. In the same manner, the relationship between the distance EC and the coordinates B, C, E is described by Equation (2) below.
( Xb−Xe ) 2 +( Yb−Ye ) 2 +( Zb−Ze ) 2 =( EB ) 2 (1):
( Xc−Xe ) 2 +( Yc−Ye ) 2 +( Zc−Ze ) 2 =( EC ) 2 (2):
Note that Equation (1) is identical to an equation for a spherical surface (with a radius of the distance EB) for which the coordinates B define the origin point and that intersects the designated coordinates E. In the same manner, Equation (2) is identical to an equation for a spherical surface (with a radius of the distance EC) for which the coordinates C define the origin point and that intersects the designated coordinates E.
The velocity at which ultrasonic waves travel is referred to as the velocity of sound V. The time that is required for the ultrasonic waves that are transmitted from the ultrasound pen 91 that is at the designated coordinates E to arrive at the receiver 94 is referred to as a transmission time Tb. The time that is required for the ultrasonic waves that are transmitted from the ultrasound pen 91 that is at the designated coordinates E to arrive at the receiver 95 is referred to as a transmission time Tc. In this case, the distances EB, EC can respectively be described by Equations (3) and (4) below.
EB=V×Tb (3):
EC=V×Tc (4):
Substituting Equations (3) and (4) into Equations (1) and (2) yields Equations (5) and (6) below.
( Xb−Xe ) 2 +( Yb−Ye ) 2 +( Zb−Ze ) 2 =( V×Tb ) 2 (5):
( Xc−Xe ) 2 +( Ye−Ye ) 2 +( Zc−Ze ) 2 =( V×Tc ) 2 (6):
In Equations (5) and (6), the coordinates B (Xb, Yb, Zb), the coordinates C (Xc, Ye, Zc) and the velocity of sound V are known values, and each of those values has been stored in the ROM 62 . The transmission times Tb, Tc may be specified by computing the difference between the time that the ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the ultrasound transmitter 915 of the ultrasound pen 91 and the time that the ultrasonic waves are detected by the receivers 94 , 95 . Hereinafter, the time when the ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the ultrasound transmitter 915 of the ultrasound pen 91 is referred to as the transmission time T 1 . The pair of times when the ultrasonic waves are detected by the receivers 94 , 95 , respectively, are referred to as the detection times T 2 . Among the designated coordinates E (Xe, Ye, Ze), Ze is a value that is determined by the thickness of the work cloth 100 . Therefore, the range of values that Ze can have is smaller than the ranges of values that Xe and Ye can respectively have. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the value of Ze is regarded as being zero. Accordingly, the respective values for Xe and Ye are computed by solving the simultaneous Equations (5) and (6). In this manner, the designated coordinates E (Xe, Ye, Ze (=0)) that the operator has used the ultrasound pen 91 to designate on the work cloth 100 may be computed.
In the present embodiment, the designated position that the sewing machine 1 is capable of specifying accurately by the method that is described above lies within a specification-enabled area 101 of the work cloth 100 that is held by the embroidery frame 35 . The reason for this will be explained. The received strength of the ultrasonic waves attenuate with increasing the distance between the position of the ultrasound pen 91 (the ultrasound transmitter 915 ) and the receivers 94 , 95 . Therefore, depending on the distance between the position of the ultrasound pen 91 and the receivers 94 , 95 , cases may occur in which the receivers 94 , 95 are unable to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy. Furthermore, the receiving sensitivity of the receivers 94 , 95 has directionality in a specific direction. Therefore, cases may occur in which the receivers 94 , 95 are unable to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy, depending on the position of the ultrasound pen 91 (the ultrasound transmitter 915 ). In a case where the receivers 94 , 95 are unable to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy, the sewing machine 1 is not able to specify the designated position accurately.
The specification-enabled area 101 is shown in FIGS. 8 to 14 . The specification-enabled area 101 is an area that is defined as an area within which the sewing machine 1 is able to specify the designated position accurately. In the present embodiment, the specification-enabled area 101 is defined as a square area. Coordinate information that indicates the positions of the four vertices of the specification-enabled area 101 is stored in the ROM 62 . In FIGS. 8 to 14 , in order to facilitate the explanation, the sewing machine 1 is not shown, and the embroidery device 2 and the embroidery frame 35 that are mounted in the sewing machine 1 are shown. In a case where a position within the specification-enabled area 101 is designated by the ultrasound pen 91 , the receivers 94 , 95 are able to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy. In this case, the sewing machine 1 is able to specify the designated position accurately. On the other hand, in a case where a position outside the specification-enabled area 101 is designated by the ultrasound pen 91 , the receivers 94 , 95 are not able to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy. In this case, the sewing machine 1 cannot specify the designated position accurately.
A needle drop point 102 is a position within the specification-enabled area 101 . The needle drop point 102 is positioned near the rear edge of the specification-enabled area 101 and approximately in the center in the left-right direction. That is, the portion of the specification-enabled area 101 that is to the front of the needle drop point 102 is larger than the portion that is to the rear of the needle drop point 102 . That is, a front area that is on front side of a boundary line (not shown in the drawings) is larger than a rear area that is on rear side of the boundary line. The boundary line is a line that passes through the needle drop 102 point and extends in the left-right direction. Hereinafter, in order to facilitate the explanation, the specification-enabled area 101 is also referred to as a front side area that includes the needle drop point 102 . The needle drop point 102 is the point where the sewing needle may pierce the work cloth 100 , that is, the center point of the needle hole that is formed in the needle plate 34 , and the needle drop point 102 is coincident with the center of the needle bar 29 . The length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the front-rear direction is slightly shorter than one-half of the length of the embroidery frame 35 in the front-rear direction. The length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the left-right direction is slightly shorter than the length of the embroidery frame 35 in the left-right direction.
The reason why the specification-enabled area 101 is the front side area that includes the needle drop point 102 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 1 , the operation switches 21 , the LCD 15 , and the like are provided on the front face of the sewing machine 1 . Therefore, the operator may operate the sewing machine 1 from the front side of the sewing machine 1 . The operator may bring the ultrasound pen 91 close to the work cloth 100 from the front side of the sewing machine 1 and presses the pen tip 911 against the work cloth 100 . In a case where the specification-enabled area 101 is positioned to the rear of the needle drop point 102 , the operator use the ultrasound pen 91 to designate a position within the specification-enabled area 101 while avoiding the needle bar 29 and the presser bar 31 . In addition, the head 14 and the arm 13 interfere with the operator's view of the specification-enabled area 101 . In other words, in a case where the specification-enabled area 101 is positioned to the rear of the needle drop point 102 , it is extremely difficult for the operator to designate a position within the specification-enabled area 101 . On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the specification-enabled area 101 is the front side area that includes the needle drop point 102 . Therefore, in the present embodiment, a position on the work cloth 100 that can be designated by the ultrasound pen 91 is a position that is located to the front of the needle drop point 102 . Thus, comparing to the case in which the specification-enabled area 101 is positioned to the rear of the needle drop point 102 , the operator can easily designate a position within the specification-enabled area 101 .
A square area that is bounded by a dashed-dotted line that is shown on the work cloth 100 that is held by the embroidery frame 35 indicates a sewing-enabled area 110 (refer to FIG. 8 ). The sewing-enabled area 110 is an area in which the sewing machine 1 is able to perform the sewing of an embroidery pattern on the work cloth 100 that is held by the embroidery frame 35 . The sewing-enabled area 110 is defined such that size of the sewing-enabled area 110 is slightly smaller than that of the embroidery frame 35 . Coordinate information that describes the sewing-enabled area 110 is stored in the ROM 62 in association with information that indicates the type of the embroidery frame 35 , for example. The CPU 61 specifies the type of the embroidery frame 35 that is mounted in the sewing machine 1 , for example, and then specifies the coordinate information that describes the sewing-enabled area 110 and is stored in association with the information that indicates the specified type of the embroidery frame 35 . A method for specifying the type of the embroidery frame 35 that is mounted in the sewing machine 1 will be described later. The coordinate information that indicates the position of the sewing-enabled area 110 may be, for example, coordinate information that indicates the positions of the four vertices of the sewing-enabled area 110 when the embroidery frame 35 is positioned in an initial position. The initial position will be described later. A length that is one-half of the length of the sewing-enabled area 110 in the front-rear direction is shorter than the length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the front-rear direction. The length of the sewing-enabled area 110 in the left-right direction is slightly longer than the length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the left-right direction.
The sewing-enabled area 110 is divided into four sub-areas by line segments 117 , 118 . The line segments 117 , 118 are line segments that each connect the midpoints of opposite sides of the sewing-enabled area 110 . Among the four sub-areas, the right rear sub-area, the right front sub-area, the left rear sub-area, and the left front sub-area are respectively defined as sub-areas 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 . In FIG. 8 , the needle drop point 102 is located at the point of intersection of the line segments 117 , 118 , that is, at the center of the embroidery frame 35 . Hereinafter, the position of the embroidery frame 35 in a state in which the needle drop point 102 is located at the center of the embroidery frame 35 is defined as the initial position. Portions of the sub-areas 112 , 114 overlap a portion of the specification-enabled area 101 . The right edge of the sub-area 112 is positioned to the right of the right edge of the specification-enabled area 101 . Similarly, the left edge of the sub-area 114 is positioned to the left of the left edge of the specification-enabled area 101 .
In the state that is shown in FIG. 8 , in a case where the operator uses the ultrasound pen 91 to designate a position within the sub-area 111 , for example, the sub-area 111 is located outside the specification-enabled area 101 . Therefore, the receivers 94 , 95 are not able to accurately receive the ultrasonic waves that are transmitted from the designated position within the sub-area 111 . In this case, the operator may use a panel operation to designate the sub-area 111 , which includes the position that the operator designates by using the ultrasound pen 91 . The sewing machine 1 may control the embroidery device 2 to move the embroidery frame 35 such that the designated sub-area 111 is accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 . Accordingly, the receivers 94 , 95 can receive with sufficient accuracy the ultrasonic waves that the ultrasound pen 91 transmits from its position within the sub-area 111 . Accordingly, the sewing machine 1 can accurately specify the designated position. This will be explained in detail.
In a case where, for example, the operator has designated the sub-area 111 as the area that includes the position that is designated by the ultrasound pen 91 , the sewing machine 1 , by operating the X axis motor 86 , controls the X axis moving mechanism such that the embroidery frame 35 is moved to the left from the initial position. By also operating the Y axis motor 87 , the sewing machine 1 controls the Y axis moving mechanism such that the embroidery frame 35 is moved toward the front from the initial position. The embroidery frame 35 is thus moved obliquely to the left and toward the front from the initial position (refer to FIG. 8 ), and the sub-area 111 is accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 (refer to FIG. 9 ).
Furthermore, in a case where the operator uses a panel operation to designate one of the sub-areas 112 , 113 , 114 as the area that includes the position that is designated by the ultrasound pen 91 , the embroidery frame 35 is moved in the same manner, and the designated one of the sub-areas 112 , 113 , 114 is accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 (refer to FIGS. 10 to 12 ).
The sub-area that includes the position that the operator wants the position to be the designated position is positioned within the specification-enabled area 101 by the moving of the embroidery frame 35 as described above. The operator uses the pen tip 911 of the ultrasound pen 91 to designate the position on the work cloth 100 that the operator wants the position to be the designated position. The pen tip 911 of the ultrasound pen 91 is pressed against the work cloth 100 , and the ultrasound transmitter 915 transmits the ultrasonic waves. At this time, the ultrasonic waves are transmitted from within the specification-enabled area 101 . Therefore, the receivers 94 , 95 are able to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy. Accordingly, the sewing machine 1 specifies the designated position accurately and performs the sewing based on the specified designated position.
As described above, by using the ultrasound pen 91 , the operator can easily and accurately perform the designating of the desired position on the work cloth 100 . By controlling the embroidery device 2 in accordance with a command issued by a panel operation, the sewing machine 1 may move the embroidery frame 35 such that the receivers 94 , 95 are able to receive the ultrasonic waves with sufficient accuracy. Thus, the sewing machine 1 is able to specify the designated position accurately and perform the sewing in any case where a position within the sewing-enabled area 110 on the work cloth 100 is designated by the ultrasound pen 91 .
Next, a case will be explained, with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14 , in which an embroidery frame 36 that is smaller than the embroidery frame 35 is mounted on the embroidery device 2 and used. As shown in FIG. 13 , the lengths of the embroidery frame 36 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction are respectively about two-thirds of the lengths of the embroidery frame 35 (refer to FIG. 8 and the like) in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. The length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the front-rear direction is longer than one-half of the length of the embroidery frame 36 in the front-rear direction. The length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the left-right direction is longer than the length of the embroidery frame 36 in the left-right direction.
A rectangular sewing-enabled area 120 of the work cloth 100 that is held by the embroidery frame 36 is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 . The length of the sewing-enabled area 120 in the front-rear direction is slightly shorter than the length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the front-rear direction. The length of the sewing-enabled area 120 in the left-right direction is shorter than the length of the specification-enabled area 101 in the left-right direction. That is, the specification-enabled area 101 is a larger area than the sewing-enabled area 120 . Therefore, unlike the case where the embroidery frame 35 is mounted on the embroidery device 2 , the sewing machine 1 controls the embroidery device 2 to move the embroidery frame 36 such that the entire sewing-enabled area 120 is accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 , as shown in FIG. 14 . The accommodating of the entire sewing-enabled area 120 within the specification-enabled area 101 makes it possible for the receivers 94 , 95 to receive with sufficient accuracy the ultrasonic waves that are transmitted from the ultrasound pen 91 , regardless of the position within the sewing-enabled area 120 that is designated as the designated position. Therefore, the sewing machine 1 is able to specify the designated position accurately.
In a case where the embroidery frame 36 is used, in which the size of the sewing-enabled area 120 is smaller than that of the specification-enabled area 101 , as described above, it is not necessary to establish sub-areas. In other words, it is acceptable for the establishing of the sub-areas to be determined in accordance with the size of the embroidery frame. Furthermore, as will be described in detail later, the sewing machine 1 may be provided with a determination portion that determines the size (the type) of the embroidery frame that is mounted on the embroidery device 2 . The sewing machine 1 may also be configured to perform processing that determines whether the embroidery frame requires the establishing of the sub-areas and then control the embroidery device 2 based on that determination.
Main processing will be explained with reference to FIG. 15 . The CPU 61 performs the main processing in accordance with a program that is stored in the ROM 62 . The CPU 61 starts the main processing when, for example, a panel operation for performing sewing on the work cloth 100 is detected.
The CPU 61 determines whether a panel operation has been detected that shifts the sewing machine 1 into an ultrasound mode (Step S 11 ). The ultrasound mode is an operating mode in which the sewing machine 1 is able to detect the ultrasonic waves that are transmitted from the ultrasound pen 91 . In a case where the panel operation that shifts to the ultrasound mode has not been detected (NO at Step S 11 ), the CPU 61 returns the processing to Step S 11 .
In a case where the panel operation that shifts to the ultrasound mode has been detected (YES at Step S 11 ), the CPU 61 determines the type of the embroidery frame that is mounted in the frame holder 55 of the embroidery device 2 . Specifically, a plurality of projecting portions (not shown in the drawings), for example, may be formed such that the plurality of projecting portions are lined up on an attachment portion (not shown in the drawings) by which the embroidery frame is attached to the frame holder 55 . On the frame holder 55 side, a plurality of switches (not shown in the drawings) are provided such that the plurality of switches are lined up in positions that correspond to the individual ones of the plurality of the projecting portions. In a state in which the embroidery frame is attached to the frame holder 55 , the plurality of the projecting portions that are formed on the attachment portion can come into contact with the corresponding ones of the plurality of the switches that are provided on the frame holder 55 . The number and the arrangement of the plurality of the projecting portions are different for each type of embroidery frame. Therefore, in a case where the embroidery frame is mounted in the frame holder 55 , the number and the arrangement of the switches, among the plurality of the switches, with which the projecting portions come into contact are different for each type of embroidery frame. When the embroidery frame is mounted in the frame holder 55 , the CPU 61 determines the type of the embroidery frame by detecting contact states of the individual ones of the plurality of the switches. The contact state is a state in which the projecting portion is in contact with the switch. Note that the method that is described above is only an example, and the CPU 61 may also determine the type of the embroidery frame by other methods that use various types of sensors.
The CPU 61 determines whether the embroidery frame that is mounted in the frame holder 55 of the embroidery device 2 is a large embroidery frame (Step S 13 ). In a case where, based on the type of the embroidery frame that CPU 61 has determined, for example, the entire sewing-enabled area of the mounted embroidery frame is accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 , the CPU 61 determines that the mounted embroidery frame is a small embroidery frame. In contrast, in a case where the entire sewing-enabled area of the mounted embroidery frame is not accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 , the CPU 61 determines that the mounted embroidery frame is the large embroidery frame. In a case where the embroidery frame that is mounted in the frame holder 55 of the embroidery device 2 is the large embroidery frame 35 (YES at Step S 13 ), the CPU 61 displays a selection screen on the LCD 15 (Step S 15 ). The selection screen is a screen on which the operator is able to select one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 (refer to FIG. 8 and the like). The CPU 61 determines whether a panel operation has been detected that selects one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 (Step S 17 ). In a ease where the panel operation has not been detected (NO at Step S 17 ), the CPU 61 returns the processing to Step S 17 . In a case where the panel operation that selects one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 has been detected (YES at Step S 17 ), the CPU 61 specifies a post-move position for the embroidery frame 35 (Step S 18 ). In the present embodiment, the position of the embroidery frame 35 that has been moved is also referred to as a prescribed position. A method for specifying the prescribed position in a case where the panel operation that selects one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 has been detected will be explained.
FIG. 16 shows a table 641 that is stored in the EEPROM 64 . Identification information items are stored in the table 641 in association with coordinate information items (X coordinates and Y coordinates) for each of the identification information items. The identification information item is information item that identifies one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 . The coordinate information item is information item that indicates the position of the embroidery frame 35 in a case where one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 is selected. For example, the coordinate information item may be coordinate information that indicates the position of the center point of the embroidery frame when the embroidery frame is positioned at the prescribed position. The center point of the embroidery frame is the point of intersection of the line segments 117 , 118 . In the present embodiment, in the sewing machine 1 , the direction from left to right and the direction from the front to the rear are the positive directions on the X axis and the Y axis, respectively. The CPU 61 selects the coordinate information item that is associated with the identification information item that identifies the sub-area that was selected by the panel operation that was detected at Step S 17 (refer to FIG. 15 ). The CPU 61 specifies, as the prescribed position, the position that is specified by the selected coordinate information item.
For example, the prescribed position that is specified by the coordinate information (Px, Py) that corresponds to the sub-area 111 is equivalent to the position of the embroidery frame 35 that is shown in FIG. 9 . In the same manner, the prescribed position that is specified by the coordinate information (Qx, Qy) that corresponds to the sub-area 112 is equivalent to the position of the embroidery frame 35 that is shown in FIG. 10 . The prescribed position that is specified by the coordinate information (Rx, Ry) that corresponds to the sub-area 113 is equivalent to the position of the embroidery frame 35 that is shown in FIG. 11 . The prescribed position that is specified by the coordinate information (Sx, Sy) that corresponds to the sub-area 114 is equivalent to the position of the embroidery frame 35 that is shown in FIG. 12 . The coordinate information for specifying the prescribed position can thus be stored by the sewing machine 1 in advance in the EEPROM 64 for each of the sub-areas 111 to 114 . Therefore, the CPU 61 is able to specify the post-move position of the embroidery frame 35 and move the embroidery frame 35 to the prescribed position.
After the prescribed position has been specified, the CPU 61 displays a warning message on the LCD 15 (Step S 19 ). The warning message may be, for example, a message says, “The embroidery frame will move.” The warning message may be displayed for five seconds, for example. By displaying the message, the sewing machine 1 can prompt the operator to pay attention to the fact that the embroidery frame 35 will move. The CPU 61 then operates the X axis motor 86 and the Y axis motor 87 such that the embroidery frame 35 is moved to the specified prescribed position. In this manner, the CPU 61 causes embroidery device 2 to move the embroidery frame 35 to the prescribed position (Step S 20 ). The CPU 61 advances the processing to Step S 21 .
At Step S 13 , in a case where the embroidery frame that is mounted in the frame holder 55 of the embroidery device 2 is the small embroidery frame 36 (NO at Step S 13 ), the CPU 61 specifies, as the prescribed position, the position of the embroidery frame 36 where the entire sewing-enabled area 120 (refer to FIG. 13 ) is accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 (Step S 14 ). Note that, in a case where the embroidery frame that is mounted in the frame holder 55 of the embroidery device 2 is the small embroidery frame 36 , the coordinate information that indicates the prescribed position is stored in the EEPROM 64 in advance. The CPU 61 specifies the prescribed position by reading the coordinate information from the EEPROM 64 . The CPU 61 displays the warning message on the LCD 15 (Step S 19 ). The CPU 61 operates the X axis motor 86 and the Y axis motor 87 such that the embroidery frame 36 is moved to the specified prescribed position. In this manner, the CPU 61 causes embroidery device 2 to move the embroidery frame 36 to the prescribed position (Step S 20 ). The CPU 61 advances the processing to Step S 21 .
The CPU 61 determines whether the ultrasonic waves have been detected through the receivers 94 , 95 (Step S 21 ). In a case where the ultrasonic waves have not been detected through the receivers 94 , 95 (NO at Step S 21 ), the CPU 61 returns the processing to Step S 21 .
In a case where the operator has pressed the pen tip 911 of the ultrasound pen 91 against the work cloth 100 , the signal output circuit 914 of the ultrasound pen 91 outputs an electrical signal through the cable 912 . At the same time, the ultrasound transmitter 915 of the ultrasound pen 91 transmits the ultrasonic waves. The CPU 61 detects the electrical signal that has been output from the ultrasound pen 91 through the cable 912 . The CPU 61 specifies the time that the electrical signal was detected as the transmission time T 1 . After specifying the transmission time T 1 , the CPU 61 detects the ultrasonic waves through the receivers 94 , 95 . The CPU 61 specifies the time that the ultrasonic waves were detected as the detection times T 2 .
In a case where the ultrasonic waves have been detected through the receivers 94 , 95 (YES at Step S 21 ), the CPU 61 specifies the designated position by computing the designated coordinates E based on the transmission time T 1 and the pair of the detection times T 2 (Step S 23 ). The CPU 61 determines whether, among the operation switches 21 , the operation of the start-and-stop switch for starting the sewing has been detected (Step S 25 ). In a case where the operation of the start-and-stop switch has not been detected (NO at Step S 25 ), the CPU 61 returns the processing to Step S 25 . In a case where the operation of the start-and-stop switch has been detected (YES at Step S 25 ), the CPU 61 performs control for starting the sewing from the designated position. The control for starting the sewing from the designated position may be as hereinafter described, for example. By operating the X axis motor 86 and the Y axis motor 87 , the CPU 61 operates the X axis moving mechanism and the Y axis moving mechanism such that the position that is indicated by the X coordinate (Xe) and the Y coordinate (Ye) of the computed designated coordinates E becomes coincident with the needle drop point 102 (refer to FIG. 8 and the like). The embroidery frame that is held by the carriage 52 is moved. The work cloth 100 that is held in the embroidery frame is moved such that the designated position is disposed directly below the sewing needle (directly above the needle drop point 102 ). The CPU 61 causes the needle bar 29 to move up and down by operating the sewing machine motor 79 . The CPU 61 moves the embroidery frame by controlling the embroidery device 2 . In this manner, the CPU 61 causes the sewing machine 1 to start the sewing of the embroidery pattern in the designated position on the work cloth 100 that is held in the embroidery frame (Step S 27 ). The CPU 61 terminates the main processing.
As explained above, by moving the embroidery frame to the prescribed position, the sewing machine 1 is able to specify the position on the work cloth 100 that was designated using the ultrasound pen 91 . That is, the sewing machine can specify the designated position.
Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment that is described above, and various types of modifications can be made. In the explanation above, the sewing machine 1 is used in a state in which the embroidery device 2 , which can be mounted and removed, has been mounted. However, the sewing machine 1 may also be an embroidery sewing machine that is provided with an integral embroidery device 2 function. The sewing machine 1 may also be an embroidery sewing machine that is provided with a plurality of needle bars.
In the embodiment that is described above, the sewing machine 1 specifies the designated position based on the transmission time T 1 and the pair of the detection times T 2 for the ultrasonic waves. The method for specifying the designated position may also be a different method. For example, the sewing machine 1 may specify the designated position based only on the transmission time T 1 for the ultrasonic waves. Note that the sewing machine 1 may also be provided with more than two of the receivers, although a detailed explanation of this will be omitted. The sewing machine 1 can then specify the designated position by specifying the pair of the detection times T 2 when the ultrasonic waves are detected for each of the receivers.
In the explanation above, in a case where the embroidery frame 35 is mounted on the embroidery device 2 , the sewing machine 1 determines the prescribed position that corresponds to the one of the sub-areas 111 to 114 that the operator has established by the panel operation, and then the sewing machine 1 moves the embroidery frame 35 accordingly. However, it is also acceptable for the sewing machine 1 not to establish the sub-areas in advance, for example. The operator may also use a panel operation to select the position within the sewing-enabled area 110 that the operator wants to designate by using the ultrasound pen 91 . The sewing machine 1 may also move the embroidery frame 35 such that the selected position and an area that includes the area around the selected position are accommodated within the specification-enabled area 101 . For example, the sewing machine 1 may move the embroidery frame 35 such that the selected position is positioned in the center of the specification-enabled area 101 . For example, the sewing machine 1 specifies coordinate information that indicates a position of the center of the specification-enabled area 101 based on the coordinate information that indicates the positions of the four vertices of the specification-enabled area 101 . The sewing machine 1 may specify the prescribed position based on coordinate information that indicates the selected position and the specified coordinate information that indicates the position of the center of the specification-enabled area 101 . That is, the sewing machine 1 may specify the prescribed position based on a positional relationship between the specification-enabled area 101 and the area that includes the area around the selected position.
The positioning of the specification-enabled area 101 in relation to the needle drop point 102 is not limited to the example that is described above. For example, the specification-enabled area 101 may also be defined such that the needle drop point 102 is positioned in the center of the specification-enabled area 101 . The shape of the specification-enabled area 101 is not limited to being a square. The shape of the specification-enabled area 101 may also be one of a circle, an ellipse, and a polygon. In the explanation above, the sewing-enabled area 110 is divided into the four sub-areas 111 to 114 . However, the number of the sub-areas is not limited to four. The number of the sub-areas may also be one of two, three, and more than four. The shapes of the sub-areas are also not limited to being rectangles. The shapes of the sub-areas may be defined as any shapes that in accordance with the shape of the embroidery frame 35 .
The apparatus and methods described above with reference to the various embodiments are merely examples. It goes without saying that they are not confined to the depicted embodiments. While various features have been described in conjunction with the examples outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, variations, and/or improvements of those features and/or examples may be possible. Accordingly, the examples, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative. Various changes may be made without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the underlying principles.
|
A sewing machine includes a detector configured to detect ultrasonic waves transmitted from a specification-enabled area, a processor, and a memory storing non-transitory computer-readable instructions that instruct the sewing machine to perform specifying a prescribed position based on a positional relationship between a transmission area and the specification-enabled area, the transmission area being an area that is at least a portion of a sewing-enabled area and being an area that includes a position of a transmission source that transmits the ultrasonic waves, the prescribed position being a position of an embroidery frame when the entire transmission area is included in the specification-enabled area, moving the embroidery frame to the specified prescribed position, specifying a transmission position based on the ultrasonic waves that are detected by the detector, and performing a sewing operation based on the specified transmission position.
| 3
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/CN2013/000217, filed Mar. 1, 2013, which claims priority from Chinese Patent Application No. 201210055824.X, filed Mar. 5, 2012, and Chinese Patent Application No. 201210306680.0, filed Aug. 24, 2012, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to medical application of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans (DHG), in particular relates to application of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da in preparation of a drug for prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases, including atherosclerotic thrombotic diseases and venous thromboembolic diseases, and application of a drug for the prevention and treatment of postoperative thrombosis.
BACKGROUND ART
In the middle-aged and elderly population, the blood viscosity often gradually increases, and the possibility that thrombi are formed in platelet accumulation zones (such as coronary artery and cerebral artery) increases; accordingly, the thromboembolic diseases have become common diseases that seriously threaten the health of human beings especially the middle-aged and elderly people. Thrombosis is the main cause of arterial diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke and venous thromboembolic diseases and patient death. The thrombosis prevention drug can be divided into anticoagulant drugs, antiplatelet drugs and direct thrombolytic drugs, etc. according to the mechanism of action, and can be clinically applied in prevention and treatment of thrombosis. The anticoagulant drugs prevent the thrombus formation or recurrence by affecting coagulation factors. The anticoagulant drugs have no dissolution function on the formed thrombi but can prevent thrombus expansion and new thrombosis. There are many kinds of existing anticoagulant drugs, but most of the anticoagulant drugs are Western medicine anticoagulant drugs with greater side effects, and the condition of blood coagulation needs to be repeatedly detected when the anticoagulant drugs are used in order to avoid bleeding. In addition, the administration mode is complex, more importantly, such anticoagulant drugs have potential risks. For example, in the use process of the currently widely used anticoagulant drugs such as heparin, low molecular weight heparin and warfarin, the condition of blood coagulation needs to be repeatedly detected, because excessive use or use to different physical persons is prone to a variety of bleedings, and there is a serious safety risk.
Therefore, it is an inevitable trend for prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases to screen and separate a more effective and safe drug for prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases from traditional Chinese medicines in consideration of the aging of the population and the increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases as well as the extensiveness of the anticoagulant drugs in clinic application to the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases and the seriousness of the safety hazard of the anticoagulant drugs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an application of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycanin preparation of a drug for prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases in order to overcome the defects of the prior art and meet the clinic requirements.
The animal experiments show that more than one type of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights of between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da can be used for the prevention of atherosclerotic thrombotic diseases, for the treatment of atherosclerotic thrombotic diseases, for venous thromboembolic diseases, for the treatment of venous thromboembolic diseases, and for the prevention of postoperative thrombosis or treatment of postoperative thrombosis;
Therefore, more than one type of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights of between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da can be used for preparing a drug for the prevention of atherosclerotic thrombotic diseases and venous thromboembolic diseases, for preparing a drug for the treatment of atherosclerotic thrombotic diseases and venous thromboembolic diseases, for preparing a drug for the prevention of postoperative thrombosis, or for preparing a drug for the treatment of postoperative thrombosis.
The drug comprises more than one type of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminolycans with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, and is an injection or freeze-dried powder for intravenous or subcutaneous administration;
In the drug, the weight content of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycan is 90% to 99.90%, preferably 92% or more, more preferably 95% or more in order to achieve better results;
The polydispersity of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycan is 1 to 2, preferably 1 to 1.5, more preferably 1 to 1.4;
The polydispersity refers to an index that measures the molecular weight distribution of polymers commonly used in the field, and is used for characterizing the width of molecular weight distribution of polymers. The polydispersity is also called a polydispersity index, polydispersity or a distribution width index in this article or other literatures, and is a ratio of weight average molecular weight (Mw) to number average molecular weight (Mn), i.e. Mw/Mn. This ratio varies with the width of the molecular weight distribution. In single-dispersion, M w /Mn is equal to 1, and the Mw/Mn value gradually increases as the molecular weight distribution widens.
The subcutaneous injection dosage for rats is 10 mg/kg to 70 mg/kg, preferably 20 mg/kg to 50 mg/kg;
The intravenous injection dosage for rats is 0.5 mg/kg to 20 mg/kg, preferably 0.8 mg/kg to 15 mg/kg;
The pharmaceutically acceptable carrier is more than one selected from the group consisting of mannitol, lactose, dextran, glucose, glycine, hydrolyzed gelatin, povidone and sodium chloride, preferably mannitol;
The depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights of between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da can be commercially produced, e.g., the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans produced by Harbin Hongdoushan Bio-Pharm Co., Ltd., or can be produced by a method reported in Chinese Patent ZL200910305363.5, or can be prepared by the following method:
(1) an enzyme is added to minced holothurian, and then is subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis and precipitation, and then a crude product of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans is collected; the crude produced of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans is purified and decolorized to collect the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans;
The holothurian is more than one selected from the group consisting of holothuria leucospilota, holothuria atra, holothuria scabra, thelenota ananas, mensamaria intarcedens or actinopyga mauritian, preferably holothuria leucospilota;
The enzyme comprises a proteolytic enzyme and a compound pancreatin. The proteolytic enzyme can be a commercially available product, e.g., Alcalase produced by Novozymes (Shenyang) Biotechnology Co., and the compound pancreatin can be commercially produced, e.g., Xuemei compound pancreatin produced by Wuxi Xuemei Science and Technology Co., Ltd. The proteolytic enzyme accounts for 2% of holothurian by weight, and the compound pancreatin accounts for 2% of holothurian by weight;
(2) A product in a step (1) is added with hydrogen peroxide with weight concentration of 5% to 10% to be degraded to collect the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights of between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da;
The preparation method of the drug is a conventional method in the preparation field, such as a method recorded in the traditional Chinese medicine preparation manual, so that the injection or freeze-dried powder is obtained;
The depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans containing drug provided by the present invention can be applied to a patient to be treated by a subcutaneous or intravenous injection method, and the dosage is determined by a physician according to the patient's specific circumstances (such as age, weight, gender, disease duration, physical condition, etc.). Generally speaking, on the basis of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans, the subcutaneous injection dosage is 5 to 70 mg/kg, preferably 10 to 50 mg/kg, and the intravenous injection dosage is 0.5 to 20 mg / kg, preferably 0.8 to 15 mg/kg.
A large number of experimental studies have shown that the anticoagulant activity of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans is significantly characterized in that as the dosage increases, the increase in anticoagulant activity reduces to reduce bleeding; therefore, the anticoagulant activity of the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans has obviously excellent safety compared with heparin and low molecular weight heparin. The depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans can be more safely used for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disease, including atherosclerotic thrombotic diseases and venous thromboembolic diseases (such as myocardial infarction, thrombophlebitis, pulmonary embolism, etc.), and can be used for the prevention and treatment of postoperative thromboembolism.
The large number of experimental studies have shown that when the drug using the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights of between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da as an active ingredient is subcutaneously injected, the drug can be safely and effectively used for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases because the drug has significant anticoagulant effect and has no or has weaker bleeding or thrombocytopenia side effects, etc. The drug containing the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da has more excellent subcutaneous injection anticoagulant effect than depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with a weight-average molecular weight of less than 10,000 Da. For an injection of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da, the blood coagulation time is prolonged and the anticoagulant effect is enhanced as the dosage increases, and the increase in anticoagulant effect reduces as the dosage increases so as to reduce bleeding, therefore, the safety of the injection is much higher than that of heparin and low molecular weight heparin. In addition, the subcutaneous administration is used and is more favorable for use in the drug, while at the same time, the convenience and safety of use in the drug are improved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a purity diagram of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans in a depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans drug;
FIG. 2 shows a molecular weight distribution diagram of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans in a depolymerized holothurian glycosaminolycan drug;
FIG. 3 is a linear relation diagram of in vitro anticoagulant dosage and blood coagulation time of DHG.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
An extraction method of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans comprises the following steps of extracting holothuria glycosaminoglycans from holothurian, degrading and depolymerizing to obtain depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans, and then collecting the depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with required molecular weights. The method for extracting the holothuria glycosaminoglycans from the body wall of holothurian is known to those skilled in the art, such as the Chinese patent ZL200910305363.5.
The weight average molecular weight is tested by a high performance liquid chromatography.
Embodiment 1
Extraction method of holothuria glycosaminoglycans comprises the following steps:
weighing 5 Kg of a crude holothuria leucospilota, and soaking in water overnight; draining the body wall of holothurian, mincing, weighing and replenishing with water to 40 Kg, placing in a 60° C. water bath, adding 6 mol/L sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH value to 8.0 ±0.2, adding 100 ml proteolytic enzyme Alcalase (Novozymes (Shenyang) Biotechnology Co.) to be stirred, and be subjected to enzymolysis for 4 hours, inactivating for 10 minutes at a temperature of 85° C. above, cooling to 50° C.±2° C., adding 6 mol/L sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH value to 8.0±0.2, adding 10 g of compound pancreatin (Wuxi Xuemei Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Xuemei brand) to be stirred and be subjected to enzymolysis for 4 hours, boiling for 10 min., and cooling; centrifuging at a temperature of 4° C. to collect a supernatant, adding 6 mol/L hydrochloric acid to adjust the pH value to 2.5±0.2, refrigerating for 2 hours at a temperature of 4° C., centrifuging to collect a supernatant, adding 6 mol/L sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH value to 7.0±0.2, adding 0.8 times ethanol, and keeping stand overnight at a temperature of 4° C.;
centrifuging, collecting a precipitate to be weighed, adding 10 times weight of distilled water, heating to 85° C.±2° C. until the precipitate is completely dissolved, adding 6 mol/L sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH value to 9.0±0.2, adding calcium chloride until the concentration of calcium chloride in a solution reaches 2% (w/v), heating to 90° C. and maintaining for 15 minutes, cooling to room temperature, centrifuging at a temperature of 4° C., collecting a supernatant, adjusting the pH value to 11.0±0.2 with a saturated sodium carbonate solution, centrifuging and collecting a supernatant, adjusting the pH value to 6.0±0.2 with 6 mol/L hydrochloric acid, adding 0.8 times volume of ethanol, and refrigerating overnight at a temperature of 4° C.;
centrifuging a refrigerated liquid and collecting a precipitate to be weighed, adding 2 times volume of distilled water, heating so that the precipitate is fully dissolved, adding potassium acetate so that the final concentration is 2 mol/L, and keeping stand overnight at a temperature 4° C.; centrifuging, collecting a precipitate to be weighed, adding 2 times volume of distilled water, heating so that the precipitate is fully dissolved, adding potassium acetate so that the final concentration is 2 mol/L, and keeping stand overnight at a temperature 4° C.; centrifuging, washing the precipitate with a 2 mol/L cold potassium acetate solution for three times, then sequentially washing with 80% ethanol, 95% ethanol, and anhydrous ethanol, drying at a temperature of 80° C. after the ethanol is fully evaporated, weighing, and obtaining a crude product A;
adding 0.05 mol/L HAc-NaAc buffer solution with a pH value of 6.0 to the crude product A of 100 g to be prepared into a 2% solution for column packing; after the solution is subjected to a cellulose chromatographic column, washing with 1.5 times column volumes of an HAc-NaAc buffer solution of 0.4 mol/LNaCl (pH6.0±0.2), and then eluting with an HAc-NaAc buffer solution of 1 mol/L NaCl (pH6.0±0.2); collecting an eluate according to the value change rate at 220 nm with an UV detector, placing in a 60° C. water bath, adjusting the pH value to 11±0.2 with NaOH, adding 3% hydrogen peroxide by volume, holding for 4 hours, cooling, centrifuging, collecting a supernatant, adjusting the pH value to 7.0±0.2 with HCl, adding 1 time ethanol, and keeping stand overnight at a temperature of 4° C.
centrifuging, collecting a precipitate, and sequentially washing with 95% ethanol and anhydrous ethanol to obtain a crude product B;
dissolving the crude product B with distilled water into a 5% solution, concentrating with a UF membrane with molecular weight cut-off of 10,000 to ½ of the original volume, replenishing water to the original volume, ultrafiltrating to ½ of the volume, adding water to repeat once, and freeze-drying an ultrafiltrate to obtain holothuria glycosaminoglycans.
1.2 Preparation Method of Depolymerized Holothurian Glycosaminoglycans
The pure holothuria glycosaminoglcan product is prepared into a 2% solution with 5% acetic acid, 30% hydrogen peroxide is added so that the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the solution is 5%, and the controlled depolymerization is carried out for 20 hours at a temperature of 60° C. The solution is neutralized to be neutral with 0.1 mol/1 sodium hydroxide, 3 times volume of ethanol is added for alcohol precipitation, and the resultant product is kept stand and centrifuged to obtain a crude product of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans.
The crude product is dried and dissolved in 5 times weight of water, is subjected to a sephadex-G75 column and is eluted with 0.5 mol/1 sodium chloride to remove salts and low molecular impurities, and the desalted sample is freeze-dried to obtain 55 g of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans with molecular weight of between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da, wherein the D value is less than 1.5, and the purity is higher than 98%.
The depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans obtained from the embodiment is subjected to a differential refractive index detector (RID-10A, Shimadzu) to obtain a pure product with a purity of 99.0% (Chromatogram can be seen in FIG. 1 ). The depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans obtained from the embodiment is subjected to a gel column (TSK gel G4000PWXL, TOSOH) for chromatographic analysis, it can be known that the weight average molecular weight of the product is 31816, and the D value is 1.36 (Chromatogram can be seen in FIG. 2 )
The obtained depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans of 12.0 g is added with 24 g of mannitol, is added with 1000 ml water for injection to be dissolved, and is ultrafiltrated, packed and freeze-dried to obtain 1000 bottles of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans freeze-drying powder for injection.
Embodiment 2
Pharmacodynamic experiments of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans
2.1 In vitro Anticoagulant Experiment
2.1.1 Test Materials
Test Samples:
Name: depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans (26,000 Da to 45,000 Da), DHG for short;
Source: Shanghai Kairun Bio-Medical Co., Ltd.
Batch number: 20110308;
Preparation: after precise suction, the normal saline for injection is used for diluting to the desired concentration.
Test Animals
Strain: rabbit;
Source: Shanghai Chenhang experimental rabbit Co. Ltd.;
Gender: male;
Weight: 1800 g;
Animal Certificate Number: SCXK (Shanghai) 2007-0010.
2.1.2 Test Instrument
Platelet aggregation and coagulation factor analyzer (Model: LG-PABER Beijing Steellex Scientific Instrument Company).
2.1.3 Experimental Method
On the experimental day, 80 μl of rabbit plasma and 10 μl of a 0.9% sodium chloride solution are respectively added to sample pools, and are preheated for 180 s, and then 10 μl of a 1% calcium chloride solution is added to be evenly mixed at once to avoid generating air bubbles, and then the platelet aggregation and coagulation factor analyzer is used to start calculating time, and the coagulation time of each sample pool is recorded, i.e., a blank group.
A control solution is precisely weighed, is diluted with a 0.9% sodium chloride solution to solutions of different concentrations, i.e., sample solutions of different concentrations (0.6 μg/ml to 23.3 μg/ml).
10 μl of sample solutions of different concentrations replace 10 μl of a 0.9% sodium chloride solution to respectively determine the plasma coagulation time of the sample solution of each concentration. The parallel determination is carried out for 4 times for each concentration, and an average value is given.
2.1.4 Experimental Results
Experimental results show that the final concentration of the sample is in a dosage range of 0.6 μg/ml to 23.3 μg/ml, the blood coagulation time is prolonged as the dosage increases, and the increasing trend eases as the blood coagulation time is prolonged. Therefore, the DHG composition has better safety and controllability in anticoagulation.
TABLE 1
In vitro anticoagulant experimental results of DHG
Samples (μg/ml)
Blood coagulation time
Samples (μg/ml)
Blank
197.2 ± 10.5
0.6
198.3 ± 13.8
0.6%
1.0
226.7 ± 12.7
15.0%
2.0
248.3 ± 6.2
26.0%
3.0
253.9 ± 8.2
28.8%
5.1
309.8 ± 25.6
57.1%
7.1
351.5 ± 21.5
78.3%
9.1
401.5 ± 23.2
103.7%
11.1
471.4 ± 20.6
139.1%
13.2
512.7 ± 9.5
160.1%
15.2
551.4 ± 17.1
179.7%
17.2
603.6 ± 35.8
206.1%
19.2
669.7 ± 12.6
239.7%
21.3
709.6 ± 23.4
259.9%
23.3
784.8 ± 37.6
298.0%
2.2 Effect of Subcutaneously Injected DHG on Rate Blood Coagulation System
2.2.1 Test Materials
Test Samples:
Name: DHG;
Source: Shanghai Kairun Bio-Medical Co., Ltd.
Batch Number: 20110308;
Preparation: after precise suction, the normal saline for injection is used for diluting to the desired concentration.
2.2.2 Test Animals
Strains: SD rats;
Source: Shanghai Super—B&K experimental animal Co, Ltd.
Gender: male;
Weight: 220-250 g;
Animal Certificate Number: SCXK (Shanghai) 2011-0017;
Breeding: Animals are bred in purifying positive pressure ventilation animal rooms at a room temperature of 23±1° C., and a humidity of 50 to 70%, the artificial lighting simulates diurnal variation, and the animals freely eat food and drink water.
2. 2.3 Test Instrument
Automatic Coagulation Analyzer Sysmex CA-1500
2.2.4 Experimental Method
40 SD rats are divided into four different administration groups, i.e., a negative control group (subcutaneously injected with 0.5 ml of normal saline), low, middle and high-dose (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) depolymerized holothurian glycosaminolycan (26,0000 Da to 45,0000 Da) (DHG) groups, and the rats are administered by subcutaneous injection by the volume of 0.5 ml.
At 60 minutes after the low, middle and high-dose DHG groups and the blank control group are administrated by subcutaneous injection, the values of the prothrombin time (PT), the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and the thrombin time (TT) are determined by collecting blood from the abdominal aorta. See Table 2.
At 10 minutes before a surgery, the animals in each group are intraperitoneally injected with 3% Seconal to be anesthetized (0.1 ml/100 g body weight), and are supinely fixed to undergo an abdominal surgery, and the blood is collected by a disposable 3.2% sodium citrate anticoagulant vacuum blood collection tube.
2.2.5 Test Results
The effects of DHG at a low dose of 10 mg/kg on APTT, TT and PT are obvious, i.e., APTT, TT and PT are prolonged by 190.8%, 90.3% and 10.4% respectively, and the effects of DHG at doses of 20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg on APTT, TT and PT are extremely significant, i.e., APTT exceeds a range of between 150% and 250%. See Table 3.
TABLE 2
Experimental results of anticoagulation of rats
subcutaneously injected with DHG
Blood coagulation
time (mean ± SD)
Groups
Animal number
PT (sec)
APTT (sec)
TT (sec)
10 mg/kg
10
9.5 ± 0.2
34.7 ± 1.5
98.3 ± 7.1
20 mg/kg
10
10.0 ± 0.3
54.4 ± 3.4
112.0 ± 8.8
40 mg/kg
10
11.1 ± 0.9
63.4 ± 5.3
130.4 ± 9.4
Blank
10
8.6 ± 0.2
11.9 ± 1.3
51.6 ± 3.8
TABLE 3
Blood coagulation time prolonging rate of DHG rats
PT
APTT
TT
10 mg/kg
10.4%
190.8%
90.3%
20 mg/kg
15.1%
355.2%
116.8%
40 mg/kg
28.3%
430.5%
152.5%
2.3 Effect of Depolymerized Holothurian Glycosaminolycan on Rat Arteriovenous Catheter Thrombosis Model
2.3.1 Test Materials
Test Samples
Name: DHG
Source: Shanghai Kairun Bio-Medical Co., Ltd.
Batch number: 20110306;
Preparation: after precise suction, the normal saline for injection is used for diluting to the desired concentration.
Control Sample:
Name: Heparin;
Source: Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd.;
Batch number: F20091029;
Content: 150 U/mg;
Preparation: after precise suction, the normal saline for injection is used for dissolving and diluting to the desired concentration.
Test Animals:
Strains: SD rats;
Source: Shanghai Super—B&K experimental animal Co, Ltd.
Gender: male; Weight: 250-300 g;
Animal Certificate Number: SCXK (Shanghai) 2011-0007;
Breeding: Animals are bred in purifying positive pressure ventilation animal rooms at a room temperature of 23±1° C., and a humidity of 50 to 70%, the artificial lighting simulates diurnal variation, and the animals freely eat food and drink water.
2.3.2 Test Instrument
BS 110 s-type electronic balance, produced by SARTORIUS
Company, with the minimum weight of 0.1 mg.
2.3.3 Test Method
34 SD rats are divided into four different administration groups, i.e., a negative control group (normal saline 1 ml/kg), two DHG dose groups (10, 20 mg/kg), and a positive control low molecular weight heparin group (2 mg/kg). All drugs are subcutaneously injected for administration by the volume of 0.5 ml.
The animals in each group are intraperitoneally injected with 12% chloral hydrate to be anesthetized (350 to 400 mg/kg) at 10 min before a surgery, and then are supinely fixed. The neck skin is cut off, and the left carotid artery and the right external jugular vein are dissected to be connected by a bypass pipe in which a 7 cm long No. 4 surgical silk thread is placed. The bloodstream is opened for 15 minutes at 20 minutes after administration respectively, and then the silk thread is taken out to be weighed, and the weight of the silk thread is deducted to obtain the thrombus wet weight. The thrombus wet weight mean and standard deviation of each test group are calculated and are compared with those of the normal saline group by a t-test. The thrombus wet weight inhibition rate of each test group is calculated in accordance with the following formula:
Thrombus wet weight inhibition rate (%)=(Thrombus wet weight (solvent group)−Thrombus wet weight (test group)/Thrombus wet weight (solvent group))*100%
2.3.4 Test Results
See Table 4, at 20 minutes after administration, the positive drug and the test drug can obviously inhibit thrombus formation after being tested. The inhibition of the test drug on thrombus formation is proportional to the dosage.
TABLE 4
Effect of DHG on rat arteriovenous catheter
thrombosis model
Thrombus weight
Thrombus inhibition rate
Dosage
(mg)
(%)
Group
n
(mg/kg)
20 minutes
20 minutes
Blank
10
0.5 ml
66.9 ± 4.2
LMWH
8
2
40.8 ± 3.8**
39.0%
DHG
8
10
49.2 ± 5.1*
26.5%
8
20
30.2 ± 6.8**
54.9%
Compared with the negative group:
*P < 0.05,
**P < 0.01
2.4 Effect of Subcutaneously Injected DHG with Different Molecular Weight Segments on Rat Blood Coagulation System
2.4.1 Test Materials
Test Samples:
Name: DHG-I (8000 Da to 12000 Da); DHG-II (26,000 Da to 45,000 Da); [0127] Source: Shanghai Kairun Bio-Medical Co., Ltd.
Batch numbers: 20110309 (DHG-I); 20110308 (DHG-II);
Preparation: after precise suction, the normal saline for injection is used for diluting to the desired concentration.
2.4.2 Test Animals
Strain: SD rats;
Source: Shanghai Super—B&K experimental animal Co, Ltd.
Gender: male;
Weight: 220-250 g;
Animal Certificate Number: SCXK (Shanghai) 2011-0017;
Breeding: Animals are bred in purifying positive pressure ventilation animal rooms at a room temperature of 23±1° C., and a humidity of 50 to 70%, the artificial lighting simulates diurnal variation, and the animals freely eat food and drink water.
2.4.3 Test Instrument
Automatic Coagulation Analyzer Sysmex CA-1500
2.4.4 Experimental Method
40 SD rats are divided into four different administration groups, i.e., a negative control group (subcutaneously injected with normal saline of 0.5 ml), DHG with different molecular weight segments, DHG-I (8,000 Da to 12,000 Da), DHG-II (26,000 Da to 45,000 Da); the rats are subcutaneously injected at the same dose of 20 mg/kg by the volume of 0.5 ml.
At 60 minutes after the DHG with different molecular weight segments and the blank control group are administrated by subcutaneous injection, the values of the prothrombin time (PT), the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and the thrombin time (TT) are determined by collecting blood from the abdominal aorta. See Table 5. At 10 minutes before a surgery, the animals in each group are intraperitoneally injected with 3% Seconal to be anesthetized (0.1 ml/100 g body weight), and are supinely fixed to undergo the abdominal surgery, and the blood is collected by a disposable 3.2% sodium citrate anticoagulant vacuum blood collection tube.
2.4.5 Test Results
The effect of DHG-II on APTT, TT and PT is obviously stronger than that of DHG-I at the same does. For DHG-I, the APTT, TT and PT are respectively prolonged by 157.3%, 51.4% and 37.0%. For DHG-II, the APTT, TT and PT are respectively prolonged by 365.0%, 117.9% and 37.0%. See Table 6.
TABLE 5
Experimental results of anti-coagulation of rats
subcutaneously injected with DHG with different molecular weight
segments
Blood coagulation
time (mean ± SD)
Groups
Animal number
PT (sec)
APTT (sec)
TT (sec)
DHG-I
10
8.0 ± 0.3
30.1 ± 1.4
77.8 ± 6.9
DHG-II
10
10.0 ± 0.3
54.4 ± 3.4
112.0 ± 8.8
Blank
10
7.3 ± 0.4
11.7 ± 1.2
51.4 ± 5.2
TABLE 6
Blood coagulation time prolonging rate of rats
injected with DHG with different molecular weight segments
PT
APTT
TT
20 mg/kg
9.6%
157.3%
51.4%
20 mg/kg
37.0%
365.0%
117.9%
2.5 Effect of Intravenously Injected DHG on Rat Blood Coagulation System
2.5.1 Test Materials
Test Samples:
Name: DHG
Source: Shanghai Kairun Bio-Medical Co., Ltd.
Batch number: 20110308;
Preparation: after precise suction, the normal saline for injection is used for diluting to the desired concentration.
2.5.2 Test Animals
Strain: SD rats;
Source: Shanghai Super—B&K experimental animal Co, Ltd.
Gender: male;
Weight: 220-250 g;
Animal Certificate Number: SCXK (Shanghai) 2011-0017;
Breeding: Animals are bred in purifying positive pressure ventilation animal rooms at a room temperature of 23±1° C., and a humidity of 50 to 70%, the artificial lighting simulates diurnal variation, and the animals freely eat food and drink water.
2.5.3 Test Instrument
Automatic Coagulation Analyzer Sysmex CA-1500
2.2.4 Experimental Method
40 SD rats are divided into four different administration groups, i.e., a negative control group (intravenously injected with 0.2 ml of normal saline), low, middle and high-dose depolymerized holothurian glycosaminolycan (26,0000 Da to 45,0000 Da) (DHG) groups (0.5, 1.5 and 4.5 mg/kg), and the rats are administered by subcutaneous injection by the volume of 0.2 ml.
At 30 minutes after the low, middle and high-dose DHG groups and the blank control group are administrated by subcutaneous injection, the values of the prothrombin time (PT), the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and the thrombin time (TT) are determined by collecting blood from the abdominal aorta. See Table 7.
At 10 minutes before a surgery, the animals in each group are intraperitoneally injected with 3% Seconal to be anesthetized (0.1 ml/100 g body weight), and are supinely fixed to undergo the abdominal surgery, and the blood is collected by a disposable 3.2% sodium citrate anticoagulant vacuum blood collection tube.
2.2.5 Test Results
The effects of DHG at a low dose of 0.5 mg/kg on APTT, TT and PT are significant, i.e., APTT, TT and PT are prolonged by 157.27%, 83.80% and 2.35% respectively, and the effects of DHG at doses of 1.5 mg/kg and 4.5 mg/kg on APTT, TT and PT are extremely obvious, i.e., APTT exceeds a range of between 150% and 200%. See Table 8.
TABLE 7
Experimental results of anti-coagulation of rats
intravenously injected with DHG
Blood coagulation
time (mean ± SD)
Groups
Animal number
PT (sec)
APTT(sec)
TT (sec)
0.5 mg/kg
10
8.7 ± 0.3
28.3 ± 1.3
85.1 ± 6.2
1.5 mg/kg
10
9.4 ± 0.5
34.4 ± 2.8
102.1 ± 7.6
4.5 mg/kg
10
10.8 ± 0.7
53.4 ± 4.7
122.4 ± 8.1
Blank
10
8.5 ± 0.3
11.0 ± 1.1
46.3 ± 3.7
TABLE 3
Blood coagulation time prolonging rate of DHG rats
PT
APTT
TT
0.5 mg/kg
2.35%
157.27%
83.80%
1.5 mg/kg
10.59%
212.73%
120.52%
4.5 mg/kg
27.06%
385.45%
164.36%
|
The present invention discloses an application of depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycans (DHG) in preparation of a drug for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases. The DHG is more than one type of DHG with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 and 45,000 Da. When being intravenously or subcutaneously injected, the drug using the DHG with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 and 45,000 Da as an active ingredient has a significant anticoagulant effect, while at the same time, has little side effects, and is effective for use in the prevention and treatment of the thromboembolic diseases. For an injection of DHG with weight-average molecular weights between 26,000 Da and 45,000 Da, the blood coagulation time is prolonged and the anticoagulant effect is enhanced as the dosage increases; the subcutaneous administration is used and is more favorable for use in the drug, and the convenience and safety of use the drug are improved.
| 0
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to rotary brush sweepers, such as lawn sweepers, which may be pulled, towed by a vehicle or drawn by hand. More particularly, the sweeper of this invention has an improved baffle assembly and drag plate which provides optimum collection capabilities, while avoiding clogging.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The sweepers shown by the relevant prior art generally include a ground engaging a rotary sweeper brush and an oppositely rotating brush or impeller which receives the particulate material from the sweeper brush and propels the material into a hopper or the like. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,435, which is assigned to the Assignee of the present invention and is incorporated herein by reference.
In the prior art, the oppositely rotating brushes or impellers are confined in a downwardly opening housing or chamber which may include an upper baffle generally conforming to the upper surface of the brushes. The particulate material is swept upwardly by the sweeper brush and thrown into the path of the oppositely rotating secondary brush or impeller. The particulate material is then propelled over the secondary brush or rotor into a hopper or bag. For optimum operation of the sweeper, the particulate material should be received on the secondary brush generally at the rotary speed of the brush and the quantity of the particulate material should be metered or controlled to avoid clogging. The prior art does not include any means to control either the speed or quantity of the particulate material received in the housing and therefore the housing may be easily clogged during normal operation. For example, the housing may be clogged when the sweeper is run over an accumulation of pile of particulate material, such as clippings or leaves.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As disclosed in the above referenced patent of Rhodes et al, the sweeper assembly of this invention may include a downwardly opening housing enclosure having a rotatably mounted sweeper brush, a second brush rotatably mounted within the housing adjacent and above the sweeper brush and means rotating the brushes, preferably in opposite directions. The sweeper brush will thereby deliver particulate material to the second brush, which propels the material out of the housing into a suitable hopper, bag or the like. The sweeper assembly of the present invention includes a lower baffle which defines a throat between the sweeper brush and the housing directing particulate material collected by the sweeper brush into the housing enclosure, toward the secondary brush. In the preferred embodiment, the lower baffle also includes a lower end which is adapted to lift the sweeper assembly and the lower brush upon engaging accumulated particulate material, to limit the material received in the throat, thereby preventing clogging of the sweeper assembly. The lower baffle end is preferably arcuate to provide a drag surface spaced below the rotational axis of the sweeper brush.
The preferred embodiment of the lower baffle includes an arcuate face confronting the sweeper brush, defining an expanding throat entering the housing enclosure and between the rotary brushes. The path of the particulate material then proceeds over the second rotary brush which propells the material out of the housing enclosure. In the disclosed embodiment, the housing includes an upper baffle which receives the particulate material from between the brushes and which defines the outlet of the housing enclosure.
As described above, the primary object of the present invention is to optimize the operation of a rotary brush sweeper, while avoiding clogging. The lower baffle in the sweeper assembly of the prevent invention provides an expanding throat into the housing enclosure and an arcuate drag plate which improves the operation of the sweeper, while avoiding clogging. It has been found that the operation of the sweeper may be further optimized by the location of the drag surface of the lower baffle and by controlling the rotational speeds of the brushes. In the preferred embodiment, the arcuate lower baffle end is spaced below the rotational axis of the sweeper brush a distance greater than one-half the radius of the sweeper brush. The sweeper brush is preferably rotated at a ratio of about 5:1 to 7:1 the rotational speed of the wheels and the second brush is rotated at a ratio of about 1.5:1 to 2:1 of the rotational speed of the sweeper brush.
Further objects and meritorious features of the present invention will be more fully understood from the description of the preferred embodiment the appended claims and the drawings, a brief description of which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the sweeper assembly of this invention.
FIG 2 is a front elevation of the sweeper assembly shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a partially cross sectioned bottom view of the drive means for the rotary brushes shown in FIG. 1, in the direction of view arrows 3--3; and
FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the sweeper assembly shown in FIG. 2, in the direction of view arrows 4--4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The sweeper assembly 20 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a housing enclosure 22, ground engaging and supporting wheels 24, a collection hopper 26 and a draw bar assembly 28. As described below, the draw bar assembly may be connected to a tractor or other vehicle to pull the sweeper assembly along the ground in the direction of arrow 30. The movement of the sweeper assembly in the direction of arrow 30 causes rotation of the rotary brushes within the housing enclosure to sweep particulate material, such as leaves, clippings, etc., which are then collected in the hopper 26.
The construction of the housing assembly is best shown in FIG. 4. The housing is a downwardly facing enclosure having a top wall 34 and opposed side walls 36. A sweeper brush 38 is rotatably supported within the housing on shaft 40, which is perpendicular to the side walls 36. A second rotary brush 42 is rotatably supported on shaft 44 located forward and above sweeper brush 38. As used herein, "forward" refers to the direction of arrow 30. As shown by arrows 45 and 46, the sweeper brush 38 is rotated in clockwise direction to sweep the particulate material upwardly as the sweeper assembly is moved in the direction of 30. The second rotary brush 42 is oppositely rotated in a counter clockwise direction to propel the particulate material into the hopper, as described hereinbelow.
The lower baffle assembly 48 in the preferred embodiment includes an arcuate face 50 confronting the sweeper brush 38 which defines an expanding throat 52 into the housing enclosure and between the rotary brushes 38 and 42. As described above, the arcuate lower edge 54 of the lower baffle defines a drag surface which limits the sweeping capacity of sweeper brush 38 and therefore limits clogging of the sweeper assembly. The drag face is preferably spaced below the rotational axis 40 of the sweeper brush a distance greater than one-half the radius of the sweeper brush. For example, when the sweeper assembly is drawn over an accumulation of particulate material, such as a pile of cuttings or leaves 56, the drag face 54 raises the sweeper assembly and lower brush 38 to limit the amount of particulate material swept into the throat 52.
The upper baffle plate 60 includes an arcuate portion 62 confronting the sweeper brush 38 and an arcuate portion 64 confronting the second rotary brush 42 and defining a decreasing throat between the brush and the baffle.
Particulate material is thereby swept upwardly by the rotating sweeper brush 38 into the expanding throat 52 as shown by arrow 65. As described, the lower baffle is designed to achieve maximum air flow. This results in maximizing material transfer from the sweeper or primary brush 38 to the second rotary brush 42. This optimum air flow is achieved by providing a large air volume in the interchange area between the sweeper and second rotary brushes at arrows 66 and a minimum area or reducing throat between the second rotary brush 42 and the upper baffle face 64. The combination of the lower baffle edge 54 and the expanding throat 52 thereby optimizes the operation of the sweeper assembly of this invention, while limiting clogging.
To achieve maximum material transfer utilizing only the tractive work available from the wheels and ground contact, the secondary brush 42 is preferably driven faster than the primary or sweeper brush 38 at a ratio of about 1.5:1 to 2:1. This ratio has been found to be best for discharging the particulate material into the hopper at a sufficient speed to insure that the material hits the outer walls to achieve maximum filling of the hopper. The sweeper brush is preferably rotated at a ratio of about 5:1 to 7:1 the rotational speed of the wheels to provide the necessary torque to minimize clogging. In one example, these ratios would result in a secondary brush speed of about 700 rpm, a sweeper brush speed of about 500 rpm and a ground speed of about 3 miles per hour.
A suitable drive means for the sweeper and second rotary brush is shown in FIG. 3. This is a positive drive means which is disclosed in the above referenced patent of Rhodes et al assigned to the Assignee of the instant application. Briefly, the drive means includes a metal hub 70 which is retained within one of the ground supporting wheels 24 of the sweeper assembly. The hub includes an annular channel 72 concentric with the wheel having an outer planatary gear 74 on the radial outer wall and an inner planatary gear 76 on the radial inner wall. The shaft 40 of the sweeper brush 38 includes a pinion gear 78 which engages the inner planatary gear and the shaft 44 of the second rotary brush 42 includes a pinion gear 80 which engages the outer planatary gear 74. The brushes are thus driven in opposite directions with the second rotary brush 42 driven at a greater speed than the sweeper brush. As described above, the second brush of the present invention is preferably driven at a ratio of about 1.5:1 to 2:1 of the rotational speed of the sweeper brush. In the disclosed embodiment, the brush shafts 40 and 44 are supported in bearings 82 in the side wall 36 of the housing. Other details of the positive drive are more fully disclosed in the above referenced patent of Rhodes et al.
It will be understood that the sweeper assembly of this invention may utilize any conventional drive means for the brushes, although a positive drive means is preferred to accurately drive the brushes at the preferred speed ratios. For example, an impositive drive, such as a belt drive may be utilized.
As will now be understood, the particulate material swept by the rotary brush assembly is propelled by the second rotary brush 42 into a hopper as shown by arrows 84 in FIG. 4. A suitable hopper assembly is best shown in FIG. 1. The disclosed hopper assembly includes a U-shaped upper tubular frame member 90 and a U-shaped lower tubular frame member 92 which define the shape of the hopper assembly 26. A cover 96 is stretched over the upper and lower frame members, which may be sewn into place as shown. A suitable cover material would be canvas or the like. As shown, the hopper is supported on the opposed draw bar arms 28.
The opposed draw bar arms 28 are connected to the stationary frame member 98 by bolts 100 or the like. The stationary frame members may be connected to the supporting wheels 24 as shown in FIG. 3 and described in the above referenced patent of Rhodes et al. As described in the Rhodes et al patent, the hopper 26 may be rotated over the sweeper assembly to unload the hopper and the sweeper housing may be rotated about the wheel axis to change the angular position of the sweeper brush 38, particularly to raise the sweeper brush during transportation. In the disclosed embodiment, the upper and lower frame members 90 and 92 are pivotally connected to the side walls of the housing by pivot 104. As described, the frame members are generally U-shaped, such that the opposed ends of each of the frame members are connected to opposite sides of the sweeper housing.
The angular position of the sweeper assembly housing may be adjusted in the disclosed embodiment by latch means 106. The latch means includes a bracket 108 connected to the stationary frame member 98 and a latch pin 110 which is selectively received in one of a plurality of apertures or holes 112 in the side wall of the housing. The position of the sweeper brush 38 may therefore be adjusted simply by releasing the latch pin 110 and rotating the housing to the desired position. The latch pin is then reinserted in one of the apertures 112, locking the sweeper assembly housing and the sweeper brush 38 in the desired position.
As understood from the above description, the sweeper assembly of this invention may be drawn in the direction of arrow 30 by connecting the draw bar arms 28 to a suitable tractor or other conveyance. A tow bar bracket is shown schematically at 114. The movement of the sweeper assembly in the direction of arrow 30 rotates the ground supporting wheels 24 in a clockwise direction, which rotates the brushes 38 and 42 in opposite directions as shown in FIG. 4. The particulate material which is to be collected is swept upwardly by the sweeper brush 38 as shown by arrow 65, into the expanding throat 52. The particulate material is then received by the second rotary brush 42, propelled through the reducing throat between the upper baffle 60 and the second rotary brush, and finally into the hopper as shown by arrows 84. As described, the baffle design of the present invention maximizes air flow through the housing chamber, optimizing the flow of particulate material from the sweeper brush into the hopper. Further, the arcuate lower end 54 serves as a drag surface to avoid sweeping an accumulation of particulate material into the hopper which would result in clogging of the hopper assembly. The sweeper assembly of the present invention therefore results in several advantages which are not found in the prior art and which are important to efficient operation of a sweeper assembly.
It will be understood that modifications may be made to the sweeper assembly of the present invention without departing from the purview of the appended claims. For example, the positive driven shown in FIG. 3 may be replaced with a more conventional impositive drive, such as a belt drive. Similarly, various hooper designs may be utilized depending upon the particular application of the sweeper assembly of this invention. Having described one embodiment of the sweeper assembly of this invention, there follows the claims of the invention.
|
An improved sweeper assembly having a pair of oppositely rotatable brushes supported in spaced parallel relation within a housing enclosure. A lower baffle plate is provided forward of the lower brush which defines an expanding throat for the housing. Particulate material is swept by the lower brush, through the throat opening and then propelled by the upper brush out of the housing into a collection hopper. The lower baffle also includes a downwardly facing arcuate lower end, which is spaced below the rotational axis of the lower brush and which serves as a drag plate, limiting the material swept by the lower brush. The brushes are driven by rotation of the ground supporting wheels at predetermined speeds to improve the collection capacity of the sweeper assembly.
| 4
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/982,890, filed Oct. 26, 2007, entitled UNIVERSAL LIGHT BAR, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Many homeowners have looked for ways to install lights on decks, railings, stairs, fences, and a wide variety of other areas which require lighting. In the past, such lights were difficult to install and expensive to operate. In addition, such lights failed to provide sufficient illumination to satisfy current safety guidelines.
[0003] Although light-emitting diode (LED) lighting currently exists in the form of “rope lighting,” drawbacks of such rope lighting include, but are not limited to, difficulty of installation and inability to light specific areas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] An embodiment of the invention described herein provides a light bar assembly that can be easily mounted on a variety of surfaces and is capable of directing light to particular areas. The light bar assembly includes a face bar extending in a longitudinal direction and having a pair of ends, as well as at least one opening for permitting light to pass through. A lighting system mounted within the face bar comprises a circuit board extending in the longitudinal direction and having two ends as well as wires capable of carrying electric current, and at least one light source electrically connected to the wires and to the circuit board. Finally, a mounting bar extends in the longitudinal direction and has two ends, with one part forming a connecting section, and where the mounting bar is capable of being mounted to a structure. The connecting section of the face bar and the connecting section of the mounting bar are capable of being removably interconnected to each other.
[0005] Another embodiment provides a light bar system comprising one or more light bar assemblies connected in series.
[0006] For a better understanding of the invention, together with other and further aspects thereof, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and detailed description, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1A is an exploded pictorial cross-sectional view of the light bar assembly of this invention with portions thereof shown in exaggerated fashion;
[0008] FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the mounting bar shown in FIG. 1A ;
[0009] FIG. 1C is a pictorial view of the circuit board;
[0010] FIGS. 2A , 2 B, 2 C, and 2 D are cross-sectional views of various embodiments of the light bar assembly where 2 D is shown in exploded fashion;
[0011] FIG. 3A is a pictorial view of the light bar assembly of this invention mounted under a railing and connected to a power converter;
[0012] FIG. 3B is a pictorial view of the power converter as shown in FIG. 3A ;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a pictorial view of the invention mounted under a railing and shown disconnected from a power converter in order to illustrate the light bar assembly in exploded fashion;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a pictorial view of an example of four light bar assemblies joined by connector plugs where two of the light bar assemblies are shown in exploded fashion;
[0015] FIG. 6 is an exploded pictorial view of a light bar assembly and a connector plug; and
[0016] FIG. 7 is an exploded pictorial view of a supply plug and a light bar assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The light bar assembly of the present invention provides for simplified installation and use in a wide range of applications. Its compact and aesthetically-pleasing appearance blends into a structure without being too noticeable during the daylight hours.
[0018] This invention addresses shortcomings of past systems and provides a unique design capable of new and different applications. The present invention provides a light bar assembly that is exceptionally easy to reproduce, easy to install, can be adapted to many different uses and materials. The light bar assembly also allows flexibility when a user requires light at irregular or regular intervals, is virtually maintenance free, and is able to be run at very low cost. The light bar assembly is made up of a minimum of replaceable components.
[0019] These and other objectives are achieved by a plurality of light sources mounted directly onto a circuit board that carries an electrical wire at one or both of its ends. The mounted light sources and circuit board are preferably embedded in a compound resistant to water and damage before being placed inside the recess of the light bar assembly. The mounted light sources can be orientated to a desired direction, which preferably would be downward to illuminate a railing, stairs, or other mounting surface for better visibility. If desired, the circuit board can also accommodate a light sensor, a rectifier, or other desired electronic components, and will preferably be able to be powered from either end.
[0020] The light bar assembly is made up of at least two sections that are preferably, but not limited to, extruded plastic for lower cost. The two sections can also be made by injection molding for additional features. One of the sections, called the “face bar”, is a part containing a suitable recess, whereas the other part, called the “mounting bar”, is preferably of a modified flat shape that allows it to be mounted on a surface.
[0021] The face bar, being the recessed part of the lighting system, carries the light sources, the circuit board, and electrical wires which may be connected to one or both ends of the circuit board or boards. The longitudinal edges preferably have an attaching mechanism which allows the face bar to be mated with the mounting bar.
[0022] The mounting bar is capable of being affixed to a surface by various means and has along its longitudinal edges a suitable mating mechanism adapted to accept the face bar. The mounting bar can optionally provide a suitable longitudinal recess in front or on its back that can carry and secure electrical wiring for connecting together a plurality of light bar assemblies.
[0023] The light bar, assembled as described, can optionally be closed at both ends by a supply plug, a connector plug, or other suitable component that can also incorporate a method of attaching an adjoining light bar assembly. In one embodiment, one or both ends of the light bar assembly are hollow, thus providing a suitable space for at least one such suitable component, protected from view and the elements.
[0024] The mounting bar can also be used as a stand-alone part to carry the electrical wire hidden and secured, or it can be used together with an empty face bar, without a light source and circuit board therein, to provide a uniform and matching bar assembly, one section of which would be lighted and the other section would be used to carry the electrical wire within its empty recess. In that embodiment, the empty bar can be used to hide all wiring and its ends can also be shaped into a chamfer or other shape that would allow a uniform bar to go around the perimeter of a structure, such as a hexagon, although it is not limited to this shape.
[0025] Each time an additional light bar is used, a connection with an electrical wire is required. Provided for this purpose is a commercially existing connector that does not require wire ends to be stripped.
[0026] In one embodiment, a supply plug may be used to connect a power converter to the first or last light bar. The supply plug is preferably molded to the end of an electrical wire that can then be cut at the power converter end and attached to the power converter by a pair of fasteners, preferably hidden, without the need for electrical connectors.
[0027] The power supply of the power converter is preferably shaped in such a way, although not limited thereto, so as to fit under the cover of an outdoor electrical outlet. In that case, a light sensor controlling the entire installation could be provided on a separate tail of suitable length connected to the power converter, so that the light sensor could be placed away from the covered power supply. Alternatively, the supply plug could incorporate a light sensor.
[0028] Many other combinations and shapes are possible, formed of either extruded plastic, injection molding, or otherwise shaped, and made up of one or several shapes, examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. There are also different methods for mounting the light bar, depending on the shapes chosen or the requirement of mounting to a horizontal or vertical surface.
[0029] Reference is now made to the drawings provided herein, and initially to FIGS. 1A and 1B which illustrate light bar assembly 1 made up of a face bar or component 2 and a mounting bar or component 3 . The face bar 2 may be channel-shaped and may have at least one hole or opening 4 which is preferably shaped in such a way as to match the diameter of a light source 5 , which could be, but is not limited to, an LED, and may be chamfered 6 in such a way as to allow the light generated to freely radiate into the desired direction 7 . In addition, a transparent or colored cap may be provided to cover the opening and to color the light. A hollow area 8 generated by the shape of the face bar 2 is dimensioned to contain a circuit board 9 which may be in the form of a printed circuit board onto which at least one light source 5 is mounted by its contacts 10 . In the embodiment, the space 12 contained between the circuit board 9 and the lower surface 11 of the face bar may be filled with epoxy or any other commercially suitable filler material. This ensures that all electrical components and the circuit board 9 are protected against moisture or damage and also ensures that the face bar 2 is strengthened.
[0030] A suitable attaching system such as a snapping mechanism is provided in the form of a longitudinal recess and upstanding element 13 on the face bar 2 that is joinable with another attaching system, such as, for example, a longitudinal recess 14 on the mounting bar 3 . By not filling the upper part of the face bar 2 with filler, it is ensured that the face bar 2 can deform sufficiently for the two parts of the longitudinal recesses 13 and 14 to engage and hold.
[0031] If so desired, the mounting bar 3 can have an additional longitudinal recess 15 into which an electrical wiring 16 can be pressed and secured. A further groove 17 could optionally be provided to locate and secure mounting screws, nails or other fasteners 18 , and the shape of groove 17 can match the shape of a fastener head 19 for additional security. In another embodiment, the back of the mounting bar 3 can be coated with a double sided tape 20 or other adhesive to affix the mounting bar 3 to a desired surface with or without the use of additional fasteners.
[0032] With reference to FIG. 1C , at each end of the circuit board 9 is a pair of electrical wires 21 and a pair of electrical wires 22 which can be connected to the circuit board 9 to provide power to a light source 5 , and also provide an electrical connection to adjoining light assemblies 1 by means of a suitable commercially available snap connector 23 that preferably allows connection of wires without stripping their insulation. Although a single circuit board 9 is shown in FIG. 1C , a series of circuit boards may be utilized with at least one light source connected thereto to form a series of “mini circuit boards” electrically connected together by the wires. Such “mini circuit boards” allow the face bar 2 and mounting bar 3 to take on various configurations. Any other suitable connector, such as co-axial connectors or standard connectors could also be used for this purpose.
[0033] With reference to FIGS. 2A-2D , wherein FIG. 2D is shown in exploded fashion, different shapes and combinations are given for the light bar assembly 1 . As shown in FIG. 2A , an embodiment of the light bar assembly could be made up of two interlocking angled components 24 .
[0034] In yet another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B , a face bar 2 is rotated in such a way as to allow a mounting bar 3 to be mounted on the top, thus allowing the light bar assembly to be mounted in a vertical direction 28 . By employing a differently shaped face bar 2 and mounting bar 3 , a combination of horizontal or vertical mounting could be accomplished.
[0035] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2C , a shaped component 25 can optionally incorporate a support 26 on which circuit board 9 rests.
[0036] In addition to the at least one hole 4 for the light source 5 , the face bar 2 can also incorporate a horizontal through-hole 27 and/or a vertical through-hole on mounting bar 3 to accommodate selected fastener 18 for either horizontal or vertical mounting options.
[0037] In yet another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2D , the face bar 2 has a different profile that allows a top snapping mechanism 29 to be engaged first before rotating 30 and pushing a lower snapping mechanism 31 into place. More specifically, the embodiment shown in FIG. 2D utilizes an upstanding element fitting within a recess as snapping mechanism 29 and a recess and upstanding element in conjunction with a recess as snapping mechanism 31 . The snapping mechanism on the face bar 2 and mounting bar 3 may be interchanged as well within the concept of attaching the upper snapping mechanism 29 in place with rotating the face bar 2 so as to engage snapping mechanism 31 . In addition, opening 4 may be located within either the bottom segment of face bar 2 or the side segment of face bar 2 to permit the light bar assembly to be mounted horizontally or vertically. The unused opening 4 would be closed if one light source is utilized. It may also be possible to use two perpendicularly disposed light sources (not shown), if desired.
[0038] With reference to FIG. 3A , a typical arrangement of light bar assemblies 1 is shown. A power converter 32 is shown with a rear view in FIG. 3A and a front view in FIG. 3B with an optionally incorporated optical sensor 33 and is capable of being plugged into a power supply or of being battery operated. The power converter 32 may include screw-type lugs 35 or another equivalent wire connector at its protected back, onto which an electrical wire 36 powering the light bar assembly 1 is attached. In one embodiment, a snap connector 23 connects the first light bar assembly 1 to a pair of electrical wires 36 (positive and negative) coming from the power converter 32 . Such an arrangement allows long electrical wires 36 to be cut to size by the installer because the cut ends will be attached to the screw-type lugs 35 . A further embodiment includes a supply plug 37 and is shown in FIG. 7 .
[0039] With reference to FIG. 4 , the mounting bar 3 is attached to the surface of a railing by means of fasteners 18 (shown in exploded fashion), double sided tape 20 , or similar means. The face bar 2 mates with the mounting bar 3 . A snap connector 23 connects the power converter 32 to the first light bar assembly 1 , providing power for the light sources. The face bar and mounting bar 3 may be various lengths and number according to the set-up to be utilized.
[0040] With reference to FIG. 5 , further mounting bars 3 can be installed in line with the first such mounting bar 3 until the section is completed. A first face bar 2 is then snapped onto the mounting bar 3 at the location desired for light. In addition, a single elongated mounting bar 3 may accommodate more than one face bar 2 , if desired. After connection has been completed, a connector plug 39 , as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , is pushed into the hollow end 38 of either adjacent light bar assembly 1 , before the two assemblies are tightly pushed together. The connector plug 39 has a hole through which electrical wires may pass.
[0041] Any space that does not require lighting can optionally be covered with an empty face bar 40 that is shaped identically to face bar 2 , but does not contain any electrical components. If a distance between light bar assemblies 1 or between sections has to be bridged, a suitable electrical wire 41 can be used, either left open or covered by the space bar 40 . In either situation, electrical wire 41 is connected to the last used light bar assembly 1 and the first used light bar assembly 1 of a new section by means of snap connector 23 .
[0042] With reference to FIG. 7 , a further embodiment is shown to provide power to the light bar assembly 1 . A supply plug 37 which connects to a converter/power source can be mated with an end of a light bar assembly 1 . The supply plug 37 can optionally incorporate an optical sensor, timing device, or other technology to control power to the light bar assembly 1 .
[0043] Although the invention has been shown as a light bar assembly used for a deck railings, many other applications exist for the invention, such as steps, overhangs, fencing and more, many of which are regulated by code which requires appropriate lighting.
[0044] Further, while the present invention has been described above in terms of various embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodiments and is also capable of a wide variety of further and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. It is intended that the scope of the invention should be determined by those of skill in the art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and the attached drawings.
|
A light bar assembly having a face component which includes a light source and a mounting member. The light bar assembly can be affixed to the surface of a structure by the mounting member to selectively light at least a portion of the structure or surrounding area thereof.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to wear resistant coatings and electroplating processes and, more particularly, to a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating and to a cobalt-phosphorous plating process.
[0002] Chromium plating has been used for many years to apply a wear resistant coating to ferrous and nickel alloys. Currently, chromium plating is used in the aerospace industry to apply a tough wear resistant coating on parts such as landing gear parts, pistons, pins, hooks, and other types of parts that are severely loaded, have sliding surfaces or could experience impact during service. Chromium plating is one of the most widely used processes to apply wear resistant coatings in the aerospace industry, and many plating shops perform this operation routinely. However, the EPA has issued limits on air pollution caused by chromium as well as tightened the limits for chromium in the water. Furthermore, the process for depositing the chromium is a hazardous process. The plating solution generates large amounts of fumes during the chromium plating process that may go on for several hours. These fumes are considered toxic to the shop personnel since the fumes contain hexavalent chromium, which is a suspected carcinogen. Occupational worker regulations now require expensive emission controls, which include anti-mist chemicals, vent ducts, and fume scrubbers.
[0003] Furthermore, from an engineering standpoint, chromium plate falls short in several requirements. Micro cracks in the coating allow for moisture ingress, which severely reduces corrosion resistance on, for example, alloy steel. These micro cracks also reduce fatigue life, since they serve as initiation sites for cracks that will extend into the base metal. And finally, both high coating stresses and the solution's strong oxidizing environment leads to a high risk of poor coating adhesion.
[0004] The aerospace industry has implemented some replacement processes for chromium plating. These prior art processes include, for example, the application of high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) thermal spray coatings, composite electroplating, and electroless deposition. Even though HVOF thermal spray coatings meet or surpass the engineering properties of chromium plate, their application is limited to line-of-sight applications, i.e. 1:1 width-to-depth ratios, often called aspect ratios. Blind holes, for example, cannot be coated using this technology. The application of composite coatings, which incorporates hard particulates, requires costly facility modifications to keep the particles continuously in suspension during processing. Finally, bath stability issues and adhesion failures on critical hardware restrict the use of electroless coatings on commercial aircraft.
[0005] Furthermore, “Integran Technology”, Toronto, Canada, has developed a nanophase electroplating technology that uses pulse electroplating to deposit a cobalt alloy on a substrate. This technology requires plating equipment that is different from the existing chromium plating equipment and, therefore, requires costly modifications of the existing facilities. Also, the area that can be plated using the nanophase technology is limited by the maximum-pulsed current capability of the power supply. Furthermore, high tensile residual stresses in the coating will cause an unacceptable debit in fatigue life.
[0006] There has, therefore, arisen a need to replace the chromium plating process with a plating process that does not produces hazardous fumes containing hexavalent chromium. There has further arisen a need to replace the chromium plate with a wear resistant coating that does not contain chromium and that meets or exceeds the engineering properties of the chromium plate. There has still further arisen a need to provide a plating process that enables the plating of all desired surfaces including non line-of-sight applications, for example, blind holes. There has still further arisen a need to provide a plating process that uses the same facilities and equipment as the chromium plating process in order to keep the costs of implementing a new technology as low as possible.
[0007] As can be seen, there is a need for a wear resistant coating that meets the engineering requirements of aircraft wear resistant coatings and that can replace chromium plate. There is a further need to provide a process for plating that is free of hexavalent chromium. Furthermore, there is a need to provide a process for plating that replaces the chromium plating process but may use the existing facilities and equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides a plating process that is free of hexavalent chromium and that enables the application of a wear resistant coating that meets or exceeds the engineering properties of chromium plate. The present invention further provides a plating process that uses the same facilities and equipment as the chromium plating process. The present invention still further provides a wear resistant coating and a plating process for application of this coating to various substrates that is suitable for, but not limited to, the aerospace industry.
[0009] In one aspect of the present invention, an article of manufacture includes a substrate having a surface and a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating applied to the surface.
[0010] In another aspect of the present invention, an article of manufacture includes a substrate having a surface and a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating applied to the surface. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating contains cobalt in the range of about 80 to 90 weight percent, phosphorous in the range of about 10 to 15 weight percent, and a maximum of about 5 weight percent boron.
[0011] In still another aspect of the present invention, a plating bath includes a plating solution, cobalt metal ions, chloride ions, phosphorous ions, an oxidizing agent, and a hardening agent. The cobalt metal ions, the chloride ions, the phosphorous ions, the oxidizing agent, and the hardening agent are contained within the plating solution.
[0012] In still another aspect of the present invention, a cobalt-phosphorous plating solution includes cobalt sulfate (COSO 4 .6H 2 O) within a range of about 20 to 26 oz/gal, sodium chloride (NaCl) within a range of about 2 to 3.5 oz/gal, boron as perborate within a range of about 1.6 to 2.6 oz/gal, phosphite as phosphorous acid (H 3 PO 3 ) within a range of about 1.6 to 2.6 oz/gal, and phosphate as phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) within a range of about 7 to 9 oz/gal. The cobalt sulfate, the sodium chloride, the perborate, the phosphorous acid, and the phosphoric acid are combined in tanks.
[0013] In still another aspect of the present invention, a process for plating includes the steps of: providing an article of manufacture including a substrate having a surface; cleaning and preparing the surface during a pretreatment process; applying a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating to the surface during a cobalt-phosphorous plating process; and finishing the surface during a post treatment process.
[0014] In a further aspect of the present invention, a process for plating an article of manufacture used in the aerospace industry includes the steps of: providing a part of a commercial aircraft including a substrate having a surface to be plated; degreasing the surface of the part; masking areas of the surface not to be plated; cleaning the surface using dry abrasive blast; alkaline cleaning the surface; acid activating the surface; providing a cobalt-phosphorous plating solution; providing a platinized metal anode and submerging the anode into the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution; submerging the part into the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution; applying direct current that generates a cathode current density in the range of about 60 to 288 Amps/f 2 ; plating the surface of the part with a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating; demasking the surface; baking the part having the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating applied within 8 hours of application of the coating; and using the part having the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating in a commercial aircraft. The cobalt-phosphorous plating solution comprises: cobalt sulfate (CoSO 4 .6H 2 O) within a range of about 20 to 26 oz/gal; sodium chloride (NaCl) within a range of about 2 to 3.5 oz/gal; boron as perborate within a range of about 1.6 to 2.6 oz/gal; phosphite as phosphorous acid (H 3 PO 3 ) within a range of about 1.6 to 2.6 oz/gal; and phosphate as phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) within a range of about 7 to 9 oz/gal. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating comprises: cobalt in the range of about 80 to 90 weight percent; phosphorous in the range of about 10 to 15 weight percent; and about 5 weight percent boron maximum.
[0015] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of an article of manufacture according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
[0017] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process for plating according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
[0019] Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating that may be used to replace the chromium plate that is currently commonly used as a wear protective coating, for example in the aerospace industry. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating as in one embodiment of the present invention meets the engineering requirements of aircraft wear coatings. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating furthermore meets or exceeds the engineering properties of prior art chromium plate. Therefore, the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating may be applied to aircraft parts that are severely loaded, have sliding surfaces, or could experience impact during service, such as landing gear parts, pistons, shafts, pins, and hooks. An embodiment of the present invention further provides a process for cobalt-phosphorous plating that may be used to replace the chromium plating process that is currently commonly used to apply chromium plate to a substrate, such as ferrous and nickel alloys. By providing a cobalt-phosphorous plating process for application of a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating to various substrates, the use of chromium, which is a chemical that is limited in use by the EPA, can be eliminated. By eliminating chromium from the plating solution, as in one embodiment of the present invention, fumes containing hexavalent chromium, a suspected carcinogen, will not be produced, in contrast to typical prior art processes using chromium. Furthermore, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process according to one embodiment of the present invention does not require major facility modification that might be expensive. The cobalt-phosphorous plating process may use the same and already existing facilities and equipment that are used for the prior art chromium plating process.
[0020] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating that is bright, ductile, dense, and free of cracks, and therefore, exceeds the engineering properties of prior art chromium plate. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating further possesses sufficient hardness to meet wear and fatigue requirements, meeting the engineering properties of prior art chromium plate. The increased ductility, substrate adhesion, and corrosion resistance of the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating compared to the prior art chromium plate will extend the life of parts that need to be repaired or scrapped often, such as flap track carriage spindles.
[0021] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a cobalt-phosphorous plating process that uses a plating solution having a simple composition. By combining cobalt sulfate, sodium chloride, boron, phosphite, and phosphate in the plating solution, no chemicals that are restricted in use by the EPA are used. Therefore, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process is an environmentally acceptable process. Further, contrary to the prior art chromium plating process, no fumes that are hazardous to the health of the shop personnel will be produced. Also, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process as in one embodiment of the present invention, may replace the prior art sulfamate nickel repair of damaged or corroded areas, eliminating a further chemical element restricted in use by the EPA. Furthermore, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process allows the application of the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating as in one embodiment of the present invention to all desired surfaces, including, for example, blind holes. Contrary to the prior art HVOF thermal spray coatings, cobalt-phosphorous-boron coatings are not limited to line-of-sight applications. A higher plating rate at a lower current density compared to prior art chromium plating is achievable with the cobalt-phosphorous plating process as in one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process is more efficient than the prior art chromium plating process.
[0022] Referring now to FIG. 1 , an article of manufacture 10 is illustrated in a schematic cross sectional view according to one embodiment of the present invention. The article of manufacture 10 includes a substrate 11 having a surface 12 and a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 . The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may be applied to the surface 12 during a cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 , as shown in FIG. 2 . The article of manufacture 10 may be a part of a commercial aircraft that is severely loaded, has sliding surfaces, or could experience impact during service, for example, a landing gear part, a piston, a shaft, a pin, and a hook. The article of manufacture 10 may be used, for example, in the aerospace industry.
[0023] The substrate 11 of the article of manufacture 10 may have a catalytically active surface. Suitable substrates 11 may be composed, for example, of nickel, cobalt, iron, steel, aluminum, zinc, palladium, platinum, copper, brass, chromium, tungsten, titanium, tin, silver carbon, graphite and alloys thereof. Preferred substrates for the application of the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 include ferrous and nickel base alloys.
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 2 , a process for plating 20 is illustrated in a simplified flow chart according to one embodiment of the present invention. The process for plating 20 may include a step 21 , a pretreatment process 30 , a cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 , a post treatment process 50 , and a step 22 . The article of manufacture 10 having a surface 12 to be plated with a wear resistant coating 13 may be provided in step 21 . During the pretreatment process 30 , the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 provided in step 21 may be cleaned and prepared for the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 . During the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 provided in step 21 may be plated with a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 . The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 meets the engineering requirements for aircraft wear coatings. During the post treatment process 50 , the plated article of manufacture 10 will be prepared for its application in the industry by finishing the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 . Finally, in step 22 , the plated article of manufacture 10 may be built into, for example, a commercial aircraft.
[0025] The pretreatment process 30 may include steps 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , and 35 . In step 31 , the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 provided in step 21 may be degreased. The degreasing of the surface 12 may be done, for example, by vapor degrease, solvent wipe, or aqueous degrease. The solvent wipe, where the surface 12 may be wiped with solvents such as ketones, alcohols or similar solvents, may be used preferably for smaller articles of manufacture 10 . An aqueous degreaser may be used to degrease the surface 12 of larger articles of manufacture 10 . The aqueous degreaser may be applied to the surface 12 in step 31 either by spraying onto the surface 12 or by immersion of the surface 12 into the aqueous degreaser.
[0026] Surface areas of the surface 12 that should not receive a wear resistant coating may be masked in step 32 . For example, lacquers, rubber-based coatings, and tapes composed of vinyl, Teflon or lead are typical materials that may be used to mask surface areas of the surface 12 in step 32 . If the configuration of the article of manufacture 10 allows, rubber boots may also be used in step 32 to mask areas of the surface 12 that should not be coated. After application of a mask in step 32 , the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 may be cleaned in step 33 using a dry abrasive blast. An abrasive material such as glass bead or aluminum oxide having a grit in the range of about 80 to 220 may be blasted onto the surface 12 at about 60 psi in step 33 , for example. In step 34 , a brief alkaline cleaning may follow the dry abrasive blast cleaning of step 33 to ensure a thoroughly cleaned surface 12 . The cleaning process of step 34 may be an electrolytic process requiring the use of a rectifier as a power supply. The article of manufacture 10 may be immersed in an alkaline electrolyte solution and may be hooked as cathode. Furthermore inert anodes may be used. Once the circuit is closed a cathodic (plating) cycle may be started. The cathodic cycle may alternate with an anodic (de-plating) cycle for about 5 to 10 minutes ending with the anodic cycle. Following the cleaning of the surface 12 in steps 31 , 32 , 33 , and 34 , the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 provided in step 21 might be acid activated in step 35 . During step 35 the surface 12 may be immersed in an immersion solution for about 5 to 60 seconds. The process flow, as in steps 31 , 32 , 33 , 24 , and 35 of the pretreatment process 30 illustrated in FIG. 2 , may be just one of many possible routes. The process flow of the pretreatment process 30 may be adjusted dependent on the material of the substrate 11 , for example, low and high strength alloy steels, copper alloys, aluminum alloys, and nickel base alloys, as well as the heat treat of the substrate 11 . The steps 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , and 35 of the pretreatment process may be comparable to the pretreatment steps of a prior art chromium plating process. Therefore, existing facilities and equipment may be used for steps 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , and 35 keeping the costs of implementing the process of plating 20 relatively low.
[0027] The cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 may include the steps 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , and 45 . A cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may be provided in step 41 for the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 . The cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may be provided as a plating bath in relatively large tanks. The cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may include the following components: cobalt metal ions, chloride ions, phosphorous ions, an oxidizing agent, and a hardening agent. The cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may have the following composition: cobalt sulfate as CoSO 4 .6H 2 O with a preferred range of 20 to 26 oz/gal; sodium chloride as NaCl with a preferred range of 2 to 3.5 oz/gal; boron as perborate with a preferred range of 1.6 to 2.6 oz/gal; phosphite as phosphorous acid (H 3 PO 3 ) with a preferred range of 1.6 to 2.6 oz/gal, and phosphate as phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) with a preferred range of 7 to 9 oz/gal. The preferred range for the cobalt metal content of the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution is 4.4 to 5.8 oz/gal. The preferred range for the pH value of the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution is 1 to 1.6, but a range from 0 to 2 for the pH value may be possible. The surface tension of the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution having above described composition may be in a preferred range of 35 to 50 dyne/cm. The preferred temperature of the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution is 130 to 140 F, but a range of 110 to 170 F may be possible. The cobalt sulfate may be a source for the cobalt metal ions in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution, although other cobalt salts such as (but not limited to) citrate, phosphate, carbonate, and chloride may be used. Cobalt chips or balls submerged in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may also be used as a source for the cobalt metal ions. The sodium chloride provides needed conductivity of the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution and may help to maintain the low compressive residual stress of the wear resistant coating that may be applied to the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 in step 45 . Other chloride sources such as cobalt chloride and ammonium chloride may be used, but these may cause an unacceptable level of tensile residual stress in the coating. Boron may be added to the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution as an oxidizing agent that allows for a high deposit quality over a wider plating range. Boron may further act as a catalyst that improves the bright deposition range by producing fine-grained deposits over a wider range of process variables such as current density and temperature. The preferred chemical that may be added to the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution to provide boron is perborate, but boric acid or other borate compounds may also be used. Phosphite may be added to the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution as a hardening agent that provides a certain hardness of the wear resistant coating that may be applied to the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 in step 45 . Instead of phosphorous acid, the preferred chemical added to the plating solution to provide phosphite, sodium phosphite or sodium hypophosphite might be used as a hardening agent. Phosphate may be added to the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution to provide the conductivity of the plating solution, to provide for phosphate/phosphite equilibrium, and to maintain the pH value of the plating solution within a certain range. Instead of phosphoric acid, the preferred chemical added to the plating solution to provide phosphate, cobalt phosphate or sodium phosphate might be used. The cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may be designed to be used in large volumes for long time periods without the need for frequent tank dumps or draw offs to maintain the bath chemistry within limits. Since cobalt metal ions and phosphorous ions may deplete in a constant ratio during the plating process of step 35 , only minor additions and solution draw offs may be necessary for long-term maintenance. In some circumstances, stress reducers based on sulfur compounds such as sodium saccharin may be added to increase the hardness and increase the compressive stress.
[0028] In step 42 , an anode may be provided for the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 . The anode may be a platinized metal anode submerged in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution that may be provided in step 41 . The anode provided in step 42 may further consist of cobalt chips or balls. The cobalt chips or balls may be placed in a basket and then submerged in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution. If cobalt chips or balls are used as an anode in the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 instead of the platinized metal anode, it might not be necessary to add cobalt sulfate or other cobalt salt to the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution as described in step 41 . The cobalt chips or balls will dissolve slowly in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution and provide cobalt metal ions to the plating solution.
[0029] After providing the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution in step 41 and the anode in step 42 , the article of manufacture 10 provided in step 21 may be submerged in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution in step 43 , as shown in FIG. 2 . Now a direct current may be applied between the cathode and the anode in step 44 . The article of manufacture 10 provided in step 21 may act as the cathode having a cathode current density. The direct current may be chosen to generate a cathode current density in a preferred range of about 60 Amps/ft 2 to about 288 Amps/ft 2 . It may be possible to apply a pulse current to the plating solution instead of using direct current.
[0030] With the application of a direct current in step 44 , the plating of the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 submerged in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution may be started. In step 45 , the surface 12 may be plated with a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 . The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may be a wear resistant coating having the following composition: cobalt with a preferred range of 80 to 90 weight percent; phosphorous with a preferred range of 10 to 15 weight percent; and boron with a maximum of 5 weight percent. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may be deposited on all surfaces 12 of the article of manufacture 10 submerged in the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution including non line-of-sight areas, such as blind holes. The thickness of the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 applied to the surface 12 in step 45 may be adjusted depending on the time period over which the direct current is applied. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may be deposited on the surface at a plating rate of about 0.001 inch/hr to about 0.005 inch/hr. Therefore, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 , as shown in FIG. 2 , may have a faster plating rate compared to the plating rate of the prior art chromium plating process, which is about 0.0005 inch/hr at 140 F. By using the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 , a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may be obtained in step 45 that is ductile, free of cracks, and possesses sufficient hardness and compressive residual stress properties to meet wear and fatigue requirements for aircraft wear coatings. Further, the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may have an improved corrosion resistance compared with prior art chromium plate. The composition of the cobalt-phosphorous plating solution provided in step 41 may provide an improved surface adhesion of the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 compared to prior art chromium plating.
[0031] The post treatment process 50 may include the steps 51 and 52 , as shown in FIG. 2 . After the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 was applied to the surface 12 of the article of manufacture 10 in step 45 , the mask may be removed from the surface 12 in step 51 . The tape applied to surface areas of the surface 12 in step 32 may be peeled off in step 51 . Furthermore, if a rubber boot was used to cover areas of the surface 12 in step 32 it may be taken off in step 51 . After additional rinsing that may be required to remove any residual chemical trapped underneath the maskant, the article of manufacture 10 may be ready to be baked in step 52 . The baking in step 52 may be performed in an oven at a temperature in the preferred range of about 375 F+/−25 F, although this can vary due to substrate heat treatment. The duration of the baking may vary from about 3 hours to about 23 hours depending on the strength level of the substrate 11 , regardless of the thickness of the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 . The baking in step 52 shall follow, within 8 hours, the step 45 where the coating 13 is applied to the surface 12 . The article of manufacture 10 may now be ready for application in the industry without any additional grinding or polishing. In other cases, the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may require additional grinding or polishing to proper thickness (i.e. grinding to size) prior to its industry application. The post treatment process 50 may be comparable to the post treatment process of the prior art chromium plating process. Therefore, the already existing equipment and facilities may be used for the post treatment process 50 . The article of manufacture 10 having a cobalt-phosphorous-boron plated surface 12 may now be ready for use in, for example, a commercial aircraft, as shown in step 22 .
[0032] By providing a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 that may be applied to a surface 12 of an article of manufacture 10 (as in step 45 ) using the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 , the prior art chromium plating solution may be eliminated improving the safety of the shop personnel by reduction of toxic fumes. Furthermore, by eliminating chemicals which use is restricted by the EPA, such as chromium, from the wear resistant coating as well as the plating process 20 , an environmentally friendly wear resistant coating, the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 , applied to a surface 12 in an environmentally friendly plating process 20 may be provided. By providing the cobalt-phosphorous plating process 40 that has a faster plating rate than the prior art chromium plating process, the operation flow time may be reduced. Also, by providing a cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 having improved engineering properties compared to the prior art chromium plate and by providing a process for plating 20 that may use the already existing equipment and facilities of the chromium plating process, the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating 13 may economically replace the prior art chromium plate.
[0033] It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to preferred embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
|
A cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating and a process for plating that is environmentally acceptable are provided. Furthermore, a cobalt-phosphorous plating solution is provided to deposit the cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating during the plating process on a surface of an article of manufacture. The cobalt-phosphorous plating solution does not contain chemicals presently restricted in use by the EPA. The cobalt-phosphorous-boron coating is a wear resistant coating with engineering properties, for example, low compressive residual stress, excellent adhesion to ferrous and nickel alloys, low fatigue debit, and a corrosion resistant crack-free structure, that meet or exceed the engineering properties of hard chromium plating intended for use in the aerospace industry. Furthermore, the cobalt-phosphorous plating process uses facilities and equipment that are comparable to those of the chromium plating process, and therefore, may be easily, readily, and economically introduced and implemented, for example, in the aerospace industry.
| 2
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of and incorporates by reference application Ser. No. 08/986,022, filed Dec. 5, 1997, which is commonly owned and assigned with the present invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for teaching scoring and for assessing scoring effectiveness and, more particularly, to such systems and methods for teaching and assessing holistic scoring.
2. Description of Related Art
The automation of test scoring is a complex problem that has generated a great deal of interest, owing to a significant economic pressure to optimize efficiency and accuracy and to minimize human involvement. Open-ended or essay-type questions must typically be scored by a human reader, and thus either the physical test form or a visible image thereof must be available for at least the time required for scoring. In addition, scorers (also referred to as readers or resolvers) must be trained in order to become accomplished in analyzing and scoring the answers to open-ended questions effectively, accurately, and quickly.
Computerized systems for scoring open-ended questions are known in the art. In addition. such systems are known that provide feedback to a scorer on validity, reliability, and speed based upon a standard question and model answer. For example, Clark and Clark et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,321,611; 5,433,615; 5,437,554; 5,458,493; 5,466,159; and 5,558,521) disclose systems and methods for collaborative scoring, wherein scores of two or more resolvers are compared, and a record is kept of each of the resolver's scores. This group of patents also teach the collection of feedback on a resolver, which includes the monitoring of scoring validity, reliability, and speed. One of the criteria is a calculation of a deviation of the resolver's score and a model score by using “quality items.” Also discussed is an on line scoring guide for use by the resolver during scoring.
However, there are no systems and methods known in the art that are specifically directed to the teaching of scoring open-ended questions and to providing scoring rules; model answers. scores, and rationales therefor; and feedback to a resolver during the teaching process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for assessing a scorer's grading of an open-ended question.
It is an additional object to provide such a system and method for interactively assisting a scorer in learning a holistic scoring technique.
It is another object to provide such a system and method for tracking a scorer's progress during a practice session.
It is a further object to provide such a system and method for practicing holistic scoring in a variety of content domains such as, but not limited to, reading, writing, science, and mathematics in the same program.
It is yet another object to provide such a system and method for presenting a set of holistic scoring rules, or rubric, to the scorer.
These and other objects are achieved by the system and method of the present invention. One aspect of the method is for teaching a scorer holistically to score an answer to an open-ended question. Holistic scoring is a technique whereby a unitary, typically numerical, score is given for an answer to an open-ended question; for example, in an essay-type response, spelling and grammatical errors and content are all taken into account when granting the score.
The teaching method comprises the step of displaying a student response, which in a particular embodiment may be chosen by the scorer to be presented in handwritten or typed text form, to an open-ended question to a scorer. In a preferred embodiment the scorer is permitted to access for display a scoring rubric for the question, which comprises a set of rules on which the scoring for that question should be based. The scorer then assesses the response and enters a score for the response, which is received by the system. Finally, a model score is presented to the scorer. A comparison of the model score with the scorer's entered score permits him or her to assess his or her scoring efficacy, that is, how close the entered score came to the model score prescribed for the response.
The tutorial software program of the present invention, which may also be referred to simply as a tutorial, in a preferred embodiment comprises a plurality of databases, or. alternatively, a plurality of sectors in a unitary database, containing:
1. A plurality of student responses to an open-ended question. Preferably, each student response is present in an original handwritten image form and in a text form. The text form retains all original errors from the handwritten image.
2. A model score for each student response.
3. A scoring rubric for each question.
4. An analysis of each student response and a rationale for the model score for each student response.
The teaching system of the present invention comprises a computer, or data-processing system, such as, for example, a personal computer or workstation. The computer has resident therein, or has means for communicating with a storage device having resident thereon, a database as described above.
The system also comprises means for displaying a student response to a question to a scorer, means for permitting the scorer to access the scoring rubric for the question, means for receiving a score from the scorer. As described above, these means typically include a personal computer or networked workstation having a keyboard, screen, pointing device, and communication means for accessing a storage device.
Software means are also resident in the computer for presenting on the display means a model score to the scorer to permit the scorer to assess his or her scoring efficacy, that is, how close the assigned score is to the model score. The software means also comprises means for displaying an explanation or annotation of the model score assigned. In addition, means are provided within the processor for tracking the scorer's progress during a practice session with the tutorial. This tracking is preferably accomplished by calculating a running correlation between the model answer and the score entered for each response.
The invention contemplates a system and method for teaching a scorer within a chosen level and discipline. For example, a particular tutorial may comprise a set of questions keyed to a grade level in a particular subject area (e.g., grade 7, history) or in related areas (e.g., grade 8, reading and writing, wherein reading competency is assessed by a student's response to a question on a reading selection, and writing competency is assessed by the student's response to an essay-type question). Alternatively, a set of responses to questions may address the subject matter contained in a professional licensing or qualification examination (e.g., for a laboratory technician).
The features that characterize the invention, both as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description used in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It is to be expressly understood that the drawing is for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. These and other objects attained, and advantages offered. by the present invention will become more fully apparent as the description that now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a logic flowchart for the method of the present invention for teaching a scorer in a holistic scoring technique.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the system of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary opening menu for the tutorial program.
FIG. 4 illustrates a series of exemplary answers to a question on a reading selection, representing (A) a high reading; (B) medium reading; and (C) low reading models for a Grade 8 student. (D) A typed text version of the low reading model of (C).
FIG. 5 illustrates the first pages of a series of exemplary essays on a prescribed topic, representing (A) a high writing; (B) medium writing; and (C) low writing models for a Grade 8 student. (D) A typed text version of the low writing model of (C).
FIG. 6 represents an exemplary screen displaying a scoring rubric for reading.
FIG. 7 illustrates a model analysis of a response.
FIG. 8 illustrates a cumulative summary table of a scorer's performance.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be presented with reference to FIGS. 1-8.
In a preferred embodiment of the system 60 of the invention, illustrated in FIG. 2, a person 20 desirous of receiving instruction in holistic scoring is provided with access to a processor. The means or access may comprise a personal computer or a workstation 61 or terminal networked to a server computer 62 , or an interface to a remote site through telecommunications. internet or other forms of data transmission, although these architectures are not intended to be limiting. The processor 62 has loaded thereon the tutorial software program 10 of the present invention, which will be described in the following. The computer access/interface is preferably provided by means well known in the art, e.g., via a display screen 64 , keyboard 66 , and pointing device 68 such as a mouse, for use in a Windows® type or Macintosh environment.
A first aspect of the method (FIG. 1) is for teaching a scorer to holistically score an answer or response to an open-ended question (also referred to as an “assessment” or “assessment form” in the art) via a computer-driven tutorial program 10 . The method comprises the steps of starting the tutorial program 10 (Step 99 ) and providing a choice to the scorer 20 of which section or module of the program 10 to enter (Step 100 ). In a preferred embodiment this choice is presented in the form of a screen-displayed menu ( 30 , FIG. 3) in a Windows®- or Macintosh-type format. This is not intended to be limiting, however, as those skilled in the art will recognize alternate platforms and modes of providing such a selection. In this particular embodiment, two major divisions include introductory (choices 1 - 3 , 211 - 213 ) and scoring practice (choices 4 and 5 , 214 , 215 ) sections.
A first choice from the menu 30 comprises an overview ( 211 , Step 101 ) of the tutorial 10 , which introduces the scorer 20 to basic principles of integrated performance assessment and holistic scoring. The rationale underlying the development of this form of assessment and a general introduction to holistic scoring are offered.
A second choice from the menu 30 comprises a description of a particular assessment ( 212 , Step 102 ), including its content, how to prepare for scoring responses, such as reading and writing responses to that assessment, and how to apply the rubrics.
A third choice from the menu 30 comprises a guided tour of the scoring section ( 213 , Step 103 ). This section provides an annotated screen-by-screen preview of the scoring training program.
The practice division begins with a fourth choice from the menu 30 , a review of model papers, rubrics, and annotations ( 214 , Step 104 ). This section allows the scorer 20 to try out the training program's features before entering the actual scoring module ( 215 , Step 105 ). Here the scorer can explore the rubrics for selected parameters such as, but not limited to, reading, rhetorical effectiveness, and conventions. The scorer 20 can view model student answers to illustrate, for example, high, medium, and low levels of performance. Exemplary responses are presented in FIGS. 4A-C, which represent high, medium, and low model written responses, respectively, to two questions on a reading selection, and FIGS. 5A-C, which represent the first pages of high, medium, and low model written essays on a prescribed topic. Note that in the case of FIGS. 5A-C, a dual score is given, one for “rhetorical effectiveness” and one for “conventions.” In addition. the scorer 20 can read annotations that analyze the answer and explain the scores assigned (FIG. 7 ).
The final selection offered on the menu 30 comprises the scoring practice module ( 215 , Step 105 ), in which the scorer 20 can apply what has been learned in the preceding modules 211 - 214 . A plurality of practice answers are provided for each assessment, preferably representing the gamut of “poor” to “excellent” responses.
In the scoring practice module 215 a first student response to an open-ended question is retrieved from a database 250 of student responses and is displayed to the scorer 20 (Step 106 ). (Here the word student is not intended to be limiting, but should be taken in the broad context of any person taking a test, which could include, for example, a person taking a licensino examination or professional or technical evaluation test.) This step 106 in a preferred embodiment further comprises providing a means for the scorer 20 to select a display mode (Step 107 ). The display mode can be one of an original handwritten form (Step 108 ) or a typed (or “keyboarded”) text form (Step 109 ), wherein the typed text form retains all errors in the original handwritten form, such as spelling, grammatical, syntactical, and punctuation mistakes (see, for example, FIGS. 4 C,D and 5 C,D, which represent the handwritten and typed text versions of the same responses).
The scorer 20 is permitted at any time during scoring to access a scoring rubric 220 for the question from a scoring rubric database 251 (FIG. 6, Steps 110 , 111 ). Each rubric contains an indication of what a numerical score 222 represents, including both a brief descriptor (e.g., “exemplary reading performance” 224 ) and an extensive description of each score point 226 (see FIG. 6 ). This scoring rubric is typically accessed by the scorer 20 via selecting an icon on the screen 64 with the pointing device 68 , although this method is not intended to be limiting.
Once the scorer 20 has reviewed the response (Step 112 ), a score is entered (Step 113 ), for example, by selecting a number from a button bar 642 on the screen 64 with the pointing device 68 . Such methods of selecting from a variety of options is well known in the art, and other, comparable selection methods may also be envisioned, such as entering a number from the keyboard 66 .
When the score has been entered, a model score 228 is retrieved from a database of model scores 252 and is presented to the scorer 20 (Step 114 ) to permit him or her to assess the scoring efficacy. In addition, an analysis of the answer is retrieved from a database 253 and is presented (Step 115 ) on the screen 64 to enable the scorer 20 to review his/her score in light of comments of experienced scorers. In the example of FIG. 7, the analysis covers a student's responses to a number of questions on a reading selection, two of which are included in the high reading model of FIG. 4 A. The scorer's score is also stored (Step 116 ), and a correlation is calculated and presented of that score with the model score (FIG. 8 and Step 117 ).
In order to refine the skills learned thus far, the scorer 20 will typically choose to practice on further assessments (Step 118 ), and thus preferably a plurality of responses are available for scoring. As an example, a range of responses representing “low” to “high” models, such as the A-C parts of FIGS. 4 and 5, are available, as well as answers to several different assessments, such as represented in FIGS. 4 and 5, which are responses to reading and writing assignments, respectively.
After entering each score and displaying the model score therefor, the scorer 20 is presented with a cumulative summary table 80 (FIG. 8 and Step 117 ), which updates and displays the percentage of agreement between the scorer's evaluation and that of an experienced scorer. For example, the scoring status screen of FIG. 8 tabulates for each paper 87 a column for “your score” 81 and a column for a model, or “consensus score” 82 . Also presented is a table of “percentage of agreement” 83 , including a percentage of “exact agreement” 84 with the model score, a percentage of scores that “differ by 1” 85 , and a percentage of scores that “differ by 2 or more” 86 . This particular arrangement is not intended to be limiting, as one of skill in the art could imagine any number of similar correlation calculations and modes or presentation. The concept of a summary table is intended to provide an indicator of progress in learning the holistic scoring technique.
If the scorer 20 wishes to end the tutorial session (Step 118 ), the “Quit” button 216 on the menu 30 may be selected (Step 119 ).
It may be appreciated by one skilled in the art that additional embodiments may be contemplated, including similar methods and systems for training personnel in scoring open-ended questions for other fields.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clarity, and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for description purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed. Moreover, the embodiments of the apparatus illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.
Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation and use of preferred embodiment thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby, the new and useful constructions, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.
|
A tutorial method for teaching the scoring of open-ended questions holistically includes displaying a student response to a scorer and permitting the scorer to access a rubric containing the rules for scoring that response. The scorer can choose a display form from a handwritten form and a typed text form that retains and originally present errors. Following the scorer's having entered a score, a model score is displayed so that a scoring efficacy may be determined. Annotations prepared by expert scorers may be accessed to enhance the learning process. In addition, a running correlation between the model and entered scores is calculated and displayed for the scorer over a tutorial session that includes attempts at scoring different responses. The system includes a processor, a workstation, and software for performing the above-described method.
| 8
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/985,132, filed Apr. 28, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. More specifically, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to HVAC systems equipped with an economizer or air handling unit utilizing outdoor air.
A typical economizer or air handling unit includes one or more dampers to control the flow of outdoor air and return air through the economizer. For efficient operation of the HVAC system, it is necessary for all of the dampers to operate properly. New regulatory requirements now necessitate that any HVAC equipment with an economizer or outdoor air damper to accurately detect when the damper(s) of an economizer or mixing box of an air handling unit become stuck or mechanically disconnected from an actuator.
In a typical application, a single actuator modulates a return air damper that is mechanically linked to an outdoor air damper. The outdoor and return air dampers are positioned in such a way that they are 180 degrees out of phase and move in unison. When the outdoor air damper is closed the return damper is fully open, and, as one damper opens the other closes. Detecting the fault conditions can be accomplished by monitoring the Supply Air Temperature (SAT) in relation to Outdoor Air Temperature (OAT) and Return Air Temperature (RAT) as the economizer modulates position, and the ratio of outdoor air to return air changes. As the economizer modulates open, the ratio of outdoor air to return air will increase, and the additional outdoor air will cause SAT to trend toward the Outdoor Air temperature. As the economizer is closed, the ratio of outdoor air to return air will decrease, and the increased return air will cause SAT to trend toward RAT. If the actuator becomes stuck or mechanically disconnected from the damper assembly, modulating the actuator will not result in a change of damper position and the ratio of outdoor air to return air will stay at the same constant ratio, and no trend in SAT will be observed. If SAT does not trend as expected when the actuator position is changed, it can be concluded that the damper is not moving as expected. The above only works, however, when the difference between OAT and RAT is large. For larger units, a single actuator may not provide enough torque to modulate both the outdoor and return dampers through a linkage assembly. In this case, it is required to attach a separate actuator to each of the outdoor and return dampers. If one actuator should become stuck or mechanically disconnected from its corresponding damper, the other actuator will continue to properly modulate its damper. With one actuator/damper pair functioning properly, the ratio of outdoor air to return air will change. The outdoor/return air ratio change will result in an SAT trend, which can lead to the false conclusion that the actuators and dampers are functioning properly.
BRIEF SUMMARY
In one embodiment, a method of evaluating damper operation for an HVAC system includes moving a plurality of dampers of the HVAC system collectively to a baseline damper position. The plurality of dampers is positioned at a flowpath including a fan driven by a motor. The fan is operating by switching the motor on and a baseline output level at the motor is measured. A first damper of the plurality of dampers is commanded to move from the baseline damper position to a first damper position and a first output level at the motor is measured. The first output level is compared to the baseline output level. A difference is indicative of successful movement of the first damper from the baseline damper position to the first damper position.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments an alert is generated if a difference between the first output level and the baseline output level does not exceed a threshold value.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the baseline position of the plurality of dampers is a closed position, restricting airflow into the flowpath.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the first damper position is an open position, allowing airflow into the flowpath and increasing flow across the fan.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the first output level is greater than the baseline output level.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the first power output level and the baseline power output level are measured in one or more of power, electrical current or torque.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the first damper is commanded to return to the baseline damper position, and a second damper of the plurality of dampers is commanded to move from the baseline damper position to a second damper position. A second output level at the motor is measured, and the second output level is compared to the baseline output level. A difference is indicative of successful movement of the second damper from the baseline damper position to the second damper position.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the second damper position is an opened position, increasing flow into the flowpath and across the fan.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the second output level is greater than the baseline output level.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the baseline position is an opened position, allowing flow into the flowpath and across the fan. The first damper position is a closed position, reducing flow into the flowpath and across the fan. A decrease in the first output level relative to the baseline output level is indicative of successful movement of the first damper from the baseline damper position to the first damper position.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments a damper of the plurality of dampers comprises a plurality of louvers.
In another embodiment, a controller for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is configured to command a plurality of dampers of the HVAC system operably connected to the controller collectively to a baseline damper position. The dampers are positioned at a flowpath including a fan driven by a motor. The controller operates the fan by switching the motor on. The controller measures a baseline output level at the motor and commands a first damper of the plurality of dampers to move from the baseline damper position to a first damper position. The controller measures a first output level at the motor and compares the first output level to the baseline output level. A difference is indicative of successful movement of the first damper from the baseline damper position to the first damper position.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the first damper is an outside air damper movable across an outside air opening to regulate a flow of outside air through the outside air opening.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments a second damper of the plurality of dampers is a return air damper movable between an exhaust air opening and a return air opening to selectively direct a return airflow into the mixed air chamber via the return air opening and/or through the exhaust air opening.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the controller is operably connected to an outside air damper actuator operably connected to the outside air damper to drive movement thereof and a return air damper actuator operably connected to the return air damper to drive movement thereof.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the baseline position is a closed position restricting allowance of the return airflow and the flow of outside air into the mixed air chamber.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments the first power output level and the baseline power output level are measured in one or more of power, electrical current or torque.
Additionally or alternatively, in this or other embodiments a damper of the plurality of dampers comprises a plurality of louvers.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a damper arrangement of an HVAC system;
FIG. 2 is another plan view of an embodiment of a damper arrangement of an HVAC system;
FIG. 3 is yet another plan view of an embodiment of a damper arrangement of an HVAC system; and
FIG. 4 is still another plan view of an embodiment of a damper arrangement of an HVAC system.
The detailed description explains embodiments of the present disclosure, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Shown in FIG. 1 is a schematic of an embodiment of a damper arrangement for an economizer 10 of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The arrangement includes an outside air inlet 12 , which allows a flow of outside air 14 to be directed into the system. An outside air damper 16 is located at the outside air inlet 12 and is movable across the outside air inlet 12 to regulate the flow of outside air 14 . The outside air damper 16 is operated by an outside air damper actuator 18 connected thereto, and controlled via a system controller 20 that directs operation of the outside air damper 16 based on HVAC system needs. The arrangement further includes a return air duct 22 having a return air damper 24 positioned therein. The return air damper 24 is movable across the return air duct 22 to direct a return airflow 26 through a return air opening 28 into the economizer 10 and/or through an exhaust air opening 30 to remove the return airflow 26 from the system. The return air damper 24 is operated by a return air damper actuator 32 connected to the system controller 20 . A motor 34 , such as an electric motor, drives a fan 36 to direct the return airflow 26 and/or the flow of outside air 14 into the economizer 10 as supply airflow 38 . An exhaust air damper 44 driven by exhaust air damper actuator 46 is utilized to selectively direct return airflow 26 out of the exhaust air opening 30 or through the return air opening 28 . While the arrangement described herein includes three dampers, it is to be appreciated that systems having other quantities of dampers, for example, 2 or 4 dampers will benefit from the present disclosure. Further, each damper may be a single panel extending across the respective opening, or alternatively may comprise multiple panels, i.e. a louver arrangement extending across the opening.
For the HVAC system and economizer 10 to operate properly, the dampers 16 , 24 , 44 must properly modulate when commanded to do so by the controller 20 . It is desired to accurately determine that the proper modulation, movement of the dampers 16 , 24 , 44 as expected, is occurring. The present disclosure utilizes fan 36 characteristics and motor 34 output level measurements to determine whether the dampers 16 , 24 , 44 are properly modulating. To do this, each actuator 18 , 32 , 46 is separately commanded to modulate dampers 16 , 24 , 44 and select fan 36 and motor 34 characteristics are monitored for changes. If the changes are as expected, the dampers 16 , 24 , 44 are modulating correctly.
One method for evaluating the damper 16 , 24 , 44 modulation is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and described below. Referring to FIG. 1 , dampers 16 and 24 are both commanded to the closed position by the controller 20 . In this position, the damper 16 blocks the flow of outside air 14 from entering the system and the return air damper 24 is oriented to direct the return airflow 26 out through the exhaust air opening 30 . Thus, no airflow is entering a mixed air chamber 40 , where the motor 34 and fan 36 are located. The motor 34 is turned on, so the fan is operated, and an output level measurement, such as power (watts), current (amps) or torque, at the motor 34 is taken via a power meter 42 or other such device. This measurement will serve as a baseline output level measurement, and will be the lowest output level measurement, as in this configuration with both dampers 16 , 24 commanded to the closed positions, the amount of airflow is the least.
Referring now to FIG. 2 , the outside air damper 16 is commanded to the open position, to allow the flow of outside air 14 into the economizer 10 . The motor 34 output level is measured again. If the outside air damper 16 moves as commanded, the airflow through the mixed air chamber 40 will increase, resulting in an increase of output level at the motor 34 . Next, referring to FIG. 3 , the outside air damper 16 is commanded to the closed position, and the return air damper 24 is commanded to the opened position and the exhaust air damper 44 is commanded to a closed position. In this configuration, the flow of outside air 14 is stopped from entering the economizer 10 , while the exhaust air damper 44 blocks the exhaust air opening 30 . The return airflow 26 is directed through the return air opening 28 into the economizer 10 . Motor 34 output level is then measured once again, and if the return air damper 24 is functioning properly, a rise in output level over the baseline output level measurement is expected, because of the increase in airflow across the fan 36 . This process is then repeated for any additional dampers and actuators to determine if the dampers are functioning properly. If the output level measurement increases relative to the baseline output level measurement, it may be concluded that the tested damper is functioning properly. If the output level measurement is the same as the baseline output level measurement, the tested damper is not functioning as expected. For example, the actuator may have failed, the actuator may have become mechanically disconnected from the damper, or the damper may be stuck. In such instances where one or more dampers are not operating as expected, an alarm or alert may be generated. It is to be appreciated that while in this embodiment the outside air damper 16 is tested then the return air damper 24 is tested, the testing of individual dampers may be done in any order. For example, in some embodiments, the return air damper 24 is tested prior to the testing of the outside air damper 16 .
It is to be appreciated that, while in this embodiment, the baseline output level measurement is taken with dampers 16 , 24 closed, and individual damper condition is assessed by commanding the opening of individual dampers, in other embodiments, the process may be substantially reversed. For example, and referring to FIG. 4 , the baseline output level measurement may be taken with any one of the dampers 16 or 24 commanded to their open positions and the exhaust air damper 44 closed. In the open position, outside air damper 16 admits the flow of outside air 14 into the mixed air chamber 40 , and the exhaust air damper 44 closes the exhaust air opening 30 . This configuration directs the maximum outside airflow cross the fan 36 , thus the baseline output level measurement at the motor 34 in this instance would be expected to be highest. Individual damper 16 is then evaluated by commanding it to the closed position, and measuring the motor 34 output level again. If the individual damper 16 is functioning properly, the measured motor 34 output level is expected to be lower than the baseline output level measurement. The process is then again repeated for return air damper 24 whereby the outside air damper 16 is commanded to the closed position and the return air damper 24 is commanded to the fully open position. Again a baseline output level measurement, baseline 2 , at the motor 34 in this instance would be expected to be highest. The individual damper 24 is then evaluated by commanding it to the closed position, and measuring the motor 34 output level again. If the individual damper 24 is functioning properly, the measured motor 34 output level is expected to be lower than the baseline 2 output level measurement. This process may be repeated for each damper in the system.
Utilizing motor 34 output level measurements to determine damper 16 , 24 conditions allows for accurate determination of damper 16 , 24 functionality for economizers 10 with multiple dampers 16 , 24 and actuators 18 , 32 . This method does not require a difference between outside air temperature (OAT) and room air temperature (RAT) to make an accurate determination.
While the present disclosure has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate in spirit and/or scope. Additionally, while various embodiments have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
|
A method of evaluating damper operation for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system includes moving a plurality of dampers of the HVAC system collectively to a baseline damper position. The plurality of dampers is positioned at a flowpath including a fan driven by a motor. The fan is operating by switching the motor on and a baseline output level at the motor is measured. A first damper of the plurality of dampers is commanded to move from the baseline damper position to a first damper position and a first output level at the motor is measured. The first output level is compared to the baseline output level. A difference is indicative of successful movement of the first damper from the baseline damper position to the first damper position.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an optical apparatus having an autofocus (“AF”) control using a photoelectric conversion element (“PCE”).
[0002] A single lens reflex type digital still camera or digital single lens reflex (“DSLR”) camera adopts the so-called pupil slicing focus detection for precise focusing upon a quickly moving subject.
[0003] FIG. 7 shows a schematic structure of a conventional DSLR camera system. When a photographer observes a subject through an eyepiece 104 , part of light 110 from the subject that transmits an image-taking lens 120 is reflected on a main mirror 101 and forms a subject image on a focusing glass 102 in a camera body 100 . The subject image formed on the focusing glass 102 is guided to the photographer's eye via a penta prism 103 and the eyepiece 104 .
[0004] Part of the light 110 from the subject passes through the main mirror 101 , and is reflected on a sub-mirror 105 and guided to a focus detection unit 106 . The focus detection unit 106 includes a field lens, a mirror, a stop mask, a secondary imaging lens, and a light-receiving sensor. The light-receiving sensor receives the light that passes different pupil areas on the image-taking lens 120 , and an image signal is output from each of a pair of or plural pairs of line sensors in the light-receiving sensor. A focusing state (such as a defocus direction and a defocus amount) of the image-taking lens 120 can be detected based on a phase difference of this image signal. In addition, a driving direction and driving amount of a focus lens 123 in the image-taking lens 120 are calculated from the detected focusing state, and focus is obtained by driving the focus lens 123 .
[0005] In the image-taking time, both the main mirror 101 and sub-mirror 105 retreat from the optical path and the light from the subject which has passed the image-taking lens 120 is guided to the image sensor 108 .
[0006] The pupil slicing focus detection method of a through the taking lens (“TTL”) phase difference detection (“PDD”) requires a sensor dedicated for a focus detection and a secondary imaging optical system, and thus has difficulties in reducing a size and cost of the camera.
[0007] Accordingly, a digital still camera has recently been proposed which utilizes a subject taking image sensor for the TTL PDD and pupil slicing focus detection. For example, Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. (“JP”) 9-43507 inserts, near a pupil of the image-taking lens, a mask that transmits the light from part of the pupil, and detects focus using a signal from the image sensor corresponding to two images by switching an opening position of the mask. Another focus detection system, proposed in JP 2004-46132, uses part of the image sensor as an AF sensor area, and guides to the area two lights split by a split image prism provided in the imaging optical system.
[0008] JP 4-147207 discloses another structure for the TTL PDD AF by arranging a holographic optical element closer to the object side.
[0009] However, the focus detection method proposed in JP 9-43507 changes the mask opening position, reads twice an image of the light that passes different pupil areas in the image-taking lens as an output (image signal) of the image sensor, compares these image signals. It takes a relatively long time to switch the mask opening position and to read two image signals from the image sensor. This focus detection method is rather unsuitable for a quickly moving subject.
[0010] A method that uses a split image prism proposed in JP 2004-46132 needs a larger image than the split image prism, different from the TTL PDD. In addition, unless an image on the boundary of the split image prism has a linear shape, this method determines that it is defocused even if it is focused. Therefore, this method has a limited focus detection capability or is inferior to the TTL PDD.
[0011] A method that uses the holographic optical element proposed in JP 4-147207 is similar to the TTL PDD in principle, but the holographic optical element possesses large color dispersion that causes an image to contain aberration in forming two AF images in the pupil slicing direction, which are important to a determination of the focusing state. Thus, this method is not practicable for the focus detection.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Accordingly, it is an exemplary object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus that provides quick and precise TTL PDD and pupil slicing focus detection.
[0013] An optical apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a first optical element for splitting a first polarized light component contained in light that passes an exit pupil of a first optical system and directs to a photoelectric conversion element so that the first polarized light component direct to different light-receiving areas on the photoelectric conversion element. The optical apparatus may further include a second optical element for separating a second polarized light component contained in the light from said first optical element, from the first polarized light component.
[0014] An image-taking system according to another aspect of the present invention includes a lens unit that includes a first optical system, and the above optical apparatus that serves as an image-taking apparatus, onto which said lens unit is mounted.
[0015] Other objects and further features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a structure of a camera system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an optical path according to the first embodiment.
[0018] FIGS. 3A to 3 D are views for explaining a structure and manufacturing method of an optical deflector according to the first embodiment.
[0019] FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic views of optical paths for a focus detection and for finder observation according to the first embodiment.
[0020] FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a focus detection principle according to the first embodiment.
[0021] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a structure of a camera system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a structure of a conventional camera system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a description will be given of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
First Embodiment
[0024] FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a DSLR camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Those elements in FIG. 1 , which are the corresponding elements in FIG. 7 , are designated by the same reference numerals.
[0025] 300 denotes a camera body (optical apparatus), onto which an image-taking or interchangeable lens 120 is mounted via a lens mount 121 .
[0026] The image-taking lens 120 includes an image-taking optical system 125 , and a lens controller, such as a MPU (not shown) etc. The image-taking optical system 125 serves as a first optical system that includes plural lenses including a focus lens 123 and a stop 124 . The lens controller can communicate with a camera controller 309 , such as an MPU, provided in the camera body 300 , via a lens-side contact 122 and a camera-side contact 112 . The camera controller 309 has an image processing function that generates a subject image based on a signal from an image-pickup device 108 , which will be described later, and a focus detection function that detects a focusing state of the imaging-taking optical system 125 based on the signal from the image-pickup device 108 , and operates a driving amount of the focus lens 123 .
[0027] In the camera body 300 , 200 denotes an optical deflector that serves as a first optical element, and its concrete structure will be described later. 108 denotes an image-pickup device (or an image sensor) that serves as a PCE, such as a CCD sensor and a CMOS sensor. A polarization beam splitter (“PBS”) 301 that serves as a second optical element is provided between the optical deflector 200 and the image-pickup device 108 . An infrared extinction and low-pass filter 107 is provided just prior to the image-taking element 108 .
[0028] 102 denotes a focusing glass. 103 denotes a penta prism that introduces a subject image formed on the focusing glass 102 to the eyepiece 104 . The focusing glass 102 , the penta prism 103 and the eyepiece 104 form a finder optical system that serves as a second optical system.
[0029] FIG. 2 denotes an optical path in detecting the focusing state of the image-taking optical system 125 or at the focus detection time in the above camera system.
[0030] The light 110 from the subject passes the image-taking optical system 125 , and is incident upon the optical deflector 200 . This light 110 is a non-polarized light. The optical deflector 200 deflects and transmits, in the +y direction part, (referred to as “plus deflected light” hereinafter) 200 of a first polarized light component that has a polarization plane parallel to the zx plane among the light 110 . The PBS 301 serves to transmit the first polarized light component and reflect a second polarized light component having a polarization plane orthogonal to the zx plane (or parallel to the yz plane).
[0031] Consequently, the plus deflected light 211 of the first polarized light component passes through the PBS 301 , and condenses in an upper light-receiving area of the image-pickup device 108 in FIG. 2 . Part (referred to as “minus deflected light” hereinafter) 212 of the first polarized light component is deflected in the −y direction, passes through the PBS 301 , and condenses in a lower light-receiving area of the image-pickup device 108 in FIG. 2 .
[0032] The plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 among the first polarized light component which have reached the image-pickup device 108 are lights that have passed different areas of the exit pupil of the image-taking optical system 125 . Therefore, the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 form a pair of images on the image-pickup device 108 , providing the pupil slicing focus detection based on the output or image signals from the image-pickup device 108 corresponding to the pair.
[0033] On the other hand, the second polarized light component 210 contained in the light 110 travels straight and passes the optical deflector 200 , is reflected on the PBS 301 as the second optical element, and condenses on the focusing glass 102 , forming the subject image. Thereby, even in detecting focus using the first polarized light component including the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 , a photographer can observe the subject image via the finder optical system.
[0034] Referring now to FIGS. 3A to 3 D, a description will be given of a structure and manufacture method of the optical deflector 200 . The optical deflector 200 includes in order from a light incident side, as shown in FIG. 3D , a resin substrate 201 having a blazed diffraction grating, liquid crystal 202 filled in the grooves or concaves of the diffraction grating, a polarization film 204 having a pair of openings 204 a and 204 b as shown in FIG. 3C , and a glass substrate 203 adhered to the polarization film 204 .
[0035] The resin substrate 201 includes, as shown in FIG. 3A , first and second diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b having different blazed directions from each other, and these blazed diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b are manufactured by a molding method that uses the resin substrate 201 and a mold.
[0036] The uniaxial light-transmitting liquid crystal 202 is filled, as shown in FIG. 3B , in the grating grooves of each of both the diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b in the resin substrate 201 . The material of the liquid crystal 202 is selected so that the ordinary index “no” of the liquid crystal 202 is approximately equal to the refractive index “ng” of the resin substrate 201 .
[0037] The diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b are oriented by applying an orientation film made of polyimide, etc. onto the surfaces of the diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b . Next, the liquid crystal 202 is cured by irradiating the ultraviolet (“UV”) light, after the solvent is vaporized by filling and heating the UV curing liquid crystal 202 in the grating grooves. The molecular axis of the liquid crystal polymer orientates approximately parallel to the grating groove direction (or x direction) of each of the diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b . FIG. 3B shows a molecular axis of the liquid crystal polymer in a stick shape. The molecular axis direction of the liquid crystal polymer approximately accords with the optical-axis direction relative to the polarized light.
[0038] The glass substrate 203 pasted with the polarization film 204 is adhered to the side of the liquid crystal 202 of the resin substrate 201 in which the liquid crystal 202 is filled and cured in the grating grooves. The openings 204 a and 204 b in the polarization film 204 are arranged in areas corresponding to the diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b . The openings 204 a and 204 b are arranged symmetrical with respect to the yz plane including the optical axis (or z axis). The polarization film 204 is arranged so that its polarization or optical axis is approximately orthogonal to the optical-axis direction of the liquid crystal 202 filled in the grating grooves.
[0039] Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B , a description will be given of the pupil slicing focus detection while the finder optical system observes the subject image.
[0040] FIGS. 4A and 4B show a separation of the second polarized light component 210 used for the finder observation from the first polarized light component (plus deflected light 211 and minus deflected light 212 ) used for the focus detection.
[0041] FIG. 4A shows an optical path of a plane orthogonal to the zx plane that passes the center of the opening 204 a in the polarization film 204 provided in the optical deflector 200 . The opening 204 a in the polarization film 204 transmits a part (or first area) of the exit pupil in the image-taking optical system 125 , and receives the light that has passed the diffraction grating 201 a , i.e., the first and second polarized light components. The polarization axis direction of the polarization film 204 is set so that it absorbs the first polarized light component having the polarization plane parallel to the zx plane.
[0042] The molecular axis of the liquid crystal 202 filled in the grating grooves in the diffraction grating 201 a orientates approximately parallel to the grating groove direction or the x direction. An extraordinary index “ne” of the liquid crystal 202 and the refractive index “ng” of the resin substrate 201 have the following relationship:
ne>ng (1)
The first polarized light component having the polarization plane approximately parallel to the molecular axis of the liquid crystal 202 is deflected in the +y direction as illustrated. Part of the first polarized light component that has transmitted the liquid crystal 202 is absorbed in the polarization film 204 , but the plus deflected light 211 of the first polarized light component that has passed the opening 204 a in the polarization film 204 and the glass substrate 203 transmits the PBS 301 and reaches the upper light-receiving area in the image-pickup device 108 as illustrated.
[0043] For example, when the resin substrate 201 has a refractive index ng of 1.5, the liquid crystal 202 has an extraordinary index ne of 1.7, and a necessary deflecting angle Φ is 8° for the plus deflected light 211 , a desired deflecting angle Φ is obtained by setting the grating pitch p of each of the diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b to 4 μm, and an inclination angle θ of the resin substrate 201 to 35°.
[0044] FIG. 4B shows an optical path of a plane orthogonal to the zx plane that passes the center of the opening 204 b in the polarization film 204 provided in the optical deflector 200 . The opening 204 b in the polarization film 204 receives the light that has passed another part (or second area) of the exit pupil in the image-taking optical system 125 , i.e., the first and second polarized light components.
[0045] The molecular axis of the liquid crystal 202 filled in the grating grooves in the diffraction grating 201 b orientates approximately parallel to the grating groove direction or the x direction, and the refractive index ng of the resin substrate 201 and the extraordinary index ne of the liquid crystal 202 have the above relationship defined in Equation (1). Therefore, the first polarized light component having the polarization plane (parallel to the zx plane) approximately parallel to the molecular axis of the liquid crystal 202 is deflected in the −y direction in FIG. 4A . Part of the first polarized light that transmits the liquid crystal 202 is absorbed in the polarized film 204 , but the minus deflected light 212 of the first polarized light component that has passed the opening 204 b in the polarization film 204 and the glass substrate 203 transmits the PBS 301 and reaches the lower light-receiving area in the image-pickup device 108 as illustrated.
[0046] The ordinary index “no” of the liquid crystal 202 and the refractive index “ng” of the resin substrate 201 have the following relationship:
no≈ng (2)
Therefore, the second polarized light component 210 having the polarization plane (parallel to the yz plane) orthogonal to the molecular axis of the liquid crystal 202 travels straight without being subject to the deflections by the diffraction gratings 201 a and 201 b . The first polarized light component 210 is reflected by the PBS 301 , condenses on the focusing glass 102 , and forms the subject image. A photographer observes the subject image formed on the focusing glass 102 via the penta prism 103 and the eyepiece 104 .
[0047] Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B , a description will be given of a focus detection principle using the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 . FIG. 5A shows an optical path when the image-taking optical system 125 is focused on a predetermined subject. Among the first polarized light component having a polarization plane parallel to the zx plane in FIG. 5A out of the light that passes the image-taking optical system 125 and enters the optical deflector 200 , the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 that have passed the openings 204 a and 204 b in the polarization film 204 transmit the PBS 301 , which is omitted in FIG. 5A , and image on the image-pickup device 108 . FIG. 5D shows image signals from predetermined two lines extending in the x direction in the image-pickup device 108 , which correspond to two images formed by the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 .
[0048] Although the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 pass different areas on the exit pupil in the image-taking optical system 125 , an image (signal) A formed by the plus deflected light 211 that passes the opening 204 a accords in the x direction on the image-pickup device 108 with an image (signal) B formed by the minus deflected light 212 that passes the opening 204 b , because the image-taking optical system 125 is focused on the subject.
[0049] FIG. 5B shows an optical path when the image-taking optical system 125 is in the front focus state to the subject or focused on a position before the subject. The plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 once image before the image-pickup device 108 , diverge, and reach the image-pickup device 108 . FIG. 5E shows an image signal from the above two lines corresponding to two images formed by the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 .
[0050] Since the image-taking optical system 125 is in the front focus state, the image (signal) A formed by the plus deflected light 211 that passes the opening 204 a shifts from in the −x direction on the image-pickup device 108 with the image (signal) B formed by the minus deflected light 212 that passes the opening 204 b . Thus, the camera controller 309 shown in FIG. 1 detects a defocus amount and a defocus direction (or front focus direction) of the image-taking optical system 125 based on the shifting direction and a positional relationship (or phase difference) between the images A and B.
[0051] FIG. 5C shows an optical path when the image-taking optical system 125 is in the so-called back focus state to the subject or focused on a position after the subject. The plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 divergently enter the image-pickup device 108 . FIG. 5F shows an image signal from the above two lines corresponding to two images formed by the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 .
[0052] Since the image-taking optical system 125 is in the back focus state, the image (signal) A formed by the plus deflected light 211 that passes the opening 204 a shifts from in the +x direction on the image-pickup device 108 with the image (signal) B formed by the minus deflected light 212 that passes the opening 204 b . Thus, the camera controller 309 shown in FIG. 1 detects a defocus amount and a defocus direction (or front focus direction) of the image-taking optical system 125 based on the shifting direction and a positional relationship (or phase difference) between the images A and B.
[0053] Based on the detected defocus direction and defocus amount, the camera controller 309 operates a driving direction and a driving amount necessary for focusing of the focus lens 123 shown in FIG. 1 , and controls driving of the focus lens 123 via the lens controller (not shown).
[0054] The optical deflector 200 of this embodiment that has a polarization characteristic is affected by the subject when the subject has a polarization characteristic, the optical deflector 200 is affected. In order to cancel the polarization characteristic of the subject, it is preferable to provide a ½ wave plate at an incident side of the optical deflector 200 , and to rotate the polarization direction or the polarization plane of the incident light upon the optical deflector 200 if necessity arises.
[0055] After all of the finder observation, the focus detection, and the AF control are thus completed, the optical deflector 200 and the PBS 301 are retreated from the optical path between the image-taking optical system 125 and the image-pickup device 108 in photographing the subject with the image-pickup device 108 .
[0056] As discussed above, this embodiment detects focus using the image-pickup device while confirming the subject through the finder optical system, and dispenses with the sensor and optical system dedicated for detecting the focus, promoting the miniaturization and cost reduction of the camera.
[0057] In addition, since two lights deflected by the optical deflector form two images on the image-pickup device, a single readout of an image signal from the image-pickup device provides focus detection, maintaining the precision of the focus detection even to a quickly moving the subject.
[0058] Moreover, since the optical deflector deflects, in different directions, the lights that enter different pupil areas on the image-taking optical system, this embodiment can provide pupil slicing and TTL PDD focus detection based on the image formed by each defected light.
[0059] The optical deflector is configured to split and deflect the first polarized light component to form the focus detection images while transmitting the second polarized light component. Thus, the second polarized light component forms a non-distorted finder image.
[0060] The second polarized light component that transmits the optical deflector, is reflected on the PBS, and forms the finder image prevents drop of the light intensity of the finder image.
[0061] The configuration that allows the PBS and the optical deflector to retreat from the optical path between the image-taking optical system and the image-pickup device eliminates from a shot subject image distortion or lowed light intensity caused by the PBS and optical deflector.
[0062] The optical deflector includes the first and second blazed diffraction gratings having different blaze directions, uniaxial light-transmitting material member, and polarization film, and provides an inexpensive optical element used for the pupil slicing focus detection.
Second Embodiment
[0063] While the first embodiment discusses the camera body that includes both the optical deflector 200 and the PBS 301 , the optical deflector 200 may be provided at or near the pupil position (a position of the stop 124 ) in the image-taking or interchangeable lens 420 as shown in FIG. 6 .
[0064] While the first and second embodiments discuss an interchangeable lens SLR camera system, the present invention is applicable to other camera systems, such as an integrated lens camera system.
[0065] While the above embodiments discuss the optical deflector 200 that deflects the minus part in the +y direction and minus part in the −y direction among the first polarized light component, the present invention may deflect only one of parts and introduce the other to the image-pickup device 108 without deflecting the other. In this case, a pair of images are formed, for example, at the top and center of the image-pickup device.
[0066] While the above embodiments discuss deflections of the plus and minus deflected lights 211 and 212 in the same direction as the slicing direction in the pupil area in the image-taking optical system which these lights pass, a deflecting direction of each deflected light is not limited to these embodiments.
[0067] While the above embodiments discuss two images formed on the image-pickup device 108 using two deflected lights 211 and 212 , the number of deflected lights and deflecting directions may increase so as to form four or more images.
[0068] While the above embodiments discuss use of the optical deflector 200 having a pair of blazed diffraction gratings, another element that serves to deflect the light and generate less aberration may form the optical deflector, in addition to the blazed diffraction grating. While the above embodiments discuss the optical deflector that includes the liquid crystal filled in the grating grooves in the diffraction grating, the inventive arrangement between the diffraction grating and the liquid crystal is not limited to these embodiments. For example, a member that encloses the liquid crystal between glass substrates may be arranged adjacent to the diffraction grating (or resin substrate).
[0069] While the above embodiments discuss the optical deflector 200 that splits part of the incident light using the polarization characteristic and forms two images on the image-pickup device 108 , the inventive first optical element may use an optical deflector that splits part of the incident light by using an optical characteristic, such as a wavelength characteristic, other than the polarization characteristic.
[0070] As discussed, the above embodiments split the first polarized light component incident upon the first optical element, and form a pair of images on the PCE, more quickly providing an image signal than switching the mask opening position. In addition, a pair of images have less aberration suitable for the focus detection than the split image prism and the holographic optical element. Thus, a fast and highly precise, TTL PDD and pupil slicing focus detection is available.
[0071] A separation of a second light component, such as the second polarized light component, contained in the light from a first optical element, from a first light component, such as the first polarized light component, directing to the PCE, only a pair of images can be formed on the PCE while the second light component can be used for other applications, such as a finder observation.
[0072] This application claims foreign priority benefits based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-294182, filed on Oct. 6, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.
|
There is provided an optical apparatus that provides quick and precise TTL phase difference detection and pupil slicing focus detection. An optical apparatus includes a first optical element for splitting a first polarized light component contained in light that passes an exit pupil of a first optical system and directs to a photoelectric conversion element so that the first polarized light component direct to different light-receiving areas on the photoelectric conversion element. The optical apparatus may further include a second optical element for separating a second polarized light component contained in the light from said first optical element, from the first polarized light component.
| 6
|
This is a divisional of copending application(s) Ser. No. 07/581,168 filed on Sep. 4, 1990, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/423,318 filed on Oct. 18, 1989, now abandoned.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to methods of preserving, storing, and using hydroxylamine production catalyst and, more particularly, to methods of preparing, storing, and using such catalyst in substantially oxygen free environments.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
The production of hydroxylamine is accomplished utilizing a catalyst consisting of platinum supported on a carbon carrier which is preferably graphite. The catalyst is prepared by precipitating or impregnating platinum onto the support using methods which are well known to those skilled in the art. Such methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,274; 4,122,040, and 3,060,133, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In the operation of a hydroxylamine production facility, the addition of freshly regenerated catalysts to hydroxylamine reaction trains of the production facility results in an increase in catalyst activity. However, such addition of freshly regenerated catalysts also has associated with it a temporary decrease in the selectivity of the reaction towards hydroxylamine. In order to minimize the negative effects of the catalysts' addition on selectivity, and maximize the positive effects on activity, catalysts' addition has heretofore been limited to small amounts of the regenerated catalyst. Rapid addition of regenerated catalysts causes unacceptable selectivities. Further, the selectivity of regenerated catalysts can be adversely affected by post-regeneration handling techniques.
It has been unexpectedly discovered that the instant invention allows for large amounts of catalysts to be added to hydroxylamine reaction trains without adversely affecting the catalysts selectivity. Further, the instant invention allows for entire reaction trains to be emptied and replaced with regenerated catalysts and such trains have experienced unexpected and surprising increases in hydroxylamine production rates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to methods of inhibiting the diminution of a selectivity of a hydroxylamine catalyst during the preservation, storage, and use of such catalyst by maintaining the catalyst during such preservation, storage, or use in a substantially oxygen-free environment. The substantially oxygen-free environment may take the form of deionized and deoxygenated water, nitrogen, hydrogen, argon, or similar non-oxygen containing media or environment.
Objects, features, and advantages of this invention are to provide methods of preserving, regeneration, storing, and using hydroxylamine catalysts without adversely affecting the selectivity of the catalyst; preparing a hydroxylamine catalyst to obtain a predetermined selectivity and which increases reaction rates; controlling the reaction selectivity of the catalyst and avoiding large swings in selectivity associated with prior methods of preserving, storing, and using the catalyst; and rapidly charging large amounts of hydroxylamine catalysts to reactor cascades without adversely affecting selectivities and providing an increase in reaction rates.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The selectivity of regenerated catalysts can be adversely affected by post-regeneration handling techniques. It has been unexpectedly discovered that exposing freshly generated catalysts to air can cause both the selectivity of the reaction (percent hydroxylamine produced) and the production rate of hydroxylamine to significantly decrease in a relatively short period of time. It is believed that this phenomenon may be irreversible. Regenerated catalyst in production plants is often exposed to air when it is filtered, handled, and transferred to the reactors. Evaluation of these production samples indicates that significant damage can occur to catalyst which is exposed to oxygen prior to its addition to reactor trains.
The original selectivity of the catalyst can be preserved if the catalyst is kept in a substantially oxygen-free environment. It is believed that oxygen reacts readily with hydroxylamine catalysts to create a system that favors the synthesis of two undesirable products, ammonium sulfate and nitrous oxide. Regenerated catalyst can be preserved by keeping it in a substantially oxygen-free environment. Suitable substantially oxygen-free environments may take the form of deionized and deoxygenated water, nitrogen, hydrogen, argon, or similar non-oxygen containing media or environment. Preferably, the catalysts may be preserved or stored in a sealed vessel under deionized and deoxygenated water with a nitrogen purge. Nitrogen bubbling with mild agitation of the deionized and deoxygenated water is preferable.
Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the change in specificity towards hydroxylamine associated with the use of regenerated catalysts which were exposed to oxygen. Several batches of freshly regenerated catalysts were prepared from which samples were taken prior to filtration of the catalyst. The samples were immediately washed, filtered, and split into 50 gram (weight basis) subsamples. The handling of the samples was extremely critical, in that exposure to air was minimized. These "preserved" samples were quickly evaluated in a laboratory reactor. The remaining samples were used in subsequent catalyst handling studies which includes exposure of a sample to various gases which are illustrated in Table I.
Normal filtered samples of the same catalyst batches were also taken. These samples were also immediately split and evaluated in a laboratory reactor.
The results of the laboratory reactor experiments performed on the "preserved" samples and the normal flatbed samples are summarized in Table I. The data indicates that hydroxylamine production is significantly higher for the "preserved" catalyst. Conversely, the ammonium sulfate production is significantly lower for the "preserved" catalyst. Therefore, the specificity of the reaction towards hydroxylamine is favored by the "preserved" catalyst. Although the consumption of free acid is higher for the normal samples which have been exposed to oxygen, it is apparent that the normal catalyst produced more annoniula sulfate and nitrous oxide. The values presented in Table I were calculated on the basis of data obtained during the first two hours of experiments. The two-hour time interval was selected as a benchmark, since the activity of the catalyst is essentially linear during this period. The data indicates that the purging of the "preserved" catalyst samples in deionized and deoxygenated water with either hydrogen or nitrogen is an effective preservation technique.
TABLE I______________________________________Hydroxylamine Mini-Kettle Experiments Acid HA AS Con-Run Sample S-T-Y S-T-Y sumption Spec. N.sub.2 ONo. Description (g/l/h) (g/l/h) (N/h) % (%)______________________________________ 1 Normal Filter 12.9 47.5 1.30 35 9.2 2 Normal Filter 15.5 39.6 1.21 43 10.6 3 Preserved 25.9 4.25 0.97 92 4.0 4 Preserved 24.8 6.60 0.98 88 4.0 5 Preserved 30.4 10.9 1.20 85 4.8 6 Preserved 32.5 7.6 1.20 90 2.9 7 Preserved 18.0 2.60 0.62 93 4.1 8 Preserved 27.2 17.2 1.25 76 6.0(Purged w/H.sub.2 in DI, 2 days) 9 Preserved 25.6 27.7 1.33 65 8.1(Purged w/N.sub.2 in DI, 2 days)10 Preserved 10.3 31.4 0.89 39 14.9(Purged w/air in DI, 2 days)11 Preserved 19.0 29.7 1.18 56 7.0(Purged w/air in DI, 3 days)12 Preserved 33.5 6.6 1.13 91 5.2(Purged w/N.sub.2 in DI, 3 days)13 Preserved 31.4 7.3 1.14 90 6.8(Purged w/H.sub.2 in DI, 4 days)______________________________________ Catalyst loading: 30 g/l; Temperature: 40° C.; Pressure: 1.6 atm. Calculated data based on values observed for first two hours, HA: Hydroxylamine AS: Ammonium sulfate ST-Y: SpaceTime-Yield Spec. = (HA/(HA + AS)) * 100 DI: deionized water
As can be seen from Table I, allowing hydroxylamine catalysts to be exposed to air severely reduces the selectivity of the catalyst towards hydroxylamine.
Likewise, when the method of storing the catalyst involves exposure to air, i.e., storing in deionized and deoxygenated water but purged with air, the selectivity of the catalyst is adversely affected. Conversely, hydroxylamine catalysts preserved in a substantially oxygen-free environment such as deionized and deoxygenated water, nitrogen, or hydrogen produce a surprising and unexpected selectivity of the catalyst towards hydroxylamine.
Previously, rapid addition of regenerated catalyst to reaction trains caused unacceptable selectivities. Following the instant invention of preserving the catalyst in a substantially oxygen-free environment, entire reactor cascades may be emptied and replaced with such preserved catalysts to achieve unexpectedly high production rates.
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege or property is claimed are defined as follows:
|
This invention relates to methods of preserving, storing, and using hydroxylamine production catalyst and, more particularly, to methods of preparing, storing, and using such catalyst in substantially oxygen free environments.
| 2
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a chain store and a process for loading the chain store.
The chain store and the process can be used for the temporary storage of articles or products of the same type.
The articles or products may be, for example, chocolate bars which are transported from a production apparatus to at least one packaging apparatus. However, the products may consist not of chocolate bars but of other sweet or nonsweet food in the form of pieces, for example bakery articles, or of cans or other containers having any filling or of components for mechanical engineering, for example ball bearings, which are transported to a packaging apparatus or other processing apparatuses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the case of known means for the production and packaging of chocolate bars, the bars produced by a production apparatus are transported via a feed belt to a chain store and then through this to packaging apparatuses. The chain store serves in this case as a compensating apparatus for compensating variations in the feed rate of bars or the packing rate of the packaging apparatus and complete stoppages of operation of the production apparatus or of the packaging apparatus, for example lasting for 5 min to 45 min. A chain store of this type typically has 150 to about 1200 gondolas attached to two continuous chains and having a plurality of shelves for holding one row of bars each. Each chain is deflected by a plurality of chain wheels mounted in a frame and by a plurality of chain wheels mounted on vertically displaceable carriages and forms a number of loops.
In the case of the known chain stores, those chains for the loading and unloading side which are each driven by a drive motor are intermittently moved, i.e. they are stationary while products are being loaded onto the shelves at the loading station and are being unloaded again on the shelves at the unloading station. The store operates according to the “first-in”/“first-out” principle and makes it possible to operate infeed and outflow at different speeds.
Thus, one storage level after the other is loaded for filling the chain store, for which purpose a loading motor controlled by a control mechanism moves the loading side stepwise past the loading station, while the unloading side controllable by an unloading motor is blocked. For removal of articles from the store, the unloading side is moved stepwise past the unloading station so that the storage levels can likewise be unloaded stepwise.
Because of the requirement for realizing constantly higher capacities and for increasing in particular the loading frequency of the store, the gondolas rock to an increasing extent at the deflection pulleys. This can lead to rocking of the gondolas over the total length of the chain at a sufficiently high cycle frequency or transport velocity, which in the extreme case results in the goods being thrown out of the gondolas.
This disadvantage has long been known to a person skilled in the art. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,752 discloses an antioscillation system which, by rolling of gear wheels in the manner of a planetary gear, ensures that the gondolas are guided perpendicularly and rigidly in the region of the deflection pulleys, in order thus to avoid disadvantageous rocking movements. Said system comprises gear wheels which are arranged on the deflection pulleys and the gondolas and engage one another with their teeth during the deflection.
This antioscillation system has the disadvantage that the gondolas are guided at the deflection pulleys so rigidly that the goods present on the storage level may be thrown off owing to the centrifugal force acting only on them in this case—and no longer on the gondolas—and produced by the deflection, if the velocity at which the gondolas are guided around the deflection pulleys exceeds a limit dependent on the mass of the goods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the invention to propose a chain store by means of which the above-mentioned disadvantage can be at least partly avoided, so that in particular the loading frequency can be increased compared with the conventional chain store.
This object is achieved, according to the invention, by a chain store comprising two continuous chains which together carry gondolas serving for holding goods and are driven together by gear wheels or chain wheels rigidly connected to one another, each chain being guided by means of upper and lower stationary deflection pulleys, on the one hand a loading station and on the other hand an unloading station being provided on the two outermost sides of the chain, and one drive device each being coordinated with the loading and unloading side, which device in each case drives the lower or upper stationary outermost deflection pulley coordinated with the loading or unloading side, wherein
each chain is guided in the region of the loading station around two stationary deflection pulleys and over two deflection pulleys, each of which is mounted freely rotatably in a vertically displaceable carriage, in such a way that the chain passes in each case from the outermost, upper or lower deflection pulley mounted freely rotatably in the first carriage downwards or upwards, respectively, to a further stationary deflection pulley and from there perpendicularly upwards or downwards, respectively, to the next upper or lower deflection pulley mounted in a stationary manner, that it passes in each case from the second outermost lower or upper stationary deflection pulley perpendicularly upwards or downwards, respectively, to the deflection pulley of the second carriage and from there perpendicularly downwards or upwards, respectively, to the lower or upper outermost deflection pulley mounted in a stationary manner,
the two carriages are arranged one on top of the other in a staggered manner and are additionally connected to one another by means of at least one chain, one belt or one tackle, which chain, belt or tackle is guided around an upper deflection pulley mounted in a stationary manner, and
a drive device is provided for separating the movement of the chain during loading into a chain movement which has a high frequency in the region of the loading side and an adjacent continuous or low-frequency chain movement.
A further object of the invention is a process for controlling a chain store as mentioned above, wherein the drive device has a compensating motor which drives the chain or uncouples from it in such a way that the movement of the chain during the loading is separated into a high-frequency chain movement in the region of the loading side and into a continuous or low-frequency chain movement in the remaining chain region, so that disadvantageous rocking of the gondolas during the high-frequency loading process over the total length of the chain is thus prevented.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the only FIGURE of the drawing.
The chain store shown in the FIGURE and denoted as a whole by 1 has four upper and four lower pairs of deflection pulleys over which a chain pair formed from two continuous chains 2 is guided. In the drawing, only one chain 2 of the chain pair and only one pulley of each pair of pulleys are visible, so that only one chain 2 or one pulley is generally referred to below. The upper pulleys are denoted by 11 to 14 and the lower pulleys by 21 to 24 . Of these pulleys, the two deflection pulleys 21 and 24 are each driven by a motor 26 or 27 , respectively, and, with the exception of the outermost upper chain wheel 11 shown on the left in the drawing, all upper and lower pairs of deflection pulleys are mounted in a stationary manner in a frame 3 .
The individual gondolas serving for holding the articles or product rows are denoted by 30 . These gondolas 30 indicated only schematically in the figure may have, for example, a plurality of storage levels. The gondolas 30 are moreover fastened by suspension at two ends from the two chains 2 in such a way that the storage levels always retain their horizontal position regardless of the position of the chains 2 .
During operation of the chain store 1 , the loading side 4 as shown on the left in the FIGURE is driven in such a way that the chains 2 move upwards from the bottom and the store 1 is loaded in the direction of the arrow 5 .
According to the invention, the chain store 1 is formed in such a way that it permits a loading capacity of over 100, for example 120 to 150, shelves per minute without disadvantageous rocking of the gondolas 30 being caused in the rear region of the store 1 by the cyclic loading.
In order to achieve such a high loading capacity, the loading side 4 shown on the left in the FIGURE is designed as follows:
Each chain 2 is guided in the region of the loading side 4 around two stationary deflection pulleys 15 and 21 and over two deflection pulleys 11 and 25 , each of which is mounted freely rotatably in a vertically displaceable carriage 40 or 41 , in such a way that the chain 2 passes in each case from the outermost, upper deflection pulley 11 mounted freely rotatably in the first carriage 40 perpendicularly downwards to the stationary deflection pulley 15 and from there perpendicularly upward to the subsequent upper deflection pulley 12 mounted stationary in the frame 3 , that it passes in each case from the lower stationary deflection pulley 22 which is the penultimate one in the direction of movement upwards to the deflection pulley 25 of the second carriage 41 and from there perpendicularly downward to the lower outermost deflection pulley 21 mounted stationary in the frame 3 .
The two carriages 40 and 41 are vertically displaceable over about half the maximum length of the loading side 4 in one rail 42 or 43 each and are additionally connected to one another by at least one chain 44 which is guided around an upper deflection pulley 45 mounted stationary in the frame 3 .
Furthermore, the likewise stationary deflection pulley 15 arranged between the vertically displaceable, upper deflection pulley 11 and the deflection pulley 12 is provided with a compensating motor 28 in order, on the one hand, to separate the movement of the chain 2 during loading into a chain movement which has a high frequency in the region of the loading side 4 and a chain movement which is continuous or has a low frequency in the remaining region.
Four further deflection pulleys or deflection rollers are also present between the pairs of pulleys 12 , 13 and 14 or 22 , 23 and 24 which are mounted freely rotatably in fixed bearings. Said pulleys or rollers are mounted freely rotatably in a vertically displaceable, third carriage 50 , the carriage 50 being guided in a vertical rail 51 and here too the invisible opposite side of the carriage 50 being identically formed.
The course of the chain 2 in the region of this third carriage 50 is clearly shown in FIG. 1 . From the upper deflection pulley 12 , it leads perpendicularly downwards to the upper deflection pulley 52 of the carriage 50 , from there perpendicularly upward to the stationary deflection pulley 13 , from there once again perpendicularly downwards to the upper deflection pulley 53 of the carriage 50 and from there once again upwards to the stationary deflection pulley 14 . From there, the chain then leads past the unloading station 60 to the deflection pulley 24 and from there over the lower deflection pulleys 54 and 55 of the carriage 50 and over the stationary lower deflection pulleys 23 , 22 and 21 back to the loading station 70 .
For filling the store 1 , one storage level after the other is loaded at the loading station 70 , for which purpose the motor 26 controlled by a control mechanism rotates the pulley 21 stepwise in the direction of the arrow 5 while the unloading motor 27 keeps the pulley 24 blocked. As soon as a gondola 30 has been completely loaded, a so-called gondola jump occurs, i.e. the loading side 4 is moved upward by the distance between two gondolas 30 and the uppermost storage level of the next gondola 30 is brought into the loading position.
On removal of the article from the store 1 , the motor 27 of the pulley 24 is put into operation in an analogous manner so that it pulls that side of the chain 2 which passes the unloading station stepwise downward in the direction of the arrow 6 until in each case a gondola 30 arrives at the unloading station 60 . The gondolas 30 can then be unloaded in succession, in the manner already known in the case of the conventional chain stores.
In an embodiment of the process according to the invention for controlling the loading process, the compensating motor 28 of the stationary deflection pulley 15 serves for fixing that part of the chain 2 which is at the rear with respect to the loading side 4 , during the stepwise loading of a gondola 30 , so that disadvantageous rocking of the already loaded gondolas 30 during the high-frequency loading process is thus prevented over the total length of the chain 2 .
In another embodiment of the process according to the invention, the compensating motor 28 serves for continuously driving that part of the chain 2 which is at the rear with respect to the loading side 4 , during the stepwise loading of a gondola 30 , i.e. for separating the chain movement in this case into a high-frequency chain movement of the loading side 4 which is dependent on the loading frequency and a continuous movement of the remaining part of the chain 2 . Also as a result of this, the disadvantageous rocking and oscillation movement of already loaded gondolas 30 which is caused by the cycle frequency of the loading process is prevented.
The chain store 1 furthermore has control means which are not shown and which have, for example, manually operatable control elements, electronic elements, for example at least one digital processor, display and registration devices and data stores and possibly pneumatic and/or hydraulic control elements, such as valves and the like. Electrical cables and possibly fluid lines connect the control means to the loading station 70 , the unloading station 60 and the motors 26 and 27 of the loading and unloading side and to the motor 28 of the stationary deflection pulley 15 . The control means are moreover formed in such a way that the loading, temporary storage and unloading of the product can be alternatively controlled with the aid of the control elements by at least one person and/or at least from time to time automatically.
The operation of a chain store 1 integrated in the production plant will now be explained. The ideal operation taking place in the ideal case will first be described. During this operation, a production apparatus continuously produces articles and feeds them, for example row by row and at uniform time intervals, to the loading station 70 of the chain store 1 .
If the chain store 1 is empty at the start of a production process, the two carriages 41 and 50 are in their uppermost vertical position and the carriage 40 is in its lowest vertical position, and, on arrival of the articles at the loading station 70 , the chain store 1 is first filled at most partly, namely at most approximately half-filled. During the loading, the carriage 50 moves vertically downwards stepwise or continuously at each gondola jump—with deflection pulley 24 blocked.
By means of the two carriages 40 and 41 and the compensating motor 28 of the stationary deflection pulley 15 , the disadvantageous rocking and oscillation movement of already loaded gondolas 30 can be prevented—as already mentioned.
In the first embodiment of the process according to the invention, the driving motor 28 blocks the deflection pulley 15 so that the carriage 40 is moved vertically upward and the carriage 41 coupled thereto is moved vertically downwards by the same height. That part of the chain 2 shown to the right of the deflection pulley 15 in the drawing remains stationary, with the result that the disadvantageous rocking and oscillation movement is prevented.
After all shelves of a gondola 30 have been filled and the two carriages 40 and 41 have reached their uppermost or lowermost position, the next gondola 30 is brought into the loading position for loading its first upper shelf. During this gondola jump, the blocking of the chain 2 at the deflection pulley 15 is eliminated and said pulley is additionally driven by means of the compensating motor 28 in the direction of the arrow 7 so that the two carriages 40 and 41 are moved downwards and upwards, respectively, so that they once again assume, respectively, their original lower or upper starting position required for loading a gondola 30 , and the loading process described above can be repeated.
In this first embodiment of the process according to the invention for loading the chain store 1 with a loading frequency which is higher compared with conventional chain stores, the movement of the chain 2 in the region of the loading side 4 is divided into a high-frequency movement of the loading side 4 and a low-frequency movement of the chain strand adjacent to the loading side, which low-frequency movement is synchronized with the gondola jump.
In the second embodiment of the process according to the invention, the compensating motor 28 inevitably drives the deflection pulley 15 during the loading process so uniformly that that part of the chain which is uncoupled from the high-frequency loading side 4 —at most with the exception of the blocked unloading side—is advanced continuously so that, in this case too, disadvantageous rocking of the gondolas 30 which is caused by the starting and stopping of the loading side 4 , in the chain region moved independently of the loading side 4 , is prevented.
After the store 1 has been at most half-filled, the unloading station 60 is also put into operation, i.e. the blocking of the unloading side is eliminated so that articles can be loaded continuously and without interruption onto the gondolas 30 at the loading station 70 and can be fed at a constant transport rate, which during ideal operation is equal to the production rate, via the unloading station 60 to a packaging apparatus. During this ideal operation, the control of the compensating motor 28 does not change substantially from the loading mechanism described above.
The ideal operation described above may be disturbed by various faults. For example, one of the product rows fed to the loading station 70 may be missing from time to time. It is also possible for the feed rate of the articles fed to the store 1 and the packing rate of the packaging apparatus to differ from one another temporarily. The production rate of the production apparatus may be temporarily slightly lower than during ideal operation, for example owing to some small fault, so that the feed rate of the transported article is lower than the packing rate of the packaging apparatus. It is also possible for the packaging apparatus to operate temporarily more slowly than intended. This may occur, for example, if the articles transported to the packaging apparatus lie slightly skew relative to the transport direction on the removal belt leaving the store 1 and then have to be aligned prior to packing.
In all these cases, the control means can control the chain store 1 in such a way that the articles on the removal belt have the spacings intended for ideal operation and reach the packaging apparatus at the time intervals intended in the case of ideal operation. During automatic operation, the control means effect an optional independent slowing down, acceleration or blocking of the loading or unloading process. Furthermore, the control means control the compensating motor 28 of the deflection pulley 15 in such a way that the two carriages 40 and 41 in one case are each moved to their starting position before the loading of a gondola 30 and, in the other case, as far as possible never reach their vertical position completely at the top or bottom during the loading of a gondola 30 .
The chain store 1 according to the invention can be modified in various ways. Thus, a plurality of vertically displaceable carriages 50 arranged one behind the other, for example two or three thereof, may be provided for increasing the storage capacity. Furthermore, the two carriages 40 and 41 provided in the region of the loading side 4 may also be coupled to one another by means of a belt or tackle, and the pulleys 21 and 22 can be vertically exchanged with the pulleys 11 and 15 , so that, correspondingly, the upper outermost deflection pulley on the loading side is provided with a drive motor, and the carriage 40 is arranged vertically displaceably in the lower half and the carriage 41 is arranged vertically displaceably in the upper half of the frame 3 .
|
Chain stores are provided for buffering and/or short-term storage of articles. They have a plurality of gondolas which are suspended from two chains which in turn run vertically over a plurality of deflection pulleys. Because of the requirement for realizing constantly higher capacities and for increasing the loading and unloading frequency of the store, the gondolas rock to an increasing extent at the deflection pulleys. At a sufficiently high cycle frequency during loading and/or unloading, this can lead to rocking of the gondolas over the total length of the chain, which can result in the articles being thrown out of the gondolas. The chain store according to the invention is now characterized in that a drive device is provided for separating the movement of the chain during loading into a chain movement which has a high frequency in the region of the loading side and an adjacent continuous or low-frequency chain movement.
| 1
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority based on co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/090,668, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/738,437, filed Dec. 17, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/636,348 filed Aug. 7, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/943,913 filed Aug. 31, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,789, which claimed priority based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/230,608 filed Sep. 6, 2000. These prior applications are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to devices, systems and methods for providing personal property security. A mobile monitoring security device of the present invention includes a communications interface that is capable of providing information regarding the status, condition, location and surroundings of the monitoring device and the personal property being monitored by the device to a user. The communications interface also gives the user the ability remotely to make programming changes to the security device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device for providing automated notice of disturbances to personal property and automated tracking of movement of the personal property and to a method and system for remotely managing the device along with a network of devices and sensors and to systems for providing automated information regarding the status, condition, surroundings and location of fixed or mobile property.
[0003] Many personal, enterprise or government property items are vulnerable to theft, vandalism, or damage from external forces. Monitored security systems can be ineffective and expensive. Monitored security systems are frequently large, immobile and slow to respond. The inability to monitor the area around the item may also result in numerous false calls or an inability to identify damaging events while still occurring, thereby increasing the likely damage. Thieves and vandals of small items are seldom caught, and the personal property is seldom recovered.
[0004] Currently available security systems typically require an owner or operator to be physically present to activate, deactivate or program the security systems. When a security system is activated or needs to be reconfigured or changed, the owner or operator may be required to go to the location and manually, activate, reconfigure or reset the system. The requirement of being physically present has proven to be cumbersome, particularly when the security system is at a job location, such as a construction site, located far from the owner or operator of the security system, or where a number of sites exist with personal property that needs to be monitored. Remotely activated and programmed devices could conveniently be programmed at any time from a remote location, eliminating the need for an owner or operator to travel to the property or properties and reset, program or reconfigure the security systems. Remote monitoring of conditions of the security systems and devices and conditions proximate to the security systems and the personal property being monitored by the security systems would also be useful.
[0005] Current security systems often notify a security company designated to receive information relating to the security systems. Notifying a designated security company may be ineffective because the security systems frequently do not have sufficient information about the status, condition, surroundings and location of the property being monitored by the security system. In addition, security companies are frequently ill equipped to monitor various types of property. Frequently, security companies notify local authorities whenever a security system is activated. Law enforcement personnel are often too busy to investigate such notifications, and if the notification is a false alarm, responding merely wastes valuable time and resources and frustrates the police.
[0006] What is needed is a device for securing personal property that is portable, simple, inconspicuous, effective, and economical, that can effectively monitor the status, condition, surroundings and location of various types of personal property and that can be managed, either separately or in conjunction with several of other security devices, remotely, inexpensively and efficiently. Such a device should be inconspicuous and highly effective in providing notification of status, condition, surroundings and location to a wide array of personal property, including vehicles, power tools, bicycles, trailers, boats, stereos, and televisions or other subjects (such as children or pets) and should be sufficiently economical to be purchased by a wide cross-section of consumers. Such a device may be manageable remotely through various access and management mechanisms including various computing devices and communications and data networks. Upon a change of status, condition, attitude, surroundings and location of personal property, such a device should be effective to provide notification of the change and provide tracking information regarding any movement of the personal property to enable identification and apprehension of possible perpetrator(s) and enable quick recovery of the property.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention provides an inexpensive security monitoring device and system for securing or monitoring personal property. The device and system of the present invention may be remotely activated and programmed to provide automated notice of changes in status, condition, attitude, surroundings and location of personal property and automated tracking of movement of attached or monitored personal property. A communications interface in the monitoring device provides communications between a controller, a transceiver, a location identifier, and various detection and interrogation sensors and various tagging or monitoring devices to provide information regarding the status, condition, attitude, surroundings and location of the device, the other tagging or monitoring devices in communication with the security device, and the personal property being monitored by the device. In one embodiment, an incorporated voice menu system permits a user to interact with the security device using telephone or other audible means using a user transceiver. The communications interface also gives the user the ability to remotely make programming changes to the security device.
[0008] The user may subscribe to a security monitoring company or application service provider to assist in monitoring. The security system of the present invention allows a user to augment the system by incorporating bilateral communications between the system, devices in the system, data networks, user transceivers, and computing devices, including computing devices managed by a monitoring company, or with applications provided by service providers. Bilateral communications permit exchange of information and instructions between each device in the system, thereby permitting the user and the monitoring company or service provider significant flexibility in remote and on-site operation of the system.
[0009] The present invention allows a user to procure a security device that couples to a cellular or other wireless transceiver and is operational over generally available wireless communications and data networks. The security device may be attached to personal property or even to a person. Upon a change of status, condition, attitude, surroundings or location, the security module may be programmed to initiate and establish a communication link or maintain an established link with the user over a wireless (e.g., cellular, personal computer system, satellite, etc.) network directly to the user by means of the communication link or indirectly to the user through a computer processing application and interface, including one or more computing devices included in or separate from the communications network.
[0010] The security device may be activated, reconfigured or programmed, or one or more diagnostic routines may be activated, through remote or on-site direct interaction with the security device or through a communications or data network, or through the facilities of a computing application designed to support the system. The remote or on-site interaction may include discovery, activation or reconfiguration of other security devices, tagging devices, or motion sensors, shock sensors, audible/sound sensors, moisture sensors, humidity sensors, fire sensors, temperature sensors, detachment sensors, smoke sensors, carbon monoxide sensors, chemical sensors, video sensors, and magnetic sensors, and may also include running one or more diagnostic routines to determine the operational capability of the device, and devices or sensor for which communications have been configured or which have been discovered by the device. A low-battery sensor may also be added to measure the power supply of the security device.
[0011] A user, or a security monitoring company, or both, may receive communications from the security device directly by the communications link, or may receive an alert or other notification, either spontaneously or as a result of a query by the user, the security monitoring company or a computing application through a communications or data network. Depending on the information transmitted in the communications, the user, the security monitoring company or computing application may evaluate the legitimacy of the alarm by various means, including listening to audible sounds originating in the proximity of the security device, or monitoring the sensors of the security device through various communications interfaces, including an Internet web or voice interface. The user, security monitoring company or computing application may also employ optional interrogation sensors (e.g., imagery, infrared, motion, temperature, etc.) located about the security device to further determine the status, condition, surroundings or location of the personal property being monitored.
[0012] Once the nature of the alarm has been verified, the location of the security device, sensors or other devices with which it is capable of communication, may gather and transmit location data for the device, sensors or other devices to the user, the security monitoring company, or the computing application, and may also activate one or more location identifiers within the security device, making the device, sensors or other devices subject to tracking by the user, security monitoring company or computing application. Tracking may be activated by the user initiating a decodable keypad sequence recognized by the security device, or by a computer program or data or communications protocol decodable by the device, or activation may be time delayed or even immediate upon detection of an alarm condition. Tracking may assume one of several approaches, such as a transmitting beacon located within the security device that may be detected by a tracking receiver used by the user or security monitoring company, or a receiving location-based system (e.g., a global positioning satellite or GPS unit, or a wireless or cell infrastructure-based system) that allows the coordinates of the security device to be determined and forwarded to the user or security monitoring company over the communication link.
[0013] Additionally, the security device may be configured to execute one or more programming commands issued by a user, computing device or computing application. Possible programming commands include a command to discover, activate or deactivate one or more of the tagging devices, sensors, or other security devices; a command to activate or deactivate the tracking transmitter; a command to activate or deactivate the low-battery sensor; a command to activate or deactivate the alarm system; a command to change the automatic clock; a command to activate or deactivate lights; a command to activate or deactivate speakers; a command to activate or deactivate a microphone; a command to activate or deactivate a camera; a command to notify the local authorities of a change in status, condition, surroundings or location of the personal property being monitored; a command to turn the security device on or off; or a command to perform various other desired functions.
[0014] Communications through the communications interface may be digital or analog according to well recognized or proprietary communications protocols. Communications through the communications may further be secured using various encryption algorithms and protocols. Such digitization permits proper delivery and authentication of each communication as well as ensuring the accuracy and reliability of such communications. Digitized communications may also be sent along various routes, permitting both the user, the security monitoring company and one or more computing applications to receive and to respond to notifications, as well as allowing one or more computing devices to automatically respond to various expected notifications. These protocols also allow remote programming of each individual device by the user, the security monitoring company, one or more computing applications, or a computer system.
[0015] The apparatus of the present invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available personal property security devices and systems. Thus, the present invention alleviates many of the problems of prior security devices. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
[0017] FIG. 1A illustrates one environment and configuration, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 1B illustrates an environment and configuration of one or more security monitoring devices that form an effective system of protecting personal property, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 1C illustrates a monitoring device according to one embodiment of the invention with detail regarding certain electrical components of the device;
[0020] FIG. 1D illustrates a device according to one embodiment of the invention along with auxiliary devices and a U.S. dime to provide perspective as to size;
[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the security system, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed block diagram of the security device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 4A is a flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 4B is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 4C is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 4D is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 4E is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 4F is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 4G is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 4H is a continuation of the flow diagram of the security methods implemented by the device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a monitoring method, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0032] FIG. 6 is a mechanical embodiment of an integrated transceiver and a security module, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0033] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications to the details of the Figures may be made without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention. The components and systems of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. The illustrations are merely representative of certain embodiments of the invention. Those embodiments of the invention may best be understood by reference to the drawings.
[0034] FIG. 1A illustrates a system for securing personal property and detecting and tracking an unauthorized or unanticipated intrusion or removal of personal property, or the condition, attitude or location of the personal property, or a condition of the area proximate to personal property, including monitoring of other property or facilities in the vicinity. As illustrated, a user 102 desires to secure a personal property asset 104 , which may be of various forms including mobile assets, stationary assets, or other types of property whose status and/or location may be of interest to the user 102 . The present invention facilitates the monitoring of the asset 104 through the inclusion of a security device 106 within the confines or surroundings of the personal property asset 104 . The user 102 activates a security device 106 to monitor or be aware of surroundings about the security device 106 by directly interacting with the security device 106 , or by interacting with the security device 106 through a user transceiver 110 that initiates a communication link through a communication network 108 or through a computing device 116 . The computing device may be of various forms, including a personal computer or a personal digital assistant 116 or smart phone 118 , connected to the communication network 108 .
[0035] FIG. 1B illustrates an embodiment of the current invention to provide a system of securing personal property and detecting and tracking unauthorized or unanticipated intrusion or removal of personal property. As illustrated, more than one security device 106 may be interconnected using a star network topology where a security device 106 is in a bidirectional communication 126 with an additional security device 106 . Alternatively, more than one security device 106 may be interconnected using a mesh network topology where the security device 106 is interconnected with other security devices through a variety of bidirectional communication channels.
[0036] As illustrated in FIG. 1B , the security device 106 may be interconnected either directly with additional devices 120 that are capable of further interconnecting with other additional devices 122 , or a security device may be directly interconnected with a device 122 . Additional devices 120 and additional devices 122 may have varying capabilities, including the capability of interfacing with and controlling or receiving data from a camera 128 , a motion detector 130 , a proximity sensor 132 , a temperature sensor 134 , a moisture sensor 136 , an infrared sensor 138 , a current sensor 140 , a microphone 156 , or one of any other sensors. As indicated by the arrows, each of these sensors is capable of bidirectional communication with one or more of the security devices 106 or with one or more of the additional devices 120 or 122 , or both.
[0037] In one embodiment of the invention, the security device 106 communicates with additional devices 120 and 122 using an analog communications protocol. In another embodiment of the invention, the security device 106 communicates with devices 120 and 122 using a digital communications protocol. The communications protocol may use sophisticated routing to determine the best communications path to a device. The communications protocol may include channel routing, congestion routing, fault-tolerant routing, and other routing techniques known to those skilled in the art.
[0038] Furthermore, the additional devices 120 and 122 may be RF transmitters using protocols useful for various frequencies. Each of the additional devices 120 and 122 , as well as the monitoring devices 106 may include memory to store data therein. Use of RF transmitters permits the use of RFID devices, such as RFID devices 144 shown in bidirectional communication with certain additional devices 120 in FIG. 1B .
[0039] As illustrated in FIG. 1C , the monitoring device 106 may further comprise a memory chip 150 that is in electronic communication with a controller 210 (see FIG. 3 ) contained in the security device 106 . In one embodiment, the memory chip is a typical EEPROM 152 memory storage chip. In some embodiments, the memory chip 152 may form all or part of the memory unit 150 . The memory chip 152 may be configured such that it will not lose its content when power to the monitoring device 106 is lost or shut down.
[0040] A sensor information storage unit 154 may also be added to the monitoring device 106 . The storage unit 154 may comprise any type of device that is capable of storing information. The storage unit 154 is designed to store information gathered by the sensors, including the microphone 156 , the camera 158 , and/or other input devices so that this information may be available in the future for reference and use. This type of stored information may be particularly helpful in identifying and prosecuting perpetrators. Although the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1C includes a storage unit 154 , embodiments may also be constructed in which the information gathered by these devices is transmitted to and stored by an external storage unit. Examples of the type of systems or devices that may be used as this external storage unit include computers, hard-drives, CD-ROMs, floppy disks, videotapes, audiotapes, or other types of data storage mechanisms.
[0041] An interrupt controller, such as an electronic low power device (“ELPD”) 160 , or complex programmable logic device (“CPLD”) 162 may also be added to the monitoring device 106 . The EPLD 160 is basically a battery saving device that uses extremely little power and remains in contact with the designated sensors. If the sensors detect a problem the EPLD will power up the main controller 210 to initiate a call to the user or a communication to the computing device 116 or an application server 256 . The interrupt controller 160 or 162 is a low power circuit that is in electronic communication with one or more of the sensors. Other embodiments may also be made in which the interrupt controller 160 or 162 is also in electronic communication with a low battery sensor 164 . Thus, the interrupt controller 160 or 162 allows the entire unit to be essentially shut down to save battery power and yet the sensors can still be active.
[0042] The interrupt controller 160 or 162 may be configured so that if the camera 128 , the motion detector 130 , the proximity sensor 132 , the temperature sensor 134 , the moisture sensor 136 , the infrared sensor 138 , the current sensor 140 , or one of any other sensors detects a disturbance or change in a condition of the property or the monitoring device 106 or a change in condition in the area around the monitoring device 106 , the sensor will signal the interrupt controller 160 or 162 . Once signaled, the interrupt controller 160 or 162 will then turn on or activate the controller 210 . The interrupt controller may also be configured to obtain additional information from one of the interrogation sensors, such as the camera 128 or the microphone 156 , which additional information may assist in determining the legitimacy and exigency of the alarm, such as whether there is a serious alarm condition or whether the condition is just a false alarm.
[0043] As depicted in FIG. 1D , the security monitoring device 106 may be a generally rectangular shape 106 a , or a disc shape 106 b , made small enough to be incorporated into various types of personal property, as noted by comparing the size of the monitoring device 106 shown in FIG. 1D to the size of a U.S. dime 168 . The monitoring device preferably includes the basic electronic components 170 of a cell phone. The monitoring device also includes a power port 172 that may be connected to an AC adapter or a DC adapter for recharging the battery of the device, or for attaching to a secondary battery to increase stand-alone battery life or to provide fail-over redundancy. A secondary battery may also be housed in the monitoring device to thwart attempts to overcome the security system by cutting out the power supply.
[0044] A USB port 174 may be included for communications with a personal computer. A microphone port 174 and a camera port 176 (for a still camera or a video camera, or both) may also be included. The monitoring device may include a motion detecting port 178 as well as sensor attachment ports 180 and 182 for attaching sensors such as a smoke detector, radiation sensor, external motion sensor, water sensor, weather sensor, or other sensors as may be useful to the user. A port could be used to upload information directly to a hand-held device, or to attach a cut-out or a panic button to the device.
[0045] The security device 106 is designed to be small, in some embodiments small enough to integrate into the personal property 104 . The result is that the monitoring device 106 is adaptable, reconfigurable, versatile, and can be very modular. It can thus be used for a wide variety of personal property items 104 .
[0046] The device may be attached using various methods. For instance a magnet may be incorporated so the device may be mounted on any ferro-magnetic surface. Because the device may be small and lightweight, hook and loop fasteners (“Velcro”) or nylon ties may be used to mount the device to different surfaces. Thus, the parts and modules permit adaptation for use in a wide variety of circumstances and environments.
[0047] The security device 106 may include an internal RF sensor 178 that is in communication with the controller 210 . The RF sensor 178 is designed to transmit signals to, and receive signals from, the antenna 182 . The RF sensor 178 can receive a instruction from the controller 210 to contact RFID devices 144 . When that instruction is received, the RF sensor sends an interrogation (or other) signal out, and the RFID sensors 144 respond according to programming.
[0048] Thus, using the RFID sensors 144 permits the security device 106 to monitor not only specific personal property 104 and the area around that property, but also to monitor specific pieces of property within range of the RFID signal strength. Frequent “pinging” of the RFID sensors permits the security device to provide updates as to status and relative location to the user 102 or application server 256 , or both, and each is able to respond with further information requests or programming changes to the security device 106 as well as any of the RFID sensors 144 . The bidirectional communications between each element of the entire security system permit great flexibility in the management and design of a security system to meet different circumstances and desires. The RFID devices may be programmed to provide notification if they are detached from the property, or if removed without proper entry of a security code. The user may program the RFID devices, as well as the security device 106 , using special codes transmitted over appropriate protocols, thereby controlling access to the RFID devices and the security devices. The RFID devices may even be programmed to provide notification if an additional device comes into proximity to the security device 106 , or other monitoring of various RFID-affiliated property.
[0049] Upon the triggering or happening of certain events or conditions, the security device 106 autonomously contacts the user 102 by initiating a communication link through the communication network 108 to the user transceiver 110 or the computing device 116 . Upon such notification, the user 102 may receive audible or other information about the security device 106 or the surroundings of the security device 106 , including information acquired and delivered by the security device 106 to the user transceiver 110 or the computing device 116 . The user 102 may respond to such information in various manners. The user 102 may evaluate audible sounds and determine whether such audible information suggests further reactions such as notifying proper authorities. If the personal property 104 has been removed to another location, the user is able to identify the new location by detection of a tracking signal 112 emanating from the security device 106 through the use of a tracking receiver 114 or by evaluation of other packaged location information dispatched from the security device 106 through a separate communication channel or through the communication network 108 to the user transceiver 110 or the computing device 116 .
[0050] The signals going to and from the RF sensor 178 may be monitored by the controller 210 to provide the monitoring device 106 with information regarding the progress of a telephone call. Specifically, the RF sensor 178 allows the monitoring device 106 to receive information regarding whether an incoming telephone call has been answered, whether an incoming telephone call has ended, whether an outgoing call has been answered by a receiving party, whether an outgoing call has been ended by a receiving party, as well as other valuable information. As a result, the monitoring device reacts appropriately to the instructions transmitted during the telephone call.
[0051] Referring to FIG. 2 , in one embodiment, a personal property security device (“PPSD”) including security device 106 and additional devices 120 , may also include a combination of several electronic devices. The PPSD may include a digital and/or analog cellular transceiver 200 . The transceiver 200 may be used for several purposes. First, the transceiver 200 may be configured to be activated and deactivated by means of a remote transmission from the user transceiver 110 or from the computing device 116 . In selected embodiments, a special switch may be installed to activate and deactivate the transceiver 200 . Once activated, the transceiver 200 is in a mode ready to discover and communicate with other devices, or to initiate communication with a user transceiver 110 , a computing device 116 , or a communication network 108 to provide notification of a disturbance to the personal property or the surroundings of the personal property.
[0052] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the transceiver 200 receives a disturbance signal from a triggering device or detection sensor 212 , the transceiver 200 initiates a connection to a computing device 116 and remains in communication with the computing device 116 . The computing device 116 may recognize where the communication originated via a device address, readily known caller identification system, or global positioning data, as may be obtained from the Global Positioning System (“GPS”) provided by the transceiver 200 . The security device 106 may communicate with the user transceiver 110 , the computing device 116 , or one or more hosts participating on the communications network 108 , using various control based protocols. Such protocols may require the security device to interact using sophisticated security authentication algorithms, data interchange algorithms, and command and control algorithms.
[0053] The use of protocols to identify, authenticate to, and control network traffic is well-known in the typical wired and wireless environments. According to one embodiment of the invention, each RFID sensor 144 , each security device 106 , each computing device 116 , each user transceiver 110 , and selected other devices are provided with a unique address. The address may be used uniquely to identify the item to the network. A specific communications protocol may be used for the network. The protocol identifies and authenticates the item to the network, typically by using the unique address. Furthermore, control of the protocol permits control of each item in the network. Thus, the entire network may be centrally controlled, or each item may be centrally or locally addressed and programmed, or both. Use of a specific protocol permits the various devices to communicate even though each type of device, or even each device, may be operating on a different platform.
[0054] The user 102 may listen to the audio data transmitted by the transceiver 200 to detect noises corresponding to activity in the vicinity of the security device 106 . The user may be able to determine from the sounds in the area of the security device whether the signal was a false alarm or whether the security device 106 has initiated communication because of attempted theft, vandalism, or other trouble.
[0055] As shown in FIG. 2 , the transceiver 200 or detection sensors 212 may be connected to an on/off or activation switch 224 that can be activated by means of a data communication received from the computing device 116 or the like. The activation switch 224 may be designed to receive a command and control message in accordance with implemented communications protocols from the computing device 116 . When the activation switch 224 recognizes the control message, it may cause other parts of the security device 106 or connected devices 120 or 122 to be activated or deactivated as desired. The transceiver 200 may also be connected to other electronic devices such as the devices generally described below.
[0056] First, the security device 106 may include a triggering device or detection sensor 212 , such as a motion sensor, a shock sensor or the like, and may take several different forms as needed for the specific use of the security device. The detection sensor 212 may take many different forms as the specific need of the security device 106 may dictate and may be activated or deactivated by means of the remotely controlled on/off activation switch 224 . In operation, when the security device 106 is activated and in the ready mode, a bump, shock, or jarring, or a movement in the area of the security device may cause the detection sensor 212 to signal the transceiver 200 to initiate communication with the computing device 116 in an attempt to request help. In certain embodiments, the detection sensor may be a simple panic button for a jogger to use if being attacked, or the detection sensor could be a special switch that detects water to signal that a child wearing the security device has fallen into water or the like.
[0057] Second, the security device 106 may include a location identifier 218 , which in one embodiment assumes the form of a tracking transmitter. One example of tracking transmitters includes devices similar to tracking devices used to tag and to track wildlife or sophisticated receiver-based tracking devices that use GPS. The detection sensors may be configured to activate the location identifier to enable the tracking of movements of the security device. The location identifier is preferably silent in operation.
[0058] For an embodiment that includes a tracking transmitter, the tracking transmitter typically emits a silent radio signal that is capable of being tracked by a directional tracking device such as the tracking receiver 114 . For example, a simple animal tracking collar has been found to be effective in tracking movements of a security device for distances of several miles to tens of miles or more so long as substantial line of sight between the tracking transmitter and the directional tracking device was maintained. Systems capable of tracking movements of a security device at distances beyond many miles are also currently available. Another tracking embodiment uses a receiver-based location identifier to track movements of the personal property asset. One such embodiment employs the GPS system to track movements. In such an embodiment, the security device 106 relays positioning data to the computing device 116 , which may then be used in conjunction with tracking or mapping systems to locate the security device 106 .
[0059] Third, as depicted in FIG. 2 , the security device 106 may include a long life rechargeable battery or power source 238 , which typically provides power to the components of the security device 106 that are located with the secured personal property, including the transceiver 200 , the on/off or activation switch 224 , the triggering or detection sensors 212 , and the location identifier 218 . The power source 238 is typically as small as possible so that the security device may be inconspicuously attached to personal property and not be too heavy to be worn on a child's belt for such an application. For applications that use a cellular telephone as the transceiver, the power source or battery of the cellular telephone may be used to power the other components of the security device.
[0060] As described above and depicted in FIG. 2 , the security system may include a directional tracking receiver 114 . The tracking receiver 114 is typically a separate device that is kept close at hand by the user of the personal property security device 106 , when the security device is in use. For example, a tracking receiver 114 may be attached to a personal property owner's cellular phone, such as the transceiver 200 , or to the computing device 116 , or may be incorporated into the user's wireless transceiver such that the tracking receiver 114 or computing device 116 and the user transceiver 110 will always be together, when needed.
[0061] The tracking receiver 114 may be activated by the user when the security device 106 provides notification of a disturbance to the personal property. The tracking receiver 114 indicates in which direction the personal property has been moved. The tracking receiver 114 may be designed to pick up the signal given off by the location identifier (e.g., tracking transmitter) 218 . If the user has several security devices, multiple or a single location identifier (e.g., tracking receiver) may be configured to track any of the security devices 106 in use. Use of appropriate communications protocols permit individual tracking of each of the security devices in use. In embodiments that incorporate GPS technology, a screen on the computing device 116 may display the position of the security device. Typical embodiments of the security devices may be built small and compact enough to be inconspicuous and able to be attached to most anything that a person would want to protect from theft or vandalism, or as the case may be, from other hazards.
[0062] Operationally in a digital network embodiment, upon activation, triggering, or detection of a disturbance, the security device 106 automatically sends data to a computing system 252 . The computing system 252 may comprise a computer network, such as the Internet 254 , and an application server 256 . When communicating with the computing system 252 , the security device 106 may transmit data identifying the security device 106 and alerting the user 102 , or a security monitoring service that monitors alerts on the application server 252 , of a disturbance of the personal property item 104 . The user can then determine whether to call the police, respond to the signal, or what other action to take. The user may decide to go to the location of the item being disturbed and find the thief still in the process of stealing the personal property item 104 .
[0063] Once triggered, the security device 106 may also transmit to the user via the computing system 252 any sounds that it picks up in its vicinity via the microphone 156 or the microphone 206 , thereby allowing the user 102 or the security monitoring service to listen in on what is taking place and help determine if the disturbance is a false alarm. The security device 106 can be totally silent so that the thief may never know that he has been detected. The user or monitoring service can then determine whether to call the police or if the disturbance was a false alarm. The security device 106 may also have activated its tracking transmitter when it was disturbed thereby allowing the user, if the personal property had already been removed, to track or follow the security device 106 to its new location. This would allow the user to contact the police and have the thief arrested and the personal property 106 to be recovered.
[0064] The security device 106 may have extremely wide application, as it is adaptable to be useful to almost everyone for a wide variety of protection uses. It may assume a small and compact embodiment thereby enabling it to be attached in inconspicuous places where a thief will not likely see it. It can be attached to vehicles, mobile trailers, power tools, bicycles, stereos, TVs, boats, motorcycles, etc. It may even be adapted to be activated with a panic button or water sensor and attached to children or joggers or even old persons, and the like. The security device 106 may facilitate alerting people when a wearer is disturbed or a child has fallen into water such that location may be determined quickly and easily via the tracking capabilities already described. A user 102 of the security device 106 or parent of a child using the device can be more assured of knowing when trouble has occurred and can respond to the exact location of the trouble quickly. A user may desire to use many security devices to monitor the safety and location of several items of personal property in various locations.
[0065] Each security device may be designed to transfer a unique identifier address to enable a user 102 to determine what personal property or persons are being disturbed or are distressed. The security device 106 may be designed to be small, compact and totally self-contained, making it portable and independent of outside power sources except for the need to be recharged periodically or may draw power from some other source. These features make embodiments of the security device 106 extremely mobile and versatile.
[0066] FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a personal property security device 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. For clarity, the security device 106 is partitioned into a transceiver portion for establishing a communication link with a communication network and a security or detection portion for control of sensor devices that either may be triggered or may be interrogated by the user to obtain additional information.
[0067] In FIG. 3 , the security device 106 is partitioned into a transceiver 200 depicted as an integrated transceiver comprised of a wireless transmitter/receiver 204 and a microphone 206 and speaker 208 . Those of skill in the art appreciate that the integrated transceiver 200 may be implemented either as discrete components on a circuit board or in a packaged assembly assuming the form of, for example, a cellular or other similar telephone or radio. The security device 106 is further comprised of a security module 202 for performing evaluation and control of the security device and any accompanying sensors. The security module 202 may interface with the transceiver 200 through various means including combined integration of (i) the various components associated with the integrated transceiver 200 with (ii) the various components associated with the security module 202 on a common circuit board or multiple circuit boards. When an integrated transceiver is employed, a convenient interface between the devices may be provided by a data port or other hands-free interfaces commonly associated with integrated transceivers.
[0068] The security module 202 is comprised of a controller 210 and detection or triggering sensors 212 . The detection sensors 212 may be autonomous sensors that provide an interrupt or other signal to the controller 210 or may be monitored under the direction of the controller 210 and implemented as a peripheral device whose state is monitored by the controller 210 . The controller 210 interfaces with the wireless transceiver 204 via an interface 214 , and interfaces with the RF sensor 178 as discussed above. Upon the detection of sensor information, the controller 210 may initiate a direct digital data connection using a communications protocol such as the Internet Protocol (“IP”) or may initiate a dialing sequence using the wireless transceiver 204 , which causes the wireless transceiver 204 to initiate a call using a preset number or preprogrammed dialing string 216 , which may correspond to the routing or phone number of the user transceiver 110 ( FIG. 1A ). Once a communication channel is established, the controller 210 may forward sensor information or may allow audible tones detected by the microphone 206 to be passed via the wireless transceiver 204 to the user transceiver 110 or the computing device 116 .
[0069] The security module 202 may further comprise a location identifier 218 , which may be under the control of the controller 210 or may be autonomous and be activated by the controller 210 or, alternatively, may provide information to the controller 210 in the form of location data. The present invention contemplates at least two embodiments of the location identifier 218 . In a first embodiment, the location identifier 218 is implemented as a tracking transmitter or beacon that, when activated, broadcasts a tracking signal 112 that may be detected and located through the use of a tracking receiver 114 ( FIG. 1A ). Such an embodiment is one in which the location identifier 118 assumes a transmitter role.
[0070] In an alternate embodiment, the location identifier 218 assumes a receiver role in which the remote location transmitters 220 transmit signals 222 that are received at the location identifier 218 and may be read and provide location data to the controller 210 for forwarding over the communication network 108 ( FIG. 1A ) for evaluation and interpretation by the user transceiver 110 ( FIG. 1A ) or the computing device 116 . Such location data may be longitudinal/latitudinal data interpretable by the user 102 ( FIG. 1A ) or other information processable by the user 102 that relates to the location of the security device 106 . Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the location transmitters 220 may take the form of fixed site or orbiting types of transmitters, with one such embodiment including the GPS system, known by those of skill in the art.
[0071] Additional features contemplated by the present invention include activation circuitry 224 that allows the user 102 or another entity, such as the computing system 252 ( FIG. 1A ), to activate the alarming or security features of the security device 106 . Activation implementations contemplated include a remote transmission activation device depicted as a transmitter activation 226 , known by those of skill in the art to include devices such as “remote-keyless entry”-like devices, or similar devices known by those of skill in the art, or activation by means of the computing device 116 or the computing system 252 . Other such activation devices include switch activated devices 228 including manual push buttons, toggle switches or other switches activated either manually or by the closing of a door or other similar implementations. Additionally, a timing activation 230 implemented either in the form of a clock or timer is also contemplated as depicted in activation 230 . This clock may be contained on the device 202 , the security device or on the system 252 , or may be a device that receives a timing signal from a cell phone tower or a GPS satellite or other such external source.
[0072] Other activation implementations contemplated by the present invention include a dial-in activation 232 wherein a user 102 via the user transceiver 110 or other similar device, or the computing system 252 (either automatically or through human intervention) contacts or dials the integrated transceiver 200 , which interacts with the controller 210 . In such an embodiment, the controller 210 may monitor audio signals originating from the user 102 , which would otherwise be presented to the speaker 208 of the integrated transceiver 200 but are rather routed via an interface 234 to the controller 210 in the form of, for example, DTMF tones or similar key pad tones whose decoding and usage, are known by those of skill in the art. Such an activation keypad sequence may be decoded by the controller 210 for use in activation of the security device 106 . The interface may be designed to employ a voice synthesizer as well as a voice recognition system, which may include an internal microphone, capable of recognizing audible words from a user or from a central security system.
[0073] While the user 102 may rely upon the information provided via the detection sensors 212 , and audible information from the microphone 206 , a further embodiment of the present invention contemplates the inclusion of interrogation sensors 236 that may take the form of image-creating peripherals such as cameras or other sensor devices even including temperature sensors for monitoring the safety of the environment about the security device 106 , or other data-providing sensors such as security network location data generating devices for use in interrogating mobile or in-transit security devices as well as other sensors, known by those of skill in the art. The security device 106 may optionally include a power module 238 for use in powering the transceiver 200 and the security module 202 . Alternatively, the power module 238 may be externally provided to the security device 106 . The power module 238 may include a battery or capacitor, or a combination of both. The battery or capacitor may be replaceable. The battery or capacitor may incorporate or be connected to a charger, or may be connected to a backup power source, or may be powered by the item being protected.
[0074] The sensors 212 may include various types of sensing devices. Cameras and microphones can provide visual and audio information. However, the sensors may also include such things as a motion sensor, a shock sensor, an audible/sound sensor, a humidity sensor, a fire sensor, a temperature sensor, a detachment sensor, a motion sensor, a smoke sensor, a video sensor, a magnetic sensor, a freezing sensor, an overheating sensor, a weight sensor, a chemical sensor, a radiation sensor, a glass break sensor, an intrusion sensor, a carbon monoxide sensor, a poison sensor, a vibration sensor, or a light sensor. The monitoring device 106 may include a display module (such as a computer screen or LCD screen) to show the status of each of the different aspects being monitored.
[0075] The sensors may include a “sleep” mode to conserve power when no stimulus is detected, from which the sensors “awake” upon detecting a stimulus. Furthermore, the monitoring devices 106 and the additional devices 120 and 122 may be used to monitor not only the personal property involved, but also the area proximate the property. To that end, the computing system 252 or the user transceiver 110 may include speakers and visual monitors to display information collected by the monitoring devices and the additional devices, and the monitoring device may be in communication with lighting at the location. Similarly, because the communication in each leg is bidirectional, the monitoring device 106 or the additional devices 120 and 122 may be equipped with speakers to permit the user or security company to transmit audible signals (such as a voice or a warning sound) to the area of the property being monitored.
[0076] FIGS. 4A through 4H provide flowcharts of the operational steps, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4A , a procedure 300 illustrates activation of the security device 106 . As described above, activation may occur according to various means. A step 302 depicts such an activation event received by the activation module 224 , which may be included within the controller 210 as software or other procedural devices or may be externally generating an interrupt or other signal to the controller 210 , as depicted in activate device step 304 . In the step 306 , the sensors 212 are activated and continue in a continuous monitoring state and may be implemented as the sensors 212 , which assume autonomous monitoring and generate an interrupt to the controller 210 or may be periodically polled by the controller 210 .
[0077] Referring to FIG. 4B , a procedure 320 illustrates detection and notification of an alarm condition. In the procedure 320 , a detect condition 322 is generated either by the sensor 212 or identified by the control 210 in a polling arrangement. The controller 210 initiates a data or voice connection request to the wireless transceiver 204 in a step 324 . The wireless transceiver 204 establishes a communication link in steps 326 and 328 via the communication network 108 to a user transceiver 110 or computing device 116 . Once such a communication link is established, the microphone 206 may detect and forward sounds or audible tones or other condition information to the wireless transceiver 204 in a step 330 . Detected or audible signals are thereafter passed across the communication link in steps 332 and 334 to the user transceiver 110 or computing device 116 . The user thereafter may evaluate received information and determine appropriate action.
[0078] Alternatively, referring to FIG. 4C , a user 102 in a procedure 340 , may elect to undertake enhanced interrogation of the device 106 surroundings in an attempt to better determine whether the sensor detected condition requires emergency intervention. As described above, enhanced or interrogation sensors may be integrated with the security device 106 to provide enhanced conditions such as imagery, infrared detection, or other desirable conditions helpful to a user in evaluating the surroundings about the security device 106 . To initiate enhanced interrogation, the present invention contemplates a user 102 in a step 342 initiates a logic sequence, for example, through the use of a keypad sequence that generates a decodable sequence, for example, DTMF tones, or through one or more data packets provided by the computing system 252 communicating by means of the communication network 108 . The logic sequence is transferred from the user transceiver 110 or computing device 116 or from the computer system 252 to the wireless transceiver 204 via steps 344 and 346 over the communication link 108 either originally established as initiated by the detection of a sensor or through a user initiated communication link 108 .
[0079] After initial detection and notification of an alarm condition in procedure 320 or after further enhanced interrogation in procedure 340 , a user may determine whether or not a sensed alarm condition is an actual alarm condition as described in procedure 370 (see FIG. 4D ) or a false alarm condition as described below in procedure 500 (see FIG. 4H ). When a user determines or elects to declare the alarm condition as an actual alarm condition, various tracking scenarios may ensue. Several tracking scenarios are illustrated in FIGS. 4A through 4H and described below.
[0080] In procedures 380 (see FIG. 4D ), a tracking scenario is illustrated wherein the security device 106 initiates activation of the location identifier 218 , which assumes a tracking transmitter configuration. In a controller 210 activation scenario, a step 382 illustrates an optional countdown timer wherein the controller, upon the detection of a triggering event from the detection sensors 212 , delays the activation for a period of time allowing the user to evaluate and perhaps further interrogate sensors before activating the tracking signal 112 . Upon expiration of the optional countdown timer, the controller 210 , in a step 384 , activates the transmitting location identifier 218 . The location identifier 218 , in a step 386 , transmits the tracking signal 112 , which is detected by a user or other entity utilizing a tracking receiver 114 . The tracking receiver 114 , in a step 388 , locates the transmitting location identifier 218 , thus concluding tracking scenario 380 .
[0081] An alternate tracking scenario is illustrated as procedure 400 (see FIG. 4E ) which also employs a location identifier 218 implemented as a tracking transmitter. However, in this scenario, the tracking transmitter is activated by the user upon determination that the alarm is in fact an actual alarm rather than a false alarm. In procedure 400 , a user enters a keypad sequence or encodes an activation request using computing device 116 , in a step 402 , which is communicated to the wireless transceiver 204 in steps 404 and 406 . Alternatively, the security service, working through the computer system 252 , encodes an activation request, which is communicated to the wireless transceiver 204 in steps 404 and 406 .
[0082] The wireless transceiver 204 , in step 408 , forwards the keypad sequence or activation request to the controller 210 whereupon the controller 210 , in a step 410 , decodes the keypad tone sequence or activation request and determines the requested course of action. Upon decoding, the controller 210 , in a step 412 , activates the transmitting location identifier 218 which in turn, in a step 414 , broadcasts or transmits the tracking signal 112 to the tracking receiver 114 . In a step 416 , the tracking receiver 114 locates the transmitting location identifier 218 , thus concluding procedure 400 .
[0083] In yet another tracking scenario depicted as procedure 420 (see FIG. 4F ), a location identifier 218 is implemented as a receiving location identifier that receives signals and determines a location based upon received signals. As described above, the location identifier 218 may be activated by a controller in a step 422 , which employs a countdown or delay timer that postpones activation of portions of the circuitry that traditionally require an appreciable amount of power in their operation. In a step 424 , the controller 210 activates the receiving location identifier 218 whereupon in a step 426 the location identifier 218 receives the signals 222 (see FIG. 3 ) and makes a determination or an assembly of location data for forwarding in step 428 back to the controller 210 . The location data is further forwarded in steps 430 to the wireless transceiver 204 , and further in steps 432 and 434 over the communication network 108 to the user transceiver 110 , computing device 116 , or computer system 252 . In a step 436 , the location data is presented to a user for interpretation, thus concluding tracking scenario 420 . Alternatively, in a step 438 , the location data is presented to the computer system 252 for interpretation by a security service, thus concluding tracking scenario 420 .
[0084] In yet another tracking scenario depicted as procedure 440 (see FIG. 4G ), a user (or the security service) activates the receiving location identifier 218 through a keypad sequence or activation request sent by means of the computing system 252 . In a step 442 , a user (or the security service) enters a keypad sequence or activation request of the location identifier 218 . In steps 444 and 446 , the activation request is communicated over a communication network 108 to the wireless transceiver 204 . The wireless transceiver 204 forwards in step 448 the activation request to the controller 210 , that, in step 450 , decodes the activation request and determines that activation is requested. In step 452 , the controller 210 activates the receiving location identifier 218 whereupon the location identifier 218 determines location data in a step 454 . In a step 456 , the location identifier 218 forwards location data to the controller 210 , which further relays the location data in a step 458 to the wireless transceiver 204 . Over the communication network 108 , the location data is forwarded in steps 460 and 462 to the computing system 252 and, if desired, to the user transceiver 110 or computing device 116 . In a step 464 , the user or the security service managing the computing system 252 is presented with the location data for evaluation and determination of the location of the security device 106 , thus concluding the tracking scenario 440 .
[0085] As described above, when notified of an alarm condition, a user or the security service may determine that such alarm condition is in fact benign and was generated either as the result of inadvertent sensor activation or as a result of overly sensitive sensors or transient alarm conditions acceptable to the user. Procedure 500 (see FIG. 4H ) depicts the steps associated with the evaluation following determination of a false alarm condition. In a step 502 , in response to the determination of a false alarm condition, the user (or the security service, working through the computing system 252 ) enters a keypad sequence or reset request to reset the tripped or triggered sensors. The reset request is relayed over the communication network 108 in steps 504 and 506 to the wireless transceiver 204 . In a step 508 , the wireless transceiver 204 forwards the keypad tones to the controller 210 , whereupon in a step 510 the controller decodes the reset request and determines that the user has requested that the sensors be reset. The controller 210 , in a step 512 , initiates reset of the sensors 212 whereupon the sensors, alternatively in conjunction with the controller 210 , continues monitoring in a step 514 .
[0086] FIG. 5 illustrates a user-initiated interrogation of the device surroundings, in accordance with the present invention. The present invention contemplates a scenario where a user or a security service may initiate a contact with a security device 106 to evaluate the status of the security device 106 including any surrounding conditions perceivable to the security device 106 . In such a scenario, the controller and sensors are undergoing monitoring in a step 600 representative of an activated sensor state described above. In a procedure 620 , a user initiates the establishment of a communication link over the communication network 108 for one of various reasons, such as (i) the desire by the user to evaluate the security device or its surroundings or (ii) to reestablish a dropped call that may have been initiated by the security device in response to detection sensor activation.
[0087] In a step 622 , a user or the security service enters a keypad sequence or initiates a communication link to the security device 106 . A communication link is established over the communication network 108 in steps 624 and 626 . Once a communication link has been established between the user transceiver 110 or computing device 116 and the wireless transceiver 204 , a sensor such as the microphone 206 detects sounds, in a step 628 , and forwards those sounds/data, in steps 630 and 632 , to the user transceiver 110 or computing device 116 for perception and evaluation by the user 102 . Should the user desire enhanced interrogation, the user may proceed to query the interrogation sensors 236 according to the procedure 240 described above. When a user or the security service concludes audible interrogation and any optional enhanced interrogation, the user terminates the call in a step 634 and the system resumes its monitoring state. Alternatively, when a communication link is established, the user or security service deactivates the sensors 212 or performs other controlling functions relating to the security device through the use of a keypad sequence or communications link, such as placing security device into a standby or inactive state.
[0088] Another scenario may include automation by the security device 106 . The security device 106 could be used to activate or deactivate, depending on conditions detected in the vicinity of the security device 106 , one or more other devices such as lights, strobe lights, heaters, sounding devices, sirens, alarms systems, relays, switches, detectors or other electromechanical devices. Those of skill in the art will appreciate numerous other scenarios will be likely, particularly as additional RFID devices are included into the mesh network of the security system, because of the interaction between the RF sensors 178 and the controllers 210 . FIG. 6 illustrates a mechanical arrangement of an integrated transceiver 200 being received within a housing 700 that includes a security module 202 and the associated mechanical coupling of the integrated transceiver 200 . The integrated transceiver 200 assumes a generally integrated handset form-factor providing transceiver functionality as described above in relation to the wireless transceiver 204 and further includes the microphone 206 and speaker 208 with the general interfaces 214 and 234 (see FIG. 3 ).
[0089] Also illustrated in FIG. 6 is a housing 700 that generally attaches or receives the integrated transceiver 200 , which in one embodiment receives the integrated transceiver 200 and electrically mates with exposed electrical contacts (e.g., hands-free or modem-coupling interfaces) for coupling with a security module 200 integrated within the housing 700 . The housing 700 may mate with the integrated transceiver in either a “holster-like” receiving arrangement or snap or otherwise couple to the back either over, or place of, the battery portion of the integrated handset. Other mounting and interfacing techniques may be used to couple the security module to the integrated transceiver. Such additional coupling alternatives are contemplated within the scope of the present invention. Other couplings may include additional sensors not originally contained in the security device 106 , but that are provided as “add-ons” such as smoke, chemical, or radiation sensors, or other sensors such as cameras.
[0090] While the present illustration contemplates an integrated transceiver, it is also contemplated that general transceiver functionality may be provided in a “raw” circuit board configuration to be further packaged in another form-factor exhibiting similar functionality. Also contemplated is an embodiment that integrates the transceiver functionality and the security module functionality into a single integrated device. Further contemplated is an embodiment that is integrated within a larger assembly, such as a vehicle or other device, wherein the control functionality such as an on-board computer may be utilized to provide controller functionality and share yet other sensors, transceivers and the like.
[0091] Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described, those of skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its structures, methods, or other essential characteristics as broadly described herein and claimed hereinafter. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive.
|
A mobile monitoring device includes a sensor, a controller and a transceiver is in electronic communication with the controller. The transceiver is capable of secure, bidirectional communication with a computing device, or with other devices such as telephones and the Internet. The sensor is in electronic communication with the controller and is capable of detecting a change in a condition of the property being monitored or the area proximate thereto. The monitoring device executes programming commands received from the computing device or other devices or networks. The monitoring device is track-able by various methods. The monitoring device is configured for bi-directional communication with RF sensors to provide a mesh network topology for monitoring numerous items and a relatively large area with small, inexpensive devices. Communications may be digital or analog using recognized or proprietary communications protocols, and may be secured using various encryption algorithms and protocols. Digitization permits proper delivery and authentication and remote programming of each individual device, as well as ensuring the accuracy and reliability of such communications. Communications may be sent along various routes, permitting a user, a security monitoring company and any computer applications to receive and to respond to notifications, including automatic responses to notifications.
| 6
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and in particular to an apparatus and a method for displaying a power state of a refrigerator having plural chambers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a display unit of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art.
As depicted in FIG. 1 , a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art includes a left chamber 1 and a right chamber 3 . Herein, a display unit 5 , which consists of light emitting diodes, of function setting units 2 , 4 of the kimchi refrigerator is respectively installed at the front surface of the left chamber 1 and the right chamber 3 to display various information. Hereinafter, the operation of the conventional display unit 5 of the kimchi refrigerator will be described in more detail.
First, when early power is applied, each display unit 5 of the kimchi refrigerator displays a fermentation time of kimchi contained in the left chamber 1 and the right chamber 3 . In more detail, the rest of the fermentation time until the kimchi contained in the both chambers 1 , 3 are fermented is displayed respectively.
Herein, a user can freely set functions of the left chamber 1 and the right chamber 3 according to the kind and taste, etc. of foodstuff to be contained. When the user chooses a kimchi fermentation function, a kimchi fermentation time preset in an internal microcomputer (not shown) is displayed on the display unit (light emitting diodes) 5 installed at the front surface of a pertinent chamber.
In addition, when the user does not use one of the left chamber 1 and the right chamber 3 , the user can turn off power of the left 1 or the right chamber 3 by pushing a power-on/off button 6 of a pertinent chamber. Herein, all light diodes of the display unit 5 installed at the front surface of the pertinent chamber are off. In more detail, by turning off all the light diodes, the user can recognize the pertinent chamber is not used. However, light diodes can be off due to a failure of the light diodes themselves or refrigerator, herein, the user only can recognize a pertinent chamber is not used. In other words, the user can not distinguish them (; the power-off according to the user's operation or due to failure).
In the meantime, as depicted in FIG. 1 , there are various kinds of kimchi such as watery plain kimchi, radish kimchi and cabbage kimchi, etc.
Herein, U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,420 filed on May 16, 2000 relates to an operation control method of a kimchi refrigerator.
Hereinafter, the conventional power-off method of the kimchi refrigerator will be described with reference to accompanying FIG. 2 .
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the conventional power-off method of the kimchi refrigerator.
First, it is judged whether the user turns off power of at least one of a first˜a N chamber respectively performable independent control. In more detail, it is judged whether or not the user pushes the power-on/off button 6 installed at the front surface of the chamber 1 .
After that, when the user pushes the power-on/off button 6 in order to cut off power of the chamber 1 , a power-off signal is inputted as shown at step S 1 , power of the display unit (light diodes) 5 installed at the front surface of the chamber 1 is off as shown at step S 2 .
As described above, in the conventional power-off display method of the kimchi refrigerator, although light diodes are off not because of turning them off but a failure of the light diodes themselves or refrigerator, the user only recognizes it as a pertinent chamber is in an off state. In other words, the user can not distinguish them.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for displaying a power-off state of a refrigerator having plural chambers when a user turns off at least one of plural chambers installed to the refrigerator.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a power-off state display apparatus of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a signal generating unit for generating a power-off signal when a user turns off at least one of plural chambers installed to a refrigerator; and a display unit for displaying a power-off state by receiving the power-off signal.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a power-off state display method of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes generating a power-off signal to display a power-off state of a pertinent chamber when power of at least one of plural chambers installed to a refrigerator is off; and displaying the power-off state through a display unit after receiving the power-off signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 illustrates a display unit of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a power-off method of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the conventional art;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a power-off state display apparatus of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a power-off state display method of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 5 illustrates a display unit, which displays a power-off state, of the power-off state display apparatus of the kimchi refrigerator in FIG. 3 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Hereinafter, when a user cuts off power of a certain chamber of plural chambers, a power-off state display apparatus of a refrigerator and a method thereof which are capable of displaying a power-off state of a pertinent chamber will be described in detail with reference to accompanying FIGS. 3 ˜ 5 .
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a power-off state display apparatus of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the present invention.
As depicted in FIG. 3 , the power-off state display apparatus includes a signal generating unit 31 generating a power-off signal (character signal) when a user turns off power of a first chamber of plural (a first˜a N) chambers installed to a refrigerator; a control unit 32 outputting the power-off signal or a control signal for displaying a preset kimchi fermentation time; and a display unit 33 displaying a power-off state by receiving the power-off signal or displaying the preset kimchi fermentation time by receiving the control signal. Herein, when the power-off signal is inputted, the control unit 32 outputs only the inputted power-off signal to the display unit 33 . In addition, when the power-off signal is not inputted, the control unit 32 outputs only the control signal to the display unit 33 . Herein, each of the first˜the N chambers is independently controlled.
Hereinafter, the operation of the power-off state display apparatus of the kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying FIG. 4 .
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a power-off state display method of a kimchi refrigerator in accordance with the present invention.
First, the signal generating unit 31 judges whether the user turns off power of each of the first˜the N chambers. For example, when the user chooses (pushes) a power-on/off button (reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1 ) installed at a certain side of the first chamber, the signal generating unit 31 generates a power-off signal. Herein, it is preferable to set the certain time as three seconds. In more detail, when the user turns off power of the first chamber by pushing a pertinent the power-on/off button for three seconds, the power-off signal is generated, and accordingly contents of the first chamber can be kept stably as shown at step S 11 .
The control unit 32 receives the power-off signal from the signal generating unit 31 and outputs the power-off signal to the display unit 33 installed at the certain side of the first chamber. When the power-off signal is not inputted from the signal generating unit 31 , the control unit 32 outputs the control signal to the display unit 33 . Herein, the control unit 32 continually checks a power-off signal input in order to judge whether power of other chambers (the second˜the N chamber) are turned off by the user.
After that, the display unit 33 receives the power-off signal outputted from the control unit 32 and displays the power-off state of the first chamber. Herein, a liquid crystal display and a plasma display panel, etc. can be used as the display unit 33 . In addition, it is preferable to minimize waste of parts by displaying the power-off state through a 7-segment display displaying the preset kimchi fermentation time, rather than additionally installing the display unit 33 at the certain side of the chamber. Hereinafter, the display unit 33 displaying the power-off state will be described in more detail with reference to accompanying FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 illustrates a display unit, which displays a power-off state, of the power-off state display apparatus of the kimchi refrigerator in FIG. 3 .
As depicted in FIG. 5 , in the present invention, without additionally installing the display unit 33 to the refrigerator in order to display a power-off state, the 7-segment display, which is installed to the kimchi refrigerator and displays a kimchi fermentation time, displays a power-off state of each chamber (the first˜the N chambers). In more detail, the 7-segment display displays “OFF” characters after receiving the power-off signal or display the kimchi fermentation time after receiving the control signal.
In the meantime, with the exception of the display unit 33 displaying the power-off state of the first refrigerator, each display unit of the rest of the chambers (the second˜the N chamber) are off. In more detail, the display units respectively installed at the front surface of the chambers (the second˜the N chamber) indicate an operation state by displaying a normal function (the kimchi fermentation time) as shown at step S 13 .
As described above, in a power-off state display apparatus of a refrigerator and a method thereof in accordance with the present invention, when a user turns off power of a certain chamber, because a power-off state of a pertinent chamber is displayed, the user can accurately recognize each operation state of plural chambers installed to a refrigerator.
In addition, in a power-off state display apparatus of a refrigerator and a method thereof in accordance with the present invention, when a display unit (7-segment display unit) is off due to its failure or a refrigerator's failure, because a power-off state of a pertinent chamber is displayed, a user can quickly recognize the failure.
In addition, in the present invention, because a user can quickly recognize a failure, it is possible to improve a usability of a refrigerator.
In addition, in the present invention, because a power-off signal is generated only when a user pushes a power button of a certain chamber for three seconds, it is possible to prevent power-off errors due to a user's mistake or button handling greenness.
In addition, in the present invention, by preventing power-off errors of a certain chamber due to a user's mistake or button handling greenness, contents of a pertinent chamber can be safely preserved.
In addition, in the present invention, when a user turns off power of a certain chamber, a 7-segment display, which is installed to the kimchi refrigerator to display a kimchi fermentation time, displays “OFF” characters, and accordingly waste of parts due to additional functions can be minimized.
As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.
|
An apparatus and a method is provided for displaying a power-off state of a refrigerator having plural chambers. When a user turns off at least one of the plurality of chambers of the refrigerator, a power-off state display apparatus of the refrigerator displays “OFF” characters on a display unit, thus confirming that a particular chamber has been turned off. The power-off state display apparatus includes a signal generating unit for generating a power-off signal when a user turns off at least one of the plurality of chambers, and a display unit for displaying the power-off state after receiving the power-off signal.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a control method of the image processing apparatus.
[0003] 2. Related Background Art
[0004] A digital camera has been suddenly spread in recent years. The recognition that the digital camera is a peripheral device of a personal computer has been strong. However, the digital camera is used for a home having no personal computer and thus, the sales of digital cameras have been increased. Therefore, the demand for directly printing digital camera data by a domestic-use printer not through a personal computer has been raised particularly in recent years.
[0005] The data photographed by a digital camera is stored in a memory card such as SD card or compact flash (registered trademark) memory. When a personal computer is present in a home, it is possible to capture image data into the personal computer and print the data by a recorder such as a printer.
[0006] A user having no personal computer uses a method for printing a photo in accordance with an operation performed through an operation section of a recorder by directly inserting a medium for storing a digital image such as a memory card into the recorder as a direct printing method not through personal computer. Therefore, the requests for photo printing in homes is increased and the demand for printing in homes is increased.
[0007] As described above, because the demand for printing in homes is increased, the demand for printing is increased also for low-end complex machines and printers. Therefore, the number of prints of digital images by a complex machine or printer is increased and the ink consumption by users is being increased. Particularly, because the capacity of a memory card increases, it is possible to store a lot of images of digital cameras. Therefore, the demand for printing many images at the same time is raised.
[0008] However, in the case of a machine such as domestic-use low end, because an ink quantity is small, it is impossible to execute much printing as expected. Particularly, when executing much printing at the same time, printing in which the tolerance of ink of the printer is already exceeded may be designated. In this case, there is a problem that it is difficult to correctly execute printing to the end. To solve the problem, the following method has been used so far.
[0009] For example, one method is known in which when setting a restriction to the number of sheets to be printed by a printer and executing printing by exceeding the restriction, printing is stopped (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-272207).
[0010] Moreover, another method is known in which when running-out of ink is detected while printing is executed by a printer, the job is cancelled at this point of time, it is determined whether to start output again or erase data from a memory and printing is executed after replacing ink when subsequent printing is necessary (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H09-069920).
[0011] However, the above conventional method is a method for executing printing and stopping the printing during the printing. Therefore, this method has a problem that because printing is executed while the printing quantity designated by a user is unknown at the start of printing, it is impossible to know whether the printing quantity is proper until the printing is completed.
[0012] Moreover, another conventional method is known in which a restricted number of printed sheets is set every user of a printer and printing can be made within the restriction (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.H11-095937). However, in the case of this conventional example, the restricted number of sheets is only set every user but it is not related to the allowable number of printed sheets of the whole printer.
[0013] Therefore, when a user executes the printing designation in which the number of printed sheets is not clear, it is necessary that the user can execute printing within the tolerance of a printer by communicating the number of printed sheets to the user before printing is started.
[0014] In the case of the above conventional example, when a user designates printing while the number of printed sheets is unknown, there is a problem that printing is started even if the user does not know a designation clearly exceeding the tolerance of the printing quantity of an image processing apparatus.
[0015] That is, in the case of the above conventional example, there is a problem that it is impossible to show the user that the printing designation by the user exceeds the tolerance of an image processing apparatus and therefore, it is impossible to prevent unnecessary printing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] It is an object of the present invention to provide a control method of an image processing apparatus capable of showing a user that the printing designation by the user exceeds the tolerance of an image processing apparatus before printing and thereby, preventing unnecessary printing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus 100 constituting an image processing system which is embodiment 1 of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a specific example of an operation/display unit 108 set to the image processing apparatus 100 ;
[0019] FIG. 3A is an illustration showing a flowchart showing a reconfirmation operation, and FIG. 3B is an illustration showing a display example of a LCD 201 when the number of printed sheets exceeds a restriction when starting printing in the above embodiment;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a reconfirmation operation when printing is started and the number of printed sheets exceeds a restriction in embodiment 2 of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a reconfirmation operation when printing is started and the number of printed sheets exceeds a restricted number of printed sheets in embodiment 3 of the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a reconfirmation operation when printing is started and the number of printed sheets exceeds a restricted number of printed sheets in embodiment 4 of the present invention; and
[0023] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example in which number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means calculates the number of printed sheets in each of the above embodiments.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Best modes for embodying the present invention are the following embodiments.
Embodiment 1
[0025] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the image processing apparatus 100 constituting the image processing system which is embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[0026] The image processing apparatus 100 has a CPU 101 , a ROM 102 , a RAM 103 , an image memory 104 , a data converter 105 , a read controller 106 , a reader unit 107 , an operation/display unit 108 , a communication control unit 109 , a resolution conversion processing unit 110 , a CODEC 111 , a record controller 112 , a USB host controller 113 , a recorder unit 114 , a PCMCIA I/F controller 115 , a data storage 116 , a digital camera 117 , a memory card 118 , a recorder cover 120 and a CPU bus 121 .
[0027] The CPU 101 is a system control unit to control the whole of the image processing apparatus 100 .
[0028] The ROM 102 stores a control program to be executed by the CPU 101 and a built-in operating system (OS) program. In the case of the above embodiment, each control program stored in the ROM 102 executes software control such as scheduling or task switching under the control by the built-in OS stored in the ROM 102 .
[0029] The RAM 103 is constituted by an SRAM (static RAM) or the like and stores a program control variable, a setting value entried by an operator, and a management data of the image processing apparatus 100 , in which various work buffer regions are formed.
[0030] The image memory 104 is constituted by a DRAM (dynamic RAM) or the like to store image data.
[0031] The data converter 105 executes conversion of image data such as analysis of a page description language (PDL) or the like and CG (computer graphics) development of character data.
[0032] The read controller 106 applies various image processings such as binalization and half-tone processing to an image signal acquired when the reader unit 107 optically reads an original by a CIS image sensor (close-contact image sensor) and converts it into electrical image data, through a not-illustrated image processing controller, and outputs high-accuracy image data. In the case of the above embodiment 1, the read controller 106 corresponds to both control systems such as a sheet read control system for executing read while carrying a manuscript and a book read control system for scanning a manuscript on a manuscript table.
[0033] The operation/display unit 108 is constituted by (1) an operation unit provided with numeral input keys, character input keys, one-touch telephone-number keys, a mode setting key, a decision key, a cancel key, in which a user performs decision of image transmitting destination data, entry of entered value setting data and setting of energy-saving mode, various keys, LED (Light Emitting Diode) and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and (2) a display unit for displaying various input operations by an operator and an operation state and status of the image processing apparatus 100 .
[0034] The communication control unit 109 is constituted by a MODEM (modulator demodulator) and an NCU (network control unit). In the case of the above embodiment, the communication control unit 109 is connected to an analog communication line (PSTN) 131 to perform communication control with T30 protocol and line control such as an outgoing call and incoming call to a communication line.
[0035] The resolution conversion processing unit 110 executes resolution conversion control such as mille-inch resolution conversion of image data or the like. In the case of the resolution conversion processing unit 110 , it is also possible to expand and contract image data.
[0036] The CODEC 111 codes and decodes or expands and contracts the image data (MH, MR, MMR, JBIG and JPEG) handled by the image processing apparatus 100 .
[0037] The record controller 112 applies various image processings such as smoothing, recording density correction and color correction to image data to be printed, through a not-illustrated image processing controller, converts the image data into high-accuracy image data, and outputs the image data to the USB host controller 113 (to be described later). Moreover, by controlling the USB host controller 113 , the record controller 112 regularly acquires the status information data for the recorder unit 114 .
[0038] The recorder unit 114 is a printer constituted by a laser beam printer or ink-jet printer to print color image data or monochrome image data on a printing member. The recorder unit 114 communicates with the USB host controller 113 in accordance with a protocol specified in the USB communication standard and particularly has a function.
[0039] The USB host controller 113 is a controller for performing communication in accordance with a protocol specified in the USB communication standard. The USB communication standard is a standard capable of performing bidirectional data communication at a high speed, which allows a plurality of hubs or functions (slaves) to be connected with one host (master). The USB host controller 113 has a function of a host in USB communication.
[0040] The PCMCIA I/F controller 115 performs the communication control of a USB interface, performs protocol control in accordance with the USB communication standard, converts the data from a USB control task to be executed by the CPU 101 into a packet, transmits a USB packet to an external information processing terminal and converts a USB packet from an external information processing terminal into data and transmits the data to the CPU 101 .
[0041] A data storage 116 is a portion in which data is stored. Because the DRAM of the image memory 104 does not prepare a data-backup region, the embodiment 1 prepares a data storage region as a data storage. Moreover, the data storage 116 may be shared with the image memory 104 and may back up data. Though the embodiment 1 uses a DRAM, it is also allowed to use a hard disk or volatile memory instead of the DRAM.
[0042] The digital camera 117 is a camera for storing an image photographed by a lens as digital data. The camera 117 can be connected with the USB host controller 113 and makes it possible to exchange data between the digital camera 117 and the image processing apparatus 100 by performing communication.
[0043] The memory card 118 is a data recording medium which can be connected to the image processing apparatus 100 . In the case of the embodiment 1, the memory card 118 is connected by the interface of a PCMCIA but it is not restricted to the interface. It is also allowed to make image data or other electronic data access the data in the memory card through the PCMCIA I/F controller 115 .
[0044] In the case of the embodiment 1, the USB communication of the recording function uses one-to-one connection conformation.
[0045] The above components 101 to 106 and 108 to 113 are connected each other through the CPU bus 121 controlled by the CPU 101 .
[0046] The recorder unit 114 is an example of printing means for printing photos and characters.
[0047] The CPU 101 and ROM 102 are respectively an example of the number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means for acquiring the data for the number of printed sheets before printing is started.
[0048] The RAM 103 is an example of the restricted-number-of-printed-sheets data holding means for holding the restricted-number-of-printed-sheet data showing the restricted number of printed sheets.
[0049] The operation/display unit 108 is an example of operation means for starting or setting printing.
[0050] The operation/display unit 108 is an example of display means for displaying the information on an image processing apparatus.
[0051] The CPU 101 and ROM 102 are respectively an example of display control means for making the display means perform the display for prompting a user to reconfirm start of printing when a printing designation is obtained through the operation means, the number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means acquires the number-of-printed-sheet data and the number of printed sheets shown by the acquired number-of-printed-sheet data exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets.
[0052] In the above embodiment, an image data storing medium is constituted by the PCMCIA I/F controller 115 and memory card 118 . The memory card 118 is an example of an external storing medium.
[0053] FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a specific example of the operation/display unit 108 set to the image processing apparatus 100 .
[0054] The operation/display unit 108 has an LCD 201 , a power supply key 202 , a copy mode key 203 , a fax mode key 204 , a scan mode key 205 , a photo mode key 206 , a menu key 207 , a user setting key 208 , a photo index sheet key 209 , a minus key 210 , a plus key 211 , a setting key 212 , a telephone book key 213 , a redialing key 214 , a ten key 215 , a stop key 216 , a monochrome start key 217 and a color start key 218 .
[0055] The LCD display 201 is a display for displaying a message, operation prompt and various informations.
[0056] The power supply key 202 is a key for turning on/off the power supply of the image processing apparatus.
[0057] The copy mode key 203 is a key for bringing the image processing apparatus 100 into a state ready for copying. By pressing the copy mode key 203 , the image processing apparatus 100 is brought into a copy mode.
[0058] The fax mode key 204 is a key for brining the image processing apparatus 100 into a state ready for faxing. By pressing the fax mode key 204 , the image processing apparatus 100 is brought into a fax mode.
[0059] The scan mode key 205 is a key for brining the image processing apparatus 100 into a state ready for scanning. By pressing the scan mode key 205 , the image processing apparatus 100 is brought into a scan mode.
[0060] The photo mode key 206 is a key for bringing the image processing apparatus 100 into a state ready for direct printing from a digital photo card or camera. By pressing the photo mode key 206 , it is possible to bring the image processing apparatus 100 into a photo mode.
[0061] The menu key 207 is a key for displaying an item for setting a set-value when direct printing from a copy, fax or card or is executed. By pressing the menu key 207 , it is possible to display a setting item for execution on the LCD 201 and set the item by selecting the item with a the plus key 211 or minus key 210 and setting the item with the setting key 212 .
[0062] The user setting key 208 is a key for displaying a screen for a user to enter a set value to be set to the image processing apparatus 100 . By pressing the user setting key 208 , it is possible to display user setting items on the LCD 201 and set the item with setting key 212 by selecting the item with the plus key 211 or minus key 210 .
[0063] The photo index sheet key 209 is a key for changing the present screen to a screen for printing or reading a photo index sheet. By pressing the photo index sheet key 209 while the memory card 118 is inserted into the image processing apparatus 100 , the present screen is changed to a screen for designating printing or reading of the photo index sheet. It is possible to select reading or printing with the plus key 211 or minus key 210 and set reading or printing through the setting key 212 . The photo index sheet is described in the description for FIGS. 3A and 3B in detail.
[0064] The minus key 210 and plus key 211 are keys used for a user to select a menu or user entry from a plurality of options. Minus and plus are reverse order or normal order.
[0065] The setting key 212 is a key for deciding a selected item. The telephone book key 213 is a key for calling a telephone number entered in a telephone book. The redialing key 214 is a key for redialing the lastly dialed destination party by pressing it.
[0066] The ten key 215 is a key group used for entry of a telephone number, facsimile number or destination party name, the number of copies and dialing. The stop key 216 is a key for stopping facsimile transmission/reception, copying or other operation.
[0067] The monochrome start key 217 is a key for starting monochrome facsimile transmission or monochrome copying. The color start key 218 is a key for starting color facsimile transmission, color copying or color photo printing.
[0068] FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing the reconfirmation operation when printing is started and the number of printed sheets exceeds a restriction in the above embodiment, and FIG. 3B is an illustration showing a display example of the LCD 201 .
[0069] FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing the reconfirmation operation when the number of printed sheets exceeds a restriction when starting printing in the above embodiment.
[0070] First, in step 301 , it is recognized that start of printing is designated by a user. In step S 302 , the number of printed sheets is acquired for the printing designation. Particularly, operations of the number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means when the printing in this case is the printing of a plurality of image data values will be described later.
[0071] Then, in step 303 , the acquired number of printed sheets is compared with the restricted number of printed sheets (e.g. 100 printed sheets). If the acquired number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets in step 302 , step 304 is started.
[0072] In step 303 , when the number of printed sheets does not exceed the restricted number of printed sheets, step 306 is started. In step, 304 , whether to actually start printing is displayed on the LCD 201 of the operation/display unit 108 .
[0073] FIG. 3B is an illustration showing an example of the display for inquiring a user whether to start printing (display for prompting the user to reconfirm start of printing) in step 304 .
[0074] In this case, the number of printed sheets acquired in step 302 is displayed on the operation/display unit 108 . Then, in step 305 , a designation whether to start printing performed by a user through the operation/display unit 108 is waited in accordance with the prompt in step 304 (display for prompting the user to reconfirm start of printing). When the user designates start of printing, step 306 is started to execute printing. However, when the user does not designate start of printing, the operation is completed without executing printing.
[0075] Therefore, according to the embodiment 1, it is possible to reconfirm start of printing to a user in accordance with the number of printed sheets.
[0076] That is, the embodiment 1 is an image processing apparatus having printing means for printing photos and characters, number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means for acquiring the number-of-printed-sheet data showing the number of printed sheets before printing is started, restricted-number-of-printed-sheet data holding means for holding the restricted-number-of-printed-sheet data showing the restricted number of printed sheets, operation means for starting or setting printing, display means for displaying the information on the image processing apparatus and display control means for making the display means perform the display for prompting a user to reconfirm start of printing when the number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means acquires the data for the number of printed sheets when printing is designated through the operation means and the number of printed sheets shown by the acquired-number-of-printed-sheet data exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets.
Embodiment 2
[0077] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the reconfirmation operation when the number of printed sheets exceeds a restriction while starting the printing which is embodiment 2 of the present invention.
[0078] The embodiment 2 is an embodiment for starting printing when a time-out occurs while confirmation of restart of printing is requested for a user.
[0079] First, in step 401 , it is recognized that a user designates start of printing. In step 402 , the number of printed sheets is acquired for the printing designation. Particularly, the operation to be performed by the number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means when the printing in this case is the printing of a plurality of image data will be described later.
[0080] Then, in step 403 , the acquired number of printed sheets is compared with a restricted number of printed sheets (e.g. 100 printed sheets). If the acquired number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets in step 402 , step 404 is started.
[0081] Moreover, when the number of printed sheets does not exceed the restricted number of printed sheets in step 403 , step 406 is started. In step 404 , whether to actually start printing is displayed on the operation/display unit 108 . In this case, the number of printed sheets acquired in step 402 is displayed on the operation/display unit 108 and step 405 is started.
[0082] In step 405 , a designation whether to start printing by a user in the operation/display unit 108 is waited in accordance with the display for inquiring the user about whether to start printing in step 404 (display for prompting the user to reconfirm start of printing) in step 404 . If the user designates start of printing, step 406 is started to execute printing.
[0083] However, when a timeout occurs in step 405 , the present step is changed to step 406 . Moreover, when the user does not designate printing, printing is not executed but the operation is terminated.
[0084] According to the embodiment 2, it is possible to reconfirm start of printing to a user in accordance with the number of printed sheets. However, even if the user does not notice the display, printing is correctly executed.
[0085] That is, the embodiment 2 is an image processing apparatus having printing means for printing photos and characters, number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means for acquiring the number-of-printed-sheet data showing the number of printed sheets before printing is started, restricted-number-of-printed-sheet-data holding means for holding the data for the restricted number of printed sheets showing the restricted number of printed sheets, operation means for starting or setting printing, display means for displaying the information on an image processing apparatus, clocking means for measuring time and control means for making the display means to perform the display for prompting a user to reconfirm start of printing when the number of printed sheets shown by the number-of-printed-sheet data acquired by the number-of-printed-sheet data acquiring means exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets and executing a predetermined operation when a predetermined time passes while the user does not reconfirm the start of printing when printing is designated through the operation means.
Embodiment 3
[0086] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the reconfirmation operation when the number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets at the start of the printing which is embodiment 3 of the present invention.
[0087] The embodiment 3 is an embodiment which does not start printing if a timeout occurs when inquiring a user about restart of printing.
[0088] First, in step 501 , it is recognized that the user designates start of printing. Then, in step 502 , the number of printed sheets is acquired for the printing designation. Particularly, the operation to be executed by the number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means when the printing in this case is the printing of the data for a plurality of images will be described later.
[0089] Moreover, in step 503 , the number of printed sheets acquired in step 502 is compared with the restricted number of printed sheets (e.g. 100 printed sheets). When the number of printed sheets acquired in step 502 exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets, step 504 is started.
[0090] Furthermore, when the number of printed sheets does not exceed the restricted number of printed sheets in step 503 , step 506 is started. In step 504 , the display for inquiring a user about whether to start printing (display for prompting a user to reconfirm start of printing) is performed.
[0091] In this case, the number of printed sheets acquired in step 502 is displayed on the operation/display unit 108 . Then, in step 505 , based on inquiring in step 504 the designation on whether to start printing performed by a user through the operation/display unit 108 is waited. When the user designates start of printing, step 506 is started to execute printing. However, when the user does not designate printing, printing is not executed. When a timeout occurs in step 505 , the operation is terminated without executing printing.
[0092] According to the embodiment 3, it is possible to reconfirm start of printing to a user in accordance with the number of printed sheets and perform control so as not to start printing when the user does not notice the display.
[0093] That is, the embodiment 3 is an image processing apparatus having printing means for printing photos and characters, number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means for acquiring the number-of-printed-sheet data showing the number of printed sheets before printing is started, restricted-number-of-printed-sheet-data holding means for holding the restricted-number-of-printed-sheet data showing the restricted number of printed sheets, operation means for starting or setting printing, display means for displaying the information on the image processing apparatus, clocking means for measuring time and control means for acquiring the number-of-printed-sheet data acquired by the number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means when printing is designated through the operation means and not executing printing when the number of printed sheets shown by the acquired data for the number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets.
Embodiment 4
[0094] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the reconfirmation operation when the number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets when starting the printing which is embodiment 4 of the present invention.
[0095] The embodiment 4 is an embodiment for not starting printing when a timeout occurs while prompting a user to decide whether to restart printing.
[0096] First, in step 601 , it is recognized that a user designates start of printing. Then, in step 602 , the number of printed sheets is acquired for the printing designation. Particularly, the operation to be performed by the number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means when the printing in this case is the printing of the data for a plurality of images will be described later.
[0097] Then, in step 603 , the number of printed sheets acquired in step. 602 is compared with the restricted number of printed sheets (e.g. 100 printed sheets). When the number of printed sheets acquired in step 602 does not exceed the restricted number of printed sheets, step 604 is started to execute printing.
[0098] Moreover, when the number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets in step 603 , step 605 is started. However, because the number of printed sheets exceeds the tolerance of a printer, it is shown to the operation/display unit 108 that the number of printed sheets exceeds the tolerance of an image processing apparatus and the operation is completed without executing printing.
[0099] According to the embodiment 4, it is possible to perform control so as not to start printing when the number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets correspondingly to the number of printed sheets.
[0100] In the case of the embodiment 4, the number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means calculates the number of printed sheets according to the number of images in a memory card. However, it is also allowed to acquire the total number of printed sheets by another method.
[0101] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example for the number-of-printed-sheet-data acquiring means to calculate the number of printed sheets in each of the above embodiment.
[0102] First, in step 701 , the number of images is confirmed. Image data for an image designated by a user is confirmed through the operation/display unit 108 . This image data is the data for an image in a memory card or a memory of an image processing apparatus.
[0103] Then, the number of images of the image data confirmed in step 701 is counted in step 702 and a printing method is determined in step 703 when the printing method is photo printing, one image is regarded as one sheet for photo printing in the case of the embodiments 1 to 4.
[0104] Therefore, in step 704 , the number of printed sheets is regarded as the same number of printed images. Moreover, in step 703 , when the printing method is determined as index printing, the information on what number of images will be printed on indexes is acquired in step 705 . Then, in step 707 , the number of printed sheets is decided. The number of printed indexes is equal to the answer of dividing the printed images by the number of images to be printed on indexes plus 1.
[0105] Moreover, when it is determined in step 703 that the printing method is poster printing, what method is the poster printing is acquired. The “poster printing” in this case is a method for printing one image so as to form one image over a plurality of pages. What number of pages is necessary for one image is acquired in step 706 and the number of printed sheets is regarded as the product between printed images and printed pages for one image in step 708 .
[0106] As described above, the number of sheets to be printed is acquired for a printing request performed by a user.
[0107] In the case of the example shown in FIG. 7 , the printing method is divided into photo printing, index printing and poster printing. However, as long as it is possible to determine what number of images is used every printing, it is allowed to use another method for printing an image.
[0108] According to each of the above embodiments, when the number of printed sheets exceeds the restricted number of printed sheets at the time of printing, it is possible to prompt a user to re-output printing.
[0109] According to the present invention, when a user performs a printing designation exceeding the tolerance of an image processing apparatus, it is possible to show the user that the printing designation by the user exceeds the tolerance of the image processing apparatus because printing is confirmed to the user before printing and therefore, an advantage can be obtained that it is possible to prevent unnecessary printing.
[0110] This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-332507 filed Sep. 24, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
|
To provide a control method of an image processing apparatus capable of showing a user that a printing designation by the user exceeds the tolerance of an image processing apparatus before printing and therefore, capable of preventing unnecessary printing. When the printing designation performed by the user clearly deviates from the tolerance of the processor, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus for confirming whether to execute printing to the user even if the printing designation exceeds the tolerance before starting the printing, and a control method of the image processing apparatus.
| 6
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to lock picks for padlocks, and their like, equipped with magnetically actuated pins or tumblers. It relates, more particularly, to lock picks which generage a randomly coded magnetic field by the simultaneous rotation of a number of wheels with interlocking gear teeth, with each wheel carrying a plurality of permanent magnets.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The art of making locks, padlocks and other devices for preventing unauthorized access to places and things is old. The companion art of making lock picks is almost as old, and aims at providing means to gain access without the requisite key to operate the lock.
Until the recent introduction of magnetically coded "keys", usually in the form of a plastic card or bar with imbedded permanent magnets to create a field with a specified strength and orientation, all lock picks were themselves mechanical and were designed to move the tumblers, pins, levers and other forms of locking members into the proper alignment so that the lock could be opened. With the advent of magnetic locks a need arose for devices which could create the required fields without any prior knowledge of the field coded into the magnetic key. Locksmiths called upon to open locks to which keys have been lost, law enforcement and emergency service officers and others have a need for such magnetic lock picks. No device had yet appeared in the art which would answer to the need.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a device for opening locks designed to respond to magnetically coded keys.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a lock pick for magnetic locks and padlocks which is capable of creating a spatially varying field in a random manner and to alter rapidly the random field in a search for the correct combination.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a magnetic lock pick which is simple to manufacture, easy to use, and readily adapted to locks of different sizes and shapes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above objects, and other objects and advantages which shall become apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof below, are attained in a device based on a plurality, commonly two or three, of flat, round disks of a non-magnetic material whose peripheries are formed into geared wheels. The aforementioned disks are mounted in a housing, whose material provides no magnetic shielding effect, on central pivots in linear alignment, with the peripheral teeth of adjacent disks in engagement.
Each of the disks is pierced, across the thickness, by a number of circular orifices in regular or random arrays with respect to radial and angular location. A small permanent magnet of cylindrical section is inserted into each of the orifices with their magnetic axes aligned but with their poles in substantially random locations; so that viewing either face of a disk would present some North and some South poles to a viewer.
With the disks assembled into their housing a varying magnetic field is set up surrounding the external faces of the case. This field is substantially random in orientation and strength, being created by the vector addition of the field strengths and directions of each of the permanent magnets in the assembly. The rotation of any one wheel, transmitted to all the other wheels in the array by the interacting geared peripheries, creates a temporal variation in the random composition of the summed field, while movement of the casing with respect to a specific location will vary the field experienced at that location.
In use, the lock pick, more particularly some portion of the outer casing covering the wheel assembly, is brought into the proximity of the control components of the lock. In this manner the tumblers, pins or other movable parts within the lock are exposed to the random field of the lock pick and take up positions governed by their specific magnetic susceptibility. Since it is unlikely that any given position of the wheels will result in the appropriate field, corresponding to the field of the key for the specific lock, the wheels are then set into motion to vary the field experienced by the lock.
As the wheels are rotated, by means of a suitable control, manual or externally powered, the lock tumblers will move around correspondingly. At some point, the process may be aided by periodic changes in the location of the lock pick as a whole, the tumblers will assume the "open" command pattern and the lock will open. Experience with magnetic locks on the market would indicate that a period of 2 to 3 minutes is sufficient to achieve lock opening utilizing the lock pick of the invention.
The rotation of the disks is most readily attained by leaving a portion of the mounting case open in such a manner that the edge of one of the disks protrudes. In such an embodiment the toothed periphery of the disk can be used as a thumbwheel and the device "tuned" with the same hand in which it is held, a matter of some import if the other hand has to be used to support the lock, as may be the case with a padlock.
It is also possible to provide automatic drive means, by a wound spring motor, or by a small electric motor, battery or line powered, for greater convenience.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the illustrations of the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetically actuated padlock and a magnetic lock pick of the invention being manipulated in the two hands of a user;
FIG. 2 is a transverse section through a typical magnetically operated padlock of the art, and of a magnetic key supplied for the opening thereof;
FIG. 3 is a view, in elevation, of the preferred embodiment of the invention, as also shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a sectioned view of the embodiment of FIG. 3, showing the internal components of the magnetic lock pick;
FIG. 5 is a lateral section through the magnetic lock pick, taken along section line 5--5 in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5, showing with particular clarity the arrangement of the three magnetic code wheels therein and the provision of integral pivot pins with one-half of the casing; and
FIG. 7 is an elevational view of an alternate embodiment of the invention, using two code wheels, with the internal components shown in phantom outlines.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The perspective view of FIG. 1 shows a lock pick 10 of the invention in use, just prior to being brought into contact with the "key face" of a magnetically operated lock 20. The lock 20 is in the form of a common padlock and is held in the palm of left hand 2 of the user. The lock pick 10 is cradled in right hand 4 with its housing 12 encompassed by the thumb, index finger and little finger. The two central fingers of right hand 4 bear against the periphery of a central disk 17 within the lock pick, made accessible by a cutout 14 in the housing 12.
As shown in the frontal view of FIG. 3, the housing 12 contains two disks, marked 16 and 18, on either side of the central disk 17. All three disks carry gear teeth on their peripheries and form a gear train, so that any rotation imparted to the central disk 17 by the fingers of the user induce the simultaneous rotation of the flanking disks 16 and 18.
The lock pick of the invention is intended for use with magnetically operated locks, as typified by the padlock 20, whose opening is accomplished by the imposition of a spatially structured magnetic field. The padlock 20, shown in the transverse, sectioned view of FIG. 2, accomplishes its locking function by means of a retained shackle 24 which is released by means of a magnetic key 120, also shown in FIG. 2.
The shackle 24 is retained at both ends, in the locked condition, in a housing 22. The shackle 24 has two legs, a longer leg 34, permanently retained within the housing in bearings integral therewith, and a shorter leg 44 which penetrates the housing 22 in the locked condition and is free of it in the unlocked condition. The inboard portion of the leg 34 is provided with a relief 26 which may be engaged by a pin 28.
The pin 28 is attached to a code bar 30 which is pierced by a number of orifices 40. Four such orifices are shown in the code bar of the illustrated padlock 20, but their number may vary from lock to lock and their spatial location will be different for locks of the same type, corresponding to different key combinations.
The conjoint assembly of the code bar 30 and the pin 28 is actuated by two springs, a saddle spring 32 and a rocker spring 36. The latter serves to move the pin 28 into the locked condition upon the depression of the shackle 24 into the housing 22. The saddle spring 32, on the other hand, urges the code bar assembly away from the leg 34 of the shackle, to attain the unlocked condition of the padlock 20.
The code bar 30 is prevented from moving by the presence of a number of swivel pins 42 whose inboard ends are shaped to mate with the orifices 40 and whose outboard ends carry permanent magnets 46. The swivel pins 42 are supported in pivot membrane 50 in such a manner that their inboard ends are free to reciprocate in a plane encompassing the orifices 40. Since the swivel pins are themselves inaccessible from the outside of the lock case 22, their pivotal movement may only be accomplished by the imposition of an external magnetic field acting on the magnets 46.
It is evident that the lock will open only if all four of the swivel pins 42 can be brought, simultaneously, into an alignment of their inboard ends with the orifices 40, and that to achieve this state the intensity and direction of the external magnetic field must be structured in a particular pattern. It is the function of the magnetic key 120 to establish the properly coded magnetic field; this being accomplished by the insertion of a number of permanent magnets 146 into the non-magnetic body, conventionally of molded plastic, of the key.
In the simplest form, the one shown in FIG. 2, the embedded magnets 146 of the key correspond in number to the number of swivel pins 42 and the magnets 146 are aligned with the positions of the magnets 46 inside the lock with their magnetic poles in direct opposition to those on the pins 42. In this structure as soon as the key 120 is brought into proper alignment with the internals of the lock 20, aided by the provision of a relief 52 in the housing 22 whose dimensions allow the key 120 to be inserted thereinto, the magnets 46 are swung into closest possible alignment with the magnets 146 under the influence of the magnetic attractive forces created by the interacting fields.
As soon as this geometric alignment is attained the code bar 30 becomes free to slide over the pins 42, moved by the force of the saddle spring 32, and pulls the pin 28 out of the relief 26 in the shackle. A small spring 22, coaxial with the leg 34 of the shackle 24 causes the latter to move outwardly from the body 22 and to release the shackle leg 44. At the end of this process the lock is open and the removal of the key 120 from the relief 52 will not result in relocking it. To relock the padlock 20 the shackle has to be reinserted into the body 22 and then pressed down to cause the rocker 36 to pull the pin 28 back into the pocket 26 in the shackle.
The lock pick 10 is intended to secure the opening of the lock 20, or its analogues, by creating a randomly structured, variable magnetic field which, at some relative position of the lock pick with respect to the lock and at some specific angular rotation of the magnetic disks therewithin, will correspond to the field of the key 120, or its equivalent.
The internal structure of the preferred embodiment of the lock pick of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6; an alternate embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 7.
The magnetic lock pick of the invention creates the structured magnetic field required for the opening of magnetic locks by providing a number of disks of circular outline, provided with a central bearing and a large number of permanent magnets inset into orifices parallel to the bearing orifice.
Turning to the transverse, sectioned view of FIG. 4, we see a central disk 17, flanked by disks 16 and 18, in mutual engagement by means of gear teeth 70 continuous around the periphery of each, with each of the disks 16, 17 and 18 freely rotatable on shafts 60 affixed in the casing 12 of the lock pick 10. Each of the disks is drilled through its thickness by a large number of cylindrical orifices, into each one of which a cylindrical permanent magnet 100 is pressed. The orifices may be drilled into the disks in a regular or a random pattern, the former being preferable for ease of manufacture, and the magnets are placed into the orifices in a completely random pattern so that their North and South poles alternate randomly on either face of each disk. A portion of the periphery of the central disk 17 is made accessible by a cutout 14 in the case 12, so that the geared edge 77 of the disk may be used as a thumbwheel to secure rotation of the disk 17, and the consequent rotation of disks 16 and 18.
Given any angular position of the disks 16, 17 and 18, the magnetic fields of the magnets 100 may be summed along any plane radiating from the case 12 to provide a pattern of field strength and polarity which is unique to that plane. In each plane the resulting field structure will be different. Any small rotation of the central disk 17 will lead to a realignment of all the magnets 100 within the case, thereby generating an entirely new set of magnetic fields around the lock pick 10. Therefore, any relative movement of the casing 12, and any rotation of the disk 17, will generate a different key code when the lock pick 10 is held in the proximity of the internal magnets of a magnetically operated lock or padlock. In this manner, given the large number of interacting magnets, an essentially infinite set of structured magnetic fields can be readily generated, one member of which is likely to be equivalent to the field of the key appropriate to the lock being opened. Experience with sample locks and picks indicates that a time expenditure of two to three minutes will result in success; success being defined as the attainment of an open lock or padlock.
In the preferred embodiment of the lock pick 10 the case 12 is comprised of symmetrical molded housing halves 12a and 12b. Molded plastic allows for ease of manufacture and provides the required non-magnetic enclosure. Substitution of other enclosures, made of wood, aluminum or brass, for example, is possible but plastic is preferred for its relatively low cost, lightness and the total absence of any shielding effect.
The casing half 12a bears a set of equispaced shaft members 60 to be engaged by the bearing orifices 61 in the magnet code disks; the mating housing half 12b is provided with orifices 62 to retain the ends of the shafts 60. Upsetting the ends of the shafts 60 into heads 65 is the preferred method of completing the assembly of the several component parts of the lock pick 10, shown in the exploded view of FIG. 6, as illustrated in the fragmentary section of FIG. 5.
The view of FIG. 7 shows an alternate embodiment 110 of the lock pick, with the magnetic code disks 16 and 17 enclosed on a housing 112. The peripheral teeth 70 of the disk 17 being made accessible for rotational actuation by the presence of a cutout 114 in the case 110. The use of only two magnet-bearing disks restricts the complexity of the magnetic field produced, so that relatively longer periods of manipulation are required, on the average, to attain the desired key code. This operational disadvantage is offset by the lighter weight, smaller size and ease of manipulation offered by the lock pick 110, as opposed to embodiments with more complex code wheel structures.
The magnetic lock pick of the invention was described above with reference to its preferred embodiment in which a plurality of magnetic code disks, comprised of a matrix of non-magnetizable material inset with a plurality of permanent magnet bodies, are rotatably, and in mutually entraining engagement, enclosed in a housing of a non-magnetic material, with the housing so structured that access to at least one of the code disks is provided, to allow for manual rotation of the disk train.
A person skilled in the art, upon exposure to the teachings herein, may come to contemplate changes in the mechanical arrangement and operation of the constituent parts. Such variants are deemed to be encompassed by the invention, delimited only by the appended claims. The aforementioned changes, substitutions and developments may include, but not be restricted to, the following:
The use of magnetic code disks of differing diameters, so that successive revolutions of a given code disk will give rise to differing magnetic fields;
The provision of external drive means, such as spring motors and electric motors, battery or line powered, in place of the manual rotation of the code disk train;
The substitution of code disks in which a plurality of randomly magnetized domains are embedded, such as a dispersion of ferritic magnets in a plastic matrix;
The substitution of a magnetic coating, randomly magnetized, on the surface of the code disks for the discrete magnetic bodies inset or embedded thereinto; and
The use of friction grip means, serrated edges, elastomeric surfaces or coatings, instead of the formal gear teeth, at the periphery of the disks.
|
A device for opening locks with magnetically actuated tumblers or pins is provided with a housing of non-magnetizable composition and a plurality of interlocking gear wheels, pivotably retained in the housing, and also constructed from materials not susceptible to permanent magnetization. The gear wheels are pierced by a plurality of orifices across their thickness and cylindrical permanent magnets are inset into each orifice with a substantially random distribution of their North and South poles with respect to the faces of the wheels. Means are provided to rotate the wheels simultaneously around their pivot axes, thereby generating a changing, random distribution of magnetic fields arising from the interaction of the inset permanent magnets. By holding the housing of the magnetic pick proximate to the usual placement of the coded magnet key of the lock, the magnetic pins, or tumblers, therein are exposed to a large combination of structured magnetic fields, one of which is likely to correspond to the key code.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to wireless communication, and more particularly relates to a comfortable wireless communication device that provides simplicity and familiarity of operation.
2. Background Information
Wireless communication connects people of all ages on virtually every continent throughout the world through, for example, cellular telephones, paging units, wireless networking, and low-tier radio telephones. Since their introduction, cellular telephones in particular have helped the world overcome barriers of physical distance while providing a convenient method for communication. Cellular telephones offer convenience as a cellular telephone user can place a call from almost any location in the service area. As service areas expand, the convenience offered increases and the cost of wireless communication devices and services decreases.
Although cellular telephones have become less expensive to purchase and operate, they have proliferated in capabilities and features. A typical cellular telephone user seeks to take advantage of wireless communication while traveling, walking, or commuting. Thus, the modern cellular telephone design has been increasingly smaller and lighter to increase transportability of the device. Additionally, the features of the modern cellular telephone have developed to include, for example, calendars, personalized phone books, instant messaging capabilities, web browsing capabilities, and even digital camera capabilities. Though most of the features are accessible through the cellular telephone's display, the complexity of features and reduction in size of cellular telephones makes it cumbersome for many to program these features.
For example, a senior citizen may possess a cellular telephone for emergency use, to communicate with family members, or to defray the cost of long distance calls. A senior citizen may only desire to program the cellular telephone with a minimal number of telephone numbers, but the complexity required to program the cellular telephone and the decreasing size of the telephone can make it difficult to program these numbers. The small size of the keys combined with aging fine motor coordination may lead a senior citizen to struggle with the simple task of placing a call. Thus, although wireless communication has become more convenient to the average user, the operation of the cellular telephone itself has become too burdensome of an operation for the average senior citizen to endure.
Further, the smaller form factor of today's cellular telephones has reduced the size of the earpiece and speaker significantly. The reduced size of these components can make it difficult to interface the earpiece with the ear. It can be, for example, especially difficult for senior citizens to interface the earpiece with their ear; however, no one is necessarily immune to this difficulty.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the present inventions taught herein are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the Figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a cellular telephone with a hingedly connected keypad cover in accordance with one embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the cellular telephone of FIG. 1 with a different, removable faceplate installed over the keypad in accordance with another embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a rear angle of the cellular telephone of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a removable faceplate exposing three function keys, a display, and a 12-key alphanumeric keypad in accordance with one embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a removable faceplate exposing three function keys and display in accordance with another embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a cellular telephone with a pivotally connected keypad cover in accordance with another embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a rear angle of the cellular telephone of FIG. 6 ;
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a cellular telephone with integrated display and function keys in accordance with still another embodiment;
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a rear angle of the cellular telephone of FIG. 8 ;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart that illustrates an example method by which a wireless communication device configured in according to the embodiments of FIG. 1 , 6 , or 8 can be programmed by the user;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart that illustrates an example method by which the user of the wireless communication device configured in according to the embodiments of FIG. 1 , 6 , or 8 can place a call;
FIG. 12 is a flowchart that illustrates an example method by which the user of the wireless communication device configured in according to the embodiments of FIG. 1 , 6 , or 8 can answer a call; and
FIG. 13 is a flowchart that illustrates an example method by which the user of the wireless communication device configured in according to the embodiments of FIG. 1 , 6 , or 8 can terminate or disconnect a call.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the descriptions of example embodiments that follow, implementation differences, or unique concerns, relating to different types of systems and methods described in terms of a cellular telephone will be pointed out to the extent possible. However, it should be apparent that the systems and methods described herein can be practiced without these specific details. Further, while the embodiments below are described in terms of a cellular telephone, it should be clear that the systems and methods described herein can be applied to any wireless communication device with audio capabilities.
FIG. 1 illustrates an external view of an exemplary cellular telephone 100 which includes earpiece 102 and keypad 106 . In one embodiment, keypad 106 can comprise a faceplate 104 and display 108 . Keypad 106 can, for example, be a standard 12-key alphanumeric keypad. Keypad 106 can also contain function keys 110 , 112 , and 114 including, but not limited to, a power key to turn cellular telephone 100 on and off, a send and disconnect button to connect or disconnect a call, and a two-aspect button that operates as a menu selector which can allow a user to scroll through menu items displayed on display 108 and make selections.
In alternative embodiments described below (see FIG. 2 ), a reduced set of keys can be included in keypad 106 . For example, keypad 106 can include only function keys 110 , 112 , and 114 , or the like. Thus, a cellular telephone configured in accordance with the systems and methods described herein can be configured for very basic use, wherein the user simply scrolls through a few preprogrammed numbers using a menu key and then hits send when the appropriate number is found to initiate a call. Similarly, the user can simply use the initiate key to answer an incoming call. A third key can be used to end a call. In one embodiment, the keys of keypad 106 can be five aspect buttons.
In another embodiment described below, a further reduced set of keys can be included in keypad 106 . For example, keypad 106 can include a power key to turn cellular telephone 100 on and off without a send or end key. Following this embodiment, a user can answer and discontinue a call simply by extending and retracting antenna 116 , or by opening or closing the moveable or slideable cover, or further by touching any key or button on cellular telephone 100 .
By reducing the number of keys on keypad 106 , the keys can be made extremely large and the functionality of cellular telephone 100 can be reduced significantly. This can be advantageous, for example, for use by senior citizens who do not need added functionality and can benefit the inclusion of larger keys that are easier to use and identify.
In alternative embodiments, the keys included in keypad 106 can be five aspect keys. By five aspect, it is meant that the key can be moved in five different direction to provide input into cellular telephone 100 . For example, a five aspect key can be moved up, down, right, left, and depressed in the middle of the key to provide input. The aspects of the five aspect buttons can correspond to any numeral, alphabet letter, or character necessary for a menu item or function, including but not limited to data input, messaging, or DTMF control of an interactive voice system. For example, the second key of the standard 12-key alphanumeric keypad can perform five functions. The center aspect can correspond to the number “2”, the left aspect can correspond to the letter “A”, the up aspect can correspond to the letter “B”, the right aspect can correspond to the letter “C”, the down aspect can correspond to a character necessary for “data input.”
In this manner, the entire alphabet can be associate with the various keys on keypad 106 . Moreover, the five aspect keys can be made relatively large so that they are not only easy to identify, but easy to manipulate. This can make input of characters as well as the selection of numbers easy and intuitive. It should be apparent that keys with less aspects, e.g., 2, 3, or 4, can also be implemented with similar advantage.
Earpiece 102 may be larger than conventional earpieces. This has the effect of making cellular telephone 100 itself larger than conventional cellular telephones, but it also allows for a deep ear cavity and padded cushion 122 to be included in earpiece 102 . Earpiece 102 can have an oval shape, a round shape, or any shape lending to the comfort of the user can be a domed shape. The domed shape can be configured such that it fits the natural contour of the user's hand.
In embodiments in which earpiece 102 has an oval, round, or domed shape, positioning of the phone to the user's ear will be intuitive leading to further user comfort and better audio. In one embodiment, the earpiece 102 can be insulated for noise reduction to reduce the amount of ambient, outside noise the user hears while conducting a call. Thus, earpiece 102 can be configured to act more like a stereo headphone, i.e., earpiece 102 can be configured to fit comfortably and easily over the ear of a user and to aid in coupling sound from a speaker 122 at the base of earpiece 102 to the ear of the user. Thus, while earpiece 100 may result in cellular telephone 100 being larger than conventional cellular telephones, it can also result in an enhanced user experience. This is because earpiece 102 can make cellular telephone 100 easier and more comfortable to interface with the user's ear, as well as aiding in improved audio performance.
Accordingly, earpiece 102 should be configured so that it fits comfortably over the ear of the user and can form a sufficiently sealed area around the user's ear via padding 122 . Padding 122 can be made of any material, but should be relatively soft and pliable, and should also be capable of substantially maintaining its form over time. Padding 122 can have a wide cushion to maintain user comfort. Alternatively, padding 122 can be thin and light. Additionally, padding 122 can extend deep into the earpiece 102 so as to minimize any ear contact with any plastic, metal, or hard components within the earpiece 102 . As padding 122 can become dirty or worn-out through ordinary use, padding 122 can be replaceable by the user. In one embodiment, for example, padding 122 can be replaced with a personalized padding specific to the user for personalization and fashion statements. Such personalization can include, but are not limited to, various styles and colors.
In another embodiment, a light pipe can be placed outside the diameter of the earpiece 102 next to the padding 122 . The light pipe can produce a visible signal through the use of a pattern of lights that move through the light pipe to signal, i.e., a user that the cellular telephone 100 is ringing. Alternatively, the light pipe can be placed around the outside of display 108 . In a further embodiment, the light pipe can be placed inside, or formed by, padding 122 . For example padding 122 can be made of a clear, transparent material that permits light to visibly pass through.
In one embodiment, the volume a user hears in earpiece 102 can be added to the volume heard from the padding 122 to increase the overall volume heard by the user. Additionally, speaker 118 can be a hearing aid compatible speaker.
In one embodiment, the outer portion of earpiece 102 can be made of plastic. In another embodiment, the outer portion of earpiece 102 can be made of aluminum, titanium, or of various components made of aluminum, titanium, or plastic; however, earpiece 102 can be made of any other lightweight material suitable for the requirements of a cellular telephone. Like padding 122 above, the outer portion of earpiece 102 can become dirty, scratched, or worn out through ordinary use. As with padding 122 , therefore, the outer portion of earpiece 102 can also be replaceable by the user. In one embodiment, the outer portion of earpiece 102 can be snapped into place by the user. Thus, the outer portion of earpiece 102 can be replaced with a personalized outer portion specific to the user for personalization and fashion statements. Such personalization can include, but are not limited to, various styles and colors.
As illustrated in FIG. 1 , keypad 106 can be hingedly connected to earpiece 102 so as to fold in an upwardly direction to create a hinged cover over earpiece 102 . In order to completely fold keypad 106 over earpiece 102 , a cantilever hinge or double hinge or any other type of hinge with multiple hinges can be used to create a hinged cover. In some embodiments, the electronics to transmit data and sound can be incorporated into the fold of the hinges. The hinged cover can make cellular telephone 100 more compact while providing protection for the keypad 106 from inadvertent entries or damage.
In one embodiment, keypad 106 can be configured for use with a removable faceplate that can be attached and detached to keypad 106 to provide varying functionality. One example of a removable faceplate can be removable faceplate 410 of FIG. 4 , which covers no keys of the keypad allowing a user access to the standard 12-key alphanumeric keypad, function keys 110 , 112 , and 114 , and display 108 (see FIG. 1 ). If less functionality is required, however, then faceplate 410 can be replaced by removable faceplate 510 of FIG. 5 , which covers the standard 12-key alphanumeric keypad allowing a user to access only function keys 110 , 112 , and 114 and display 108 . Thus, faceplate 510 can be used to configured cellular telephone 100 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2 .
It will be clear that various configuration can be made possible via various removable faceplates, such as faceplates 410 and 510 illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 , respectively. For example, in one embodiment, display 108 can be covered and in other embodiments, one or more of function keys 110 , 112 , and 114 can be covered, or some combination thereof.
In a further embodiment, the removable faceplate of keypad 106 can be user interchangeable. The user can replace the removable faceplate simply by snapping in and out various removable faceplates as discussed above. In some embodiment the removable faceplates can be plug and play compatible for easy provisioning by the internal electronics or other provisioning devices, such as those methods and apparatuses described in “Systems and Methods for Enhancing the Provisioning and Functionality of Wireless Instruments,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/547,569, filed Feb. 23, 2004 .
Continuing with FIG. 1 , earpiece 102 can also include an antenna 116 . As is known, antenna 116 can transmit and receive wireless signals. In one embodiment, antenna 116 can move between a retracted position and an extended position as in many conventional cellular telephone designs. In another embodiment, however, the movement of antenna 116 from the retracted position to the extended position can operate as a “send” function to answer a call. Similarly, the movement of antenna 116 from the extended position to the retracted position can operate as an “end” function to terminate or disconnect a call. Thus, cellular telephone 100 can be made even easier to use by eliminating even the need to press keys to answer and end calls.
Further, extending antenna 116 can also be used to initiate a call to a predetermined number. For example, if cellular telephone is intended to be used only for emergencies, then cellular telephone can be configured so that extending antenna 116 can cause cellular telephone to place a call to a predetermined number such as 911, or a relatives or emergency contacts number.
In order to prevent placing unintended calls, cellular telephone 100 can be configured such that a relatively significant force is required to extend antenna 116 , and/or a latching mechanism can be included to latch/hold antenna 116 in the retracted position until unlatched. Further, cellular telephone 100 can be configured such that a clicking sound can be heard when the antenna 116 is fully extended and concurrently placing a call to make the user aware that a call is being placed.
In an alternative embodiment, antenna 116 can be integrated into the body of cellular telephone 100 . Thus, antenna 116 would not be visible to the user.
In certain embodiments, a plunger-type button can be located at the top of cellular telephone 100 for ease of operation with a user's elongated index finger. The plunger type button can control the volume of the ringer and speaker. For example, during a call a user can depress the plunger-type button until a desired speaker volume level is achieved. While not in a call, a user can depress the same plunger-type button until a desired ringer volume level is achieved. The user can also select an alert ringer mode for silent vibration using this same plunger type button, while the user is not engaged in a call.
In certain embodiments, display 108 can be located on keypad cover 104 just above keypad 106 as depicted in FIG. 1 . In one embodiment, display 108 can show telephone numbers entered on keypad 106 , corresponding names, and menu items corresponding to the programming of the cellular telephone 100 . In another embodiment, the display area of display 108 can comprise a character size that is large enough that only the telephone numbers entered can be displayed. In yet another embodiment, display 108 can provide backlighting sufficient to light the text displayed on display 108 .
In further embodiments, display 108 can be placed within earpiece 102 so as to reduce the amount of glare seen by the user on display 108 . The glare reduction can increase the user's visibility of any information displayed on the display 108 .
Alternatively, display 108 , as well as keypad 106 can be integrated into earpiece 102 as described to some extent below. But since earpiece 102 is larger than conventional cellular telephone designs, increased functionality can be incorporated into earpiece 102 itself.
FIG. 1 can further include a microphone 124 . In one embodiment, microphone 124 can be attached to the end or bottom of keypad cover 104 . Thus, the microphone 124 can be placed on keypad cover 104 to be near the mouth of the user when the ear of the user is placed in the earpiece 102 near speaker 118 .
In one embodiment, control circuitry (not shown in FIG. 1 ) in earpiece 102 can control the operation of the cellular telephone 100 . The control circuitry can connect to the cellular transceiver/receiver (also not shown) to control the transmission and reception of cellular signals. The control circuitry likewise can connect to antenna 116 to provide for communication between the cellular telephone 100 and a cellular transmission and reception tower. The control circuitry can be connected to the speaker 118 to project sound. The control circuitry can also be connected to the keypad 106 allowing a user to input data. The display 108 can also be coupled to the control circuitry to display data entered by the user from the keypad 106 in addition to any display from programming held in the memory of the cellular telephone 100 including selectable menus. The control circuitry can also be connected to a microphone 124 allowing a user to input sound to be transmitted to a cellular transmission and reception tower.
FIG. 3 shows a rear angle of the external view of cellular telephone 100 , which includes earpiece 102 and keypad 106 and antenna 116 . In one embodiment, power source 326 can ergonomically fit within earpiece 102 . In certain embodiments, power source 326 can be a rechargeable battery to power cellular telephone 100 . In another embodiment, power source 326 can fit under keypad 106 ; however, it will be understood that batteries are relatively large and would make keypad 106 more bulky than required. Since earpiece 102 is already large, it can be preferable to incorporate power source 326 into earpiece 102 . Moreover, since earpiece 102 is large, a larger power source 326 , e.g., battery or multiple batteries, can be included without increasing the size of earpiece 102 . Thus, longer talk and standby times can be achieved without incurring any additionally size requirements.
In a further embodiment, a small amount of energy stored in power source 326 can be reserved for emergency use. In one embodiment, power source 326 will have a resident battery life of between one and three or more years. In order to reserve power for emergency use, a radiofrequency (RF) signal can be transmitted to the power source 326 to signal the cellular telephone 100 to turn off or switch power sources to a secondary power source. The RF signal can be generated by various methods of sensing techniques, known by those of ordinary sill in the art. Thus, cellular telephone 100 can have enough power in power source 326 to allow one emergency telephone call which could be directly dialed into a carrier call center or emergency service center such as 911.
FIG. 6 illustrates an external view of an exemplary cellular telephone 600 which includes earpiece 602 , similar to earpiece 102 , and keypad 604 . In one embodiment, cellular telephone 600 can encompass the features of cellular telephone 100 with the exception that keypad 604 is not hingedly connected to the earpiece 602 so as to fold in an upwardly direction to create a hinged cover over the earpiece 602 . Instead, keypad 604 can be pivotally connected to the earpiece 602 so as to pivot in a horizontally sliding direction to place keypad 604 on the back of earpiece 602 . The pivotally connected keypad 604 can make cellular telephone 600 more compact while providing protection for the keypad 604 from inadvertent entries and damage.
Keypad 604 can also be configured for use with removable face plates 606 as described above.
FIG. 7 shows a rear angle of the external view of cellular telephone 600 , which includes earpiece 602 , keypad 604 , and antenna 616 . In one embodiment, power source 626 can ergonomically fit within earpiece 602 as described above. In another embodiment, power source 626 can ergonomically fit within keypad 604 .
In a further embodiment, the keypad 604 of cellular telephone 600 can be located on a keypad cover that slides in and out of cellular telephone 600 . The keypad cover, when pushed in, can make cellular telephone 600 more compact while providing protection for the keypad 604 from inadvertent entries and damage. The keypad cover, when pulled out, can make the keypad 604 accessible to the user. In some embodiments, as the keypad cover is extended, a call can be connected to a preprogrammed number or to answer a call. As the keypad cover is closed, a call can be terminated or disconnected. Thus, cellular telephone 600 can be made even easier to use by eliminating the need to press keys and to answer and end calls.
Keypad 604 can be configured for use with removable face plates 606 as described above.
In the embodiment of FIG. 8 , cellular telephone 800 can comprise and earpiece 802 , similar top those described above; however, the keypad functionality is incorporated within earpiece 802 . This can be illustrated by the view of FIG. 9 , which illustrates that various keys and display 908 are incorporated directly into earpiece 802 .
Accordingly, earpiece 800 can comprise a speaker 818 and padding 822 as well as a microphone 824 . In one embodiment, microphone 824 can be attached to the end or bottom of earpiece 802 . Microphone 824 can be a unidirectional microphone positioned toward the user's mouth to receive the user's voice. In a further embodiment, a noise canceling microphone can be used to eliminate any background noise while providing a clear voice transmission. In still another embodiment, a boom microphone can be used where a boom extends from the lower portion of earpiece 802 .
In embodiments with a boom microphone extending from the lower portion of earpiece 802 , the movement of the boom microphone from the retracted position to the extended position can operate as a “send” function or to answer a call. Similarly, the movement of the boom microphone from the extended position to the retracted position can operate as an “end” function to terminate or disconnect a call. Thus, cellular telephone 100 can be made even easier to use by eliminating the need to press keys and to answer and end calls.
Further, extending boom microphone can also be used to initiate a call to a predetermined number. For example, if cellular telephone is intended to be used only for emergencies, then cellular telephone can be configured so that the boom microphone can cause cellular telephone to place a call to a predetermined number such as 911, or a relatives or emergency contacts number.
In order to prevent placing unintended calls, cellular telephone 100 can be configured such that a relatively significant force is required to extend a boom microphone, and/or a latching mechanism can be included to latch/hold the boom microphone in the retracted position until unlatched. Further, cellular telephone 100 can be configured such that a clicking sound can be heard when the boom microphone is fully extended and concurrently placing a call to make the user aware that a call is being placed.
FIG. 9 shows that in one embodiment earpiece 802 can also include an antenna 816 , which can be used to initiate and end calls as described above. FIG. 9 shows a rear angle of the external view of cellular telephone 800 which can include the features described in FIG. 8 and illustrates a display 908 , function keys 910 , 912 , and 914 , and power source 926 .
In certain embodiments, display 908 can be located on the back closing of earpiece 802 as depicted in FIG. 9 . In other embodiments, display 908 can, for example, be placed within earpiece 802 near speaker 818 . Alternative positions for display 908 are clearly possible as well. In one embodiment, display. 908 can show telephone numbers, corresponding names, and menu items corresponding to the programming of the cellular telephone 100 . In another embodiment, display 908 can have a large enough character size to display only the telephone numbers entered. In yet another embodiment, display 908 can provide backlighting sufficient to light the text displayed on display 908 .
In one embodiment, function keys 910 , 912 , and 914 can be located on the back closing of telephone body 802 as depicted in FIG. 9 . Function keys 910 , 912 , and 914 can include, but is not limited to, a power key to turn cellular telephone 100 on and off, a send and disconnect button to connect or disconnect a call, and a two-aspect button that acts as a menu selector which allows a user to scroll through menu items displayed on display 908 and make selections. Function keys 910 , 912 , and 914 can be positioned in any location or order on the back closing of telephone body 802 .
In one embodiment, the function keys 910 , 912 , and 914 can be five aspect buttons. The five aspect buttons can move up, down, left, right, and center to select corresponding applications. The aspects of the five aspect buttons can correspond to any numeral, alphabet letter, or character necessary for a menu item or function, including but not limited to data input, messaging, or DTMF control of an interactive voice system. For example, the second key of the standard 12-key alphanumeric keypad can perform five functions. The center aspect can correspond to the number “2”, the left aspect can correspond to the letter “A”, the up aspect can correspond to the letter “B”, the right aspect can correspond to the letter “C”, the down aspect can correspond to a character necessary for “data input.”
In a further embodiment, power source 926 can ergonomically fit within telephone body 802 . In certain embodiments, power source can be a rechargeable battery to power cellular telephone 900 .
In order to further enhance the user experience, a cellular telephone configured according to the systems and methods described herein can be programmed to receive voice commands and issue audible requests or instructions. FIG. 10 for example, is a flowchart illustrating an example method for programming a cellular telephone in accordance with the systems and methods described herein. Initially, in step 1002 , a cellular telephone is in standby. In step 1004 , a user can open the hinged cover or depresses a key. A voice prompt asks “Name please, or dial a number,” as depicted in step 1006 . A user can enter a phone number on the keypad that the user wishes to call as shown in step 1008 . In step 1010 , a user can press the “send” function key or extends the antenna to-dial the phone number. A voice prompt then asks, “Who are you calling?” as shown in step 1012 . Step 1014 illustrates that the user can answer by speaking “cancel”, “do not store”, or the called party's name. If the user says “cancel”, the call is terminated as shown in step 1016 . If the user says “do not store”, the call is connected without storing the called party's name as shown in step 1018 . If the user says the called party's name, the voice prompt confirms the called party's name with the user as illustrated in step 1020 . In step 1022 , the voice prompt confirms the called party's name by asking the user, “Is this correct?” If the user answers “No” the user returns to step 1012 . If the user answers “Yes”, the voice prompt reports, “Thank you, hold for your call,” as depicted in step 1024 . In step 1026 , the call can then be connected and the name of the called party can be stored with the corresponding telephone number in the memory of the cellular telephone.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for placing a call on cellular telephone in accordance with one embodiment of the systems and methods disclosed herein. Initially, in step 1102 , a cellular telephone is in standby. In step 1104 , the user can open the hinged cover or depresses a key. A voice prompt asks “Name please, or dial a number,” as depicted in step 1106 . In step 1108 , the user can speak a pre-programmed name according to the programming method shown in FIG. 10 . In step 1110 , a voice prompt says either “Thank you”, “Repeat, please”, or “Please enter the number to dial.” If the voice prompt says “Thank you”, the call is connected as shown in step 1112 . If the voice prompt says “Repeat, please”, the user returns to step 1108 and again speaks a pre-programmed name as shown in step 1114 . If the voice prompt says, “Please enter the number to dial”, the user enters a phone number on the keypad as shown in step 1116 . In step 1118 , the programming then can direct the user to step 1010 of FIG. 10 to program the telephone with the corresponding name.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for answering a call on a cellular telephone in accordance with one embodiment of the system and methods disclosed herein. In step 1202 , the cellular phone can ring to alert a user of an incoming call. To answer the call, a user can extend the antenna as shown in step 1204 . Then, in step 1206 , the call can be connected and the conversation can commence between a caller and a user.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for terminating a call on a cellular telephone in accordance with one embodiment of the systems and methods disclosed herein. In step 1302 , the call can be connected and in progress between a caller and a user. After the user or the caller decides to end the call in progress, the user can retract the antenna as shown in step 1304 . The call can then be terminated as shown in step 1306 .
In another embodiment, a cellular telephone can present a dial tone to a user to inform a user that the cellular telephone is ready for dialing. Some users can be confused by the operation of a telephone without a dial tone and requiring the use of a “send” key. With a dial tone present, there can be no need for a “send” key as calls can be dialed immediately following entry of the last telephone number digit.
Further, in one embodiment, the cellular telephone can be programmed with voice recognition software. The cellular telephone can be programmed with DTMF controls to operate the embodiments of the device, system or method disclosed herein.
Further, in another embodiment, the cellular telephone can incorporate a playback device for playing stored musical files such as MP3 files or WAV files. In one embodiment, the cellular phone with incorporated MP3 player can be housed in an earphone style headset. Some features of this embodiment can include downloading the MP3 files, instructions, voice messages, and voice reminders through either connection to the internet directly, connection to provisioning software such as through the methods and apparatuses as disclosed in “Systems and Methods for Enhancing the Provisioning and Functionality of Wireless Instruments,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/547,569, filed Feb. 23, 2004, or through the cellular telephone itself including downloading musical files over radiofrequency waves acting in a similar for to that of a radio. In another embodiment, the integrated MP3 player of cellular telephone 100 automatically reduces the volume when the cellular telephone rings. Thus, when the cellular telephone rings, the volume of the MP3 player mutes and the user can hear the ring and answer the call.
In another embodiment, the cellular telephone 100 can include a digital camera and, alternatively, video technologies to record movie pictures with sound. In a further embodiment, the cellular telephone 100 can include software to connect to the internet directly to enable a user to browse internet web pages from the display of the phone.
In a further embodiment, cellular telephone 100 can connect to a battery charging unit, provisioning equipment, or docking station through induction methods. Thus, the battery can recharge and the software can update without plugging a connector directly into the phone.
In a still further embodiment, earpiece 102 can be adapted to allow any style of cellular telephone to connect to the earpiece housing so as to transform the conventional cellular telephone speaker into the comfortable earpiece version as described above. For example, a conventional “candy bar” cellular telephone can slide into the back portion of a earpiece housing and electronically connect to the earpiece through connector points. The sound sent to the conventional cellular telephone speaker can be routed to the speaker of the comfortable earpiece. Thus, the user can take advantage of the noise reduction comfort without purchasing a new cellular telephone.
While embodiments and implementations of the invention have been shown and described, it should be apparent that many more embodiments and implementations are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted, except in light of the claims and their equivalents.
|
An improved wireless communication device, method, and system, that is easy to operate for people of all ages, particularly for senior citizens, that is compact, ergonomic, and comfortable, but which also provides simplicity of operation for those users who do not require complex cellular telephone capabilities or features.
| 7
|
This is a division of application Ser. No. 739,541 filed Nov. 8, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,079.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The dredging art is an old one. Examples of the general type of dredge of this invention are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 222,380 (Dec. 9, 1879), No. 277,177 (May 8, 1883), and No. 890,764 (June 16, 1908). The present invention is directed to a more efficient, simple, dependable and versatile dredging device than those known heretofore. In the preferred embodiment, the entire dredge, vessel and all, can be stowed in such a way as to permit it to be lifted by a crane and transported on a conventional heavy low-bed trailer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a vessel-mounted dredging device in which material freed by revolving cutters is pumped through a suction mouth and discharge pipe to a place remote from the cutters, a platform, upon which a pump is mounted, and beneath which cutter discs are mounted, is itself mounted to the lower end of a mast. The mast is arranged for movement vertically with respect to a vessel upon the bow of which it is mounted. The vessel is made with main pontoons running fore and aft, spaced from one another about the center line of the vessel a distance sufficient to accommodate a discharge pipe, one end of which is connected to the discharge side of the pump, and the other end of which is cradled on rollers, permitting lengthwise translation of the discharge pipe as the pump is moved up and down by the mast.
The mast is journalled in a long bearing which in turn is carried by a carriage mounted on vertical posts or stanchions, for movement vertically along the posts.
The cutter discs are equipped with trapezoidal teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation of the discs, and pivotally mounted on the discs on pivot axes parallel to the axis of rotation of the disc, in such a way that the teeth can swing to either side of a radius. In the preferred embodiment, two cutting discs are provided, with axes of rotation substantially aligned in the fore and aft direction with respect to the vessel. The cutter discs lie in substantially the same plane and are spaced from one another below a suction inlet of the pump. The cutter discs are rotated by hydraulic motors, acting through speed reducing gear boxes mounted on the platform. The gear boxes are preferably supplied with lubricant under constant, superatmospheric pressure. The entire platform is preferably hingedly connected to the mast, so as to be selectively swingable to an angle from the horizontal.
As has been indicated, the discharge pipe extends along the center line of the vessel, and, when the pump is in its raised position, extends into and through a clear space or well between the main pontoons making up the main hull of the vessel and its forward end extends above the main deck level.
Outboard pontoons are hingedly supported by the main pontoons, permitting them to move between a position outboard of the main hull to a buoying and stabilizing position, and a position wholly above the main hull.
A spoil line, connected to and forming an extension of the discharge pipe, is floated by means of tire carcasses filled with foamed plastic, spaced along the spoil line.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of one embodiment of dredging device of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a view in end elevation, viewed from right to left in FIG. 1, showing, in dotted lines, the outboard pontoons in folded position;
FIG. 3 is a view in end elevation viewed from left to right in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view, with the decking removed, of the device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of one cutter disc;
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a cutter disc, mounting platform, cutter disc drive and pump parts of the dredging device;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a perforated shoe normally covering the mouth of the inlet side of the pump;
FIG. 8 is a view in side elevation of the shoe shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary detailed view in side elevation of the mast carriage and mast bearing of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of the cutter and mast part of the device;
FIG. 11 is a view in side elevation showing the cutter and pump platform in dredging position, and the arrangement of the spoil line;
FIG. 12 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of a float element of the spoil line;
FIG. 13 is a view in front elevation, partly broken away, of the float element of FIG. 12; and
FIG. 14 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the mast and platform, showing the platform in tilted position.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings for one illustrative embodiment of dredging device of this invention, reference numeral 1 indicates a dredge vessel, with a cutter-pump section 4 at its bow, a discharge pipe assembly including a discharge pipe support section 9 in the stern portion of the vessel, and a spoil line assembly 10.
The vessel 1 has a main hull 2 made up of main pontoons 11 and 12, each of which is provided with heavy channel skids 13 extending the full length of the pontoons and beyond them in a forward direction, a main deck 14, secured to the pontoons by means of angles 15, and suitable bracing. The bracing includes an after cross bar 16, between the skids 13 below the main pontoons, and a stern cross bracing truss. The forward cross bracing is such as to provide an open well or channel 25 along the center line of the vessel from the bow to a point which in this embodiment is approximately a third of the distance toward the stern.
The main pontoons extend fore and aft of the vessel, and are spaced from one another about the center line of the vessel, as shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3.
Outboard pontoons 20 and 21 have arms 22 secured at one end to the main pontoons 20 and 21, pivotally mounted at their outer ends to angle members carried by the main pontoons 11 and 12. Suitable removable locking pins are provided for locking the arms in the extended and folded positions, respectively. The arms 22 and light angles 23 carry outboard decking, and life lines 26. The life line stanchions are removably mounted, but the outboard decking can be left in place when the outboard pontoons 20 and 21 are folded to the transport position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2.
A control house 28 is provided on the main deck, and a large diesel engine 30 and a hydraulic pump house 31 are mounted on the main deck abaft the control house.
Also secured to the main deck, on either side of the well 25, are two long heavy truss braces 35, which slope upwardly to the bow, at which they are secured to a heavy, cross braced mast supporting frame 38. The frame 38 has cross members 39, all of which are above the main deck sufficiently to accommodate the discharge pipe in a raised position, all as described hereafter.
The mast frame 38 is secured to tubular stems 41 (see FIG. 10) of T-shaped guide posts 40. The guide posts 40 are welded at their lower ends to the ends of skids 13, and are braced above and below the main deck, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 4, to ensure their strength and rigidity. The lower bracing is forward of the main pontoon on each side, the skid extending beyond the pontoon. The guide posts 40 are parallel with one another. They have guide plates 42 welded to them, which extend substantially the full length of the posts. The guide plates project symmetrically to either side of the stem 41, providing ways for flanged rollers 48 mounted on a mast carriage 44.
The mast carriage 44 is a rectangular frame with upper and lower cross members 45 and 46, and vertical members 47, reinforced by cross-bracing members 155. The rollers 48 are mounted in pairs as best shown in FIGs. 3 and 4, projecting aft from the cross members 45 and 46, and so positioning and arranged that the flanged rollers embrace the long side edges of the guide plates 42 in both fore and aft and athwartships directions. The pairs of rollers 48, located as they are at the four corners of the carriage 44 and spaced a substantial distance vertically, ensure against undesired movement in a fore and aft direction, and against any cocking in their up and down travel. Detailed view of the rollers and their relation to the guide posts are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.
An elongated sleeve bearing 50, shown most clearly in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 9, and 10, is secured to the cross members 45 and 46 of the carriage 44. In the embodiment shown, the sleeve 50 includes upper and lower heavy frame members 55, defining a rectangular opening into the corners of which angles 51 are welded, extending vertically. Low-friction plastic inserts 52, such as Delrin or Teflon, serve as facings for the angles 51 and as bearing surfaces for a mast 60. The sleeve bearing 50 is given additional support, in the embodiment shown, by angle braces 53, at top and bottom, secured to the vertical members 47 of the carriage. A lifting eye 54, secured to the cross member 45, is shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3.
In the embodiment shown, the mast 60, which is rectangular in cross section, is made in two parts, a top section 61 and a lower section 62, so joined as to provide no obstruction to easy sliding through the bearing 50. A mast base plate 64, secured to the lower end of the mast, carries in this embodiment, knuckles 65 and 66.
Platform knuckles 67 and 68 are secured to a platform bracket 69. The platform knuckles 67 are complementary to the mast base plate knuckles 65, and with a suitable pintle, serve to mount a platform 70 to which the bracket 69 is secured, to the mast 60. The other set of platform knuckles, 68, serves selectively either to mount the platform immovably perpendicular to the long axis of the mast when a pintle is inserted directly through the knuckles 66 and 68, or, when desired as shown in the embodiment illustrated particularly in FIG. 14, serve, with the mast base plate knuckles 66 to accommodate a link 166, permitting rocking of the platform to an angle from the horizontal to provide for slope cutting.
The platform 70 consists of a channel iron frame, on which a pump 71, driven by a hydraulic motor 72, is mounted. The pump 71 has an inlet mouth extending through an opening in the platform frame, and a discharge outlet pipe 74 above the frame of the platform.
Also mounted on the platform frame are hydraulic cutter disc drive motors 75 and 76, each with a speed reducer 77. Each of the speed reducers has an output shaft 78 projecting below the frame of the platform.
The output shaft 78 of the speed reducer of the hydraulic motor 75 is connected to a hub 79 of a cutter disc 80. The output shaft 78 of the speed reducer of the motor 76 is connected to a hub 79 of a cutter disc 81.
In the embodiment shown, each of the cutter discs 80 and 81 has six tooth assemblies 82. Each of the tooth assemblies 82 consists of a trapezoidal cutting tooth 83 with a long base 84, a short base 85 and upwardly convergent, chamfered sides 86. In the preferred embodiment, the cutting surfaces of the chamfered sides are faced with tungsten carbide, welded directly to the teeth. The cutting teeth 83 are, in this embodiment, substantially flat, and are welded to the outer ends of upper and lower, vertically spaced, tooth arms 87, pivotally mounted at their ends opposite the cutting teeth on pivot pins 88 mounted radially inboardly from the perimeter of the cutter disc at 60° intervals on a common circle concentric with the axis of the shaft 78. The tooth arms 87 are longer, from their pivot points to the blades, than the distance to the perimeter of the disc, permitting the teeth to be swung in either direction to one side of the radial line defined by the axis of rotation and the pivot point. Stops 89 on the upper face of the cutter discs, are arranged symmetrically on either side of the radial line, to limit the amount of swing of the tooth arms. In use, the teeth swing to an angle to the radial line, in the direction opposite the direction of rotation, thus accommodating themselves to digging condition in either direction of rotation.
The cutter discs 80 and 81 lie in substantially the same plane, and are spaced from one another and with respect to the inlet mouth of the pump 71. In this preferred embodiment, their axes of rotation are substantially aligned with the center line of the vessel. The hydraulic motors 75 and 76 generally drive the cutter discs 80 and 81 in a counter-rotating fashion, but they are individually controllable both as to speed and direction of rotation.
A flexible lubricant tube 90 communicates with the interior of each speed reducer 77 at one end, and at its other end, with a lubricant reservoir 91, equipped with a pressure pump 92 by which lubricant in the reservoir can be subjected to superatmospheric air pressure.
A shoe 95, of heavy plate, is positioned below and spaced a short distance from the inlet mouth of the pump 71 along the side shown in FIG. 6, to leave a clear opening as indicated by reference numeral 170, and above the cutter teeth 83. The shoe 95 has holes 96, which in the embodiment shown, are on the order of 6" in diameter, through it. The shoe serves a double function, of screening objects of such a size as to be likely to injure the impeller of the pump 71, and to prevent the inlet from scraping the bottom. The shoe 95 is mounted on the underside of the platform, by means of mounting wings 97 and a mounting bracket 98. Lips 99 reduce the opening between the shoe and the mouth. A cable eye 100 is secured to the platform, to receive a hook or clevis on the end of a lifting cable 165, as shown in FIG. 11.
A flexible connector section 103 of a discharge pipe 105 is connected at one end to the discharge outlet pipe 74 of the pump 71, and at its other end to a rigid section 104 of the discharge pipe 105. The rigid section 104 of the discharge pipe is cradled on and supported by a roller 116 mounted on and above the after cross bar 16, between guide gussets; the discharge pipe is otherwise unsupported between the pump and the roller. The discharge pipe 105 runs fore and aft along the center line of the vessel, between the main pontoons 11 and 12, and, in the raised position shown in FIG. 1, through open well 25, to a position at which its forward end is above the main deck level.
At its after end, the discharge pipe is connected with and communicates with a flexible spoil line 120.
The spoil line 120 is kept afloat by a series of spaced floatation elements 121 which, in the embodiment shown, take the form of tire carcasses 123, beaded mouths 124 of which have been spread until the distance between edges of the mouths is greater than the radial distance from the surface defined by the mouths to the outermost surface of the carcass, and filled with foamed plastic material. The floatation elements 121 are strung on the spoil line, as indicated particularly in FIG. 11.
In making the floatation elements 121, the mouths of the tire carcasses are spread with dowels 125, the carcass is placed around a plate on a revolving fixture, and the prepared polyurethane or polystyrene is poured onto the plate and thrown into the carcass by centrifugal force, intumescing and setting in place. A certain number of carcasses can be provided, before the foamed material is placed, with U-bolts, forming eyes for a stay line 128 as shown in FIGS. 11 through 13.
Suitable hydraulically operated winches 140 are provided, for maneuvering the vessel by means of anchor lines. A winch 145, mounted on a cross beam bridging between the brackets 35, controls cable 165, tending over a suitable sheave carried by the frame 38, and connected at its outer end with the eye 100 for raising and lowering the mast and carriage.
By virtue of the provision of the carriage, the entire assembly can be raised well clear of the water, while at the same time, in use, the bearing sleeve in which the mast is journalled for sliding can be moved down to support the mast at its lowered position, thus permitting additional effective depth to the dredging head. Additionally and importantly, when the carriage is in its lowered position, it provides effective cross bracing to the guide posts 40 and main pontoons, which, it will be observed, are not otherwise directly braced, below the main deck, against spreading.
Suitable, conventional hydraulic lines are connected to hydraulic pumps driven by the diesel engine 30, to the cutter motors, the pump motor, and the various winches. In the preferred embodiment, the hydraulic system consists of four independent circuits, one for the dredge pump, one for each of the two cutter motors, and one for the winches.
Merely by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, a dredge of this invention can have an overall hull length of 33', a main hull width of 8', and an overall width, with the outboard pontoons extended, of 16'. The operating depth, i.e., water level to cutter disc distance as shown in FIG. 11, can be 16'.
The pump can be a conventional impeller equipped centrifugal dredge pump, with an inlet mouth on the order of 18" square, and a discharge outlet pipe 12" in inside diameter, to which a 12" i.d. discharge pipe is connected.
The cutter discs can be 1/2" thick and 36" in diameter, the cutter teeth arms can be 9" from pivot point to the teeth, and the teeth project 3" beyond the periphery of the dishes in their radial position. The teeth which are preferably made of 1/2" high carbon steel, can have a long base length of 10", a short base length of 2", and a height of 6". The chamfered cutting edges of the teeth are preferably faced and backed with tungsten carbide, welded to the edges.
The cutter discs 80 and 81 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the pump inlet mouth, in both fore and aft and athwartships directions, have their axes of rotation generally aligned with the center line of the vessel, and are spaced from one another four feet center to center so as to permit their respective teeth to clear one another by about 6". In this illustration, the cutter discs are positioned so that the upper, short base edges of the teeth are about 2" below the shoe 95.
The shoe is in turn positioned so that a space of about 1" is left along a side of the shoe between the shoe and the bottom of the pump.
The hydraulic pumps can have a rating in excess of 500 hp, and the diesel engine 30 can be a twelve cylinder diesel, as for example, a General Motors Detroit 12V71. The dry weight of the vessel and dredging head can be on the order of 31,000 lbs., making it possible to skid or crane load it onto a single low-bed trailer.
When it is desired to dredge a 1:3 slope, it is only necessary to pull the pin in the knuckles 66 and 68, and insert the link 166 between them, to tilt the platform.
Numerous variations in the details of construction of the dredging device of this invention within the scope of the appended claims will occur to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure.
|
In a vessel-mounted dredging device in which material freed by revolving cutters is pumped through a suction mouth and discharge pipe to a place remote from the cutters, a submersible dredge pump is mounted on a platform which supports cutter discs spaced from one another and positioned to deliver material to the suction side of the pump. The platform is mounted on a mast which is so constructed and arranged as to be movable vertically with respect to a carriage which is in turn vertically movable relative to the vessel. The platform is preferably hinged to the end of the mast, to permit the platform to swing to an angle to the horizontal, selectively.
| 4
|
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No. 07/817,536, filed Jan. 7, 1992, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Replacement of defective or severely injured tissues and organs has been a medical objective as long as medicine has been practiced. Grafts from an individual to himself almost invariably succeed, and are especially important in the treatment of burn patients. Likewise, grafts between two genetically identical individuals almost invariably succeed. However, grafts between two genetically dissimilar individuals would not succeed without immunosuppressive drug therapies. The major reason for their failure is a T cell mediated immune response to cell-surface antigens that distinguish donor from host.
Immunosuppressive agents are also indicated in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or type I diabetes mellitus. One particular condition worth mentioning here is psoriasis. This disease is characterized by erythematous patches of skin accompanied by discomfort and itching. Hyperplasia of the epidermis involving proliferation of keratinocytes is also a hallmark feature of psoriasis. An inflammatory component is suggested by: (i) the finding of lymphocytic infiltration of epidermis, and (ii) the fact that immunosuppressive agents such as cyclosporin and corticosteriods have beneficial effect on the disease.
A number of drugs are currently being used or investigated for their immunosuppressive properties. Among these drugs, the most commonly used immunosuppressant is cyclosporin A. However, usage of cyclosporin has numerous side effects such as nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and other central nervous system disorders. Thus, there is presently a need to investigate new immunosuppressive agents that are less toxic but equally as effective as those currently available.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the use of Ruthenium Red as an immunosuppressive agent to prevent or significantly reduce graft rejection in organ and bone marrow transplantation. Ruthenium Red can also be used as an immunosuppressant drug for T lymphocyte mediated autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes.
In another aspect of this invention, other diseases with suspected inflammatory components, such as psoriasis and contact dermatitis, can be treated with Ruthenium Red to alleviate symptoms associated with these disease states.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates absorbance values obtained through an ELISA assay. The upper plot represents antibody levels generated in a group of mice following immunization with Cytochrome C (open box). The lower plot depicts the reduced antibody levels observed in Ruthenium Red treated mice (closed box). The data indicate that the compound acts as an immunosuppressive agent in vivo.
FIG. 2 shows a graphic illustration of the inhibition by Ruthenium Red of the elicitation of contact hypersensitivity (CHS) in sensitized mice. The broken stippled bars represent nonsensitized mice challenged at day 8 and the solid stippled bars represent mice sensitized at day one and then challenged at day 8. Contact hypersensitivity involves a T lymphocyte mediated inflammatory reaction in the skin, and the ability of Ruthenium Red to inhibit it is an indicator that the compound may also reduce the severity of inflammation in human skin disorders such as contact dermatitis and psoriasis.
FIG. 3 shows a graphic illustration of the rate of diffusion of Ruthenium Red across a human skin explant in a tissue culture chamber when the compound was applied in petrolatum to one surface of the skin section. The data are as follows: 2% Ruthenium in hydrated petrolatum (HP) HP-1 (open box); 2% Ruthenium Red in HP-2 (closed diamond); 2% Ruthenium Red in phosphate buffered saline (PB51) (closed box) and 2% Ruthenium Red in PBS-2 (open diamond). The data indicate that a sufficient amount of the compound can cross the skin to achieve immunosuppressive concentrations at the opposite surface.
FIG. 4 shows the inhibition of the in vivo proliferation of the PAM 212 keratinocyte cell line by Ruthenium Red in two similar experiments. The data is an indicator that the compound may be effective in reducing hyperplasia of the epidermis in psoriasis.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This invention is based upon the discovery that Ruthenium Red can inhibit antigen specific T lymphocyte proliferation in vitro, and act as an immunosuppressive agent in vivo in mice for both antibody and cell mediated immune responses. The data suggest that Ruthenium Red has potential use as an immunosuppressant to reduce undesirable immune responses in humans. Ruthenium Red can be used to facilitate organ transplantation, and to treat human autoimmune disorders where the specific activation of T cells is responsible for, or contributes to the pathology and progression of the diseases, such as diabetes.
It has been shown herein that Ruthenium Red protected a small group of female non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice from insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), a disease that normally occurs at high frequency in the female of this inbred mouse strain.
Psoriasis has two main clinical features which characterize the disease; an autoimmune or inflammatory infiltration of the epidermis, and hyperproliferation of keratinocytes. It has been shown herein that when applied topically, Ruthenium Red can penetrate murine skin and block contact hypersensitivity to a specific antigen. Ruthenium Red has also been shown to inhibit keratinocyte proliferation in vitro. Based upon these findings, Ruthenium Red can be used to alleviate the symptoms associated with psoriasis and contact dermatitis. Abnormalities in mitochondrial function in psoriatic epidermal cells may also be corrected by Ruthenium Red treatment since it has also been shown to affect mitochondria.
The effects of topical application in mice suggest that in humans also, topical application of Ruthenium Red in a cream or ointment could deliver locally immunosuppressive concentrations of the drug without significant systemic exposure. Topical application may be the ideal way to deliver the compound in psoriasis and perhaps other inflammatory skin diseases such as contact dermatitis and pemphigus vulgaris. Herein are described experiments which demonstrate in vitro that Ruthenium Red can penetrate human skin sufficiently to achieve T cell immunosuppressive doses.
Ruthenium Red is an inorganic hexavalent polycationic dye that has been used in histology and electron microscopy to stain certain complex polysaccharides. These dyes have also been shown to affect calcium ion transport in the smooth muscle plasma membrane of pig stomach cells and in the mitochondria of rat liver cells. See Missiaen et al., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1023:449-454 (1990) and Kapus et al., J. of Biological Chemistry, 265(30):18063-18066 (1990). In addition, Ruthenium Red has been shown to possess certain anti-tumor properties, as demonstrated by growth inhibition of Lewis lung carcinoma in mice treated with the dye. Tsuro et al., Gann, 71:151-154 (1980).
It has now been discovered that Ruthenium Red possesses immunosuppressive activity as confirmed through a drug screen. Specific T cell proliferation was measured in response to antigen exposure in the presence or absence of Ruthenium Red. It was found that Ruthenium Red inhibited T cell proliferation by 50% (IC 50 ) at a concentration of about 200 nM. This compares favorably with cyclosporin A, which has an IC 50 at 15nM. In an in vitro toxicity study, Ruthenium Red was found to be nontoxic to a variety of cell lines when tested at the same concentrations that markedly inhibit T cell activation.
The dye is known to bind a wide variety of materials, but more importantly, it binds to components of cell membranes. Ruthenium Red has been shown to inhibit plasma membrane Ca 2+ pump. It is believed that the dye interacts at the cytoplasmic site of the Ca 2+ pump; however, its mode of action is still not fully understood. It is known that Ca 2 + is an important mediator of T cell activation. Transient elevation of cytoplasmic Ca 2+ occurs shortly after triggering of T cells by a variety of signals and is necessary for activation of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene.
Ruthenium Red can be administered orally, parenterally (e.g. intramuscularly, intravenously, subcutaneously), topically, nasally or via slow releasing microcarriers in dosage formulations containing a physiologically acceptable vehicle and optional adjuvants and preservatives. Suitable physiologically acceptable vehicles include saline, sterile water, creams, ointments or solutions.
The specific dosage level of active ingredient will depend upon a number of factors, including biological activity of Ruthenium Red, age, body weight, sex, general health, severity of the particular disease to be treated and the degree of immune suppression desired, as well as appropriate pharmacokinetic properties. It should be understood that Ruthenium Red can be administered to mammals other than humans for immunosuppression of mammalian autoimmune diseases.
Ruthenium Red can be administered in combination with other drugs to boost the immunosuppressive effect. Compounds that can be coadministered include steroids (e.g. methyl prednisolone acetate), NSAIDS and other known immunosuppressants such as azathioprine, 15-deoxyspergualin, cyclosporin and related molecules. Dosages of these drugs will also vary depending upon the condition and individual to be treated.
The assay used to measure T cell growth inhibition was a human peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) proliferation assay using standard procedures known in the art. PBL's were chosen due to their known ability to proliferate in the presence of antigens derived from herpes simplex virus (HSV), Rubella or tetanus toxoid (TT). PBL growth inhibition was measured in terms of Ruthenium Red's ability to interfere with antigen induced lymphocyte proliferation.
The invention will be further illustrated by the following non-limiting Examples:
EXAMPLE 1--PBL ANTIGEN SPECIFIC PROLIFERATION ASSAY
Ruthenium Red was purchased from Sigma Chemical Company, and dissolved in water at a 1 mg/ml concentration for the stock solution. The stock solution of the dye was diluted over a range of 1:400 to 1:100,000 for the PBL inhibition assay.
The lymphocytes were prepared by first separating them from the blood samples of several donors by Ficoll gradient separation as described by standard procedure known in the art. The isolated lymphocytes were then grown in RPMI 1640 medium containing 5% human AB serum, glutamine (2 mM), penicillin/streptomycin, 50 μ/ml/50 ng/ml sodium pyruvate (1 mM) and HEPES buffer (10 mM).
For assay purposes, PBL's were incubated at a density of 10 5 per 200 μl of medium per well of a 96-well plate.
Concentrated tissue culture supernatants containing antigens derived from HSV infected cells were diluted 1:1000 to induce T cell proliferation.
In separate studies, Tetanus toxoid was used as a stimulating antigen at a concentration range of 0.4-4 LF/ml.; provided by Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
The test wells containing PBL's, were exposed to one of the three stimulating antigens (i.e., HSV, Rubella or TT derived antigens), along with various dilutions of the Ruthenium Red solutions, as shown in Table 1. The supernatant from uninfected cells (obtained from Microbix Biosystems, Inc. of Toronto, Canada) were used as a control for the response to HSV.
Subsequently, HSV antigen/Ruthenium Red exposed PBL's were pulsed with 1 μCi/well of 3 H-thymidine on day 4 whereas the Rubella/dye and TT/dye exposed cells were pulsed on day 5 using a standard procedure known in the art. The cells were then harvested 16 hours later onto a glass fiber filter using a PHD harvester from Cambridge Technology, Boston, Mass. Thymidine incorporation was measured by liquid scintillation counting using a Beta counter (Pharmacia, Inc., Piscataway, N.J.).
The results of the assay are shown in Table 1. The table shows that a 2.5 μg/ml concentration of Ruthenium Red generally inhibited proliferation by 90%. The molar concentration to obtain IC 50 was estimated to be approximately 200 nM. The inhibition values in Table 1 represent the mean of 5 separate experiments.
In addition, Ruthenium Red was shown to be non-toxic at levels effective as an immunosuppressant agent. The compounds were tested for toxicity in the following cell lines: Jurkat (T cell lymphoma); K562 (erythroleukemia); Hs294T (melanoma cells); U-937 (monocytes from histiocytic lymphoma) and M-EBV (Epstein-Farr virus-transformed β-cells).
TABLE 1______________________________________Inhibition of human T cell proliferation by Ruthenium RedConcentration, μg/ml (μM) % Inhibition______________________________________2.5 (3.18) 961.0 (1.27) 890.2 (0.25) 600.1 (0.13) 310.01 (0.01) 17______________________________________
To obtain a more complete picture of the range of responses effected by Ruthenium Red, the ability of this compound to inhibit alloreactivity was examined. A summary of these results is presented in Table 2.
TABLE 2______________________________________Inhibition of alloreactivity by Ruthenium RedConcentration, μ/ml (μM) % Inhibition______________________________________2.5 (3.18) 921.0 (1.27) 850.2 (0.25) 770.1 (0.13) 69______________________________________
Alloreactivity was measured by stimulating T cells from one donor with inactivated lymphocytes from a second donor. The inhibition values represent the mean of 4 separate determinations. These data confirm that Ruthenium Red has broad immunosuppressive properties in vitro.
EXAMPLE 2--ASSAY OF IL-2 STIMULATED PBL PROLIFERATION
It was discovered that the proliferative response induced directly in PBL's by IL-2 alone can be inhibited by this compound (Table 3). For these studies, human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL's) were incubated in vitro with varying concentrations of IL-2 and in the presence or absence of Ruthenium Red (0.2 μg/ml). After 3 days of culture, 3 H-thymidine was added for 16 hr, cells were harvested, and the filters counted.
TABLE 3______________________________________Ruthenium Red blocks IL-2-mediated T cellproliferationIL-2 Ruthenium .sup.3 H-thymidine(U/ml) Red uptake (cpm) % Inhibition______________________________________0 - 543 -100 - 31,175 -1 - 36,559 -100 + 3,839 881 + 2,805 92______________________________________
These findings suggest that Ruthenium Red cannot only prevent T cell activation (like cyclosporin) but can also abrogate the response to IL-2 which make this compound superior to cyclosporin, FK506 and related compounds.
EXAMPLE 3--ASSAY OF THE KINETICS OF THE INHIBITION OF T CELL ACTIVATION BY RUTHENIUM RED
In another study, T cells were activated with HSV-1 as described before and the Ruthenium Red (1 μg/ml) was added either at the start of culture (time 0) or after various delays. Data in Table 4 reveal that the compound can be added as late as 20 hours after triggering with antigen and still produce maximal inhibition, indicating that Ruthenium Red most likely effects signal transduction pathways rather than early recognition events at the cell surface.
TABLE 4______________________________________Kinetics of the inhibitory response toRuthenium RedTime of addition (hr) % Inhibition______________________________________0 951 972 964 9220 8633 58______________________________________
EXAMPLE 4--ASSAY OF CYTOPLASMIC CA 2+ LEVELS DURING T CELL ACTIVATION
To uncover the mode of action of Ruthenium Red, additional experiments were performed. Because it is known that this compound effects Ca 2+ levels in cells, we examined whether Ruthenium Red prevents the rise in intracellular Ca 2+ that accompanies T cell activation. The Ca 2+ -sensitive dye, Fluo-3AM (Molecular Probes, Inc., Eugene, Oreg.), can be used to detect intracellular Ca 2+ . For these studies, transfected Jurkat T cells were incubated with Fluo-3AM (1 μM) for one hour at room temperature. The cells were then washed three times and incubated in 1 ml volumes (5×10 5 cells) with various agents to trigger T cell activation and thus Ca 2+ uptake. Ruthenium Red was added at a concentration of 1 μg/ml (1.27 μM).
The results in Table 5 show a major reduction in the percentage of cells staining positively with the dye, indicative of reduced levels of cytoplasmic Ca 2+ . Thus, Ruthenium Red prevents the rise in intracellular Ca 2+ in response to T cell activation.
TABLE 5______________________________________Calcium influx into activatedhuman T cells is diminished by Ruthenium Red % Fluorescent Ruthenium Red cells______________________________________Blank - 1.3Calcium ionophore - 84.6Activation (anti-CD2) - 47.0Activation (anti-CD2) + 17.2______________________________________
EXAMPLE 5--ASSAY OF THE ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO CYTOCHROME C IN MICE
Because the in vitro data appeared very promising, Ruthenium Red was tested for in vivo immunosuppressive properties. B10.A mice were treated with Ruthenium Red (dissolved in water) by intraperitoneal injection (4 mg/kg) daily for two days prior to immunization with cytochrome c (50 μg per mouse in complete Freund's adjuvant), and were treated for an additional 12 days after challenge with antigen. On day 23 after immunization, the animals were bled and sera were evaluated for specific antibodies to cytochrome c in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data are presented in FIG. 1. The absorbance values obtained in the ELISA have been plotted against the dilution of serum containing specific antibodies. The upper plot represents antibody levels in the group treated with water, whereas the lower plot depicts the ELISA values for the Ruthenium Red treated mice. Overall, treatment of mice with Ruthenium Red led to a 70% reduction in antibody levels when compared to the control mice who received water.
To extend these findings, the experiments were repeated with larger groups of mice and, in addition, the in vitro proliferative response of T cells to the immunizing antigen was evaluated. For these studies, B10.A mice were treated with Ruthenium Red as before and immunized with cytochrome c. On day 7 after challenge with antigen, draining lymph nodes were removed and single cell suspensions of lymphocytes were prepared. The lymphocytes were counted to estimate overall yields and were cultured in vitro with antigen (100 μg/ml) for three days prior to addition of tritiated thymidine to quantitate proliferation. The results are shown in Table 6.
TABLE 6______________________________________In vivo effects of Ruthenium Redon T cell responses of BIO.A mice Specific proliferationMouse # Ruthenium Red Cell Yield (cpm)______________________________________ 1 - 19 × 106 21,902 2 - 6.7 × 10.sup.6 66,320 3 - 7 × 10.sup.6 19,48414 + 0.26 × 10.sup.6 *16 + 0.81 × 10.sup.6 *17 + 16 × 10.sup.6 22,236______________________________________ * Insufficient cells to determine specific proliferation.
Mice treated with water exhibited normal enlargement of lymph nodes and on average yielded about 11×10 6 cells per mouse. In all cases, there was a good proliferative response to cytochrome c. In contrast, two of the three mice treated with Ruthenium Red showed no enlargement of lymph nodes following immunization and the total cell yields were 1/20th that observed in the controls. There were too few cells to assess T cell proliferation in vitro as indicated by the asterisk. The third mouse responded normally to cytochrome c.
The remaining mice in this study continued on their assigned treatment and were bled on day 23, as in the original pilot study, and sera were tested for specific antibodies in the ELISA. The data has been expressed as the mean of the endpoint dilution. The data have been summarized in Table 7.
TABLE 7______________________________________Ruthenium Red suppressesin vivo production of specific antibodyGroup High Responders 1/Mean Titer______________________________________Control 8/9 40,106 ± 11,384Ruthenium Red 2/6 18,613 ± 13,020______________________________________
Mice were considered high responders if their antibody titer against cytochrome c was greater than 1:5,120.
The control mice produced high levels of antibody to cytochrome c; 8 of 9 had a titer greater than 1:5000. On the other hand, the mice treated with Ruthenium Red gave an inferior response; only 2 of the 6 mice had titers greater than 1:5000. These findings are in keeping with both the original pilot study and the in vitro proliferative data that suggested that two thirds of the mice show a greatly reduced response to antigen upon treatment with Ruthenium Red. Thus, the in vitro data demonstrating the immunosuppressive properties of Ruthenium Red have been confirmed by these in vivo studies.
EXAMPLE 6--CONTACT HYPERSENSITIVITY ASSAY
The ability of Ruthenium Red to inhibit contact dermatitis when applied topically to mice was determined by exposing mice to a known toxic irritant. C57B1/6mice were sensitized by painting a 5% solution of trinitrochlorobenzene (TNCB) on the shaved dorsum. Seven days later, mice were challenged by applying a 1% solution of TNCB to the ears. A localized immune hypersensitivity developed beneath the skin, giving rise to edema and erythema at the site of exposure. The immunological response was predominantly due to T lymphocytes. The treated mice then received topical administration of Ruthenium Red in petrolatum (at a 0.5, 1 or 2% final concentration) 1 hours and 12 hours later. After 24 hours, ear thickness was measured using a spring loaded engineer's micrometer. For comparison, control mice were given vehicle alone at the same two time points. The data have been expressed as the size (in microns) of the ear and represent the averages of 5 mice per group. It is clear from FIG. 2 that pronounced swelling of the ear occurs only after pre-sensitization by hapten; more importantly, Ruthenium Red treatment produces a dose-dependent reduction in that swelling. The edema is a consequence of a hypersensitivity reaction mediated by T lymphocytes. Therefore, Ruthenium Red must be preventing this local inflammatory response. Because the Ruthenium Red was applied topically, the data also indicate transdermal absorption of the material which is a critical requirement for therapy of psoriasis by topical application of compound.
EXAMPLE 7--HUMAN EPIDERMAL PENETRATION ASSAY
The ability of Ruthenium Red to be absorbed transdermally by human skin was investigated in vitro using a segment of explanted skin stretched across a tissue culture chamber so as to form a barrier between two compartments. Ruthenium Red in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) or hydrated petrolatum (HP) at a concentration of two per cent (w/v) was applied to the epidermal surface exposed in one compartment, and transport across the skin was measured using spectroscopy to determine the amount of the compound arriving in the second compartment after regular time intervals. As shown in FIG. 3, when applied in hydrated petrolatum, sufficient Ruthenium Red had crossed the skin sample by 5-7 hours to achieve a concentration of approximately 4 micro-molar in the second compartment. This concentration is greater than that required to inhibit the antigen-specific proliferation of human T cell in vitro (see Table 2), and the data therefore suggest that human skin is sufficiently permeable to allow Ruthenium Red to achieve an active concentration at the potential site of the inflammatory immune reactions involved in psoriasis and contact dermatitis.
EXAMPLE 8--INHIBITION OF KERATINOCYTE PROLIFERATION
The effects of Ruthenium Red on the proliferation of a murine transformed keratinocyte cell line, PAM212, was measured. The cells were added to 96 well flat-bottom plates in RPMI medium (100 μl) containing 5% fetal bovine serum, non-essential amino acids, L-glutamine, sodium pyruvate and HEPES, at a concentration of 2×10 5 cells per well. Next, 100 μl of either medium alone or medium containing various dilutions of Ruthenium Red were added to the cells. After 72 hours, proliferation was assessed by measuring 3 H-thymidine incorporation into the cells. The results of these studies are depicted in FIG. 4. The addition of Ruthenium Red to the cultures is accompanied by a marked reduction in the growth of the PAM 212 line. In two repetitions of the experiment, there appears to be a biphasic effect whose exact meaning is unclear at this time. Nevertheless, even at concentrations of compound as low as 50 ng/ml there is significant inhibition of keratinocyte proliferation.
EXAMPLE 9--PREVENTION OF THE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE OF INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETES MELLITUS
Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) otherwise known as juvenile onset diabetes is thought to result from the immunologically specific destruction of the insulin producing pancreatic islet cell by auto-immune T cells. Knowledge of the disease derives to a large extent from the study of the non-obese diabetic NOD inbred mouse that is genetically predisposed to developing IDDM at approximately 30 weeks of age in 70-90 per cent of females and 30-50 percent of males. Female (NOD) mice were treated with water or Ruthenium Red dissolved in water by intraperitoneal injection (4 mg/kg) every other day for three weeks starting at 6 weeks of age, and for a further three weeks starting at 15 weeks of age. Data in Table 8 indicate that the treatment with Ruthenium Red suppressed the onset of IDDM compared with treatment with water alone. Mice were observed up to approximately 32 weeks of age. Diabetic mice were initially identified by elevated glucose levels in the urine, and the presence of disease confirmed by the measurement of blood glucose levels using standard procedures known in the art. Blood glucose values of greater than 10 mM indicated diabetes.
TABLE 8______________________________________Evaluation of Ruthenium Redin the Prevention of diabetes in NOD mice Mice with diabetesTreatment by 32 weeks of age______________________________________Water 3/6Ruthenium Red 0/4______________________________________
EQUIVALENTS
Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain, using no more than routine experimentation many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims:
|
This invention relates to the use of Ruthenium Red as an immunosuppressive agent to prevent or significantly reduce graft rejection in organ and bone marrow transplantation. Ruthenium Red can also be used as an immunosuppressant drug for T lymphocyte mediated autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes. Furthermore, Ruthenium Red may be useful in alleviating psoriasis and contact dermatitis.
| 0
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/892,575, filed on Oct. 18, 2013 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates a lifting link mechanism.
[0004] 2. Background Art
[0005] Conventionally, the tractor having a mower deck is known. Such a tractor has a lifting linkage and vertically movably mower deck. Usual lifting linkages have been designed to suspend the mower deck with the rear link and the front link (for example, see JP 2006-149335 A).
[0006] By the way, the front and the rear link are pivotally connected to the bracket of the mower deck. To be more specific, the front link is connected rotatably around the pin by a pin inserted into the shaft holes in the condition matching the shaft hole of the bracket and the shaft hole of the front link. Similarly, the rear link is connected rotatably around the pin by a pin inserted into the shaft holes in the condition matching the shaft hole of the bracket and the shaft hole of the rear link. Therefore, the lifting linkage has a problem that it is impossible to insert the pin when the shaft holes to be matched are not matched even slightly. That is, such a lift linkage has a problem that mounting operation of the mower deck is difficult.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Embodiments disclosed herein aim at providing a lift linkage with easy mounting operation.
[0008] In one embodiment, a lifting link mechanism liftable a mower deck is disclosed, comprising: a front bracket attached to a front portion of the mower deck, a front link coupled to the front bracket, a rear bracket attached to a rear portion of the mower deck, and a rear link coupled to the rear bracket, wherein a protrusion formed in the rear link is fit into a notch portion of the rear bracket and at least the rear link is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion.
[0009] In one embodiment, the protrusion is in parallel with the left and right direction, the notch portion is formed to be parallel or approximately parallel with the front and rear direction, and the rear link is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion.
[0010] In one embodiment, the rear link is a plate member has the protrusions formed on each of the left and right surfaces, the rear bracket is composed with two plate members which is formed the notch portion and is arranged in parallel with one another, and the rear link is inserted between the two plate members of the rear bracket with the left and the right protrusions fit along the left and the right notches and is coupled in a rotatable manner about the e protrusion.
[0011] In one embodiment, the lifting link mechanism further comprises: a front wheel bracket attached to the front portion of the mower deck, and a rear wheel bracket attached to the rear portion of the mower deck, wherein the front and the rear wheel brackets are integrated by rib disposed on the upper side of the mower deck.
Advantageous Effects
[0012] In one embodiment, the protrusion formed in the rear link is fit into the notch portion of the rear bracket and at least the rear link is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion. Thus process inserting the pin with the state matching the holes is omitted.
[0013] In one embodiment, the rear link is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion along with the notch portion. Thus the mower mounting operation is easy because the rear link and the rear bracket are coupled suitably by moving the mower deck in front-back direction.
[0014] In one embodiment, the rear link is inserted between the two plate members of the rear bracket with the left and the right protrusions fit along the left and the right notches and is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion. Thus the mower mounting operation is easier because the mower deck is mounted suitably without being off to the left and right.
[0015] In one embodiment, the front and the rear wheel brackets are integrated by rib disposed on the upper side of the mower deck. Thus operation for the assembling the mower deck is easy.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES
[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a tractor.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mower deck and a lifting link mechanism of the same.
[0018] FIG. 3 is a view in a direction of an arrow Fa shown in FIG. 2 .
[0019] FIG. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing operation modes of the lifting link.
[0020] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a region R shown in FIG. 2 .
[0021] FIG. 6 is a view in a direction of an arrow Fb shown in FIG. 5 .
[0022] FIG. 7 is a view in a direction of an arrow Fc shown in FIG. 5 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] First, a tractor 100 is briefly described.
[0024] FIG. 1 shows the tractor 100 . In the figure, the front and rear direction and the upper and lower direction of the tractor 100 are indicated.
[0025] The tractor 100 mainly includes a frame 1 , an engine 2 , a transmission 3 , a front axle 4 , and a rear axle 5 . The tractor 100 further includes a mower deck 6 .
[0026] The frame 1 serves as the main structure for the tractor 100 . The engine 2 and the like described below are attached to the frame 1 .
[0027] The engine 2 converts energy obtained by burning a fuel into rotational movement. When an operator operates an acceleration lever, the engine 2 changes the driving state in accordance with the operation. The engine 2 maintains the rotational speed at constant level even when the load changes.
[0028] The transmission 3 switches between forward and backward movement of the tractor 100 and shifts the speed of the tractor 100 . When the operator operates a shift lever, the operation state of the transmission 3 changes in accordance with the operation. The transmission 3 includes a hydromechanical continuously variable transmission (HMT or I-HMT) as a transmission device.
[0029] The front axle 4 transmits the rotational energy from the engine 2 to front tires 41 . The rotational energy from the engine 2 is input to the front axle 4 through the transmission 3 . The front axle 4 is disposed next to a steering device. When the operator operates a handle, the steering device changes a steering angle of the front tires 41 in accordance with the operation.
[0030] The rear axle 5 transmits the rotational energy from the engine 2 to rear tires 51 . The rotational energy from the engine 2 is input to the rear axle 5 through the transmission 3 . The rear axle 5 is provided with a PTO output mechanism. The PTO output mechanism inputs the rotational energy to an implement, which is the mower deck 6 in the tractor 100 .
[0031] The mower deck 6 rotates a blade to perform lawn mowing and the like. The rotational energy from the engine 2 is input to the mower deck 6 through the PTO output mechanism. The mower deck 6 is suspended by a lifting link mechanism 7 . When the operator operates a lever 61 , the lifting link mechanism 7 raises and lowers the mower deck 6 in accordance with the operation.
[0032] Next, the lifting link mechanism 7 is described in detail.
[0033] FIG. 2 shows the mower deck 6 and the lifting link mechanism 7 of the same. FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of an arrow Fa shown in FIG. 2 . In the figure, the front and rear direction, the left and right direction, and the upper and lower direction of the tractor 100 are indicated.
[0034] The lifting link mechanism 7 mainly includes a front bracket 71 , front links 72 , rear brackets 73 , and rear links 74 . The lifting link mechanism 7 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes control links 75 , control arms 76 , and a control rod 77 . The components are described in detail below.
[0035] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes a single front bracket 71 mainly including two plate members 71 P. One plate member 71 P is arranged in parallel with the other plate member 71 P and has a rear end portion welded on a front portion of the mower deck 6 . Thus, the front bracket 71 is attached on the front portion of the mower deck 6 . The two plate members 71 P forming the front bracket 71 have a shaft hole at the same position. A pin P 1 is inserted in the shaft hole.
[0036] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes two front links 72 . Each front link 72 mainly includes a single rod member 72 R. One rod member 72 R is arranged in parallel with the other rod member 72 R, and has one end portion coupled to the plate member 71 P. Thus, the front link 72 is coupled to the front bracket 71 . Specifically, the front link 72 is coupled to the front bracket 71 , while being rotatable about the pin P 1 , with a shaft hole formed in a clevis of the front link 72 overlapping the shaft hole of the front bracket 71 , and the pin P 1 being inserted in the shaft holes. The other end portion of the front link 72 is supported by a pin P 2 in a rotatable manner. The pin P 2 is inserted into a bracket attached to the frame 1 .
[0037] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes two rear brackets 73 each mainly including two plate members 73 P. One plate member 73 P is arranged in parallel with the other plate member 73 P, and has a front end portion welded to a rear portion of the mower deck 6 . Thus, the rear bracket 73 is attached to the rear portion of the mower deck 6 . The two plate members 73 P forming the rear bracket 73 have a notch 73 n at the same position (see FIGS. 5 , 6 , and 7 ). A protrusion 74 p formed in the rear link 74 is fit into the notch portion 73 n (see FIGS. 5 , 6 , and 7 ).
[0038] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes two rear links 74 each mainly including a single plate member 74 P. One plate member 74 P is arranged in parallel with the other plate member 74 P, and has one end coupled to the plate member 73 P. Thus, the rear link 74 is coupled to the rear bracket 73 . Specifically, the rear link 74 is coupled to the rear bracket 73 with the protrusion 74 p formed in the rear link 74 fit in the notch portion 73 n of the rear bracket 73 . Thus, the rear link 74 is rotatable about the protrusion 74 p (see FIGS. 5 , 6 , and 7 ). The rear link 74 has the other end supported by a pin P 3 in a rotatable manner. The pin P 3 is inserted into the bracket attached to the frame 1 .
[0039] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes two control links 75 . Each control link 75 mainly includes a single rod member 75 R. One rod member 75 R is arranged in parallel with the other rod member 75 R, and has one end portion coupled to the plate member 74 P. Thus, the control link 75 is coupled to the rear link 74 . Specifically, the control link 75 is supported to the rear link 74 , while being rotatable about a pin P 4 , with a shaft hole formed in a clevis of the control link 75 overlapping the shaft hole of the rear link 74 , and the pin P 4 being inserted in the shaft holes. The other end of the control link 75 is supported by a pin P 5 in a rotatable manner. The pin P 5 is inserted into the control arm 76 fixed on a center rod 76 S.
[0040] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes two control arms 76 each mainly including a single plate member 76 P. One plate member 76 P is arranged in parallel with the other plate member 76 P, and has one end portion coupled to the rod member 75 R. Thus, the control arm 76 is coupled to the control link 75 . Specifically, the control arm 76 is coupled to the control link 75 , while being rotatable about the pin P 5 , with a shaft hole thereof overlapping the shaft hole of the control link 75 , and the pin P 5 being inserted in the shaft holes. The other end of the control arm 76 is fixed to the center rod 76 S supported in a rotatable manner on the bracket attached to the frame 1 .
[0041] The lifting link mechanism 7 includes a single control rod 77 mainly including a single rod member 77 R. The rod member 77 R extends approximately in parallel with the front and rear direction, and has one end portion coupled to the center rod 76 S. Thus, the control rod 77 is coupled to the center rod 76 S (coupled to the control arm 76 through the center rod 76 S). Specifically, the control rod 77 is coupled to the center rod 76 S, while being rotatable about a pin P 6 , with a shaft hole formed in a clevis of the control rod 77 overlapping a shaft hole of the center rod 76 S, and the pin P 6 being inserted in the shaft holes. The other end of the control rod 77 is supported by a pin P 7 in a rotatable manner. The pin P 7 is inserted into a bracket supporting the lever 61 .
[0042] Specific operation modes of the lifting link mechanism 7 are described below in detail.
[0043] FIG. 4A shows a state where the mower deck 6 is lowered. FIG. 4B shows a state where the mower deck 6 is raised. Arrows in the figures indicate the operation directions of the components.
[0044] The operator performs an operation to lower the mower deck 6 before performing the lawn mowing and the like. The operation mode in a case where the mower deck 6 is lowered is described below by referring to FIG. 4A .
[0045] First, the operator pulls up the lever 61 . Thus, the control rod 77 is pushed forward and rotates the center rod 76 S. Thus, the control arm 76 fixed on the center rod 76 S is also rotated, so that the control link 75 is pushed down. Here, the control link 75 rotates the rear link 74 downward. Thus, the mower deck 6 is lowered to a predetermined position. The front link 72 is rotated downward by the rotation of the rear link 74 . Therefore, the mower deck 6 is lowered while being in parallel with the ground.
[0046] After performing the lawn mowing and the like, the operator performs an operation of raising the mower deck 6 . The operation mode in a case where the mower deck 6 is raised is descried below by referring to FIG. 4B .
[0047] First, the operator pushes down the lever 61 . Thus, the control rod 77 is pulled backward to rotate the center rod 76 S. Thus, the control arm 76 fixed to the center rod 76 S is also rotated, so that the control link 75 is pulled upward. Here, the control link 75 rotates the rear link 74 upward. Thus, the mower deck 6 is raised to a predetermined position. The front link 72 is rotated upward by the rotation of the rear link 74 . Thus, the mower deck 6 is raised while being in parallel with the ground.
[0048] Next, a feature of the lifting link mechanism 7 and its effect will be described.
[0049] The main feature of the lifting link mechanism 7 is that the protrusion 74 p is disposed on the rear link 74 , the notch 73 n is disposed on the rear bracket 73 , and the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 are coupled with one another through the protrusion 74 p and the notch 73 n (see FIGS. 5 , 6 , and 7 ). Specifically, the protrusion 74 p disposed on the rear link 74 is fit in the notch 73 n disposed on the rear bracket 73 to be engaged therewith, and the coupling is achieved.
[0050] In such a structure, the rear link 74 is coupled, while being rotatable about the protrusion 74 p, with the protrusion 74 p disposed on the rear link 74 fit in the notch 73 n of the rear bracket 73 . Thus, a step of inserting a pin in overlapping shaft holes is not required, whereby attachment of the mower deck 6 is facilitated.
[0051] As described above, in the lifting link mechanism 7 , the protrusion 74 p is disposed on the rear link 74 and the notch 73 n is disposed on the rear bracket 73 , and the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 are coupled with one another through the protrusion 74 p and the notch 73 n. Alternatively, a protrusion may be disposed on the front link 72 and a notch may be disposed on a front bracket 71 , and the front link 72 and the front bracket 71 may be coupled with one another through the protrusion and the notch.
[0052] Such a structure is described in detail below.
[0053] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a region R shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 6 is a view in a direction of an arrow Fb shown in FIG. 5 . FIG. 7 is a view taken in a direction of an arrow Fc shown in FIG. 5 . In the figures, the front and rear direction, the left and right direction, and the upper and lower direction of the tractor 100 are indicated.
[0054] In the lifting link mechanism 7 , the protrusion 74 p is formed to be parallel with the left and right direction. Specifically, the protrusion 74 p is a protruding portion formed on each of the left and right surfaces of the plate member 74 P. The protruding portion has the center axis L in parallel with the left and right direction. As described above, the single rear link 74 mainly includes the single plate member 74 P. Thus, the rear link 74 may be regarded as a single plate member 74 P having the protrusions 74 p respectively disposed on the left and the right surfaces.
[0055] The notch 73 n is formed to he parallel or approximately parallel with the front and rear direction. Specifically, the notch 73 n is a thin gap portion formed from the front edge of the plate member 73 P toward the rear. The longitudinal direction of the thin gap portion is parallel or approximately parallel with the front and rear direction. As described above, the single rear bracket 73 mainly includes the two plate members 73 P. The plate members 73 P are arranged in parallel with one another. Thus, the rear bracket 73 may be considered as having a configuration, in which the two plate members 73 P each provided with the notch 73 n are disposed in parallel with one another.
[0056] In such a structure, the rear link 74 has the protrusion 74 p fit along the notch 73 n (see arrow M in FIG. 7 ), and thus is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion 74 p. Thus, the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 are able to be appropriately coupled to one another by moving the mower deck 6 in the front and rear direction. Thus, the attachment of the mower deck 6 is even more facilitated.
[0057] Furthermore, the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 have the configurations described above, due to the following reason.
[0058] Specifically, the rear link 74 including the single plate member 74 P is inserted into the rear bracket 73 including the two plate members 73 P. Thus, the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 are coupled with one another in such a manner as not to be offset from one another in the left and right direction. Specifically, the plate member 74 P of the rear link 74 is guided by the plate member 73 P of the rear bracket 73 , and thus, the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 are coupled with one another in such a manner as not to be offset from one another in the left and right direction.
[0059] In such a structure, the rear link 74 is inserted between the two plate members 73 P of the rear bracket 73 with the left and the right protrusions 74 p fit along the left and the right notches 73 n. Thus, the rear link 74 is coupled while being rotatable about the protrusions 74 p. Thus, the rear link 74 and the rear bracket 73 are able to be appropriately coupled with one another without being offset in the left and right direction, by moving the mower deck 6 in the front and rear direction. Thus, the attachment of the mower deck 6 is even more facilitated.
[0060] As described above, in the lifting link mechanism 7 , when the rear link 74 is inserted between the two plate members 73 P of the rear bracket 73 , the left and the right protrusions 74 p are fit along the left and the right notches 73 n. The fitting of the protrusion 74 p is facilitated by chamfering the front edge of the notch 73 n (when the notch 73 n has a chamfered like shape) (see two-dot chain line G in FIG. 7 ).
[0061] Next, another feature of the lifting link mechanism 7 and its effect will be described.
[0062] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the lifting link mechanism 7 includes front wheel brackets 78 and rear wheel brackets 79 .
[0063] The front wheel bracket 78 is a structure that supports a front wheel 781 in a rotatable manner. A rear end of the front wheel bracket 78 is welded on a front portion of the mower deck 6 . Thus, the front wheel bracket 78 is attached to the front portion of the mower deck 6 . The front wheel bracket 78 is reinforced by a rib 62 extending on the upper side of the mower deck 6 in the front and rear direction.
[0064] The rear wheel bracket 79 is a structure that supports a rear wheel 791 in a rotatable manner. A front end portion of the rear wheel bracket 79 is welded on a rear portion of the mower deck 6 . Thus, the rear wheel bracket 79 is attached to the rear portion of the mower deck 6 . The rear wheel bracket 79 is reinforced by the rib 62 extending on the upper side of the mower deck 6 in the front and rear direction.
[0065] In the lifting link mechanism 7 , the rib 62 extends forward on the upper side of the mower deck 6 , and is welded on an upper portion of the front wheel bracket 78 . The rib 62 also extends backward on the upper side of the mower deck 6 , and is welded on an upper portion of the rear wheel bracket 79 . The front and rear ends of the rib 62 are respectively welded on the front wheel bracket 78 and the rear wheel bracket 79 .
[0066] In such a structure, the front and the rear wheel brackets 78 and 79 are coupled with one another through the rib 62 disposed on the upper side of the mower deck 6 . Thus, the front and the rear wheel brackets 78 and 79 are integrated, whereby the assembly of the mower deck 6 is facilitated.
|
For providing a lift linkage with easy mounting operation, this invention provides a lifting link mechanism which lifts a mower deck comprising: a front bracket attached to a front portion of the mower deck, a front link coupled to the front bracket, a rear bracket attached to a rear portion of the mower deck, and a rear link coupled to the rear bracket, wherein a protrusion formed in the rear link is fit into a notch portion of the roar bracket and at least the rear link is coupled in a rotatable manner about the protrusion.
| 0
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional flashlight shown in FIG. 10 comprises quite a large number of components, having a high cost and the drawbacks of the possibility of malfunction of a push button, a spring, etc., in addition to the impossibility to make lamps of different styles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been devised to offer a flashlight having fewer components than a conventional flashlight and having the versatility to enable construction of lamps of different styles.
One feature of this flashlight is a switch base having a push button protruding up through a push button hole in a tubular elongate body which contains the switch base and batteries.
Another feature is the tubular elongate body having projecting points in an inner surface to fit in an annular groove in an intermediate portion of the switch base. The switch base and the body can thus be assembled quickly and easily.
Another feature is the switch base consisting of two semi-circular bodies, and having a push button unit with two conductors, one on either side of the push button unit. One conductor extends backward to contact a conductive point of a battery, and the other conductor contacts a conductive point of a lamp urged by a spring.
Another feature is the provision of a plastic lamp base of a disk shape. The lamp base has a conductor in a groove in a front surface and a conductive tubular bar extending rearward for a plug-in lamp to be mounted on.
Another feature is a metal disk-shaped lamp base engaging a front end of the tubular body and having a female thread to engage a male threaded lamp.
One more feature is a straight diametric groove provided in the lamp base for a driver or a coin to fit into to facilitate turning the base.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a flashlight of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the flashlight of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tubular elongate body of the flashlight of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective of a switch base of the flashlight in the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the switch base and the head of the flashlight of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a plastic lamp base and a plug-in lamp of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a locating ring of the switch base and a fit-in lamp of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the plug-in lamp fixed in the switch base combined with the plastic lamp base of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the fit-in lamp fixed in the switch base combined with the plastic lamp base of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional flashlight.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A flashlight according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a tubular elongate body 1, a switch base 2, a metal lamp base 3,a plastic lamp base 4, a head 6, and a tail cap 8 as its main components.
The tubular elongate body 1, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, has a push button hole 11, and an inner straight groove extending from an outer end to the push button hole 11. A push button 51 fits into and moves along the groove so that the switch base 2 can be inserted into the body 1. The button 51 extends up through the hole 11 above the outer body surface and is coveredwith a button cap 10. A female thread in the inner surface of the outer endengages the metal lamp base 3 and the plastic lamp base 4.
The switch base 2, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, consists of an upper semi-circular half body and a lower semi-circular half body. The switch base an annular groove 28 in the intermediate section of both the upper and the lower half bodies. The upper body includes projections 231, 232 that mate with holes in the lower body so that the two bodies mesh to formthe switch base 2. The switch base 2 further includes a push button 51, a rotatable cylinder 52, a guide cylinder 53, and a spring 54 which fit intoa locating post 55 in a rear portion of the switch base 2. The switch base also includes an internal cavity 250 in a front portion 25 and a spring groove 24 in the intermediate potion in both half bodies for receiving a spring 27. A notch 241 above the spring groove 24 in the upper half body receives an L-shaped conductor 22. The bent contact portion 220 of the L-shaped conductor 22 inserts into the front portion of the switch base 2 in contact with the front end of the spring 27 so as to be urged against aconductive point 911 or 912 of a screw-in lamp 91 or fit-in lamp 92, or to be urged against a conductive bar 43 of the plastic lamp base 4 in the inner cavity 250 in the front portion 25. A metal locating ring 26 has a female thread 260 to engage a male thread 32 of the metal lamp base 3, enabling a male thread 912 of the screw-in lamp 91 to engage a female thread hole 31. When the metal locating ring 26 is combined with the fit-in lamp 92, the ring 26 together with the vase 3 pinch a round disc 922 of the lamp 92, assuring a good electrical contact.
The metal lamp base 3, as shown in FIGS. 1, 5 7 and 9, has a female thread hole 31 to engage the conductive male thread 912 of the lamp 91, a male thread 32 to engage the female thread 13 of the body 1, and a straight diametric groove 33 for a driver or a coin to fit into so that the lamp base 3 may be screwed into and out of the body 1.
The plastic lamp base 4, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, has a male thread 40, astraight diametric groove 41, a conductor 42 and a conductive tubular bar 43 extending rearward from a rear surface for receiving a plug-in lamp 93 having a long pole and a bent pole to fit into the bar 43 and the groove 41. The conductor 42 fits in the groove 41 and extends along the front surface of the base 4 to contact the rear surface of the metal lamp base 3, and the bar 43 passes through the locating ring 26 of the switch base 2without contact, and contacts closely the bent portion 220 of the L-shaped conductor 22 pushed by the spring 27.
The head 6 is cylindrical in shape and has an inner surface to receive a lens 62, a seal ring 61 and a light focusing cup 63 which fits around the lens 62. The head 6 is affixed to the front end of the body 1 with a female thread engaging a male thread on the body 1.
Batteries 7 are inserted in the body 1 behind the switch base 2, letting a conductive positive point 70 of the foremost battery contact a conductor 21 on a rear end of the switch base 2.
The tail cap 8 has a helical spring 81, and a male thread to engage a female thread of the body 1 to affix the cap 8 to the body 1.
Next, how electricity is transmitted in this flashlight is to be described.The bent portion 220 of the L-shaped conductor 22 of the switch base 2 contacts the conductive point 911 or 912 of the lamp 91 or 92 or pushes the conductive bar 43 of the plastic lamp base 4. The locating ring 26 of the switch base 2 engages the screw-in lamp 91 and pushes the flange 922 of the fit-in lamp 92. The plastic lamp base 4 has its conductive bar 43 passing through the locating ring 26 without contact with the ring 26, butcontacts the conductor 22 to conduct electricity.
In order to use lamps of different styles, the straight diametrical groove 33 or 41 of the metal lamp base 3 or the plastic lamp base 4 is useful forusing a screwdriver or a coin to screw the lamp base 3 or 4 in fixing a lamp.
|
A flashlight comprising a metal lamp base and a plastic lamp base threably combined with a front end of a tubular elongate body for mounting a lamp of different style, a switch base havint a push button to protrude up through a hole in the body to be deposited in the body and two conductors on both sides of the push button to turn on or off electricity coming from batteries deposited in the body behind the switch base.
| 5
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/820,659, filed Jun. 20, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/147,508, filed Jun. 8, 2005 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,271,111), both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic circuit element and, more particularly, to an electronic circuit element formed from layers of different segments deposited on a substrate by way of a shadow mask deposition process.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic circuits with repetitive patterns, such as memories and imaging or display devices are, widely used in LED industry. Presently, such circuits are formed by photolithographic processes.
A shadow mask deposition process is well-known and has been used for years in micro-electronics manufacturing. The shadow mask process is a significantly less costly and less complex manufacturing process compared to the photolithography process. Accordingly, it would be desirable to utilize the shadow mask deposition process to form electronic circuits.
One problem with the current shadow mask deposition process is the need to engineer, manufacture and inventory a large number of shadow masks, each of which typically has one or more apertures of a unique size and/or location in the shadow mask. Thus, for example, if a plurality of shadow mask deposition events is required to produce the electronic elements of an electronic circuit having a repetitive pattern, a plurality of different shadow masks is typically required, since each deposition event will typically entail the deposition of material of a unique size and/or a unique location on the substrate.
It would, therefore, be desirable, to overcome the above problem and others by providing shadow masks that have configurable opening sizes whereupon the need to engineer, manufacture and inventory a unique shadow mask for each deposition event is avoided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an electronic circuit with repetitive patterns formed by shadow mask vapor deposition. The electronic circuit includes a repetitive pattern of electronic circuit elements formed on a substrate. Each electronic circuit element includes a substrate; a first semiconductor segment deposited on a portion of the substrate; a second semiconductor segment deposited on a different portion of the substrate; a first metal segment deposited on the substrate over a portion of the first semiconductor segment; a second metal segment deposited on the substrate over a different portion of the first semiconductor segment spaced from the first metal segment; a third metal segment deposited on the substrate over a portion of the second semiconductor segment; a fourth metal segment deposited on the substrate over a different portion of the second semiconductor segment spaced from the third metal segment; a fifth metal segment deposited on the substrate over at least a portion of the fourth metal segment; a sixth metal segment deposited on the substrate over at least a portion of the first metal segment; a first insulator segment deposited on the substrate over the first semiconductor segment, at least a portion of the first metal segment and at least a portion of the second metal segment; a second insulator segment deposited on the substrate over at least a portion of the fifth metal segment; a third insulator segment deposited on the substrate over the second semiconductor segment and at least portions of the third metal segment, the fourth metal segment and the fifth metal segment; a seventh metal segment deposited on the substrate over at least a portion of the first insulator segment; an eighth metal segment deposited on the substrate over at least portions of the first insulator segment, the second insulator segment and the seventh metal segment; a ninth metal segment deposited on the substrate over at least portions the second metal segment and the third insulator segment; and a tenth metal segment deposited on the substrate over at least portions the third insulator segment and the ninth metal segment.
All of the above segments may be deposited via a shadow mask deposition process. One or more of the first and second semiconductor segments, the first, second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth metal segments and the first insulator segment may have an elongated shape, and one or more of the fourth, ninth and tenth metal segments and the second and third insulator segments may have a rectangular shape. One or more of the first and second semiconductor segments may be formed from a semiconductor material that is suitable for forming a thin-film transistor by vacuum evaporation such as, but not limited to, cadmium selenide (CdSe), cadmium sulfide (CdS) or tellurium (Te). One or more of the metal segments may be formed of any suitable electrically conductive material, such as, but not limited to, molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), gold (Au) or indium-tin oxide (ITO). One or more of the insulator segments may be formed of any suitable electrically nonconductive material, such as, but not limited to, aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) or silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ). The substrate may be formed of an electrically insulative material.
The combination of the second semiconductor segment, the third, fourth and tenth metal segments and the third insulator segment may form a first transistor. The combination of the first semiconductor segment, the first, second, seventh, and eighth metal segments and the first insulator segment may also form a second transistor. The electronic circuit element may be an element of an array of like electronic circuit elements.
The present invention is also an electronic circuit element of an electronic circuit comprising a first stack of materials, a second stack of materials operatively connected to the first stack and a third stack of materials operatively connected to the first stack and the second stack. The first stack of materials includes a first semiconductor material layer, a first conductive material layer overlaying a first part of the semiconductor material layer, a second conductive material layer overlaying a second part of the semiconductor material layer spaced from the first part thereof, an insulator material layer overlaying the first semiconductor material layer and the first and second conductive material layers, and a third conductive material layer overlaying at least a portion of the insulator material layer. The second stack of materials includes a first conductive material layer, an insulator material layer overlaying at least a portion of the first conductive material layer, and a second conductive material layer overlaying at least a portion of the insulator material layer and in contact with the third conductive material layer of the first stack of materials. The third stack of materials includes a second semiconductor material layer, a first conductive material layer overlaying a first part of the second semiconductor material layer, a second conductive material layer overlaying a second part of the second semiconductor material layer spaced from the first part thereof, an insulator material layer overlaying the second semiconductor material layer and the first and second conductive material layers in alignment with the second semiconductor material layer, a third conductive material layer overlaying the insulator material layer, and a fourth conductive material layer overlaying a portion of the third conductive material layer and a portion of the second conductive material of the first stack of materials.
Lastly, the present invention is a method of manufacturing an electronic circuit element, comprising providing a substrate; depositing a first semiconductor segment on a portion of the substrate; depositing a second semiconductor segment on a different portion of the substrate; depositing a first metal segment on the substrate in contact with a portion of the first semiconductor segment; depositing a second metal segment on the substrate in contact with another portion of the first semiconductor segment spaced from the first metal segment; depositing a third metal segment on the substrate in contact with a portion of the second semiconductor segment; depositing a fourth metal segment on the substrate in contact with another portion of the second semiconductor segment spaced from the third metal segment; depositing a fifth metal segment on the substrate in contact with a portion of the fourth metal segment; depositing a sixth metal segment on the substrate in contact with a portion of the first metal segment; depositing a first insulator segment on the substrate over the first semiconductor segment, and portions of the first metal segment and the second metal segment in contact with the first semiconductor segment; depositing a second insulator on the substrate over a portion of the fifth metal segment spaced from the fourth metal segment; depositing a third insulator segment on the substrate over the second semiconductor segment and at least portions of the third metal segment, the fourth metal segment and the fifth metal segment; depositing a seventh metal segment on the substrate over at least a portion of at least one of the first insulator segment and the second insulator segment; depositing an eighth metal segment on the substrate over at least a portion of at least one of the first insulator segment and the second insulator segment and in contact with at least a portion of the seventh metal segment; depositing a ninth metal segment on the substrate over at least portions of the second metal segment and the third insulator segment; and depositing a tenth metal segment on the substrate over the third insulator segment and in contact with at least a portion of the ninth metal segment.
An insulating material may be deposited over the substrate such that only a portion of the third metal segment is exposed through an opening in said insulating material. An eleventh metal segment may be deposited over the insulating material and in contact with the third metal segment. A light emitting material may be deposited in contact with the eleventh metal segment.
Each segment may be deposited via a shadow mask deposition process. One or more of the semiconductor segments may be formed from cadmium selenide (CdSe), cadmium sulfide (CdS) or tellurium (Te). One or more of the metal segments may be formed from molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), gold (Au) or indium-tin oxide (ITO). One or more of the third insulator segments may be formed of one of aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) and silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ). The combination of the second semiconductor segment, the third, fourth and tenth metal segments and the third insulator segment may form a transistor. The combination of the first semiconductor segment, the first, second, seventh, and eighth metal segments and the first insulator segment may form another transistor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a diagrammatic illustration of a shadow mask deposition system for forming pixel structures of a high resolution active matrix backplane;
FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of a single deposition vacuum vessel of the shadow mask deposition system of FIG. 1A ;
FIG. 2 is a circuit schematic of a 3×3 array of sub-pixels of an active matrix backplane wherein a 2×2 array of said 3×3 array define a pixel of said active matrix backplane;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an exemplary physical layout of one of the sub-pixels of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 4 is a view of an exemplary physical layout of the sub-pixel structures that form the sub-pixels of FIG. 2 ;
FIG. 5A is a view of a portion of a compound shadow mask utilized in the shadow mask deposition system of FIG. 1A atop a substrate upon which is deposited a plurality of segments of the sub-pixel structures shown in FIG. 4 through openings in the compound shadow mask;
FIG. 5B is an exploded sectional view taken along lines VB-VB in FIG. 5A ;
FIG. 5C is an exploded sectional view taken along lines VC-VC in FIG. 5A ; and
FIGS. 6-19 are views of a sequence of openings in compound shadow masks of the shadow mask deposition system of FIG. 1A through which a plurality of materials is deposited to form the sub-pixel element shown adjacent each opening.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying figures where like reference numbers correspond to like elements.
With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B , a shadow mask deposition system 2 for forming an electronic device, such as, without limitation, a high resolution active matrix light emitting diode (LED) display, includes a plurality of serially arranged deposition vacuum vessels 4 (e.g., deposition vacuum vessels 4 a - 4 x ). The number and arrangement of deposition vacuum vessels 4 is dependent on the number of deposition events required for any given product to be formed therewith.
In use of shadow mask deposition system 2 , a flexible substrate 6 translates through the serially arranged deposition vacuum vessels 4 by means of a reel-to-reel mechanism that includes a dispensing reel 8 and a take-up reel 10 .
Each deposition vacuum vessel includes a deposition source 12 , a substrate support 14 , a mask alignment system 15 and a compound shadow mask 16 . For example, deposition vacuum vessel 4 a includes deposition source 12 a , substrate support 14 a , mask alignment system 15 a and compound shadow mask 16 a ; deposition vacuum vessel 4 b includes deposition source 12 b , substrate support 14 b , mask alignment system 15 b and compound shadow mask 16 b ; and so forth for any number of deposition vacuum vessels 4 .
Each deposition source 12 is charged with a desired material to be deposited onto substrate 6 through one or more openings in the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 which is held in intimate contact with the portion of substrate 6 in the corresponding deposition vacuum vessel 4 during a deposition event.
Each compound shadow mask 16 of shadow mask deposition system 2 includes one or more openings. The opening(s) in each compound shadow mask 16 corresponds to a desired pattern of material to be deposited on substrate 6 from a corresponding deposition source 12 in a corresponding deposition vacuum vessel 4 as substrate 6 translates through shadow mask deposition system 2 .
Each compound shadow mask 16 is formed of, for example, nickel, chromium, steel, copper, Kovar® or Invar®, and has a thickness desirably between 20 and 200 microns, and more desirably between 20 and 50 microns. Kovar® and Invar® can be obtained from, for example, ESPICorp Inc. of Ashland, Oreg. In the United States, Kovar® is a registered trademark, Registration No. 337,962, currently owned by CRS Holdings, Inc. of Wilmington, Del., and Invar® is a registered trademark, Registration No. 63,970, currently owned by Imphy S.A. Corporation of France.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that shadow mask deposition system 2 may include additional stages (not shown), such as an anneal stage, a test stage, one or more cleaning stages, a cut and mount stage, and the like, as are well-known. In addition, the number, purpose and arrangement of deposition vacuum vessels 4 can be modified by one of ordinary skill in the art as needed for depositing one or more materials required for a particular application. An exemplary shadow mask deposition system and method of use thereof is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/255,972, filed Sep. 26, 2002, and entitled “Active Matrix Backplane For Controlling Controlled Elements And Method Of Manufacture Thereof”, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Deposition vacuum vessels 4 can be utilized for depositing materials on substrate 6 to form one or more electronic elements of the electronic device on substrate 6 . Each electronic element may be, for example, a thin film transistor (TFT), a memory element, a capacitor etc., or, a combination of one or more of said elements to form a higher level electronic element, such as, without limitation, a sub-pixel or a pixel of the electronic device. In accordance with the present invention, a multi-layer circuit can be formed solely by successive depositions of materials on substrate 6 via successive deposition events in deposition vacuum vessels 4 .
Each deposition vacuum vessel 4 is connected to a source of vacuum (not shown) which is operative for establishing a suitable vacuum therein in order to enable a charge of the material disposed in the corresponding deposition source 12 to be deposited on substrate 6 in a manner known in the art, e.g., sputtering or vapor phase deposition, through the one or more openings in the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 .
Herein, substrate 6 is described as a continuous flexible sheet which is dispensed from dispensing reel 8 , which is disposed in a pre-load vacuum vessel, into the deposition vacuum vessels 4 . However, this is not to be construed as limiting the invention since shadow mask deposition system 2 can be configured to continuously process a plurality of standalone or individual substrates. Each deposition vacuum vessel 4 can include supports or guides that avoid the sagging of substrate 6 as it advances therethrough.
In operation of shadow mask deposition system 2 , the material disposed in each deposition source 12 is deposited on the portion of substrate 6 in the corresponding deposition vacuum vessel 4 through one or more openings in the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 in the presence of a suitable vacuum as said portion of substrate 6 is advanced through the deposition vacuum vessel 4 , whereupon plural, progressive patterns is formed on substrate 6 . More specifically, substrate 6 has plural portions, each of which is positioned for a predetermined time interval in each deposition vacuum vessel 4 . During this predetermined time interval, material is deposited from the corresponding deposition source 12 onto the portion of substrate 6 that is positioned in the corresponding deposition vacuum vessel 4 . After this predetermined time interval, substrate 6 is step advanced so that the portion of substrate 6 is advanced to the next vacuum vessel in series for additional processing, as applicable. This step advancement continues until each portion of substrate 6 has passed through all deposition vacuum vessels 4 . Thereafter, each portion of substrate 6 exiting the final deposition vacuum vessel 4 in the series is received on take-up reel 10 , which is positioned in a storage vacuum vessel (not shown). Alternatively, each portion of substrate 6 exiting shadow mask deposition system 2 is separated from the remainder of substrate 6 by a cutter (not shown).
With reference to FIG. 2 , an exemplary LED pixel 20 a that can be formed via shadow mask deposition system 2 comprises a 2×2 arrangement of sub-pixels 22 , e.g., sub-pixels 22 a - 22 d . Sub-pixels 22 a , 22 b , 22 c and 22 d can be a red sub-pixel, a first green sub-pixel, a second green sub-pixel and a blue sub-pixel, respectively. Alternatively, sub-pixels 22 a , 22 b , 22 c and 22 d can be a red sub-pixel, a first blue sub-pixel, a second blue sub-pixel and a green sub-pixel, respectively. Since LED pixel 20 a is representative of one of several of identical pixels arranged in any user defined array configuration for forming a complete active matrix LED device, the description of LED pixel 20 a , including the color of each sub-pixel 22 , is not to be construed as limiting the invention. In FIG. 2 , the sub-pixels of adjacent pixels 20 b , 20 c and 20 d are shown for illustration purposes.
Sub-pixels 22 a and 22 b are addressed via a pulse signal applied on a Row A bus and via voltage levels applied on a Column A bus and a Column B bus, respectively. Sub-pixels 22 c and 22 d are addressed via a pulse signal applied on a Row B bus and via voltage levels applied on the Column A and the Column B bus, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, each sub-pixel 22 includes cascade connected transistors 24 and 26 , such as, without limitation, thin film transistors (TFTs); an LED element 28 formed of light emitting material 30 sandwiched between two electrodes; and a capacitor 32 which serves as a voltage storage element. In an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment, transistors 24 and 26 , LED element 28 and capacitor 32 of each sub-pixel 22 are interconnected to each other in a manner illustrated in FIG. 2 . In addition, for each sub-pixel 22 , a control or gate terminal of transistor 24 is electrically connected to a suitable row bus, a node 34 formed by the connection of the drain terminal of transistor 26 to one terminal of capacitor 32 is connected to a power bus (Vcc), and the source terminal of transistor 24 is connected to a suitable column bus.
To activate each LED element 28 when a suitable voltage is applied to the corresponding power bus Vcc, the voltage applied to the corresponding column bus connected to the source terminal of transistor 24 is changed from a first voltage 40 to a second voltage 42 . During application of second voltage 42 , a pulse signal 44 is applied to the row bus connected to the gate terminal of transistor 24 . Pulse signal 44 causes transistors 24 and 26 to conduct, whereupon, subject to the voltage drop across transistor 26 , the voltage of power bus Vcc is applied to one terminal of LED element 28 . Since the other terminal of LED element 28 is connected to a different potential, e.g., ground potential, the application of the voltage applied to power bus Vcc to LED element 28 causes LED element 28 to illuminate. During application of pulse signal 44 , capacitor 32 charges to the difference between second voltage 42 and the voltage on power bus Vcc, minus any voltage drop across transistor 24 .
Upon termination of pulse signal 44 , capacitor 32 retains the voltage stored thereon and impresses this voltage on the gate terminal of transistor 26 , whereupon LED element 28 is held in an active, illuminating state in the absence of pulse signal 44 .
LED element 28 is turned off when pulse signal 44 is applied in the presence of first voltage 40 on the corresponding column bus. More specifically, applying pulse signal 44 to the gate terminal of transistor 24 when first voltage 40 is applied to the source terminal of transistor 24 causes transistor 24 to turn on, whereupon capacitor 32 discharges through transistor 24 thereby turning off transistor 26 and deactivating LED element 28 . Upon termination of pulse signal 44 , capacitor 34 is charged to approximately voltage 40 , whereupon transistor 26 is held in its off state and LED element 28 is held in its inactive state even after pulse signal 44 is terminated.
In a like manner, each LED element 28 of each sub-pixel 22 of each pixel 20 can be turned on and off in response to the application of a pulse signal 44 on an appropriate row bus when second voltage 42 and first voltage 40 , respectively, are applied to the appropriate column bus in the presence of a suitable voltage applied via the appropriate power bus Vcc.
With reference to FIG. 3 and with continuing reference to FIG. 2 , a sub-pixel structure 50 representative of the physical structure that forms each sub-pixel 22 of each pixel 20 includes, in desired order of deposition, elongated semiconductor segment 52 , elongated semiconductor segment 54 , elongated metal segment(s) 56 , elongated metal segment 58 , elongated metal segment 60 , rectangular metal segment 62 , elongated metal segment(s) 64 , elongated metal segment 66 , elongated insulator segment 68 , rectangular insulator segment 70 , rectangular insulator segment 72 , elongated metal segment(s) 74 , elongated metal segment 76 , rectangular metal segment 78 and rectangular metal segment 80 .
Each metal segment 56 - 66 and 74 - 80 can be formed of any suitable electrically conductive material that is depositable via a shadow mask deposition process, such as, without limitation, molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), gold (Au) or indium-tin oxide (ITO). Insulator segments 68 - 72 can be formed of any suitable electrically nonconductive material that is depositable via a shadow mask deposition process, such as, without limitation, aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) or silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ). Each semiconductor segment 52 and 54 can be formed of a semiconductor material that is depositable via a shadow mask deposition process and which is suitable for forming a thin-film transistor (TFT) by vacuum evaporation, such as, without limitation, cadmium selenide (CdSe), cadmium sulfide (CdS) or tellurium (Te).
In sub-pixel structure 50 , the stack comprised of metal segment 62 , insulator 72 and metal segment 80 forms capacitor 32 ; the combination of the segments forming capacitor 32 along with semiconductor segment 54 and metal segment 60 form transistor 26 (with metal segments 80 , 60 and 62 being the respective gate, source and drain of transistor 26 ); and the combination of semiconductor segment 52 , metal segments 56 and 58 , insulator segment 68 and metal segments 74 and 76 forming transistor 24 (with metal segments 56 and 58 being the source and drain of transistor 24 , and with metal segments 74 and 76 forming the gate of transistor 24 ).
Desirably, each sub-pixel 22 in FIG. 2 is realized by the same sub-pixel structure, such as sub-pixel structure 50 . However, this is not to be construed as limiting the invention since each sub-pixel 22 can be realized by any suitable sub-pixel structure. For purpose of describing the present invention, however, it will be assumed hereinafter that each sub-pixel 22 is realized by sub-pixel structure 50 .
In one exemplary, non-limiting, embodiment, substrate 6 is formed of an electrically insulative material, such as an insulative coated metal sheet; metal segments 60 , 62 and 80 are formed from Mo, Cu, Ni, Cr, Au or Al; insulator segments 68 - 72 are formed from Al 2 O 3 or SiO 2 ; metal segments 56 , 58 , 64 , 66 and 74 - 78 are formed from Mo, Cu, Ni, Cr, Au or Al and semiconductor segments 52 and 54 are formed from CdSe, CdS, Te or any other suitable semiconducting material that can be deposited via a shadow mask deposition process.
To complete formation of each functioning sub-pixel 22 , a suitable insulating material (not shown) is deposited atop of the sub-pixel structure 50 shown in FIG. 3 with an opening exposing all or a portion of metal segment 60 . Another metal segment 36 can then be deposited atop the thus deposited insulating material in contact with metal segment 60 via the opening in the insulating material. Thereafter, light emitting material 30 can be deposited atop the sub-pixel structure 50 in contact with metal segment 36 and a transparent metal segment 38 can be deposited atop light emitting material 30 , whereupon light emitting material 30 is sandwiched between metal segment 36 and transparent metal segment 38 . Desirably, each deposit of metal segment 36 , light emitting material 30 and transparent metal segment 38 is deposited atop of their corresponding sub-pixel 22 in isolation from adjacent deposits of metal segment 36 , light emitting material 30 and transparent metal segment 38 atop their corresponding sub-pixels 22 . Lastly, a layer or sheet of transparent metal (not shown) can be deposited atop of all of the metal layers 38 and the insulating material therebetween as a common electrode for all of the sub-pixels.
With reference to FIG. 4 and with continuing reference to FIGS. 1-3 , a physical implementation of an LED pixel structure corresponding to the circuit schematic of FIG. 2 is shown upon substrate 6 . In one exemplary embodiment, the overall dimensions of each pixel 20 are 126×126 microns and the overall dimensions of each sub-pixel 22 are 63×63 microns. The foregoing dimensions of each pixel 20 and each sub-pixel 22 a , however, are exemplary only and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.
An exemplary, non-limiting sequence of depositions through openings in compound shadow masks 16 of shadow mask deposition system 2 to form the sub-pixel structure 50 comprising each sub-pixel 22 will now be described.
With reference to FIGS. 5A-5C and with continuing reference to all previous figures, each compound shadow mask 16 includes a first shadow mask 90 having a plurality of first apertures 92 therethrough and a second shadow mask 94 having a plurality of second apertures 96 therethrough. The description of first and second shadow masks 90 and 94 having a plurality of first apertures 92 and a plurality of second apertures 96 therethrough, respectively, is not to be construed as limiting the invention since first shadow mask 90 may only include a single first aperture 92 and second shadow mask 94 may only include a single second aperture 96 therethrough if desired. For purpose of describing the present invention, it will be assumed that first shadow mask 90 has a plurality of first apertures 92 therethrough and second shadow mask 94 has a plurality of second apertures 96 therethrough.
Each deposition vacuum vessel 4 desirably includes an instance of the same compound shadow mask 16 . Thus, the compound shadow mask 16 b in deposition vacuum vessel 4 b is desirably the same as the compound shadow mask 16 a in deposition vacuum vessel 4 a ; the compound shadow mask 16 c in deposition vacuum vessel 4 c is desirably the same as the compound shadow mask 16 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 b ; and so forth. More specifically, the first shadow masks 90 forming compound shadow masks 16 are desirably identical, the second shadow masks 94 forming compound shadow masks 16 are desirably identical, and each shadow mask 90 is desirably identical to each shadow mask 94 . Thus, identical shadow masks 90 a and 94 a are desirably utilized to form compound shadow mask 16 a ; identical shadow masks 90 b and 94 b are desirably utilized to form compound shadow mask 16 b , and so forth.
In order to accomplish the desired deposition of materials to form the various segments of each sub-pixel structure 50 , the positions of first and second shadow masks 90 and 94 forming each compound shadow mask 16 are adjusted with respect to each other such that the respective first and second apertures 92 and 96 are positioned at least partially in alignment to define openings 98 of suitable dimensions or sizes and locations in compound shadow mask 16 for the deposition of material therethrough. Each compound shadow mask 16 can also be positioned within the corresponding deposition vacuum vessel 4 in a manner to position openings 98 to facilitate the deposition of the corresponding material at desired locations upon substrate 6 .
It has been observed that in order to deposit each segment 52 - 80 of each sub-pixel structure 50 utilizing identical compound shadow masks 16 formed from identical shadow masks 90 and 94 , that the height and width of each aperture 92 and 96 need be only slightly greater than one-half of the height and width of sub-pixel structure 50 . Thus, for example, if the overall dimensions of sub-pixel structure 50 are 63×63 microns, it is only necessary that the overall dimensions of each aperture 92 and 96 be slightly greater than one-half of the dimensions of sub-pixel structure 50 , e.g., 34×34 microns as shown in FIG. 5A .
Limiting the length and width of each aperture 92 and 96 to slightly more than one-half of the respective length and width of each sub-pixel structure 50 enables the shadow masks 90 and 94 comprising the compound shadow masks 16 of shadow mask deposition system 2 to deposit each segment 52 - 80 of each sub-pixel structure 50 while avoiding undesirable alignment of one or more instances of a single first apertures 92 with two or more second apertures 96 , or vice versa. More specifically, the actual length and width of each aperture 92 and 96 is selected as a compromise between avoiding undesirable overlap of one or more instances of a single first apertures 92 with two or more second apertures 96 , or vice versa, while, as shown best in FIG. 3 , enabling desirable overlapping of deposited segments, e.g., segment 66 overlapping segment(s) 56 ; segment 76 overlapping segment(s) 74 ; segment(s) 64 overlapping segment 66 , and so forth. In other words, limiting the length and width of each aperture 92 and 96 to slightly more than one-half of the length and width of the corresponding sub-pixel structure 50 enables the formation of a densely packed array of sub-pixel structures 50 by way of identical compound shadow masks 16 , each of which is formed from identical shadow masks 90 and 94 . An obvious benefit of utilizing identical shadow masks 90 and 94 to form each compound shadow mask 16 of shadow mask deposition system 2 is the avoidance of the time and cost associated with designing, fabricating and inventorying a unique shadow mask for each deposition vacuum vessel 4 . Another benefit is the interchangeability of shadow masks 90 and 94 to form each compound shadow mask 16 . This is especially beneficial when a new or clean shadow mask 90 or 94 is utilized to replace a worn-out or dirty (material encrusted) shadow mask.
FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate deposits of semiconductor segments 52 on a portion of substrate 6 via openings 98 a formed by the partial alignments of first apertures 92 a and second apertures 96 a of shadow masks 90 a and 94 a , respectively, forming compound shadow mask 16 a which is disposed in deposition vacuum vessel 4 a having deposition source 12 a for depositing the material forming semiconductor segments 52 on substrate 6 . In FIGS. 5B and 5C , substrate 6 , second shadow mask 94 a and first shadow mask 90 a are shown spaced from each other for illustration purposes. However, in practice, shadow mask 90 a is positioned in intimate contact with shadow mask 94 a which is positioned in intimate contact with substrate 6 during deposition of semiconductor segments 52 . Moreover, in FIGS. 5B and 5C , the height of deposition of semiconductor segments 52 is exaggerated for illustration purposes.
The positioning of the first and second shadow masks 90 and 94 of each compound shadow mask 16 of shadow mask deposition system 2 for depositing material segments 54 - 80 will now be further described with reference to the alignment of a single first aperture 92 and a single second aperture 96 of first and second shadow masks 90 and 94 , respectively, forming the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 . In FIGS. 6-19 , the alignment of the single first aperture 92 and the single second aperture 96 to form the opening 98 in the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 is shown adjacent an exemplary sub-pixel structure 50 for illustration purposes.
With reference to FIG. 6 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each semiconductor segment 52 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 a , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 b which includes compound shadow mask 16 b . The first and second shadow masks 90 b and 94 b of compound shadow mask 16 b are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 b and a single second aperture 96 b are aligned to form an opening 98 b of compound shadow mask 16 b for the deposition of semiconductor segment 54 with material from deposition source 12 b.
With reference to FIG. 7 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each semiconductor segment 54 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 b , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 c which includes compound shadow mask 16 c . The first and second shadow masks 90 c and 94 c of compound shadow mask 16 c are arranged such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 c and a single second aperture 96 c are aligned to form an opening 98 c of compound shadow mask 16 c for the deposition of metal segment 56 with material from deposition source 12 c.
With reference to FIG. 8 and with reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 56 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 c , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 d which includes compound shadow mask 16 d . The first and second shadow masks 90 d and 94 d of compound shadow mask 16 d are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 d and a single second aperture 96 d are aligned to form an opening 98 d of compound shadow mask 16 d for the deposition of metal segment 58 with material from deposition source 12 d.
With reference to FIG. 9 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 58 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 d , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 e which includes compound shadow mask 16 e . The first and second shadow masks 90 e and 94 e of compound shadow mask 16 e are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 e and a single second aperture 96 e are aligned to form an opening 98 e of compound shadow mask 16 c for the deposition of metal segment 60 with material from deposition source 12 e.
With reference to FIG. 10 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 60 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 e , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 f which includes compound shadow mask 16 f . The first and second shadow masks 90 f and 94 f of compound shadow mask 16 f are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 f and a single second aperture 96 f are aligned to form an opening 98 f of compound shadow mask 16 f for the deposition of metal segment 62 with material from deposition source 12 f.
With reference to FIG. 11 and continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 62 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 f , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 g which includes compound shadow mask 16 g . The first and second shadow masks 90 g and 94 g of compound shadow mask 16 g are positioned such that a single first aperture 92 g and a single second aperture 96 g are aligned to form an opening 98 g of compound shadow mask 16 g for the deposition of each metal segment 64 with material from deposition source 12 g.
With reference to FIG. 12 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 64 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 g , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 h which includes compound shadow mask 16 h . The first and second shadow masks 90 h and 94 h of compound shadow mask 16 h are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 h and a single second aperture 96 h are aligned to form an opening 98 h of compound shadow mask 16 h for the deposition of metal segment 66 with material from deposition source 12 h.
With reference to FIG. 13 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 66 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 h , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 i which includes compound shadow mask 16 i . The first and second shadow masks 90 i and 94 i of compound shadow mask 16 i are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 i and a single second aperture 96 i are aligned to form an opening 98 i of compound shadow mask 16 i for the deposition of insulator segment 68 with material from deposition source 12 i.
With reference to FIG. 14 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each insulator segment 68 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 i , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 j which includes compound shadow mask 16 j . The first and second shadow masks 90 j and 94 j of compound shadow mask 16 j are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 j and a single second aperture 96 j are aligned to form an opening 98 j of compound shadow mask 16 j for the deposition of insulator segment 70 with material from deposition source 12 j.
With reference to FIG. 15 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each insulator segment 70 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 j , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 k which includes compound shadow mask 16 k . The first and second shadow masks 90 k and 94 k of compound shadow mask 16 k are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel 50 , a single first aperture 92 k and a single second aperture 96 k are aligned to form an opening 98 k of compound shadow mask 16 k for the deposition of insulator segment 72 with material from deposition source 12 k.
With reference to FIG. 16 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each insulator segment 72 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 k , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 l which includes compound shadow mask 16 l . The first and second shadow masks 90 l and 94 l of compound shadow mask 16 l are positioned such that a single first aperture 92 l and a single second aperture 96 l are aligned to form an opening 98 l of compound shadow mask 16 l for the deposition of each metal segment 74 with material from deposition source 12 l.
With reference to FIG. 17 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 74 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 l , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 m which includes compound shadow mask 16 m . The first and second shadow masks 90 m and 94 m of compound shadow masks 16 m are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 m and a single second aperture 96 m are aligned to form an opening 98 m of compound shadow mask 16 m for the deposition of metal segment 76 with material from deposition source 12 m.
With reference to FIG. 18 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 76 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 m , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 n which includes compound shadow mask 16 n . The first and second shadow masks 90 n and 94 n of compound shadow mask 16 n are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 n and a single second aperture 96 n are aligned to form an opening 98 n of compound shadow mask 16 n for the deposition of metal segment 78 with material from deposition source 12 n.
Lastly, with reference to FIG. 19 and with continuing reference to all previous figures, following the deposition of each metal segment 78 on the portion of substrate 6 in deposition vacuum vessel 4 n , said portion of substrate 6 is advanced into deposition vacuum vessel 4 o which includes compound shadow mask 16 o . The first and second shadow masks 90 o and 94 o of compound shadow mask 16 o are positioned such that, for each sub-pixel structure 50 , a single first aperture 92 o and a single second aperture 96 o are aligned to form an opening 98 o of compound shadow mask 16 o for the deposition of metal segment 80 with material from deposition source 12 o.
The deposition of metal segment 80 on substrate 6 completes the formation of the electronic element defined by sub-pixel structure 50 . Desirably, all of the sub-pixel structures 50 are formed at the same time in the manner discussed above. Thereafter, if desired, additional segments or layers, described above, can be applied to substrate 6 in furtherance of the fabrication of an electronic device, such as an active matrix LED.
In the foregoing description, all of the shadow masks 90 are the same and all of the shadow masks 94 are the same. In addition, each shadow mask 90 is the same as each shadow mask 94 . Limiting the size of each aperture 92 and 96 to a length and width slightly greater than about one-half of the length and width, respectively, of the sub-pixel structure to be formed thereby enables alignment combinations of apertures 92 and 96 to be utilized to form tightly packed structures, such as an array of sub-pixel structures 50 , on substrate 6 while avoiding overlap of a single first aperture 92 with two or more second apertures 96 , or vice versa, during a deposition event. The use of a plurality of identical shadow masks 90 and 94 to form the compound shadow masks 16 of shadow mask deposition system 2 avoids the need to engineer, manufacture and inventory a large number of different shadow masks having openings of different dimensions (or sizes) and/or locations for use in shadow mask deposition system 2 .
Desirably, the mask alignment system 15 of each deposition vacuum vessel 4 is configured to enable the selective x and/or y alignment of one or both of each individual shadow mask 90 and 94 forming the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 from an exterior of the deposition vacuum vessel 4 whereupon the x and/or y dimension(s) of each opening 98 of the compound shadow mask 16 can be adjusted without breaking the vacuum of the deposition vacuum vessel 4 . Thus, if it is determined that one or more dimensions of material deposited through each opening 98 of a compound shadow mask 16 is out of tolerance, mask alignment system 15 can be utilized to adjust said one or more dimensions without breaking the vacuum of the deposition vacuum vessel 4 to bring subsequent depositions of material into tolerance. The capacity provided by each mask alignment system 15 to adjust one or more dimensions of each opening 98 of a compound shadow mask 16 is particularly useful in a continuous in-line shadow mask deposition system to compensate for the buildup of deposited material on or around each opening 98 during a continuous production process thereby avoiding the need to break the vacuum of the deposition vacuum vessel 4 to adjust the dimensions of each opening 98 in response to such buildup. Each mask alignment system 15 is also useful for establishing the dimensions of each opening 98 and the position thereof in the corresponding deposition vacuum vessel 4 prior to the production deposition of material as well as for correcting for any changes in the dimensions of each opening 98 bought about by means other than the buildup of deposited material, e.g., vibration.
In one non-limiting embodiment, mask alignment system 15 comprises micrometers for adjustment of the x and/or y position of each individual shadow mask 90 and 94 forming the corresponding compound shadow mask 16 . However, this is not to be construed as limiting the invention.
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. Obvious modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
|
An electronic circuit with repetitive patterns formed by shadow mask vapor deposition includes a repetitive pattern of electronic circuit elements formed on a substrate. Each electronic circuit element includes the following elements in the desired order of deposition: a first semiconductor segment, a second semiconductor segment, a first metal segment, a second metal segment, a third metal segment, a fourth metal segment, a fifth metal segment, a sixth metal segment, a first insulator segment, a second insulator segment, a third insulator segment, a seventh metal segment, an eighth metal segment, a ninth metal segment and a tenth metal segment. All of the above segments may be deposited via a shadow mask deposition process. The electronic circuit element may be an element of an array of like electronic circuit elements.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for verifying database security. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for automating security checks across multiple platforms and reporting security violations and resolutions to the violations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Database administrators are confronted with maintaining security of multiple databases located on multiple servers. Many times database administrators are responsible for multiple platforms that may have a slightly different method of checking database security.
One aspect of database security is verifying that user id access lists are up-to-date. Users are frequently reassigned to different projects and no longer have a “need to know” of information contained on a particular database. Database security checks should be consistently performed to ensure that outdated user id's are removed from the database access list. Database administrators also need to perform database security checks due to malicious clients attempting to add user id's to database access lists.
Database security verification is time consuming and prone with errors when database administrators perform security checks using manual methods. Scripts are sometimes developed to provide database administrators with automated database security check processes. However, scripts have typically not been secure, may not report security violations in an organized manner, and may not offer resolutions to detected security violations.
Database administrators need to check the security aspects of backup files. Users removed from active files also need to be removed from corresponding backup files. A challenge found with using scripts for security checking purposes is that scripts typically check the primary database but do not check directories containing backup databases or log files.
What is needed, therefore, is an automated method of checking server security across multiple platforms that recommends a solution for each violation.
SUMMARY
It has been discovered that database security reliability is increased by automating security-checking procedures that automatically generate an organized report that includes each discovered security violation and a remedy to fix the violation.
A database security system includes two function blocks, a DB2 Cops security check class and a common class library. As used herein, DB2™ is a database product developed and distributed by International Business Machines Corporation and “DB2” (used throughout this application) is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. The DB2 Cops security check class interfaces with servers to detect security violations or to retrieve access lists. The common class library includes necessary code libraries to assist in report generation upon completion of a process run.
The DB2 Cops security check class requests and retrieves information from a server corresponding to a user's message selection criterion. The DB2 Cops security check class may query a server to detect security violations or may request information to generate access list reports. The DB2 Cops security check class interfaces with the common class library to process violation reports, message reports, and error reports. Errors are reported during processing when the database administrator specifies an invalid instance name, a database name, or if the database administrator does not have database access authority. In addition, violation reports, message reports, and error reports may be displayed on a users computer monitor.
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, inventive features, and advantages of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features, and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.
FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram showing DB2 Cops verifying database security in a server;
FIG. 2 is a message selection window showing different user message selections;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's that are removed from an operating system that continue to have database access privileges;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's that have access to directories in which they are not permitted access;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's that have access to backup files in which they are not permitted access;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's which match message selection criteria; and
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an information handling system capable of implementing the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following is intended to provide a detailed description of an example of the invention and should not be taken to be limiting of the invention itself. Rather, any number of variations may fall within the scope of the invention which is defined in the claims following the description.
FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram showing DB2 Cops verifying database security in a server. DB2 Cops 100 includes two function blocks, DB2 Cops security check class 110 and common class library 120 . DB2 Cops security check class 110 interfaces with servers to detect security violations or to retrieve access lists. Common class library 120 includes code libraries to assist in report generation upon completion of a process run. Shell script 130 may be used to execute a process run. For example, an administrator may use shell script 130 to check the security of a particular database on a periodic basis, such as daily. Configuration file 130 is used by common class library 120 to assist in feature executions.
DB2 Cops security check class 110 requests and retrieves information from server 180 corresponding to administrators' message selection criteria. DB2 Cops security check class 110 may query server 180 to detect security violations or may request information to generate an access list report. DB2 Cops security check class 110 interfaces with common class library 120 to process reports and store the reports in report file 160 . Report file 160 may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. DB2 Cops security check class 110 also interfaces with common class library 120 to process error reports that are stored in error file 170 . Error file 170 may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. Errors may occur during processing when an invalid instance name or database name is specified. Errors may also occur when a database connection fails or if the administrator does not have database authority. In addition to report generations stored in report file 160 or error file 170 , message reports and error reports may be displayed on display 150 .
FIG. 2 is a message selection window showing different user message selection options. Message selection window 200 includes two message areas, violation messages area 210 and information messages area 250 .
Violation messages area 210 include message selections that report security violations. Check box 220 is selected if an administrator wants a report that includes user id's that are removed from an operating system but continue to have database access privileges (see FIG. 3 for further details). Check box 230 is selected if an administrator wants a report that includes user id's that have access to directories in which they are not permitted access (see FIG. 4 for further details). Check box 240 is selected if an administrator wants a report that includes user id's that have access to backup files in which they are not permitted access (see FIG. 5 for further details).
Information messages area 250 include message selections that report user lists and group lists (see FIG. 6 for further details). Check box 260 is selected if the administrator wants a report that includes a list of users and groups with DB privileges for a specified instance or database. Check box 270 is selected if the administrator wants a report that includes a list of users and groups with DB2 privileges for a specified instance or database. Check box 280 is selected if the administrator wants a report that includes a list of users and groups that have table and package privileges for a specified instance or database. Check box 290 is selected if the administrator wants a report that includes a list of group members for a specified instance or database. Check box 295 is selected if the administrator wants a report that includes a list of database object ownership for a specified instance or database.
Each check box is independent of one another. A report is generated with the messages corresponding to the administrator's message selections.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's that are removed from an operating system's login directory that continue to have database access privileges. Processing commences at 300 , whereupon option information is received from administrator 310 (step 305 ). For example, option information may include the name of the instance and database in which to check security. To specify a database, the instance and database option may be specified prior to processing. To specify an entire instance, the instance option may be specified without specifying each database.
A first database is selected at step 315 . A request for authorized database user id's of database 325 is initiated at step 320 . Database 325 may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. A list of users with access to the selected database (DB user id's) is retrieved at step 330 . A list of authorized user id's in operating system store 340 is retrieved at step 335 .
A first DB user id with access to database 325 is selected at step 345 . Processing checks if the DB user id is included in the operating system (OS) user id list at step 350 . A determination is made as to whether the DB user id is in the OS user id list (decision 355 ).
If the DB user id is not in the OS user id list, the DB user id is in violation of DB security and decision 355 branches to “No” branch 357 whereupon the DB user id is stored in non-OS user id store 365 (step 360 ). Non-OS user id store may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. On the other hand, if the DB user id is included in the OS user id list, decision 355 branches to “Yes” branch 359 , bypassing the user id storage step.
A determination is made as to whether there are more DB user id's to process in the selected database (decision 370 ). If there are more DB user id's to process in the selected database, decision 370 branches to “Yes” branch 372 which loops back to select the next DB user id (step 375 ) and process the next DB user id. This looping continues until there are no more DB user id's to process from the selected database, at which point decision 370 branches to “No” branch 374 whereupon a decision is made as to whether there are more databases to process (decision 380 ).
If there are more databases to process, decision 380 branches to “Yes” branch 382 which loops back to select the next database (step 385 ) and process the next database. This looping continues until there no more databases to process, at which point decision 380 branches to “No” branch 384 .
Report 395 is generated at step 390 which includes user id's with security violations stored in non-OS user id store 365 and a remedy (i.e. remove the user id's from the corresponding database) to correct each security violation. Processing ends at 399 .
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's that have access to directories in which they are not permitted access. Processing commences at 400 , whereupon option information is received from administrator 408 (step 405 ). For example, option information may include the name of the instance and database in which to check security. To specify a database, the instance and database option may be specified prior to processing. To specify an entire instance, the instance option may be specified without specifying each database.
Instance 412 is located at step 410 which corresponds to option information received from administrator 408 . Database 418 is located at step 415 which corresponds to option information received from administrator 408 and is included in instance 412 . The DB instance owner (DBIO) and SYSADM group are retrieved which corresponds to database 418 (step 420 ). The first directory in database 418 is selected at step 425 , and the first user id with access to the corresponding directory is retrieved (step 430 ).
Processing checks if the user id is the DBIO or in the SYSADM group at step 435 . A determination is made as to whether the user id is the DBIO or in the SYSADM group (decision 440 ).
If the user id is not the DBIO or in the SYSADM group, decision 440 branches to “No” branch 442 whereupon the user id is stored in non-list user id store 450 (step 445 ) signifying that the user id should not have access to the directory. Non-list user id store may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. On the other hand, if the user id is the DBIO or in the SYSADM group, decision 440 branches to “Yes” branch 444 , bypassing the user id storage step.
A determination is made as to whether there are more user id's with access to the selected directory (decision 455 ). If there are more user id's with access to the selected directory, decision 455 branches to “Yes” branch 457 which loops back to select (step 460 ) and process the next user id. This looping continues until there are no more user id's to process, at which point decision 455 branches to “No” branch 459 whereupon a decision is made as to whether there are more directories to process in the selected database (decision 465 ).
If there are more directories to process in the selected database, decision 465 branches to “Yes” branch 467 which loops back to select (step 470 ) and processes the next directory. This looping continues until there no more directories to process in the selected database, at which point decision 465 branches to “No” branch 469 .
A determination is made as to whether there are more databases to process in the selected instance (decision 475 ). If there are more databases to process, decision 475 branches to “Yes” branch 477 which loops back to select (step 480 ) and process the next database. This looping continues until there are no more databases to process in the selected instance, at which point decision 475 branches to “No” branch 479 .
Report 490 is generated at step 485 which includes user id's with security violations stored in non-list user id store 450 and a remedy (i.e. remove the user id's from the corresponding DB directory access list) to correct each security violation. Processing ends at 495 .
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's that have access to backup files in which they are not permitted access. Processing commences at 500 , whereupon option information is received from administrator 508 (step 505 ). For example, option information may include the name of the instance and database in which to check security. To specify a database, the instance and database option may be specified prior to processing. To specify an entire instance, the instance option may be specified without specifying each database.
Instance 512 is located at step 510 which corresponds to option information received from administrator 508 . Backup database 518 is located at step 515 which corresponds to option information received from administrator 508 and is included in instance 512 . The DB instance owner (DBIO) and SYSMAINT group are retrieved which corresponds to the first database (step 520 ). The first directory in backup database 518 is selected at step 525 , and the first user id with access to the corresponding directory is retrieved (step 530 ).
Processing checks if the user id is the DBIO or in the SYSMAINT group at step 535 . A determination is made as to whether the user id is the DBIO or in the SYSMAINT group (decision 540 ).
If the user id is not the DBIO or in the SYSMAINT group, decision 540 branches to “No” branch 542 whereupon the user id is stored in non-list user id store 550 (step 545 ) indicating that the user should not have access to the directory within the backup database. Non-list user id store may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. On the other hand, if the user id is the DBIO or in the SYSMAINT group, decision 540 branches to “Yes” branch 544 , bypassing the user id storage step.
A determination is made as to whether there are more user id's with access to the selected directory (decision 555 ). If there are more user id's with access to the selected directory, decision 555 branches to “Yes” branch 557 which loops back to select (step 560 ) and process the next user id. This looping continues until there are no more user id's to process in the selected directory, at which point decision 555 branches to “No” branch 559 whereupon a decision is made as to whether there are more directories to process in the selected backup database (decision 565 ).
If there are more directories to process in the selected backup database, decision 565 branches to “Yes” branch 567 which loops back to select (step 570 ) and processes the next directory. This looping continues until there no more directories to process in the selected backup database, at which point decision 565 branches to “No” branch 569 .
A determination is made as to whether there are more backup databases to process in the selected instance (decision 575 ). If there are more backup databases to process in the selected instance, decision 575 branches to “Yes” branch 577 which loops back to select (step 580 ) and process the next backup database. This looping continues until there are no more backup databases to process in the selected instance, at which point decision 575 branches to “No” branch 579 .
Report 590 is generated at step 585 which includes user id's with security violations stored in non-list user id store 550 and a remedy to correct each security violation (i.e. remove user id's from the database directory access). Processing ends at 595 .
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a report generation of user id's which match information message selection criteria. Information message processing commences at 600 , whereupon option information is retrieved from administrator 615 (step 610 ). For example, option information may include the selection of information message types to include in the report from specified databases or instances.
A first database is selected at step 625 . Access information is requested from database 625 at step 630 . For example, access information may include a list of users and groups with corresponding database privileges; a list of users and groups with corresponding DB2 privileges; a list of users and groups with corresponding table and package privileges; a list of group members for the corresponding database; and a list of database object ownership for the corresponding database.
Access information corresponding to the request is received at step 640 , and stored in information store 655 (step 650 ). Information store 655 may be stored in a non-volatile storage area, such as a computer hard drive. A determination is made as to whether there are more databases from which to request information (decision 660 ). If there are more databases to process, decision 660 branches to “Yes” branch 662 which loops back to select (step 670 ) and process the next database. This looping continues until there are no more databases to process, at which point decision 660 branches to “No” branch 668 .
Report 685 is generated at step 680 which includes user id information stored in information store 655 . Processing ends at 690 .
FIG. 7 illustrates information handling system 701 which is a simplified example of a computer system capable of performing the server and client operations described herein. Computer system 701 includes processor 700 which is coupled to host bus 705 . A level two (L 2 ) cache memory 710 is also coupled to the host bus 705 . Host-to-PCI bridge 715 is coupled to main memory 720 , includes cache memory and main memory control functions, and provides bus control to handle transfers among PCI bus 725 , processor 700 , L2 cache 710 , main memory 720 , and host bus 705 . PCI bus 725 provides an interface for a variety of devices including, for example, LAN card 730 . PCI-to-ISA bridge 735 provides bus control to handle transfers between PCI bus 725 and ISA bus 740 , universal serial bus (USB) functionality 745 , IDE device functionality 750 , power management functionality 755 , and can include other functional elements not shown, such as a real-time clock (RTC), DMA control, interrupt support, and system management bus support. Peripheral devices and input/output (I/O) devices can be attached to various interfaces 760 (e.g., parallel interface 762 , serial interface 764 , infrared (IR) interface 766 , keyboard interface 768 , mouse interface 770 , and fixed disk (HDD) 772 ) coupled to ISA bus 740 . Alternatively, many I/O devices can be accommodated by a super I/O controller (not shown) attached to ISA bus 740 .
BIOS 780 is coupled to ISA bus 740 , and incorporates the necessary processor executable code for a variety of low-level system functions and system boot functions. BIOS 780 can be stored in any computer readable medium, including magnetic storage media, optical storage media, flash memory, random access memory, read only memory, and communications media conveying signals encoding the instructions (e.g., signals from a network). In order to attach computer system 701 to another computer system to copy files over a network, LAN card 730 is coupled to PCI bus 725 and to PCI-to-ISA bridge 735 . Similarly, to connect computer system 701 to an ISP to connect to the Internet using a telephone line connection, modem 775 is connected to serial port 764 and PCI-to-ISA Bridge 735 .
While the computer system described in FIG. 7 is capable of executing the invention described herein, this computer system is simply one example of a computer system. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other computer system designs are capable of performing the invention described herein.
One of the preferred implementations of the invention is an application, namely, a set of instructions (program code) in a code module which may, for example, be resident in the random access memory of the computer. Until required by the computer, the set of instructions may be stored in another computer memory, for example, on a hard disk drive, or in removable storage such as an optical disk (for eventual use in a CD ROM) or floppy disk (for eventual use in a floppy disk drive), or downloaded via the Internet or other computer network. Thus, the present invention may be implemented as a computer program product for use in a computer. In addition, although the various methods described are conveniently implemented in a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by software, one of ordinary skill in the art would also recognize that such methods may be carried out in hardware, in firmware, or in more specialized apparatus constructed to perform the required method steps.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended, such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is present. For a non-limiting example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim elements. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an”; the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles.
|
A system and method for verifying database security across multiple platforms is presented. Servers are queried to obtain a user id access list of a particular database, directory, or file. The user id access list is compared with a validated access list. A report file is generated that includes user id's that have access to a database, directory, or file but do not have proper permission. The report file includes a submission of how to correct each security violation.
| 8
|
FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to casing apparatuses and methods for casing or repairing a well, borehole, or conduit, and more particularly to setting tools used therein.
BACKGROUND
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Conventional methods of casing or repairing wells, boreholes, conduits and the like include applying cementation, straddle packers, metallic patches, or through-tubing casing patch using in situ polymerization such as Patch Flex™ (a trademark of Schlumberger) on the wall of the wells, boreholes, or conduits. A Patch Flex system involves an in-situ polymerization technology to install a hard, pressure-resistant seal on the wall along its length. U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,906 (“the '906 patent”) issued to Saltel discloses a conventional Patch Flex system, which comprises an inflatable setting element (“ISE”, called “inflatable tubular sleeve” in the '906 patent) and a preform made of a thermosetting resin and disposed around the ISE. A nozzle which engages the ISE inflates the ISE, which in turn expands the thermosetting preform radially against the wall of the well. When the ISE is completely inflated, the entire thermosetting resin preform is inflated accordingly and is then heated to cause polymerization of the preform. The preform is thus secured to the wall of the well. The ISE is then deflated and removed, leaving in place a permanent hard preform against the wall of well.
The conventional Patch Flex system has a disadvantage in that the casing length or the repair zone of the well is restricted by the length of the ISE because the expansion of the preform depends on fully inflation of the ISE along the length of the ISE. Currently, the ISE can be made to have a length of no more than about 10 meters and thus can repair or case a zone of no more than 10 meters. Moreover, the thermosetting resin preform has a limited lifetime before polymerization and requires more time to heat and cure, thereby prolonging the casing or repair process.
SUMMARY
Embodiments of the present invention provide for a casing apparatus and method for casing or repairing a wall of a well wherein the casing length is not limited by a setting tool that is used to deform the resin preform. In one preferred form, the casing apparatus comprises a deformable tubular sleeve having a first end and a second end, and a moving device. The moving device is movable inside the deformable tubular sleeve along a longitudinal axis of the deformable tubular sleeve for deforming the tubular sleeve radially against the wall of the well.
In another preferred form, a setting tool for deforming a deformable tubular sleeve is provided. The setting tool comprises a radially inflatable moving device movable inside the deformable tubular sleeve along a longitudinal axis. When the moving device is inflated to an inflated condition and moved from a first end to a second end of the tubular sleeve, the moving device deforms the tubular sleeve radially and progressively from the first end to the second end.
In still another form, a method of casing a wall of a well is provided. The method comprises disposing a casing apparatus in the well, the casing apparatus comprising a deformable tubular sleeve and a moving device, the moving device being radially inflatable and being movable inside the tubular sleeve from a first end to a second end of the deformable tubular sleeve; inflating the moving device to an inflated condition; and causing the moving device to move in the inflated condition from the first end to the second end, a force being exerted on the tubular sleeve by the moving device in the inflated condition, when the moving device is moved from the first end to the second end, the tubular sleeve being deformed radially against the wall and progressively from the first end to the second end.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
DRAWINGS
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a casing apparatus in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, wherein the casing apparatus is in its initial, deflated condition;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the casing apparatus of FIG. 1 , showing an anchoring device in its inflated condition;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the casing apparatus of FIG. 1 , showing a moving device in its inflated condition;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the casing apparatus of FIG. 1 , showing the start of a deformation process by the moving device;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the casing apparatus of FIG. 1 , showing the conclusion of the deformation process by the moving device;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the casing apparatus of FIG. 1 , showing the moving device and the anchoring device in their deflated condition ready for withdrawal; and
FIG. 7 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of casing or repairing the well.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The description and drawings are presented solely for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a limitation to the scope and applicability of the invention. While any compositions of the present invention are described herein as comprising certain materials, it should be understood that the composition could optionally comprise two or more chemically different materials. In addition, the composition can also comprise some components others than the ones already cited. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
At the outset, it should be noted that “deformable,” “deform” or “deformation” used throughout the present disclosure, refers to an element that is (1) unfoldable or unfolded from a folded state to an unfolded state by simply unfolding without expanding, (2) expandable or expanded (without unfolding) by increasing the diameter of the element due to the effect of pressure applied to the inner surface of the element, or (3) successively unfolded from a folded state to an unfolded state and then expanded.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a casing apparatus for casing a wall of a well constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure is illustrated and generally indicated by reference numeral 10 . The casing apparatus 10 comprises a setting tool 12 and a tubular sleeve 14 disposed around the setting tool 12 .
The setting tool 12 comprises a tensioning device 16 , an anchoring device 18 , an inflatable moving device 20 , and a heating device 22 . The tensioning device 16 engages an upper end 24 of the tubular sleeve 14 for suspending the tubular sleeve 14 within the wellbore 26 which penetrates a subterranean formation. The anchoring device 18 is attached to a lower end 28 of the sleeve 14 through linking cables 30 . The linking cables 30 are made of chemically resistant and/or material resistant to mechanical forces, such as steel, polyaryletherether ketone polymer (PEEK), fibers, and the like. The linking cables 30 may be breakable by connection to a mechanical weak point, such as shear pin by nonlimiting example.
The anchoring device 18 engages a connecting member 32 passing through the moving device 20 and the heating device 22 , and connecting to a pump (not shown) for inflating the anchoring device 18 . The anchoring device 18 is made of an expandable material and can be inflated to an inflated condition to engage the well 26 . When inflated, the anchoring device 18 holds the lower end 28 of the sleeve 14 in place. The tensioning device 16 and the anchoring device 18 cooperatively maintain a proper tension along a longitudinal direction of the sleeve 14 .
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 , the moving device 20 and the heating device 22 are suspended from a running tool 34 and movable inside the tubular sleeve 14 . The running tool 34 can be an electronic device, a pump or a cable head, which guides the movement of the moving device 20 and the heating device 22 and provides fluids to inflate the anchoring device 18 and the moving device 20 . The running tool 34 is connected to a cable or a coil tubing 36 . When the cable or coiled tubing 36 is pulled up, the moving device 20 , the heating device 22 and the running tool 34 are pulled up to move inside the tubular sleeve 14 along the longitudinal axis of the tubular sleeve 14 .
When a cable is used to connect to the running tool 34 , the cable 36 may be any suitable cable. Some non-limiting examples of cables are heptacable and quadcables. Preferably, the cable 36 is a heptacable, which refers to a cable consisting of seven conductors; a central conductor surrounded by six conductors and an outer steel armor. The heptacable provides for several different signal propagation modes, each of which transmits signals on a specific combination of the seven conductors and armor. By using the heptacable, control signals are transmitted through the cable 36 for controlling the switching on/off and temperature of the heating device 22 , the inflating/deflating of the moving device 20 and the anchoring device 18 .
The moving device 20 is made of an expandable material and can be radially inflatable and deflatable. The moving device 20 has a nut configuration with a central hole (not shown) to allow for passage of the connecting member 32 connected to the anchoring device 18 . The moving device 20 engages an inflating member (not shown) passing though the heating device 22 for inflating the moving device 20 . The connecting member 32 connected to the anchoring device 18 and the inflating member connected to the moving device 20 may be connected to the same pump or different pumps (not shown).
The heating device 22 has an elongated construction and is preferably a resistive heating element for heating the tubular sleeve 14 . The temperature of the heating device 22 is properly controlled to a melting point of the tubular sleeve 14 during operation. The heating device 22 also has a central hole (not shown) for allowing passage of the connecting member 32 and the inflating member (not shown).
The tubular sleeve 14 shown in the drawings is expandable and undergoes an expansion process during operation as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 . It should be noted that the tubular sleeve 14 can be made of a non-expandable material and undergoes an unfolding process only without expanding. Alternatively, the tubular sleeve 14 can be made to undergo both unfolding and expansion process during operation. As previously set forth, the terms “deform”, “deformable” or “deformation” used throughout the present disclosure cover all three situations.
In case the tubular sleeve 14 is made of an expandable material, the tubular sleeve 14 can be expanded with or without heating depending on the construction of the tubular sleeve 14 . When the tubular sleeve 14 is made of a rigid composite tube, heating is generally required for expanding the tubular sleeve 14 . However, when the tubular sleeve 14 is in the form of fibers and woven with structural fibers, heating is generally not necessary and such tubular sleeve 14 is easier to roll on a drum.
When the tubular sleeve 14 is of a composite structure, the tubular sleeve 14 may have one of the following constructions, for example:
1. A sleeve of carbon/thermoplastic braids wherein the braids are soft/expandable and each wire of these braids is made with carbon fibers and thermoplastic fibers. The thermoplastic can be melted after being expanded.
2. A multilayer sandwiched sleeve with carbon and thermoplastics braids wherein the thermoplastic fibers and carbon fibers are braided separately.
3. A sleeve of carbon braids wrapped by thermoplastic bands/wires wherein the sleeve includes a layer of carbon braids, which is surrounded by a thermoplastic band or wire.
4. A pre-made composite carbon/thermoplastic sleeve wherein the thermoplastic and carbon fibers form a solid composite cylinder, which can have a circular cross-section. The fibers are set at a correct angle to allow deformation when the thermoplastic is melted. Fibers can also be set perpendicular to the cylinder axis. The cylinder can be folded on several generating lines. When the thermoplastic is soft enough, the deformation is performed by unfolding the sleeve.
5. A bi-axial composite sleeve wherein the sleeve is made with expandable fibers in one axis.
The preferred thermoplastic materials used in the composition of the tubular sleeve 14 include nylon materials such as polyamide 6 (PA6), polyamide 6,6 (PA6,6), or polyamide 12 (PA12), or even polyethersulfone (PES), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyetherimide (PEI) or PEEK thermoplastics. The carbon fibers are structural fibers to provide a structural support for the thermoplastic matrix. The fibers can be set with a low angle relative to the sleeve axis. As the tubular sleeve 14 is deformed, the angle is increased. Alternatively, the fibers can be rolled perpendicular to the sleeve axis so that the sleeve is folded before application and is unfolded, rather than expanded, during application.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 7 , the method of using the casing apparatus 10 for casing or repair a well is now described. FIG. 1 shows a running-in step, where the casing apparatus 10 including the setting tool 12 and the tubular sleeve 14 is lowered down into the well 26 to a desired depth adjacent to a section or zone of the well 28 to be cased or repaired.
Next, in an anchorage step as shown in FIG. 2 , the anchoring device 18 is inflated by injecting fluid or air through the running tool 34 , the connecting member 32 . The anchoring device 18 is inflated to engage the well 26 so as to hold the lower end 28 of the tubular sleeve 14 in place. The anchoring device 18 may also be a mechanical expandable anchor.
In the anchorage step, the tensioning device 16 , which holds the upper end 24 of the tubular sleeve 14 , is operated to adjust the tension of the tubular sleeve 14 and maintain a proper tension in the longitudinal direction of the tubular sleeve 14 . The tensioning device 16 and the anchoring device 18 keep the tubular sleeve 14 in place without being moved in the longitudinal direction by the moving device 20 during and/or following the deformation process. The tensioning device 16 may maintain a constant or variable tension of the tubular sleeve 14 during the deformation process, depending on the applications.
The tensioning device 16 may in some embodiments, be made of buoyant elements. The density of those elements and/or the volume of those elements can be selected to adjust the tension of the tubular sleeve 14 depending on the well fluid and the weight of the parts of the casing apparatus.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3 , the moving device 20 is inflated to an inflated condition. The inflated condition of the moving device 20 is properly set to adapt for the thickness of the tubular sleeve 14 and the diameter of the well 26 to ensure that a proper pressure is applied to the tubular sleeve 14 .
In this moving device inflation step, the heating device 22 is switched on for heating the tubular sleeve 14 to a melting point. Since the heating device 22 is disposed above the moving device 20 , any part of the tubular sleeve 14 is heated before being deformed by the moving device 20 .
In some cases, for some thermoplastic materials, heating may take place after the deformation process. Therefore, the heating device 22 may be disposed below the moving device 20 and heating is applied to the tubular sleeve 14 after that tubular sleeve 14 is deformed.
Referring to FIG. 4 which shows the start of the deformation process of the tubular sleeve 14 , when the lower end 28 of the tubular sleeve 14 is heated and is ready for deformation, the cable 36 pulls upward the heating device 22 and the properly inflated moving device 20 . As the moving device 20 is moved past the part of the tubular sleeve 14 that has been heated, the moving device 20 deforms the heated part of the tubular sleeve 14 radially against the well 26 .
Preferably, the heating device 22 and the moving device 20 are moved at a lower speed that ensures that the part of the tubular sleeve 14 to be deformed by the moving device 20 is sufficiently heated and deformed. As the moving device 20 is moved from the lower end 28 to the upper end 24 , the tubular sleeve 14 is progressively deformed from the lower end 28 to the upper end 24 until the entire sleeve 14 is deformed. At the same time, the tubular sleeve 14 is progressively cooled down and sets-up from the lower end 28 to the upper end 24 . As with most thermoplastic materials, as they are cooled down, they naturally recover mechanical properties, and as such, they set-up.
In those embodiments where the sleeve 14 is passed through a tubing, a well patch (such as Patch Flex), or any other inner diameter casing restriction, the heating device 22 and the moving device 20 may be moved at a speed that ensures the tubular sleeve 14 expands at the same expansion rate as casing restriction. This feature allows setting of the sleeve after passing through tubing or after passing through any inner diameter casing restriction.
While in this illustrative example, the heating device 22 is moved together with the moving device 20 to apply heat and pressure to the tubular sleeve 14 in substantially the same time, it is within the contemplation of the present disclosure that the heating device 22 can be moved independently of the moving device 20 and heat the entire tubular sleeve 14 before the deformation process begins. It is also within the contemplation of the present disclosure that the heating device 22 may be made stationary.
As previously described, the moving device 20 can be partially or fully inflated to adapt for the thickness of the sleeve 14 and the diameter of the well 26 . Additionally, the inflated conditions of the moving device 20 can be adjusted during the deformation process to apply a variable pressure on the tubular sleeve 14 . One of the advantages is that only one tubular sleeve 14 is needed to case or repair a zone which does not have a constant diameter. The moving device 20 can be partially inflated in a section having a smaller diameter and can be fully inflated in a section having a larger diameter.
Referring to FIG. 5 , upon completion of the deformation process, the linking cable 30 is broken to separate the anchoring device 18 from the tubular sleeve 14 . The linking cables 30 may breakable by connection to a mechanical weak point. Finally, as shown in FIG. 6 , the anchoring device 18 and the moving device 20 are deflated and removed from the well 26 , thereby completing the casing or repairing process.
It should be noted that while the tubular sleeve 14 has been described as being made of a thermoplastic material in the present disclosure, the tubular sleeve 14 can be made of a thermosetting material. Therefore, hardening the tubular sleeve 14 during the deformation process can be achieved by applying a cross-liking agent, radiation or ultraviolet, etc, other than heating or cooling. Therefore, a nozzle for spraying the cross-linking agent, a radiation source or an ultraviolet source may be incorporated in the setting tool 12 to facilitate polymerization of the tubular sleeve 14 .
The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.
|
A casing apparatus is provided to install a hard, pressure-resistant seal along a wall of a well in situ. The casing apparatus includes a moving device and a deformable tubular sleeve having a first end and a second end and. The moveable element is radially inflatable and movable inside the deformable tubular sleeve along a longitudinal axis of the deformable tubular sleeve. When the moving device is radially inflatable to an inflated condition and is moved from the first end to the second end, the moving device deforms the deformable tubular sleeve radially against the wall and progressively from the first end to the second end. A force of deforming the tubular sleeve applied by the inflated moving device is adjustable by changing the inflated condition of the moving device during the deformation process.
| 4
|
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to a safety valve for gaseous and/or liquid fuel or other chemical lines, and more particularly, to a self-contained safety valve for gaseous or liquid fuel or other hazardous chemical lines which automatically closes the flow of gaseous or liquid fuel or other hazardous chemical when the surrounding temperature or the temperature of the gaseous or liquid fuel or other chemical substances passing through the valve rise above a predetermined threshold temperature.
[0003] 2. Prior Art
[0004] There are currently devices known in the art for shutting the flow of gas such as natural gas or liquid fuel in homes or in commercial buildings in case of fire that operate based on an external and powered sensor to monitor the temperature and then command certain actuation device such as an electrically powered solenoid to actuate a valve or cause it to actuate a valve to close the flow of said gaseous or liquid fuel.
[0005] The currently available methods and devices are complex, expensive, generally require external power (either battery or line power) and the externally actuated valves require sealing of moving parts, which are prone to wear, and when made out of plastics are subject of aging and hardening and cracking, and thereby leakage, particularly for the case of gaseous fuel such as natural gas or propane and certain chemicals. In addition, for battery operated systems, the users often forget to test and change the batteries and for line powered devices the power may be out or go out or disconnected in case of fire or the like.
[0006] Valves using shape memory alloy actuation devices for preventing the flow of fluid when the temperature of the fluid is above a predetermined threshold is also disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 8,695,889. The valve is designed to allow the fluid to pass when the temperature of the fluid is below the predetermined threshold, and used a shape memory or bi-metal actuator for substantially closing the flow passage when the temperature of the fluid is above the predetermined threshold. Such valves, however, are not designed for closing the flow passage when heated either by the passing flow or from outside the valve.
SUMMARY
[0007] Therefore it is an object to provide a self-contained heat-actuated safety valve for gas lines, such as natural gas or propane gas lines or fluid fuel or hazardous chemical lines, which would which automatically closes the flow of the said gas or liquid when the surrounding temperature or the temperature of the gaseous or liquid fuel or other chemical flowing through the valve rises above a predetermined threshold temperature.
[0008] It is another object to provide a self-contained heat-actuated safety valve for gas lines or fluid fuel or hazardous chemical lines, which are not dependent on signals from external sensors and do not require electrical power such as from batteries or line power for their operation.
[0009] It is yet another object to provide a self-contained heat-actuated safety valve for gas lines or fluid fuel or hazardous chemical lines which is not prone to leakage from seals or between moving parts.
[0010] It is still a further object to provide such self-contained heat-actuated safety valve for gas lines or fluid fuel or hazardous chemical lines, which are inexpensive to fabricate.
[0011] Accordingly, a valve for stopping the flow of gaseous or liquid fuel or other hazardous chemical lines when the temperature in the environment or the flowing substances is above a predetermined threshold is provided. The valve comprises: a body having at least one opening for allowing the gas or fluid to pass through when the ambient temperature close to the valve is below the predetermined threshold; and a shape memory actuated mechanism for substantially closing the at least one opening when the ambient temperature close to or inside the valve is above the predetermined threshold to prevent the gas or fluid from passing through the valve. The shape memory actuated mechanism and other moving parts are preferably self-contained within the overall valve enclosure to minimize the possibility of leakage.
[0012] The flow prevention mechanism in the valve preferably comprises of a flap corresponding to the at least one opening, the flap being actuated by a shape memory alloy material based member having a shape at a temperature below the predetermined threshold such that it does not occlude the at least one opening and having a shape at a temperature above the predetermined threshold such that it does occlude the at least one opening to prevent the passage of gas or fluid through the valve outlet. The said flap actuator is preferably fabricated from a shape memory material that exhibits a two-way memory such that it has a first shape below the predetermined threshold so as the flap is such positioned not to occlude the at least one opening and has a second shape above the predetermined threshold so as to position the flap such that it would occlude the at least one opening.
[0013] Alternatively, the flow prevention mechanism in the valve preferably comprises of a flap corresponding to the at least one opening, the flap being normally held in a first position by a removable stop element such that it does not occlude the at least one opening. In its said first position, the flap is biased towards its second position by a preloaded spring element in which position it would occlude the at least one opening. The said removable stop element is provided with an actuation element that is preferably made out of a shape memory alloy or bimetal element. The shape memory alloy material based actuation element is designed and fabricated to have a shape at a temperature below the predetermined threshold such that it keeps the said removable stop element in the position that holds the flap in its said first position such that it does not occlude the at least one opening. The shape memory alloy material based actuation element would then deform into another shape at a temperature above the predetermined threshold such that it would cause the said removable stop element disengage the said flap, thereby allowing the flap to be moved by the said preloaded spring element to the position of occluding the at least one opening to prevent the passage of gas or fluid through the valve outlet. Alternatively, the actuation device of the said removable stop element may be made out of a bimetal member, which is configured to perform the same function as the described shape memory alloy based actuation device.
[0014] Alternatively, the flow prevention mechanism in the valve preferably comprises of ball or a cone or a section of a cone (hereinafter referred to collectively as a ball for brevity) instead of the aforementioned flap corresponding to the at least one opening. Then similar to the aforementioned flap, the ball is normally held in a first position by a removable stop element such that it does not occlude the at least one opening. In its said first position, the ball is biased towards its second position by a preloaded spring element in which position it would occlude the at least one opening. The said removable stop element is provided with an actuation element that is preferably made out of a shape memory alloy or bimetal element. The shape memory alloy material based actuation element is designed and fabricated to have a shape at a temperature below the predetermined threshold such that it keeps the said removable stop element in the position that holds the ball in its said first position such that it does not occlude the at least one opening. The shape memory alloy material based actuation element would then deform into another shape at a temperature above the predetermined threshold such that it would cause the said removable stop element disengage the said ball, thereby allowing the ball to be moved by the said preloaded spring element to the position of occluding the at least one opening to prevent the passage of gas or fluid through the valve outlet. Alternatively, the actuation device of the said removable stop element may be made out of a bimetal member, which is configured to perform the same function as the described shape memory alloy based actuation device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the apparatus and methods of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of a first embodiment of the self-contained safety valve actuated by external heating, wherein the safety valve is in an open position.
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates the sectional view of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 1 , wherein the safety valve is in the closed position.
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates the sectional view of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 1 with a screw mechanism for resetting the valve into its open position following exposure to a temperature above the predetermined threshold temperature.
[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates the sectional view of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 1 with a bellow type mechanism for resetting the valve into its open position following exposure to a temperature above the predetermined threshold temperature.
[0020] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrates a typical shape memory alloy actuator fabricated from a strip of said material for use in the safety valve embodiments of FIGS. 1-4 .
[0021] FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrates an alternative construction of the shape memory alloy actuator as fabricated from a wire of said material for use in the safety valve embodiments of FIGS. 1-4 .
[0022] FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view of a second embodiment of the self-contained safety valve actuated by external heating, wherein the safety valve is in an open position.
[0023] FIG. 8 illustrates the sectional view of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 7 , wherein the safety valve is in the closed position.
[0024] FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrates a typical shape memory alloy actuator fabricated from a strip or wire, respectively, of said material for use in the safety valve embodiment of FIG. 7 .
[0025] FIG. 10 illustrates a sectional view of a third embodiment of the self-contained safety valve actuated by external heating, wherein the safety valve is in an open position.
[0026] FIG. 11 illustrates the sectional view of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 10 , wherein the safety valve is in the closed position.
[0027] FIG. 12 illustrates a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the self-contained safety valve actuated by external heating, wherein the safety valve is in an open position.
[0028] FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrates the cross-sectional view A-A of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 12 .
[0029] FIG. 14 illustrates a sectional view of a fifth embodiment of the self-contained safety valve actuated by external heating, wherein the safety valve is in an open position.
[0030] FIG. 15 illustrates the sectional view of the self-contained safety valve embodiment of FIG. 14 , wherein the safety valve is in the closed position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] Although the safety valves described herein are applicable to different types of actuators, it has been found particularly useful in the environment of shape memory actuators. Therefore, without limiting the applicability of the invention to shape memory actuators, the invention will be described in such environment. For instance, the safety valves described herein can alternatively use a bi-metal actuator which changes shape due to a difference in thermal expansion of the metal comprising the bi-metal strip.
[0032] Although many shape-memory materials may be used, a nickel-titanium alloy (NiTi) is particularly suitable. One such NiTi alloy is manufactured, for example, by Shape Memory Applications, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif In general, metallic shape-memory alloys, such as NiTi, CuZnAl, and CuAlNi alloys, undergo a transformation in their crystal structure when cooled from the high-temperature austenite form, which is generally stronger, to the low-temperature martensite form, which is weaker. When a shape-memory material is in its martensitic form, it is easily deformed to a new shape. However, when the material is heated through its transformation temperature, it reverts to austenite and recovers its previous shape with great force. The temperature at which the material reverses its high temperature form when heated can be adjusted by slight changes in material composition and through heat treatment. The shape-memory process can be made to occur over a range of a few degrees, if necessary, and the shape transition can be made to occur millions of times.
[0033] Some shape-memory materials can be made to exhibit shape-memory only upon heating (one-way shape-memory), or also can undergo a shape change upon cooling (two-way shape memory). Shape-memory materials are available in many forms including, for example, wires, rods, ribbons, strips, sheets, and micro-tubing, and can be used to fabricate shape-memory structures having linear, planar and composite forms.
[0034] Referring now to FIGS. 1-2 , there is shown a first embodiment 100 of the self-contained safety valve actuated by external heating, hereinafter referred to as “safety valve.” The external heating may be due to fire or general temperature elevation without direct or proximity to fire or other heat source. The safety valve 100 is constructed with a housing 101 , which may have been assembled from more than one part for ease of manufacture and assembly. The safety valve 100 is provided with at least one inlet 102 and at least one outlet 103 to accommodate inflow 104 and outflow 105 , respectively, of the passing gaseous and/or liquid substances of interest. The inlet 102 and the outlet 103 may be provided with internal or external thread (not shown) for attachment to the intended gaseous and/or liquid substance lines. Alternatively, incoming and outgoing lines may be attached to the inlet 102 and outlet 103 by soldering, welding or any other methods appropriate for the transiting gaseous and/or liquid substance.
[0035] The safety valve 100 is provided with a cap 106 , which is attached to the inside structure of the housing 101 at the indicated point 108 by a hinge joint 107 . A tensile spring 109 is attached on one end to the cap 106 , such as by a pin joint 111 , and to the inside structure of the housing 101 , such as by a pin joint 112 , as shown in FIG. 1 . In the configuration of the rotatable cap 106 shown in FIG. 1 , the tensile spring 109 is preloaded in tension, thereby biasing the cap 106 to rest at its shown left most position against a shape memory alloy element 110 . As can be seen in the schematic of FIG. 1 , the rotating cap 106 and the preloaded tensile spring 109 are attached to the inner surface of the housing 101 such that they configure a so-called toggle mechanism, i.e., a bi-stable mechanism with two stable resting states, with the first stable positioning being as shown in the schematic of FIG. 1 , where the preloaded tensile spring 109 is positioned on the right side of the joint 107 of the cap 106 , and with the second stable positioning being as shown in the schematic of FIG. 2 , where the preloaded tensile spring 109 is positioned on the left side of the joint 107 of the cap 106 .
[0036] In the first stable toggle positioning, the cap 106 is shown to be resting against the shape memory alloy element 110 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 1 . The aforementioned gaseous and/or liquid substances are thereby free to enter from the inlet 102 and exit from the outlet 103 as indicated by the arrows 104 and 105 , respectively. Then when the temperature of the environment outside the safety valve 100 is increased, the element 116 which is made from a highly heat conductive material such as aluminum or copper or the like (and which may be integrally formed with the housing 101 or separately formed therefrom) would transmit heat to the shape memory alloy element 110 . The shape memory actuator 110 can be fabricated from a relatively thin strip or formed wire of shape memory alloy material such as one of those previously described and is trained to change its shape in response rise in temperature above a predetermined threshold temperature.
[0037] In the present safety valve 100 , the shape memory alloy element 110 is trained to change its shape from that shown in the schematic of FIG. 1 to that indicated by the numeral 117 in the schematic of FIG. 2 by bending at the region 118 of the shape memory alloy element 110 , very close to the point of its attachment to the heat transferring element 116 for its fast response to temperature elevation above the predetermined threshold temperature. Therefore, although the shape memory alloy element 110 may be entirely formed of a shape memory material, only portion 118 may only be formed of such shape memory material.
[0038] The shape memory alloy element 110 , FIG. 1 ( 117 after the shape change, FIG. 2 ) acts as an actuation element such that when its temperature has been raised above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature, it would change shape to that of 117 , FIG. 2 , thereby forcing the aforementioned toggle mechanism comprising of the cap 106 and the preloaded tensile spring 109 to be forced to be transferred from its first stable positioning shown in the schematic of FIG. 1 to its second stable positioning shown in the schematic of FIG. 2 . It is noted that in its said second stable positioning, FIG. 2 , the surface 113 of the cap 106 rests against the top surface 114 of the outlet passage of the safety valve 100 , FIG. 1 . In addition, an O-ring or the like sealing element 115 which can be made out of relatively elastic element, FIG. 1 , is also provided between the mating surfaces 113 and 114 to ensure fluid sealing of the outlet passage 119 , FIGS. 1-2 . Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the direction of fluid flow can be such that it would tend to keep the cap 106 closed with regard to the outlet 103 and sealed against the sealing element 115 . In addition, the spring 109 is configured such that it can also bias the cap 106 towards a sealing engagement with the sealing element 115 when the cap is in its second stable positioning.
[0039] In operation, one or more safety valves 100 are positioned along the desired gaseous and/or liquid line. The installed safety valves 100 are installed in their normally open configuration shown in FIG. 1 . Then if the temperature around a safety valve rises above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature setting of the safety valve, the heat transferred via the highly conductive element 116 causes the temperature of the safety valve shape memory alloy actuation element 110 to rise to the predetermined threshold temperature level. As a result, the shape memory alloy 110 changes its shape to that of 117 shown in FIG. 2 , thereby forcing the cap 106 to move from its first stable positioning shown in FIG. 1 to its second stable positioning shown in FIG. 2 as described earlier, and thereby cause the flow passage to the outlet 119 and thereby the flow of the said gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped.
[0040] In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , when the safety valve 100 is exposed to an ambient temperature above the predetermined threshold temperature for which it is designed, its shape memory alloy actuator element 110 actuates as described above and causes the cap 106 to move to its configuration shown in FIG. 2 and cause the flow of the said gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped. Then when the ambient temperature falls below the said predetermined threshold temperature, the cap 106 remains in its configuration of FIG. 2 and the valve passage 119 for the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid substances remains closed. Such safety valve designs are highly useful in housing or commercial buildings or various plants and the like so that after fire and serious damage to the building structures and/or equipment or the like that makes the related buildings and/or plants or the like inoperable and sometimes abandoned for a period of time, the flow of gaseous and/or liquid fuel or other chemicals substances is not accidentally resumed or even intentionally resumed by someone to cause further damage.
[0041] In other applications, however, it might be desirable that following each safety valve flow closure following an environmental temperature rise above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature, hereinafter referred to as the “high temperature threshold”, once the environmental temperature drops a prescribed amount below the temperature “high temperature threshold”, hereinafter referred to as the “low temperature threshold”, then the safety valve is to be returned to its open configuration to allow free flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid substances.
[0042] It is appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above task of resetting the safety valve 100 to its open positioning following a “high temperature threshold” event may be accomplished using many different means and mechanisms, including manually returned. In certain applications, it might be preferred that the user disconnects the safety valve from at least the input or the output line for inspection and to ensure that it has not been subjected to permanent damage due to the exposure to the high temperature threshold event, particularly if it is due to fire or other similar events. However, in certain cases, where the environmental temperature does go over the high temperature threshold often, for example, due to excessive heat being emitted from a nearby furnace, or in cases that the material being transferred is hazardous and is not desired to be spilled out from the connecting pipes, then an externally actuated means is desired to be provided for resetting the safety valve to its open positioning. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many such resetting mechanisms may be provided. An example of such a resetting mechanism is shown in the schematic of FIG. 3 .
[0043] In the schematic of FIG. 3 , the safety valve is shown with the cap 106 in its closed position. In this safety valve embodiment, generally referred to by reference numeral 120 , the safety valve is provided with a resetting screw 121 , which can also be provided with a relatively round tip piece 122 . Then when the cap 106 is in its closed position shown in FIG. 3 , the safety valve 120 can be reset to its open positioning shown in FIG. 1 by advancing the screw 121 upward and thereby causing the tip element 122 to lift the cap 106 upwards towards the position indicated by the numeral 123 and drawn by dashed lines. At around its positioning 123 , the cap 106 has been moved passed its singular positioning between its aforementioned first and second stable positions, and would thereby be forced by the spring 109 to move into its aforementioned first stable positioning 124 (also as shown in the schematic of FIG. 1 ). As the cap 106 is forced to move into its positioning 124 , the shape memory alloy actuating element 110 is deformed back to its original configuration as shown in FIG. 3 and also in FIG. 1 by the cap 106 . The resetting screw 121 is then retracted to its positioning shown in FIG. 3 to make the safety valve fully functional by allowing external heating as was previously described to actuate the cap 106 back to its second stable positioning ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ) and stop the flow of the passing gaseous and/or fluid substances.
[0044] In practice, the resetting screw is properly sealed to prevent any leakage of the flowing gaseous and/or liquid fluid out of the valve. Such means of externally providing sealing elements that are pressurized against the surfaces of the screw 121 and the valve housing 101 and other similar methods of providing proper sealing to prevent leakage around the screw 121 are well known in the art and may be selected depending on the type of gaseous and/or liquid substances that are being passed through the valve.
[0045] Alternatively, the resetting element of the disclosed safety valves may be constructed as being inherently sealed, for example by using a closed end, preferably metal, bellow 126 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 4 . In this embodiment, the bellow has an integral top 127 , and is attached to the surface of the safety valve 101 as shown in FIG. 4 , such as by welding or the like. The setting screw 121 shown in the embodiment of FIG. 3 is then replaced by a sliding pin 128 , with the previously described tip element 122 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 4 . The pin 128 may also be provided with a compressive return spring 129 to return it to its retracted positioning shown in FIG. 4 following each safety valve resetting as was described for the setting screw 121 of FIG. 3 . The pin 128 otherwise functions as the setting screw 121 as was previously described for the embodiment of FIG. 3 . The use of such a bellow 126 element which is fully sealed to the housing 101 of the present safety valves ensures that no gaseous and/or fluid substance that is passing through the safety valve would leak outside. Such an embodiment is particularly suitable for safety valves used on gas lines as long as the gas pressure is not too high. Otherwise when the passing gaseous and/or liquid material passing through the safety valve are at relatively high pressure, then the use of the setting screw 121 shown in FIG. 3 may be more appropriate.
[0046] It will be appreciated that the shape memory alloy element 110 may also be provided with a preloaded spring (elastic) element 125 , FIG. 2 , that once it has changed shape from the configuration 110 shown in FIG. 1 to that of configuration 117 shown in FIG. 117 , then when the temperature of the shape memory alloy element falls below the predetermined threshold temperature, the preloaded spring (elastic) element 125 would force the shape memory alloy element ( 117 in FIG. 2 ) to deform back to its original (pre-shape change, 110 in FIG. 1 ) configuration. In the schematic of FIG. 2 , the preloaded spring (elastic) element 125 is shown as a helical spring that is attached on one end to the shape memory alloy element 117 and on the other end to the inside of the valve housing 101 . The spring element 125 is preloaded in tension enough to deform the shape memory alloy element 117 back to its configuration shown in FIG. 1 when the temperature of the shape memory alloy element 117 drops below the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature, but the level of tensile preloading force is low enough to allow the shape memory alloy element 110 to actuate the cap 106 from its first stable positioning, FIG. 1 , to its second stable positioning, FIG. 2 , when its temperature rises above the predetermined threshold temperature.
[0047] In the configuration shown in FIG. 2 , the spring element 125 is shown as a helical tensile spring mainly for the sake of clarity. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many other preloaded spring/elastic elements may also be used to perform the same task. In an embodiment, the preloaded spring element is a bending element that can stretch along at least a portion of the length of the shape memory alloy element and engage the shape memory alloy at its tip. Such an elastic element provides the aforementioned function of the helical spring element 125 in a bending mode.
[0048] As was previously indicated, the shape memory actuation element 110 , FIG. 1 , may be fabricated from a strip or wire or other similarly shapes of the said material.
[0049] For example, shape memory alloy actuator 110 , FIG. 1 , may be made as shown in the schematic of FIG. 5A and indicated by the numeral 130 from a relatively thin strip 131 of shape memory alloy. In FIG. 5A the shape memory actuator 130 is shown to be shaped as the element 110 in FIG. 1 , in which the safety valve is in its open configuration. As can be seen in FIG. 5A , the shape memory alloy strip 131 is bent to the illustrated shape, with the frontal surface 132 being the surface that is attached to the inner surface of the safety valve heat conducting element 116 . The frontal portion 132 of the strip 131 may be provided with a cutaway section 133 , which can be large enough to provide a clear view of the frontal surface 134 (which can be colored, such as being green) of the element 135 . The element 135 with the clearly marked surface 134 (for example painted green to clearly contrast its other side surface colors) is used to indicate when the safety valve is in its open positioning, FIG. 1 . The colored or marked surface 134 (for example green) would be clearly visible to the onlooker through a provided transparent window (shown by dashed lines in FIG. 1 and indicated by the numeral 137 ) on the element 116 which is properly sealed to the safety valve heat conducting element 116 . The element 135 may be made out of any material that is compatible with the gas and/or liquid that passes through the safety valve. The element is attached to the surface 136 of the shape memory alloy strip 131 so that upon actuation, i.e., upon shape change to the configuration shown in FIG. 5B ( 117 in FIG. 2 ), the surface 134 (indicating an open valve) is moved away from the view of the window 137 , FIG. 1 . When desired, the surface 138 , FIG. 5B , that comes into the view of the window 137 may be provided with a different color (e. g., red or white) to indicate that the valve is closed. When both open and closed indication is desired, the element 135 may held against the frontal surface 132 of the strip 131 , and rotated by the rotation of the back portion 136 of the strip 131 from the configuration of FIG. 5A to that of FIG. 5B .
[0050] Alternatively, the shape memory alloy actuator 110 , FIG. 1 , may be made as shown in the schematic of FIG. 6A and indicated by the numeral 140 from a wire element 131 of shape memory alloy. In FIG. 6A the shape memory actuator 140 is shown to be shaped as the element 110 in FIG. 1 , in which the safety valve is in its open configuration. As can be seen in FIG. 6A , the shape memory alloy wire 141 is formed to the illustrated shape, with the surface of the frontal portion 142 being the surface that is attached to the inner surface of the safety valve heat transfer element 116 , FIG. 1 . The frontal portion 142 of the shape memory alloy wire 111 is also seen to provide access for viewing the frontal surface 143 (such as by being colored, such as being green) of the element 144 . The element 144 with the clearly marked surface 143 (for example painted green to clearly contrast its other side surface colors) is used to indicate when the safety valve is in its open positioning, FIG. 1 . The colored or marked surface 143 (for example green) would be clearly visible to the onlooker through a provided transparent window (shown by dashed lines in FIG. 1 and indicated by the numeral 137 ) on the element 116 . The element 144 may be made out of any material that is compatible with the gas and/or liquid that passes through the safety valve. The element is attached to the area 145 of the shape memory alloy wire 141 as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B , so that upon actuation, i.e., upon shape change to the configuration shown in FIG. 6B ( 117 in FIG. 2 ), the surface 143 (indicating an open valve) is moved away from the view of the window 137 , FIG. 1 . When desired, the surface 146 , FIG. 6B , that comes into the view of the window 137 may be provided with a different color (e. g., red or white) to indicate that the valve is closed. When both open and closed indication is desired, the element 144 may held against the frontal portion 142 of the shape memory alloy wire 141 , and rotated by the rotation of the back portion 147 of the wire 141 from the configuration of FIG. 6A to that of FIG. 6B .
[0051] In the safety valve embodiments of FIGS. 1-6 , shape memory alloy actuators (element 110 in the embodiment 100 of FIG. 1 ) are used to rotate a cap (element 106 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 ) and thereby cause it to move to the position if closing the flow of gas and/or fluid through the safety valve ( FIG. 2 ). Alternatively, a shape memory alloy element may be used to release the element that is used to close the flow of gas and/or fluid through the safety valve, where the flow closing element is otherwise biased by at least one spring (elastic) element to move into the flow closing positioning. The basic design and operation of two such safety valve mechanism embodiments are described below.
[0052] Referring to FIGS. 7-8 , there is shown a first embodiment 150 of such self-contained safety valve that upon external heating to a predetermined threshold temperature would cause a shape memory alloy element change its shape and thereby release a biased flow closing element to move into its flow closing positioning. The external heating may have fire or general temperature elevation without direct or proximity to fire or other heat source.
[0053] Similar to the safety valve embodiment 100 of FIGS. 1-2 , the safety valve 150 is also constructed with a housing 151 , which may have been assembled from one or more than one part for ease of manufacture and assembly. The safety valve 150 is similarly provided with at least one inlet 152 and at least one outlet 153 to accommodate inflow 154 and outflow 155 , respectively, of the passing gaseous and/or liquid substances of interest. The inlet 152 and the outlet 153 may similarly be provided with internal or external thread (not shown) for attachment to the intended gaseous and/or liquid substance lines. Alternatively, incoming and outgoing lines may be attached to the inlet 152 and outlet 153 by soldering, welding or any other methods appropriate for the transiting gaseous and/or liquid substance.
[0054] The safety valve 150 is also provided with a cap 156 (similar to the cap 106 in FIGS. 1-2 ), which is attached to the inside structure of the housing 151 at the indicated point 158 by a hinge joint 157 . At least one preloaded compressive spring 159 is attached on one end to the cap 156 , such as by a pin joint (not shown), and to the inside structure of the housing 151 , such as by another pin joint (not shown), FIG. 7 . In the configuration of the rotatable cap 156 shown in FIG. 7 , the preloaded compressive spring 159 is seen to be biasing the cap 156 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, thereby causing its surface 160 to come to rest against the top surface 161 of the outlet passage of the safety valve 150 as is shown in FIG. 8 , thereby closing the flow through the safety valve.
[0055] The cap 156 is provided with an “L” shaped element 162 , which when the safety valve 150 is in its open configuration as shown in FIG. 7 , engages the “inverted U” shaped shape memory alloy element 163 , which functions as a stop element to hold the preloaded spring biased cap 156 in the configuration shown in FIG. 7 . Thereby the aforementioned gaseous and/or liquid substances are free to enter from the inlet 152 and exit from the outlet 153 as indicated by the arrows 154 and 155 , respectively. Then when the temperature of the environment outside the safety valve 150 is increased, the element 164 which is made from a highly heat conductive material such as aluminum or copper or the like would transmit heat to the shape memory alloy element 163 . The shape memory element 163 (or a portion thereof) can be fabricated from a relatively thin strip or formed wire of shape memory alloy material such as one of those previously described ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ) and is trained to change its shape in response rise in temperature above a predetermined threshold temperature. In the present safety valve 150 , the shape memory alloy element 163 is trained to change its shape from that shown in the schematic of FIG. 7 to that indicated by the numeral 165 in the schematic of FIG. 8 by bending, such as at the region 166 of the shape memory alloy element 163 , FIG. 7 , very close to the point of its attachment to the heat transferring element 164 for its fast response to temperature elevation above the said predetermined threshold temperature. The shape memory alloy element 163 may be similarly attached to the surface of the element 164 as shown in FIG. 7 by welding, soldering or other methods known in the art.
[0056] Therefore when the temperature of the shape memory alloy element 163 has been raised to above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature it would change shape to that of 165 shown in FIG. 8 . The cap 156 is then released and the preloaded compressive spring 159 (indicated by the numeral 167 in FIG. 8 ) would force the cap to rotate and come to rest against the outlet 161 , FIGS. 7 and 8 . It is noted that in its latter positioning, the surface 160 of the cap 156 rests against the top surface 161 of the outlet passage of the safety valve 150 , FIG. 7 . In addition, an O-ring or the like sealing element 168 which can be made out of a relatively elastic element is also provided between the mating surfaces 160 and 161 to ensure proper sealing of the outlet passage 119 , FIGS. 1-2 .
[0057] In the embodiment 150 of FIG. 7 the biasing spring 159 is shown to be a preloaded helical compressive spring. It will be however appreciated by those skilled in the art that a wide range of preloaded tensile, compressive, torsion springs and other types of elastic elements such as those operating in bending or their combination may also be used to provide the required biasing force/torque to rotate the cap 156 from its positioning shown in FIG. 7 to that of FIG. 8 .
[0058] It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the frontal surface 171 of the “L” shaped element 162 may be appropriately marked, for example painted in green color, to indicate when the safety valve is in its open positioning, FIG. 7 . The colored or marked surface 171 would then be clearly visible to the onlooker through a provided transparent window (shown by dashed lines in FIG. 7 and indicated by the numeral 172 ) on the element 164 .
[0059] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that similar to the shape memory alloy actuator 110 of FIG. 1 , the shape memory alloy element 163 of the embodiment 150 of FIG. 7 may also be constructed by a strip of shape memory alloy material as shown in the schematic of FIG. 9A and indicated by the numeral 170 or from a shape memory alloy wire as shown in the schematic of FIG. 9B and indicated by the numeral 175 . As can be seen in FIG. 9A , the shape memory alloy element is formed from a strip of shape memory alloy material 173 , which is bent into the indicated inverted “U” shaped form of element 163 for assembly in the safety valve in its open configuration as shown in FIG. 7 . As can be seen in FIG. 9A , frontal surface 174 of the shape memory alloy element 170 , which is the surface that is attached to the inner surface of the safety valve heat conducting element 164 . The frontal portion 174 of the strip 173 may be provided with a cutaway section 179 , which can be large enough to provide a clear view of the frontal surface 171 (which can be colored green) of the element “L” shaped element 162 , FIG. 7 . The visible and clearly marked surface 171 (for example painted green to clearly contrast its other side surface colors) is used to indicate that the safety valve is in its open positioning, FIG. 7 . The colored or marked surface 171 would be clearly visible to the onlooker through a provided transparent window (shown by dashed lines in FIG. 7 and indicated by the numeral 172 ) on the element 164 . Then when the safety valve 150 is in its closed configuration shown in FIG. 8 , the said colored or marked surface 171 is no longer visible to the onlooker and is an indication that the safety valve is in its closed configuration.
[0060] Alternatively, the shape memory alloy actuator 163 , FIG. 7 , may be made as shown in the schematic of FIG. 9B and indicated by the numeral 175 from a wire element 181 of shape memory alloy. In FIG. 9B the shape memory actuator 181 is shown to be shaped as the element 163 in FIG. 7 , in which the safety valve is in its open configuration. As can be seen in FIG. 9B , the shape memory alloy wire 181 is formed to the illustrated shape, with the surface of the frontal portion 177 being the surface that is attached to the inner surface of the safety valve heat conducting element 164 , FIG. 7 . The frontal portion 177 of the shape memory alloy wire 181 is also seen to provide access for viewing the frontal surface 171 (which can be colored green) of the “L” shaped element 162 , FIG. 7 . The clearly marked surface 171 (for example painted green) is used to indicate that the safety valve is in its open positioning, FIG. 7 . The colored or marked surface 171 would be clearly visible to the onlooker through the provided transparent window 172 provided in the element 164 .
[0061] Referring now to FIG. 10 , there is shown a third embodiment 180 of the self-contained safety valve that is actuated by external heating. The external heating may be due to fire or general temperature elevation without direct or proximity to fire or other heat source. The safety valve 180 can be constructed with a housing 182 , which can be assembled from one or more than one part for ease of manufacture and assembly. The safety valve 180 is provided with at least one inlet 183 and at least one outlet 184 to accommodate inflow 185 and outflow 186 , respectively, of the passing gaseous and/or liquid substances of interest. The inlet 183 and the outlet 184 may be provided with internal or external thread (not shown) for attachment to the intended gaseous and/or liquid substance lines. Alternatively, incoming and outgoing lines may be attached to the inlet 183 and outlet 184 by soldering, welding or any other methods appropriate for the transiting gaseous and/or liquid substance.
[0062] The safety valve 180 is provided with a cap 187 , which is attached to the inside structure of the housing 182 at the indicated point 188 by a hinge joint 189 . A tensile spring 190 is attached on one end to the cap 187 , such as by a pin joint 191 , and to the inside structure of the housing 182 , such as by a pin joint 192 , as shown in FIG. 10 . In the configuration of the rotatable cap 187 shown in FIG. 10 , the tensile spring 190 is preloaded in tension, thereby biasing the cap 187 to rest at its shown left most position against either the interior surface of the housing 182 or against an end of the actuating pin 193 . As can be seen in the schematic of FIG. 10 , the rotating cap 187 and the preloaded tensile spring 190 are attached to the inner surface of the housing 182 such that they configure a so-called toggle mechanism, i.e., a bi-stable mechanism with two stable resting states, with the first stable positioning being as shown in the schematic of FIG. 10 , where the preloaded tensile spring 190 is positioned on the right side of the joint 189 of the cap 187 , and with the second stable positioning being when the preloaded tensile spring 190 is positioned on the left side of the joint 189 of the cap 187 , as shown in the schematic of FIG. 11 .
[0063] The at least one shape memory alloy material based actuation device of the safety valve 180 consists of a bellow 194 , which has one end attached and sealed to the outside surface of the safety valve housing 182 . A cap element 195 attached to an opposite end of the bellow 194 and seals the interior volume of the bellow from the environment outside the safety valve 180 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 10 . The actuating pin 193 is positioned inside the bellow 194 and is held biased away from contact with the cap 187 by the lightly preloaded compressive spring 197 . At least one shape memory alloy posts 196 are positioned between the cap 195 of the bellow 194 and the outer surface of the safety valve housing 182 as shown in FIG. 10 , to prevent the bellow 194 which is preloaded in tension in the configuration shown in FIG. 10 from further pushing the actuating pin 193 into the safety valve housing. The at least one shape memory alloy posts 196 can be fabricated as wires of appropriate cross-sectional areas and are either rigidly attached on at least one of their ends to the cap 195 or the outer surface of the safety valve housing 182 , for example by welding or brazing or soldering, and on the other end (if not fixedly attached) held in a provided indentation (not shown) in the surface of the elements. The tensile preloaded bellow 194 may also be provided with an added preloaded tensile spring (inside or outside the bellow 194 —not shown) to provide tensile biasing load for pushing the actuating pin 193 inside the housing 182 of the safety valve 180 .
[0064] In the first stable toggle positioning, the cap 187 is shown to be resting against either the interior surface of the housing 182 or against the actuating pin 193 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 10 . The aforementioned gaseous and/or liquid substances are thereby free to enter from the inlet 183 and exit from the outlet 184 as indicated by the arrows 185 and 186 , respectively. Then when the temperature of the environment outside the safety valve 180 is increased, the aforementioned at least one shape memory alloy post 196 which is trained to change its shape in response to a rise in temperature above a predetermined threshold temperature would change its shape from that shown in FIG. 10 to that indicated by the numeral 199 or that indicated by the numeral 201 in the schematic of FIG. 11 . Once the at least one shape memory alloy post 196 , FIG. 10 , has changed shape to that of either 199 or 201 , FIG. 11 , then the tensile preloaded bellow (indicated by the numeral 202 in FIG. 11 ) and if present, together with the aforementioned tensile preloaded spring (not shown), would force the actuating pin 193 further into the housing 182 of the safety valve 180 , thereby pressing against the surface 203 of the cap 187 , forcing it to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, moving from its first stable position shown in FIG. 10 and passed its aforementioned singular toggle position and then pulled by the tensile preloaded spring element 190 to its second stable positioning shown in the schematic of FIG. 11 . Then as it was previously described for the embodiment 100 of FIGS. 1-2 , in its said second stable positioning, FIG. 11 , the surface 204 of the cap 187 rests against the top surface 205 of the outlet passage of the safety valve 180 , FIG. 10 . In addition, an o-ring or the like sealing element 206 which can be made out of a relatively elastic element, FIG. 10 , is also provided between the mating surfaces 205 and 205 to ensure sealing of the outlet passage 207 , FIGS. 10 and 11 .
[0065] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that when both ends of the at least one shape memory alloy posts are attached to the outside surfaces of the safety valve housing 182 and the cap 195 of the bellow 194 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 10 , then when the posts are subjected to temperatures at or above the aforementioned predetermined temperature threshold, then the posts must have been trained to change shape to the configuration 199 shown in FIG. 11 . In such safety valve actuation mechanism designs, the shape changing shape memory alloy posts 196 will also generate a force that would tend to push the actuating pin 193 into the safety valve housing as was described earlier and thereby may be used to eliminate the need for relatively large tensile preloading of the bellow 194 and the need for the aforementioned added preloaded tensile spring (not shown).
[0066] In operation, one or more safety valves 180 are positioned along the desired gaseous and/or liquid line. The installed safety valves 180 are installed in their normally open configuration shown in FIG. 10 . Then if the temperature around a safety valve rises above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature setting of the safety valve, the heat causes the temperature of the at least one shape memory alloy posts 196 of the safety valve 180 to rise to or above the predetermined threshold temperature and thereby change shape to the trained shape 199 (or 201 ) shown in FIG. 11 . The tensile preloaded bellow 194 (and/or the aforementioned tensile preloaded spring provided in or outside the bellow 194 —not shown) will then force the pin 193 into the safety valve housing 182 and as was described earlier force the cap 187 to its second stable positioning as shown in FIG. 11 , and thereby cause the flow passage to the outlet 207 and thereby the flow of the said gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped.
[0067] In the embodiment of FIG. 10 , when the safety valve 180 is exposed to an ambient temperature above the predetermined threshold temperature for which it is designed, its at least one shape memory alloy posts change shape as was described above and causes the cap 187 to move to its configuration shown in FIG. 11 and cause the flow of the gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped. Then when the ambient temperature falls below the predetermined threshold temperature, the cap 187 still remains in its configuration of FIG. 11 and the safety valve passage 207 for the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid substances remains closed. Such safety valve designs are highly useful in housing or commercial buildings or various plants and the like so that after fire and serious damage to the building structures and/or equipment or the like that makes the related buildings and/or plants or the like inoperable and sometimes abandoned for a period of time, the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid fuel or other chemicals substances is not accidentally resumed or even intentionally resumed by someone to cause further damage.
[0068] It will be, however, appreciated by those skilled in the art that in certain applications, it is desired that the safety valve 180 be resettable from its closed configuration shown in FIG. 11 back to its open configuration shown in FIG. 10 . The task of resetting the safety valve 180 to its said open positioning following a “high temperature threshold” event may be accomplished using many different means and mechanisms. As previously mentioned, in many applications, it is preferred that the user disconnects the safety valve from at least the input or the output line for inspection and to ensure that it has not been subjected to permanent damage due to the exposure to the high temperature threshold event, particularly if it is due to fire or other similar events. However, in certain cases, where the environmental temperature does go over the said high temperature threshold often, for example, due to excessive heat being emitted from a nearby furnace, or in cases that the material being transferred is hazardous and is not desired to be spilled out from the connecting pipes, then an externally actuated means is desired to be provided for resetting the safety valve to its open positioning. It is appreciated by those skilled in the art that many such resetting mechanisms may be provided. Example of such a resetting mechanisms were described for the embodiment 100 of FIG. 1 in FIGS. 3 and 4 , and the same resetting mechanisms may also be used for the embodiment 180 of FIG. 10 .
[0069] In the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 7 and 10 , cap elements 106 , 156 and 187 , respectively, which are hinged to the structure of the safety valves are used to rotate from the valve open configuration to that of the valve closed configuration once the safety valve is externally (or internally for the case of embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 7 ) subjected to temperatures at or above a predetermined threshold temperature. That is, the flow closing elements, i.e., the said cap elements 106 , 156 and 187 , respectively, are guided (via rotation or any other appropriately guided motion such as translational or a combination of rotational and translational) from their safety valve open positioning to that of safety valve closed positioning. Alternatively, the said flow closing element may be free floating, i.e., its motion may not be constrained to a given path relative to the safety valve housing via a rotary or translational joint or certain linkage type mechanism or the like. An example of such a safety valve design is described below as the fourth embodiment 200 and is illustrated in the schematic of FIG. 12 .
[0070] Referring now to FIG. 12 , there is shown a fourth embodiment 200 of the self-contained safety valve that is actuated by external heating. The external heating may be due to fire or general temperature elevation without direct or proximity to fire or other heat source. The safety valve 200 is constructed with a housing 208 , which may be assembled from one or more than one part for ease of manufacture and assembly. The safety valve 200 is provided with at least one inlet 209 and at least one outlet 210 to accommodate inflow 211 and outflow 212 , respectively, of the passing gaseous and/or liquid substances of interest. The inlet 209 and the outlet 210 may be provided with internal or external threads (not shown) for attachment to the intended gaseous and/or liquid substance lines. Alternatively, incoming and outgoing lines may be attached to the inlet 209 and outlet 210 by soldering, welding or any other methods appropriate for the transiting gaseous and/or liquid substance.
[0071] The safety valve 200 is provided with a solid ball 213 , which held against a shape memory alloy element 215 which is formed with two curved beam sections 216 and 217 as shown in the cross-sectional view A-A of FIG. 13A , by the preloaded compressive biasing spring 214 as shown in FIG. 12 . The shape memory alloy element 215 of the safety valve 200 is fixedly attached to the inner surface of the element 219 , which is made out of a highly heat conducting material such as copper or the like which is attached and sealed to the wall of the safety valve housing 208 . The element 219 is provided with a larger outside head 220 to increase the rate of heat transfer from the exterior of the safety valve 200 to the shape memory alloy element 215 .
[0072] In its positioning, the ball 213 is shown to be restrained by resting against the two curved beam sections 216 and 217 of the shape memory alloy element 215 as shown in FIG. 12 and its cross-sectional view A-A of FIG. 13A . The aforementioned gaseous and/or liquid substances are thereby free to enter from the inlet 209 and exit from the outlet 210 as indicated by the arrows 211 and 212 , respectively. Then when the temperature of the environment outside the safety valve 200 is increased, the shape memory alloy element is trained to change its shape in response to rise in temperatures above a predetermined threshold temperature to that shown in FIG. 13B . As can be observed in the schematics of FIGS. 13A and 13B , the shape change consist essentially in the two curved beam sections 216 and 217 of the shape memory alloy element 215 to bending outward to the positions 221 and 222 , respectively, thereby allowing the preloaded compressive spring 214 to push the ball 213 passed the shape memory alloy element 215 , and press it against the provided matching inlet 223 into the safety valve flow passage 224 , as shown by dashed line in FIG. 12 . The flow of the passing gaseous and/or liquid substances through the safety valve 200 will thereby stop.
[0073] In general, it is highly desirable that the regions 226 , FIG. 13B , of the shape memory alloy element 215 is mostly deformed during the aforementioned shape change since they are close to the heat transferring elements 219 and 220 , and the shape memory alloy element 215 should therefore respond rapidly to the indicated rise in temperature. As discussed above, the entire shape memory alloy element 215 need not be formed of a shape memory alloy. In this regard, only a portion, such as portion 226 closest to the element 219 may be formed of shape memory alloy.
[0074] In operation, one or more safety valves 200 can be positioned along the desired gaseous and/or liquid line. The installed safety valves 180 are installed in their normally open configuration shown in FIG. 12 . Then if the temperature around a safety valve rises above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature setting of the safety valve, the heat causes the temperature of the shape memory alloy element 215 to rise to or above the predetermined threshold temperature. The shape memory alloy element will then change shape from the one shown in FIG. 13A to the one shown in FIG. 13B . The ball 213 is the free to be pushed down by the preloaded compressive spring 214 .The ball 213 is then moved downward and seated in the matching seating surface 223 , FIG. 12 , and thereby cause the flow passage 224 to the outlet 210 and thereby the flow of the said gaseous and/or liquid through the safety valve to be stopped.
[0075] In the embodiment of FIG. 12 , when the safety valve 200 is exposed to an ambient temperature at or above the predetermined threshold temperature for which it is designed, its shape memory alloy element 215 would change shape as was described above and causes the ball 213 to move to its positioning shown by dashed line and indicated by the numeral 225 as shown in FIG. 12 and cause the flow of the said gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped. Then when the ambient temperature falls below the said predetermined threshold temperature, the ball 213 still remains in its said positioning and the safety valve passage 224 for the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid substances remains closed. Such safety valve designs are highly useful in housing or commercial buildings or various plants and the like so that after fire and serious damage to the building structures and/or equipment or the like that makes the related buildings and/or plats or the like inoperable and sometimes abandoned for a period of time, the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid fuel or other chemicals substances is not accidentally resumed or even intentionally resumed by someone to cause further damage.
[0076] It will also appreciated by those skilled in the art that in place of using shape memory alloys in the design of the safety valve embodiments of FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 7 and 12 , different types of bimetal elements known in the art may be used instead. One advantage of using bimetal elements for the safety valve actuation and release mechanisms is that once the ambient and the internal temperature of the safety valve have dropped below the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature, then the bimetal element would automatically return to its original shape to open the valve. This is in contrast to one-way shape memory alloy actuation and release mechanisms that require to be deformed back to their original shape. A disadvantage of bimetal elements for the present safety valve applications is that their range of deformation is relatively small, and may thereby be more suitable for release mechanisms such as for the safety valve embodiment of FIG. 7 . In contrast, shape memory alloys can undergo very large deformations and are thereby more suitable for most other embodiments.
[0077] In the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 7 and 10 , the flow closing (cap) elements 106 , 156 and 187 , respectively, which are hinged to the structure of the safety valves are used to rotate from the valve open configuration to that of the valve closed configuration once the safety valve is externally (or internally for the case of embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 7 ) subjected to temperatures at or above a predetermined threshold temperature. Alternatively, the flow closing elements may be designed to slide (or undergo a combination of translational and rotational motion) rather rotate from their valve open to valve close positioning. An example of such a safety valve design is described below as the fifth embodiment 230 and is illustrated in the schematic of FIG. 14 .
[0078] Referring to FIG. 14 , there is shown a fifth embodiment 230 of the self-contained safety valve that is actuated by external heating. The external heating may be due to fire or general temperature elevation without direct or proximity to fire or other heat source. The safety valve 230 is constructed with a housing 231 , which may have been assembled from one or more than one part for ease of manufacture and assembly. The safety valve 230 is provided with at least one inlet 232 and at least one outlet 233 to accommodate inflow 234 and outflow 235 , respectively, of the passing gaseous and/or liquid substances of interest. The inlet 232 and the outlet 233 may be provided with internal or external thread (not shown) for attachment to the intended gaseous and/or liquid substance lines. Alternatively, incoming and outgoing lines may be attached to the inlet 232 and outlet 233 by soldering, welding or any other methods appropriate for the transiting gaseous and/or liquid substance.
[0079] The safety valve 230 is provided with a cap 236 , which can slide laterally indicated by the arrow 237 , such as in a guide provided in the interior of the housing 231 (not shown). In the position shown in FIG. 14 , the safety valve 230 is in its open state and the gaseous and/or liquid substances are thereby free to enter from the inlet 232 and exit from the outlet 233 as indicated by the arrows 234 and 235 , respectively.
[0080] The at least one shape memory alloy material based actuation device of the safety valve 230 consists of a bellow 238 , which is attached and sealed to the outside surface of the safety valve housing 231 . A cap element 239 is also attached to the opposite end of the bellow 238 and seals the interior volume of the said bellow from the environment outside the safety valve 230 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 14 . An actuating pin 240 , such as with a cap 241 is positioned inside the bellow 238 and is held biased by the lightly preloaded compressive spring 242 against the cap 239 as shown in FIG. 14 . At least one shape memory alloy posts 243 are positioned between the cap 239 of the bellow 238 and the outer surface of the safety valve housing 231 as shown in FIG. 10 , to prevent the bellow 238 which is preloaded in tension in the configuration shown in FIG. 10 from further pushing the actuating pin 240 into the safety valve housing 231 . The at least one shape memory alloy posts 243 can be fabricated as wires of appropriate cross-sectional areas and are either rigidly attached on at least one of their ends to either the cap 239 or to the outer surface of the safety valve housing 231 , for example by welding or brazing or soldering, and on the other end (if not similarly fixedly attached) held in a provided indentation (not shown) on the said surfaces. The tensile preloaded bellow 238 may also be provided with an added preloaded tensile spring (inside or outside the bellow 238 —not shown) to provide tensile biasing load for pushing the actuating pin 240 inside the housing 231 of the safety valve 230 when ambient temperature rises to or above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature as will be described later.
[0081] The actuating pin is attached to the cap 236 , such as by a hinge joint 244 as shown in FIG. 14 . Then when the temperature of the environment outside the safety valve 230 rises to or above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature, the at least one shape memory alloy post 243 which is trained to change its shape in response to rise in temperature above the threshold temperature would change its shape from that shown in FIG. 10 to that indicated by the numeral 245 or that indicated by the numeral 246 in the schematic of FIG. 15 . Once the at least one shape memory alloy post 243 , FIG. 14 , has changed shape to that of either 245 or 246 , FIG. 15 , then the tensile preloaded bellow (indicated by the numeral 247 in FIG. 15 ) and if present, together with the aforementioned tensile preloaded spring (not shown), would force the actuating pin 240 further into the housing 231 of the safety valve 230 , thereby translating the cap 236 laterally to the left as shown by the arrow 237 in FIG. 14 , placing it over the inlet surface 248 of the outlet passage 249 of the safety valve outlet 233 and closing the passage 249 to the through flow. In addition, an 0 -ring or the like sealing element 251 which is can be made out of a relatively elastic element, FIG. 14 , is also provided between the mating surfaces of the cap 237 and the inlet 248 to ensure sealing of the outlet passage 249 , FIGS. 14 and 15 to the extent necessary for the fluid passing through the valve and/or the application for the valve.
[0082] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that when both ends of the at least one shape memory alloy posts are attached to the outside surfaces of the safety valve housing 231 and the cap 239 of the bellow 238 as shown in the schematic of FIG. 14 , then when the posts are subjected to temperatures at or above the aforementioned predetermined temperature threshold, then the posts must have been trained to change shape to the configuration 245 shown in FIG. 15 . In such safety valve actuation mechanism designs, the shape changing shape memory alloy posts 238 will also generate a force that would tend to push the actuating pin 240 into the safety valve housing as was described earlier and thereby may be used to eliminate the need for relatively large tensile preloading of the bellow 238 and the need for the aforementioned added preloaded tensile spring (not shown).
[0083] In operation, one or more safety valves 230 are positioned along the desired gaseous and/or liquid line. The installed safety valves 230 are installed in their normally open configuration shown in FIG. 14 . Then if the temperature around a safety valve rises above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature setting of the safety valve, the heat causes the temperature of the at least one shape memory alloy posts 238 of the safety valve 230 to rise to or above the said predetermined threshold temperature and thereby change shape to the trained shape 245 (or 246 ) shown in FIG. 15 . The tensile preloaded bellow 238 (and the aforementioned tensile preloaded spring provided in or outside the bellow 238 —not shown) will then force the pin 240 into the safety valve housing 231 and as was described earlier force the cap 236 laterally over the outlet passage 249 as shown in FIG. 15 , and thereby cause the flow passage to the outlet 249 and thereby the flow of the said gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped.
[0084] In the embodiment of FIG. 14 , when the safety valve 230 is exposed to an ambient temperature above the predetermined threshold temperature for which it is designed, its at least one shape memory alloy posts change shape as described above and cause the cap 236 to move to its configuration shown in FIG. 15 and cause the flow of the gaseous and/or liquid to be stopped. Then when the ambient temperature falls below the predetermined threshold temperature, the cap 236 will still remain in its configuration of FIG. 15 and the safety valve passage 249 for the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid substances remains closed. This is the case since in general, shape memory alloy based elements, in this case the at least one post 243 , do not deform back from their deformed shapes ( 245 or 246 in FIG. 15 ) to their original shape 243 of FIG. 14 . Such safety valve designs are highly useful in housing or commercial buildings or various plants and the like so that after fire and serious damage to the building structures and/or equipment or the like that makes the related buildings and/or plants or the like inoperable and sometimes abandoned for a period of time, the flow of the line gaseous and/or liquid fuel or other chemicals substances is not accidentally resumed or even intentionally resumed by someone to cause further damage.
[0085] It will be, however, appreciated by those skilled in the art that in certain applications, it is desired that the safety valve 230 be manually or automatically resettable from its closed configuration shown in FIG. 15 back to its open configuration shown in FIG. 15 following exposure to temperatures at or above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperatures. Manual resetting to the safety valve open configuration can be done simply by manually pulling the cap 239 back away from the safety valve housing until the shape memory alloy of the shape 245 of FIG. 15 has been deformed back to its original shape 243 shown in FIG. 14 .
[0086] When the shape memory alloy element is designed to take the shape 246 as a result of an aforementioned high temperature event, then as the cap 239 is pulled back away from the safety valve housing, the at least one shape memory alloy posts 246 are deformed back to their original shape 243 shown in FIG. 14 . It will be, however appreciated by those skilled in the art that the at least one shape memory alloy posts 243 , FIG. 14 , may be provided with the previously described elastic (spring) elements (not shown) that would return the deformed shape memory alloy posts of the shape 246 , FIG. 15 , back to their original shape 243 once the ambient temperature has dropped below the said predetermined threshold temperature. In which case, the cap 239 must still be pulled back manually away from the safety valve housing to allow the shape memory alloy posts to return to their positioning shown in FIG. 14 and support the cap 239 .
[0087] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that if the at least one shape memory alloy posts 243 are fixedly attached to the cap 239 and the outside surface of the safety valve housing 231 , FIG. 14 , then upon exposure to ambient temperatures at or above the predetermined threshold temperature, the shape memory alloy posts 243 would change shape to that indicated by the numeral 245 in FIG. 15 . Then if the at least one shape memory alloy posts 243 are provided with the previously described elastic (spring) elements (not shown) that would return the deformed shape memory alloy posts of the shape 245 back to their original shape 243 as shown in FIG. 14 , then by providing appropriate level of tensile preloading in the bellow 238 and appropriately sizing and training the at least one shape memory allow posts 243 , once the ambient temperature has dropped below the predetermined threshold temperature, the at least one shape memory alloy posts would automatically pull the cap 239 to its original positioning shown in FIG. 14 . The flow closing cap 236 is thereby pulled back to its positioning shown in FIG. 14 , bringing the safety valve 230 to its open state. The resulting safety valve 230 is therefore provided with an automatic means of being reset following exposure to temperatures above the predetermined threshold temperatures once the ambient temperature drops below the threshold temperature.
[0088] It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above means to automatically reset safety valve 230 following exposure to temperatures above the predetermined threshold temperatures and once the ambient temperature drops below the said threshold temperature is possible by keeping the actuating pin 240 engaged with the flow closing cap 236 . It is therefore also appreciated by those skilled in the art that many other mechanisms may also be designed that operate in rotation or translation or their combination to move the flow closing element (cap 236 in FIG. 14 ) to achieve similar automatically resetting mechanisms.
[0089] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that since in the embodiments 180 and 230 of FIGS. 10 and 14 , respectively, the shape memory alloy elements are located outside of the valve housing, the safety valve embodiments are therefore capable of responding much more rapidly to rise in ambient temperature than those of the other embodiments. In many applications, such a fast acting characteristic is highly desirable for heat activated safety valves. In some applications, however, particularly where the valve could be subjected to short duration ambient temperatures above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature due to some local transient events, then it is highly desirable that the safety valves do not respond to relatively short duration and transient rise in ambient temperature. The embodiments 100 , 150 and 200 of FIGS. 1, 7 and 12 , respectively, provide such a characteristic since the external heat has to first heat the heat conducting elements (elements 116 , 164 , and 219 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1, 7 and 12 , respectively), before heating the indicated shape memory alloy elements to the predetermined shape change activation threshold temperature. It is also appreciated by those skilled in the art that by selecting materials with higher heat capacity and providing larger heat conducting elements 116 , 164 , and 219 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1, 7 and 12 , respectively, the amount of time required for the corresponding safety valves to respond to the rise in the ambient temperatures above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature can be increased (to configure a time delay).
[0090] It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that once the safety valves of the disclosed embodiments are closed due to exposure to temperatures at or above the aforementioned threshold temperatures, then the pressure exerted by the flowing gaseous and/or liquid substances would also assist in keeping the safety valves closed to the passing flow.
[0091] In the above description of the operation of the safety valve embodiments of FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 7, 12 and 14 , the shape memory alloy elements of the indicated safety valves are described as having been heated from some source external to the interior of the said safety valves through certain thermally highly conductive elements to cause the safety valve to close when the external temperature rises above the aforementioned predetermined threshold temperature. It will be, however, appreciated by those skilled in the art that the shape memory alloy elements may also be similarly heated and change shape by the gaseous and/or fluid fuel or other chemical substances that are flowing through the safety valve. It is therefore appreciated that the safety valves and other safety valve embodiments disclosed would function similarly when subjected to externally ambient temperatures above their predetermined design threshold temperatures as well as when the temperature of the passing gaseous and/or fluid substances rise above the said predetermined threshold temperature.
[0092] This is particularly useful for anti-scalding valves which would close the flow of fluid, such as hot water, when the water flowing through the valve is more than a predetermined temperature. Of course, in such applications, the highly conductive element (e.g., 116 ) may not be necessary. Furthermore, in such applications, if the valve is not assessable to return the same to an open configuration (e.g., is inside a closed wall), an automatic return mechanism (such as those described above) may be useful which returns the cap 106 to its first positioning as the temperature of the fluid passing there through returns to a safe temperature below the predetermined threshold temperature.
[0093] Also, more than one outlet may be provided, each with a separate cap and shape memory alloy actuator and each actuator can be configured to actuate at a different threshold temperature. For example, a first actuator may actuate at temperature T 1 , a second at T 2 , a third at T 3 and a fourth at T 4 , where T 4 is greater than T 3 , which is greater than T 2 , which is greater than T 1 . In such a configuration, the fluid flow, such as hot water will gradually decrease as the temperature of the fluid increases until the fluid reaches T 4 , at which point flow stops.
[0094] While there has been shown and described what are considered to be preferred embodiments 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.
|
A method for turning off fluid flow through a valve. The method includes: movably disposing a member in an interior of a housing between a first position in which an inlet and an outlet are in fluid communication with each other and a second position blocking the fluid flow; restraining the member in the first position when a fluid temperature in the interior or an ambient temperature outside the housing is below a threshold temperature; and releasing the restraint such that the member is capable of moving to the second position when the fluid temperature or the ambient temperature is above the threshold temperature; wherein the releasing comprises changing the shape of an actuator from a first shape restraining the member to a second shape releasing the restraint upon a change in the fluid temperature or the ambient temperature from below the threshold temperature to above the threshold temperature.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a variable low pass filter which is remotely controllable and more particularly to a chroma key soft edger.
In a chroma keying system, the red, green and blue video signals from a camera are received by a chroma keyer which in response to a particular color signal provides a relatively high amplitude keying signal which exceeds a given threshold level. When a special effects device receives this keying signal, the device causes an electronic switch to switch from one camera to a different camera for the duration of that keying signal. It has been found that if this keying signal switches the electronic switch too rapidly, the rapid change in video causes bearing and noise generating effects which are undesirable. Broadcasters and users of such equipment are requesting some form of more gradual switching from one camera to the other so as to prevent these beating and noise effects. Since this switch which is switching the cameras may be located at a point remote from the controller, it is also desirable to have the control signal processing means be remotely controlled in order for the operator in the studio control room to vary the switching time for special effects and for eliminating the beating noise effects. It is therefore desirable that the chroma control signal which is going to control the switcher have a variable rise time which is selectable from a remote location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, a remotely controllable low pass filter system is provided for selectively and remotely varying the rise time of a control signal such as used to control an analog switcher. The system includes a low pass filter and adjustable means for differentially summing the low pass filtered signal and an unfiltered signal for providing a peaking signal that contains only the high frequency components. The peaking signal and the low pass filtered signals are summed to provide the desired filtered control signal. The gain of the differential summing means is adjusted remotely to vary the peaking signal level to thereby control the rise time of the control signal.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the chroma keying system;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the analog switch in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the low pass filter in FIG. 1 according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a chroma keying system. The signals from camera 10 for example are encoded in encoder 11 and applied to terminal 15a of a switcher 15 of special effects device 18. The camera signals from another source camera 12 are applied via encoder 14 to another terminal 15b of switcher 15 of device 18. The signal at the switcher 15 is applied via switch arm 15c and terminal 15d to the output device 20. A chroma keyer 22 responsive to signals for example from camera 10 provides a keying signal at a selected color from camera 10. The keyer 22 is responsive to control voltages for example from remote unit 24 for selecting that particular chroma signal at which an output exceeds threshold and provides a signal to the special effects device 18. For a description of a particular remote controlled chroma keyer see applicants' application (RCA 72,885), entitled "Chroma Keying Selector System" filed on even date herewith. The switcher 15 in the special effects device 18 is responsive to signals via a low pass filter 16 according to the present invention for switching the signals from camera 10 to camera 12. The scene viewed by camera 10 for example may include a background which is of the particular chroma selected by the remote unit 24 in the chroma keyer 22 to cause the switch 15 to couple the signals from camera 12 when the scene scanned by camera 10 reaches the color of that background.
According to the present invention, a low pass filter 16 is responsive to the chroma key signal for providing a soft edger so as to cause the switch 15 to move to the position to couple the signals from camera 12 over a given time period determined by the low pass filter 16. By softening the edge of transitions from the signals from camera 10 to camera 12 and back, the beating and noise effects are eliminated. A variable D.C. control voltage from the remote control unit 24 to the low pass filter 16 provides an adjustable voltage to the low pass filter 16 to change the rise time characteristic of the keying signal applied to the analog switch 15. The switch 15 is not a simple toggle switch as represented in FIG. 1. The switch is an analog switching device in which the time period for switching from camera 10 to camera 12 is delayed in proportion to the rise time of the output of filter 16. The analog switch 15 is preferably operated such that the video from camera 10 is faded as the input of camera 12 is added in proportion to the rise time of the signal from filter 16. The analog switch 15 may be like that illustrated in FIG. 2 using 4-quadrant multipliers 17 and 18 and summer 19. The video (video 1) from camera 10 is applied to x input of multiplier 17 and the video (video 2) from camera 12 is applied to the x input of multiplier 18. The keying signal is applied to the Y input terminal of both multipliers 17 and 18. As the keying voltage rises for example the video from camera 10 falls and the video from camera 12 increases. The video is summed at the summer 19. Between switching positions video from both cameras is applied in proportion to the rise or fall time of the keying signal. At the midpoint of the rise time equal signal levels are provided from both cameras.
Referring to adjustable low pass filter 16 in FIG. 3, the chroma keying signals exceeding the threshold in the chroma keyer 22 are coupled via isolating emitter follower 31 to a low pass filter 33 and to a delay line 35. The output of the delay line 35 is such that the signal has full band width (not band width limited in the delay) and is delayed an amount equal to the delay from the low pass filter 33, which may be, for example, a 2-stage low pass active filter. The filter 33 provides a rise time of the signal that is selected to be the maximum desired rise time. A resistor divider network of equal valued resistors 37 and 39 is coupled between the outputs of low pass filter 33 and delay line 35. The junction of resistors 37 and 39 is coupled to the + input terminal of operational amplifier 41. The output of low pass filter 33 is also coupled to the -x input of a 4-quadrant multiplier 45. The output of delay line 35 is coupled to the +x terminal of multiplier 45. The -Y input of multiplier 34 is coupled to ground or a reference potential. The +Y input terminal of multiplier 45 is coupled to the remote unit 24. At the remote unit 24 is located a+ and -DC source of potential and the D.C. voltage to the +Y terminal is varied from + to -. The output from the multiplier 45 contains just the high frequency information only or the high frequency difference signal from the low pass filter 33 and the delay line 35. By varying the D.C. voltage from + to - to the +Y input of multiplier 45 the output level or the gain and the phase of the high frequency signal is varied. The signal from the output of multiplier 45 is inverted via inverter 47 and applied to the minus (-) input of operational amplifier 41. The high frequency adjustably varying peaking signal is added to the summed voltage (E1+E2/2) at the plus input terminal of operational amplifier 41 to form a keying control signal in which the rise and fall times vary symmetrically as a function of a remote D.C. control signal while the low frequency amplitude remains constant.
|
A remotely controlled chroma key soft edger is described for use with an analog switcher. The keying signal is a low passed filtered and differentially summed with substantially an unfiltered keying signal and the resultant high frequency components are summed with the low pass filtered signal. The gain of the peaking signal is remotely controlled to adjust the summed rise time of the keying signal.
| 7
|
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a brace member having an axial force member that is installed in a building structure and that absorbs the seismic energy at the time of earthquake, and a stiffening pipe that supplements the stiffness of the axial force member.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Hitherto, with respect to a buckling stiffening brace member having an axial force member that is installed in a building structure and that absorbs the seismic energy at the time of earthquake, and a stiffening pipe that stiffens the axial force member, in order to increase the seismic energy absorbed by the axial force member, inventions for preventing total buckling of the axial force member and thereby achieving stable compressive and tensile plastic deformation have been made.
[0003] For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a structural member that is formed by placing a steel pipe member outside a steel pipe member. The outer steel pipe member is formed by axially connecting several types of steel pipe members. End faces of the steel pipe members at axial ends are covered with end plates. Patent Literature 2 discloses a brace in which total buckling is prevented by filling a steel pipe member with mortar.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
[0004] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 06-346510
[0005] Patent Literature 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 07-229204
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
[0006] However, in the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the outer steel pipe members are welded to each other, the end plates are also fixed by welding to the steel pipe members, and therefore, work man-hours for welding are required. When the axial cross-sectional area of an axial force member made of steel pipe members is relatively small, there is a problem that the processing cost per brace does not decrease.
[0007] In the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 2, since the steel pipe stiffening buckling is filled with mortar, there is a problem that the weight per brace increases.
[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide such a buckling stiffening brace member that burdensome welding work can be eliminated, ready-made articles easily available from the market, such as a steel rod and a steel pipe, can be used as an axial force member and a stiffening member, and the axial force member and the stiffening member can be easily connected in a dry manner by threads.
Solution to Problem
[0009] In order to attain the above object, the present invention is characterized in that a brace member according to the present invention is configured as follows.
[0010] That is, a form of the brace member according to the present invention is characterized in that it includes an axial force member that forms a rod shape having a solid cross-section, that is installed between building structures by joints at both ends thereof, and that receives axial force, a stiffening pipe that forms a tubular shape, through which the axial force member is passed, and that supplements the stiffness of the axial force member, a retaining ring that is screwed to both an end of the stiffening pipe and the axial force member located inside it and that fixes the end of the stiffening pipe and the axial force member inside it to each other, and a sleeve that is interposed between an end of the stiffening pipe to which the retaining ring is not screwed and the axial force member located inside it, that is screwed on one of the outer periphery of the axial force member and the inner periphery of the stiffening pipe, and that forms a gap between itself and the other.
[0011] Another form of the brace member according to the present invention is characterized in that at an axial end of the retaining ring, an outward flange in contact with the end face of the stiffening pipe is formed integrally.
[0012] Still another form of the brace member according to the present invention is characterized in that the sleeve is screwed on the outer periphery of the axial force member, the gap is formed between the outer periphery of the sleeve and the stiffening pipe, and if the difference between the inner diameter of the stiffening pipe and the outer diameter of the sleeve, which is the gap, is denoted as d, and the axial length of the overlapping part between the stiffening pipe and the sleeve is denoted as L, d/L≦0.85°.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0013] Therefore, since a brace member to which the present invention is applied has the above-described configuration, the work man-hours for welding are not required, and therefore, the total manufacturing man-hours can be reduced, and the construction period can be shortened. As a result, an inexpensive brace can be provided according to the present invention.
[0014] Since the work of filling a stiffening pipe with mortar or the like is not required, the weight per brace can be made relatively small.
[0015] Since, at the time of manufacture of a brace, the axial force member and the stiffening pipe can be assembled in a dry manner, manufacture and management of a brace is easy.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a brace member to which the present invention is applied, with a longitudinally central part omitted.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the retaining ring of FIG. 1 .
[0018] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of a part of a male thread at one end of the axial force member of FIG. 1 , a part of a sleeve on the outer periphery thereof, and a part of a stiffening pipe on the outer periphery thereof.
[0019] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of a part of a male thread at one end of the axial force member of FIG. 1 , a part of a flanged retaining ring on the outer periphery thereof, and a part of the stiffening pipe on the outer periphery of the male thread.
[0020] FIG. 5 is a front view showing the whole of the brace member shown in FIG. 1 , and a state where this is set in a compressive and tensile testing machine.
[0021] FIG. 6 is a stress-strain diagram showing the test results of FIG. 5 .
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0022] Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.
[0023] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a brace member 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this diagram, in order to facilitate understanding of the structure of clevises, the clevises 6 and 7 at both left and right ends are rotated 90 degrees from each other about the central axis of an axial force member 2 . The ratio of the thickness to the length in the axial direction of this type of brace member 1 is small, that is, it is thin. Therefore, if the structure of the brace member is precisely shown in a diagram, such a diagram is difficult to understand. So, in FIG. 1 , the ratio of the thickness to the length in the axial direction is large. Therefore, the size relationship between parts is not limited to that shown.
[0024] In FIG. 1 , the brace member 1 has an axial force member 2 that is made of a steel rod having a solid cross-section, a stiffening pipe 3 that is made of a steel pipe disposed coaxially so as to cover the outer surface of the axial force member 2 , a retaining ring 4 that is screwed on the inner surface of one end of the stiffening pipe 3 , and a sleeve 5 that is located inside the other end of the stiffening pipe 3 and that is screwed on the outer periphery of the axial force member 2 .
[0025] On the outer periphery of the axial force member 2 , a right-hand thread 2 a is formed at the sleeve 5 side end of the steel rod, and a left-hand thread 2 b is formed at the retaining ring 4 side end. The right-hand thread 2 a and the left-hand thread 2 b are of opposite hand to each other. As long as both the ends are threads of opposite hand, either may be a right-hand thread. To both ends of the axial force member 2 , clevises 6 and 7 as joints for connecting this to a building structure are screwed.
[0026] A female thread (right-hand thread) is formed in the inner periphery of the retaining ring 4 side of the stiffening pipe 3 , and no thread is formed in the inner periphery of the sleeve 5 side. The retaining ring 4 is screwed on both the inner surface of the end of the stiffening pipe 3 and the outer surface of the axial force member 2 inside it, and fixes the end of the stiffening pipe 3 and the axial force member 2 inside it to each other. On the outer periphery of the clevis 7 side end of the retaining ring 4 , an outward flange 4 a is provided integrally, and one surface of the flange 4 a is in contact with one end face of the stiffening pipe 3 .
[0027] The sleeve 5 is also made of a steel pipe, and is interposed between the end of the stiffening pipe 3 to which the retaining ring 4 is not screwed and the axial force member 2 inside it. A female thread is formed in the inner surface and is screwed on the outer periphery of the axial force member 2 . The outer surface is merely a cylindrical surface and forms a gap 8 between itself and the stiffening pipe 3 . If the difference between the inner diameter of the stiffening pipe 3 and the outer diameter of the sleeve 5 , which is the gap 8 , is denoted as d, and the axial length of the overlapping part between the stiffening pipe 3 and the sleeve 5 is denoted as L, d/L≦0.85°. The reason why the gap 8 is shown as “d/2” in FIG. 1 is that gaps 8 are formed between the sleeve 5 and the stiffening pipe 3 , above and below the sleeve 5 in FIG. 1 , and the sum of the upper and lower gaps, that is, the difference in diameter is “d”, and therefore, when one of the gaps is indicated as shown, it is 1/2 of d.
[0028] Therefore, if the building structure is deformed at the time of earthquake and axial tension and compression force acts on the axial force member 2 , since the axial force member 2 is stiffened by the stiffening pipe 3 and therefore total buckling hardly occurs in such a range, tension and compression plastic deformation occurs in a wide range (the same as a long range in the axial direction) of the axial force member 2 , and seismic energy can be absorbed sufficiently.
[0029] The strength of the axial force member 2 is not particularly specified in this embodiment. Axial force members used as an aseismic brace generally have a yield strength of 100 N/mm 2 , and therefore, in this embodiment, it is preferable to use a material having about the same strength.
[0030] The fact that the value obtained by dividing the difference d between the inner diameter of the stiffening pipe 3 and the outer diameter of the sleeve 5 by the length L of the overlapping part between the sleeve 5 and the stiffening pipe 3 is 0.85° (that is, 0.0149 rad) or less has the following technical meaning.
[0031] The difference between the inner diameter of the stiffening pipe 3 and the outer diameter of the sleeve 5 means the maximum value of the gap 8 between the stiffening pipe 3 and the sleeve 5 . If for any reason bending occurs in the axial force member 2 , the maximum angle of the bending is limited to such a range that the sleeve 5 can incline throughout this gap 8 . If the above-mentioned gap is denoted as d, the length of the overlapping part between the sleeve 5 and the stiffening pipe 3 is denoted as L, and the maximum inclination angle is denoted as θ,
[0000] d/L =tan θ≈θ.
[0000] That is, when this θ is large, bending of the axial force member 2 is likely to occur. The results of experiments conducted by the present inventors show that if θ exceeds 0.85° (that is, 0.0149 rad), neck bending of the axial force member 2 is likely to occur. Therefore, in the present invention, θ is preferably 0.85° (that is, 0.0149 rad) or less.
[0032] The axial force member 2 , the retaining ring 4 , the sleeve 5 , and the stiffening pipe 3 of the brace member 1 can be assembled by threads, and the clevises 6 and 7 can also be attached by threads. The length adjustment can be easily changed by these threads, and therefore a construction error can also be eliminated. In particular, since the thread grooves at both ends of the axial force member 2 are of opposite hand as described above, the length adjustment is facilitated by the rotation of the axial force member 2 . It is a matter of course that the above-mentioned adjustment may be performed by rotating another member.
[0033] In particular, the axial force member 2 , the stiffening pipe 3 , and the sleeve 5 can be processed simply by threading a steel rod and steel pipes that are commercially available, and the same applies to the retaining ring. In addition to the fact that the material is easily available and can be easily processed, the above-mentioned assembling and attachment are performed in a dry manner as described above, and therefore the management of the brace member 1 is facilitated.
[0034] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a test specimen that was subjected to a test for confirming the performance of the brace member 1 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 . This test specimen is the same as the brace member 1 of FIG. 1 , and therefore, in FIG. 5 , the same component names and reference signs as those in FIG. 1 will be used.
[0035] Here, the axial force member 2 is made of a steel rod having an outer diameter of 44.2 mm, a length of 2300 mm, and a strength of 600 N/mm 2 class, the stiffening pipe 3 is made of a steel pipe having an outer diameter of 105.0 mm, a thickness of 18.0 mm, a length of 2073 mm, and a strength of 400 N/mm 2 class, and the retaining ring 4 has a strength of 490 N/mm 2 , has a steel pipe shape with a flange 4 a having an outer diameter of 105.0 mm, and has a female thread of M48 formed in the inner surface thereof, and a male thread of M75 formed on the outer surface thereof. The sleeve pipe 5 has a steel pipe shape having a strength of 490 N/mm 2 class, and has an outer diameter of 62.6 mm, and a length of 478 mm. The length L of the part overlapping with the stiffening pipe 3 is 428 mm. A female thread of M48 is formed in the inner surface. The strength of the clevises 6 and 7 is 880 N/mm 2 class.
[0036] From the above, the inner diameter of the stiffening pipe 3 is (105.0−2×18.0)=69.0 mm, and therefore, the difference d between the inner diameter of the stiffening pipe 3 and the outer diameter of the sleeve pipe 5 is (69.0−62.6)=6.4 mm. Thus, d/L was (6.4/428)=0.0149 rad, that is, 0.85°.
[0037] The procedure for assembling the brace member 1 is as follows. First, one end of the axial force member 2 is inserted and screwed into the sleeve 5 . Next, the retaining ring 4 is screwed to the inside of one end of the stiffening pipe 3 . Then, the axial force member 2 is inserted into the side of the stiffening pipe 3 to which the retaining ring 4 is not attached, with the side to which the sleeve 5 is not attached first. The axial force member 2 is screwed into and passed through the retaining ring 4 . Finally, the clevises 6 and 7 are screwed and fixed to both ends of the axial force member 2 .
[0038] FIG. 5( a ) also shows the situation of the test for confirming the performance of the brace member 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5( a ), the clevises 6 and 7 fixed to both ends of the axial force member 2 are coupled to a force-receiving jig 9 fixed to the floor and to a force-applying jig 12 fixed to a testing machine 11 supported on the ceiling with clevis pins 6 a and 7 a, respectively. Therefore, the testing machine 11 moves up and down repeatedly in a plane, and thereby axial tension and compression force acts on the axial force member 2 .
[0039] FIG. 5( b ) is a diagram showing the upper half of FIG. 5( a ) rotated 90 degrees about the central axis of the axial force member 2 in order to facilitate understanding of the coupling state between the clevis 6 at the top of the brace member 1 and the force-applying jig 12 .
[0040] FIG. 6 is a stress-strain diagram showing the results of a test for confirming the performance of the brace member 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, in a case where a predetermined displacement is applied in the vertical direction in FIG. 5 , and the displacement is changed one after another as will be described later. In FIG. 6 , the vertical axis shows stress generated in the axial force member 2 (calculated value obtained by dividing the load added by the testing machine by the cross section of the axial force member 2 ), and the compression direction is shown in the positive direction (upward direction). The horizontal axis shows measurement value obtained by dividing the amount of elongation of the distance between gauge mark A and gauge mark B provided on the clevises 6 and 7 by the original length, and the direction in which the compression strain increases is shown in the positive direction (rightward direction).
[0041] FIG. 6 shows the results concerning the test specimen (that is, the brace member 1 ). First, the force-applying jig 12 is moved downward in FIG. 5 by the operation of the testing machine 11 , and compressive force is applied to the axial force member 2 . Elastic deformation starts from the origin. After compressive yielding, plastic deformation progresses while it is being work-hardened very slightly. When a predetermined displacement C is reached, the force-applying jig 12 of the testing machine 11 moves upward in FIG. 5 , and tensile force is applied to the axial force member 2 . When a predetermined displacement D is reached, it returns toward a predetermined displacement E.
[0042] The force-applying jig 12 of the testing machine 11 moves downward in FIG. 5 , and therefore, compressive force is applied to the axial force member 2 , and plastic deformation progresses. When the predetermined displacement E is reached, the force-applying jig 12 of the testing machine 11 moves upward in FIG. 5 , and it returns toward a predetermined displacement F.
[0043] The force-applying jig 12 of the testing machine 11 moves repeatedly up and down, and therefore, the stress-strain diagram of the axial force member 2 shows hysteresis curves with a Bauschinger effect.
[0044] In this test, it withstood up to compressive/tensile deformation of 1.25% of the original length.
[0045] The above test results show that the number of times force is repeatedly applied to the axial force member 2 is large and sufficient energy is absorbed, and therefore the effect of the embodiment of the present invention is remarkable.
[0046] In the brace member 1 of FIG. 1 described above, the sleeve 5 is screwed on the outer periphery of the axial force member 2 , and a gap 8 is formed between the sleeve 5 and the stiffening pipe 3 . However, the gap 8 may be formed between the sleeve 5 and the axial force member 2 . That is, a gap 8 can be formed between the sleeve 5 and the axial force member 2 by screwing the sleeve 5 on the inner surface of the stiffening pipe 3 , and not forming thread grooves in the inner surface of the sleeve 5 and the outer surface part of the axial force member 2 covered by the sleeve 5 . In this case, the length of the part of the sleeve 5 located inside the stiffening pipe 3 corresponds to the length L of FIG. 1 . Therefore, when the clevis 6 side axial end face of the sleeve 5 is flush with the clevis 6 side axial end face of the stiffening pipe 3 , the length L in FIG. 1 corresponds to the length of the sleeve 5 . In such a case, the same effects as those of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 1 can be obtained.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0047] 1 brace member
[0048] 2 axial force member
[0049] 3 stiffening pipe
[0050] 4 retaining ring
[0051] 4 a flange
[0052] 5 sleeve
[0053] 6 , 7 joint (clevis)
[0054] 8 gap
[0055] 9 force-receiving jig
[0056] 11 testing machine
[0057] 12 force-applying jig
|
A buckling stiffening brace member eliminates welding time. Readily available components such as a steel rod and a steel pipe can be used as an axial force member and a stiffening member. The axial force member and the stiffening member can be easily connected in a dry manner by threads. A thread for screwing with a joint is formed at an end of an axial force member. At an end of a stiffening pipe that does not have a retaining ring, a sleeve for suppressing neck bending of the axial force member is joined to the outer surface of the axial force member. The axial force member and the stiffening pipe are joined together with the retaining ring therebetween by inserting an end of the axial force member that does not have the sleeve into the inner peripheral surface of the retaining ring and joining it to the retaining ring.
| 4
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an anaerobically curable sealing composition essentially comprising an acrylic ester or a methacrylic ester (hereinafter stated as a (meth)acrylic ester), having excellent anaerobic characteristics and outstanding storage stability.
An anaerobically curable sealing composition essentially comprising a (meth)acrylic ester is characterized in that the composition will be kept stable in liquid state as long as it remains in contact with air or oxygen, while rapidly curing under the exclusion of air or oxygen. Thus, the composition is widely used in all fields of industries as adhesives, loosening prevention materials for bolts and nuts, and leak-preventing materials.
As the above-mentioned anaerobically curable sealing compositions comprising a (meth)acrylic ester, compositions having a (meth)acrylic ester as a polymeric monomer and an organic peroxide as its main ingredients have been known in the art, such as in the Japanese Pat. Publication Nos. 35-2393, 38-3595, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,012 and also in the Japanese Pat. Publication No. 45-17080. In these compositions are used such organic peroxides as cumen hydroperoxide, di-alkyl peroxide, etc. These organic hydroperoxides are comparatively appropriate in that they provide to the obtained compositions anaerobic characteristics, but the cure accelerating agents and other components contained in the compositions containing a hydroperoxide have a disadvantage that they give rise to a decrease in adhesive force after a long storage and are deficient in storage stability.
The inventors of this invention have successfully found methods to obtain anaerobically curable compounds, which have greater adhesive force, compared with conventional anaerobically curable sealing compositions having a hydroperoxide or a di-alkyl peroxide as a polymerization initiator, and are excellent in storage stability, by way of using 3,6,6,9,9-penta-methyl-3-n-butyl-1,2,4,5-tetra-oxacyclonine (hereinafter called Composition (1)) among the peroxiketanol group, having the structural formula of ##STR1## as a polymerization initiator of the afore-mentioned anaerobically curable sealing compositions comprising of a (meth)acrylic ester.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the object of this invention is to provide an anaerobically curable sealing composition comprising a (meth)acrylic ester characterized in that it has excellent anaerobic characteristics and is excellent in storage stability.
According to this invention, this and other objects can be accomplished by using the afore-mentioned Composition(1) as a polymerization initiator in an anaerobically curable sealing composition having polymerizable monomers essentially comprising a (meth)acrylic ester and a polymerization initiator.
This and other objects and advantages of this invention become more apparent and fully understood from the hereinafter detailed description.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The (meth)acrylic ester polymerizable monomers to be used in this invention can be any kind of acrylic monomers, among which are included polyester poly-(meth)acrylate, polyolpoly(meth)acrylate, epoxypoly(meth)acrylate, reactive composition of acrylic ester or methacrylic ester, monoepoxide and acid anhydride, polyurethane-poly(meth)acrylate, poly(meth)acrylate of added alcohol of phenolic composition and oxide composition, composition to be designated by the general formula of M--G--OH (where, M represents acrylic ester or methacrylic ester residue, G represents glycol residue), mono(meth)acrylate having the general formula of ##STR2## (where, R 1 represents hydrogen or methyl radicals, R 2 is hydrogen, alkyl radical having from 1 to 9 carbon atoms, ##STR3##
In this invention, one kind or combination of more than two kinds of these (meth)acrylic esters can be used.
The above-mentioned Composition(1) to be used in this invention functions as a polymerization initiator. This composition can be obtained with ease in conventional methods by making ketone react with corresponding di-hydroperoxides. The amount of the Composition(1) to be used as a polymerization initiator in this invention is within the range of 0.05-20 parts, or preferably 0.1-10 parts by weight to 100 parts of one or more than two kinds of the (meth)acrylic esters. When the amount of the Composition(1) is 0.05 parts by weight or less, the composition to be obtained does not polymerize enough even under anaerobic conditions and therefore does not cure enough for practical use. On the contrary, when the amount of the Composition(1) exceeds 20 parts by weight, any proportional increase of anaerobic characteristics cannot be observed, and it is feared that the cured composition becomes inferior in physical properties, and also it is not economically desirable.
The composition of this invention can be obtained by adding the above-mentioned Composition(1) to the aforesaid polymerizable monomer comprising a (meth)acrylic ester, and by mixing the obtained mixture to obtain a homogeneous solution. The methods of adding the Composition(1) to the (meth)acrylic ester are not particularly limited, and one of the methods, for example, is to add the Composition(1) little by little to the polymerizable monomer, while the latter is being agitated, until the former becomes evenly mixed in the monomer to form a homogeneous solution.
In order to improve characteristics of the anaerobically curable sealing composition of this invention, known cure accelerators, polymerization inhibitors, stabilizers, agents to increase adhesives, thickeners, agents to provide thixotropic characteristics, plasticizers, coloring agents, etc. can be used, in addition to the afore-mentioned (meth)acrylic ester and the Composition(1). And further, organic hydroperoxides such as hydroperoxide and di-hydroperoxide can also be used when needed.
The thus obtained anaerobically curable sealing composition has excellent anaerobic characteristics and is excellent in storage stability.
The following examples are given by way of illustration but are not to be construed to limit the scope of the invention. In these examples, all the terms "part(s)" are part(s) by weight.
EXAMPLE 1
An anaerobically curable sealing composition was prepared by adding 5 parts by weight of the Composition(1) to 100 parts by weight of tri-methylol-propane-trimethacrylate of commercial grade, while the latter being agitated. The obtained composition was put in a polyethylene bottle to its half capacity and left standing at room temperature for more than one year. After this period the composition was still in liquid state. Several drops of the composition were applied onto the threaded parts of bolts and nuts, which were then tightened. As a result, the composition cured in 30 minutes at 25° C., to the extent that the bolts and nuts could not be turned back by fingers.
EXAMPLE 2
Compositions of various amounts of the Composition(1) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. They were applied to iron bolts and nuts having a diameter of 1.0 cm and a length of 1.5 cm, which were assembled and left standing at 25° C., and cure time was measured at intervals of every five minutes. When the assembled bolts and nuts become so tight that they cannot be returned by fingers, then the period between such a time and the time of assembly was designated as cure time. The obtained results are shown in Table I.
From Table I, it is apparent that cure time of each sample becomes substantially long and unsuitable for practical use when the amount of the Composition(1) is 0.05 parts or less. When the amount is 10 part or more, variation of cure time is not observed, but the samples A and B which have more than 20 parts showed small adhesion force, and the fixed bolt and nut could be loosened by fingers.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________Relation Between Amount of Composition(1) And timeSample No. (Amounts added)A B C D E F G H I J KTest No.(30) (25) (20) (18) (10) (5) (1) (0.5) (0.05) (0.01) (0.005)__________________________________________________________________________1 15 (min) 15 15 15 20 30 40 70 100 1800 Did not2 20 20 20 15 15 30 60 80 120 -- cure3 20 20 20 20 20 50 80 120 2200 even4 20 15 15 20 15 30 50 60 110 2200 after5 15 20 20 20 20 20 50 60 100 -- 50 daysAverage18 18 18 18 18 30 50 60 110 2000__________________________________________________________________________
EXAMPLE 3
As Table II shows, a composition(Sample N) having the Composition(1) and compositions (Samples L and M) having conventional organic peroxide in place of the Composition(1) were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. With these samples, adhesion forces were measured, using same grease-free bolts and nuts as used in Example 2, immediately after the preparation and after the accelerated storage stability test. The results of the tests are stated in Table II. In the "test immediately after preparation," the samples were coated on the threaded parts of grease-free bolts and nuts, which were assembled and left standing at room temperature for 24 hours, and then the return torque was measured. The accelerated storage stability test was conducted by subjecting 30 g each of the compositions in 50 g capacity polyethylene bottles, to 50° C. for 10 days. This acceleration is generally considered to be equal to the conditions of one year period at room temperature(25° C.). The obtained results are shown in Table II.
As is apparent from Table II, the composition having the Composition(1) shows greater return torque and better storage stability than the compositions (Samples L and M) having conventionally known organic hydroperoxides, immediately after the preparation and after storage. The differences become most substantial after storage.
Especially, the Samples L and M are remarkably poor in return torque after the accelerated storage stability test compared with the case of the composition (Sample N) of this invention.
TABLE II______________________________________Relations between Kinds of PolymerizationInitiators and Return Torque Sample Sample Sample L M N______________________________________Amount Trimethylol-propane tri- 50 50 50of com- methacrylatepositions Dioctilfutarete 50 50 50(parts) O--Sulfobenzoic imide 1 1 1 n-dodecyl mercaptan 0.5 0.5 0.5 Cumen Hydroperoxide 1 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di- 1 (t-butylperoxy)hexyne-3 Composition(1) 1Test Return torque immediately 80 60 100Results after preparation kg-cm Return torque after 20 20 90 accelerated storage stability test kg-cm Storage Stability Test, gelated gelated no gelation______________________________________
From the above-mentioned results, it has come to be known that the composition of this invention comprising a polymerizable monomer and the Composition(1) exhibits excellent storage stability which compositions having initiators of conventional organic hydroperoxides have not ever attained, and that it also maintains desirable anaerobic characteristics.
|
An anaerobically curable sealing composition comprising a polymerizable monomer (A) consisting of an acrylic ester or a methacrylic ester, and 3,6,6,9,9-pentamethyl-3-n-butyl-1,2,4,5-tetraoxacyclonine (B) as a polymerization initiator, characterized in that the amount of ratio of said (A) and (B) being:
(A) 99.95-80 parts by weight,
(B) 20-0.05 parts by weight,
whereby, providing to the composition better anaerobic characteristics and storage stability.
| 2
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims benefit from United States provisional application, serial number 60/243,963, which was filed Oct. 27, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Through the use of the OPTAx test system, analysis of combined motion and performance data provides an excellent method for distinguishing between normal children and those with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with anxiety disorder present with many of the same symptoms as those with ADHD. The OPTAx system, like other computer test systems, has difficulty in making a differential diagnosis between ADHD and anxiety disorder.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
We have invented a method for enhancing the differential diagnosis of ADHD versus anxiety disorder in a human patient undergoing testing for ADHD; the method involves, simultaneously with the conducting of ADHD testing, detecting and analyzing the heartbeat pattern in the subject. Increased sympathetic activity and/or decreased parasympathetic activity indicates a differential diagnosis of anxiety disorder.
The method of the invention allows the differentiation of anxiety disorders and attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, which is important so that the subject is not misdiagnosed. Treatment protocols for these conditions are different, and so it is crucial that the subject be accurately diagnosed for his or her specific condition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Anxiety manifests itself in heartbeat patterns, with anxious subjects exhibiting markedly increased sympathetic activity and decreased parasympathetic activity. To aid in the differentiation of ADHD versus anxiety disorder, simultaneously with the conducting of testing for ADHD, the heartbeat pattern of a subject is analyzed. Those subjects which exhibit increased sympathetic activity and/or decreased parasympathetic activity can be flagged for a more cautious interpretation of the ADHD test results.
In a preferred embodiment, testing for ADHD involves measuring movement and response to a visual stimulus of the subject. The heartbeat pattern is detected either with two or more sensors applied to the subject's torso to detect electrical signals emanating from the subject's heart, or by measuring light transmission of a single wavelength through the subject's body. Alternatively, a fluctuation in the ratio of light intensities at two different wavelengths, or ratio of infrared light of two different wavelengths may be measured in order to detect the heartbeat pattern. The light can be infrared light, or light of any other wavelength. The light can be transmitted through'the subject's finger, earlobe, or any other body region.
In addition, high levels of stress can occur in test-phobic subjects or in individuals under inordinate pressure. Such high levels of stress can also interfere with an accurate interpretation of ADHD test results. As stress can be inferred from heartbeat pattern tests in the same manner as anxiety is detected, those subjects experiencing stress also can be differentiated from those with ADHD by analyzing heartbeat patterns.
When the methods of the invention are used, those subjects displaying increased sympathetic activity or decreased parasympathetic activity during the testing for ADHD may be flagged for a more circumspect interpretation of the ADHD test results. These patients may also undergo further tests to confirm the correct diagnosis of ADHD or anxiety.
The system used to differentiate between ADHD and anxiety consists of five connected parts that interface with a main computer that also runs the attentional task and performs initial data analysis. The main computer administers the attentional task, for example, by displaying objects on a video screen, in response to which the subject responds by pressing specific keys on a keyboard. The computer records this information and uses it as part of the assessment of ADHD or anxiety. The five parts of the system that interface with the computer are as follows.
1. Two or more sensors that are applied to the subject's torso to detect electrical signals emanating from the heart. Alternatively, other types of sensors may be used for detecting the heartbeat of the subject. For example, the heartbeat may be detected by measuring the ratio of infrared light of two different wavelengths transmitted through the subject's finger.
2. One or more amplifiers for increasing the strength of the electrical signals from the heart.
3. One or more peak detectors to determine the times of occurrence of R-waves (heartbeat'data). Alternatively, the output signal from the sensors may be amplified and digitized directly, and the peak detection may be performed by a digital signal processing system interface board or by the computer software.
4. An interface unit that conveys the detected peaks to the computer for analysis.
5. A motion detection system, for example, one or more reflective markers placed on the subject, along with an infrared camera interfacing with the computer.
The computer, in addition to including the software required for running the ADHD test, contains software that performs processing (analysis) of the R-wave data. For example, the software may carry out Fourier analysis on the R-wave data, yielding the average power in several frequency bands over the duration of the test. For example, anxiety is associated with an increase in sympathetic activity, and a decrease in parasympathetic activity. An estimate of sympathetic activity is derived from the power in the low frequency (LF, 0.04-0.15 cycles/beat) band of heartbeat data, and parasympathetic from both the LF and high frequency (HF, 0.15-0.4 cycles/beat) bands. The LF/HF ratio, for example, provides an indication of the degree of the subject's level of anxiety. These heartbeat pattern data are correlated with the data from the attentional task test (e.g., key press and movement information) and used to generate a report which aids in the determination of a 'diagnosis of ADHD or anxiety.
Alternatively, the heartbeat data may be analyzed in other ways. For example, wavelet transforms, or other linear or nonlinear filters may be used instead of Fourier analysis. The times between R-waves may be used directly for report generation, rather than computing the power over various frequency bands. In addition, the average times of the occurrence of R-waves may be averaged over the entire duration of the test, or may be broken down into several smaller averaging times.
Furthermore, in an alternative to the software that performs the preliminary processing of the R-wave data, a specialized digital signal processing interface board which performs some or all of the preliminary data processing may be used.
One example of a system that provides diagnostic information for assessing the degree or presence of ADHD in subjects is the OPTAx system, described, for example, by Teicher et al. (J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 35: 334-342, 1996), incorporated herein by reference. This system includes a computer with a video screen and keyboard, an infrared camera and associated electronics, one or more infrared reflective markers placed on the subject, and a connection to the Internet, either through a direct link or through a telephone line via an Internet service provider. Shapes are displayed on the video screen, for which different responses are required of the subject. For example, the subject is instructed to press the space bar on the keyboard if an eight-pointed star is displayed at any position on the video screen, and to do nothing when a five pointed star appears on the screen. Whether the subject presses a key, as well the time it takes for the key to be pressed, are recorded and stored. In addition, the infrared camera determines the subject's movements throughout the test, by detecting the infrared reflective markers placed on the subject. At the end of the test, the recorded data (key press and movement information) are transmitted over the Internet connection to a central processing station, where a report is generated and transmitted back to the testing site.
|
The invention provides methods for enhancing the differential diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADHD) versus anxiety disorder in a human patient undergoing testing for ADHD.
| 0
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to control of a sheet making process, and more particularly to a method for coordinating operation of machine direction and cross direction actuators in a sheet-making machine.
BACKGROUND OF THF INVENTION
The control of sheet properties in a sheet-making machine is concerned with keeping the sheet properties as close to target values as possible. There are two sets of different actuators used for the control of the sheet properties. First, there are machine direction (MD) actuators that only affect the cross direction (CD) average of the sheet property. Each MD actuator can have different dynamic responses in the sheet properties. Second, there are CD actuators that are arrayed across the sheet in the CD. Each array of CD actuators can affect both the average and the CD shape of the sheet properties. CD actuators can have different dynamic responses and different spatial responses in the sheet properties. The problem of overall control of the sheet properties is highly multivariate: one CD actuator in a CD array affects adjacent CD zones in several sheet properties, and the average effect of a CD actuator array intended to control a particular sheet property can affect the average in several sheet properties which are also affected by several MD actuators. The problem is also one of very large scale. A typical control process can have several thousands of outputs (sheet property measurements) and several hundreds of inputs (actuator set points). The process is also difficult or impossible to control in certain spatial and intra actuator set directions.
Today in most conventional sheetmaking equipment, the control of sheet properties is separated into two control problems. First, the CD average is controlled only utilizing the MD actuators, not taking advantage of the CD actuators effect on the CD average of the sheet properties. Second, the CD actuators arrayed across the sheet only utilized to control the CD variation in around the average of the sheet properties. There are MD control schemes available today that utilizes model predictive control with explicit hard constraints handling for coordinating the MD actuators.
Optimal coordinated control of CD actuator arrays controlling one and multiple sheet properties using Model Predictive Control has been discussed in such articles as Backstrom J, Henderson B and Stewart C, “Identification and multivariable control of supercalenders” Control Systems 2002, June 2002, Stockholm Sweden and Backstrom J. U, Gheorghe C, Stewart G. E, Vyse R. N “Constrained model predictive control for cross directional multi-array processes”. Pulp & Paper Canada . T128 102:5 (2001).
The need for coordinating MD actuators and CD actuators was identified in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,604 issued Jul. 25, 2000. A proposed solution to the problem was also disclosed in the '604 patent involving a system of distributed localized intelligent controllers at the actuators that communicated with each other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To address the issues outlined above, the present invention provides a flexible large scale Multivariable Model Predictive Controller for coordinated MD and CD control that takes multiple arrays of sheet property measurements as inputs and generates multiple arrays of outputs (actuator set points). The arrays can be of any dimension. An MD array is considered as a 1×1 array. There can be any number of input and output arrays. The invention computes new optimally coordinated set points at evenly spaced control intervals. For each sheet property one can control the CD component only, the MD component only or both the MD and CD component. The inventions predicts the dynamic and spatial 2-dimensional response over a prediction horizon H p to future H c actuator set points where H c is the control horizon. The invention then computes the future optimal set points that bring the future predicted sheet properties as close to target as possible. The controller also takes the physical limitations on the actuators into account explicitly. The controller handles the two types of directional problems by avoiding issuing actuator set points in the difficult spatial and intra actuator set process directions. This ensures closed loop 2-dimensional robust stability.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for coordinated control of machine direction MD and cross direction CD actuators in a sheetmaking machine for manufacturing a sheet of material comprising the steps of:
measuring a plurality of sheet properties at regular intervals to collect sheet measurement data;
manipulating the sheet measurement data to establish a plurality of sheet property measurement arrays;
processing the sheet property measurement arrays to establish a one dimensional common resolution measurement array
generating an array of the estimated current internal state of the sheet manufacturing process;
establishing a future sheet property target array;
generating an array of future predictions of sheet properties using the array of the estimated current internal state of the sheet manufacturing process and a sheet machine process model; and
inputting the array of future predictions of sheet properties, the future sheet property target array, and an array of previous actuator set points into an object function solvable to yield an array of optimal changes in the current actuator set points for coordinated MD and CD control of the sheet making process.
The present invention also provides a process for coordinated control of machine direction MD and cross direction CD actuators in a sheetmaking machine for manufacturing a sheet of material comprising the steps of:
measuring a plurality of sheet properties at regular intervals to collect sheet measurement data;
manipulating the sheet measurement data to establish a plurality of sheet property measurement arrays;
mapping the sheet property measurement arrays to a common resolution;
concatenating the common resolution sheet property measurement arrays into one larger one-dimensional common resolution measurement array;
generating an array of the estimated current internal state of the sheet manufacturing process by inputting the common resolution measurement array and an array of past changes in actuator set point to a sheet machine process model state observer;
concatenating a plurality of future sheet property target arrays into one target array;
generating an array of future predictions of sheet properties using the array of the estimated current internal state of the sheet manufacturing process and the sheet machine process model;
inputting the array of future predictions of sheet properties, the target array, object function weights, an array of the last actuator set points, and hard constraints into an object function; and
solving the object function to yield an array of optimal changes in the current actuator set points for coordinated MD and CD control of the sheet making process.
The present invention acts to optimally manipulate and coordinate the CD actuator arrays and the MD actuators in order to minimize the MD and CD variation in the sheet properties.
The invention optimally coordinates the interaction between MD actuator and CD actuator arrays. The invention further has a general weighting function in the objective function for expressing the cost of moving in small spatial gain directions. The invention further has an explicit weighting function for expressing the cost of moving in small intra actuator set directions. The invention further includes hard constraint specifying an allowable range for CD actuator array set point averages. The invention can be set up to control CD only, MD only or both the CD and MD components of a sheet property.
Preferably, the process of the invention uses one centralized controller rather than multiple distributed controllers.
The invention takes hard actuator constraints explicitly into account.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Aspects of the present invention are illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a typical sheet making machine operable according to the process of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the process steps of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a typical paper machine 12 as an example of a sheet-making machine controllable according to the process of the present invention. Machine direction MD is defined as the direction 20 in which the sheet is being conveyed through the sheet-making machine as the sheet is being manufactured. Cross direction CD is the direction 22 perpendicular to MD. The overall manufacturing process of a paper sheet according to the illustrated paper machine initially involves wood pulp being fed into the head box 1 at the wet end 14 of the machine. Head box 1 acts to thinly distribute the pulp across the width of the paper machine onto a moving wire 16 . In the remainder of the paper machine 12 , the paper is formed by water removal as the paper sheet under manufacture is conveyed through series of rollers that apply heat and pressure to the sheet. The finished paper sheet is finally wound up on the storage reel 11 at the dry end 18 of the machine.
In order to control the papermaking process, the sheet properties must be constantly measured and the paper machine adjusted to ensure sheet quality. This control is generally achieved by measuring sheet properties at various stages in the manufacturing process, and using this measured information to adjust actuators within the paper machine to compensate for any variations in the sheet properties from a desired target. In the paper machine 12 of FIG. 1, two scanning measurement devices 6 and 10 are used to provide arrays of measurements representing a CD profile of the sheet properties. New CD profiles are obtained at even scan or sampling intervals, which typically range from 10 to 30 seconds. Examples of typical measurement profiles are weight (of dry fibres), moisture, caliper (thickness), gloss and smoothness. The measurement arrays (CD profiles) can have different sizes and typically range from 600 to 2000 elements.
The process of the present invention is preferably implemented as a software application in a Quality Control System (QCS) computer 25 . The QCS provides a range of system services that the process of the present invention makes use of. For example, a main system service provided by the QCS is communication interfaces to the measurement devices and the actuators. In FIG. 1, the communication interfaces includes a LAN-like network 26 to interconnect the actuators and the sensors. Another main system service is Human Machine interfaces (HMIs) to the invention. Measurement devices such as scanners or fixed arrays of sensors provide measurements of the sheet properties across the width of the machine. The measurement devices typically have an onboard computer that performs signal processing and provides a communication interface to the QCS computer. There are two types of actuators. First, machine direction (MD) actuators that only affect the whole width of the-sheet, i.e., changing the average value of a sheet property. Second, there are cross direction CD actuator beams that are arrays of actuators that span the whole with of the machine. The CD actuator beams affect both the average of the sheet property and the CD shape of the sheet property. The actuators are typically intelligent with an onboard computer that performs the regulatory control plus communicates with adjacent actuators and a QCS gateway. Such an arrangement is described generally in U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,175 to Spinner et al., entitled “Distributed Intelligence actuator controller with peer-to-peer actuator communication”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
An example of an MD actuator in the paper machine of FIG. 1 is the thick stock valve 2 at head box 1 , which controls the consistency of the incoming pulp and subsequently affects the MD weight and MD moisture of the paper sheet under manufacture. Another MD actuator shown is the dryer section steam flow valve 8 , which regulates the heat provided by the dryer section rolls and subsequently affects the MD moisture and MD caliper of the sheet.
An example of a CD actuator array extending in the cross direction of paper machine 12 in FIG. 1 is the array of slice actuators 3 mounted on head box 1 which act to regulate the area of the head box opening and subsequently affect the CD weight, moisture and caliper of the sheet. Slice actuators 3 can also affect MD weight and moisture if the velocity of pulp flow is maintained constant. CD steam actuators 4 apply steam to the sheet and affect MD and CD moisture and CD caliper. If the CD steam actuator beam is located in the calender stack it will also affect MD and CD gloss and smoothness. CD rewet actuators 5 and 7 apply a fine spray of water to the sheet and affect MD and CD moisture and CD caliper. If the CD rewet actuator is located just prior to a calender stack, the rewet actuators could also affect MD and CD gloss and smoothness. The final CD actuator array shown in FIG. 1 is the induction-heating beam 9 in the calender stack. The induction-heating beam, affects CD caliper, MD and CD gloss and smoothness.
The CD actuators in various arrays can be non-uniformly spaced and typically range from 30 to 200 elements.
The process of the present invention involves taking all the measurement arrays of the sheet properties and optimally computing actuator set points for all MD actuators and CD actuators taking the effect each actuator has on each sheet property into account.
FIG. 2 shows a closed loop block diagram of the process of the invention incorporated into a paper machine process. The process of the present invention is defined with the boundary marked with dashed line 30 . The paper machine control process is indicated schematically at 31 .
Initially, at least one sheet property measurement array is provided as an input array to the process of the present invention. In the block diagram of FIG. 2, three sheet property arrays y 1 (k), y 2 (k) and y 3 (k), representing, for example, weight, moisture and caliper, are provided as input arrays at step 35 . k denotes the current sampling instant. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that number of sheet property arrays being input to the process of the present invention is dependent only on the sheet properties being measured and controlled.
Each sheet property measurement array can have different dimensions. The sheet property measurement arrays are first typically filtered at step 36 with temporal filters F i to remove noise and uncontrollable MD variations in the sheet properties using known filtering techniques. Since the temporal filtering is not part of the invention it can be considered as another QCS system service. The filtered sheet property measurement arrays are the inputs to a Common Resolution Mapping Component 39 of the invention, which will be described below.
The input arrays are first mapped to a common resolution N yc at step 38 . The common resolution should preferably be greater than three times the highest actuator resolution in order to obtain an accurate two-dimensional process model. The Common Resolution Mapping component 39 ensures that no aliased measurement information is present in the resulting common resolution arrays y fl (k), y f2 (k) and y f3 (k).
The common resolution measurement arrays are then concatenated into a one dimensional array y f (k) of dimension 1×N yc at step 40 . The concatenated common resolution measurement array y f (k) and an array of past changes in actuator set points Δu d (k) are then sent to the State Observer Component 42 . The State Observer. Component 42 generates an array x(k) that represents an estimated current internal state of the paper machine process based on the concatenated measurement array y f (k) and the array of past changes in actuator set points Δu d (k).
Each sheet property measurement array is associated with a future sheet property target array y 1ref (k+j), y 2ref (k+j) and y 3ref (k+j), respectively. The future target arrays are provided as a QCS system service based on information provided by the paper machine operator. j>0 represents future sampling instances. Similar to the common resolution measurement arrays of sheet properties, the future sheet property target arrays are concatenated into one larger target array y ref (k+j) at step 44 .
The Sheet Property Component Selector Module 46 allows the user to specify if the controller of the present invention should control both the CD and MD component of a sheet property, the CD component only or the MD component only. The Sheet Property Component Selector Module 46 permits modification of the target array y ref (k+j) and the common resolution measurement array y f (k) to achieve the desired mode.
The estimated current state array x(k), the concatenated future sheet property target array y ref (k) and the array of past changes in actuator set points Δu d (k) array are used as inputs to the CDMD-MPC Core module 48 . A model of the paper machine process 50 and object function weights and hard constraints 52 also serve as inputs to CDMD-MPC core module 48 . Based on this information, the CDMD-MPC core module 48 generates optimal coordinated set points to bring all sheet properties as close to their targets as possible given the physical limitations (hard constraints) of the actuators.
The calculation of optimal coordinated set points is achieved by the following sub functions:
Based on the estimated current state current internal state array x(k) and the process model, the CDMDMPC Prediction Module generates future predictions of the sheet properties y p (k+j) where j>0 represents future sampling instances. The paper machine process model is preferably represented in the following state space form (A,B,C,N d );
x ( k+ 1)= Ax ( k )+ BΔu ( k−N d ) (1)
y ( k )= Cx ( k )
where k is the sampling instances, A is the state transition matrix containing the dynamic temporal information of the process, B is the state input matrix containing the static spatial information of the process, C is the state output matrix, and N d is the process transport delay in samples. The paper machine process model can alternatively be represented in other forms such as an impulse response model, a step response model or a transfer function model. The paper machine process model is preferably obtained using an automated tool for identifying 2 dimensional process models. Such an automated tool is discussed in the reference by Gorinevsky D., Heaven E. M., Gheorghe C, “High performance identification of cross-directional processes” Control systems 1998, Povoro, Finland, September 1998, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The future predictions of the sheet properties y p (k+j) is now passed onto to a QP Formulation Module together with the future target arrays y ref (k+j), object function weights Q i , the last actuator set points u(k−1), the hard constraints and an object function J(t). The object function J(t) is preferably of the form: min Δ u J ( t ) = min Δ u ∑ j = N d + 1 H p e p T ( k + j ) Q 1 e p ( k + j ) + ∑ i = N d + 1 H c - 1 Δ u T ( k + i ) Q 2 Δ u ( k + i ) + u T ( k + i ) M T Q 3 Mu ( k + i ) + [ u ( k + i ) - u ref ] T Q 4 [ u ( k + i ) - u ref ] + u T ( k + i ) S T Q 5 Su ( k + i ) ( 2 )
Subject to: AΔu≦b. e(k+j)=y ref (k+j)−y p (k+j) are the future predicted errors in the sheet properties. Q 1 is a weighting matrix specifying the relative importance between different sheet properties and different CD locations of the sheet. With Q 1 , one can, for example, specify that moisture is more important than weight and that the centre of the sheet is more important than the edges of the sheet. Q 2 is a weighting matrix specifying the cost of large changes in the actuator set points between two consecutive sample instances. M is a matrix that together with a weighting matrix Q 3 allow the user to specify the cost for different spatial directions in the actuator set point profiles. A and b are the constraint matrices specifying the hard constraints. Spatial low gain directions needs to be assigned a high cost in order to ensure spatial robust stability of the closed loop system. The low-gain directions correspond to short spatial wavelengths as described in the reference by Stewart G E, Backstrom J. U, Baker P, Gheorghe C and Vyse R. N. Controllability in cross-directional processes: Practical rules for analysis and design. In 87th Annual Meeting, PAPTAC, Montreal, PQ, February 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Q 4 is a weighting matrix specifying the cost of actuator set points deviating from reference or target set points. For an array of CD actuators, it is common to have an associate actuator set point target from either an actuator energy consumption point of view or a sheet-making machine runnability point of view. S is a matrix that together with the weighting matrix Q 5 allow the user to specify the cost of moving the CD actuator arrays and the MD actuators in certain intra actuator set directions. One has to assign a high cost for moving in low intra actuator set gain directions in order to ensure robust stability. The phenomena of intra actuator set directionality for a certain sheet making process is discussed in the reference by Backstrom J, Henderson B and Stewart C, “Identification and multivariable control of supercalenders” Control Systems 2002, June 2002, Stockholm Sweden., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Hard constraints that are taken into account in the process of the present invention are:
1. Actuators that are not under control of the invention, e.g., under operator control or failed, must not be moved to the controller.
2. Actuator set points must be within their physical high and low limit.
3. First and second order bend-limits (only applicable to CD actuator beams).
4. Maintain actuator set point average at a certain limit or within a specified range (only applicable to CD actuator arrays).
5. Maximum change in actuator set points.
The QP Formulation Module takes these inputs and formulates a Quadratic Program in standard form: 1 2 Δ u ( k ) T ΦΔ u ( k ) + φΔ u ( k ) , Φ = Φ T ≥ 0 ( 3 ) AΔu ( t )≦ b
Here Φ is the Hessian matrix, φ the Jacobian matrix. A and b are the constraint matrices.
The Quadratic Program in Equation (3) is solved with a highly customized QP solver as discussed in the reference to Bartlett R. A, Biegler L. T., Backstrom J, Gopal V, “Quadratic programming algorithms for large-scale model predictive control” Journal of Process Control, 12 (2002) 775-795. The solution to the Quadratic Program yields an array of the optimal changes in actuator set points Δu(t) for coordinated MD and CD control of the sheet making process.
The array of optimal changes in actuator set points Δu(t) is then added at step 54 to the last array of actuator set points Δu(t−1) to form u(t), which is then split up at step 56 into set points u i (t) for delivery to the different MD actuators and CD actuator arrays in the paper machine process.
Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of example for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practised within the scope of the appended claims.
|
A process for coordinated control of machine direction MD and cross direction CD actuators in a sheetmaking machine for manufacturing a sheet of material is disclosed. The process involves measuring a plurality of sheet properties at regular intervals to collect sheet measurement data. The sheet measurement data is manipulated to establish a plurality of sheet property measurement arrays, which are then mapped to a common resolution. The common resolution sheet property measurement arrays are concatenated into one larger one-dimensional common resolution measurement array. The common resolution measurement array and an array of past changes in actuator set point are used as inputs to a paper machine process model state observer to generate the estimated current internal state of the sheet manufacturing process. A plurality of future-sheet property target arrays are concatenated into one target array. The array of the estimated current internal state of the web manufacturing process and the paper machine process model are employed to generate an array of future predictions of sheet properties. The array of future predictions of sheet properties, the target array, object function weights, the last actuator set points, and hard constraints are inputted into an object function which is solved to yield optimal changes in the actuator set points for coordinated MD and CD control of the sheet making process.
| 3
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagnostic apparatus for a valve timing control system, particularly for a valve timing control system in which a rotational phase between a crankshaft and a camshaft of an internal combustion engine is designed so as to change.
2. Discussion about Prior Arts
In recent years, an engine incorporating a valve timing control system in which a rotational phase between a crankshaft and a camshaft of the engine is adjustable, has been put into practical use. Generally, the valve timing control system has a variable valve timing mechanism for continuously varying at least either of an intake valve timing and an exhaust valve timing.
Since the valve timing is one of very important engine parameters, the valve timing control system needs a diagnostic apparatus in case of failures. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Toku-Kai-2001-20798 discloses a technique in which frequency of misfires is monitored for every operating area and in case where the frequency of misfires is high only at a low speed and low load operating area, it is judged that the high speed cam on the exhaust side is stuck, and in case where the frequency of misfires is high at low speed and low load operating areas and at intermediate speed and intermediate load operating areas, it is judged that the high speed cam on the intake side is stuck.
However, according to the technology wherein the frequency of misfires is calculated for every operating area of the engine as described in Toku-Kai-2001-20798, a burden of the calculation of the frequency on the computer increases and has such adverse effects as delays in judgments, detection errors and the like. Further, since the misfire judgments are made only at low speed and low load operating areas and at intermediate speed and intermediate load, there is a disadvantage that the range of diagnoses is restricted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a diagnostic apparatus for a valve timing control system capable of enlarging the range of diagnoses and swiftly, securely detecting failures of the valve timing control system.
A diagnostic apparatus of a valve timing control system in which a valve timing is variably controlled by changing a rotational phase between a crankshaft and a camshaft of an engine, comprises means for detecting a fluctuation of engine speeds of the engine following a change of engine operating conditions and for calculating a diagnosis value based on the fluctuation; and means for comparing the diagnosis value with a preestablished threshold value and for judging that a failure occurs in the valve timing control system, in case where the diagnosis value exceeds the threshold value.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration showing an engine incorporating a variable valve timing mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a diagnosis routine according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a diagnosis routine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1 , first an overall construction of an engine incorporating a variable valve timing mechanism will be described. Reference numeral 1 denotes an engine, in this example, a horizontally opposed four cylinder engine having a cylinder block 1 a divided into a left (right side of the drawing) and right (left side of the drawing) bank around a crankshaft 1 b . A cylinder head 2 is mounted on the left and right banks of the cylinder block 1 a , respectively. The respective cylinder heads 2 , 2 have a set of an intake port 2 a and an exhaust port 2 b formed per each cylinder.
The intake port 2 a of the respective cylinder heads 2 , 2 communicates with an intake manifold 3 on the upstream side. The intake manifold 3 has an air chamber 4 in such a manner as integrating intake passages of the respective cylinders. Further, the air chamber 4 communicates with a throttle chamber 5 on the upstream side. A throttle valve 5 a interlocking with an accelerator pedal (not shown) is disposed in the throttle chamber 5 and an air cleaner 7 is disposed on an intake pipe 6 upstream of the throttle chamber 5 . Further, a chamber 8 is disposed on the intake pipe 6 upstream of the air cleaner 7 .
Further, the intake pipe 6 is furnished with a bypass passage 9 in a manner bypassing the throttle valve 5 a and an idle speed control valve 10 is interposed on the bypass passage 9 . The idle speed control valve 10 is for controlling the idle speed by adjusting the amount of bypass air flowing through the bypass passage 9 .
Further, a fuel injector 11 is disposed directly upstream of the intake port 2 a of the respective cylinders and a spark plug 12 is disposed in the respective cylinders with its electrode exposed to a combustion chamber. The respective spark plugs 12 are connected with an ignitor built-in type ignition coil 13 .
Farther, the respective exhaust ports 2 b of the cylinder head 2 are connected with an exhaust manifold 14 and an exhaust pipe 15 is connected with a bifurcated portion of the exhaust manifold 14 . Further, a catalytic converter 16 and a muffler 17 are interposed on the exhaust pipe 15 in this order, respectively.
The respective cylinder heads 2 of the left and right banks have an intake camshaft 19 and an exhaust camshaft 20 therein. The rotation of the crankshaft 1 b is transmitted to the intake camshafts 19 , 19 and the exhaust camshafts 20 , 20 of the left and right banks with 2:1 rotation ratio through a crank pulley 21 secured to the crankshaft 1 b , a timing belt 22 , left and right intake cam pulleys 23 , 23 and left and right exhaust cam pulleys 24 , 24 , respectively. Thus transmitted rotation of the camshafts 19 , 20 gives the opening and closing motions to an intake valve 25 and an exhaust valve 26 through an intake cam (not shown) provided on the intake camshaft 19 and an exhaust cam (not shown) provided on the exhaust camshaft 20 , respectively.
A hydraulically operated variable valve timing mechanism 27 in which a rotational phase (displacement angle) of the intake camshaft 19 to the crankshaft 1 b is continuously varied by the relative rotation between the intake cam pulley 23 and the intake camshaft 19 , is disposed between the intake cam shaft 19 and the intake cam pulley 23 of the respective banks. In this embodiment, since the variable valve timing mechanism 27 is incorporated only on the intake camshaft 19 , the intake valve 25 opens and closes at variable valve timings according to operating conditions of the engine 1 with respect to the fixed valve timing of the exhaust valve 26 .
Further, a flow control valve 28 for adjusting the pressure of working fluid supplied by a hydraulic pump (not shown) is equipped with the variable valve timing mechanism 27 . The flow control valve 28 is for example a spool valve duty-controlled by an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as “ECU”) 50 constituted by a micro-computer and the like. The spool valve has a spool traveling in an axial direction of the flow control valve 28 for changing over respective ports communicating with an advance chamber (hydraulic chamber for advancing valve timing) and a retard chamber (hydraulic chamber for retarding valve timing) of the variable valve timing mechanism 27 and for adjusting hydraulic pressure fed to those advance and retard chambers. The detailed construction of the variable valve timing mechanism 27 is described in Japanese Patent Application No. Toku-Kai 2000-97096 by the inventor of the present invention.
Describing sensors equipped with the engine 1 , an air flow sensor 30 using a hot wire or a hot film is interposed on the intake pipe 6 directly downstream of the air cleaner 7 . Further, a throttle opening angle sensor 31 is interlocked with a throttle valve 5 a disposed in a throttle chamber 5 . Further, an oil temperature sensor 32 is disposed in an oil pan 1 c of the engine 1 and a water temperature sensor 34 is disposed in a water jacket 33 communicating between the left and right banks of the cylinder block 1 a . Further, an oxygen sensor 35 is disposed upstream of the catalytic converter 16 .
Further, a crank rotor 36 is mounted on the crankshaft 1 b of the engine 1 and a crank angle sensor 37 is attached to the cylinder block 1 a opposite to protrusions provided on the outer periphery surface of the crank rotor 36 . Furthers a cylinder identifying sensor 38 is attached to the cylinder head 2 (in this embodiment left bank) opposite to protrusions provided on the rear surface of the intake cam pulley 23 which rotates at a rotation ratio 1/2 of the crankshaft 1 b.
Output signals of those sensors are inputted to the ECU 50 and are processed therein. The ECU calculates miscellaneous control parameters for the fuel injector 11 , the ignitor built in the ignition coil 13 , the idle speed control valve 10 , the flow control valve 28 of the variable valve timing mechanism 27 and the like. Based on these control parameters, various engine controls such as fuel injection control, ignition timing control, idle speed control, valve timing control and the like are performed.
First, describing the valve timing control, a target valve timing, namely, a control target value of the phase difference between the rotation angles of the crankshaft 1 b and the intake cam shaft 19 , is established on the basis of the engine operating conditions, for example, engine speeds and engine loads. Then, an actual valve timing, namely, a phase difference between the actual rotation angles of the crankshaft 1 b and the intake cam shaft 19 , is calculated based on crank pulses indicative of the crank angle outputted from the crank angle sensor 37 and cam position pulses indicative of the cam position outputted from a cam position sensor 40 . Then, the variable valve timing mechanism 27 is feedback-controlled through the flow control valve 28 so that the actual valve timing agrees with the target valve timing.
Further, the ECU 50 makes periodical diagnoses of the valve timing control system including the variable valve timing mechanism 27 , the flow control valve 28 and its control devise. Objects of diagnosis include exacerbated responseability due to the defective sliding performance of miscellaneous sliding sections, stickings due to jams of foreign matters and the like.
That is, when failures such as exacerbated responseability and stickings occur in the valve timing control, incomplete combustions including misfires are generated by the deviation of valve timings of the respective cylinders from an optimum condition. As a result, the engine speed has fluctuations. Accordingly, the diagnosis of the valve timing control system is to detect the deviation from the optimum condition by monitoring such fluctuations of engine speeds.
The diagnosis of the valve timing control system will be described by reference to a flowchart of a diagnostic routine as illustrated in FIG. 2 .
This diagnostic routine is executed every specified time or every specified interval. At a step S 101 , it is judged whether or not a misfire diagnosis condition, for example, a condition that any fuel cut is not executed, is satisfied in the present operating condition.
In case where the misfire diagnosis condition is not satisfied, the program leaves the routine without carrying out the diagnosis of the valve timing control system. In case where the misfire diagnosis condition is satisfied, the program goes to a step S 102 where it is judged whether or not a valve timing diagnosis condition is satisfied. The valve timing diagnosis condition includes, for example, a state in which the engine speed Ne or the intake manifold pressure PM is stable.
As a result, in case where the valve timing diagnosis condition is not satisfied, the program leaves the diagnostic routine without carrying out the diagnosis of the valve timing control system. On the other hand, in case where the valve timing diagnosis condition is satisfied, the program goes to the step S 102 to a step S 103 where it is judged whether or not fluctuations of engine speeds are within a specified range.
According to the valve timing control of the present invention, for example, in an idling condition (low load low speed condition), the opening and closing timing of the intake valve 25 is set to a most retarded angle, or advance angle=0, to realize the stability of the idle speed by getting rid of a valve overlap of the exhaust valve 26 and the intake valve 25 .
Further, in a mid-load area, the target valve timing is established to a small to intermediate advance angle and the opening and closing timing of the intake valve 25 is controlled on the advance side. As a result, the valve overlap of the exhaust valve 26 and the intake valve 25 increases to enhance fuel economy. Further, in a high load area, the target valve timing is established to a largest advance and the opening and closing timing of the intake valve 25 is controlled on a further advance side. As a result, the valve overlap of the exhaust valve 26 and the intake valve 25 further increases to raise engine power. Further, in a low load and high speed area, the target valve timing is established to a small advance angle and the opening and closing timing of the intake valve 25 is controlled on the retard side. As a result, the valve overlap increases to prevent an overrun of the engine speed.
Accordingly, when the engine operating condition changes, for example, when a traveling condition transfers to an idle condition, the target valve timing changes from the advance side to the retard side and as a result fluctuations of engine speeds are generated due to a sudden change in torque. These fluctuations of engine speeds are relatively small in case where the variable valve timing control system is normal, however, in case where the variable valve timing control system has an abnormal operation, the fluctuations are enlarged. Particularly, in case of the engine 1 , large fluctuations of engine speeds occur due to torque differences generated between the bank having some defects in the valve timing control system and the bank having no failure. The fluctuations behave just like in case of misfires.
In general, whether the misfire is generated or not is judged from the change of the difference of the engine speeds between a cylinder in the present combustion stroke and a cylinder in a previous combustion stroke. If this change of the engine speed difference between a cylinder in a second previous combustion stroke and the cylinder in the previous combustion stroke is a negative value below a judgment criteria and the change of the engine speed difference between the cylinder in the previous combustion stroke and the cylinder in the present combustion stroke is a positive value above the judgment criteria, it is judged that the cylinder in the previous combustion stroke is in a misfire condition. An absolute value of the change of the engine speed difference, that is, the misfire diagnosis value is used as a diagnostic value DIAG for diagnosing the valve timing control system. The failure of the valve timing control system can be judged by monitoring this diagnostic value DIAG.
At a step 103 , the diagnostic value DIAG is compared with a preestablished judgment threshold value DIAGSET. The judgment threshold value DIAGSET is a value for specifying that the valve timing control system operates in a normal range and is determined by simulations, experiments and the like in consideration of miscellaneous characteristics of the engine and the variable valve timing mechanism 27 .
In case of DIAG≦DIAGSET, the program goes to a step S 104 in which it is judged that the valve timing control system is normal and leaves the routine. In case of DIAG>DIAGSET, the program goes to a step S 105 where it is judged that there is a failure in the valve timing control system. Then, failure data are stored in a backup memory and an alarm is given to a driver, leaving the routine.
The diagnosis value DIAG may be an integral value of the misfire diagnosis values (absolute value), that is, an integral value of changes of the engine speed. This integral value is compared with a judgment threshold value. If this integral value exceeds the judgment threshold value, it may be judged that the valve timing control system is abnormal.
According to the embodiment, when the displacement of the engine speed or the integral value of the engine speeds in changing the engine operating conditions exceeds a judgment threshold value, since it is judged that the valve timing control system is abnormal, sliding failures of the sliding sections of the valve timing mechanism 27 or sticking failures can be swiftly and securely detected, irrespective of the areas where the engine 1 is operative. These failures of the sliding sections and sticking failures bring higher hydraulic pressure than specified and as a result the responseability of the actual advance is exacerbated.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a diagnostic routine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
According to the first embodiment described above, the failures of the valve timing control system are judged by whether the magnitude of the fluctuations of engine speeds following the change of the engine operating conditions exceeds a specified level or not. On the other hand, according to the second embodiment, the failures are judged by monitoring an elapsed time until the fluctuation of the engine speeds converges.
Therefore, according to the second embodiment, after the same processes as in the diagnostic routine of the first embodiment are performed in steps S 201 and S 202 , that is, after the misfire diagnosis condition and the valve timing diagnosis condition are satisfied respectively, the program goes to a step S 203 where it is investigated whether or not the fluctuation Δ N of the engine speeds (misfire diagnosis value) following the change of the engine operating conditions exceeds a preestablished value NSET. The preestablished value NSET is a value which can be deemed to converge into a specified value.
As a result of the investigation at S 203 ) in case of ΔN≦NSET, the program goes to a step S 206 where a timer C for measuring a time until the fluctuation of engine speed converges is cleared (C←0) and at a step S 207 it is judged that the valve timing control system is normal, the program leaving the routine.
On the other hand, in case of ΔN>NSET, the program goes from the step S 203 to a step S 204 where the timer C is counted up (C←C+1) and at a step S 205 it is checked whether or not the timer C exceeds a preestablished time CSET. The time CSET is a maximum time needed for the convergence of the fluctuation of the engine speed and is obtained from prior simulations or experiments in consideration of characteristics of the engine or the variable valve timing mechanism 27 .
At the step S 205 , in case of C≦CSET, the program leaves the routine through the steps S 206 and S 207 . In case of C>CSET, that is, in case where the fluctuation of the engine speed following on the change of engine operating conditions does not converge after the preestablished time elapses, the program goes to a step S 208 in which it is judged that the fluctuation does not still converge and there is a failure in the valve timing control system, leaving the routine. Then, the failure data is stored in a back-up memory for diagnosis and is warned to a driver.
The entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. Tokugan 2003-090724 filed Mar. 28, 2003, is incorporated herein by reference.
While the present invention has been disclosed in terms of the preferred embodiments in order to facilitate better understanding of the invention, it should be appreciated that the invention can be embodied in various ways without departing from the principle of the invention. Therefore, the invention should be understood to include all possible embodiments which can be embodied without departing from the principle of the invention set out in the appended claims.
|
A diagnostic apparatus of a valve timing control system in which a valve timing is variably controlled by changing a rotational phase between a crankshaft and a cam shaft of an engine. The apparatus has a detector for detecting a fluctuation of engine speeds of the engine following a change of engine operating conditions and for calculating a diagnosis value based on the fluctuation; and a comparator for comparing the diagnosis value with a preestablished threshold value and for judging that a failure occurs in the valve timing control system, in case where the diagnosis value exceeds the threshold value.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor device structures and, more particularly, to an indirectly induced tunnel emitter for tunnel field effect transistor (TFET) devices.
Microelectronic devices are typically fabricated on semiconductor substrates as integrated circuits, which include complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) field effect transistors as one of the core elements thereof Over the years, the dimensions and operating voltages of CMOS transistors are continuously reduced, or scaled down, to obtain ever-higher performance and packaging density of the integrated circuits.
However, one of the problems resulting from the scaling down of CMOS transistors is that the overall power consumption of the devices keeps increasing. This is partly because leakage currents are increasing (e.g., due to short channel effects) and also because it becomes difficult to continue to decrease the supply voltage. The latter problem, in turn, is mainly due to the fact that the inverse subthreshold slope is limited to (minimally) about 60 millivolts (mV)/decade, such that switching the transistor from the OFF to the ON states requires a certain voltage variation, and therefore a minimum supply voltage.
Accordingly, tunnel field effect transistors (TFETs) have been touted as “successors” of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), because of the lack of short-channel effects and because the subthreshold slope can be less than 60 mV/decade, the physical limit of conventional MOSFETs, and thus potentially lower supply voltages may be used. On the other hand, TFETs typically suffer from low on-currents, which is a drawback related to the large resistance of the tunnel barrier.
SUMMARY
In an exemplary embodiment, an indirectly induced tunnel emitter for a tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) structure includes an outer sheath that at least partially surrounds an elongated core element, the elongated core element formed from a first semiconductor material; an insulator layer disposed between the outer sheath and the core element; the outer sheath disposed at a location corresponding to a source region of the TFET structure; and a source contact that shorts the outer sheath to the core element; wherein the outer sheath is configured to introduce a carrier concentration in the source region of the core element sufficient for tunneling into a channel region of the TFET structure during an on state.
In another embodiment, a method of forming an indirectly induced tunnel emitter for a tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) structure includes forming an elongated core element from a first semiconductor material; forming an insulator layer that at least partially surrounds the core element; forming an outer sheath that at least partially surrounds the insulator layer at a location corresponding to a source region of the TFET structure; and forming a source contact that shorts the outer sheath to the core element; wherein the outer sheath is configured to introduce a carrier concentration in the source region of the core element sufficient for tunneling into a channel region of the TFET structure during an on state.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to the exemplary drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several Figures:
FIG. 1 is a band diagram that illustrates electron tunneling across a P/N junction of a TFET;
FIG. 2 is a band diagram for a TFET device having a staggered band heterojunction in the “on” state;
FIG. 3 is a band diagram for a TFET device having a staggered band heterojunction in the “off” state;
FIG. 4 is a cut-away sectional view of a source region of a TFET device wherein holes are induced in a nanowire by a surrounding metal sheath that is separated from the nanowire by a thin insulator layer; and
FIG. 5( a ) is a side cross-sectional views of a TFET structure having an Indirectly Induced Tunnel Emitter (IITE), in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5( b ) is an end cross-sectional view of the IITE, taken along the lines b-b of FIG. 5( a );
FIG. 6 is a partial band diagram illustrating the valence bands for an exemplary n-channel TFET as shown in FIGS. 5( a ) and 5 ( b );
FIG. 7( a ) is another side cross-sectional view of the TFET structure of FIG. 5( a );
FIG. 7( b ) is a band diagram corresponding to the structure of FIG. 7( a ); and
FIG. 8 is a generic band diagram of a heterojunction tunneling emitter where the bands correspond to conduction band convention and are inverted with respect to FIG. 6 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
As indicated above, in recent years the TFET has generated much interest as a possible candidate used for low power electronics. Typically, in an n-channel TFET for example, electrons are injected from the top of the valence band in the source region of the device into the bottom of the conduction band in the channel of the device. FIG. 1 is a band diagram that illustrates this process for a simple P/N junction, wherein the “P” side represents the source region and the “N” side represents the channel of a TFET. In the “on” state (as indicated by the darkened curves denoting the bands) electrons can tunnel from the valence band in the source to the conduction band in the channel. Applying an increasing negative gate voltage to a “partially on” state causes the tunneling distance to increase (indicated by the large dashed curves), and eventually the bands become uncrossed (indicated by the short dashed curves) shutting off the current.
One type of junction arrangement for a TFET device is what is known as a staggered band heterojunction line up, illustrated in the band diagrams of FIGS. 2 and 3 . In this arrangement, the energy bands in the source and channel regions are offset from one another so as to allowing switching from the “on” state in FIG. 2 to the “off” state in FIG. 3 with much smaller longitudinal electric fields.
A primary objective of TFET use is to achieve switching from “on” to “off” over a much smaller voltage range than a conventional FET. This is realized because a conventional n-type source used in an NFET is replaced by a p-type tunneling source (also referred to herein as an “emitter”) where the top of the valence band cuts off the thermal tail of the Fermi function, which is present in the n-type source, allowing for an inverse sub-threshold slope S of smaller than 60 mV/dec at room temperature, where S=[d(log 10 I D )/dV G ] −1 , wherein I D is the drain current and V G is the gate voltage.
On the other hand, the band diagrams of FIGS. 2 and 3 also illustrate several factors that serve to increase S and degrade the performance of the TFET. For example, in the “on” state depicted in FIG. 2 , degeneracy in the source (region (a) in FIG. 2 ) reduces the states available for tunneling, thereby reducing the “on” current. In addition, band bending (region (b) in FIG. 2 ) increases the gate voltage needed to turn on the TFET. In the “off” state depicted in FIG. 3 , band bending (regions (c) and (d) in FIG. 3 ) increases the voltage swing required to turn off the TFET and leaves potential wells in the valence and conduction bands. Here, thermal tails can cause a reversion to the 60 mV/decade slope when tunneling from the wells, band-to-band transfer by multiphonon processes (region (e) of FIG. 3 ), or band-to-band transfer via tunneling by gap states (region (f) of FIG. 3 ).
Although the presence of a high dopant concentration in the source could reduce such band bending, the resulting disorder caused by the doping can induce gap states, and the high carrier concentration could in turn lead to excessive degeneracy. Thus, one possible solution to this problem is to use “electrostatic doping”, as illustrated in FIG. 4 . More specifically, FIG. 4 is a cut-away sectional view of a source region of a TFET device 400 where, in this example, holes are induced in a nanowire 402 by way of a surrounding metal sheath 404 that is separated from the nanowire 402 by a thin insulator layer 406 , similar to a gate conductor and gate dielectric layer of an FET. The proximity to the surrounding metal sheath 404 screens the electric field inside the nanowire 402 , thus obviating the need for a large hole concentration in the nanowire itself Here, a heavily doped section 408 of the nanowire 402 , remote from the tunnel injector (not shown in FIG. 4 ), provides electrical contact to the TFET. While this solution solves some of the problems outlined above, it also creates others. For example, the TFET 400 of FIG. 4 would need a separate electrical contact for the metal sheath 404 , complicating the design. In addition, the interface states at the insulator-nanowire boundary may provide additional tunneling paths, and metal-induced gap states may be induced by the close proximity of the sheath 404 to the channel.
Accordingly, FIGS. 5( a ) and 5 ( b ) are side and end cross-sectional views, respectively, of a TFET structure 500 having what is referred to herein as an Indirectly Induced Tunnel Emitter (IITE), in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. As is shown, the IITE includes a elongated core element 502 (e.g., a nanowire) formed from a first semiconductor material (S 1 ), an insulator layer 504 formed from a second semiconductor material (S 2 ) that surrounds the nanowire, the second semiconductor material (S 2 ) having a wider bandgap than the first semiconductor material (S 1 ), a doped outer semiconductor sheath 506 formed from a third semiconductor material (S 3 ) that surrounds the insulator 504 , and a source contact 508 formed from a fourth semiconductor material (S 4 ) that shorts the outer semiconductor sheath 506 to the core element 502 .
In an exemplary embodiment, the materials used for semiconductors S 1 -S 4 could all be epitaxially grown semiconductors forming heterojunctions at their interfaces. This could reduce or eliminate interface states, which represent a problem for TFET structures such as the one shown in FIG. 4 . Because the outer sheath 506 is also a doped semiconductor (S 3 ), metal induced gap states (MIGS) are also eliminated. Further, the TFET structure shown in FIGS. 5( a ) and 5 ( b ) may be simplified by using the same semiconductor material for S 1 , S 3 and S 4 .
Although the exemplary embodiment depicted illustrates a concentric circular configuration for the core element, insulator and outer sheath, it is contemplated that other suitable geometries may be used. For example, the cross-sectional shapes of the individual element may be other shapes besides circular, such as elliptical, oval, square or rectangular, for example. Furthermore, while the illustrated embodiment depicts layers completely surrounding other layers (e.g., the insulator layer 504 surrounding the core element 502 ), it is also contemplated that an outer layer of the structure can partially surround an inner layer of the structure, such as an omega (Ω) shape, for example.
With respect to the elongated core element 502 , in addition to a nanowire structure element, the core element 502 could also be formed from other structures such as a semiconductor fin or a carbon nanotube, for example.
Referring now to FIG. 6 , there is shown a partial band diagram 600 illustrating the valence bands for an exemplary n-channel TFET as shown in FIGS. 5( a ) and 5 ( b ), cutting across the circular cross section. As is shown, E 01 and E 03 are the ground state sub-band energies in regions 1 and 3 , respectively, and V S is the Fermi energy (source voltage). The bandgaps of S 1 -S 3 are assumed to be wide enough so that the conduction bands in the emitter do not play a role in its operation. The band alignments and thickness of the layers are adjusted to achieve a configuration such that the ground-state energies E 01 and E 03 ensure that the holes in S 1 are barely degenerate while S 3 has a much larger hole concentration. Thus, the same screening advantages may be obtained as in the metal-sheathed TFET structure 400 of FIG. 4 .
In order to use the same semiconductor material for S 1 and S 3 as mentioned above, the thickness of S 3 and diameter of S 1 are carefully adjusted so that the ground-state energies line up as shown in FIG. 6 . The requirements for S 4 may be relaxed if the interfaces between S 1 and S 4 and S 3 and S 4 are heavily doped, in which case another embodiment may to use a metal in lieu of S 4 . It is even further contemplated that S 3 may be replaced with a metal sheath (as in FIG. 4 ), so long as the work functions and band-offsets are adjusted to ensure a suitable hole concentration in S 1 . In yet another embodiment, S 3 may be coated with an additional metal layer (not shown) to improve screening. It should also be understood that the exemplary IITE embodiments disclosed herein are equally applicable for a complementary tunneling-hole injector by replacing all p-type semiconductors with n-type semiconductors, and ensuring a suitable conduction band line up as shown in FIG. 6 , but inverted.
In summary, the above discussed disadvantages are addressed by the IITE embodiments. This is depicted schematically in FIGS. 7( a ) and 7 ( b ), wherein FIG. 7( a ) is another side cross-sectional view of the TFET structure of FIG. 5( a ), and FIG. 7( b ) is a band diagram corresponding to the structure of FIG. 7( a ). For one, the outer doped sheath (S 3 ) provides longitudinal screening and reduces band-bending. Secondly, the doping-induced states and degeneracy conditions in S 3 are isolated from the injector core (S 1 ) by S 2 . Thirdly, the semiconductor bandgap of S 3 minimizes metal induced gap states. In addition, epitaxial compatible materials S 1 -S 3 eliminates interface states due to a single crystal structure. The source contact layer S 4 eliminates the need for an extra external contact to the sheath.
Finally, FIG. 8 is a generic band diagram 800 of a heterojunction tunneling emitter where the bands correspond to conduction band convention and are inverted with respect to FIG. 6 . That is, the band diagram 800 is drawn in the radial direction and with energy of the charge carrier upwards, as is the convention for electrons in conduction bands (whereas for holes the convention is downwards, as shown in FIG. 6 .
The inequalities given below apply to both electrons and holes with the understanding that “energy” may refer to either electron or hole energy for the relevant case. Here, E b1 , E b2 and E b3 are band-edge (conduction or valence band) energies, E 01 and E 03 are ground-state energies of the quantized sub-bands, and E F1 and E F3 the electron of hole Fermi energies. The diagram 800 is drawn in a flat-band condition, assuming a suitable voltage is applied between S 1 and S 3 and that band-bending induced by the charge itself, such as shown in FIG. 6 , is neglected. In operation, S 1 is shorted to S 3 by S 4 and the Fermi levels, thus E F1 and E F3 will equalize. These simplifications and approximations are shown in order to clarify the conditions on S 1 , S 2 and S 3 to facilitate operability of the exemplary embodiment(s) described. Using the vacuum level E VAC as a reference, the following conditions apply for the embodiments herein:
1. The band-edge energy of S 2 (E b2 ) is greater than those of S 1 and S 3 (E b1 and E b3 ), which is to say that the band discontinuities between S 2 and S 3 and S 1 and S 3 are positive.
2. The Fermi energy in S 3 (E F3 ) is higher than the Fermi energy in S 1 (E F1 ). This enables charge to flow from S 3 to S 1 , wherein this condition may be expressed by the following equation:
( E F3 −E 03 )+( E 03 −E b3 )−Δ E b23 >( E F1 −E 01 )+(E 01 −E b1 )−Δ E b21 (Eq. 1)
3. For a given band alignment of E b3 and E b 1 , and for given ground-state energies E 01 and E 03 , the doping in S 3 has to be sufficiently large to raise E F3 above E F1 in order to satisfy condition 2.
4. For a given band alignment of E b3 and E b1 , and for given doping in S 3 , the radius r 1 has to be sufficiently large to decrease E 01 , and the difference in radii, r 3 −r 2 sufficiently small to increase E 03 , in order to satisfy condition 2.
5. For radii r 1 and r 2 , and for a given doping in S 3 , the band edge energy E b3 must be sufficiently larger than E b1 , or when E b1 is greater than E b3 the difference must be sufficiently small, in order to satisfy condition 2. The conditions for S 4 ( FIG. 7( a )) are not critical. S 4 must have heavy enough doping or a small enough bandgap to ensure a good ohmic contact with both S 1 and S 3 . S 1 and S 3 may also be doped adjacent to S 4 to ensure an ohmic contact. In this case, S 4 may be a metal.
In an exemplary embodiment, suitable selected semiconductor materials are as follows: InAs 0.8 P 0.2 for S 1 , InP for S 2 and InAs for S 3 and for S 4 . The radii of S 1 , S 2 and S 3 are 30, 40 and 50 nm respectively. S 1 and S 4 are doped with silicon to a concentration of 10 19 atoms/cm 3 , ensuring a good ohmic contact of S 3 to S 1 via S 4 and that Eq. 1 above is satisfied. That equation becomes:
E F3 +0.033)+(−0.033+0.173)−0.6533>( E F1 +0.044)+(−0.044+0.0744)−0.5544 (Eq. 2)
This expression in turn reduces to:
E F3 >E F1 +0.0003 eV (Eq. 3)
Thus, substitution of the selected system parameters for the equation terms results in the condition, E F3 >E F1 +0.0003 eV, which is satisfied with the chosen doping level in S 3 . Referring once again to FIG. 7( a ), the lengths of S 1 , S 2 , S 3 and S 4 are not critical but should be longer than about 10 nm to allow for the band bending shown in FIG. 7( b ), but also shorter than about 100 nm to minimize series resistance.
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
|
An indirectly induced tunnel emitter for a tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) structure includes an outer sheath that at least partially surrounds an elongated core element, the elongated core element formed from a first semiconductor material; an insulator layer disposed between the outer sheath and the core element; the outer sheath disposed at a location corresponding to a source region of the TFET structure; and a source contact that shorts the outer sheath to the core element; wherein the outer sheath is configured to introduce a carrier concentration in the source region of the core element sufficient for tunneling into a channel region of the TFET structure during an on state.
| 1
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is related to application Ser. No. 07/483,478 filed Feb. 22, 1990 for PROGRAMMING ESCAPE FROM AN ICONIC SYSTEM of Bailey, Beethe, Wolber, and Williams; application Ser. No. 07/537,550 filed Jun. 13, 1990 for PROCESSING METHOD FOR AN ICONIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM, of Beethe; and application Ser. No. 07/661,936 filed Feb. 28, 1991 for LINE PROBE IN AN ICONIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM of Wolber; all assigned to the same entity.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to computer systems and more particularly to Iconic Programming Systems. Even more particularly, the invention relates to constraining data acceptable for input by an icon within an iconic programming system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An iconic programming system is a "programming-less" environment where programming is done by connecting graphical images of devices (icons), together with connecting lines, to create an iconic network which represents a software program or simulation model. The iconic programming system may be used in research and development test environments, where several different electronic devices are connected to test a system or device. Programming such a system requires instructions to cause the various devices to perform desired functions in order to operate as a system.
When an iconic programming system is used, each device is represented by a graphical icon, also called a graphical object, and the connections between the devices are represented by connecting lines between the graphical icon images. Each device may have multiple lines connecting from other devices, bringing data into the device for it to use during its execution. Each device may also have multiple output lines connecting to other devices, to pass its new or changed data on to the other devices in the program. In addition to graphical icons representing devices in such a system, graphical icons are provided for programming functions, for example looping, IF-THEN statements, etc. By combining device and programming icons, a user can create an iconic network involving the programmed operation of several devices. An example of a simple iconic network is shown in FIG. 2, described below.
When the program runs, each device executes in turn, and during its execution, each device may use the data on its input lines, modify it, and put the same or other data on its output lines for other devices to use.
When data is passed along a connecting line from one icon to another, it will have a specific form. For example, data may be a single dimensioned array of integers, or it may be a real scalar, etc. Some terminals of some icons can take data in only one form. Prior art iconic systems do not provide a way for a programmer to control the form of the data received by an icon. If an icon receives data of an incorrect form, it is unable to process the data and processing of the entire system must stop.
There is a need in the art then for a system that will provide a way for a programmer in an iconic system to restrict the form of data acceptable to an icon. There is further need for such a system to identify a connection error when a connection is being made between icons. There is a further need for such a system that will automatically convert incorrect data, if such a conversion is possible. The present invention meets these needs.
Various features and components of an iconic network system are disclosed in U.S. patent applications:
(A) Application Ser. No. 07/483,478 filed Feb. 22, 1990 for PROGRAMMING ESCAPE FROM AN ICONIC SYSTEM of Bailey, Beethe, Wolber, and Williams;
(B) Application Ser. No. 07/537,550 filed Jun. 13, 1990 for PROCESSING METHOD FOR AN ICONIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM of Beethe;
(C) Application Ser. No. 07/661,936 filed Feb. 28, 1991 for LINE PROBE IN AN ICONIC PROGRAMMING SYSTEM of Wolber;
each of which is hereby specifically incorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a system that constrains the form, such as type, shape, size or limits, of data passed between icons of an iconic network.
It is another aspect of the invention to check such constraints when a connecting line is established between the icons.
Another aspect is to check such constraints during the processing of the iconic network program.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide methods to automatically convert data to an acceptable type and shape whenever such conversion is possible.
A further aspect of the present invention is to prevent an operator of such system from changing the constraints.
The above and other aspects of the invention are accomplished in a system that allows a user of the iconic programming to specify data input constraints on any terminal of any icon within the iconic network. When creating the system, the user selects an input terminal and requests a dialog box from the system. The dialog box displays the constraints, if any, currently in force, and allows the user to add or change these constraints.
When adding connecting lines between icons, the iconic programming system obtains information about any input constraints defined for the input terminal connected to the line and verifies that these constraints match the data type and shape of the data being sent by the output terminal. If a mismatch occurs, the system will try to provide a method for converting the type and shape of the data, and if such conversion is possible, the system will allow the connection. If a mismatch occurs, and the data cannot be converted, the system displays an error message, and prevents the connection.
When each icon of the network is being processed during the execution of the iconic network program, the constraints for each input terminal are compared to the data type and shape being received on the terminal. If a mismatch occurs, the system attempts to convert the input data to a matching type and shape, but will discontinue processing if an unconvertible mismatch occurs.
The system is also able to lock the constraints placed within the system. This prevents an operator of the system from changing the constraints.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will be better understood by reading the following more particular description of the invention, presented in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a computer system incorporating the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a prior art iconic network suitable for use with the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows the iconic network of FIG. 2 including a display of the data type dialog box of the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows the iconic network of FIG. 2 including a display of the data shape dialog box of the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the dialog box display method of the present invention;
FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the data constraint dialog display routine called from the windowing system;
FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the data type and shape display routine called from the windowing system;
FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the constraint check routine called when a line is being connected between two icons within an iconic network; and
FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the run time constraint check routine called when the functions of an icon are about to be performed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following description is of the best presently contemplated mode of carrying out the present invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined by referencing the appended claims.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a computer system incorporating the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 1, a computer system 100 contains a processing element 102 which connects to the other components of the system through a system bus 104. A keyboard 106 allows a user to input textual data to the system, and a mouse or pointing device 110 allows a user to input graphical data to the system. A graphics display 108 allows the system to output text and graphical information to the user. A disk 112 is used by the system to store the software of the iconic programming system environment, as well as the user-defined iconic network. A communications interface 116 is used to create a communications network which allows the computer and iconic programming environment to communicate with other computers, instruments, and other environments. A multi-tasking operating system 120 can have a plurality of tasks, also called processes, here illustrated by task 122 and task 124. Task 122 is shown containing the iconic programming process including the data constraint system of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a simple prior art iconic network program that will be used to illustrate the data constraint system of the present invention. This simple iconic network is for illustration purposes only. The system of the present invention can be used with any iconic network, however complicated that network might be. Referring now to FIG. 2, an iconic network 200 is shown displayed on a graphical display 202. The graphical display 202 represents the output of the graphics display 108 (FIG. 1). The iconic network 200 contains an icon 204 which is used to input a real number into an iconic network program. In the example icon 204, the real number being input is the number 454. The real number is output by the icon 204 via an output terminal 206. The output terminal 206 is connected to an input terminal 210 of a formula icon 212. The connection between the output terminal 206 of icon 204 and the input terminal 210 of icon 212 is made with a connecting line 208.
The formula icon 212 will process data received on the input 210 using a formula shown in the box 213. In this example, the formula multiplies the input terminal data by 2 and adds 3 to the result. This is by way of example only since any arbitrary formula, however complex, could be used in the formula icon 212. The number arrived at by applying the formula in the box 213 to the input data 210 is placed on the output 214, which is named the "result". The output 214 is connected by a connecting line 216 to an input terminal 218 of an alphanumeric display icon 220. The alphanumeric display icon 220 displays the input that it receives on input 218 in a box 222.
The data constraint system of the present invention can dynamically display and allow a user to alter the data on any of the input terminals of any of the icons. For example, the system could be used to display data on input terminal 210 or input terminal 218. As will be described below, the user of the system may choose any of these terminals to display when the user activates the system.
FIG. 3 shows the iconic network of FIG. 2 with the addition of the constraint dialog boxes of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 3, the iconic network of FIG. 2 is shown including the real icon 204, the formula icon 212, and the alphanumeric icon 220. FIG. 3 illustrates the display after the user has requested a display of the constraints for the input terminal 210 of the formula icon 212. This request was performed by using the pointing device to click on a menu item (not shown) and then selecting the input terminal 210. The information about the input terminal 210 is shown in a dialog box 302. The title 304 indicates that the dialog box displays input terminal constraint information. Within the dialog box 302 are three boxes that display signal attributes for a signal that has been received by the terminal 210. Box 306 displays the data type being input to the icon 212 which, in this case, is a real number. Box 308 indicates that the shape of the data is scalar, and box 310 indicates that the value of the data is the real number "454". Within the data constraint information, box 312 displays the name of the input terminal, in this case the single letter "A". As also illustrated in FIG. 2, the name of the terminal was used in the formula in box 213. Box 314 illustrates that the type of data that this terminal will accept is any type. Box 316 shows that the shape of the data that this terminal will accept is any shape, and box 318 indicates that this is a data mode terminal, as opposed to a control mode terminal. Box 320 is used by the user of the system when they wish to terminate the display of the data constraint information. The cancel box 322 allows the user to cancel any changes made to the input constraint fields or the data.
The user may click the pointing device on the type box 314, to indicate that they wish to change the type constraint. When this happens, the system presents the dialog box 330 to allow the data type constraint to be changed. The dialog box 330 contains a title 340, which indicates that the dialog box is used for changing the type constraint, and a menu 332. The menu 332 provides the user with a choice for the type of data that can be accepted by the input terminal 210. The user may make a selection from the menu 332, or the user may input data into a data area 334 using the keyboard 106 (FIG. 1), to indicate the type of data. After selecting from the menu or inputting the data type into the area 334, the user clicks the pointing device on the "OK" button 336 to change the type constraint, or the user may click the pointing device on the "CANCEL" button 338 to negate the change, thus leaving the type constraint unchanged.
FIG. 4 also shows the iconic network of FIG. 2 with the addition of the constraint dialog boxes of the present invention. Referring now to FIG. 4, the iconic network of FIG. 2 is shown including the real icon 204, the formula icon 212, and the alphanumeric icon 220. In FIG. 4 the user has also requested a display of the constraints for the input terminal 210 of the formula icon 212. The information about the input terminal 210 is shown in a dialog box 302, which is identical to the dialog box 302 of FIG. 3.
In FIG. 4, the user clicked the pointing device on the shape box 316, indicating that they wished to change the shape constraint. This caused the system to present the dialog box 402 to allow the shape constraint to be changed. The dialog box 402 contains a title 412, which indicates that the dialog box is used for changing the shape constraint, and a menu 404. The menu 404 provides the user with a choice for the shape of data that can be accepted by the input terminal 210. The user may make a selection from the menu 404 or the user may input data into a data area 406 to indicate the shape of data. After selecting from the menu or inputting the data shape into the area 406, the user clicks the pointing device on the "OK" button 408 to change the type constraint, or the user may click the pointing device on the "CANCEL" button 410 to negate the change, thus leaving the type constraint unchanged.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a flow chart of the method of displaying the dialog boxes 302, 330, and 402 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The system of the present invention operates in a windows environment, such as the X window system of the Unix operating system, or the Microsoft Windows System under the MS DOS operating system. Unix is a trademark of AT&T, and Microsoft Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The flow chart of FIG. 5 will be called by the iconic programming system whenever the user uses the pointing device to click on an input terminal of an icon. For example, the dialog box 302 of FIG. 3 was displayed when the user clicked the pointing device on input terminal 210. Referring now to FIG. 5, when the user clicks the pointing device on the input terminal the flow chart will be entered. After entry, block 502 determines whether the pointing device or keyboard input is for a display of input constraints. If the user clicks on some other feature of the iconic network, the pointing device or keyboard input will not be for a display of constraints so block 502 transfers to block 504 which performs the other requested function. If the pointing device has been clicked on an input terminal, block 502 transfers to block 506 which displays a message asking the user to click on the particular terminal. Block 508 then determines whether the user has clicked on a valid input terminal and if not, goes back to 502 to await additional pointing device or keyboard input. If the user has clicked the pointing device on a valid input terminal, block 508 transfers to block 510 which calls the windowing system to establish a new dialog box in order to display the input terminal information, such as the information illustrated in dialog box 302. In establishing this new dialog box, the iconic programming system indicates to the windowing system that FIG. 6 is to be called to display the contents of the dialog box and to accept input from the user. Therefore, after calling the windowing system, block 510 transfers to block 512 which simply waits for the windowing system and the flow chart of FIG. 6 to perform its function. After the user has exited the flowchart of FIG. 6, control will return to block 512, and it will transfer to block 514 which determines whether the user, after inputting any data, clicked on the "OK" button within the dialog box. If the user did click on the "OK" button, block 514 transfers to block 516 which sends the new data constraints input by the user to the icon, where they are stored. After sending these constraints to the device, or if the user clicked on the "CANCEL" button, control goes to block 518 which calls the window system to remove the dialog box and then returns to block 502 to await additional pointing device or keyboard input.
FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of the routine that will be called by the window system to display the dialog box on the screen or to accept input into the dialog box. The call to FIG. 6 was set up by block 510 of FIG. 5 when it established the new dialog box. When the window system calls FIG. 6, after entry, block 602 determines whether the call is to request a display of the dialog box. If the call is a display request, block 602 transfers to block 604 which repeatedly calls the window system to display each of the boxes within the dialog box 302 (FIG. 3). That is, the window system will be called to display the title 304, the signal attributes type 306, etc. After the window system has been called to display each of the dialog boxes, block 604 returns to the window system.
If the call from the window system is for accepting user input, block 602 transfers to block 606 which determines whether the user has clicked the pointing device on the "OK" button 320 or the "CANCEL" button 322. If either of these buttons have been clicked, control transfers to block 608 which calls the window system to erase the dialog box before returning.
If the user has not clicked either of these buttons, block 606 transfers to block 610 which determines whether the user has clicked on the input constraints type box 314. If the user has clicked this box, block 610 transfers to block 612 which calls the window system to establish a new dialog box to display the data type constraint dialog box 330 (FIG. 3). After calling the window system to establish this dialog box, control transfers to block 614 where the system waits for the processing of FIG. 7. After the user has clicked the pointing device on "OK" or "CANCEL" in FIG. 7, control returns to block 614 which sets a flag indicating that processing is complete and then returns to the window system.
If the user has not clicked on the input type box, block 610 transfers to block 616 which determines whether the user has clicked the pointing device on the input shape box. If the user has not clicked the pointing device on the input shape, box 616 simply returns to the window system to ignore the user input. If the user did click the pointing device on the shape box 316 (FIG. 3), block 616 transfers to block 618 which calls the window system to establish a new dialog box to display the data shape constraint dialog box 402 (FIG. 4). Control then goes to block 620 which waits for the user to complete processing of FIG. 7. After the user has completed processing of the data shape constraint dialog box, FIG. 6 sets a flag indicating that processing is complete before returning to the window system.
FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of the process of displaying either the type dialog box 330 of FIG. 3 or the shape dialog box 402 of FIG. 4. Referring now to FIG. 7, after entry, block 702 determines whether the call to this FIG. is for painting the dialog box on the display. If the call is for painting, block 702 transfers to block 704 which determines whether the call is for a type dialog box 330 of FIG. 3 or the shape dialog box 402 of FIG. 4. If the display to be painted is the type dialog box, block 704 transfers to block 708 which calls the window system to display the dialog box 330, title box 340 and the array box 332 (FIG. 3) showing the data types available to the user. Block 710 then calls the window system to display the "OK" box 336 and the "CANCEL" box 338 (FIG. 3). After displaying these boxes, block 710 returns to the windowing system. If the display is for the shape dialog box 402 of FIG. 4, block 704 transfers to block 706 which calls the window system to display the dialog box 402, title box 412, and the array box 404 showing the shapes available to the user. Block 706 then transfers to block 710 which displays the "OK" and "CANCEL" boxes before returning to the window system.
If the call to FIG. 7 is for user input, block 702 transfers to block 712 which determines whether the user has clicked the "OK" or "CANCEL" buttons. If the user has clicked "OK" or "CANCEL", block 712 transfers to block 722 which returns any data previously input by the user and a flag to the windowing system indicating that the user input is complete and the dialog box should be removed from the display. If the user has not clicked the "OK" or "CANCEL" buttons, block 712 transfers to block 714 which determines whether the user has clicked one of the array elements. If the user has clicked one of the array elements block 714 transfers to block 720 which places the content of the array element into the text input area, that is, area 334 of FIG. 3, or area 406 of FIG. 4, depending upon which dialog box is being displayed. After placing the data from the array element into the text input area, block 720 returns to the windowing system. If the user has not selected an array element, block 714 transfers to block 716 which determines whether the user has typed a keyboard character. If the user has not entered data from the keyboard, block 716 returns to the window system to ignore the user input. If the user has typed an input character, block 716 transfers to block 718 which places the user data into the text input area 334 or the text input area 406, depending upon which dialog box is being displayed. Block 718 then returns to the windowing system to await additional input.
FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of the constraint check routine which is called by the iconic programming system whenever a line is being connected between two icons within an iconic network. Referring now to FIG. 8, after entry, block 802 gets the icon input terminal constraint information for the terminal of the icon that will receive data. Block 804 then determines whether any input constraints have been set by the user on this input terminal. If no input constraints have been set, block 804 transfers to block 812 which returns a flag to the iconic programming system indicating that the connection should be allowed. If some input constraints have been set, block 804 transfers to block 806 which determines whether the output data from the icon connected to the line matches the constraints that have been set. If the output data does match the constraints, block 806 transfers to block 812 to allow the line to be connected. If the output data does not match the output constraints, block 806 transfers to block 808 which determines whether the output data can be converted to data that would be acceptable to the constraints. For example, if the output data is an integer, and the input constraints call for a real number, an integer can be converted to a real number so the conversion is possible. If data conversion is possible, block 808 transfers to block 812 to allow the line connection. If conversion is not possible, block 808 transfers to block 810 which returns an error flag to the iconic programming system to prevent the line connection.
FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of the run time constraint check routine which is called during execution of the iconic network when the functions of an icon are about to be performed. The flow chart of FIG. 9 will determine whether the data available on the input terminals of the icon can be processed by the icon. Referring now to FIG. 9, after entry, block 902 determines whether any input terminals need to be checked. If at least one input terminal does need to be checked, block 902 transfers to block 904 which gets the input constraints from the next input terminal. Block 906 then determines whether any input constraints have been set for this pin, and if not, block 906 transfers back to block 902 to check the next input pin. If some input constraints have been set for this pin, block 906 transfers to block 908 which determines whether the output from the previous icon matches the input constraints. If the output from the previous icon does match the input constraints, block 908 transfers back to block 902 to check the next input terminal. If the output does not match the constraints, block 908 transfers to block 910 which determines whether the output data can be converted. If the output data can be converted, block 910 transfers to block 912 which calls a routine to perform the data conversion before returning to block 902 to check the next input terminal. If the data cannot be converted, block 910 transfers to block 914 which returns an error to discontinue processing of the iconic network. After all input terminals have been checked, block 902 returns to the iconic programming network to allow processing of the icon.
In the manner described above for type and shape, the system also allows a programmer to constrain the size and limits of the data. For example the data size may be specified to require that an array be at least ten elements long. Also the data may be limited, for example, the value of a scalar might be limited to be within 1 and 100.
The system also provides a facility to allow the programmer that creates the iconic network and therefore specifies the input data constraints to lock the constraints to prevent later changes. This prevents an operator of the system from changing the constraints when the system is used.
Having thus described a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will now be appreciated that the aspects of the invention have been fully achieved, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The disclosures and the description herein are intended to be illustrative and are not in any sense limiting of the invention, more preferably defined in scope by the following claims.
|
A system that allows a user of an iconic programming system to specify data input constraints on any terminal of any icon of an iconic network program defined within the system. When adding connecting lines between icons during program creation, the iconic programming system verifies that any input constraints defined for an input terminal match the data type and shape of the data being sent by an output terminal. If a mismatch occurs, the system will allow a connection only if a method is available for converting the type and shape of the data. During the execution of the iconic network program, the constraints for each input terminal are compared to the type and shape of data being received on the terminal. Processing will continue only if the constraints match or the data can be converted.
| 6
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical submerged oil well includes an electric motor driven down hole pump located at the lower end of a tubing string, with the upper end of the latter suspended from a tubing hanger removably supported in a well head. A Christmas tree array of valves is removably supported on the well head or a spool mounted on the latter.
A commonly used form of tubing hanger has an electrical conductor extending longitudinally therethrough, with the conductor on the upper and lower ends having connectors removably secured thereto that extend to a source of electric power and downwardly in the bore hole of the well to a submersible electric motor that drives a down hole pump. Due to the electrical conductor, the tubing string is supported from the tubing hanger in an off centered position thereon.
Periodically it is necessary to replace the connectors on the tubing hanger. Such replacement must be carried out under conditions where the oil well is at all times maintained under control.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a portable power operated assembly that may be removably secured in a fixed position relative to a well head to raise a tubing hanger and tubing string to permit electrical connectors and components to be replaced that are used in supplying electric power to an electric motor driven down hole pump, and without setting a tubing string pulling rig over the well.
Another object of the invention is to provide an assembly that may be removably secured to a blow out preventer secured to the well head, with the tubing hanger and portion of the tubing string being moved upwardly through the blow out preventer with the tubing string off centered relative thereto, and the tubing hanger being shifted laterally after the latter is above the blow out preventer to center the tubing string in the latter to permit the blow out preventer to be closed if necessary to maintain control of the well, and the tubing string being returned to an offset position in the well by reversing the above procedure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a portable hydraulically operated assembly that may be used to concurrently raise a tubing hanger and a tubing string, and electric motor powered downhole pump secured to the latter to an elevated position relative to an oil well to permit replacement of electrical connectors on both the tubing hanger and pump motor. The tubing hanger supports the tubing string in a laterally offset position.
The oil well includes a well head in which the tubing hanger is removably supported. The well head has an array of valves removably secured thereto and extending upwardly therefrom. The tubing hanger has a vertically extending passage therein, the upper portion of which is threaded, with the flow of fluid upwardly through the passage being controlled by the previously mentioned valves. Prior to using the assembly, a plug is removably inserted in the tubing string below the tubing hanger by a procedure in common use in present day oil field practice.
The array of valves after the tubing string has been plugged is removed from the well head and replaced by a blow out preventor, which blow out preventor when in an open position permits the tubing hanger to be moved upwardly therethrough. The blow out preventor has a flat, upper, ring shaped surface from which a number of spaced stud bolts extend upwardly.
A first form of the hydraulically operated assembly includes a base having a centered opening of greater diameter than that of the tubing hanger. The base has a number of spaced transverse bores therein through which the stud bolts may extend to removably secure the base to the blow out preventor. A pair of hydraulic cylinders are secured to the base on opposite sides of the centered opening therein, with the upper ends of the cylinders being connected by a cross piece. The upper ends of the piston rods that are slidably movable in the hydraulic cylinders are connected by a transverse lifting member, which member has a pair of parallel laterally spaced rods extending downwardly therefrom through openings in the cross piece to support a horizontal pull plate on the lower ends thereof.
The pull plate has a first longitudinally movable carriage mounted thereon that rotatably supports a pulling sub having a lower threaded end that can engage the threaded upper end of the passage in the tubing hanger. The cross piece supports a second longitudinally movable carriage that rotatably supports a safety sub that has a lower threaded end that may removably engage a tapped recess in the upper portion of the pulling sub, when the pull plate is adjacently disposed to the cross piece.
After the hydraulic cylinders have been actuated to move the pulling plate pulling sub, and the tubing hanger upwardly until the latter is above the blow out preventor, the first carriage is moved horizontally to dispose the tubing string in a centered position within the blow out preventor to permit the latter to be closed if necessary to maintain control of the oil well. Upward movement of the pulling sub and tubing hanger is continued until the pulling sub can be removably connected to the safety sub to permit inadvertant downward movement of the tubing string. The tubing hanger is now in a position to permit repairs to be made to the electrical connectors supported therefrom. After the repairs have been completed the tubing string and tubing hanger are returned to their initial position by reversing the above described steps. The hydraulically operated assembly is separated from the blow out preventor. The blow out preventor is then separated from the well head and replaced by the array of valves. The plug is removed from the tubing string to return the well to an operating condition.
A second form of the hydraulically operated assembly performs the same functions as previously described, but with the lateral shifting of the tubing string relative to the blow out preventer being achieved by the hydraulic cylinders being movably supported on the base of the invention.
A third form of the invention operates in the same manner as the first form, but with the first and second carriages having slips mounted thereon, to permit the tubing string to be raised and successively gripped in steps until the electric motor that powers the downhole pump is situated above the base of the assembly to permit replacement of the electrical connectors thereon.
In all three forms of the invention the tubing hanger, tubing string and the electric motor that powers the downhole pump are returned to their original position by reversing the steps above described. The hydraulically operated assembly is moved from well to well in an oil field as required by a suitable power operated vehicle. After the repairs have been made to the connectors, the hydraulically operated assembly is disengaged from the stud bolts on the blow out preventer, with the blow out preventer then being disconnected from the well head and replaced by the array of valves. The plug is then removed from the tubing string to permit flow of fluid from the tubing string to the christmas tree assembly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first form of hydraulically operated apparatus that may be removably secured to the blow out preventer of an oil well that has an electrically operated downhole pump to concurrently raise a tubing hanger and a tubing string supported in off centered position therefrom to an elevation where defective electrical components may be replaced while maintaining the tubing string in a centered position in the blow out preventer to permit the latter to be closed if necessary to maintain control of the well;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 with a tubing hanger and tubing string supported therefrom in an off centered position being raised from a well, and the tubing hanger and tubing string having been moved laterally where the tubing string is centered in the blow out preventer to permit the latter to be closed to maintain control of the well;
FIG. 3 is the same view as shown in FIG. 2 but with the tubing hanger and tubing string removably secured in a fixed position relative to the hydraulically operated apparatus;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the apparatus taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the apparatus taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a second form of the invention in a tubing hanger and tubing string lifting position;
FIG. 7 is the same side elevational view as shown in FIG. 6 but with the tubing hanger removably secured thereto;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the second form of the invention taken on the line 8--8 of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of a third form of the invention raising a tubing hanger and tubing string;
FIG. 10 is the same view as shown in FIG. 9 but with the tubing string removably held at a fixed position relative thereto by slips that form a part of the invention;
FIG. 11 is a combined top plan view and horizontal cross sectional view of the invention shown in FIG. 10 taken on the line 11--11 thereof;
FIG. 12 is a fragmentary top plan view of the invention shown in FIG. 10 taken on the line 12--12 thereof;
FIGS. 13 and 14 are fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the third form of the invention taken on the line 13--13 and 14--14 of FIG. 11; and
FIG. 15 is a fragmentary plan view of the first form of the invention taken on the line 15--15 of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A first form of a portable hydraulically operated tubing hanger lifting assembly A for use on an oil well as shown in FIG. 1. The assembly A is illustrated as removably mounted on a blow out preventer B that is secured to a utilized well head C of an oil well by a clamp D. The blow out preventer B has replaced an array of valves (not shown) that was secured to the well head C of an oil well when the latter is in an oil producing condition.
When the oil well of which the well head C is a part is in an oil producing condition, a tubing hanger E of the structure shown in FIG. 2 is removably supported in the well head C and has an off centered tubing string F depending therefrom into the well.
The tubing hanger E as shown in FIG. 2 has an off centered electrical conductor G extending longitudinally therethrough. The lower end of the electrical conductor G has a connector H removably secured thereto, which connector has an electrical conducting cable J extending down in the bore hole of the oil well to an electric motor (not shown) that drives a downhole pump (not shown). The upper end of the electrical conductor G may be removably engaged by a connector H that is connected to an electrical conducting cable (not shown) that extends to a source of electric power (not shown).
The assembly A as best seen in FIG. 1 includes a base 14 of generally rectangular shape, which base has a pair of ends 14a and a number of spaced transverse bores 14b formed therein. The base has a centered opening 16 that is of greater diameter than the tubing hanger E for reasons that will later become apparent.
The blow out preventor B has a flat, ring shaped upper surface that has a number of stud bolts 12 projecting upwardly therefrom, with the bolts being so spaced that they may extend upwardly through the bores 14b to removably secure the base 14 to the blow out preventer B when the bolts are engaged by nuts 18 as shown in FIG. 2.
The ends 14a of the base 14 have lugs 20 extending outwardly therefrom as shown in FIG. 1, which lugs support bolts 22. Each of the bolts engages a clevis 24 that has one end of an upwardly extending chain 26 secured thereto. The chain 26 is utilized in moving the assembly A to a desired location in the body of water (not shown) in which the oil well of which the well head C is a part is disposed. The ends 14a of the base 14 have eye defining members 28 extending outwardly therefrom as shown in FIG. 15, which members may be removably engaged by downwardly extending prongs 30 that are secured to the inner portion of a C shaped platform 32 as illustrated in FIG. 1, which platform has a railing 34 extending upwardly from three sides thereof. The purpose of the platform will later be described.
The assembly A includes two parallel laterally spaced hydraulic cylinders 36 that have lower ends 36a which are secured to the base 14 by conventional means. The hydraulic cylinders 36 have upper ends 36b through which piston rods 38 extend upwardly, with the cylinders on the upper ends being secured to one another by a cross piece 40. The piston rods 38 on their upper ends are connected by a rigid lifting member 41 as may be seen in FIG. 2 which is secured to the piston rods by bolts 42.
The lifting member 41 has two longitudinally spaced transverse bores 44 formed therein through which the upper threaded ends 46a of rods 46 extend. The rods 46 are secured to the lifting member 41 by nuts 48 that engage the threaded ends 46a. The rods 46 also include lower threaded ends 46b that extend downwardly through transverse bores 50 formed in an elongate pull plate 52. The lower threaded ends 46b of the rod are engaged by nuts 48 to secure the pull plate 52 to the rods in the position as shown in FIG. 2. The pull plate 52 has an elongate, longitudinally extending opening 54 therein as shown in FIG. 4.
An elongate pulling sub 56 is provided and as shown in FIG. 2 that has a lower threaded end 56a and an enlarged head 56b on the upper end thereof. The head 56b has a tapped recess 56c extending downwardly therein, and at least one pair of diametrically aligned bores 56d. The bores 56d may be removably engaged by an elongate rod or bar (not shown) to rotate the pulling sub 56 for reasons that will later become apparent.
A first carriage 58 of generally elongate shape as may be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4 is provided, which carriage has side walls 58a that on the lower end develop into inwardly extending lugs 58b. The first carriage 58 is slidably movable on an upper extension 62 of the pull plate 52, which extension has a pair of grooves 60 defined therein that are slidably engaged by the lugs 58b as shown in FIG. 4.
The extension 62 on the upper surface has a pair of parallel, laterally spaced first recesses 62a formed therein that are vertically aligned with a second pair of recesses 62b formed on the under surface of the carriage 58. A number of balls 64 movably engage the first and second pair of recesses 62a and 62b as shown in FIG. 4 and movably support the first carriage 58 for longitudinal movement on the pull plate 52. The first carriage 58 has a circular recess 59 that extends downwardly from the top surface thereof and at the junction with an upwardly extending vertical bore 59a defines a body shoulder 59b. The head 56b disposed in recess 59 and is rotatably supported on body shoulder 59b, with the balance of the pulling sub extending downwardly through the bore 59a and opening 54 as may be seen in FIG. 4. The pulling sub 56 is thus rotatably supported relative the first carriage 58 and longitudinally movable relative to the pulling plate 52 due to extending through the elongate opening 54.
The assembly A also includes a safety sub 68 which is in the form of a rod 68a that has a lower threaded end 68b and an enlarged head 68c on the upper end of the rod. The head 68c has at least one transverse bore 68d formed therein, which bore may be engaged by an elongate rod (not shown) to permit rotation of the safety sub 68. The cross piece 40 has an elongate longitudinally extending opening 70 therein that extends through an elevated portion 72 thereof, which portion has a pair of longitudinally extending grooves 72a formed therein as may be seen in FIG. 5.
The elevated portion has an upper surface 72b in which a pair of elongate longitudinally extending recesses 72c are defined. A second carriage 74 is provided that has a vertical bore 74a therein and side members 74b that on their lower ends develop into a pair of inwardly extending lugs 74c. The lugs 74c slidably engage the pair of grooves 72a as may be seen in FIG. 5.
The carriage 74 has a pair of recesses 74d formed in the under portion thereof that are engaged by a number of balls 76, which balls also engage the groove 72c to movably support the second carriage on the cross piece 40 as illustrated in FIG. 5.
The pair of hydraulic cylinders 36 as is conventional with such devices has tubular fittings 78 and 80 in the upper and lower ends thereof to permit pressurized hydraulic fluid to be discharged into and out of the cylinders to move the piston rods 38 and the pull plate 52 that move in conformity therewith.
The cross piece 40 has openings 81 in the ends thereof through which the chain 26 extends, and the chain at substantially the center thereof having a ring 82 secured thereto as shown in FIG. 1. The ring permits the assembly A to be secured to the lower end of a cable (not shown) that extends to a winch (not shown) on a suitable vehicle (not shown) that is used to move the assembly from oil well to oil well as required. Due to the ring 82 being connected to the cable above mentioned, the assembly A is portable and may be moved to a position where it may be secured to a blow out preventer B as shown in FIG. 2.
A ladder 84 is provided that has lower portions 84a and upper leg portions 84b, with the lower leg portions being removably insertable in cavity defining members 86 on the upper surface of base 14, and the upper ends in cavity defining members 88 on the cross piece 40. After the assembly A is mounted on the blow out preventer B as shown in FIG. 2, pressurized hydraulic fluid may be discharged into the cylinders 36 to move the piston rods 38 and the pulling plate 52 downwardly. The tubing hanger E as illustrated in FIG. 2 has a passage 88 extending upwardly therethrough that communicates with the tubing string F, and the passage having an upper threaded end 88a. The first carriage 58 is moved on the pulling plate 52 to a position where the first sub 56 may be extended downwardly throughout the blow out preventer B for the threaded end 56a to engage the threaded end 88a in the tubing hanger E by rotating the head 56b of the pulling sub 56. After such engagement hydraulic fluid is discharged into the cylinders 36 to move the piston rods 38 upwardly together with the pulling plate 52. After the tubing hanger E is disposed above the blow out preventer B, the first carriage 58 is moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 2 to position the tubing string F in a centered position in the blow out preventer B, in which position the blow out preventer may be closed to assure that the well at all times is maintained under control. When it is desired to support the tubing hanger E at a fixed position relative to the assembly A, the pulling plate 52 is moved upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 3, with the safety sub 68 then being rotated to position the safety sub in engagement with the threaded recess 56c on the pulling sub as shown in FIG. 5.
The platform 34 if not already secured to the assembly A may be done so, and will occupy the position illustrated in FIG. 1. Likewise the ladder 84 may be secured to the assembly A as shown in FIG. 1 to permit a user (not shown) to replace the connectors H as shown in FIG. 2 when the tubing hanger E has been raised to a substantial distance above the base 14.
After replacement of the connectors H has been completed, the safety sub 68 is rotated to disengage it from the pulling sub 56. The blow out preventor B is now placed in the open position to permit the tubing string J to be moved both longitudingally and laterally therein.
The first carriage 58 is now moved to the right as viewed in FIG. 2 to vertically align the tubing hanger E with the opening 16. The hydraulic cylinders 36 are now utilized to lower the pulling plate 52 to a position where the tubing hanger E moves downwardly through opening 16 to return to a seated position within the well head C.
The nuts 18 are now removed from the stud bolts 12, and by use of the chain 26 the assembly A is lifted and separated from the blow out preventer B. The platform 32 and ladder 84 are preferably separated from the assembly A prior to the above described lifting operation. The platform 32 serves as a support for a user (not shown) when replacements of connectors H are made with the tubing hanger E in the position shown in FIG. 2. When the tubing hanger E is at a higher elevation, the ladder 84 permits the user (not shown) to position himself at a convenient location relative thereto.
The tubing string F after the tubing hanger E is returned to its original position in the well head C still has the plug (not shown) therein. The clamp D is now removed, and the blow out preventer separated from the well head C. The array of valves (not shown) is now mounted on the well head C by use of the clamp D. The plug (not shown) is now removed from the tubing string J, and the well may be returned to production.
A second form of the hydraulically operated tubing hanger lifting assembly A-1 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The second form A-1 differs from the first form A in that lateral shifting of the tubing string F relative to the blow out preventer B is achieved by moving the hydraulic cylinders 36 transversely when the blow out preventer is in an open position, and thus permit the tubing string to be centered in the blow out preventer and the latter closed to maintain control of the well. The second form A-1 of the assembly when used provides the same operational advantages as the first form A.
In FIGS. 5 and 6 elements of the second form A-1 of the assembly elements thereof that are common to the first form are identified by the numerals and letters previously used but with primes being added thereto. In the second form A-1 of the assembly a cross piece 140 is provided that has a centered transverse bore 142 in which the safety sub 68' is rotatably supported. The second form A-1 includes a pulling plate 152 in which a centered transverse bore 154 is formed and through which the pulling sub 56' extends downwardly.
Base 14 has two downward extensions 156 that are coaxially aligned and situated on opposite sides of the opening 16. Each extension 156 includes a pair of spaced parallel side members 158 that have inwardly extending lugs on the lower ends thereof as shown in FIG. 8. The extensions 156 each have a pair of parallel, laterally spaced first recesses 162 defined in the lower surface thereof.
A heavy support plate 164 is provided that overlies the top of the blow out preventer B'. Plate 164 has a number of spaced transverse bores 166 therein as shown in FIG. 6 through which stud bolts 12' extend upwardly, with the bolts being engaged by nuts 18' to secure the plate to the blow out preventer. The support plate 164 has a centered opening 165 therein through which the tubing hanger E' may be upwardly and downwardly. Two sets of rails 168 are situated on opposite sides of the opening 165, with the rails having second recesses 170 on the upper surfaces thereof in which balls 172 are disposed that also engage the first recesses 162. The rails 168 have grooves 174 therein that are slidably engaged by the lugs 160. The base 14' due to the structure previously described is transversely movable relative to the support plate 164.
The second form A-1 of the assembly is used in the same general manner as the first form A, but with the lateral shifting of the tubing string F' to achieve a centered position being accomplished by laterally moving the base 14' relative to the blow out preventer B' is necessary to permit the latter to be placed in a closed position to maintain control of the well.
In FIG. 6 it will be noted that in the second form A-1 of the tubing hanger lifting assembly that the pair of clevis 24' and assembly lifting chain 26' are secured to the support plate 164 rather then the base 14 as in the first form A of the assembly.
A third form A-2 of the assembly is shown in FIGS. 9 to 14 inclusive. In the third form A-2 elements common to the first form A are identified by the same numerals and letters previously used but with double primes being added thereto. The third form A-2 of the assembly permits the tubing string F" and tubing hanger E" to be advanced upwardly from the well of which the well head B" forms a part to the extent that connectors H" on the electric motor (not shown) that drive the downhole pump (not shown) may be replaced.
In FIGS. 9 and 10 it will be seen that first and second slip supporting assemblies P and Q are mounted on the pulling plate 52" and the cross piece 40". The pulling plate 52" has a generally centered transverse opening 200 therein that is of substantially greater diameter than the tubing hanger E". The first slip supporting assembly P includes a pair of rails 202 are longitudinally disposed on the upper surface of the pulling plate 52" and situated on opposite sides of the opening 200 as may be seen in FIG. 13. Each of the rails 202 has a first longitudinally extending groove 204 defined in the top thereof. Each rail 202 has a longitudinally extending recess 206 formed in the outer side thereof as shown in FIG. 13. First and second slip supporting rigid members 208, 210 extend transversely between the pair of rails 202, with each of the slip supporting members having a side wall 212 that extends downwardly therefrom, and a lug 214 extending inwardly from the lower end of the latter to slidably engage one of the recesses 206 as shown in FIG. 13. The first and second slip supporting members 208 and 210 have second grooves 216 formed in the lower surfaces thereof that engage balls 218 that are mounted in the first grooves 204 with the first and second slip supporting members 208 and 210 accordingly being longitudinally movable on the rails 202.
The first and second slip supporting members 208 and 210 have tongue and groove structures 208a and 210a as shown in FIG. 14 which engage one another when the slip supporting members are in abutting contact. The first and second slip supporting members 208 and 210 when in abutting contact as shown in FIG. 14 have vertically aligned bores 220 therein through which pins 222 may be extended downwardly to removably lock the slip supporting members together.
In FIG. 12 it will be seen that the slip supporting members 208 and 210 on their adjacent edges have centered semi-circular, downwardly extending tapered recesses 208b and 210b therein, which when the slip supporting members are in the locked position as shown in FIG. 14 cooperate to define a frusto conical opening in which an assembly of slips 224 may be disposed. Each of the slips 224 have an outwardly extending handle 224a to facilitate the removal and insertion of the slips in the opening defined by the recesses 208b and 210b.
The cross piece 40" has a centered opening 300 therein of greater diameter than the tubing hanger E". The second slip supporting assembly Q is mounted on the upper surface of cross piece 40" is of the same structure as the first slip supporting assembly P. The same numerals are accordingly used to identify the elements of the second assembly Q as used in the first assembly P. Accordingly a detailed description of the second slip supporting assembly Q is not required.
The use and operation of the third form A-2 of the tubing hanger lifting assembly is as follows. The array of valves (not shown) normally on the well head C" is removed and replaced by the blow out preventer B" as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, with the third form A-2 of the assembly removably secured to the blow out preventer by use of the bolts 12" and nuts 18". The tubing string F" has a plug (not shown) removably inserted therein.
The pulling sub 56" is now moved downwardly between the slip supporting members 208 and 210 of the first assembly P when they are moved to the spaced relationship to one another as shown in FIG. 12. The lower threaded end 56a" of the pulling sub 56" is caused to engage the threads 88a" of the tubing hanger E". The pulling plate 52" is now moved downwardly relative to the pulling sub 56", and the slip supporting members 208 and 210 moved to the closed position as shown in FIG. 11, and slips 224 disposed therein to grip the pulling sub 56".
The first slip assembly P is now moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 9 to center the tubing string F" within the blow out preventer B" to permit the latter to be closed if necessary to maintain control of the well on which the well head C" forms a part. Hydraulic fluid is now discharged into the cylinders 36" through the tubular members 78" to move the pulling plate 52' and pulling sub 56" upwardly to the extent that the head 56b" of the pulling sub is above the cross piece 40" as shown in FIG. 9. The cross piece 40" has an opening 43" therein through which the pulling sub 56" may move upwardly. The second slip assembly Q is now moved to a position to grip the pulling sub 56" below the head 56b"thereof.
The slips 224 in the first slip assembly P are now removed, and the slip supporting members 208 and 210 are moved to the open position as shown in FIG. 12 to permit the pulling plate 52' to be lowered downwardly below the tubing hanger E". The connectors H" are removed from the tubing hanger E", and the cable J" separated from the tubing string F". The first slip assembly P' is now moved to a closed position a substantial distance below the tubing hanger E" and the slips 224 are inserted therein to grip the tubing string F". The second slip assembly Q is now placed in the open position, and by discharging hydraulic fluid into the cylinders 36" through the tubular members 78" the pulling plate is moved upwardly to advance the tubing hanger E" to a position above third form A-2 as viewed in FIG. 12. By sequentially moving the pulling plate 52" upwardly and downwardly relative to the cross piece 40", the tubing string F" may be removed in stages from the well of which the casing head C" forms a part. On the up stroke the first slip assembly P is in gripping engagement with the tubing string 56" and the second slip assembly Q is out of engagement therewith.
Prior to a down stroke the second slip assembly Q is caused to grip the tubing string F" to temporarily support the latter at a fixed elevation while the pulling sub and the first slip assembly P in a non tubing engaging position are moved downwardly relative to the tubing string. After the down stroke has been completed the above described upstroke is repeated to again advance the tubing string upwardly. As stands of tubing F" are elevated or lowered they move longitudinally through the opening 43" formed in the lifting member 41".
The tubing string F" may be advanced upwardly in stages as above described to the extent that the connector H" (not shown) on the electric motor (not shown) that powers the downhole pump (not shown) may be replaced. When the necessary connector replacements have been completed, the above described operation is reversed to return the well to an oil producing condition.
The blow out preventer B and the well head D are of a structure currently in use on oil wells and are accordingly not described in detail. When either the assemblies A, A-1, or A-2 are desired to be used on a well for which the diameter of opening 16 is not appropriate, an adapter plate may be provided (not shown) that is secured to the base 14.
The use and operation of the invention has been described previously in detail and need not be repeated.
|
A hydraulically operated assembly that may be removably secured to the well head of an oil well to concurrently raise a tubing hanger that has a tubing string supported in either a centered or offset position therefrom to an elevation where replacements or repairs may be made to electrical components including the lower electrical connector. The tubing string upon being lifted is moved to a centered position in the blow out preventer to permit the latter to be closed to gain control of the well if necessary. The assembly eliminates the necessity of moving a rig over the well to service the electrical components therein.
| 4
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to insect screens.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Insect screens are widely used in windows, doors, porches, gazebos and the like. No one will argue that insect screens are not functional. Whether they are used in doors, windows or screened porches, insect screens make certain areas of a home habitable and enjoyable, especially during summer months and in areas where insects are prevalent.
[0003] Aside from functionality, little can be said for insect screens. They are not particularly aesthetically pleasing, nor are they even designed to be. But yet, insect screens are often used in and around areas of the home where a great deal of time and attention has been devoted to design and aesthetics.
[0004] Therefore, there is a need for a “designer type” insect screen, one that will not only fit in with fine or even extraordinary furnishings and interior design, but one that will even compliment and add to the aesthetics of a home.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A knitted insect screen is provided with a pattern incorporated into the insect screen.
[0006] In one particular embodiment, the insect screen is knitted from at least two groups of yarn. The first group of yarns forms a grid or mesh while the second group of yarns is knitted into a pattern that extends over an area of the insect screen.
[0007] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of an insect screen in a window.
[0009] FIGS. 2A and 2B are lapping diagrams for mesh yarn inlays.
[0010] FIG. 2C illustrates lapping diagrams for pillar stitched mesh yarns.
[0011] FIG. 2D illustrates the combination of yarn inlays and pillar stitched yarns of FIGS. 2A and 2B .
[0012] FIG. 2E illustrates patterning yarns showing pillar stitching in non-non-patterned areas and tricot stitching across two wales in patterned areas.
[0013] FIG. 2F illustrates patterning yarns showing pillar stitching in non-non-patterned areas and tricot stitching across three wales in patterned areas.
[0014] FIG. 2G illustrates patterning utilizing the patterning yarns of FIGS. 2E and 2F superimposed.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a threading diagram and stitch construction for an insect screen fabric using a 3 needle/3 needle technique.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a threading diagram and stitch construction for an insect screen fabric using a 2 needle/3 needle technique.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] With further reference to the drawings, the insect screen of the present invention is shown therein and indicated generally by the numeral 100 . Insect screen 100 is of a general mesh or grid construction. Integrated into the insect screen 100 is a pattern indicated generally by the numeral 101 . Pattern 101 can include individual patterns spaced apart on the insect screen 100 , as illustrated in FIG. 1 , or can include one continuous pattern that extends over a substantial portion of the insect screen. Various patterns 101 can be incorporated. Typical examples of patterns are palm trees, leaves, landscapes, etc. Generally, insect screen 100 can be used in a wide variety of areas. For example, insect screen 100 can be used in doors, windows, porches, gazebos and other areas where desirable to prevent the ingress of insects. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the insect screen 100 is incorporated into a window frame 100 A.
[0018] Insect screen 100 is of a knit construction. Yarns, such as synthetic yarns, are knitted together to form the basic mesh or grid construction as well as the pattern 101 . Basically, at least two groups of yarns are utilized to form insect screen 100 . A first group of yarns is knitted together to form the mesh or grid. This first group of yarns is sometimes referred to as mesh yarns. The mesh or grid can assume various shapes. Typically the mesh or grid will include tiny rectangular openings formed between yarns. In addition to the first group of yarns, or the mesh yarns, there is also a second group of yarns utilized to form pattern 101 that visually contrasts with the mesh or grid. These yarns may be referred to as patterning yarns.
[0019] The two groups of yarns may be of the same color or shade. Alternatively, each group may include yarns of different or distinct colors or shades from the yarns of the other group. For example, the mesh yarns could be clear polypropylene yarns while the patterning yarns could be colored yarns or yarns that are more nearly opaque or black. This provides an additional visual contrast between the mesh or grid and pattern 101 . Similarly, the two groups of yarns may be selected to exhibit other properties. such as composition, denier, ply, etc., that are different in one group than in the other group.
[0020] In the example shown in FIG. 1 , insect screen 100 includes non-patterned areas 102 and patterned areas 104 . In the non-patterned areas 102 , the patterning yarn lies generally adjacent the mesh yarn. Thus, in the non-patterned areas, the mesh or grid is formed by both the mesh yarn and the patterning yarn. In patterned areas 104 , the patterning yarn is diverted from the mesh yarn to form pattern 101 . In a general sense the patterning yarn is extended across mesh or grid openings so as to partially close selected openings. This gives rise to a pattern effect.
[0021] FIGS. 2A-2G illustrate sequentially the basic construction of the insect screen 100 . Each of FIGS. 2A-2G illustrate the same 10 course (C 1 -C 10 ) by 5 wale (W 1 -W 5 ) portion of insect screen 100 showing the dispositions of the various yarns used in forming the screen. A single course indicates the instantaneous location of the knitting machine needle array while forming screen 100 . Each wale indicates the sequence of locations of a particular needle in the needle array during the formation of screen 100 . A first group of yarns, referred to as the mesh yarns, include an array of zigzag yarns that zigzag back and forth across wales and along courses forming inlays 33 and 34 , as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B . The mesh yarns also include an array of connecting yarns that form connecting stitches 32 as shown in FIG. 2C . Connecting stitches 32 bind the zigzag yarns together.
[0022] The zigzag yarns comprise two sub-groups of yarns. The two sub-groups of zigzag yarns form opposing inlays, one as illustrated in FIG. 2A and the other as illustrated in FIG. 2B . Once the zigzag yarns are connected by the connecting yarns, it follows that tiny openings within the formed mesh are defined. In one example, the connecting yarns form pillar stitches 32 at selected locations to bind the zigzag yarns together, which in turn forms the mesh.
[0023] In forming the mesh or grid, the zigzag yarns of one sub-group extend across a predetermined number of courses along a wale and then turn and extend across a predetermined number of wales to the next course, and thereafter continue to extend along wales and courses in alternating fashion. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A , one of the zigzag yarns lies below needle location C 1 -W 3 , extends around the needle location to the left, extends along wale W 3 to needle location C 3 -W 3 , turns and extends out of wale W 3 and across wale W 4 to needle location C 4 -W 5 . A zigzag yarn may, in some embodiments, start in every wale in course C 1 and zigzag along wales and across courses in this manner, as illustrated in FIG. 2A . The zigzag yarns of the other sub-group are inlayed in opposition as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 2A and 2B . For example, in FIG. 2B , one of the zigzag yarns lies below needle location C 1 -W 3 , extends to the right of the needle location, extends along wale W 3 to needle location C 3 -W 3 , and then turns and extends out of wale W 3 and across wale W 2 to needle location C 4 -W 1 . Thus, one sub-group of zigzag yarns forms inlays 33 that are open to one side, and the other sub-group of the zigzag yarns forms inlays 34 that are opposed and open to the opposite side. However, when the two inlays are superimposed, as occurs in the knitting process, the side openings are effectively closed to form the mesh and the tiny openings are bounded by the zigzag yarns.
[0024] FIG. 2D shows the yarn layout when inlays 33 and 34 and pillar stitches 32 are superimposed. The mesh or grid is clearly apparent in that each opening is bounded by a vertical element 105 V and a horizontal element 105 H. Vertical elements 105 V are formed by pillar stitches 32 and portions of inlays 33 and 34 which run within each wale. Horizontal elements 105 H are formed by the portions of inlays 33 and 34 that extend out of wale from one course to another course.
[0025] Inlays 33 and 34 , may, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B , be repeated in every wale or they may be spaced apart one or more wales. Connecting yarns form stitches 32 along every wale in which a zigzag yarn turns around a needle location. In one embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B , zigzag yarns form inlays 33 and 34 that are immediately adjacent one another, and the connecting yarns form pillar stitches 32 extending along every wale and connecting to the zigzag yarns at every needle location.
[0026] The size of the tiny openings in the mesh can be varied in several ways. For example, the size of the openings can be varied by varying the needle spacing or varying the length of the in wale run of the zigzag yarns.
[0027] The patterning yarn, or second group of yarns, is incorporated into insect screen 100 in two different ways as illustrated in FIGS. 2E-2G . First, in non-patterned areas 102 , the yarns of the second group tend to follow the connecting yarns of the first group. That is, in non-patterned areas 102 , the yarns of the second group extend alongside the connecting yarns of the first group, and also form pillar stitches 31 A and 31 B. Thus, in non-patterned areas 102 , the yarns of the second group, or the patterning yarns, cooperate with the yarns of the first group to form the mesh or grid. However, in patterned areas 104 , the yarns of the second group are diverted to form a pattern or series of patterns. Effectively, the patterning yarns are diverted such that they extend across openings in the mesh or grid, and at least partially close these openings such that when a substantial area of the screen 100 is viewed a pattern 101 is seen. When the second group of yarns is diverted for the purpose of forming the pattern 101 , they are attached to other yarns in the insect screen 100 by tricot stitches 31 AP and 31 BP.
[0028] The yarns utilized in producing insect screen 100 may be beam or creel fed. Generally, yarns used to form stitches which consume approximately equal amounts of yarn continuously may be beam fed. That is, such yarns would be wound on the beam together ad fed generally uniformly from the beam. Yarns forming stitches or inlays with varying consumption rates during the knitting process are generally creel fed. Each yarn is supplied from a separate spool housed in the creel and fed from there to the knitting machine. Creel feeding such yarns prevents distortion of the grid or mesh structure of insect screen 100 .
[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment the insect screen 100 constructed by warp knitting on a Piezo Jacquard machine equipped with a fall plate and employing the 3 needle/3 needle inlay technique. The machine gauge is 12 needles per inch. The stitch construction, indicated generally by the numeral 30 , shows a representative portion of screen 100 showing non-patterned areas 102 and patterned areas 104 . The yarns and threading thereof utilized in forming screen 100 are illustrated in the threading diagram, indicated generally by the numeral 50 . The stitch construction 30 that forms screen 100 illustrates the stitches and their relationships in the fabric that forms the screen 100 .
[0030] Insect screen 100 comprises a generally rectangular mesh or grid structure formed along courses C 1 -C 11 and across wales W 1 -W 9 . Patterned areas 104 are yarn structures that are integrated with the mesh or grid structure to form an aesthetic appeal while maintaining functional attributes. Non-patterned areas 102 comprise the grid or mesh structure. The 3 needle/3 needle inlay technique provides relatively high width stability to the mesh or grid structure of insect screen 100 . For this embodiment, the openings in the grid or mesh structure are spaced approximately 14 openings per inch.
[0031] As mentioned before, yarns used to form insect screen 100 may be of various types, including synthetic yarns. In one embodiment, the yarns are polypropylene yarns, specifically 1/70/36 HESR 100% polypropylene solution dyed. A first group of yarns is utilized uniformly throughout the fabric to form the mesh or grid structure. Yarns of a second group are aligned with and form a part of the mesh or grid structure in non-patterned areas 102 , but are diverted in patterned areas 104 to form the pattern or patterns structures. In one embodiment the yarns of the second group would preferably be creel fed so as to have little or no distortion of the mesh or grid structure. Yarns 52 , 53 , and 54 comprise the first group of yarns and are guided by ground guide bars L 2 , L 3 , and L 4 , respectively, to form the grid or mesh structure. Yarns 51 A and 51 B comprise the second group of yarns, guided by Jacquard guide bar L 1 A, L 1 B to alternately align with the mesh or grid in non-patterned areas 102 and selectively divert in patterned areas 104 to form pattern 101 . As is appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the guide bars are functional elements of a warp knitting machine that engage needles to form the various stitches and inlays to comprise the structure of a knitted fabric. Selectively diverting yarns 51 A and 51 B is effected by shifts of certain individual guides of Jacquard L 1 A and L 1 B using the piezo capability of the Jacquard.
[0032] Turning now to a more detailed description of stitch construction 30 for the exemplary insect screen 100 of FIG. 3 , the fabric is formed utilizing several stitch trajectories. Yarn 54 forms inlay 34 spanning 3 needle locations, and yarn 53 forms an opposed inlay 33 likewise spanning 3 needles. This 3 needle/3 needle inlay technique provides relatively high width stability to the grid or mesh structure. Both inlay 33 and inlay 34 each span three wales, or needle locations. For example, yarn 54 , guided by guide bar L 4 , laps to the right about needle position C 1 -W 3 , then back to the left to lap C 2 -W 1 , then to the right to lap C 2 -W 1 , then to the left to lap C 3 -W 1 , and finally to the right to C 5 -W 3 . Inlay 34 repeats up across the courses, and the stitch is repeated for every wale. That is, an inlay 34 begins, in one embodiment as shown in stitch construction 30 , at each of wales W 1 , W 2 , W 3 , W 4 , W 5 , W 6 , W 7 , W 8 , W 9 , and each inlay repeats across the courses. Thus, successive inlays 34 partially overlap preceding inlays 34 forming a portion of the grid or mesh structure. Similarly, yarn 53 , guided by guide bar L 3 , forms an opposed inlay 33 by lapping, for example, to the left of C 1 -W 4 , then right to lap C 2 -W 6 , then left to lap C 3 -W 6 , then right to lap C 4 -W 6 , and finally left to C 5 -W 4 to form a cycle of the inlay. As with inlay 34 , inlay 33 repeats across courses with a yarn forming an inlay 33 beginning in every wale. It is appreciated that yarns 53 and 54 form opposed inlays 33 and 34 due to the opposed shogging of guide bars L 3 and L 4 to produce the conformation of the grid or mesh with relatively high width stability. Portions of yarns 53 and 54 running generally closely spaced and in a slightly angled fashion, in one embodiment, form horizontal elements 105 H of the grid or mesh as described here before. The generally vertical elements 105 V of the grid or mesh are formed by the partially overlapping portions that run sinuously up individual wales between the horizontal elements.
[0033] The mesh or grid is bound or stitched together by open pillar stitches 32 formed utilizing yarn 52 running up each wale. Pillar stitches 32 engage and wrap yarns 53 and 54 where they cross to provide the lengthwise stability of screen 100 . In non-patterned area 102 yarns 51 A and 51 B, guided by Jacquard sections L 1 A and L 1 B, respectively, generally align with, and lay adjacent, yarn 52 running along the wales. In one embodiment, yarns 51 A and 51 B from open pillar stitches 31 A and 31 B, respectively, in unison with stitches 32 in non-patterned areas 102 . Because of the changing nature of the stitches formed by yarns 51 A and 51 B, the yarns may be creel fed.
[0034] In patterned areas 104 , yarns 51 A and 51 B are diverted to form open tricot stitches 31 AP and 31 BP crossing one or more wales. For example, yarn 51 A binds other yarns at C 1 -W 2 , then laps leftward to C 2 -W 1 binding and engaging yarns at that location, and finally laps rightward to C 3 -W 2 to form open tricot stitch 31 AP. It is to be noted that the portion of yarn 51 A lapping from, for example, C 2 -W 1 to C 3 -W 2 crosses a portion of the mesh cell formed by vertical grid elements 105 V formed along wales W 1 and W 2 and the horizontal grid elements 105 H between C 1 and C 2 and between C 4 and C 5 . Yarn 51 A crossing a mesh cell creates part of a pattern area 104 . Likewise, yarn 51 B binds other yarns at C 1 -W 3 , angles leftward to bind other yarns at C 2 -W 1 , and finally angles rightward to form open tricot stitch 31 BP. As with yarn 51 A, it is appreciated that yarn 51 A being thus diverted crosses one or more mesh cells and forms part of a pattern area 104 by partially closing an opening in the mesh. It is further appreciated that by selectively diverting yarns 51 A and 51 B at various locations in fabric, various pattern structures may be produced.
[0035] Another embodiment entails the use of the 2 needle/3 needle inlay technique as illustrated in FIG. 4 . The description of the yarns and construction as regards the yarns 61 A, 61 B, and 62 forming stitches 41 A, 41 AP, 41 B, 41 BP, and 42 is identical to that of FIG. 3 for yarns 51 A, 51 B, and 52 forming stitches 31 A, 31 AP, 31 B, 31 BP, respectively. Insect screen 100 in this embodiment differs from the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 in regards to inlays 43 and 44 formed by yarns 53 and 54 guided by ground bars L 3 and L 4 , respectively. Inlay 44 spans only two wales, or needle locations while inlay 43 spans three wales, or needle locations. For example, yarn 64 laps rightward around C 1 -W 7 , then leftward around C 2 -W 6 , then rightward around C 3 -W 6 , then leftward around C 4 -W 6 , and finally rightward to C 4 -W 7 to form inlay 44 spanning two wales, or needle locations. Yarn 63 laps leftward around C 1 -W 3 , then rightward around C 2 -W 5 , then leftward around C 3 -W 5 , then rightward around C 4 -W 5 , and finally leftward to C 4 -W 3 to form inlay 43 spanning three wales, or needle positions. As in the case of inlays 33 and 34 in FIG. 3 , inlays 43 and 44 in FIG. 4 each commence, in one embodiment, in each wale and run along wales across courses as described. It is appreciated that the 2 needle/3 needle inlay technique provides relatively lower widthwise stability of insect screen 100 as compared to the earlier-described embodiment that employs the 3 needle/3 needle inlay technique, albeit with a lower yarn consumption. Further, 2 needle/3 needle inlay technique may provide stiffer horizontal, or widthwise, elements 105 H in insect screen 100 due to the shorter wale-to-wale yarn traverses included in inlay 33 . Additionally, the 2 needle/3 needle inlay technique provides cleaner, more balanced in width and length mesh or grid openings.
[0036] The embodiment described above utilizing the 2 needle/3 needle inlay technique also provides mesh or grid opening spacing of about 14 openings per inch. Other opening spacings can be produced. For example, employing an 18 gauge single Jacquard machine and using 3 needle/3 needle or 3 needle/4 needle inlay techniques can produce insect screen 100 with an opening spacing of about 20 openings per inch. It is appreciated that a wider inlay technique, such as a 3 needle/4 needle limits machine speed relative to narrower inlays. Another example is employing a Rascheltronic machine with 28 needles per inch, or 28 gauge, with a 2 needle/3 needle inlay technique to produce insect screen 100 with opening spacing of about 30 openings per inch.
[0037] Turning now to the method of forming insect screen 100 , it is appreciated that the screen is knitted and subsequently subjected to one or more finishing operations. To facilitate handling insect screen 100 during finishing operations, opposed side selvages are integrally knitted onto the screen. The side selvages are utilized to attach opposed sides of insect screen 100 to pins or hooks of a conveyor that forms a part of the finishing system. The side selvages stretch insect screen 100 and maintain the screen in tension on the conveyer as the conveyor moves the screen through the finishing process. After finishing, the side selvages are removed from insect screen 100 .
[0038] In one embodiment, finishing operations include stretching and tensioning insect screen and subjecting the screen to a heated environment for a certain period of time. This is accomplished using finishing ovens where the conveyor conveys the tensioned insect screen 100 through the ovens. Such finishing systems are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In one embodiment, where polypropylene yarns are utilized to construct insect screen 100 , the oven is set at about 330° F. and the screen is retained in the oven for approximately one minute. The melting point of polypropylene yarns is about 330° F., and the softening point is about 290° F. Heating the yarns that comprise insect screen 100 plasticizes the yarns and heat fuses the stitches. This causes insect screen 100 to be “set”, meaning that after being removed from the conveyor, the screen generally assumes the same area it assumes when stretched in tension on the conveyor. Moreover, plasticizing the yarns and heat fusing the stitches tends to make insect screen 100 more rigid.
[0039] As mentioned above, insect screen 100 is tensioned by the side selvages when connected to pins or hooks of the conveyor that moves through the heated area. It is preferable to construct the side selvages of yarns having a higher melting point than the yarns utilized to form insect screen 100 . This will generally preclude the side selvages from being melted during the finishing operation by heat transmitted from the pins or hooks of the conveyor thereby enabling screen fabric 100 to be held throughout the finishing operation.
[0040] The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other ways than those specifically set forth herein without departing from essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
|
An insect screen comprised of knitted synthetic yarns and having a knitted pattern incorporated therein. First and second groups of yarns, such as polypropylene, are knitted with the first group of yarns forming a grid or mesh while the second group of yarns form a pattern. Once the insect screen is knitted, the insect screen is subjected to a finishing operation. In finishing the insect screen is stretched and placed in tension using selvages formed of a third group of yarns. The tensioned insect screen is heated causing the yarns to at least slightly plasticize and causing heat fusion of at least some stitches. Thereafter the insect screen and yarns are cooled, resulting in the insect screen becoming more rigid and generally assuming the stretched configuration in the absence of stretching.
| 3
|
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/601,931 filed on Nov. 20, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,875,182 entitled “Size Selective Hemoperfusion Polymeric Adsorbents”.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to size selective polymer system and in particular, polymer systems having a plurality of pores with transport pores and a negative ionic charge on its surface.
The size-selective porous polymeric adsorbents of this invention are biocompatible and hemocompatible and are designed to function in direct contact with body fluids. These adsorbents are useful in conjunction with hemodialysis for extracting and controlling the blood level of β 2 -microglobulin without significantly perturbing the levels of albumin, immunoglobulins, leukocytes, erythrocytes, and platelets. These polymeric adsorbents are also very effective in extracting cytokines associated with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), from the blood and/or physiologic fluid, in patients with sepsis, burns, trauma, influenza, etc. while keeping the physiologically required components of blood at clinically acceptable levels.
2. Description of Related Art
Techniques of extracorporeal blood purification are important in many medical treatments including hemodialysis, hemofiltration, hemoperfusion, plasma perfusion and combinations of these methods. Hemodialysis and hemofiltration involve passing whole blood through hollow fibers to remove excess water and compounds of small molecular size but are unable to remove protein toxins such as beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) and the cytokines. Hemoperfusion is passing whole blood over an adsorbent to remove contaminants from the blood. Plasma perfusion is passing blood plasma through an adsorbent. In hemoperfusion, the treated whole blood returns to the patient's blood circulation system.
In addition to the common requirements such as hemocompatibility and sterility for medical devices, an ideal adsorbent for hemoperfusion and plasma perfusion should have an adsorption capacity and selectivity adequate for adsorbing toxins to the exclusion of useful components in order to be beneficial to the patient.
Conventional adsorbing materials include activated carbon, silicates, diatomite and synthetic porous resins. Activated carbon has been reported in extracorporeal adsorption for treating schizophrenia (Kinney, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,551; 1981). Various synthetic polymeric adsorbents have been disclosed for removing toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, bradykinin and endotoxin from blood (Hirai, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,907; 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,362; 2002, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,610; 2000), and for removing poisons and/or drugs from the blood of animals (Kunin, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,584; 1974). Adsorption by the above adsorbents is generally rather nonselective and, therefore, is limited to short term treatments.
Most commercial porous resins are synthesized either by macroreticular synthesis (Meitzner, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,415; 1980), such as Amberlite XAD-4® and Amberlite XAD-16® by Rohm and Haas Company or by hypercrosslinking synthesis [Davankov, et al. J. Polymer Science, Symposium No. 47, 95-101 (1974)], used to make the Hpersol-Macronet® resins by Purolite Corp. Many conventional polymeric adsorbents have a large pore surface and adsorption capacity but a lack of selectivity due to the broad distribution of pore sizes. Others are produced to adsorb small organic molecules or are not hemocompatible and therefore are not suitable for selective adsorption of midsize proteins directly from body fluids.
In order to enhance the hemocompatibility, many techniques involve coating the hydrophobic adsorbent with hydrophilic materials such as polyacrylamide and poly(hydroxyethylmethacrylate) (Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,064; 1977; Nakashima, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,283; 1979). A copolymer coating of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with diethylaminoethyl methacrylate is reported by Watanabe, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,185; 1991). Davankov, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,466; 2000) disclosed a method of grafting to the external surface of porous polymeric beads hydrophilic monomers including 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, N-vinylpyrrolidinone, N-vinylcaprolactam and acrylamide. Recently, Albright (U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,829 B2; 2005) disclosed the use of surface active dispersants [including polyvinyl alcohol, poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(vinylpyrrolidinone), and hydroxethylcellulose] during macroreticular synthesis to yield a hemocompatible surface on porous beads in a one step synthesis.
The internal pore structure (distribution of pore diameters, pore volume, and pore surface) of the adsorbent is very important to adsorption selectivity. A cartridge containing a packed bed of adsorbent with effective pore diameters ranging from 2 Å to 60 Å (Angstrom) was disclosed for hemoperfusion by Clark (U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,064; 1977). This pore size range was primarily specified for detoxification and preventing adsorption of anticoagulants, platelets and leukocytes from the blood but is inadequate for adsorbing midsize proteins such as cytochrome-c and beta-2-microglobulin. Similarly, coating inorganic adsorbents, such as silicate and diatomite, with a membrane film having pore sizes greater than 20 Å was disclosed by Mazid (U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,425; 1992) for preparing hemoperfusion adsorbents. More recently, Giebelhausen (U.S. Pat. No. 551,700; 2003) disclosed a spherical adsorbent with pronounced microstructure with 0-40 Å pore diameters and an overall micropore volume of at least 0.6 cm 3 /g for adsorption of chemical warfare agents, toxic gases and vapors, and refrigerating agents. The above pore structures are too small for adsorption of midsize proteins from physiologic fluids.
An adsorbent with a broad distribution of pore sizes (40-9,000 Å diameter) was disclosed for adsorbing proteins, enzymes, antigens, and antibodies by Miyake et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,351; 1981). The adsorbent sorbs both the toxins as well as the beneficial proteins such as albumin from the blood due to its broad pore size distribution. Immobilizing antibodies and IgG-binding proteins onto porous polymeric adsorbents were described to enhance selectivity of adsorbents having broad pore size distributions for lowering low density lipoproteins, for treating atherosclerosis, for adsorbing rheumatoid arthritis factor (Strahilevitz, U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,622; 2004), and for removing hepatitis C virus from blood (Ogino et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,014; 2003). The antibodies or proteins bound to adsorbents, however, could greatly increase the side effects for a hemoperfusion or a plasma perfusion device and could greatly increase the difficulty for maintaining sterility of the devices.
Removal of beta-2-microglobulin by direct hemoperfusion was beneficial to renal patients (Kazama, “Nephrol. Dial. Transplant”, 2001, 16:31-35). An adsorbent with an enhanced portion of pores in a diameter range between 10 and 100 Å was described by Braverman et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,663; 1999) for removing beta-2-microglobulin from blood and by Davankov et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,735; 2003) for removing toxins in the molecular weight range of 300-30,000 daltons from a physiologic fluid. Strom, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,801; 2002) described a synthesis method for polymer resins with pore sizes in the range from 20 Å to 500 Å intended for adsorbing beta-2-microglobulin. The in-vitro study by the present inventors shows that the pore structures proposed by Davankov and Strom, however, are inadequate for a selective adsorption of midsize proteins such as beta-2-microglobulin and cytochrome-c in the presence of serum albumin.
In contrast to prior disclosures, the porous polymeric adsorbents specified in the present invention demonstrate a high selectivity for adsorbing small and midsize proteins to the exclusion of the large proteins with molecular weights greater than 50,000 daltons. More significantly, the present invention discloses adsorbents for hemoperfusion suitable for long term clinical treatment, since the healthy components such as albumin, red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells are maintained at clinically acceptable levels.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In one embodiment, the present invention provides for a polymer system comprising at least one polymer with a plurality of pores, and the polymer has at least one transport pore with a diameter from about 250 Angstroms to about 2000 Angstroms, and the polymer has a transport pore volume greater than about 1.8% to about 78% of a capacity pore of volume of the polymer.
For purposes of this invention, the term “transport pore” is defined as a pore that allows for a fast “transport” of the molecules to the effective pores and the term “transport pore volume” means the volume of the “transport” pores per unit mass of the polymer.
In another embodiment, the pores have diameters from greater than 100 Angstrom to about 2000 Angstrom. In yet another embodiment, the polymer is capable of sorbing protein molecules greater than 20,000 to less than 50,000 Daltons from blood and excluding the sorption of blood proteins greater than 50,000 Daltons.
In still another embodiment, the polymer has a pore volume from about 0.315 cc/g to about 1.516 cc/g. In still yet another embodiment, the polymer has effective pore volume greater than from about 21.97% to about 98.16% of the capacity pore volume. In a further embodiment, the polymer comprises effective pores, said effective pores having a diameter from greater than about 100 Angstroms to about 250 Angstroms.
For purposes of this invention, the term “total pore volume” is defined as the volume of all the pores in a polymer per unit mass and the term “effective pore volume” means any pore which is selective adsorption of molecules. The term “capacity pore volume” is defined as the volume of the “capacity” of all the pores per unit mass of polymer and the term “effective pores” means the functional pores designed to adsorb particular molecules. The term “capacity pore” is the total sum of the effective pores and transport pores. For purposes of this invention, the term “capacity pore volume is the volume of all the effective pores and transport pores per unit of polymer.
In another further embodiment, the polymer is biocompatible. In yet another embodiment, the polymer is hemocompatible. In still a further embodiment, the geometry of the polymer is a spherical bead.
In yet a further embodiment, the polymer is used in direct contact with whole blood to sorb protein molecules selected from a group consisting essentially of cytokines and β 2 -microglobulin and exclude the sorption of large blood proteins, and the large blood proteins are selected from a group consisting essentially of hemoglobin, albumin, immunoglobulins, fibrinogen, serum proteins and other blood proteins larger than 50,000 Daltons.
In still yet a further embodiment, the polymer has an internal surface selectivity for adsorbing proteins smaller than 50,000 Daltons, having little to no selectivity for adsorbing vitamins, glucose, electrolytes, fats, and other hydrophilic small molecular nutrients carried by the blood.
In another embodiment, the polymer is made using suspension polymerization. In still another embodiment, the polymer is constructed from aromatic monomers of styrene and ethylvinylbenzene with a crosslinking agent selected from a group consisting essentially of divinylbenzene, trivinylcyclohexane, trivinylbenzene, divinylnaphthalene, divinylsulfone, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate and mixtures thereof.
In another embodiment, the crosslinking agent is DVD in amount from about 20% to about 90% of the polymer.
In yet another embodiment, the stabilizing agent for the droplet suspension polymerization is selected from a group consisting essentially of hemocompatibilizing polymers, said polymers being poly(N-vinylpyrrolidinone), poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), hydroxylethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, salts of poly(acrylic acid), salts of poly(methacrylic acid), poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl alcohol) and mixtures thereof.
In still yet another embodiment, the polymer is made hemocompatible by exterior coatings selected from a group consisting essentially of poly(N-vinylpyrrolidinone), poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, salts of poly(acrylic acid), salts of poly(methacrylic acid), poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl alcohol) and mixtures thereof.
In a further embodiment, the polymer is made hemocompatible by surface grafting of the hemocompatible exterior coatings concomitantly with formation of the porous polymer beads.
In another further embodiment, the polymer is made hemocompatible by surface grafting of the hemocompatible exterior coatings onto the preformed porous polymeric beads.
In still another further embodiment, the polymer has an external surface with a negative ionic charge, and the negative ionic charge prevents albumin from entering said pores.
In yet another further embodiment, the present invention relates to a size selective polymer comprising at least one polymer with a plurality of pores, and the pores have diameters from greater than 100 Angstrom to about 2000 Angstrom, and the polymer has a transport pore volume greater than about 1.8% to about 78% of a capacity pore of volume of the polymer.
In still yet another further embodiment, the present invention provides for a size selective polymer comprising a plurality of pores, and the pores have diameters from greater than 100 Angstrom to about 2000 Angstrom, and the polymer has at least one transport pore with a diameter from about 250 Angstroms to about 2000 Angstroms, and the polymer has an external surface with a negative ionic charge, and the negative ionic charge prevents albumin from entering said pores at a pH from about 7.2 to about 7.6.
In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a porous polymer for sorbing small to midsize protein molecules and excluding sorption of large blood proteins, the polymer comprising a plurality of pores. The pores sorb small to midsize protein molecules equal to or less than 50,000 Daltons. In another embodiment, the polymer is biocompatible and/or hemocompatible.
In yet another embodiment, the polymer comprises a plurality of pores with diameters from about 75 Angstrom to about 300 Angstrom. In another embodiment, the polymer can have a plurality of pores within the above range. In another further embodiment, the polymer has its working pores within the above mentioned range and can also have non-working pores below the 75 Angstrom range. In another embodiment, the polymer has no more than 2.0 volume % of its total pore volume in pores with diameters greater than 300 Angstroms. For purposes of this invention, the term “large blood proteins” is defined as any blood protein greater than 50,000 Daltons in size and the term “blood protein molecules” relates to small to midsize blood proteins equal to or less than 50,000 Daltons.
In still yet another embodiment, the geometry of the polymer is a spherical bead. In a further embodiment, the polymer has a pore volume greater than 98.0% in pores smaller than 300 Angstroms diameter.
In another further embodiment, the polymer is used in direct contact with whole blood to adsorb protein molecules such as β 2 -microglobulin but excluding the sorption of larger blood proteins, said large blood proteins being selected from a group consisting essentially of hemoglobin, albumin, immunoglobulins, fibrinogen, serum proteins larger than 50,000 Daltons and mixtures thereof. In yet another further embodiment, the polymer has an internal surface selectivity for adsorbing proteins smaller than 50,000 Daltons, having little to no selectivity for adsorbing vitamins, glucose, electrolytes, fats, and other hydrophilic small molecular nutrients carried by the blood.
In still a further embodiment, the polymer is made porous using macroreticular synthesis or macronet synthesis. In still yet a further embodiment, the polymer is made using suspension polymerization.
In another embodiment, the polymer is constructed from aromatic monomers of styrene and ethylvinylbenzene with crosslinking provided by divinylbenzene, trivinylcyclohexane, trivinylbenzene, divinylnaphthalene, divinylsulfone, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate and mixtures thereof.
In yet another embodiment, the stabilizing agent for the droplet suspension polymerization is selected from a group consisting essentially of hemocompatibilizing polymers, said polymers being poly(N-vinylpyrrolidinone), poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), hydroxylethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, salts of poly(acrylic acid), salts of poly(methacrylic acid), poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl alcohol) and mixtures thereof.
In still another embodiment, the polymer is made hemocompatible by exterior coatings of poly(N-vinylpyrrolidinone), poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, salts of poly(acrylic acid), salts of poly(methacrylic acid), poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl alcohol) and mixtures thereof.
In yet another embodiment, the polymer is made hemocompatible by surface grafting of the hemocompatible exterior coatings concomitantly with formation of the porous polymer beads. In still yet another embodiment, the polymer is made hemocompatible by surface grafting of the hemocompatible exterior coatings onto the preformed porous polymeric beads.
In a further embodiment, the present invention relates to a polymer absorbent for excluding albumin from sorption. The polymer comprises pores with diameters from about 75 Angstrom to about 300 Angstrom.
In another further embodiment, the present invention provides a hemocompatible polymer comprising a working pore range. The working pore range has pore diameters from about 75 Angstrom to about 300 Angstrom and the polymer is designed to adsorb blood protein molecules.
In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a size selective polymer for sorbing small to midsize blood borne proteins and excluding the sorption of large blood borne proteins; the polymer comprises a plurality of pores, and the pores have diameters from about 75 Angstrom to about 300 Angstrom. The polymer is used in direct contact with whole blood to adsorb cytokines and β 2 -microglobulin but excludes the adsorption of large blood borne proteins, and the large blood borne proteins are selected from a group consisting essentially of hemoglobin, albumin, immunoglobulins, fibrinogen, serum proteins larger than 50,000 Daltons and mixtures thereof. For purposes of this invention, the term “blood borne proteins” includes enzymes, hormones and regulatory proteins such as cytokines and chemokines.
The present invention discloses size-selective, biocompatible, and hemocompatible porous polymeric adsorbents whose pore structures are designed for efficacy in hemoperfusion. For efficacy in hemoperfusion, the adsorbents must sorb proteins selectively over the other small molecular species and the hydrophilic molecules present in blood. The protein sorption must also be restricted to molecular sizes smaller than 50,000 daltons so that the important proteins required for health homeostasis—albumin, immunoglobulins, fibrinogen—remain in the blood during the hemoperfusion treatment.
The porous polymeric adsorbents of this invention have a hemocompatible exterior surface coating and an internal pore system with an aromatic pore surface for protein selectivity. These porous polymeric adsorbents exclude entrance into the pore system of protein molecules larger than 50,000 Daltons but provide good mass transport into the pore system for the protein molecules with sizes smaller than 35,000 Daltons.
The porous polymers of this invention are constructed from aromatic monomers of styrene and ethylvinylbenzene with crosslinking provided by one of the following or mixtures of the following of divinylbenzene, trivinylcyclohexane, trimethylolpropane triacrylate and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate. Other crosslinking agents that may be used to construct the porous polymeric adsorbents of this invention are divinylnaphthalene, trivinylbenzene and divinylsulfone and mixtures thereof.
In another embodiment, the polymer adsorber is synthesized by an organic solution in which 25 mole % to 90 mole % of the monomer is crosslinking agents such as divinylbenzene and trivinylbenzene, and the resulting polymer adsorber has a sufficient structural strength.
The porous polymers of this invention are made by suspension polymerization in a formulated aqueous phase with free radical initiation in the presence of aqueous phase dispersants that are selected to provide a biocompatible and a hemocompatible exterior surface to the formed polymer beads. The beads are made porous by the macroreticular synthesis with an appropriately selected porogen (precipitant) and an appropriate time-temperature profile for the polymerization in order to develop the proper pore structure.
Porous beads are also made with small pore sizes by the hypercrosslinking methodology which is also known as macronetting or the macronet synthesis. In this methodology, a lightly crosslinked gel polymer—crosslinking usually less than two (2) wt. %—is swelled in a good difunctional swelling agent for the polymeric matrix. In the swollen state, the polymeric matrix is crosslinked by a catalyzed reaction. The catalyzed reaction is most often a Friedel-Crafts reaction catalyzed by a Lewis-acid catalyst. The resulting product is a macroporous polymer which is a crosslinked polymer having a permanent pore structure in a dry, non-swollen state.
For the purposes of this invention, the term “biocompatible” is defined as a condition of compatibility with physiologic fluids without producing unacceptable clinical changes within the physiologic fluids. The term “hemocompatible” is defined as a condition whereby a material when placed in contact with whole blood or blood plasma results in clinically acceptable physiologic changes.
The biocompatible and hemocompatible exterior surface coatings on the polymer beads are covalently bound to the bead surface by free-radical grafting. The free-radical grafting occurs during the transformation of the monomer droplets into polymer beads. The dispersant coating and stabilizing the monomer droplets becomes covalently bound to the droplet surface as the monomers within the droplets polymerize and are converted into polymer. Biocompatible and hemocompatible exterior surface coatings can be covalently grafted onto the preformed polymer beads if the dispersant used in the suspension polymerization is not one that imparts biocompatibility or hemocompatibility. Grafting of biocompatible and hemocompatible coatings onto preformed polymer beads is carried out by activating free-radical initiators in the presence of either the monomers or low molecular weight oligomers of the polymers that impart biocompatibility or hemocompatibility to the surface coating.
Biocompatible and hemocompatible exterior surface coatings on polymer beads are provided by a group of polymers consisting of poly(N-vinylpyrrolidinone), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate), hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, salts of poly(acrylic acid), salts of poly(methacrylic acid), poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(dimethylamnoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl acrylate), poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate), and poly(vinyl alcohol).
In one embodiment, the exterior surface coatings such as poly(methacrylate) and poly(acrylate) polymers form anionic ions at pH 7.2 to 7.6 and the said exterior surface expel albumin which carries a net negative ionic charge at normal blood pH (7.4) and inhibiting the albumin from entering the pores at the exterior surface of the absorber by repulsion. In yet another embodiment, the thin layer external surface of the divinylbenzene copolymer is modified to become an anionic exchanger so that the external surface forms negative charges to expel the albumin from entering the inner pores of the adsorber. Albumin has an isoelectric point at pH 4.6 and has a net negative charge in normal pH of blood and other physiological fluid. With the negative charges on the thin layer of the external surface of the adsorber, the pore size limitation can be expanded to a wider range while the said polymer still exhibit a selectivity preference of adsorbing toxin to albumin.
The hemoperfusion and perfusion devices consist of a packed bead bed of the size-selective porous polymer beads in a flow-through container fitted with a retainer screen at both the exit end and the entrance end to keep the bead bed within the container. The hemoperfusion and perfusion operations are performed by passing the whole blood, blood plasma or physiologic fluid through the packed bead bed. During the perfusion through the bead bed, the protein molecules smaller than 35,000 Daltons are extracted by adsorption while the remainder of the fluid components pass through essentially unchanged in concentration.
For the purposes of this invention, the term “perfusion” is defined as passing a physiologic fluid by way of a suitable extracorporeal circuit through a device containing the porous polymeric adsorbent to remove toxins and proteins from the fluid. The term “hemoperfusion” is a special case of perfusion where the physiologic fluid is blood. The term “dispersant” or “dispersing agent” is defined as a substance that imparts a stabilizing effect upon a finely divided array of immiscible liquid droplets suspended in a fluidizing medium. The term “macroreticular synthesis” is defined as a polymerization of monomers into polymer in the presence of an inert precipitant which forces the growing polymer molecules out of the monomer liquid at a certain molecular size dictated by the phase equilibria to give solid nanosized microgel particles of spherical or almost spherical symmetry packed together to give a bead with physical pores of an open cell structure [U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,220, Meitzner and Oline, Oct. 27, 1981; R. L. Albright, Reactive Polymers, 4, 155-174 (1986)]. For purposes of this invention, the term “sorb” is defined as “taking up and binding by absorption and adsorption”.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention. These drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a graph of Table 2 showing a plot of pore volume v pore diameter (dV/dD vs. D) for Various Adsorbents Measured by Nitrogen Desorption Isotherm.
Among those benefits and improvements that have been disclosed, other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limits, but merely as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention. The specific examples below will enable the invention to be better understood. However, they are given merely by way of guidance and do not imply any limitation.
Five porous polymeric adsorbents are characterized for their pore structures and are assessed for their competitive adsorption of cytochrome-c (11,685 Daltons in size) over serum albumin (66,462 Daltons in size). The adsorbent syntheses are described in Example 1; the pore structure characterization is given in Example 2; the competitive dynamic adsorption procedure and results are provided in Example 3; and the competitive efficacy for pick up the smaller cytochrome-c protein over the larger albumin molecule is discussed under Example 4.
Example 1
Adsorbent Syntheses
The synthesis process consists of (1) preparing the aqueous phase, (2) preparing the organic phase, (3) carrying out the suspension polymerization, and (4) purifying the resulting porous polymeric adsorbent product. The aqueous phase compositions are the same for all the polymerizations. Table 1A lists the percentage composition of the aqueous phase and Table 1B gives the material charges typical for a five (5) liter-reactor polymerization run.
TABLE 1A
Aqueous Phase Composition
Wt. %
Ultrapure Water
97.787
Dispersing Agent: Polyvinylalcohol
0.290
Monosodium Phosphate
0.300
Disodium Phosphate
1.000
Trisodium Phosphate
0.620
Sodium Nitrite
0.003
TABLE 1B
Material Charges for a Typical Five
(5) Liter-Reactor Polymerization Run
Volume of Aqueous Phase
1750.00
ml
Density of Aqueous Phase
1.035
g/ml
Weight of Aqueous Phase
1811.25
g
Volumetric Ratio, Aqueous Phase/Organic Phase
1.05
Volume of Organic Phase
1665.0
ml
Density of Organic Phase
0.84093
g/ml
Weight of Organic Phase, Excluding Initiator Charge
1400.15
g
Total Reaction Volume
3415.0
ml
Total Reaction Weight
3211.40
g
Initiator, Pure Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO)
8.07606
g
Initiator, 97% BPO
8.3258
g
(Note: Initiator charge is calculated on only the
quantity of polymerizable monomers
introduced into the reactor.)
Commercial 63% Divinylbenzene (DVB)
794.814
g
[98.65 Polymerizable Monomers of DVB and
EVB (Ethylvinylbenzene); 1.35% inert compounds;
63.17% DVB; 35.48% EVB]
Toluene
269.300
g
Isooctane
336.036
g
Benzoyl Peroxide, 97%
8.3258
g
Total, Organic Charge
1408.4758
g
Upon preparation of the aqueous phase and the organic phase, the aqueous phase is poured into the five-liter reactor and heated to 65° C. with agitation. The pre-mixed organic phase including the initiator is poured into the reactor onto the aqueous phase with the stirring speed set at the rpm for formation of the appropriate droplet size. The dispersion of organic droplets is heated to the temperature selected for the polymerization and is held at this temperature for the desired length of time to complete the conversion of the monomers into the crosslinked polymer and, thereby, set the pore structure. Unreacted initiator is destroyed by heating the bead slurry for two (2) hours at a temperature where the initiator half-life is one hour or less. For the initiator, benzoyl peroxide, the unreacted initiator is destroyed by heating the slurry at 95° C. for two (2) hours.
The slurry is cooled, the mother liquor is siphoned from the beads and the beads are washed five (5) times with ultrapure water. The beads are freed of porogen and other organic compounds by a thermal cleaning technique. This process results in a clean, dry porous adsorbent in the form of spherical, porous polymer beads.
TABLE 1C
Components of Adsorbent Syntheses
Porous Polymer Identity
Adsorbent 1
Adsorbent 3
Adsorbent 4
Adsorbent 5
Wt. % a
Adsorbent 2
Wt. % a
Wt. % a
Wt. % a
Divinylbenzene,
35.859
Adsorbent 2 is a
26.163
22.4127
22.4127
(DVB), Pure
comercial resin,
Ethylvinylbenzene
20.141
Amberlite
14.695
12.5883
12.5883
(EVB), Pure
XAD-16 ®, made
Inerts
0.766
by Rohm and
0.559
0.4790
0.4790
Haas Company
Toluene
19.234
27.263
64.521
54.841
Isooctane
24.00
31.319
0.00
9.680
Polymerizable
56.00
40.8584
35.00
35.00
Monomers
Porogen
44.00
59.1416
65.00
65.00
Benzoyl Peroxide
1.03
0.7447
2.00
4.00
(BPO), Pure;
Wt. % Based Upon
Polymerizable
Monomer Content
Polymerization,
75°/10 hrs
80°/16 hrs
70°/24 hrs
65°/24 hrs
° C./time, hrs.
95°/2 hrs
95°/2 hrs
a Wt. % value is based upon the total weight of the organic phase excluding the initiator.
Example 2
Pore Structure Characterization
The pore structures of the adsorbent polymer beds identified in TABLE 1C were analyzed with a Micromeritics ASAP 2010 instrument. The results are provided in GRAPH 1 where the pore volume is plotted as a function of the pore diameter. This graph displays the pore volume distribution across the range of pore sizes.
The pore volume is divided up into categories within pore size ranges for each of the five adsorbent polymers and these values are provided in TABLE 2. The Capacity Pore Volume is that pore volume that is accessible to protein sorption and consists of the pore volume in pores larger than 100 Å diameter. The Effective Pore Volume is that pore volume that is selectively accessible to proteins smaller than 35,000 Daltons and consists of pore diameters within the range of 100 to 250 Å diameter. The Oversized Pore Volume is the pore volume accessible to proteins larger than 35,000 Daltons and consists of the pore volume in pores larger than 250 Å diameter. The Undersize Pore Volume is the pore volume in pores smaller than 100 Å diameter and is not accessible to proteins larger than about 10,000 Daltons.
TABLE 2
Pore Structures of Adsorbents
Polymer Adsorber ID
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
1
2
3
4
5
Capacity Pore Volume,
0.5850
1.2450
1.5156
0.3148
0.6854
cc/g; Dp, 100 Å→2000 Å
Effective Pore Volume,
0.5678
0.9860
0.3330
0.3060
0.6728
cc/g; Dp, 100 Å→250 Å
Transport Pore Volume of
0.0172
0.2590
1.1826
0.0088
0.0126
Dp = 250~2000 Å, cc/g
Effective Pore (100~250 Å)Volume,
97.06%
79.20%
21.97%
97.20%
98.16%
as % of capacity pore
Transport Pore (250~2000 Å) Volume,
2.9%
20.8%
78.0%
2.8%
1.8%
as % of capacity pore
Undersized Pore Volume,
0.3941
0.5340
0.4068
0.6311
0.4716
cc/g; Dp < 100 Å
Total Pore Volume, cc/g;
0.9792
1.7790
1.9225
0.9459
1.1569
Dp, 17 Å→2000 Å
Pore Vol (cc/g) of Dp = 500 Å to 2,000 Å
0.0066
0.016
0.668
0.0036
0.0053
Volune of Pores in 100~750 Å, cc/g
0.5816
1.2357
1.4915
0.3133
0.6825
Volume of Pores in 100~750 Å, as % of
99.4%
99.3%
98.4%
99.5%
99.6%
capacity pore
Dp = Pore Diameter in Å (Angstrom)
FIG. 1 depicts a Graph of Table 2 showing a plot of pore volume v pore diameter (dV/dD vs. D) for Various Adsorbents Measured by Nitrogen Desorption Isotherm.
Example 3
Protein Adsorption Selectivity
The polymeric adsorbent beads produced in Example 1 are wetted out with an aqueous solution of 20 wt. % isopropyl alcohol and thoroughly washed with ultrapure water. The beads with diameters within 300 to 850 microns are packed into a 200 ml hemoperfusion device which is a cylindrical cartridge 5.4 cm in inside diameter and 8.7 cm in length. The beads are retained within the cartridge by screens at each end with an orifice size of 200 microns. End caps with a center luer port are threaded onto each end to secure the screens and to provide for fluid distribution and attachment for tubing.
Four liters of an aqueous 0.9% saline solution buffered to a pH of 7.4 are prepared with 50 mg/liter of horse heart cytochrome-c and 30 g/liter of serum albumin. These concentrations are chosen to simulate a clinical treatment of a typical renal patient where albumin is abundant and β 2 -microglobulin is at much lower levels in their blood. Horse heart cytochrome-c with a molecular weight 11,685 daltons has a molecular size very close to β 2 -microglobulin at 11,845 daltons and, therefore, is chosen as the surrogate for β 2 -microglobulin. Serum albumin is a much larger molecule than cytochrome-c with a molecular weight of 66,462 daltons and, therefore, allows for the appropriate competitive adsorption studies needed for selecting the porous polymer with the optimum pore structure for size-selective exclusion of albumin.
The protein solution is circulated by a dialysis pump from a reservoir through a flow-through UV spectrophotometer cell, the bead bed, and returned to the reservoir. The pumping rate is 400 ml/minute for a duration of four (4) hours. The concentration of both proteins in the reservoir is measured periodically by their UV absorbance at 408 nm for cytochrome-c and at 279 nm for albumin.
All five adsorbents identified in TABLE 1C were examined by this competitive protein sorption assessment and the measured results are given in TABLE 3.
TABLE 3
Size-Selective Efficacy of Porous Polymeric Adsorbents
Polymer Adsorber ID
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
1
2
3
4
5
Capacity Pore Volume,
0.5850
1.2450
1.5156
0.3148
0.6854
cc/g; Dp, 100 Å→2000 Å
Effective Pore Volume,
0.5678
0.9860
0.3330
0.3060
0.6728
cc/g; Dp, 100 Å→250 Å
Transport Pore Volume of
0.0172
0.2590
1.1826
0.0088
0.0126
Dp = 250~2000 Å, cc/g
Effective Pore (100~250 Å)Volume,
97.06%
79.20%
21.97%
97.20%
98.16%
as % of capacity pore
Transport Pore (250~2000 Å) Volume,
2.9%
20.8%
78.0%
2.8%
1.8%
as % of capacity pore
Undersized Pore Volume,
0.3941
0.5340
0.4068
0.6311
0.4716
cc/g; Dp < 100 Å
Total Pore Volume, cc/g;
0.9792
1.7790
1.9225
0.9459
1.1569
Dp, 17 Å→2000 Å
Pore Vol (cc/g) of Dp = 500 Å to 2,000 Å
0.0066
0.016
0.668
0.0036
0.0053
Volune of Pores in 100~750 Å, cc/g
0.5816
1.2357
1.4915
0.3133
0.6825
Volume of Pores in 100~750 Å, as % of
99.4%
99.3%
98.4%
99.5%
99.6%
capacity pore
% Cytochrome-C, Adsorbed
89.0%
96.7%
95.3%
57.4%
90.1%
% Albumin Adsorbed
3.7%
8.1%
13%
1.0%
1.8%
Selectivity
24.05
11.94
7.27
57.1
50.06
Dp = Pore Diameter in Å (Angstrom)
Example 4
Pore Volume and Pore Size Range for Suitable Kinetics and Size-Selectivity for Cytochrome-C Over Albumin
TABLE 3 and GRAPH 1 summarize the pertinent pore structure data and the protein perfusion results carried out on all five (5) adsorbents. The selectivity for adsorbing cytochrome-c over albumin decreased in the following order: Adsorbent 4>Adsorbent 5>Adsorbent 1>Adsorbent 2>Adsorbent 3.
The quantity of cytochrome-c adsorbed during the four hour perfusion decreased in the following order: Adsorbent 2>Adsorbent 3>Adsorbent 5>Adsorbent 1>Adsorbent 4.
Adsorbent 4 with the highest selectivity at 57.1 had the poorest kinetics picking up only 57.4% of the available cytochrome-c over the four hour perfusion. This kinetic result occurs from the Effective Pore Volume being located at the small end of the pore size range, having all its Effective Pore Volume within the pore size range of 130 to 100 Å. There is insignificant pore volume in pores larger than 130 Å and this small pore size retards the ingress of cytochrome-c.
Adsorbent 5 with its major pore volume between 100 to 200 Å had the second highest selectivity for cytochrome-c over albumin at 50.6 and it had good mass transport into the Effective Pore Volume pores picking up 90.1% of the cytochrome-c during the four hour perfusion. This porous polymer has the best balance of properties with excellent size-selectivity for cytochrome-c over albumin and very good capacity for cytochrome-c during a four hour perfusion.
Adsorbent 1 showed reasonably good selectivity at 24.05 for sorbing cytochrome-c over albumin. It also exhibited good capacity for sorbing cytochrome-c during the four hour perfusion, picking up 89.0% of the quantity available.
Adsorbent 2 with the highest capacity for sorbing cytochrome-c during the four hour perfusion picked up 96.7% of the available cytochrome-c. This high capacity arises from having a large pore volume, 0.986 cc/g, and within the Effective Pore Volume range of 100 Å to 250 Å. However, this porous polymer allowed more albumin to be adsorbed than Adsorbents 1, 4, and 5, since it has significant pore volume, 0.250 cc/g, in the pore size group from 250 Å to 300 Å.
Adsorbent 3 with a very broad pore size distribution (see GRAPH 1) had the poorest selectivity among the group at 7.27. It has a very large pore volume in the pore size range larger than 250 Å. This porous polymer has a pore volume of 1.15 cc/g within the pore size range of 250 Å to 740 Å. In contrast with the other four adsorbents, this porous polymer is not size-selective for proteins smaller than about 150,000 Daltons, although it did sorb 95.3% of the available cytochrome-c during the perfusion.
On balance of properties of selectively for sorbing cytochrome-c over albumin and its capacity for picking up cytochrome-c during a four hour perfusion, porous polymeric Adsorbent 5, gave the best performance. This porous polymer has the proper pore structure to perform well in hemoperfusion in concert with hemodialysis for people with End Stage Renal Disease.
Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the attendant claims attached hereto, this invention may be practiced other than as specifically disclosed herein.
|
A size-selective hemocompatible porous polymeric adsorbent system is provided, the polymer system comprises at least one polymer with a plurality of pores, and the polymer has at least one transport pore with a diameter from about 250 Angstroms to about 2000 Angstroms, and the polymer has a transport pore volume greater than about 1.8% to about 78% of a capacity pore of volume of the polymer.
| 0
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM TO PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/332,762, filed May 6, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention generally relates to locking devices for waste containers, particularly residential or commercial waste containers. The present invention also relates to a waste container having a locking device which keeps the container closed when a sudden jerking or jarring, such as ground impact, is applied on the container, but allows the container to be opened during the dumping or tipping process.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Household refuse such as trash, recycling items, and/or yard waste can typically be deposited in a container. Such containers can include a lid for concealing the household refuse collected therein, as well as to prevent wild animals or people from accessing the household refuse and also protecting the trash from the elements. Typically, the lid is removably coupled to the container in a friction-fit manner to allow the lid to be easily removed from the container. However, when the lid is not secured, the contents can be undesirably expelled from the container, such as if the container is toppled over such as by wind or animals.
[0004] Various lid locking devices have been implemented for refuse containers. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0020436 to Matuschek discloses a lock that opens automatically by tipping of a refuse container as the result of gravity. In addition, the lock may also be opened by rotating a locking cylinder, the locking cylinder disposed in the lock housing. This lock, however, may also be opened when the refuse container falls forward accidentally, e.g. by wind or animals. Such accidental knock-over of the refuse container also expels its contents, which is undesirable.
[0005] Therefore a need exists for a locking device that improves upon prior locking devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is the object of the present invention to further develop a refuse container lock in a manner advantageous to the user.
[0007] The object is fulfilled by means of the invention set forth in the claims.
[0008] As a result of the inventive solution, the locking cylinder is no longer incorporated in the counterlocking part. The counterlocking part can thus be of simpler configuration. It becomes possible to dispense with an independent housing, in which a locking cylinder is incorporated in the counterlocking part, because the locking cylinder is situated inside the lock housing.
[0009] As a result of the inventive solution, intervention in the mechanism that has proven itself in the lock can be kept to a minimum. The latch head receives an additional arm, on which the locking cam acts. The latch tail can therefore be rotated by a gravity-powered opening slide upon tipping of the lock housing. With the lock housing in the upright position, the latch tail is kept in a position that holds the latch in the closed position. When the locking cylinder is actuated, the latch head is pivoted with respect to the latch tail. It thereby reaches a release position in which the lid of the upright-standing refuse container can be opened. The elastic return force can be generated by a pressure spring connected with the latch body. The return force holds a stop of the latch head against a counterstop of the latch tail. When opening is actuated by tipping of the refuse container lock, the latch behaves like a rigid body. The pre-compressed spring, however, is compromised if the refuse container lock is intended to be opened by actuation of the locking cylinder. Then the latch head pivots with respect to the latch tail, which is held stationary. In a preferred embodiment, the refuse container lock has an actuation slide. The slide is moved upon actuation of the locking cylinder by the locking cam. The locking cam thus acts directly on the actuation arm. The actuation arm moves at an angle to a locking arm on whose end a bolt stud can be situated that, in closed position, catches behind the hook of the counterlocking part. In a preferred embodiment, the two arms of the latch head run essentially diagonally to one another. The pivot axis about which the latch rotates upon tipping of the lock housing is preferably connected immovably with the lock housing. The two bearing shells, which configure the lock housing, can comprise bearing openings for this purpose. The pivot axis about which the latch head can pivot with respect to the latch tail, is preferably in the immediate vicinity of the rotary axis. The actuation slide and opening slide can be movable in parallel with one another. Both slides are fed through the lock housing. For this purpose, the two housing shells can comprise guide ribs or guide grooves. The actuation slide can be directly impacted by the eccentric cam. The actuation slide is preferably displaced against the force of a return spring. The actuation slide can comprise a pocket into which the free end of the actuation arm engages.
[0010] In certain embodiments, an impact detecting paddle or rolling member may be detachably mounted in a recess of the shell. The paddle or rolling member provides a mechanical impact sensor that can detect whether the container has been unintendedly tipped over in the forward direction or whether it is being tipped over, such as for dumping. When the container is unintentionally knocked over, the jerking or jarring action, such as ground impact, on the container actuates the paddle or rolling member such that it is detached or partially detached from the recess. In that detached or partially detached position, the paddle or rolling member blocks the opening slide from sliding upwardly into the release position. The paddle or rolling member prevents opening of the container, when the waste container falls over and impacts the ground in any direction.
[0011] Further aspects of the invention are disclosed in the Figures and are described herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification. The drawings, together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments and methods given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are given the same or analogous reference numerals and wherein:
[0013] FIG. 1 shows an assembled refuse container lock with associated counterlocking part, in a perspective view;
[0014] FIG. 2 shows the refuse container lock in opened state in the closed position;
[0015] FIG. 3 shows a section along the line in FIG. 2 ;
[0016] FIG. 4 shows a view as in FIG. 2 but with locking cylinder pivoted into an opening position, so that the latch assumes a release position;
[0017] FIG. 5 shows a section along the line V-V in FIG. 4 ;
[0018] FIG. 6 shows a view according to FIG. 2 but with the latch in a gravity-powered release position in which an opening slide has shifted within the lock;
[0019] FIG. 7 shows a first exploded view of the refuse container lock;
[0020] FIG. 8 shows a second exploded view of the refuse container lock;
[0021] FIG. 9 shows an exploded view of the components of the locking cylinder;
[0022] FIG. 10 shows an exploded view of the opening slide containing a ledge and the shell containing a paddle;
[0023] FIG. 11 shows a view of the inside of the shell containing a paddle;
[0024] FIG. 12 shows a cross-section of the opening slide and shell where the paddle is inside the recess;
[0025] FIG. 13 shows a cross-section of the opening slide and shell where the paddle is rotated away from the recess and lodges on the ledge;
[0026] FIG. 14 shows an exploded view of the opening slide containing a cavity and the shell containing a rolling member;
[0027] FIG. 15 shows a view of the inside of the shell containing a rolling member;
[0028] FIG. 16 shows a cross-section of the opening slide and shell where the rolling member is inside the recess;
[0029] FIG. 17 shows a cross-section of the opening slide and shell where the rolling member is rolls away from the recess and wedges in the cavity;
[0030] FIG. 18 shows a fragmentary perspective view of a container with a locking device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention attached to the outside thereof; and
[0031] FIG. 19 shows a fragmentary perspective view of a container with a locking device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention attached to the inside thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] For purposes of the following description, certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The characterizations of various components and orientations described herein as being “vertical”, “horizontal”, “upright”, “right”, “left”, “side”, “top”, or “bottom” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made and are relative characterizations only based upon the particular position or orientation of a given component as illustrated. These terms shall not be regarded as limiting the invention. The words “downward” and “upward” refer to position in a vertical direction relative to a geometric center of the apparatus of the present invention and designated parts thereof. The terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.
[0033] As shown in FIG. 18 , a container 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The container 400 may be a refuse container such as a household refuse container for various items including trash, recycling, and/or yard waste. However, the container 400 may be used to accommodate any type of article and may have any shape. For example, the container 400 may be cylindrical or polygonal. In addition, the container 400 may be made of various materials, such as plastic, metal, or a combination thereof. The container 400 includes a lid 402 and a containment body 404 . The containment body 404 defines an interior volume for holding, e.g., waste. The lid 402 may be pivotally mounted to the containment body though one or more couplings, such as a hinge. The containment body 404 may include a plurality of side walls 406 . The lid 402 and the containment body 404 of container 400 may be made of the same or different materials. In an exemplary embodiment, wheels (not shown) may be coupled to the containment body 404 to aid in transport of the container 400 .
[0034] The lock housing 1 , as best shown in FIG. 1 , contains two housing shells 28 , 29 made of plastic or other suitable material. The housing 1 can be attached to the outside a side wall 406 , preferably a front side wall, of a refuse container 400 , e.g. by fasteners or an adhesive attaching the shell 29 to the refuse container. Although FIG. 18 shows the lock housing 1 attached to the outside of the container 400 , it is also possible to attach the lock housing 1 inside the container 400 , as shown in FIG. 19 , with just the cylinder core 41 accessible through a hole 408 in the side wall 406 of the container 400 . The hole 408 allows a key 43 to be inserted into the key slot of the cylinder core 41 to open the container 400 . When mounted on the inside of the container, as illustration in FIG. 19 , the shell 28 may be attached to the inside of the side wall 406 . Alternatively, a cover 27 (as best shown in FIG. 5 ) may be attached, as an intermediate layer, to the inside of the side wall 406 and the shell 28 is then attached to the cover 27 .
[0035] The shell 28 has a locking cylinder bearing opening 33 , into which a cylinder housing 42 may be inserted. The cylinder bearing opening 33 is preferably not round in shape, so that the cylinder housing 42 may be non-rotatably held in the opening 33 . Situated in a housing cavity of the cylinder housing 42 is a cylinder 10 containing a cylinder core 41 which cannot be rotated with respect to the cylinder housing 42 when the key 43 is not inserted therein. The cylinder core 41 does not allow itself to rotate with respect to the cylinder housing 42 until the key 43 has been inserted into the key slot of the cylinder core 41 .
[0036] A locking cam 11 is situated on an end portion of the cylinder core 41 opposite the key slot. The locking cam 11 forms a lobe 302 that non-rotatably connects to the cylinder core 41 . The cylinder housing 42 has grooves 44 into which a retaining clamp 34 can be inserted, the clamp holding the cylinder housing 42 on the bearing shell 28 .
[0037] The two shells 28 , 29 have guide ribs 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 in their bearing cavities. Between the guide ribs 37 and 38 there is an opening slide 18 , which is slidable inside the lock housing 1 in a direction parallel to the guide ribs 37 and 38 (up and down in the figures). Parallel to the motion direction of the opening slide 18 , an actuation slide 14 is mounted between the guide ribs 39 and 40 , and is slidable in a direction parallel to the motion direction of the opening slide 18 .
[0038] The opening slide 18 is freely slidable within the lock housing 1 , which means that it may slide from an upright position to a tipped position by gravity acting on it during tipping of the lock housing 1 . The opening slide 18 is in the upright position when the lock housing 1 is upright, and in the tipped position when the lock housing 1 is inverted, e.g. when the refuse container in tipped for dumping. The actuation slide 14 is held in a defined operating position by a spring 15 supported on the lock housing 1 . The spring biasing the actuation slide 14 toward the locking cam. A bottom side 14 ′ of the actuation slide 14 is supported on the locking cam 11 . The spring 15 situated opposite the bottom side 14 ′ pushes the actuation slide 14 against the locking cam 11 .
[0039] A latch 2 is located inside the lock housing 1 , and contains a latch tail 4 and a latch head 3 . The latch tail 4 contains a rotary axis 32 a top portion of the latch tail 4 . The rotary axis 32 includes two bearing stumps that protrude in opposite directions, one toward the shell 28 and one toward the other shell 29 . The bearing stumps engage in bearing openings 30 , 31 of the two housing shells 28 , 29 , so that the latch 2 is rotatably mounted in the lock housing 1 .
[0040] The latch tail 4 and the latch head 3 are pivotably joined together by a pivot axis 5 . Contained in a bearing pocket of the latch tail 4 is a pressure spring 8 , which exerts a torque on the latch head 3 . As a result, a stop 19 of the latch head 3 is spring-impacted adjacent to a counterstop 20 of the latch tail 4 . In a non-impacted state the latch 2 thus behaves as a rigid body in which the latch head 3 is rigidly connected with the latch tail 4 . However, if torque is exerted on the latch head 3 exceeding the spring tension of the spring 8 , then the latch head 3 can pivot with respect to the latch tail 4 .
[0041] A control cam 21 , protruding from the latch tail 4 in the direction of shell 28 , engages in a control recess 22 of the broad side of the opening slide 18 . The control recess 22 has two control curves 23 , 24 situated opposite one another, which are configured in such a way that they hold the latch tail 4 therebetween in the closed position illustrated in FIG. 4 . The position shown in FIG. 2 is an upright position of the lock. If the lock is brought into the tipped position, then the opening slide 18 slides upwardly, by gravity, into the release position indicated in FIG. 6 . At the same time, the control cam 21 slides along the control curve 23 , which is configured so that the latch 2 , particularly the latch tail 4 and the latch head 3 , thereby pivots on the pivot axis 5 . The sliding of the opening slide 18 allows the lock to be opened by gravity when the lock housing 1 is tipped into an inverted (tipped) position.
[0042] The latch head 3 has a locking arm 6 , which extends at an angle of approximately 180 degrees to the latch tail 4 . A locking stud 9 is situated at the end of the locking arm 6 , which protrudes out of the lock housing 1 .
[0043] A counterlocking part 12 may be affixed on the lid 402 of the container 400 . As illustrated in FIG. 18 , when the lock housing 1 is mounted on the outside of the container 400 , counterlocking part 12 may also be mounted on the outside of the lid; and as illustrated in FIG. 19 , when the lock housing 1 is mounted on the inside of the container 400 , counterlocking part 12 is also mounted on the inside of the lid. The counterlocking part 12 may be a bent, stamped piece, e.g., a steel sheet, which can be affixed on the refuse container lid 402 with the aid of bolts or rivets protruding through the fastening openings. The counterlocking part 12 forms a hook 13 , which when in the closed position engages the locking stud 9 . The hook 13 is preferably configured as a catch-hook, which include a section that, on locking of the refuse container lid 402 , interacts with the locking stud 9 in such a way to allow the latch head 3 to move with respect to the stationary latch tail 4 . When the spring 8 is compressed, the latch head 3 moves away from the hook 13 to allow the locking stud 9 to disengage the hook 13 . When the spring 8 is released, the latch head 3 moves toward the hood 13 to allow the locking stud 9 to be situated inside the hook 13 to lock the counterlocking part 12 to the lock housing 1 .
[0044] The latch head 3 has a laterally downward-protruding actuation arm 7 , which is configured to include an actuation 7 ′. A shoulder 17 of the actuation slide 14 , which is situated opposite a bottom side 14 ′, also cooperates with the actuation 7 ′. The length of the actuation slide 14 or the angle formed by the actuation arm 7 with respect to the locking arm 6 , is configured in such a way that rotation of the locking cylinder 10 , by rotation of the key 43 , from the closed position shown in FIG. 2 to the release position shown in FIG. 4 leads to pivoting of the latch head 3 with respect to the latch tail 4 , such that the pivot angle is sufficient to bring the locking stud 9 out of engagement with the hook 13 . To accomplish this, the locking cylinder 10 is rotated, preferably approximately 180 degrees, to allow the lobe 302 of the locking cam 11 to locate below the bottom side 14 ′ of the actuation slide and pushed it in an upward position. In the process, the spring 15 is compressed, the shoulder 17 pushes on the actuation 7 ′ upwardly causing the latch head 3 to pivot relative to the latch tail 4 . To revert to the closed position shown in FIG. 2 , the locking cylinder 10 may be rotated to move the lobe 302 of the locking cam 11 away from the bottom side 14 ′ of the actuation slide 14 to bring the latch head 3 back into its locked position. The operation of the actuation arm 7 and the actuation slide allows the lock to be opened with a key.
[0045] The actuation slide 14 configures a pocket 16 on its top side opposite the bottom side 14 ′. The floor of the pocket 16 forms the shoulder 17 , which interacts with the actuation 7 ′ of the actuation arm 7 . The end of the actuation arm 7 , which configures the actuation 7 ′, is here contiguous with a side wall of the pocket 16 . The angle-shaped edge of the pocket 16 has a centering pin 300 on which the spring 15 is placed. The guide rib 39 has an angle-shaped recess through which the actuation arm 7 protrudes.
[0046] The opening slide 18 includes a recess 46 , which is flanked by a protrusion 45 and into which the bearing portion of the latch 2 can dip when the opening slide 18 is switched into the release position shown in FIG. 6 . The protrusion 45 here follows may be located proximate to the pivoting actuation arm 7 , so that protrusion 45 , in theory, may acting on the actuation arm 7 for purpose of switching the latch head 3 into its release position.
[0047] With the refuse container lock, the blocking elements 25 , 26 in patent DE 10 2007 039 351 A1 were already described, and therefore reference is made here to those comments. These blocking elements for operating errors 25 , 26 have the task of ensuring that the opening slide 18 is switched by gravitational power into the release position only when the lock housing is tipped about a particular tipping axis. If the lock housing is rotated about another axis, then the blocking elements for operating errors 25 , 26 are switched into a blocked position by gravitational force, so that the opening slide 18 cannot move into the release position. The opening slide 18 is switched by gravitational force within the lock housing 1 only when the lock housing 1 is moved about the tipping axis from the upright position shown in FIG. 2 to the tipped position seen in FIG. 6 . The resulting pivoting of the latch 2 has the effect that the latch head 3 assumes the release position shown in FIG. 6 . If the lock is moved back into the upright position, then gravity slides the opening slide 18 back into the position shown in FIG. 2 . In this position the latch head 3 can pivot with respect to the latch tail 4 either by locking of the refuse container lid 402 or by key actuation.
[0048] The cam 21 ′, extending from a bottom tip of the latch tail 4 in the direction of the shell 28 forms a blocking cam, which is in contact with a portion of the control curve 24 of the opening slide 18 in the operating positions illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4 . When the opening slide is slid into the operating position illustrated in FIG. 6 , the blocking cam 21 ′ detaches from the control curve 24 , so that the latch 2 can rotate about the axis 32 . On switching the opening slide 18 back into the position shown in FIG. 2 or 4 , the blocking cam 21 ′ impacts the opening slide 18 when the opening slide 18 is pivoted back into its position illustrated I FIG. 2 or 4 .
[0049] Reference number 47 or 47 ′ refers to recessed rings on the housing or on the latch head 3 . A gasket ring may be clipped into these recessed rings 47 or 47 ′ to protect the inside of the housing 1 from dust. The pleated hose then surrounds the portion of the locking arm 6 extending out of the housing opening.
[0050] The portion of the counterlocking part 12 that configures the hook 13 forms two border portions 48 ′ that run parallel to one another. These two border portions 48 ′ end in continuations 48 , which dip into a reception shaft 49 of the housing 1 when the refuse container lid 402 closes. The two lateral walls 49 ′ of the reception shaft run parallel to one another. With the refuse container in closed position, the borders portions 48 ′ are adjacent to the lateral walls 49 ′. The corners of the continuations 48 or of the reception shaft 49 are preferably rounded. On locking the refuse container lid 402 , the rounded corners can meet one another when the continuations 48 enter the reception shaft 49 .
[0051] In certain embodiments, the lock may include an impact detection paddle 100 mounted on the shell 29 of the housing 1 . The paddle 100 provides a mechanical impact sensor that can detect whether the lock has been unintendedly tipped over in a forward direction (a direction away from the shell 29 and toward the shell 27 ) or whether it is being tipped over, such as for dumping. In an exemplary embodiment, as best illustrated in FIGS. 10-13 , the paddle 100 is preferably a rectangular bar mounted in a recess 110 on an inner surface 112 of the shell 29 . The recess 110 is preferably formed as an indentation in the inner surface 112 of the shell 29 . The indentation may protrude outwardly on the outer surface 114 of the shell 29 . The paddle 100 is preferably mounted within the recess 110 , such that an inner facing surface of the paddle 100 is substantially flush with the inner surface 112 of the shell 29 when in the non-impact position. The paddle contains a first end 102 that is pivotally mounted, such as by pins received in associated detents as best shown in FIG. 10 , at a top 116 of the recess 110 (when the lock is in its upright position), and a second end 104 that is detachably mounted to a bottom 118 of the recess 110 . The paddle 100 preferably fits loosely within the recess 110 so that, when the second end 104 of the paddle 100 is detached from the recess 110 it can freely swing without friction against the sides of the recess 110 .
[0052] The first end 102 may be mounted in the recess with a rotatable coupling, such as a hinge, to allow the paddle 100 to pivot on its first end 102 . The second end 104 of the paddle 100 is detachably retained in the recess by a bias force to prevent the paddle 100 from rotating away and detaching from the recess unless a force greater than the bias force is introduced. In an exemplary embodiment, the bias force to keep the paddle from rotating away and detach from the lever is magnetic. In that case, a magnet 106 may be placed at or about the bottom 118 of the recess and a ferromagnetic material is used for the paddle 100 to magnetically hold the paddle 100 and prevent paddle 100 from rotating away from the recess 110 . Alternatively, the magnet 106 may be placed in the recess 110 and a ferromagnetic material placed on the second end 104 of the paddle 100 (if the paddle 100 is not made of a ferromagnetic material). A person skilled in the art would understand that various ways are available to magnetically attach the second end 104 of the paddle 110 to the recess 110 . For example, although the magnet is shown in the drawings as being located in the recess 110 , the magnet 106 may be on the paddle 100 , as long as the magnet 106 is capable of holding the second end 104 in the recess 110 . When a force greater than the magnetic force is introduced, such as a sudden jerk or jarring, e.g., by ground impact, the second end 104 the paddle 100 will pull away from the recess 110 by pivoting on the rotatable coupling at the first end 102 . Preferably, the magnetic force is not sufficient to prevent the paddle 100 from rotating away from the recess 110 when the lock is knocked over on its side and impacts the ground in the forward direction.
[0053] To cooperate with the paddle 100 , the opening slide 18 contains a ledge 120 adjacent to the control recess 22 , as best shown in FIG. 12 . The ledge 120 faces the paddle 100 and is positioned such that when the paddle 100 detaches from and swings away from the recess 110 , the second end 104 of the paddle 100 makes contact with the upper side of the ledge 120 . In that position, as shown in FIG. 13 , the paddle 100 prevents the opening slide 18 from sliding upwardly into the release position. Thus, when the paddle 100 is detached from the recess 110 and makes contact with the ledge 120 , the lock cannot be released to open the refuse container.
[0054] With the paddle 100 and the ledge 120 , the lock contains a mechanical impact sensor that can detect whether the container 10 has been unintendedly tipped over in the forward direction or whether it is being tipped over, such as for dumping. For example, as best illustrated in FIG. 13 , when the refuse container (and thus the lock) is knocked over in the forward direction, e.g. by strong wind or animals, it remains locked. The jerking or jarring action, such as by ground impact, on the refuse container, actuates the paddle 100 such that the second end 104 is detached from the recess 110 , and the paddle 100 pivots away from the recess 110 by gravity and abuts against the ledge 120 on the opening slide 18 . As best shown in FIG. 13 , the abutment between the paddle 100 and the ledge 120 prevents the opening slide 18 from being pushed into the release position.
[0055] On the other hand, when the refuse container is turned over for dumping without a jerking or jarring motion, the second end 104 of the paddle 100 remains attached inside the recess 110 . That allows the opening slide 18 to freely slide into the release position to allow the container to be opened.
[0056] In in other embodiments, instead of the paddle 100 , as illustrated in FIGS. 14-17 , the recess 110 ′ in the shell 29 may contain a rolling member 200 . In this case, the recess 110 ′ is shaped slightly (preferably no more than 5%) larger than the rolling member 200 , so that the rolling member 200 may roll away from the recess 110 ′ toward the opening slide 18 . The rolling member 200 may be in the form of a spherical ball. Alternatively, the rolling member 200 may be in the form of a cylindrical disc, capable of rolling within the recess 110 ′. It will be appreciated that a diameter of the rolling member 200 is such that it can roll away from the recess 110 ′. The rolling member is detachably retained in the recess 110 ′, e.g. by a magnet 106 ′, in a similar manner as the second end 104 of the paddle being attached in the recess 110 . The magnet 106 ′ may be in the recess 110 ′ and a ferromagnetic material is used for the rolling member 200 to magnetically hold the rolling member 200 in the recess 110 ′. Alternatively, the magnet 106 ′ may be on the rolling member 200 and a ferromagnetic material placed in the recess 110 ′. A person skilled in the art would understand that various ways are available to magnetically couple the rolling member 200 to the recess 110 ′. When a force greater than the magnetic force is introduced, such as a sudden jerk or jarring, e.g., by ground impact, the rolling member 200 may pull away from the recess 110 ′ and roll toward the opening slide 18 . Preferably, the magnetic force is not sufficient to prevent the rolling member 200 from rolling away from the recess 110 ′ when the lock is knocked over on its side and impacts the ground in the forward direction.
[0057] With the rolling member 200 , the opening slide 18 , instead of the ledge 120 , contains a cavity 202 that can partially accommodate a portion of the rolling member 200 . When the rolling member 200 rolls away from the recess 110 ′, e.g., due to gravity and ground impact, it contacts and partially wedges in the cavity 202 . It will be appreciated that the rolling member 200 should be sufficiently large, such that when it is wedged in the cavity 202 , part of the rolling member remains in the recess 110 ′, as illustrated in FIG. 17 .
[0058] With the rolling member 200 and the cavity 202 on the opening slide, the lock contains a mechanical impact sensor that can detect whether the container 10 has been unintendedly tipped over in the forward direction or whether it is being tipped over, such as for dumping. For example, as best illustrated in FIG. 17 , when the refuse container 10 (and thus the lock) is knocked over in the forward direction, e.g. by strong wind or animals, it remains locked. The jerking or jarring action, such as by ground impact, on the refuse container, knocks the rolling member 200 loose such that gravity pulls it away from the recess 110 ′ toward the opening slide 18 . On contact with the opening slide 18 , the rolling member 200 is wedged in the cavity 202 while it is still partially inside the recess 110 ′. As best shown in FIG. 17 , that position of the rolling member prevents the opening slide 18 from being pushed into the release position.
[0059] On the other hand, when the refuse container is turned over for dumping without a jerking or jarring motion, the rolling member 200 remains attached inside the recess 110 ′. That allows the opening slide 18 to freely slide into the release position to allow the container to be opened.
[0060] In the same manner as the paddle 100 and/or the rolling member 200 , the blocking elements for operating errors 25 , 26 may also be detachably retained, e.g. by a magnet. That way, the lock is able to keep the lid 402 closed, when the container 10 falls over and impacts the ground in any direction. Here, the magnet allows the lock to open, for example for dumping in any direction, unless when a force greater than the magnetic force, such as a sudden jerk or jarring, e.g., by ground impact, is experienced. The blocking elements for operating errors 25 , 26 may also be designed to operate similarly to the paddle 100 or rolling element 200 described above, albeit in different directions. For example, the paddle 100 or rolling element 200 may operate to block opening of the container when it falls forward, while the blocking elements block opening when the container falls backward or to either side.
[0061] The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Other modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments disclosed hereinabove were chosen in order to best illustrate the principles of the present invention and its practical application to thereby enable those of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated, as long as the principles described herein are followed. Thus, changes may be made in the above-described invention without departing from the intent and scope thereof. It is also intended that the scope of the present invention be defined by the claims appended thereto.
|
The present invention generally relates to locking devices for waste containers, particularly residential or commercial waste containers. The present invention also relates to a waste container having a locking device which keeps the container closed when a sudden jerking or jarring, such as ground impact, is applied on the container, but allows the container to be opened during the dumping or tipping process. The locking device contains an impact detecting paddle or rolling member to provide a mechanical impact sensor that can detect whether the container has been unintendedly tipped over in the forward direction or whether it is being tipped over, such as for dumping.
| 4
|
The present invention relates in general to the art of rotor balancing, and it relates in particular to a novel bubble balancer and pivot assembly for balancing wheels and other rotors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For many years bubble balancers have been widely used in automotive service shops for use in statically balancing the wheels of automotive vehicles. Such balancers generally include a pivot head to which the wheel to be balanced is mounted. The pivot head pivotally supports the wheel about a pivot point or area located on the axis of rotation of the wheel above its center of gravity. A 360° spirit level is mounted to the pivot head in parallel relationship to the principal plane of the wheel so that the bubble in the level is centered only when the center of gravity of the wheel lies on the axis of rotation thereof, i.e., directly below the pivot point. When this condition occurs, the principal plane of the wheel is, of course, horizontal.
The prior art bubble balancers have generally utilized a pivot assembly comprising a substantially non-compressible ball and a substantially non-deformable platen. In some designs the platen is fixedly mounted to the top of an upright spindle or other support member and the wheel to be balanced is mounted to the ball which in turn rests on the platen. In other designs the ball is mounted to the top of an upright spindle or other support and the wheel to be balanced is mounted to the platen which in turn rests on the ball. It may thus be seen that with these two most commonly used designs the pivot point is located either at the area of contact between the platen and the top of the ball or between the platen and the bottom of the ball.
An inherent problem with the prior art bubble balancers has been the fact that they do not provide consistently repeatable indications of balance. Theoretically, if the balancer indicates that the wheel mounted thereon is balanced, removal of the wheel from the balancer and the subsequent replacement of the wheel thereon should cause the bubble in the level to return to the central position. All too frequently this is not the case, and neither the cause of the problem nor its solution has heretofore been found.
We believe that there are two principle reasons for the fact that the prior art bubble balancers have not always enabled repeatable balancing operations, and the reasons differ with the two types of pivot assemblies described above.
In those balancers wherein the ball rests on the platen, we have found that a true indication of balance will occur only when the platen surface is perfectly horizontal. Otherwise, the ball tends to roll downhill on the platen and thereby exert a torque on the pivot head causing it to come to rest in a non-horizontal position when the wheel under test is actually in balance. With this condition, rotation of a balanced wheel on the balancer will cause the bubble to move off center. Because of the portable nature of most bubble balancers and the conditions under which they are used, even though adjustment means are commonly provided for initially leveling the balancers, the platens are often times not horizontal during a balancing operation.
In those prior art balancers wherein the platen rests on the ball, the platen surface has been made concave to hold the platen on the ball. Theoretically, if the wheel is mounted with its axis of rotation centered in the recess such a concave surface should assure that the contact area between the ball and the platen lies on the axis of rotation of the wheel being balanced. However, when the wheel being balanced swings into a tilted condition, i.e., the principal plane thereof is not horizontal, the platen moves laterally and down across the surface of the ball thus causing the pivot area to move from the center position in the recess and thus be displaced from the axis of rotation of the wheel. Consequently, as the wheel oscillates or swings back and forth and slowly approaches a stationary horizontal position of balance, the platen does not always recenter itself on the ball inasmuch as there is but a very small component of force tending to cause the platen to move laterally to the critical center position. Yet, such balancers will only function correctly if the pivot area is on the axis of rotation of the wheel. Of course, if the platen has a recess whose radius is the same as that of the ball the platen cannot shift back and forth across the surface of the ball, but the friction between the platen and the ball reduces the accuracy of the balancer below acceptable limits. Another seemingly valid solution to this problem would be to reduce the size of the ball, but crushing or flattening of the ball or platen then becomes a problem of greater concern than non-repeatability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, we have provided in accordance with the present invention a bubble balancer which utilizes a ball and a platen pivot assembly but which, unlike the prior art balancer, using this type of pivot assembly, provides repeatable measurements of balance. Our balancer incorporates a spherical support surface positioned in a socket having a concave top wall which rests on the spherical surface and a circular side wall closely adjacent the equator of the spherical surface. A very small clearance of about 0.002 inch is provided between the circular side wall of the socket and the equator of the spherical support surface to hold the top socket surface closely centered on the spherical support surface as the wheel to be balanced swings back and forth during a balancing operation. This small clearance insures that the side wall will contact the spherical surface when the head tilts through a very small angle of about 3°. When the wheel being balanced is in a tilted condition the top wall and the circular side wall of the socket respectively abut the spherical support surface at positions spaced 90° apart. The resultant vector force is thus through the center of generation of the spherical surface and it is the center of the spherical surface about which the wheel being balanced pivots. As a consequence, the pivot point remains at the center of the spherical member on the axis of rotation of the wheel and thus does not move laterally as the wheel swings back and forth. Moreover, as a swinging wheel approaches the horizontal position of balance, the force exerted by the circular side wall of the socket together with the force of gravity causes the socket to self center on the spherical surface whereby the circular side wall is spaced from the equator of the spherical support surface. This provides increased sensitivity at the balanced position because of the reduced friction and also assures that the pivot point is on the axis of rotation of the wheel. It will also be apparent that the area of contact between the circular side wall of the socket and the spherical support member provides some damping when the wheel is swinging or oscillating during the balancing operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further objects and advantages and a better understanding of the present invention can be had by reference to the following detailed description, wherein:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, of a bubble type static wheel balancer embodying the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the pivot head of FIG. 1 in a tilted position; and
FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the pivot head of FIG. 1 in a horizontal position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring particularly to FIG. 1, a wheel balancer 10 comprises a base 11 including three legs 12 (only two are visible in the drawing) and an upright spindle or support post 13 which fits in an elongated recess 14 in the base 11. The upper end of the spindle 13 is inwardly tapered at 13a above which a spherical surface or ball member 16 which supports a pivot head 17 is provided. The member 16 has an exposed spherical surface which is substantially greater than 180° in the vertical direction to permit the head 17 to tilt freely through a substantial angle during the balancing operation. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the spherical surface exceeds 270° in the vertical direction.
The pivot head 17 is tightly mounted in a counter bore 18 in the upper end of a tubular member 19 to which a wheel support platen 20 is mounted. A wheel (not shown) to be balanced is positioned over the tube 19 and rests on the platen surface 20. Suitable means such as a centering cone is used to accurately align the axis of rotation of the wheel with the central longitudinal axis of the tube 19. As more fully described hereinafter the central longitudinal axis of the spindle 13 intersects the center of generation of the spherical surface 16. The surface 16 may be provided on a solid ball welded to the tapered upper end of the spindle 13 or may be an integral part of the spindle.
The pivot head 17 is provided with a downwardly opening bore 23 in which a resilient ball 24 formed of rubber or other elastomeric material is disposed. A support cylinder 25 is slidably mounted in the bore 23 beneath the ball 24 and is provided therein with a downwardly opening socket in which the spherical pivot surface 16 is located. More particularly and with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, this socket is provided by a top member 28 having a centrally disposed spherical recess 29 in the bottom surface thereof and a tubular cylindrical member 30 which provides an internal circular side wall 31. The internal diameter of the circular wall 31 is but slightly larger than the external diameter of the spherical surface 16. It is important that this clearance be relatively small, and a total clearance of 0.022 inch has been found to work properly with a surface 16 having a radius of 0.250 inch.
The axis of generation of the cylindrical surface 31 coincides with the central vertical axis of the shallow recess 29 so that when the ball or surface 16 is in the position shown in FIG. 2 wherein it engages both the side wall 31 and the top wall 29 the two forces exerted on the ball from the socket are vectors intersecting the center point of the sphere 16. As a result, as the pivot head 17 rocks back and forth as the wheel swings to and fro in a normal balancing operation, the pivot point remains at the center of the sphere 16 and is not at the area of contact between the sphere 16 and the platen surface. In FIG. 2 the two vector forces are identified at F 1 and F 2 with the resultant force F R extending from the center of sphere 16 in a true vertical direction.
In FIG. 2 the center of gravity of the wheel and the parts to which it is mounted including the platen 20, the tube 19 and the pivot head is at the location marked CG. As the head swings counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 it will move into the position shown in FIG. 3 wherein the center of gravity is directly below the center of the spherical surface 16. It may thus be seen that as the pivot head moves from the position illustrated in FIG. 2 to that illustrated in FIG. 3 the force component F 1 causes the pivot head to move laterally a distance of one-half the total clearance between the surfaces 16 and 31 so that the spherical surface 16 is spaced in all directions from the cylindrical wall 31. Also, of course, this means that the center of gravity is directly below the center of the sphere 16. We have found that with this pivot head assembly extremely precise repeatable results are obtainable. The radius of the concave surface 29 is about three times or more the radius of the sphere 16. This aids in the self centering of the socket on the sphere 16. We have found, however, that merely providing the concave recess without the cylindrical side wall 31 does not insure that the head will self center on the spherical member and therefore repeatable results are not always achieved.
While the present invention has been described in connection with particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications which come within the true spirit and scope of this invention.
|
A pivot head for a bubble balancer has a socket which receives a spherical support member, the socket having a concave top wall which rests on the spherical member and a circular side wall in close proximity to the equator of the spherical member.
| 6
|
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority based on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61-558,808 filed Nov. 11, 2001. Additionally, embodiments may utilize a spring arrangement taught in co-pending application Ser. No. 10-595,330, also published as Publication No. 2007-0040311 on Feb. 22, 2007, which disclosures are incorporated by reference as if full set forth herein.
BACKGROUND
Field of Invention
[0002] The present technology relates generally to backrest adjustment, and more particularly to a flexible hinge that allows a backrest to rock and a spring lock to allow or inhibit the backrest to rock.
SUMMARY
[0003] A spring back hinge with or without a spring lock mechanism is provided for a backrest. The spring back hinge is mounted on a left, right or both left and right side of a backrest frame that and provides spring in the back frame to allow a user to “rock” the backrest fore and aft independent of a fixed seat frame or cushion. The hinge allows for mechanical adjustment of the tension used in the flex of the back frame assembly allowing a softer or firmer “ride” depending on the user's preference. An optional spring-lock spring mechanism provides a means to the user to fix the back position in the normal sitting position by simply moving a lever. The design as a whole can operatively connect standard seat frame units with easily interchangeable back frame and arm rest profiles and also different spring hinge assemblies, which improves adaptability to different styles and configuration of finished furniture with improved performance and reduced number of variable parts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0004] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a spring back hinge assembly.
[0005] FIG. 2A is an exploded view of the spring back hinge and backrest assembly with optional spring lock mechanism.
[0006] FIG. 2B is a perspective view illustrating an alternative embodiment of seat back.
[0007] FIG. 2C is a perspective view illustrating an alternative embodiment of seat back.
[0008] FIG. 2D is a perspective view illustrating an alternative embodiment of seat back.
[0009] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of another embodiment of a seat assembly with a spring back hinge and without a lock mechanism.
[0010] FIG. 3A is a detailed isometric view of the installed spring back hinge without a lock mechanism.
[0011] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a third embodiment of a seat assembly with a spring back hinge and a lock mechanism in the unlocked position.
[0012] FIG. 4A is a detailed isometric view of the installed spring back hinge with a lock mechanism in the unlocked position.
[0013] FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a fourth embodiment of a seat assembly with a spring back hinge and a lock mechanism in the locked position.
[0014] FIG. 5A is a detailed isometric view of the installed spring back hinge with a lock mechanism in the locked position.
[0015] FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a fifth embodiment of a seat assembly with a spring back hinge mounted to a chair frame.
[0016] FIG. 6A is a detailed isometric view of the installed spring back hinge mounted to a chair frame.
[0017] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the installed spring back hinge of FIGS. 6 and 6A .
[0018] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the installed spring back hinge of FIGS. 6 and 6A from an angle rotated from that of FIG. 7 .
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The foregoing drawings and the description below represent a system using a left and right spring back hinge with or without lock. For single side systems, one side would be replaced with a pivoting hinge system.
[0020] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 a spring back hinge assembly 10 is provided. The assembly 10 has a base plate 12 and a hinge plate 14 . The base plate 12 has a locking pin 16 and lock rod clearance slot 18 . Locking pin 16 allows for the base plate 12 and hinge plate 14 to be locked in a fixed position when an optional spring lock assembly 46 is installed. Locking pin 16 may also act as a motion limit pin which limits rearward travel of the back frame assembly. The base plate 12 contains a spring mounting plate 20 . In a preferred embodiment, the spring mounting plate 20 is formed from a bend 22 in the base plate 12 . The base plate 12 may also contain bends, such as bends 24 , in a preferred embodiment, to conform to the design of a chair frame. Additionally, in a preferred embodiment, the base plate 12 has mounting holes 26 and a recess 28 to allow for mounting to a chair frame. The hinge plate 14 may also contain a spring return plate 14 A. In several embodiments, the spring return plate 14 A is formed from a bend 14 B in hinge plate 14 . Lock rod clearance slot 18 may receive a lock rod 48 when lock assembly 46 is installed. Because of the obround shape of slot 18 , engagement of lock assembly 46 moves the ends of rod 48 in slot 18 to lock seat back 112 .
[0021] In FIG. 1 , hinge plate 14 is movably connected to base plate 12 with a fastener 30 (for example a bolt, rivet, pin, etc.) to permit rotation of plate 14 relative to plate 12 . The fastener 30 is received through a hole in the hinge plate 14 and hole in the base plate 12 . The adjustable tension bolt 32 is fixedly received through a hole in the spring mounting plate 20 and slidably received through a hole in the spring return plate 14 A. A spring 34 surrounds the adjustable tension bolt 32 , which can then be adjusted to increase or decrease the tension on the hinge plate 14 . For example, when the bolt 32 is tightened, the spring 34 is compressed, thus increasing the tension in the spring 34 resulting in increased tension in the hinge plate 14 in relation to the base plate 12 . When the tension in the spring 34 is increased, more pressure is required from a user to “rock” or recline in the chair or seat.
[0022] Hinge plate 14 has a mounting plate 36 with mounting holes 38 to be mounted to a backrest frame 112 . In a preferred embodiment, the mounting plate 36 is formed from a bend 40 in the hinge plate 14 . The hinge plate 14 may also contain bends, such as bends 42 , in a preferred embodiment to conform to the design of a chair frame or backrest frame 112 . Hinge plate 14 also contains a lock mechanism receiving hole 44 for receiving a lock assembly 46 .
[0023] Referring now to FIG. 2 , an exploded view of the assembly 10 and how it connects with a backrest frame 112 is provided. In the provided embodiment, the backrest frame 112 is a substantially rectangular structure with sinuous springs 114 extending between a frame cross member 116 . In a preferred embodiment, the sinuous springs 114 are generally parallel to the chair base frame 110 (shown in FIGS. 3-5 a ), although other types of springs may provide equivalent functionality. FIG. 2 preferred embodiment shows the lock assembly 46 having a lock rod 48 locking plate 52 fixed to lock rod 48 and having a lever handle 50 and locking arm 54 and locking cam 56 . Alternately locking plate 52 and handle 50 can be located on one side of lock rod 48 only. Backrest frame 112 has mounting holes for receiving mounting bolts 118 . Mounting bolts 118 are received by the mounting holes 38 of the mounting plate 36 , thereby fixing the hinge plate 14 to the backrest frame 112 . Additionally, mounting bolts 118 are received by mounting holes 120 in spring steel straps 122 with optional spring lock 46 . Spring steel straps 122 are ‘L’ shaped and apply pressure to the lock rod 48 to maintain a locked or unlocked position of the locking levers 50 . FIG. 2A , FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C illustrate variations in backrest frame 112 outside shape, which may be used as alternatives to provide selected appearance to a finished, upholstered chair or seat. The independent operation of spring assembly 10 permits this adaptation, while keeping the other components the same.
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 3 , an exemplary embodiment of a chair or seat is shown with spring hinge assembly 10 . The chair or seat is made up of legs 102 and 104 , armrests 106 , chair base frame 110 , and backrest frame 112 . Other chair and seating designs, for example different types of bases, number of legs, or types of backrests, movable chairs, or mounted seats, in a variety of uses, such as furniture in or associated with buildings or outdoors, or seating in vehicles, have been considered. In one embodiment, two spring hinge assemblies 10 are attached via the base plates 12 of the assemblies 10 to the base frame 110 , and a backrest frame 112 is mounted to the hinge plates 14 of the assemblies 10 . Another embodiment is for the spring hinge 10 to be attached to arm assembly 136 .
[0025] Chair base frame 110 as shown is a leg assembly which can be individually attached to a seat frame unit consisting of side rails and front and rear frame end members 132 , without or without springs. In this embodiment, sinuous springs 134 are stretched between the frame end members 132 , although other spring types could be considered. Also shown in a preferred embodiment are the armrests 106 and rear legs being formed from one continuous member 105 , and with additional side members 130 attached although other commonly known designs are considered.
[0026] FIGS. 3 and 3 a are shown without an optional lock assembly. Specifically referring to FIG. 3 a , which is taken from cutout “ 3 A” of FIG. 3 , the lock assembly receiving hole 44 does not include the lock rod 48 of the lock assembly 46 .
[0027] Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 4 a , an exemplary embodiment of a chair or seat as shown in FIG. 3 is provided along with the lock assembly 46 . The spring back hinge assemblies 10 in this embodiment are mounted to the seat frame unit 132 , and the backrest frame 112 is mounted to the assemblies 10 as described above. FIGS. 4 and 4 a show the lock assembly 46 in the unlock position. Specifically referring to FIG. 4 a , which is taken from cutout “ 4 A” of FIG. 4 , while in the unlock position, the lever handles 52 are in an upward position, and thus locking cam 56 is below locking pin 16 and the locking arms 54 will not contact or engage with the locking pins 16 when a user leans against the backrest frame 112 . Therefore, with the lock assembly 46 in this position, the user can freely “rock” or recline backwards while sitting in the chair, within the mechanical limits of the apparatus. As mentioned above, the spring steel strap 122 provides pressure to the lock rod 48 in order to keep the lock assembly 46 in the unlock (upward) position. Lock assembly is maintained in this position by spring steel straps 122 . Spring steel straps 122 are ‘L’ shaped and apply pressure to the lock rod 48 to maintain a locked or unlocked position of the locking levers 50 . Moving lever handle 52 engages cam and displaces spring strap 122 until the area between cam 56 and arm 54 engages pin 16 , as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5A .
[0028] Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 5 a , an exemplary embodiment of a chair as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is provided with the lock assembly 46 in the lock position. As stated above, in this embodiment the spring back hinge assemblies 10 are mounted to the seat frame 132 , and the backrest frame 112 is mounted to the assemblies 10 . This, therefore, permits mounting and rotation independently of armrests 106 and is particularly well adapted to structures that have different chair frames, such as wooden or arm-less chair frames. FIGS. 5 and 5 a show the lock assembly 46 in a locked position. Specifically referring to FIG. 5 a , which is taken from cutout “ 5 A” of FIG. 5 , when lever handle 52 is placed in a locked position (such as in a downward position) being moved against spring steel strap 122 and then held in engagement by spring steel strap 122 , locking arm 54 will prevent the backrest frame 112 from rocking by bracing against locking pin 16 . Therefore, when a user leans back against the backrest frame 112 , the locking arm 54 will immediately engage the locking pin 16 and prevent the backrest frame 112 from “rocking” or reclining.
[0029] FIG. 6 and FIG. 6A show an embodiment in which the spring hinge 10 is attached to arm assembly 136 . Arm assembly 136 includes a plate or web 138 that interconnects the arm and leg portions into a structural unit. In this embodiment In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 hinge plate 214 is movably connected to base plate 212 with a fastener 230 (for example a bolt, stud, rivet, pin, etc.) which may be adapted to receive an adjustable tension nut 232 . The fastener 230 is fixedly mounted to the base plate 212 and passes through the hinge plate 214 so as to permit the relative motion, as restrained by spring 234 . In particular, fastener 230 passes through the seat back mounting plate flange 220 of plate 214 such as through an aperture. A spring 234 surrounds the fastener 230 and compressed by adjustable tension nut 232 , which can then be adjusted to increase or decrease the tension on the plate 214 . For example, when the nut 232 is tightened, the spring 234 is compressed, thus increasing the tension in the spring 234 resulting in increased tension in the hinge plate 214 in relation to the base plate 212 . When the tension in the spring 234 is increased, more pressure is required from a user to “rock” or recline in the chair.
[0030] Hinge plate 214 has a mounting plate 236 with mounting holes 238 to be fastened mounted to a backrest frame 112 . In a preferred embodiment, the mounting plate 236 is formed by two bends 240 in the hinge plate 214 . Base plate 212 has hole 226 in mounting flange 228 for mounting to plate 138 or such other suitable gusset, flange or structure. Frame 112 mounted to plate 236 rotates around pin 242 to permit movement, which movement compresses spring 234 as frame 112 is moved or rocked by a user of the seating device. This arrangement permits back frame 112 to be mounted and move independently of seat frame unit 132 .
[0031] Also seen in FIG. 6 , seat frame unit 132 has been preferably been replaced by a double spring function leaf spring and coil spring seat frame unit 250 . Seat frame unit 250 is taught in co-pending application Ser. No. 10-595,330, also published as US Publication No. 2007-0040311 on Feb. 22, 2007, which disclosures are incorporated by reference as if full set forth herein.
[0032] Numerous modifications to the features described and shown are possible. Accordingly the described and illustrated embodiments are to be construed as merely exemplary of the inventive concepts expressed herein.
|
A spring back hinge interconnects a backrest frame to a chair seat frame or is mountable to just the chair base frame, the spring back hinge being optionally fittable with a lever actuated locking assembly and the spring back hinge being fittable on a single side or both sides, alternative back rest frames being fittable to the spring back hinge.
| 8
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This invention in one embodiment is related to the assignee's Hwang et al prior application Ser. No. 478,879, filed June 13, 1974, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,413 issued Apr. 27, 1976.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The new and improved catalysts of this invention are prepared by depositing on a finely divided and difficult to reduce inorganic oxide selected from silica, alumina, thoria, zirconia, titania, magnesia and/or mixtures thereof an organic chromium compound and then activating the resulting mixture in a non-oxidizing inert or reducing atmosphere at elevated temperatures up to about 2000° F. followed by subjecting the activated catalyst to an oxidizing gas to burn off the carbon residue and to modify or improve the characteristics of the activated catalyst. This invention is also effective in improving the performance of such catalysts wherein the support is first chemically modified with metallic elements including zirconium, titanium and others. It has been found experimentally that a black color formed on the catalyst during activation is due to carbon deposits which are presumed to result from the decomposition of the organic chromium compound during the non-oxidative pyrolysis step. The carbon deposits are substantially removed by burning in an oxidizing gas and the resulting catalysts give much improved performance in 1-olefin polymerization. Notably and significantly improved are catalyst activity, solid polymer color of polymers produced with the new catalyst, and various other desirable polymer physical properties such as melt index, shear response, and melt elasticity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The organic chromium compounds used to prepare the catalysts which are the subject of this invention can be any of those that provide an olefin polymerization catalyst when mixed with a support as defined herein and subjected to non-oxidative pyrolysis. One of the types of organic chromium compounds that fall within this description are the chromium chelates of the above Hwang et al Pat. No. 3,953,413. The chelates are derived from one or more beta-dicarbonyl compounds that may be either acyclic or cyclic, the chelates being essentially of the formula of the class consisting of ##STR1## wherein R is individually selected from hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, cycloalkyl and cycloalkenyl radicals and combinations of these radicals with each R containing 0-20 carbon atoms and a corresponding valence-satisfying number of hydrogen atoms, R' is selected from alkylene, alkenylene, arylene, cycloalkylene and cycloalkenylene radicals and combinations of these bivalent radicals with R' containing 1-20 carbon atoms and a corresponding valence-satisfying number of hydrogen atoms, m is a whole number of 1 to 3, n is a whole number of 0 to 2 and m plus n is 2 or 3 and X is an inorganic or organic negative group (relative to chromium) such as halide, alkyl, alkoxy, and the like. Typical compounds are chromium acetylacetonate, chromium benzoylacetonate, chromium 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedionate, chromium 2-acetylcyclohexanonate, and the like.
A second group of organic chromium compounds are the π-bonded organochromium compounds of the structure
(L).sub.x -- Cr -- (L').sub.y
disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,806,500 and 3,844,975 wherein L and L' are the same or different organic ligands which are adapted to being pi-bonded to the chromium atom, and x and y are each integers of 0 to 3, inclusive, and x plus y equals 2 to 6, inclusive. Typical compounds of this group are bis(cyclopentadienyl) chromium (II), bis(benzene)chromium (O), cyclopentadienyl chromium tricarbonyl hydride, etc.
A third group of organic chromium compounds are tetravalent organochromium compounds of the structure Y 4 Cr disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,132 wherein Y is individually selected from alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkyl-substituted alkyl, or aryl-substituted alkyl radicals containing 1 to about 14 carbon atoms and the tetravalent chromium atom is directly linked to one of the carbon atoms in each alkyl group. Typical compounds of this group are tetrakis(neopentyl)chromium(IV), tetrakis(tertiary-butyl)chromium (IV), etc.
Another type of organic chromium compound which may be used in this invention is the reaction product of ammonium chromate and pinacol as disclosed in Hoff et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,983 issued Oct. 19, 1976, and also assigned to the assignee hereof.
Still another group of chromium compounds which may be used in the present invention include several types of chromate esters. A simple type is organic chromate of the formula ##STR2## wherein R is individually selected from hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl radical containing about 1-14 carbon atoms, preferably about 3-10 carbon atoms, including alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl and cycloalkenyl groups. Typical compounds are bis(triphenylmethyl) chromate, bis(tributylmethyl)chromate, etc.
A second group of chromate ester is organosilyl chromate, such as described in Granchelli et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,891, and has the general formula ##STR3## wherein R is individually selected from hydrogen and a wide range of hydrocarbyl groups similar to those just described immediately above. A typical compound is bis(triphenylsilyl)chromate.
A third type of chromate ester which may be used in this invention is chromyl bis(trihydrocarbyltitanate), such as disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,752,795, and has the general formula ##STR4## wherein R is individually selected from a wide range of hydrocarbyl radicals described immediately above. A typical compound is chromyl bis(tributyltitanate).
Still another type of chromate ester is chromyl bis(dihydrocarbylphosphate), such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,080, and has the general formula ##STR5## wherein R is again individually selected from a wide variety of hydrocarbyl groups described immediately above. A typical compound is chromyl bis(diphenylphosphate).
In accordance with this invention, the burning off of the carbon residue by-product from the activated catalysts gives improved catalytic performance when used for olefinic polymerization or copolymerization.
In accordance with this invention, the new catalysts are prepared and activated in the following manner:
1. The support or base
The finely divided and difficult to reduce inorganic support is preferably silica, alumina, zirconia, thoria, magnesia, titania, or mixtures or composites thereof. These supports can have a pore volume in excess of 0.5 cc/g and a surface area ranging from a few m 2 /g to over 700 m 2 /g, but preferably above 150 m 2 /g. A finely divided non-porous support with a high surface area such as "Cab-O-Sil" may also be used.
It is sometimes advantageous to pretreat the support before addition of the organic chromium compound. Such pretreatment typically consists of adjusting the moisture content of the support by drying at elevated temperature or chemically modifying the support with compounds containing metallic elements such as zirconium, titanium, boron, vanadium, tin, molybdenum, magnesium, hafnium, or the like. Chemical modification can include adding compounds such as ammonium hexafluorosilicate which can react with the support or with the organic chromium compound during calcining and activation. Chemical modification using metal alkyls which react with the support can also be used.
In calcining or adjusting the moisture content of the support, temperatures of from 300°-2000° F. are normally used for a time sufficient to drive off substantially all loosely held volatile material. The calcining or drying steps can be carried out by any process known in the art such as in a furnace or in a heated fluizided bed using dry gases such as nitrogen, air, carbon monoxide or other suitable reactive or inert gases as the fluidizing medium.
2. Impregnating the support
The organic chromium compound can be deposited on the support prior to thermal activation in a number of ways well known in the art. These include dry mixing the support and the organic compound, dissolving the chromium compound and mixing the solution and the support, and vaporizing the compound and contacting the vapor with the support. In the case of solution impregnation, it is often convenient to remove excess solvent by drying before proceeding with thermal activation.
3. Thermal activation of the catalyst
Up to this point, in most cases, the catalysts so prepared have little or no activity. To improve their performance, a process commonly known as activation or thermal aging is employed. In essence, this process requires subjecting the catalysts to elevated temperatures in the presence of an inert or reducing (nonoxidative) atmosphere. As demonstrated in Examples 18-24, even a minute contamination of oxygen during the activation generally has a detrimental effect on catalyst activity. Understandably, such an adverse effect is greatly magnified when the chromium level is reduced to about 0.15% from a more typical 1% by weight.
The activation step is usually carried out using a prescribed heating cycle which includes heating the catalysts up to a specific temperature, usually in the range of 600°-2000° F. (preferably 800°-2000° F.), holding the catalyst at this temperature for a prescribed length of time, usually 30 minutes to 12 hours, followed by cooling. The cycle can include hold periods at temperatures below the maximum to permit diffusion of moisture or solvents from the catalyst pores, or to permit reactions such as decomposition of the organic chromium compound to take place.
4. Treatment of the activated catalyst
The new and improved catalyst of this invention is obtained by subjecting the activated catalyst described in the preceding section to a post-treatment with dry air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and other oxidizing gases for a short period of time, preferably in a fluid bed, at elevated temperatures up to but normally below the highest temperature at which the catalyst was previously held during the non-oxidative activation. In general, this treatment results not only in a partial or complete burning off of the carbon residue which eventually leads to the improved polymer color of a polymer prepared with the catalyst but also in a substantial modification of the catalyst which reveals itself in the improved activity and significantly different and/or improved polymer properties.
As the presence of even a minute quantity of oxygen during the non-oxidative activation was known to be detrimental to the genesis of catalyst activity, or in other words oxygen is a catalyst poison, it was generally expected that any attempt to remove carbon residue by the air treatment or other oxidative methods would necessarily involve severe sacrifice of catalyst activity, possibly to the extent of completely deactivating the catalyst. It was therefore unexpected that catalyst activity was greatly improved instead and that the physical properties of the resulting polymer were also significantly modified or improved.
As a matter of practical considerations, this post-activation treatment is normally carried out by using dry air or diluted air but other less obvious and weaker oxidizing gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide may also be used, as illustrated in Examples 25-28 with excellent results of improving the polymer color. In general, a mixture of the above-mentioned oxidizing gases may be used also. Furthermore, it is permissible, or sometimes useful from an operating point of view, to dilute the oxidizing gas or mixture of oxidizing gases with an inert gas, or a mixture of inert gases, such as nitrogen, helium, argon, neon, etc., in said treatment of the activated catalyst. The temperature and duration of said treatment are, as a rule, to be adjusted in each case so as to achieve the desired effects depending on the catalyst composition, type of oxidizing gas and other catalyst preparation variables.
In the case of air treatment, the preferred temperature is 900°-1700° F. In this range of from about 900°-1700° F. a drastic improvement in polymer color and other resin properties such as lower ash, higher melt index, broader MWD, etc. is obtained. If a Hunter meter is used to measure the color of the polymer produced with catalysts which are the subject of this invention, it is found that air treated and untreated catalysts give typical values as follows:
______________________________________ "B Value" "L Value"______________________________________Polymer from untreated catalyst 0.5-2.0 68-80Polymer from air treated catalyst 0.1-1.0 86-91______________________________________
Where a higher "B" value indicates a more intense yellow color in the polymer, a high "L" value indicates better whiteness.
Polymer properties do not depend on the length of time the catalyst is air treated, provided the time is long enough to eliminate the carbon residue evidenced by the characteristic black color of the untreated catalysts. It has been demonstrated experimentally that the air treatment can be as short as 20 seconds.
5. Polymerization
The new and improved catalysts prepared according to this invention may be used to polymerize 1-olefins in liquid phase or vapor phase processes. These processes may be either batch or continuous. The mode of charging catalyst, olefin, and solvent if required, to the reactor system may follow any conventional practice applicable to batch or continuous operation. Normally, agitation is provided in the reactor as well as a means to remove the heat of polymerization and a means to control the reactor temperature. In liquid phase processes, olefin polymer is normally recovered by flashing off solvent without any intervening steps for removal of the catalyst. The activity of the catalysts described in this invention is normally greater than 3000 lbs. of polymer/pound of catalyst so that catalyst removal for practical purposes is unnecessary. Reactor conditions are dependent on the type of olefin as well as the desired polymer properties. In the case of ethylene, reactor pressures may range from 50 to 1000 psig, temperatures from 150° F. to 500° F. and solids levels from 5-60% by weight.
As a result of this invention, it is now possible to achieve the following improvements with catalysts derived from supported organic chromium compounds pyrolytically activated in a non-oxidative atmosphere:
a. Improved solid polymer color when used for 1-olefin polymerization.
b. Higher melt index especially when used for ethylene polymerization.
c. Higher catalyst activity.
d. Production of ethylene polymers having broader molecular weight distribution as indicated by higher melt flow shear response.
e. Production of ethylene polymers having higher melt elasticity.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following examples illustrate the invention:
EXAMPLE 1
A silica base having a surface area of approximately 350 m 2 /g and a pore volume of approximately 1.7 cc/gm was used as the catalyst support for this example.
This type of material is available commercially from such sources as the Davison Chemical Company, and their designation for this type of material is 952 MS-ID silica gel. The catalyst of this example was prepared by thoroughly mixing this silica base with an aqueous solution of zirconium tetrachloride. A sufficient amount of zirconium tetrachloride was used to give 1% zirconium on the base. The base so impregnated was dried in an oven at 400° F. until it was free flowing, at which point it was transferred to saggers and calcined in a muffle furnace at 1200° F. for 4 hours. Upon cooling, this dried silica was then dry mixed with a sufficient amount of chromium acetylacetonate to give a chromium concentration of 1% by weight on the total dry catalyst. The dried catalyst was then transferred to an activator.
The activator consisted of a 4 inches I.D. by about 48 inches long tube made of "Inconel" metal. The tube was provided with electric heaters around the outside of the tube. The heaters were capable of heating the tube plus its contents to temperatures of up to 2000° F. The bottom of the tube was fitted with a distributor plate designed to give uniform distribution of the gas entering the bottom of the tube and flowing up through the tube. A bed of regenerated molecular sieves was used to dry the nitrogen to a total moisture content of less than 2 ppm (vol.) before it entered the tube. Before entering the desiccant bed, the nitrogen was passed through a deoxygenating bed containing a reduced copper oxide catalyst. In this bed, the oxygen level was reduced to less than 5 ppm (vol.). A flow measuring device to regulate the flow rate of gas through the activator tube was provided. A controller for the heating elements capable of raising the temperature of the fluidizing tube to elevated temperatues according to a predetermined cycle was also provided.
In this tube, the catalyst was fluidized with nitrogen and heated to a temperature of 350° F. and held for 3 hours; the temperature was then raised to 550° F. and held for 3 hours; and the temperature was then raised to 1700° F. and held for 6 hours. The heat up rate between hold temperatures was about 150° F./hr. All the while the nitrogen flow was held constant to provide fluidization of the catalyst within the heated tube. The catalyst was then cooled to approximately ambient temperature while still fluidized and was then dumped from the tube into a predried flask which had been carefully purged to eliminate all traces of oxygen and moisture from the interior of the flask. This flask was then sealed, and the flask was stored in a container having a dry nitrogen environment until the catalyst was to be used in the polymerization process. The activated catalyst of this example was black in color. At a suitable time, the catalyst was charged to a continuous polymerization reactor and used to polymerize ethylene at a temperature of about 227° F. in the presence of dry isobutane and with an ethylene concentration of about 5% by weight in the reactor.
The reactor used for the polymerization tests consisted of a vessel provided with a jacket and a means for good agitation within the vessel. The volume of the vessel was about 90 gallons. Water was circulated through the jacket of the reactor to remove the heat liberated during the polymerization reaction. Means were provided to regulate the coolant temperature and the coolant flow so as to control the temperature of the reactor. Means were provided to feed a slurry of catalyst to the reactor at a controlled rate. Means were also provided to feed ethylene to the reactor at a controlled rate. Means were also provided for introducing a second monomer or comonomer to the reactor as well as modifying agents to control the molecular weight of the polymer formed in the reactor although these were not used in this example. Means were provided to feed a diluent separately to the reactor at a controlled rate. Means were provided to discharge a mixture of the polymer formed in the reactor, unreacted monomer and/or comonomer, and diluent from the reactor. The polymer mixture discharged from the reactor flowed to a heated flash vessel where the diluent and unreacted ethylene were removed as a vapor and the polymer was recovered with only traces of hydrocarbon. The recovered polymer was purged batchwise with inert gas to remove the traces of hydrocarbon and analysed for melt index, density and ash. These factors are determined by standard tests well known in the industry. The test used for determining melt index is ASTM D-1238, and the method for measuring the density is ASTM D-1505. Ash was determined by a pyrolysis method. In all cases, the polymer yield figures are calculated from the ash values.
This example illustrated the performance of a typical nontreated chromium acetylacetonate catalyst. The polymer yield of this catalyst amounts to 2,730 pounds of polymer collected per pound of catalyst fed to the reactor. The Hunter color evaluation indicated a whiteness value of 76.7. Other pertinent data are summarized in Table I.
EXAMPLES 2-5
The catalysts used in these examples were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that air was introduced into the catalyst bed during the cool down period after catalyst activation, at various temperatures as specified in Table I (1100°-1550° F.), for a period of fifteen minutes. After the air treatment the normal nitrogen flow was restored in the activator and the catalyst was allowed to cool down to room temperature.
These catalysts were then tested in the continuous polymerization reactor of Example 1. The results are summarized in Table I.
These examples clearly demonstrated the beneficial effects obtained by this invention. An improved MI/synthesis temperature relationship along with higher Rd (broader molecular weight distribution), improved catalyst activity (lower ash), and significantly higher Hunter whiteness (L) are realized.
EXAMPLES 6 and 7
These examples illustrate the invention with a catalyst system involving the reaction product of ammonium chromate and pinacol.
Untreated catalyst:
Davison 952 base was impregnated with an aqueous solution of ammonium chromate and pinacol having a molar ratio of pinacol/ammonium chromate of 4. A sufficient amount of ammonium chromate was used to give a concentration of 0.8% chromium by weight on the base. The impregnation was done in a round bottomed flask under constant nitrogen purge. The flask containing the impregnated base and still under nitrogen purge was then heated with a heat gun to remove the excessive moisture.
The dried catalyst was carefully transferred under nitrogen atmosphere to the activator tube of Example 1. A mixture of nitrogen and carbon monoxide (7 vol.% carbon monoxide and 93 vol.% nitrogen) was used to fluidize the catalyst and the tube was heated to 1300° F. at appromixately 200° F./hour heat up rate and held at 1300° F. for five hours. After cooling down to 450° F. pure nitrogen was used to purge the tube. After four hours of nitrogen purge the catalyst was then transferred to a well purged catalyst flask.
Treated catalyst:
Basically the air treated catalyst was prepared in a very similar fashion as the one described above except for the fluidizing gas after the 1300° F. hold period. In this case, air was introduced for 15 minutes at the start of the cool down period after the non-oxidative activation. At the end of fifteen minutes, pure nitrogen replaced the air and the tube continued to cool. When it reached 750° F. carbon monoxide replaced the nitrogen for fifteen minutes. After an additional nitrogen purge for four hours, the catalyst was removed and stored in a flask.
When tested in the continuous reactor of Example 1, these two catalysts showed the advantages of this invention. The air treated catalyst demonstrated significantly improved catalyst activity and polymer color as summarized in Table I.
EXAMPLES 8 and 9
These examples illustrate the applicability of this invention to silica supported catalyst involving π-bonded chromium compounds such as described in U.S. Pat. 3,806,500, an example of which is dicyclopentadienyl chromium (Chromocene).
In Example 8, in accordance with the general procedure as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,500, the base catalyst activated but not treated was prepared as follows:
1. 50 grams of Davison 952 MS-ID silica gel was dehydrated in a 38 mm O.D. 27 inches long "Vycor" tube surrounded with a tubular electric heater and under a nitrogen fluidizing atmosphere. A fritted disc was provided in the midsection of the tube for the purpose of fluidizing the catalyst. The dehydration temperature was 1100° F. and lasted for two hours. After cooling to ambient temperature, the dry silica gel was transferred to a well purged flask.
2. 2 grams of Chromocene dissolved in 120 cc toluene was added to 40 grams of the dried silica base of step 1. The excess solvent was evaporated at ambient temperature by nitrogen sweep.
3. About 15 grams of this catalyst was then charged to the "Vycor" tube and the catalyst was activated under 400 cc/min. of nitrogen flow by a heating cycle as follows: (a) hold at 250° F. for one hour; (b) hold at 350° F. for one hour; (c) hold at 550° F. for one hour; (d) hold at 1600° F. for 2 hours via 200° F./15 minutes heat up rate; and (e) cool down to ambient temperature.
4. The activated catalyst was transferred into a closed flask equipped with a hose and clamp at both openings without exposing to air.
In Example 9, in accordance with this invention, a new and improved Chromocene catalyst was prepared in an almost identical manner except for the additional air treatment on the cool down portion of the activation cycle. As stated in (3) above, the catalyst was allowed to cool down after being held at 1600° F. for two hours. When it reached 1200° F., the heater was turned on and the tube temperature was maintained at 1200° F. while the catalyst was treated with air for five minutes. The catalyst was then purged with nitrogen and allowed to cool to ambient temperature.
The ethylene polymerization activity of these two catalysts was tested in a bench scale reactor using isobutane as the reaction medium. The reactor, essentially an autoclave 5 inches I.D. and about 12 inches deep, was equipped with an agitator rotating at 560 rpm, a flush bottom valve, and three ports for charging catalyst, isobutane and ethylene, respectively. The reactor temperature was controlled by a jacket containing methanol which was kept boiling by an electrical heater encircling the jacket. The control mechanism involved the automatic adjustment of jacket pressures in response to either cooling or heating requirements.
The reactor was first thoroughly purged with ethylene at temperatures around 200° F. followed by the transfer of a nominal 0.16 gram catalyst from the catalyst flask under nitrogen into the reactor via a transfer tube without exposing it to air. After the catalyst charge port was closed, 2900 ml of isobutane (dried and deoxygenated) was charged into the reactor, trapped ethylene was vented, and the reactor was allowed to warm up to 225° F. The reactor was then pressurized with ethylene which was regulated at 550 psig and which was permitted to flow into the reactor whenever the reactor pressure dropped below 550 psig. An instantaneous flow rate of ethylene was monitored by rotameters of various capacity. The duration of the test run was 60 minutes.
At the end of this test run, ethylene flow was cut off, the flush bottom valve was opened, and the reactor content was dumped into a recovery pot, approximately 5 inches I.D. and 10 inches deep, where isobutane was allowed to flash off through a 200 mesh screen into the vent. Polymer particles left in the pot were recovered and weighed.
As shown in Table I, there was a substantial increase in yield (gm/polymer/gm catalyst/hr) as well as polymer whiteness (L value) with the treated catalyst.
EXAMPLES 10 and 11
These examples further illustrate the benefits realized under this invention with another catalytic system involving one type of chromate esters, namely silyl chromates, an example of which is bis(triphenylsilyl)chromate.
The control sample under this set of examples was prepared by dissolving 2.5 grams of bis(triphenylsilyl)chromate in sixty cubic centimeters of toluene and impregnating with this solution, twenty grams of Davison 952 MS-ID silica base predried at 1300° F. After being thoroughly purged and dried, a portion of this free-flowing, chromate impregnated silica was charged to a Vycor tube and thermally treated according to the method of Example 8 (without air treatment).
The new and improved catalyst under this invention was prepared in a similar manner except for the additional air treatment during the cool down period after the non-oxidative activation. Air treatment procedure and temperatures identical to those given in Example 9 was used.
Polymerization tests with the control catalyst and the catalyst of this invention were conducted in a bench scale reactor as described in Examples 8 and 9. The resultant data summarized in Table I demonstrate again the significant improvement in polymer color and catalytic activity with the improved catalyst of this invention.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________Summary of Examples 1 through 11Example Catalyst Act. Air Reaction Yield Ash ColorNo. Composition Temp. Treatment Temp. ° F. MI Rd/Sw.sup.(1) #/#Cat. % (L)*__________________________________________________________________________1 1% Cr/1% Zr 1700° F. None 227.0 0.58 5.7/5.0 2730 .038 76.7 as ZrCl.sub.42 " 1700° F. 1100° F. 227.0 1.80 7.8/4.3 8340 .012 90.03 " 1700° F. 1200° F. 220.0 0.90 7.5/4.6 7700 .013 89.74 " 1700° F. 1300 20 F. 226.5 1.90 7.6/4.6 5260 .019 90.15 " 1700° F. 1550° F. 225.0 0.70 7.5/4.5 5260 .019 88.26 0.8% Cr as 1300° F. None 228.0 0.06 .180 79.2 Pinacol/NH.sub.4 Cro.sub.47 " 1300° F. 1300° F. 227.5 0.16 .013 89.48 1.45% Cr as 1600° F. None 225.0 0.24 NA 300** 37.9 Chromocene9 " 1600° F. 1200° F. 225.0 0.42 NA 1175** 86.610 1% Cr as bis 1600° F. None 225.0 214** 68.5 (triphenylsilyl) chromate11 " 1600° F. 1200° F. 225.0 623** 92.5__________________________________________________________________________ *Hunter color whiteness value. Test method from Hunter Laboratory Assoc. **Reactivity in gms. polymer per gms. catalyst per hour. .sup.(1) Shear sensitivity index (Prediction of High Density Polyethylene Processing Behavior from Rheological Measurements by M. Shida and L. Cancio)
EXAMPLES 12 and 13
These examples further illustrate the practical benefits of this invention with a silica-supported catalyst involving another type of chromate ester which is represented by bis(triphenylmethyl)chromate.
The base catalyst used in these examples was prepared by impregnating 20 grams of Davison 952 MS-ID silica, predried at 1300° F. for 5 hours, with 60 ml of toluene solution containing 2.4 grams of bis(triphenylmethyl)chromate, followed by evaporating off solvent. The chromate was prepared essentially by a method described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,554 which comprises refluxing a mixture of 2.3 grams chromium trioxide, 6.0 grams triphenylcarbinol and 90 ml dichloromethane for 1 hour in a flask, filtering off an excess chromium trioxide and further purifying the resultant chromate ester by precipitation.
The base catalyst was then activated in nitrogen in one case according to the method of Example 8 and in the other case activated and further treated with air according to the method of Example 9. Both catalysts were tested for ethylene polymerization in a bench scale reactor in accordance with the procedure described in Examples 8 and 9.
For a charge of 0.1845g of the untreated catalyst and run time of 1 hour, we recovered 22 grams of polymer, corresponding to the reactivity of 119g polymer/g catalyst/hr. For the treated catalyst, we charged 0.0762g catalyst, recovered 19 grams polymer in 1 hour and obtained the improved reactivity of 249 g/g catalyst/hr. Again, the polymer color was very much improved by said treatment.
EXAMPLE 14 and 15
These examples are intended to illustrate the applicability of the present invention to a silica-supported catalyst involving still another type of chromate ester, namely chromyl bis(trihydrocarbyltitanate), an example of which is chromyl bis(tributyltitanate).
The base catalyst used in these examples is prepared by impregnating Davison 952 MS-ID silica, predried at 1300° F. for 4 hours in the muffle furnace, with carbon tetrachloride solution containing chromyl bis(tributyltitanate), which was prepared essentially by a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,795, which comprises refluxing a mixture of 10 grams chromium trioxide, 18 ml tetrabutyltitanate and 250 ml carbon tetrachloride for 24 hours in an inert atmosphere, cooling the green reaction mixture, filtering off the unreacted chromium oxide, and recovering the remaining solution containing said chromate ester. The solution is then concentrated to give the chromium content of about 0.4g chromium per 100 ml so that the base catalyst may be prepared conveniently by impregnation to contain about 1% chromium by weight on the dry basis.
The impregnated base catalyst is then activated by the method of Example 8 in one case and is activated and further treated with air in another case by the method of Example 9. Both catalysts are subsequently tested for ethylene polymerization in a bench scale reactor according to the procedure described in Examples 8 and 9. The polymer yields are 432 and 207 g/g catalyst/hr for the treated and untreated catalyst, respectively. The polymer color is again noticeably improved by said treatment of the activated catalyst.
EXAMPLES 16 AND 17
These examples are intended to further demonstrate the broad applicability of the present invention to various types of organic chromium compounds. A catalyst used in these examples involves another distinctive class of organochromium compounds featuring tetravalent chromium and typified by tetrakis (neopentyl) chromium(IV).
Tetrakis(neopentyl)chromium is prepared essentially by a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,132. The base catalyst is prepared by dispersing tetrakis(neopentyl)chromium in heptane solution onto Davison 952 MS-ID silica, predried at 1300° F. for 5 hours in a fluid bed, in such a ratio as to give 1% chromium by weight on the dry basis in the impregnated catalyst. The base catalyst thus prepared is activated, in one case, by the method of Example 8 and, in the other case, by the method of Example 9 which includes further treatment of the activated catalyst at 1200° F. for a period of 15 minutes with dry air.
The catalysts thus prepared are individually tested in a bench scale reactor according to the procedure described in Examples 8 and 9. In both cases, the duration of test run is 60 minutes. The reactivities indicated are 574 and 342g polymer/g catalyst/hour for the treated and untreated cases, respectively. The polymer color turns out to be gray for the untreated catalyst but looks quite white to the naked eye in the treated case.
EXAMPLES 18-24
These examples are intended to illustrate the detrimental effect of oxygen contamination during activation on catalyst reactivity. The zirconium modified 952 base used for these examples was prepared in the same fashion as the one described in Example 1. The zirconated base was then impregnated with chromium acetylacetonate dissolved in toluene. After drying in an inert atmosphere until it is free flowing, the Cr(AcAc) 3 impregnated base was charged to the Vycor tube of Examples 8 and 9 and thermally treated as follows:
1. 400 cc/minute dry nitrogen doped with a predetermined amount of oxygen was used to fluidize the catalyst.
2. The heating cycle used was (a) hold at 250° F. for one hour, (b) hold at 350° F. for one hour, (c) hold at 550° F. for one hour, (d) hold at 1700° F. for 2 hours via 200° F./15 minutes heat up rate, (e) cool down to ambient temperature.
3. The activated catalyst was transferred into a closed flask equipped with a hose and clamp at both openings without exposing to air.
Polymerization tests with ethylene were carried out in the bench scale reactor of Examples 8 and 9. As shown in Table II below a loss in catalyst reactivity was noted when oxygen impurity was present during activation and the loss increases as oxygen impurities increase.
TABLE II______________________________________Effect of Trace Amounts of O.sub.2 in N.sub.2Activation Temperature = 1700° F.Synthesis Temperature = 225° F.Example Catalyst PPM O.sub.2 ReactivityNo. Composition in N.sub.2 g/g/hr______________________________________18 0.15% Cr/0.5% Zr 0 40019 0.15% Cr/0.5% Zr 160 020 0.3% Cr/1% Zr 0 50021 0.3% Cr/1% Zr 57 12522 0.75% Cr/1% Zr 0 120023 0.75% Cr/1% Zr 57 32524 0.75% Cr/1% Zr 160 100______________________________________
EXAMPLES 25-28
These illustrative examples are to demonstrate the beneficial effects of this invention using oxidizing gases other than air. The polymer color is distinctively improved as indicated by the following examples:
Carbon Dioxide
Catalysts of these examples were prepared in a very similar fashion as those in Examples 2-5 except that carbon dioxide was used instead of air. Carbon dioxide treatment time was one hour. Catalysts so treated were evaluated in the continuous loop reactor of Example 1. The following results were obtained:
______________________________________ Carbon DioxideExample Catalyst Treatment Yield ColorNo. Composition Temperature #/#Cat. (L)______________________________________25 1% Cr/1% Zr 1600° F. 2630 88.2 as ZrCl.sub.426 1% Cr/1% Zr 1300° F. 4160 82.6 as ZrCl.sub.427 1% Cr/1% Zr 1000° F. 2560 80.4 as ZrCl.sub.4______________________________________
NITROUS OXIDE
The catalyst of this example was prepared similarly as in Examples 18-24 except that oxygen-free nitrogen gas was used to fluidize the catalyst during the activation and a nitrous oxide treatment lasting 60 minutes was conducted during cool down after the activation. The catalyst of this example was tested in the bench scale reactor of Examples 8 and 9. The following results were obtained:
______________________________________ Nitrous OxideExample Catalyst Treatment Yield ColorNo. Composition Temperature g/g Cat. (L)______________________________________28 1% Cr/1% Zr 1200° F. 1747 90.0 as ZrCl.sub.4______________________________________
Having described our invention as related to the embodiments disclosed herein, it is our intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the appended claims.
|
A new catalyst and a method of polymerizing olefins in which the catalyst is prepared by forming a mixture by dispersing on a finely divided, difficult to reduce, inorganic support of the class consisting of silica, alumina, thoria, zirconia, titania, magnesia and mixtures or composites thereof, an organic chromium compound pyrolytically decomposable in the substantial absence of oxygen to deposit a catalytically active residue along with a carbon residue as a contaminant on the support, then activating the mixture by subjecting the mixture to non-oxidative pyrolysis to and at a temperature within the range of about 600-2000° F., thereby depositing on the support the chromium-bearing residue and carbon residue as a by-product from the pyrolytic decomposition of the organic chromium compound, and subjecting the activated catalyst after this activating to heat and an oxidizing gas such as air, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and the like, to burn off a substantial amount of the carbon residue and to modify and improve the characteristics of the activated catalyst.
| 2
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention deals generally with filament reinforced thermoplastic pre-impregnated tape, and more specifically with a multiple directional and multiple layer filament reinforced thermoplastic tape for use in pultrusion processes.
Mixtures of various filaments and plastic resins are used to produce composites that have unique properties compared to the traditional engineering materials like metals and non-reinforced plastics. The filaments in the resin matrix increase the strength of the composites so much that they far exceed even the strongest metals, although composites are much lighter than their metal counterparts.
Thermoplastic resins are often used to make these composites. Thermoplastic resins are solid at room temperature, and they soften and ultimately melt at elevated temperatures turning into a very viscous liquid. Reinforced thermoplastic composites are typically produced by intermingling finely ground resin particles with bundles of filaments and elevating the temperature above the resin's melting point, but below the filament melting point. This causes the resin to wet the filaments and to encapsulate them in the resin. Conventionally, the filament bundles must be opened up before wetting can occur, but the filaments remain aligned in the direction of the tape.
This form of filament reinforced pre-impregnated resin composite is called a prepreg. It is usually made into a simple sheet like form that is the basic component subsequently used to make more complex finished parts. The prepreg is very strong in the filament direction, but is relatively weak in the transverse direction.
One of the products produced from this process is called prepreg tape which has a width dimension significantly smaller than its length. Reinforced thermoplastic prepreg tape can be used in a pultrusion process in which several layers of tape first pass through a heater to remelt the resin. The soft viscous column of resin and filaments then passes through a die, which forms the final desired shape, fusing the resin from all the layers together, after which the composite hardens into its final shape. Various shapes such as solid, hollow, round, square, flat, or irregular can be produced. In most cases the finished part requires its highest strength in the length direction of the part, which is the direction the filaments would be naturally oriented.
However, there are some specialized applications where the highest strength is required at 90 degrees from the length direction of the part. In these cases a special layup of prepreg is required to get a substantial amount of the filaments oriented 90 degree from the length direction of the pultrusion. For example, a long rectangular cross section part such as a 0.5″ thick×4″ wide×36″ long slab which is loaded so the stress lines run laterally requires that a substantial amount of filaments be oriented in the width direction, perpendicular to the thickness and length directions.
Presently, making a suitable tape for such a structure with the reinforcing filaments running across the width requires first slitting conventional unidirectional reinforced prepreg tape into strips of the desired 4 inch width of the tape to make a base strip that is spooled. Subsequently cross pieces of unidirectional prepreg tape are cut to a length matching the 4 inch width of the base strip and placed on top of the base strip with the reinforcing filaments of the cross pieces oriented at 90 degrees to the reinforcing filaments of the base strip. The short cross pieces are then attached to the base strip, typically by spot welding the short pieces to the base strip, to form a two layer tape.
Multiples of these two layer tapes are stacked and then used as the feed material for the pultruding process. In a typical example, there could be nearly 25 two layer tapes used to make the finished part. The 25 two layer layers would be pulled like a stack of pages in a book through the die.
This process is labor intensive and less than ideal. Frequently the spot welds do not hold when the two layer coils are being prepared. The pieces then must be manually reattached. In other cases the pieces may fall off, after previously being attached, and they have to be manually retrieved and reattached before entering the pultruder preheater. If a piece is absent in the composite, the finished product is defective.
In such tapes the quantity of filaments placed in the transverse direction is limited to be no greater than that placed in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the final product is only as strong in the transverse direction as it is in the longitudinal direction. The resulting composite is inefficient because the 50% of the filament oriented in the lengthwise direction is not used to carry the bending load across the width direction. Ideally, for bending loads nearly all the filaments should be in the transverse direction, not just half of them.
Another problem is that the alternating layers of 0 and 90 degree filaments must be arranged to achieve a balanced design. However, using the two layer tapes, an operator error is easily possible. If two adjacent tapes are oriented so either their 90 degree or 0 degree filament layers face each other then the finished product will have two 90 degree layers and two 0 degree layers next to each other rather than the desired alternating 0 and 90 degree layers. This results in a product flaw.
Furthermore, in order for the stack of tapes to slide properly on the preheater or pultruder die surfaces, an extra layer of 0 degree prepreg must be on the top or bottom surface of the stack of tapes to cover the 90 degree layer that should not be an outside layer. This extra 0 degree layer protects the otherwise exposed 90 degree layer from rolling up in the pultruding process and jamming the pultruder. However, because both outside layers must be 0 degree layers, the first load bearing cross filament 90 degree layer is at least one full layer thickness away from the outer surface where it would be most effective in carrying the bending load.
Components made using a 0 and 90 degree prepreg orientation can also exhibit shear failures when subjected to bending. This failure mode is most prevalent in products made from prepreg that has high filament loading and low resin content. High filament loading is typically used in products requiring high strength. These failures typically occur at the interface between the 0 and 90 degree layers at the center of the bending plane; but usually never within a composite layer itself. This shear failure condition can limit the ultimate strength of the part.
It would be very beneficial to have a prepreg tape that overcomes this problem of shear failure due to delamination of the layers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a prepreg tape that consists of three layers of filaments and resin. The layers are fully bonded by fusing them together by using the resin already present in each layer, so that the finished three layer prepreg tape has the physical appearance of being a single layer tape. The center layer has its filaments oriented at 90 degrees or some other transverse angle to the length direction of the tape, and it is sandwiched between two thin layers with 0 degree filaments, filaments that run in the length direction of the tape.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention the filament load of the 90 degree center layer is substantially the same as presently used in the spot welding process previously described. However, each of the 0 degree layers has less weight of the filaments than are used in the transverse filament layer. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, both of the 0 degree layers are identical. However, there are other applications where the filament loading of the outer layers can vary.
The tape of the present invention can be substituted for the prior art two layer tape and eliminate the previously described shortcomings of the prior art products. The prepreg tape of the present invention eliminates the spot welding attachment process and the problems and limitations inherent in that type of construction. Moreover, the ratio of transverse to axial filament placements can easily be increased from the prior art 1:1 to almost any greater proportion. Such a higher ratio greatly increases the efficiency of filament usage in the composite and makes the final part stronger. Of course, the angle between the transverse filaments and the length dimension of the tape can also be varied.
The prepreg tape of the invention also has a balanced design so that any layer in the feed to the pultruder can be turned over without altering the filament stack up configuration of the finished part. Using the prepreg tape of this invention eliminates the possibility of the operator error in the pultrusion process in which two 0 degree and two transverse filament layers are adjacent in the finished product.
The prepreg tape of the invention has a 0 degree filament layer on both its surfaces, and therefore no extra layer of 0 degree prepreg is required as a cover for an otherwise exposed outer layer of 90 degree filaments before feeding the pultruder. The tape of this invention also allows the first transverse load bearing layer of filaments to be much closer to the outer surface, thereby increasing the strength of the final product.
Using tape of this invention also permits the filament loading of the transverse filament layer to be increased to a very high level with low resin content. Low resin content has normally promoted shear failure in prior art prepreg, however, since the amount of filament used in the 0 degree layers can be kept low, the outer 0 degree layers can be richly loaded with resin. These 0 degree layers then bond well to the resin lean transverse filament layer, and they also bond well to each other when processed in the pultruder. Therefore, the end products are not prone to the same degree of laminar shear failure as prior art products even though most of the filament is in a resin lean environment.
Several alternate embodiments of the invention are also available. The two outer layers can be produced so they are not identical. The prepreg tape from this embodiment can include solid lubricants mixed with the resin used in one or both of the 0 degree outer layers. Solid lubricants typically have a deleterious affect on the mechanical properties of a composite as the concentrations are increased. If used throughout the entire composite, the amount must be kept quite low to prevent serious degradation of strength. However, with this embodiment one thin outer layer can be heavily loaded with a solid lubricant while keeping the two other layers in the tape at a low, safe, level of lubricant, or even without any lubricant. This prepreg tape can then be used as the outer layer of the pultruded part, with the lubricated surface facing outward. The finished pultruded part is mechanically sound while still being highly self lubricated on the outer surface. A variation of this embodiment uses only the two unidirectional plies, one heavily loaded with solid lubricant and the other at a very low level or lubricant free.
Another embodiment of the invention has the center layer of filament orientated at an angle other than 90 degrees from the length direction of the prepreg tape. An angle of 45 degrees is a better for some applications where, for example, the part must withstand torsion.
Another embodiment of the invention eliminates the central layer with transverse filaments and uses two unidirectional layers in the prepreg tape, each with substantially different properties to overcome a common composite part manufacturing problem. Resin fouling of pultruder preheaters and die contact surfaces is a problem when a prepreg tape's resin content exceeds a certain loading. In the prior art, this problem is addressed by using single layers of low resin loaded and high filament loaded prepreg tape as the outermost layers of the tape stack entering the pultruder. However, when the resin level is reduced low enough to totally solve the fouling problem, the lean resin skin doesn't adhere well to the core of the pultruded part, and if the outer protective layer delaminates from the core the final product is defective. In this situation, a two layer prepreg tape with substantially different filament content and resin loading is appropriate. One layer, which is placed to become the outer surface of the tape stack, is heavily loaded with filament and lightly loaded with resin, and the second transitional layer which will be the innermost layer carries a light load of filament and is heavily loaded with resin. The innermost highly resin loaded transitional layer easily fuses with the resin in the other tapes in the core and produces a strong bond. The outer layer, which is heavy on filament and lightly loaded with resin, contacts the preheater and die surfaces and scours those surfaces. If the entire thickness of the prepreg tape were made with this low resin loading it would not bond to the core.
The present invention thereby provides prepreg tapes that solve many of the problems that plague the use of such tapes in pultruders.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a short length of a typical two layer filament reinforced prepreg tape of the prior art.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a short length of the three layer multidirectional filament reinforced prepreg tape of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the layers shown separated for ease of viewing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a short length of typical two layer filament reinforced prepreg tape 10 of the prior art showing first layer 12 with its filaments 14 aligned transverse to the length dimension L of the finished tape. First layer 12 is shown cut back to better show second layer 16 , although such tapes have both layers of the same length. Second layer 16 is shown with its reinforcing filaments 18 running parallel to length dimension L of tape 10 . The short cross pieces used to form layer 12 are spot welded to layer 16 at locations 20 as indicated in FIG. 1 .
A typical prior art prepreg manufacturing method for thermoplastic resins using a wet slurry wetout process begins with spools of filaments positioned on a creel rack, which allows them to unwind as the filaments are pulled from the spools. Usually a tensioning device controls the tension of each bundle of filaments, which is called a “tow”, as it is being pulled off each spool.
The tows are guided into a wetout bath where the filaments in each tow are opened up to allow resin particles suspended in a slurry of water and powdered resin to intermingle with the filaments. The wet web consisting of filaments, resin particles, and water emerges from the wetout system with the filaments oriented in the direction in which the web is pulled through the process.
The wet web is then pulled through a drying oven where the water is evaporated from the web leaving only resin powder intermingled with the filaments. The dried web then passes through a melting oven where the web temperature is increased so it is above the resin's melting point leaving the resin in a fluid state and the filaments still in a solid state.
While the resin is still molten, it passes through a consolidator that firmly squeezes the resin and filaments into a thin sheet while expelling trapped air and solidifying the resin. The end result of this process is a single prepreg layer reinforced with unidirectional filaments oriented in the direction of the length of the layer. Such unidirectional thermoplastic prepreg single layers are not a consumer usable product in and of themselves. They are typically laminated using many layers, heated again to a temperature exceeding the resin's melting point, and compressed into a multilayer tape product.
Such multilayer tape products often require high strength in more than one direction. In those cases the tapes must have layers with transverse oriented filaments in order to meet the requirements for the final end products and take full advantage of the high strength properties of the reinforcing filaments.
As previously described, the prior art method of making a dual layer tape with a layer having the reinforcing filaments running across the width of the tape requires cutting cross pieces of unidirectional prepreg tape to a length matching the width of a base strip such as layer 16 of FIG. 1 . First layer 12 is then formed by placing the cut cross pieces on top of layer 16 with their reinforcing filaments 14 oriented at 90 degrees to reinforcing filaments 18 of layer 16 . The short cross pieces are then attached to base layer 16 , typically by spot welding the short pieces to layer 16 at locations 20 , to form a two layer tape.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a short length of three layer multidirectional filament reinforced prepreg tape 30 of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the layers shown separated for ease of viewing. In reality the layers would never be seen this way. Outer layer 32 and outer layer 34 would be in contact with and integrated with center layer 36 as indicated by arrows A and B. Layers 32 , 34 and 36 all have filaments and resin, and the layers are fully bonded by fusing them together using the resin present in each layer, so that three layer tape 30 has the physical appearance of being a single tape. Center layer 36 has its filaments 38 oriented at 90 degrees to the length direction L of tape 30 , and it is sandwiched between two thin outer layers 32 and 34 with 0 degree filaments 33 and 35 , respectively. The 0 degree filaments run parallel to length direction L of tape 30 .
In the preferred embodiment of the invention center layer 36 is 0.010 inch thick, has a filament weight of 134 grams/square meter, and uses polyphenylene sulfide resin in a concentration of 64 percent by weight. Outer layers 32 and 34 are 0.003 inch thick, have filament weights of 40 grams/square meter, and also use polyphenylene sulfide resin in a concentration of 64 percent by weight.
The filament weight of transverse filaments center layer 36 can be in the range of from 30 to 200 grams/square meter, and its thickness can be in the range of between 0.006 and 0.020 inch. However, in the present invention, outer layer 32 with filaments 33 , and outer layer 34 with filaments 35 , both with 0 degree filament orientation, have lower filament weights than is used in center layer 36 , and also are thinner.
If the filament weight and resin concentration are both low, the thickness of the layer outer layers can be less than 0.002 inches. Usually it is very difficult to make unidirectional filament prepreg that is free of splits when the thickness is lower than approximately 0.006 inch, but an advantage of the present invention is that it can use 0 direction outer layers that are much thinner than 0.006 inch because the transverse filament layer maintains the integrity of the 0 layers during the drying and fusing process steps.
With high filament weights and resin concentrations the thickness of any layer can reach 0.020 inches. Normally, in the present invention this combination of high filament weights and resin concentrations would only be used for layers with filaments that are transverse to the length of the tape because the overall thickness and stiffness of the entire prepreg tape must also be considered. The combined thickness of all three layers can be as high as 0.030 inches, but 0.015 to 0.017 is a more practical limit so the prepreg tape can be coiled on spools for subsequent transportation and process handling. Thus, three layer tape 30 of the present invention is actually no thicker than the two layer tapes of the prior art and can be used in subsequent processing in the same manner as previous tapes.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, layers 32 and 34 are identical. However, there are other applications where the filament loading can be different in the two outer layers. The resin for all the layers in the present invention can be either polyphenylene sulfide, polyetheretherketone, or any other thermoplastic resin that develops a good bond with the fiber.
The method of making multidirectional prepreg tape 30 is a multiple step process.
First, the material which is used for center layer 36 of tape 30 is manufactured by the conventional means used to produce unidirectional filament reinforced prepreg layers. The single layer from this step is typically 12 inches or wider and is spooled into a coil 500 to 1000 ft long.
The coiled single layer is then cut into lengths equal to the intended width of three layer prepreg tape 30 . These pieces are stacked in a sheet feeder so they can be fed into the following process with their reinforcing filaments not aligned with the 0 degree filaments of the outer layers. In this example the filaments would be at 90 degrees to the outer layer filaments. The 90 degree sheets are fed into the prepreging process in such a way that there are no gaps or overlaps where adjacent sheets meet. After the three layer prepreg is finished it is difficult to see the 90 degree sheets meet each other.
During the next step the process is not conventional since two webs of unidirectional prepreg are used simultaneously in the process and the 90 degree sheets are also fed into the region between them. The two wet webs converge at the entrance of a vertically oriented drier and fusing oven. The 90 degree transverse filament sheets in this example are fed into the merge point of the two wet unidirectional webs. Surface tensions of the two wet webs hold the transverse filament sheets in place as they move upward through the drier. Both wet webs are dried in the drying oven. The layer with transverse filaments does not require drying.
The three layers are then passed through the fusing oven in which all three are heated so the resins in all three layers become molten. The three layers then pass through the consolidator where they are pressed into a single layer that has filaments oriented in two directions.
Tape 30 from this process is superior for the production of finished products that require filament orientation in more than one direction.
It is to be understood that the form of this invention as shown is merely a preferred embodiment. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of parts; equivalent means may be substituted for those illustrated and described; and certain features may be used independently from others without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
For example, layer thicknesses and filament weights of all the layers can be varied, various angles other than 45 or 90 degrees can be used for the orientation of the transverse filaments in center layer 36 , and other thermoplastic resin materials such as polyetheretherketone can be used for the resin in the layers of the tape.
|
The apparatus is a laminar shear resistant pre-impregnated resin tape for use in die forming pultrusion processes, with the tape formed by integrating three distinguishable layers, each with integrated parallel reinforcing filaments. The layers are arranged within the tape so that the filaments of adjacent layers are oriented at angles to each other. The tape of the preferred embodiment of the invention is constructed with the filaments of the center layer at 90 degrees to the length of the tape and the filaments of the two outer layers aligned with the length of the tape. The center layer can be more heavily loaded with filaments than conventional tapes, and the outer two layers have less than the amount of filament load of the center layer.
| 8
|
[0001] The present patent document is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 nationalization of PCT Application Serial Number PCT/EP2006/061636 filed Apr. 18, 2006, designating the United States, which is hereby incorporated by reference, which claims the benefit pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of German Patent Application No. 10 2005 018 326.3, filed Apr. 20, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present embodiments relate to guided movement of an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver of an X-ray examination system.
[0003] An X-ray examination system may be used to perform an X-ray examination. The X-ray examination system may include an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The X-ray examination system is movable into various mounting positions. The X-ray examination system is put in a motion state that is intended for the particular X-ray examination and that typically, depending on the X-ray examination, corresponds to a persistence in or a uniform motion in an intended mounting position. The X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver can move at a resonant frequency that is dependent on the respective mounting position relative to the X-ray examination system, due to vibration that leads to blurriness in an X-ray image prepared during the X-ray examination. To avoid this blurriness, calming times for decaying of the vibration are provided between when the motion state, which is intended for X-ray examination, is reached and when the X-ray image is created.
SUMMARY
[0004] The present embodiments may obviate one or more of the drawbacks of limitations inherent in the related art. For example, in one embodiment, an X-ray examination system, despite a system construction that is capable of vibration, enables an X-ray examination to be performed quickly with the creation of a sharp X-ray image.
[0005] As a function of at least one previously detected variable that is dependent on a respective mounting position, a set-point guided movement for reaching a motion state, intended for an X-ray examination, of an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver is ascertained. The set-point guided movement is ascertained such that in an ensuing control of the guided movement of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver by a drive device in accordance with the set-point guided movement, an excitation of vibration of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver at a resonant frequency is prevented in advance. A calming time for decay of the vibration can be omitted. Blurriness in an X-ray image that can be created in the X-ray examination can be prevented.
[0006] The set-point guided movement includes control of the course of motion over time of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. A selection of the at least one variable on which the ascertainment of the set-point guided movement is based is made such that the at least one variable permits a conclusion to be drawn about the particular resonant frequency to be expected. This selection depends on the particular use of the control method.
[0007] The at least one variable can be detected precisely in each case by using the at least one variable in the form of at least one measured variable that is detectable by a measurement. The at least one measured variable may be measured once and before the guided movement and/or in addition repeatedly during the guided movement.
[0008] The at least one variable can be detected by using the at least one variable in the form of at least one actuating variable that is detectable from a motion control of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The at least one actuating variable may be ascertained from a motion control, performed before the guided movement, of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver that is movable by the drive device, taking an outset position for the motion control into account. The outset position corresponds, for example, to an equipment-specific mounting position to which the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver is regularly retracted, for example, after each X-ray examination.
[0009] In one embodiment, an X-ray examination device has an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The X-ray examination device, which is mounted in a way that is vulnerable to vibration, avoids vibration.
[0010] In one embodiment, an X-ray examination system includes a vertically oriented telescoping tripod. The tripod is displaceable in a horizontal plane. A telescoping end of the tripod can be vertically extended to various extended lengths as a mounting position for the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The X-ray examination system is provided in which the ascertainment of the set-point guided movement of a horizontal displacement position of the telescoping tripod is based on the respective extension lengths as a variable. Since the telescoping tripod mounts the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver in an exposed position, this mechanical system is especially vulnerable to vibration, so that the control method can be employed. Applying the control method to such an X-ray examination system is simple, given the geometric construction of this X-ray examination system. Only one variable may definitively determine the respective resonant frequency.
[0011] The X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver is tiltable in its orientation to various tilt angles. The resonant frequency may be determined by taking into account both the extension length and the respective tilt angle as a further variable in ascertaining the set-point guided movement.
[0012] In a further embodiment, an X-ray examination system includes an above-table or below-table fluoroscope with an examination table that is tiltable at different tilt angles. The X-ray examination system includes one mounting position each below and above the examination table. Each mounting position is longitudinally displaceable, for the X-ray emitter and the X-ray receiver. The ascertainment of the set-point guided movement of the mounting positions is based on the respective tilt angle as a variable.
[0013] The resonant frequency in an above-table or below-table fluoroscope, whose mounting position can be displaced in height to different spacings relative to the examination table, can be determined by taking into account the tilt angle and the respective spacing as a further variable in ascertaining the set-point guided movement. The mounting position is located above the examination table.
[0014] In one embodiment, an X-ray examination system includes a C-arm tripod with a C-arm mounting arm that is rotatable by various orbital and/or angulation angles for mounting the X-ray emitter and the X-ray receiver. The ascertainment of the set-point guided movement of the C-arm mounting arm is based on the respective orbital and/or angulation angle as variables. Since the C-arm mounting arm is mounted in an exposed way and itself has a longitudinally extended shape, it represents a mechanical structure that is vulnerable to vibration. A control method may be employed with this structure. In order to avoid taking into account variables that change during the guided movement when the set-point guided movement is being ascertained for a rotation of the C-arm mounting arm, it is typically sufficient, given an exclusively orbital motion, to take only the angulation angle into account, and in exclusively angulation motion to take solely the orbital angle into account.
[0015] In an X-ray examination system having a C-arm tripod that can be displaced horizontally to various displacement widths, ascertaining the set-point guided movement is referred to a horizontal displacement of the C-arm tripod. For example, a guided movement in which the orbital and the angulation angle remain constant, while only the displacement width changes, so that the resonant frequency determined by the two angles does not change during the displacement.
[0016] In an X-ray examination system with a C-arm tripod that can be displaced horizontally to various displacement widths, in order to enable horizontal displacement of the C-arm tripod and avoid inducing vibration, the set-point guided movement is ascertained with regard to the horizontal displacement of the C-arm tripod with the X-ray emitter and the X-ray receiver. The respective orbital and angulation angle, which are variables that are definitive for the resonant frequency, may remain constant. Several methods for X-ray examination can apply the control method with the aforementioned X-ray examination system.
[0017] In one embodiment, an X-ray examination with a prior automatic positioning of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver to a constant mounting position may be used for the X-ray examination, and with a motion state in the form of a persistence, lasting for the duration of the X-ray examination, in the intended mounting position. For this motion state, the set-point guided movement for reaching this motion state can be ascertained with little effort and expense.
[0018] In one embodiment, a motion state in the form of persistence (remaining) in the mounting position and for motion states in the form of a movement of the mounting position can be used. In one embodiment, for example, an X-ray examination may be done using a planigraphy procedure, with a rectilinear motion state at a constant speed. The avoidance of blurriness in planigraphy increases the image quality. The embodiment is effective for improving the image quality.
[0019] In one embodiment, an angiography procedure is used for an X-ray examination. The angiography procedure includes an incremental displacement of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver to various intended mounting positions. A motion state in the form of a temporary persistence in one of the mounting positions enables fast incremental displacement to the respective mounting position without inducing vibration on the part of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver.
[0020] In one embodiment, rotational angiography is used for an X-ray examination. The rotational angiography includes a circular motion state with a constant rotary speed. Using the control method with the rotational angiography creates a vibration-free rotary motion. The vibration-free rotary motion allows a sharp, interference-free, three-dimensional X-ray image to be created at a high rotary speed.
[0021] In one embodiment, the resonant frequency is determined based on the respective at least one variable. Then, the set-point guided movement is ascertained as a function of this resonant frequency. The set-point guided movement counteracts vibration of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver at the resonant frequency in the intended motion state. The association of the resonant frequency with the respective at least one variable, based on a series of tests done prior to equipment operation, is stored in memory and is called up (retrieved) to determine the applicable resonant frequency in operation. In the series of tests, the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver is moved to various mounting positions, being excited to vibration by an impact or deflection excitation, and a respective vibration frequency that corresponds to the respective resonant frequency is measured.
[0022] For reduced-vibration guided movement, some methods, both linear and nonlinear, are widely known in conjunction with industrial processing machines.
[0023] In one embodiment, a trial guided movement for attaining the intended motion state is ascertained without avoiding the vibration. Using this trial guided movement and a filter that prevents the vibration, the set-point guided movement is ascertained as a function of the at least one respective variable. This linear method permits easy use of the control method.
[0024] The set-point guided movement is ascertained using the linear method known as input shaping. German Patent Disclosure DE 102 00 680 B4 discloses a jolt-equivalent filter. The set-point guided movement is ascertained using a nonlinear jolt-limitation method, in a manner that is robust with regard to external interfering factors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates a flow chart for guided movement of an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver with a closed-loop control circuit;
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of an X-ray examination system;
[0027] FIG. 3 , illustrates one embodiment of an X-ray examination system;
[0028] FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of an X-ray examination system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a control method for guided movement of an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver of an X-ray examination system. The X-ray examination system is movable in terms of its mounting position with the aid of a drive device 10 . A closed-loop control circuit 7 may control the drive device 10 . The X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver are placed into actual motion state 14 . The actual motion state 14 corresponds to an intended motion state 2 . Vibration at a resonant frequency 5 that is dependent on the respective mounting position is avoided.
[0030] The flow chart will be described below in terms of three acts in the control method in this exemplary embodiment.
[0031] In a first act, at least one measured variable 1 , dependent on the respective mounting position of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver and relevant to the resonant frequency, is detected.
[0032] In a second act, the ascertainment 3 of a set-point guided movement 4 for attaining the intended motion state 2 is accomplished with the aid of an input shaping method, as a function of the resonant frequency 5 determined by the at least one measured variable 1 and a truth table 6 prepared with the aid of a series of tests done before operation begins. The at least one measured variable 1 is assigned a respective resonant frequency 5 . By the input shaping method, first a trial guided movement is ascertained, which is not yet optimized with regard to avoidance of vibration. The trial guided movement is then broken down by a pulse train into a plurality of segments, so that after the guided movement has taken place, there is no vibration in the actual motion state 14 .
[0033] In a third act, the guided movement of the drive device 10 is controlled with the aid of a closed-loop control circuit 7 in accordance with the set-point guided movement 4 . The closed-loop control circuit 7 includes the following: a drive regulator 8 , a drive device 10 , and a tripod 12 . The set-point guided movement 4 is forwarded to the drive regulator 8 , which regulates a drive current 9 . The drive device 10 moves the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver, regulated by the drive current 9 , and generates a movement force 11 . The tripod 12 mounts the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The tripod 12 is moved by the movement force 11 and has sensors. The sensors detect the at least one measured variable 1 and the controlled variables 13 of the closed-loop control circuit 7 . The controlled variables 13 are forwarded to the drive regulator 8 for closing the closed-loop control circuit 7 .
[0034] The set-point guided movement 4 is adapted exactly to the respective resonant frequency 5 by taking the damping action, which shifts the resonant frequency, of this closed-loop control circuit 7 into account.
[0035] The ascertainment 3 of the set-point guided movement 4 may take the at least one measured variable 1 and optionally further equipment-specific variables into account. The further equipment-specific variables may include a predetermined maximum acceleration and/or maximum speed.
[0036] The at least one measured variable may be re-detected continuously during the guided movement. The set-point guided movement 4 may be adapted accordingly, so that a rapid response is possible to an unforeseen event, such as an error in controlling the drive device 10 .
[0037] The control method may include taking a plurality of resonant frequencies into account on the same basic principle.
[0038] FIG. 2 , shows one embodiment of an X-ray examination system 15 . The X-ray examination system 15 includes a telescoping tripod 21 . The tripod 21 is horizontally displaceable in two directions 19 , 20 in space on a ceiling 16 of a room by a rail system 17 , 18 . The tripod 21 has a telescoping end 24 , which can be extended vertically to various extension lengths 22 in a third direction 23 in space, acting as a mounting position for an X-ray emitter 27 that can be rotated or tilted about two axes 25 , 26 . An X-ray receiver and other components belonging to the first X-ray examination system 15 , such as an examination table, are not shown here.
[0039] A first pair of rails 17 of the rail system are secured to the ceiling 16 of the room. A second pair of rails 18 , which are perpendicular to the first pair of rails 17 , are secured to the first pair and are displaceable relative to the first pair 17 in a first direction 19 in space. A base 28 of the telescoping tripod 21 is secured to the second pair of rails 18 and is displaceable in a second direction 20 in space perpendicular to the first direction 19 in space relative to the second pair of rails 18 . The mounting position of the X-ray emitter 27 is varied f by a displacement of the telescoping tripod 21 and by an extension of the telescoping end 24 , in all three directions 18 , 19 , 23 . The respective extension length 24 definitively determines the resonant frequency.
[0040] An X-ray beam, which can be projected by the X-ray emitter 27 , may be adjusted in its beam direction. The X-ray beam may be adjusted by a rotation of the X-ray emitter 27 about a vertical axis 26 by a rotary angle 29 and tilting the X-ray emitter 27 about a horizontal axis 25 about a tilt angle 30 . Besides the respective extension length 22 , only the tilt angle 30 , as a standard for the respective tilting of the X-ray emitter 27 , jointly determines the resonant frequency.
[0041] In one embodiment of the control method, the extension length 22 is detected as a measured variable, for example, with the aid of a cable potentiometer integrated with the telescoping tripod 21 . Optionally, the tilt angle 30 is also detected as a further measured variable. A set-point guided movement is ascertained as a function of the at least one measured variable. A respective drive device for moving the X-ray emitter 27 in the three directions 19 , 20 , 22 in space is controlled in accordance with the set-point guided movement. The extension length 22 may be manually varied, so that only the displacement of the X-ray emitter 27 in the horizontal directions 19 , 20 in space is controlled. Taking a change in the resonant frequency definitively determined by the extension length 22 into account, which is otherwise necessary, can be dispensed with in ascertaining the set-point guided movement. The rotation of the X-ray emitter 27 about the vertical axis 26 and the tilting of the X-ray emitter 27 about the horizontal axis 25 may be controlled.
[0042] A two-dimensionally projected X-ray image may be created with the first X-ray examination system 15 . The X-ray emitter 27 is positioned at the mounting position intended for the X-ray examination in accordance with the set-point guided movement ascertained with the aid of the control method. The X-ray emitter 27 remains in this mounting position for the duration of the X-ray examination. An otherwise necessary decay time for the vibration of the X-ray emitter 27 between when the X-ray emitter 27 is positioned at this mounting position and the X-ray image is created is thus dispensed with.
[0043] The X-ray emitter 27 and an additional X-ray receiver can be located on separate telescoping tripods. The telescoping tripods being horizontally displaceably independently of one another. In accordance with FIG. 1 , a planigraphy procedure may be performed on a patient lying between the X-ray emitter 27 and the X-ray receiver, for example, on an examination table. In the planigraphy procedure, the X-ray emitter 27 and the X-ray receiver move contrary to one another on respective different levels of motion, in such a way that only one slice through of the patient's body, oriented with the planes of motion and located between them, is sharply reproduced on an X-ray image. For the image quality, what is definitive is a uniform motion without vibration superimposed on it. Before the X-ray image is created, the X-ray emitter 27 and the X-ray receiver are put in a motion state corresponding to the set-point guided movement ascertained by the control method. The X-ray emitter 27 on one side of the patient and the X-ray receiver on an opposite side of the patient move, in respective opposite directions, at a constant speed along the patient. Once again, the decay time before the X-ray image is made is eliminated. During the creation of the X-ray image, the X-ray beam is expediently jointly pivoted in such a way that it temporarily strikes the X-ray receiver. This is effected by suitable rotation or tilting of the X-ray emitter or suitable incorporation of the X-ray beam.
[0044] FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the X-ray examination system 15 . The X-ray examination system is in the form of an above-table fluoroscope system 31 , which has an examination table 33 that can be tilted by different tilt angles 32 , an X-ray receiver 35 , and an X-ray emitter 27 . The X-ray receiver 35 is integrated into the examination table. The X-ray receiver 35 is longitudinally displaceable in a first direction 34 in a lower mounting position. An X-ray emitter 27 is mounted with an extensible tripod 36 . The X-ray emitter 27 is displaceable in height at various spacings 37 from the examination table 33 and longitudinally displaceable in a second direction 38 parallel to the first direction 34 and pivotable about an angle 40 , in an upper mounting position.
[0045] The examination table 33 is mounted on a floor-mounted pedestal 41 . The examination table 33 is tilted by the floor-mounted pedestal 41 via an electrical drive mechanism 42 . The floor-mounted pedestal 41 varies the tilt angle 32 that definitively determines the respective resonant frequency. For the longitudinal displacement of the X-ray receiver 35 and the X-ray emitter 27 along a longitudinal axis of the examination table 55 and for the heightwise displacement of the X-ray emitter 27 , a further drive device each is provided. Besides the respective tilt angle 32 , only the spacing 37 jointly determines the respective resonant frequency.
[0046] In an embodiment with the above-table fluoroscope 31 , the tilt angle 32 is detected as the measured variable, for example, with the aid of a sensor integrated with the floor-mounted pedestal 41 . Optionally, the spacing 37 is detected as a further measured variable. A set-point guided movement of the X-ray emitter 27 and X-ray receiver 35 is ascertained as a function of the at least one measured variable. The drive devices for moving the X-ray emitter in the direction 34 and for moving the X-ray receiver 35 in the direction 34 are controlled in accordance with the set-point guided movement. Since the tilt angle 32 and the spacing 37 may remain constant during the guided movement, there is no need to take a change in these measured variables into account in ascertaining the set-point guided movement.
[0047] The above-table fluoroscope system 31 may perform the X-ray examination with the prior automatic positioning to the intended mounting position and to perform the X-ray examination by planigraphy in an analogous way. With the above-table fluoroscope system 31 , it is possible to perform angiography with an incremental displacement of the X-ray emitter 27 and X-ray receiver 35 to various intended mounting positions. The angiography procedure may be used to examine the lower extremities of the patient. The incremental displacement may be done in a first pass counter to a blood flow direction in the vessels to be examined in the lower extremities, and after an injection of a contrast agent, in a second pass in the blood flow direction. In the two passes, the X-ray emitter 27 and the X-ray receiver 35 , for creating congruent X-ray images, are positioned as precisely as possible at the intended mounting positions by parallel displacement in the respective directions 38 and 34 , so that a differential image from a first X-ray image of the first pass and a second X-ray image of the second pass, which is congruent with the first X-ray image, shows the vessels. This method, which is based on finding a difference, is digital subtraction angiography. Since the speed of the incremental displacement in the second pass is oriented to the flow speed of the contrast agent in the vessels, mounting positions must be reached especially quickly in each case, and hence the risk of excitation of vibration, especially of the X-ray emitter 27 mounted in an exposed position, is especially high.
[0048] In a below-table fluoroscope system, the mounting positions of the X-ray emitter 27 and X-ray receiver 35 are transposed compared to the above-table fluoroscope system 31 .
[0049] FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the X-ray examination system. The X-ray examination system 43 includes a C-arm tripod 47 , which is displaceable horizontally to various displacement widths 46 in one direction 45 in space on a ceiling 16 of a room by a pair of rails 44 . The C-arm tripod 47 has a C-arm mounting arm 52 , which is rotatable about a second axis 48 by different orbital angles 49 and about a third axis 50 by different angulation angles 51 , for mounting the X-ray emitter 27 and the X-ray receiver 35 , and with an examination table 55 .
[0050] A base 56 connects the ceiling-mounted pair of rails 44 and the C-arm tripod. The base 56 is displaceable in the pair of rails. The base 56 makes it possible to pivot the C-arm tripod 47 about a vertical axis 57 in space by a pivot angle 58 . The C-arm tripod 47 is connected to the the C-arm tripod 47 via an orbital stroke 57 which enables the rotation of the C-arm mounting arm possible about the second axis 48 in space and the third axis 50 in space.
[0051] The orbital angle 49 and/or the angulation angle 51 is determined as the measured variables that definitively determine the resonant frequency, for example, by suitable sensors integrated with the orbital stroke 57 . In one embodiment, the ensuing ascertainment of the set-point guided movement and the control of the motion of the C-arm mounting arm 52 , the C-arm mounting arm 52 in the guided movement is rotated about the second axis 48 in space and/or the third axis 50 in space, as in a rotational angiography procedure to be described below. In another embodiment, the C-arm mounting arm 52 in the guided movement is displaced in the horizontal direction 45 in space along a longitudinal axis of the examination table 55 , analogous to the angiography procedure described in use for FIG. 3 , with incremental displacement. In another embodiment, the guided movement of the C-arm mounting arm 52 corresponds to a combination of the two aforementioned forms of motion, as is expedient in automatic positioning, described above with respect to FIG. 2 , of the X-ray emitter to an intended mounting position.
[0052] During a rotational angiography procedure, the X-ray emitter 27 and the X-ray receiver 35 are in a circular motion state at a constant angular speed. Either the orbital angle 49 or the angulation angle 51 is varied, and the respective other angle, which is accordingly constant, can be taken into account. The other angle can be taken into account in the determination of the resonant frequency or the ascertainment of the set-point guided movement. The application of the control method to this X-ray examination makes vibration-free rotary motion, at a high rotary speed, possible, which is especially advantageous with regard to creating a sharp, interference-free, three-dimensional X-ray image. In rotational angiography, as in angiography with the incremental displacement, a first pass without and a second pass with contrast agent are performed, and by digital subtraction angiography, a differential image with a reproduction of only the vessels is created. The vibration of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver would cause the respective actual guided movements in the two passes to differ from one another so that in finding the difference, image interference would be created.
[0053] In one embodiment, the X-ray examination system 15 , 31 or 43 may take into account a variable outfitting, which changes the weight distribution of the various moving system components, in ascertaining the set-point guided movement.
[0054] In one embodiment, an X-ray examination system 15 , 31 , or 43 includes an X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The X-ray examination system 15 , 31 , or 43 is movable with regard to its mounting position by a drive device, to make it possible in a simple way to perform an X-ray examination quickly and produce a sharp X-ray image despite a system construction that can be excited to vibration at a resonant frequency, which is dependent on the respective mounting position. At least one variable, which is dependent on the respective mounting position and relevant to the resonant frequency, is detected. A set-point guided movement is ascertained as a function of the at least one respective variable. The set-point guided movement counteracts an excitation of the vibration, for reaching an intended motion state for the X-ray examination of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver. The guided movement of the X-ray emitter and/or X-ray receiver is controlled by the drive device in accordance with the set-point guided movement.
[0055] While the invention has been described above by reference to various embodiments, it should be understood that many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.
|
According to the invention, an X-ray examination may be simply and rapidly carried out and hence produce a sharp X-ray image with an X-ray source ( 27 ) and/or X-ray receiver ( 35 ) an X-ray examination system ( 15 and 31 and 43 ) which may be displaced relative to the mounting position thereof by means of an actuator ( 10 ), despite a system construction which may be caused to oscillate at a resonant frequency ( 5 ) dependent on the corresponding mounting position, about the mounting position, whereby according to the inventive method, at least one parameter relevant to the resonant frequency, dependent on the corresponding mounting position, is determined, a set guided movement ( 4 ), counteracting the cause of oscillation in order to achieve a movement condition for the X-ray source ( 27 ) or X-ray receiver ( 35 ) necessary for the X-ray examination, is determined depending on the at least one corresponding parameter and the guided movement of the X-ray source ( 27 ) and/or X-ray receiver ( 35 ) controlled using the actuator ( 10 ) according to the set guided movement ( 4 ).
| 4
|
This is a division, of application Ser. No. 720,471 filed Sept. 3, 1976.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to co-pending application Ser. No. 720,470, filed Sept. 3, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,468, in the name of Nicholas G. Koopman and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the packaging of electric circuit devices such as micro-miniature integrated circuit chips. In particular, it relates to the dissipation of heat generated by the chip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The dissipation of heat from a semiconductor chip is a major problem in the industry. As more and more transistors and other devices are fabricated within the semiconductor chip, the amount of heat which is generated during the electrical operation of the chip increases proportionally.
Semiconductor designers have long been aware of the need for removing the heat and have devised numerous ways to do so. Generally, the techniques can be segregated into two basic means: air cooling and liquid cooling. The latter technique usually involves placing the chip packages in a bath of low-boiling-point liquid such as fluorocarbon fluid, for example. This process is very efficient but raises problems with respect to the contamination of the devices by the liquid, leakage of the liquid from the container which could cause catastrophic failure, and increased manufacturing costs.
Air cooling, which generally involves contacting one or more surfaces of the semiconductor chip with a good heat conducting element such as copper, is cheaper, cleaner and unlikely to create problems of the aforementioned catastrophic failures. However, air cooling by simple, direct contact of the heat conductive element to the chip may not conduct sufficient heat away from the chip due to the imperfect, non-compliant nature of the contact; in addition, it imposes stresses within the chip and its interconnecting joints due to the direct transmission of forces caused by thermal expansion and contraction, mechanical disturbances, etc.
Air-cooled assemblies usually involve bonding the semiconductor chip to the heat conductive cap, which is also used for hermetically sealing the chip. Packages of this type are illustrated, for example, in the articles entitled "Chip Heat Sink Package Assembly" by Johnson et al. IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, March 1970, page 1665, and "Conduction Cooled Heat Plate for Modular Circuit Package", Dombrowskas et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, July 1970, page 442. Although effective in removing heat from the chip, such structures involve metallurgical bonds both between the heat sink and semiconductor chip as well as the heat sink and the conductive sealing cap. Such structures may subject the chip and the chip joints to undue stresses during thermal expansion or contraction when the chip is in electrical operation.
In addition, rework capability is particularly important for packages in which a plurality of chips are mounted on a single substrate and enclosed by a single cover. It is often necessary to replace one defective chip out of many or to repair the wiring on the substrate. Bonded connections, however, cannot be disassembled to allow rework or repair.
Other packaging designs have recognized the need to provide both high thermal conductivty as well as the ability to absorb mechanical stress. See, for example, the article entitled "Conduction Cooled Chip Module", Dombrowskas et al., IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, February 1972, page 2689. The article suggests the use of pads of conductive dispersion material which never cure or completely harden between the chips and the heat sink. Such material, however, results in too high a thermal resistance to be practical.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of our invention to improve the cooling of semiconductor chips and other electronic circuit elements such as high power transistors, resistors, etc.
It is a further object of our invention to provide a good heat conductive path from the chip without imposing undue stresses on the chip leads in its operating environment.
It is yet another object to allow for reworking of semiconductor packages containing pluralities of chips while also providing said good heat conductive paths.
It is another object of our invention to provide a method for manufacturing such circuit packages which is easily practiced in modern semiconductor manufacturing lines.
It is a more specific object of our invention to improve the cooling of semiconductor flip-chips which are connected to their support substrates by solder contacts.
These and other objects and advantages of our invention are achieved by providing a heat conducting pad between the semiconductor chip or other heat generating devices and the heat sink. The heat conducting pad is separably attached but metallurgically unbonded, at one of the interfaces and metallurgically bonded at the other interface.
In one preferred embodiment a readily deformable solder such as indium is metallurgically bonded to the inside of the heat sink enclosure. The metal is conformally attached to the semiconductor chip by mechanical deformation, so the metal is separably attached, i.e., metallurgically unbonded, at the chip-solder pad interface. The pad provides low thermal resistance and allows both thermal expansion and contraction without undue stress on the chip or its joints as well as easy disconnection of the chip or chips from the enclosure for reworking.
Our invention is useful for "flip-chip" packages in which the electrical connections from the active devices within the chip to the conductive lands on the supporting substrate comprise solder contacts from the front-side surface of the chip, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,040, issued in the name of L. F. Miller and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views of an integrated circuit package wherein a heat-conducting pad which is metallurgically bonded to a heat sink enclosure is then separably attached to a chip by mechanical deformation.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a package wherein said pad is metallurgically bonded to the chip and separably attached to the heat sink.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a package similar to that of FIG. 1B which includes a "dummy" chip between the pad and an operative, heat generating chip.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip module in which each chip has a separate heat sink pad in accordance with our invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the circuit package comprises semiconductor chip 2 mounted on substrate 4, which is typically a ceramic such alumina. Conductive lands 7 are disposed on ceramic 4 and are connected to chip 2 by solder contacts 6. A heat-conductive cap 8 hermetically encloses chip 2 in cooperation with substrate 4. Conductive pins (not shown) are provided through substrate 4 to electrically interconnect lands 7 with an external printed circuit board (not shown). Although our invention is advantageously concerned with semiconductor chips containing many thousands of circuit elements, other heat-generating electric or electronic devices such as high power transistors, resistors, etc., could be heat-sinked in accordance with our invention.
What has been described thus far is well known to those of skill in the semiconductor packaging art and forms no part of our invention. Such a structure follows the teachings contained in U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,040 which was previously cited. Our invention involves the provision of heat conducting pad 10 between chip 2 and the interior of cap 8. Most importantly, a metallurgical bond is formed at one interface between pad 10 and either cap 8 or chip 2; and a non-metallurgical bond, termed a separable interface in the drawing, is formed at the other.
Prior to placing pad 10 in proximate relationship with chip 2 as shown in FIG. 1A, pad 10 is initially metallurgically bonded to cap 8 by means of a thin film 9. For example, if cap 8 were aluminum, film 9 could be copper which is evaporated thereon to form a metallurgical bond with the aluminum. Pad 10, which is preferably indium, is then reflowed to copper film 9. Because indium will solder with copper, a metallurgical bond is formed at the interface between indium pad 10 and heat sink cap 8. Other films 9 which could be used are nickel, gold and Cr-Cu-Au, among others.
Other techniques could be used to metallurgically bond the pad to the cap. For example, cap 8 could be copper or brass, to which indium 10 makes a metallurgical bond without the necessity of a solderable interface metal 9. However, to constrain solder 10 to a well-defined location on cap 8 over chip 2 it is necessary to provide a stop-off to which pad 10 will not solder, e.g., chromium, which surrounds the central site to prevent the solder from flowing over the entire inner surface of cap 8.
In practice, the chromium is evaporated on the interior of cap 8. An opening is then milled or etched in the chromium at said central site under which the chip is to be disposed; and the indium is reflowed to the brass or copper area surrounded by the chromium stop off.
Bonded pad 10 is then placed adjacent the upper major surface of chip 2 as shown in FIG. 1A. Pressure is then applied to compress the readily deformable metal 10 between chip 2 and cap 8 to achieve the structure illustrated in FIG. 1B. We have done this by applying a weight onto either the back side of substrate 4 while the structure is upside down or by applying the weight onto the upper surface of cap 8 while the structure is right side up.
There are numerous methods which could be used to compress the heat conducting pad 10; however, it is important that the weight be carefully selected and controlled so as not to exceed the yield stress of joints 6. This is easily achieved when using a readily deformable metal such as indium as pad 10 and lead/tin or lead/indium solder for joints 6. For example, for a chip which is 180 mils square with 240 or more solder joints 6, the area encompassed by pad 10 is around six times greater than the area encompassed by joints 6. However, the yield-stress in psi for the solder joints at room temperature is 13 times greater than that of pad 10. Hence, the latter yields first.
The margin of safety can be increased, if desired, by performing the compression step at a higher temperature. This tends to reduce the yield-stress of indium to an even greater extent than that of lead-tin or lead-indium solder. At 60° C, for example, the yield stress ratio of lead-tin solder to indium solder is greater than 20, which is much greater than the figure of six which must be exceeded. If a hard encapsulant such as polyimide-amide were used as a sealer between the joints, this effectively strengthens the joints.
Other alternatives which are less attractive include the addition of "dummy" joints to increase the effective mass of solder joints 6 beneath the chip or by reducing the mass of pad 10. This latter alternative has the disadvantage of decreasing the heat dissipation capability of the package. In devices which we have constructed using the method illustrated in FIGs. 1A and 1B, we have achieved a thermal resistance of 2.5° C per watt from the chip to air. Without the indium pad 10, the resistance is 14° C per watt.
It may be necessary to provide electrical isolation between the circuit within chip 2 and cap 8. There are numerous options to ensure this which will occur to those of skill in the semiconductor packaging art. For example, a thin film insulator could be provided between the inner surface of cap 8 and thin film 59. Alternatively, a thin film insulator such as silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, etc., could be provided on the upper surface of chip 2 prior to compressing pad 10 to chip 2. In the case of the silicon semiconductor chip, silicon dioxide usually occurs as part of the chip as a natural consequence of device fabrication.
Cap 8 could itself be an electrically insulating thermally conductive material such as beryllium oxide.
Even though our invention is preferably applied to solder-bonded joints, it is also applicable to other conventional joining methods such as where electrical leads are thermal-compression bonded or ultrasonically bonded between the chip and the conductive lands 7.
To further decrease the thermal resistance between chip 2 and pad 10 the interface may be coated with a heat conducting medium such as silicone oil.
Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a module in which the unbonded, separable interface lies between solder pad 10' and metal cap 8'; and the metallurgical bond is between pad 10' and chip 2' by means of thin film 11'. Typically, film 11' is Cr-Cu-Au to which indium will solder and which adheres well to silicon or insulators of silicon such as silicon dioxide and silicon nitride. Other suitable thin films to which indium will solder and which will bond with silicon are Cr-Cu, Cr-Ni and Ti-Pd-Au.
The process for fabricating the package in FIG. 2 is similar to that described in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Most advantageously, thin film 11' is metallurgically bonded by evaporation or other deposition techniques on the upper major surface of chip 2'. Indium solder pad 10' is deposited atop film 11' and then reflowed above its melting point to form the metallurgical bond. After the pad has hardened, the substrate-chip-solder portion is compressed against the inner central region of cap 8' to form the unbonded, separable interface.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a "dummy" chip 14 is disposed between pad 10" and the active heat-generating chip 2". The principal purpose of the "dummy" chip is to achieve a complete area match between chip 2" and the heat conducting pad 10". It could also be used to provide good electrical isolation to prevent chip-to-heat sink shorting. In multi-chip modules such a chip prevents chip-to-chip shorting without thermal degradation of the heat conducting path.
The "dummy" chip is advantageously comprised of silicon having both sides coated with an insulator such as silicon dioxide or silicon nitride. The "dummy" chip may also comprise anodized aluminum or beryllium oxide. This latter material has the advantages of being both a good electrical insulator as well as having high thermal conductivity. However, it is also quite poisonous in its powdered state prior to molding and, on the whole, an insulated silicon chip is more useful in the present day semiconductor manufacturing environment.
The "dummy" chip 14 may also comprise a thin film of a material such as copper. This would prevent any surface corrosion of pad 10" which might occur with pure indium. In addition, the film would eliminate any tendency of indium to stick to chip 2".
As illustrated in FIG. 3, solder pad 10" is metallurgically bonded both to cap 8" and to "dummy" chip 14. The interface between chips 2" and 14 is unbonded. The chips are made as contiguous as possible by the compressing step to ensure an optimum heat conducting path from heat-generating chip 2" to cap 8".
The use of an extended "dummy" chip 14 in FIG. 3 also leads to the alternative of substituting an array of numerous, individual solder pads for the single solder pad 10'. These may be desirable to avoid problems associated with deforming a large mass of solder 10". They would create no problem with respect to heat dissipation because the thermal resistance across solder 10" is usually low as compared to that across the unbonded interface.
Multiple solder pads are most attractive for chips which are very large, e.g., one-half inch square.
FIG. 4 illustrates a multi-chip module which embodies our invention. Such modules, containing up to one hundred or more semiconductor integrated circuit chips have been proposed in the past but none has been commercially successful to our knowledge. Ordinarily, they are cooled by a boiling liquid within the chamber containing the chips and this has resulted in the problems previously discussed in the section of the specification entitled, "Background of the Invention".
In the package, each chip 102 is thermally connected to heat sink cover 108 by solder pads 110. Any of the previously-described embodiments involving a metallurgically bonded interface and an unbonded, separable interface is applicable. Advantageously, cap 108 may be fabricated from Mo or BeO which have low thermal expansion coefficients to match alumina substrate 124 formed with connector pins 135. However, due to fabrication difficulties of Mo and the health hazards of BeO, Al or Cu are more practical choices. Standoffs 132 are provided as positive stops to avoid inordinate pressure on any chip from the cap.
After each pad 110 is compressed between cap 108 and chip 102, the cap is sealed to substrate 104 by means of an O-ring 103 and the locking mechanism 114 which comprises a pair of engaging plates which are bolted together. A gas port 136 is provided through cap 108 to allow for the entry of a gas such as helium which, having a higher thermal coefficient than air, increases the heat dissipation of the system. The use of helium for this purpose is optional and in any event forms no part of our invention.
Cap 108 is machined to provide a chamber 117 for external fluid cooling. The fluid could be water, Freon or any other known cooling fluid which flows through the upper surface of the cap by means of plumbing connection 140 to an external cooling system (not shown).
Other types of packages may be devised to incorporate our invention. The system in FIG. 4 is illustrated only to indicate how such a system may effectively utilize our invention. One of the principal advantages of such a package with a separable interface in the heat conducting path is that a defective component may be replaced or repaired after assembly because the entire package can be separated at the unbonded separable interface. Upon repair, the package is easily reassembled.
Another advantage lies in the option of using chips which have different heat-generating properties in the same package. The pads can be tailored to ensure that each chip operates at the same temperature. Moreover, the cap 108 could contain pedestals or recesses for the heat-sink pads to accommodate different types of components.
In summary, we have invented a package having a good heat transfer path from a semiconductor device or other heat-generating element to the can or cover of the package. Moreover, the improvement avoids the imposition of mechanical stresses which endanger the integrity of the device or its leads during the electrical operation of the device in its environment.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
|
A circuit package exhibiting an excellent heat transfer path from a semiconductor chip or other heat-generating device to the heat-sink can or cover of the package. A heat-conducting pad is metallurgically bonded to either said cover or a surface of said device; the pad is also separably attached, but metallurgically unbonded, to the other. In one preferred embodiment, a readily deformable metal or alloy, such as indium, is metallurgically bonded to a limited central region of the heat sink cover. The deformable metal is separably attached to a major surface of the chip so that there is no stress between the chip or its joints and the solder during the electrical operation of the chip when it generates heat. The preferred method of fabrication involves the mechanical deformation of a mass of solder against the back side of the chip, after the solder has been metallurgically bonded to heat sink. The process may be accomplished either at high or low temperatures, depending upon the solder composition and the relative strength of the leads which join the chip to conductive lands on its supportive substrate.
| 8
|
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 903,861 filed May 8, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,358.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Auxiliary load-carrying apparatuses are known in the art and have gained some limited recognition as a means for solving the problem of meeting state and federal regulations which prescribe load per axle and loading per-axle per-unit-displacement between axles (the so-called "bridge laws").
While the principle of providing operator-controlled auxiliary load-carrying apparatuses is simple enough, and while the need for such devices is generally recognized, the obtainment of certain constructional and operational parameters has not been so readily obtainable. For example, load-carrying devices which selectively move from vertical raised position to lower ground-engaging position, can unduly interfere with other normal and expected functions of the vehicle, i.e., they impart instability to the vehicle, causing it to swerve, or interfere with the steering, turning, and other maneuvering functions of the vehicle. Quite obviously this is an intolerable situation. Also, in raised or transport position auxiliary load-carrying devices tend to raise the center of gravity of the vehicle, making it unstable and unwieldy. A substantial overhead load has the effect of raising the center of gravity of the vehicle as a whole, so that centrifugal force during turning develops the greater effect of tending to tip the vehicle over, or introduces objectionable sway. Overturning a vehicle, such as a selftransit concrete mixer truck, is not an uncommon occurrence. The vehicle itself is inherently unstable. This undesirable condition is then compounded with other unstable-creating effects arising during turning of the vehicle with a sloshing load of concrete within the mixer bowl. There is, therefore, a risk of either overturning the vehicle or requiring that the vehicle operate at such low speeds, and with such degree of caution, that it slows down the normal delivery functions of the concrete by the driver. This is not to say prior art auxiliary load-carrying devices are inoperative; within narrow confines, they do operate, and do relieve at least a portion of the axle loading; but the apparatuses impose an unacceptable design tradeoff in that the benefits to be gained by reduction of axle loading are offset by cumbersomeness of the machinery for effecting the result, introducing problems of instability to the vehicle for its normal steering and transport functions, and, furthermore, create unstable conditions of steering and maneuverability of the vehicle whether the load-carrying apparatus is in raised or lowered positions.
At lowered position, the instability described generally results from the relatively inflexible nature of the frame and wheel support provided by the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus. The apparatus has a different steering radius as compared with the vehicle, with the result that the vehicle and load-carrying apparatus oppose each other during turns, the equipment is unduly stressed, and the normal functions of steering and maneuvering the vehicle are impaired. These unsolved problems have confronted the art for many years.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary load-carrying apparatus which is remotely operable to control the amount of load to be sustained by such apparatus and wherein the apparatus is capable, by means of a series of articulated connections, to conform to whatever irregularities of terrain that the vehicle might traverse.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary load-carrying apparatus by means of a pair of auxiliary load-carrying devices one at each side of the vehicle, such devices being differentially loaded, if needed, to provide greater lateral support for the vehicle at one side than at the other, this being a common requirement where softer terrain is encountered at one side of the vehicle than at the other.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary load-carrying apparatus which is capable of tracking behind the load-carrying vehicle so that as the vehicle is steered or otherwise maneuvered over the highway, the load-carrying device will track accurately and follow the same turning radius and without imposing extraneous loads which develop instability in the load-carrying vehicle.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary load-carrying device one at each side of the vehicle and each consisting of two pairs of wheels, one pair at each end of longitudinal leaf springs which are held pivotally by a linkage to the towing vehicle, the connection with the towing vehicle providing compound turning movement in a horizontal plane and pivotal movement in a vertical plane. Thus, a combination of the turning movements in a horizontal plane and vertical at the point of connection of the towing vehicle, together with pivotal connection between the linkage and the leaf springs, allow each wheel of the auxiliary device to follow any irregular contours of the terrain while it continuously sustains a normal force of engagement with the ground and provides auxiliary weight support.
Another important object of the present invention is the use of leaf spring supports for the pair of wheels which is connected to the tow linkage at a location offset from the balance point so that when lifting movement is exerted through the linkage on the auxiliary load-carrying device, the wheels are removed from the ground in stages, and follow a prescribed path to an elevated, nested transport position in which such auxiliary load-carrying apparatus is stored in a vertical upward position with portions one at each side of the center of gravity of the vehicle so that the apparatus does not substantially contribute to an elevation in the center of gravity of the towing vehicle. By maintaining the center of gravity the same, whether the apparatus is in raised or lowered position, the apparatus will not contribute to vertical instability of the vehicle which would otherwise occur should the center of gravity be raised when the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus is elevated.
Another important object of the present invention lies in the ability of each wheel of the auxiliary load-carrying device to deflect in a vertical plane containing the axis of rotation of the wheel so that the camber angles of the wheels can vary against the torsional resistance of the leaf spring responsively to normal load shocks. The resilience of the leaf springs will, of course, return the wheels to their proper camber angle when the distortion-producing forces are relieved.
An overall object of the present invention is that the auxiliary load-supporting apparatus can be retrofitted onto existing vehicles, such as self-transit concrete mixer trucks or other load-bearing vehicles, and does not require a subframe. Thus, the device can be readily installed and is actuatable remotely from the cab of the vehicle to bring the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus into either elevated transport position or downwardly into ground-engaging position to share a portion of the load. Either when elevated or raised, the apparatus is positionable so as not to interfere with the normal function of the vehicle's other operations. For example, in the self-transit mixer, the apparatus is located so as not to interfere with the chute, hopper, or drum and in no way impedes the normal function of either the self-transit mixer or other functions of a load-carrying vehicle.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a load-carrying device, in this instance a self-transit concrete mixer unit having auxiliary load-carrying apparatus with one device at each side of the vehicle, at the rear thereof, and corresponding with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevation view illustrating the self-transit mixer of FIG. 1 in phantom view and illustrating the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus in full view;
FIG. 3 illustrates the load-carrying device at one side of the vehicle during the lifting procedure, progressing first from the full-line position of FIG. 2 to the full-line position of FIG. 3, and further raising, producing the dotted line position of FIG. 3;
FIG. 4 illustrates the apparatus of FIG. 2, showing the towing vehicle and auxiliary load-carrying apparatus on different inclination terrain but without disrupting the normal operation;
FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating the frame of the load-bearing vehicle and two extreme steering positions for the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus, the full-line position illustrating the position of the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus which automatically occurs during a right-hand turn of the vehicle and the dotted line position showing the other extreme angular position for the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus, automatically assumed during a left-hand turn by the vehicle;
FIG. 6 illustrates schematically the hydraulic system for biasing the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus downwardly against the ground to effect the preferred proportion of load-sharing between the vehicle and the auxiliary load-carrying device, this system also being used for elevating the apparatus from a lowered position to a raised position illustrated in FIG. 3; and
FIG. 7 is an isometric exploded view illustrating the leaf spring beams which support the pairs of wheels at opposite ends thereof for auxiliary load-carrying function and further illustrating details of the load-bearing axle at the rear end of the frame.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a self-transit concrete mixer truck designated generally by reference numeral 10 includes a cab 12, ground engaging front wheels 14 which are steerable and rear wheels 16 which support through a frame 18 a rotatable mixer drum 20 having a charging hopper 22 and chute 24 through which the concrete is directed when it is discharged by counter-rotation of the drum 20. The chute position is controlled angularly by means of a fluid motor actuator 26 and the chute 24 is angularly positionable by rotation about a turntable 28 which receives the discharging concrete from the open end of the mixer drum 20.
At the rear 30 of frame rails 32 (FIG. 5), is circular cross section axle beam 34 having ends 36,38 which provide bearing support for angular movement of lever 40, there being one lever 40 at each of opposite sides of the vehicle frame 18.
Each lever 40 has an integrally related sleeve 42 journaled for rotatable movement about axle beam 34 and further includes two lugs 46,48 with journal pin 50 received through aligned openings 52 in the two lugs 46,48. It is through this journal pin 50 that each of the two auxiliary load-carrying devices (designated generally by reference numerals 60,62) are attached to the vehicle. Each of the two identically auxiliary load-carrying devices consists of an obtusely angled strut 64, each with a bushing 66 attached to the journal pin 50. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary load-carrying device can move pivotally about the journal pin 50 to provide for different steering angles as the auxiliary load support devices 60,62 track behind the vehicle when the vehicle undergoes a turn.
Because each sleeve 42 turns about axle beam 34, such turning movement raises the auxiliary load-carrying devices 60,62 since the sleeve effects rotational lifting movement through the lugs 46,48 and the journal pin 50, through the obtusely shaped strut 64, thereby raising, lowering, and biasing the auxiliary load-carrying devices 60,62 with the preferred ground engagement force.
Each strut is secured through a U-shaped clamping device 70 to a stack of leaf springs 72 which act as a beam. The point of engagement of the U-shaped clamping device is geometrically offset in the direction of the front of the leaf spring beam for a purpose which will be later explained. A pivot, or hinged, connection 74 is provided between end 76 and U-shaped clamping device 70 so that a front set of wheels 78 and rear set of wheels 80 are journaled at opposite ends of the leaf spring beam 72 and rock slightly about this pivoted connection 74 provided by pin 74a. Thus, as the front pair of wheels 78 moves over a stone, rock, or the like, the front pair or set of wheels can ride up and over such obstruction while the rear set of wheels 80 remains in ground engagement.
Because the leaf spring beam 72 can twist slightly (FIG. 2), the axle connection 84 for the pairs of wheels 78,80 can twist the leaf spring beam slightly, thus varying the camber angle of the wheels, with respect to the ground. The axle 84 is clamped by U-shaped clamps 85 through plate 87. Threaded ends 91 pass through openings in plate 87 and nuts 89 are used to clamp axle 84 to the end of the leaf spring beam 72. This slightly torsional movement is permitted so that the wheels and entire load-sharing mechanism can yieldably conform with virtually any variety of ground-encountered obstructions and still remain in ground engagement and at the same normal force. Thus, front wheels 78 can move over stones, mounds, and follow any irregular ground contact relative to the rear set of wheels 80, either of the auxiliary weight-supporting devices 60,62 is free, one device 60 independently of the other, 62, to follow the particular terrain conditions encountered at opposite lateral sides of the vehicle. Each set of wheels can assume whatever camber angle it may be temporarily distorted to, by reason of the torsional yieldability of the leaf spring beam 72 and each load-supporting device can assume whatever attitude is necessary relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, should the vehicle be in a different grade than the auxiliary load-carrying device, each is independently capable of remaining in full engagement notwithstanding the difference in grade, the condition of FIG. 4 being permitted because of the turning about of pin 74 of leaf spring beam 72.
While all of these articulated connections described permit the individual and cumulative adjustable movements of the ground-engaging wheels on the auxiliary load-supporting device, the load-supporting device is also free to "track"i.e., to follow the turning radius of the vehicle, since each device 60,62 can turn on its king pin 50, this being the result for shallow-turning angles, sharp-turning angles, and compound turning, i.e., S-shaped turns.
Referring to FIG. 6, the device is raised by means of a power cylinder 90 having a piston 92 and piston rod 94 with a circular opening 96 having a pin connection 98 with lever 40. Lever 40 can be reinforced by means of a gusset plate 41 connecting to the bearing sleeve in the manner indicated in FIG. 7.
When it is desired to bias the auxiliary load-carrying device in a downwardly direction, piston 92 is biased to the right, introducing fluid into the variable volume chamber 100. Hydraulic pump 104 has fluid connection 106 through reservoir 108 and power supply line 110, and control valve assembly 112 with a control lever 114 having a neutral position "N"lowering position "L", and raising position "R". When the control handle 114 is moved to the position indicated by the letter "L", line 110 is connected through 112 in line 118 to the variable volume chamber 100 expanding that chamber and biasing the piston 92, piston rod 94 toward the right and pivoting lever 40 together with its bearing sleeve in a clockwise direction (FIG. 2). During lowering, the variable volume chamber 120 exhausts fluid through line 122 through control valve assembly 112 and return line 124 to the reservoir 108.
When it is desired to raise the auxiliary load-support device, control handle 114 is moved from the "N" position, or neutral position, to the "R" position designating the "raising" position, at which time the pump 104 having pressure line 110 is communicated through the control valve assembly 112 through line 122 to chamber 120 biasing the piston 92 to the left, together with the piston rod 94, thus rotating the lever 40 in a counter-clockwise direction about the axle beam 34 (FIG. 2) mounted through bracket 133 bolted to frame rails 32. Fluid form contracting chamber 100 (FIG. 6) is exhausted through line 118 and control 112 through return line 124 to reservoir 108. As shown, the pump 104 is always replenished with hydraulic fluid from the reservoir 108 through supply line 106.
When the device is initially caused to move into raising position, the axle 84 (FIG. 2) moves upwardly and engages the nock 140 (FIG. 2) because the obtusely angled linkage 64 is connected through U-shaped clamp 70 in a direction which is geometrically offset from the balance point between the front set of wheels 78 and rear set of wheels 80; thus, the wheels 78 are initially lifted upwardly as indicated. There is a compound angular movement, the first compound angular movement occurring by turning of the lever 40 and its bearing sleeve about axle 34. This likewise causes the obtusely angled strut 64 to turn with the sleeve, because the sleeve and lugs are attached to linkage 64 through the journal pin 50. Once the axle 84 engages the undersurface of linkage 64, further rotational movement of linkage 64 together with lever 40 raises the rear set of wheels 80 which describe a vertically upward movement about an arc labeled 150 in FIG. 3. This angular upward movement continues until the rear set of wheels 80 is fully raised. In a fully raised position, the rear set of wheels 80 is displaced to the right of pivot connection 74. The raised rear wheels 80 are vertically hung so that they create a moment about 74, tending to hold the axle 84 for the front wheels 78 against the underside of the linkage 64.
The linkage is locked by dropping a lock pin (not shown) through aligned openings 43, in bearing sleeve 44 and mounting beam 64.
OPERATION
In operation, each auxiliary load-carrying device 60-62 is held in a raised transport position when the vehicle 10 is not carrying load. The auxiliary load-carrying devices are also raised when, in the case of self-transit concrete mixer units, the device is operated in the concrete discharging mode. While such auxiliary load-carrying devices are raised, the chute 24 is extended, the mixer drum 20 is counter-rotated, and the concrete contents are discharged through the open end of the mixer drum and into the chute 24, with the chute 24 being swingable to direct the concrete where it is needed at the job site.
One of the important features of the present invention is that, in the raised position, the auxiliary load-carrying devices do not interfere with any of the normal operations of charging concrete mixture to the interior of the mixer drum 20 through the charge hopper 22, nor do they interfere with the discharging functions of the transit mixer truck, since the drum is counter-rotatable to effect discharge of the contents of the drum and into the chute 24 which is readily swingable without interference by the auxiliary load-carrying devices in their raised positions. It should be understood that the load-carrying devices are raised while the vehicle is in its discharging mode and are not required at this time, since the vehicle is not traveling down the highway and is either stationary or maneuvered under very low speed to help in locating the concrete as it is discharged and directed from the chute 24 at the building site.
In the raised position (referring to FIG. 3), the center of gravity is labeled "C.G."; a horizontal line through the point "C.G.", substantially bisects the line connecting the axle of the front wheels 78 and rear wheels 80. Because of this division of weight distribution above and below the horizontal line passing through the center of gravity of the vehicle, the auxiliary load-carrying device in its raised position does not cause the center of gravity to be raised as in previous devices. The higher the center of gravity, of course, the more unstable the vehicle in making turns or other maneuvers. It is, therefore, one of the important features of the present invention that, in the raised position, the auxiliary load-carrying device does not affect in any substantial manner the location of the center of gravity and, therefore, imparts no factor of instability of the vehicle as in the case with prior art devices of the character and type described. When it is desired to lower the auxiliary load-carrying devices to relieve axle-loading associated with wheels 14,16 of the vehicle 10, handle 114 is operated from the cab which is displaced into the "L" position (FIG. 6), communicating pressure from pump 104 and line 110 and line 118 to the chamber 100, displacing the piston 92, piston and piston rod 94 to the right (FIG. 6). There is a power cylinder pivotally mounted at 125 on mounting plate 127 associated one on each side of the vehicle and each is independently operated.
The auxiliary load-carrying devices are then rotated from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the full-line position in FIG. 2. An important feature of the present invention is that each device can be differentially operated so that greater support can be provided at one side of the vehicle as compared with the opposite side. This can be a very useful result when it is desired to provide greater lateral support at one side of the vehicle than at the opposite side because of different terrain conditions or because a greater amount of vehicle load is sustained at one side or the other during mixing.
When the auxiliary load-bearing devices are in the down position and the vehicle is moving, each device 60,62 is independently movable so that as the vehicle turns, each is free to move on its respective king pin connection 50. It is important that this be so, since, referring to FIG. 5, should the vehicle be turning to the right, the inboard device 62 has to assume a different turning radius than the outboard device 60. Should the two devices 60,62 be rigidly interconnected as in previous devices, or rigidly connected to the vehicle, as in still other devices, then back end "swerve" developed by the auxiliary devices is communicated to the vehicle so that the rear of the vehicle is biased inertially out of its turning radius, with the result that lateral skid forces are produced on the vehicle. This is because all of the wheels are not turning about the same center. The described objectionable forces on the vehicle tend to tilt it, or tip it. In those cases where the vehicle is fully loaded and the center of gravity is high, such biasing forces can and have produced tipover of the vehicle. This situation is totally obviated in the present invention, since each of the auxiliary load-carrying devices is free to assume whatever position is appropriate for a vehicle turn, and all of the objectionable inertial loadings which could create instability in steering, are eliminated, since each device 60,62 is at all times free to respond through the king pin 50 to assume the correct position. This result applies for shallow turns, sharp turns, and S-shaped turns.
The devices 60,62 are capable of encountering different road conditions from the front to the rear of the device, whether passing over small obstructions in the highway or being on a different inclination than the vehicle. Each of the devices 60,62 can respond differently, since each is independently vertically movable through the cylindrical bushing 42 which rotates independently at opposite ends of the axle beam 34. Thus, device 62 relatively to device 60 can be the same, a higher, or lower, level.
For the same reasons, the vehicle and the auxiliary load-carrying devices can be in different inclinations, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
The front set of wheels 78 of each device can move relatively to the rear set of wheels by virtue of the hinge, or pivot, connection 74, allowing the sets of wheels to move over obstructions in the form of stones or other irregularities in the terrain, and the camber of the wheels 78,80 can vary, since they are attached through axles 84 to a set of leaf springs 72 which are torsionally yieldable. Thus, the camber of the wheels can vary according to the crown of the road, or in the event that one of the wheels of a pair of wheels is externally loaded to a greater extent by hitting an obstruction.
As a result of the foregoing, not only are the respective devices 60,62 independently positionable, but so, also are the respective sets of front and rear wheels 78,80 of each device 60,62. Because of this described combination of articulated connections, each wheel, while sustaining a relatively constant normal force of ground engagement, which serves the function of relieving axle loading on the vehicle, will in no way impart objectionable external forces to such towing vehicle to produce unstable conditions during vehicle turning. Similarly, road shocks which are sustained by the auxiliary load-carrying device, are fully absorbed by the device and without transmitting instability-creating force back to the vehicle.
Once the wheels 78,80 of each device are in ground engagement, they contribute vertical support to the vehicle at all times, regardless of conditions of terrain or vehicle movement. The wheels ride up and over obstructions, travel either in the same or different inclination as the vehicle, and are resiliently supported through the leaf spring beam, through the compound articulated connections consisting of the king pin axle 50, sleeve bearing 42, hinge connection 74, and torsional resilience obtained by mounting axles 84 at the opposite ends of leaf springs. Through a combination of these movements, the wheels in the auxiliary load-carrying devices can sustain normal loads in any attitude or position whether the same as, or dissimilar from, the towing vehicle.
Another important feature of the present invention is that, as the device is retracted, or swung to an upper position, it automatically assumes its correct position by means of a two-stage retraction, which will next be described.
Referring to FIGS. 3,4, because the hinge connection 74 between linkage 64 and leaf spring member 72 is forwardly offset from the balance point, lifting action exerted through hinge 74 causes first the front wheels 78 to pick up and their axle 84 engages with the undersurface of the linkage 64. This engagement serves to locate the wheels 78,80 and leaf springs 72 in relation to linkage 64 so that as the linkage 64 continues to be rotated upwardly the device 60 as a whole is next swung upwardly along arc 150 described by the dot-dash line in FIG. 3. The devices 60,62 are located automatically in relation to the raising mechanism and without need for any operator intervention to locate the parts of the auxiliary load-carrying devices 60,62.
All that is needed to raise the device is to effect retractile movement of the piston rod 94 by introducing fluid pressure within chamber 120 (FIG. 6) and at the end of the stroke of the piston 92 within cylinder 90, the auxiliary load-carrying devices are fully raised.
This raising and lowering is remotely accomplished within the cab by means of the handle 114 which is moved from a neutral position either to the "L" position which lowers the auxiliary load-carrying devices, or raising them by moving the lever from the "N", or neutral, position, to the "R" position, which is the raise, or carry, position. Each device 60,62 is selectively lowered as well, and with a preferred normal pressure.
Each set of wheels 78,80 can be equipped, if desired, with fenders 140 which shield the tires and prevent splash.
Although the present invention has been fully illustrated and described in connection with a single set of example embodiments, it will be understood that this is illustrative of the invention and is by no means restrictive thereof. It is reasonably to be assumed that those skilled in this art can make numerous revisions and adaptations of the invention and that it is intended that such revisions and adaptations of the invention will be included within the scope of the following claims as equivalents of the invention.
|
This invention relates to an auxiliary load-carrying apparatus for use with such load-carrying vehicles as self-transit concrete mixer trucks. The apparatus consists of two power-actuated devices having ground-engageable wheels which are selectively movable between raised-transport position and lowered ground-engaging position in which a portion of the load of the vehicle is transferred onto the ground engaging wheels of the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus. A load-carrying device is located one at each side of the vehicle and is articulated so that the wheels of the load-carrying device can move relatively freely in any one of three dimensions of movement so as to conform to the surface of the highway, or ground, by which vertical support is provided the vehicle. The auxiliary load-carrying device which shares a significant portion of the vehicle load, is connected through a king pin and swivel connection to the vehicle in such a manner that the auxiliary load-carrying apparatus imparts no instability-creating forces on the vehicle because of failure to track with the turning movements of the vehicle. The auxiliary load-carrying apparatus functions distinctly but complimentarily with the vehicle in that it receives an operator-selected proportion of ground load, sustains such load notwithstanding changes of terrain, but imparts no instability-creating extraneous forces to the vehicle interferring with the vehicle's normal steering and operating functions.
| 1
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to abrasive bodies.
Cubic boron nitride abrasive compacts are well known in the art and are used in the cutting, grinding and otherwise abrading of various workpieces, particularly iron-containing workpieces. In use, they may be mounted directly on to a tool or bonded to a cemented carbide backing prior to mounting on to the tool.
Cubic boron nitride compacts consist essentially of a mass of cubic boron nitride particles present in an amount of at least 70 percent, preferably 80 to 90 percent, by volume of the compact bonded into a hard conglomerate. The compacts are polycrystalline masses and can replace single large crystals.
Cubic boron nitride compacts invariably contain a second bonding phase which may contain a catalyst (also known as a solvent) for cubic boron nitride growth. Examples of suitable catalysts are aluminium or an alloy of aluminium with nickel, cobalt, iron, manganese or chromium. When the bonding matrix contains a catalyst, a certain amount of intergrowth between the cubic boron nitride particles occurs during compact manufacture.
Cubic boron nitride compacts are made under conditions of temperature and pressure at which the cubic boron nitride particles are crystallographically stable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,911 describes another type of composite abrasive body comprising a layer of alloy-bonded cubic boron nitride crystals directly bonded to a metal substrate. The abrasive body is manufactured under relatively low pressure conditions which will not result in intergrowth occurring between the cubic boron nitride particles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided a cubic boron nitride compact having major surfaces on each of opposite sides thereof, the one surface being bonded to a substrate, and the other surface presenting a cutting edge, the compact comprising a first phase of a polycrystalline mass of intergrown cubic boron nitride particles and a second bonding phase and the substrate having a coefficient of thermal conductivity at least four times lower than that of the compact.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of two embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The abrasive body may have any suitable shape. It may have a disc shape or any other shape such as a segment of a disc, triangular, rectangular or square. A disc-shaped abrasive body may be fragmented into fragments of any suitable shape using known cutting techniques such as laser cutting or spark erosion.
As mentioned above, one of the major surfaces of the compact will be bonded to a substrate, while the other major surface will present a cutting edge. The cutting edge may, in one embodiment, be a cutting point, for example the pointed end of the segment of a disc or a corner of a body of triangular, rectangular or square shape.
In use, a cutting point or edge of the cubic boron nitride compact will perform the abrading operation. Heat will be generated at this point and will be conducted through the cubic boron nitride relatively rapidly to the substrate. The intergrowth between the cubic boron nitride particles ensures that the compact has a relatively high coefficient of thermal conductivity, i.e. of the order of 100 Wm -1 K -1 . Because the substrate has a coefficient of thermal conductivity substantially less than that of the cubic boron nitride compact, the heat will be dissipated only slowly through the substrate and tend to concentrate in the thin compact. This, it has surprisingly been found, improves the abrading performance of the compact.
In the prior art, cubic boron nitride compacts having intergrowth between the cubic boron nitride particles have been bonded either directly to a metal tool or to a cemented carbide substrate. Both such substrates have high coefficients of thermal conductivity and of the same order as that of the cubic boron nitride compact. The improvement in the abrading performance of the compact in the abrasive body of the invention over such prior art bodies is particularly surprising as it has always been believed that heat generated in the compact should be removed from the compact as quickly as possible to minimise any degradation of the cubic boron nitride particles occurring.
The substrate will generally be larger in mass than the compact and should have good mechanical strength and a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the compact. Examples of suitable materials for the substrate are oxides, nitrides and Syalon (a commercially available silicon/aluminium/nitrogen/oxygen ceramic). Examples of suitable nitrides are boron nitride, aluminium nitride and silicon nitride; examples of suitable oxides are aluminium oxide and zirconia. Of these materials aluminium oxide, zirconia and Syalon are preferred. These materials will be in a sintered coherent form.
It is important that the cubic boron nitride compact has intergrowth between the particles for it is this which contributes largely to the good thermal conductivity which such compacts possess. The second phase may be metallic in nature, and examples of such compacts are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,489 and 3,767,371. The second phase may also be ceramic in nature and such compacts are preferred. Examples of such compacts are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,398 where the second phase consists essentially of silicon nitride and a ceramic resulting from the interaction of aluminium with silicon nitride, or British Patent Publication No. 2,048,927 where the second phase consists essentially of aluminium nitride and/or aluminium diboride.
Bonding of the compact to the substrate may be direct or through a metal or alloy bonding layer. Suitable metals and alloys for the bonding layer, when used, are well known in the art, as are the techniques and methods for bonding the compact to the substrate. The abrasive bodies of the invention have particular application as cutting tool inserts.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing. Referring to this drawing, there is shown a disc-shaped abrasive body 10 comprising a cubic boron nitride compact 12 bonded to a substrate 14 which is larger in mass than the compact. The compact 12 has an upper major surface 16 and a lower major surface 18 which is bonded to the substrate 14. As mentioned above, bonding between the surface 18 and the substrate 14 may be direct or through a metal or alloy bonding layer. In use, the circular edge 20 of surface 16 provides the cutting edge for the abrasive body.
The abrasive body may be fragmented into fragments of any suitable shape using known cutting techniques such as spark erosion or laser cutting. For example, the abrasive body may be fragmented into a series of segments, one of which is illustrated by the dotted lines. In such a case, it is the point 22 of the segment which provides the cutting point.
FIG. 2 illustrates an abrasive body similar to that of FIG. 1, save that it has a square shape. Like parts carry like numerals. The corners 24 provide cutting points in use.
In an example of the invention, a cubic boron nitride compact of disc-shape (as illustrated by FIG. 1) was produced using the method described in British Patent Publication No. 2,048,927. The compact consisted of a polycrystalline mass of intergrown cubic boron nitride particles and a second bonding phase consisting essentially of aluminium nitride and/or diboride. The cubic boron nitride content of the compact was 85 percent by volume. The coefficient of thermal conductivity of the compact was 100 Wm 1 K -1 . From this compact was cut a square-shaped compact using known laser cutting techniques. A substrate consisting of sintered coherent aluminium oxide and having a coefficient of thermal conductivity of 8.4 Wm -1 K -1 was produced. The substrate also had a square shape.
A major surface of the compact was bonded to a major surface of the substrate to produce an abrasive body as illustrated by FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawing. Bonding between the compact and the substrate was achieved using an alloy bonding layer. The alloy was placed between the compact and substrate, a load applied to urge the compact and substrate together and the temperature raised to above the melting point of the alloy. Heating took place in a vacuum of 10 -5 Torr to minimise degradation of the cubic boron nitride particles of the compact. The compact and substrate were firmly bonded together on returning to ambient temperature. The alloy of the bonding layer was a copper/manganese based layer.
Using the method described above, a similar cubic boron nitride compact was bonded to a Syalon substrate and a zirconia substrate. Syalon has a coefficient of thermal conductivity of 23 Wm -1 K -1 . Zirconia has a coefficient of thermal conductivity similar to that of aluminium oxide.
The three abrasive bodies were compared with an unbacked cubic boron nitride compact of the type described in British Patent Publication No. 2,048,927 in the machining of a workpiece made of a D3 tool steel. All three abrasive bodies out performed the unbacked compact.
|
An abrasive body which comprises a cubic boron nitride compact bonded to a substrate. The compact has intergrowth between the cubic boron nitride particles which provides it with good thermal conductivity and has major surfaces on each of opposite sides, the one surface being bonded to the substrate and the other surface presenting a cutting edge. The substrate has a coefficient of thermal conductivity at least four times lower than that of the compact. The substrate is preferably made of aluminium oxide, Syalon or zirconia.
| 2
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to ceramic materials containing alumina, titanium carbide and silicon carbide and especially those compositions possessing a combination of high toughness and wear resistance.
Materials for cutting tool inserts fall into several well-known categories. These include high speed steels, cast alloys of cobalt and chromium, sintered carbides and ceramic materials such as alumina with the corundum crystal structure, and even diamonds. Each material has an advantage depending upon the particular application. Some are much more expensive than others. High speed steel has the greatest resistance to shock of all the materials. For this and other reasons, it is the preferred cutting material for many applications. Because of their resistance to wear, cast alloys and sintered carbides often cost less per piece machined than the steels.
Ceramic materials are used in especially difficult applications. They have high hardness, chemical inertness and wear resistance even at elevated temperatures. This makes them useful, for example, for cutting cast iron and hardened steel at high cutting speeds. The inertness prevents welding of the tool insert to the metal being machined at the temperatures created by machining. Generally, however, ceramic tool inserts cannot be used where there are heavy interrupted cuts. Also, at slower machining speeds, tool loads are markedly higher and ceramic tools are likely to chip or fracture because of their lower tensile strength and toughness.
Tougher ceramic tools have been developed. These may comprise the addition of a second ceramic phase. Each phase is comprised of equiaxed grains as a result of combining equiaxed powders prior to hot pressing to form the tool insert. The addition of a second equiaxed phase increases toughness to some extent and provides a wear resistant tool insert.
Ceramic cutting tools made of alumina-titanium carbide composites have been successful in machining ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,708. These ceramic composites possess excellent high temperature mechanical strength and chemical wear resistance which are needed for superior performance in metalcutting. The utility of the material may be limited by its low fracture toughness in applications where tools tend to fail by fracture, say, in milling or high speed roughing.
Toughness of equiaxed ceramic composites is known to increase with increasing volume of the second phase up to a maximum that depends upon the particular phases and generally reaching maximum between 30 and 40 volume percent of the second phase. Fracture toughness of ceramic composites may be further increased by altering the morphology or shape of the second phase. It has been shown by Faber and Evans, in "Crack Deflection Processes - I. Theory," Acta Metall., Volume 31, No. 4, Pages 565-576 (1983) that the fracture toughness of certain ceramic composites can be increased by as much as four times by using rod-shaped second phases. The shape of the second phase is characterized by its aspect ratio (length to diameter ratio).
A composition disclosed in Wei U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,345 comprises the addition of silicon carbide whiskers to an alumina matrix to increase fracture toughness. It is explained in the Wei patent that the improved fracture toughness and resistance to slow crack growth is the result of energy spent in pulling whiskers out of the matrix. It is also pointed out in the Wei patent that not all matrix compositions are toughened by the addition of silicon carbide whiskers. Selected compositions disclosed in the Wei patent are finding use as materials for tool inserts. The tool inserts made with silicon carbide whiskers have limited use. They are useful for machining Inconel and other nickel base superalloys but have poor service life with soft steel or cast iron due to their poor wear resistance in these applications caused by their reactivity with iron at the high temperatures encountered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has been surprisingly found that the fracture toughness of fired ceramic compositions containing silicon carbide whiskers dispersed in an alumina based matrix phase can be substantially increased through the addition of dispersed titanium carbide phase to the alumina based matrix without a significantly adverse effect on the hardness of the composition. In addition, it has also been surprisingly found that, in the machining of soft steels, the wear resistance of silicon carbide whisker reinforced ceramic cutting tools can be increased by the addition of titanium carbide phase. In this manner, a ceramic cutting tool is provided which has the fracture toughness of silicon carbide whisker reinforced composites but with significantly improved wear resistance in soft steel machining applications.
In accordance with the present invention, a fired ceramic composition is provided having an alumina based matrix phase containing a dispersion of silicon carbide whiskers and titanium carbide phase. The ceramic composition contains about 1.0 to less than 30 v/o (volume percent), preferably 2.5 to 25 v/o, and more preferably 2.5 to 20 v/o silicon carbide whiskers, about 5 to about 40 v/o titanium carbide phase, and preferably up to about 3 v/o sintering aid residue, with the remainder essentially an alumina based matrix. The sum of the silicon carbide whisker and titanium carbide is preferably less than about 60 v/o, and more preferably less than about 50 v/o. The titanium carbide phase may be either substantially equiaxed titanium carbide particles, titanium carbide whiskers or a mixture thereof.
Where equiaxed titanium carbide particles are utilized, the particles have an average size of between 0.1 to 10 micrometers, preferably, 1 to 10 microns, and more preferably, 3 to 7 microns. Where titanium carbide whiskers are used, the whiskers have a diameter between 0.25 to 10 microns, and preferably about 1 to 10 microns. Preferably, the composition is comprised of about 10 to about 35 v/o titanium carbide phase, and more preferably, about 15 to 35 v/o titanium carbide phase. Preferably, the titanium carbide content is at least equal to the silicon carbide content and, more preferably, the titanium carbide content is greater than the silicon carbide content.
The alumina based (i.e., greater than 50 volume percent of the alumina based matrix is Al 2 O 3 ) matrix is preferably entirely alumina except for impurities and sintering aid residue.
The sintering aid utilized in the present invention may preferably be zirconia, magnesia, a rare earth oxide such as yttria, or a combination of the foregoing not exceeding about 3 v/o. The sintering aid residue observed in the hot pressed composition is preferably between about 0.05 to 3.0 v/o and, more preferably, between 0.25 to 1.5 v/o. The sintering aid is preferably magnesia since this is believed to provide improved toughness.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further features and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention made with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a scanning electron photomicrograph of large diameter, angular cross section titanium carbide whiskers (2000 ×).
FIG. 2 is a scanning electron photomicrograph of small diameter, round cross section titanium carbide whiskers (2000 ×).
FIG. 3 is a scanning electron photomicrograph of equiaxed titanium carbide particles (5000 ×).
FIG. 4 is a scanning electron photomicrograph of silicon carbide whiskers (2000 ×).
FIG. 5 is an optical photomicrograph of a ceramic composition containing silicon carbide whiskers, equiaxed titanium carbide phase and alumina (as polished, 625 ×).
FIG. 6 is an optical photomicrograph of another ceramic composition containing silicon carbide whiskers, titanium carbide whiskers and alumina (as polished, 625 ×).
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of an indexable cutting tool in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 8 shows plots of Rockwell A hardness and fracture toughness, K IC , in MPam 1/2 (18.5 kg load), as functions of titanium carbide content and silicon carbide whisker (SiC w ) content, where .=small diameter titanium carbide whiskers; o=large diameter titanium carbide whiskers; and Δ=substantially equiaxed titanium carbide particles.
FIG. 9 shows a plot of fracture toughness, K IC , versus flank wear resistance of compositions in the high speed rough turning of AISI 1045 steel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be further clarified by consideration of the following examples which are intended to be purely exemplary of the present invention.
Mixes A through I as shown in Table I were made utilizing the following starting materials. Large diameter titanium carbide whisker starting material was composed of particles having an angular cross section with diameters between about 1 to about 6 microns and lengths up to about 100 microns (see FIG. 1). Small diameter titanium carbide whisker starting material was composed of particles having a round cross section and a diameter in the range of about 0.25 to about 3.0 microns and lengths up to about 150 microns (see FIG. 2). The substantially equiaxed titanium carbide particles had a diameter in the range of about 1 to about 10 microns with an average size of about 5 microns (see FIG. 3). These titanium carbide starting materials were at least 98 percent pure.
The titanium carbide whiskers were prepared in a chemical vapor deposition reactor using the technique described in Bauer et al U.S. patent application Ser. No. 354,641, filed on May 19, 1989, (Kennametal Inc. Case No. K-0963), but without the cleaning step utilized therein.
The silicon carbide whisker starting material had a diameter of about 0.3 to 0.7 microns, and a length of about 20 to 50 microns (see FIG. 4). The silicon carbide whiskers were purchased from Tokai Carbon Co. (>98 percent pure, grade No. 2; however, higher purity grade No. 1 may also be used).
The alumina (>99 percent pure, ALCOA A16-SG) had a median particle size after milling of about 0.5 to 0.6 microns.
The magnesia starting material had an average particle size of about 1.0 micron.
The foregoing particulate materials were measured out in the proportions required to produce about 60 grams of each of the nominal compositions (A through I) shown in Table I. Each mix was prepared by first ultrasonically dispersing the titanium carbide whiskers, silicon carbide whiskers and/or substantially equiaxed titanium carbide particles in propanol for about 20 minutes. Weighed amounts of alumina, dispersed titanium carbide whiskers and silicon carbide whiskers, and magnesia sintering aid were thoroughly, but gently, blended in a ball mill for about 30 minutes using propanol as the solvent and alumina cycloids as the media. The mixed slurry was pan dried, and passed through a 100 mesh screen. Each mix was then hot pressed in a one inch diameter graphite die using a pressure of about 4,000 psi under argon of one atmosphere at the approximate temperature shown in Table I to produce fired billets having a density of at least 98 percent of theoretical density.
Typical cross sections through resulting compositions are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIG. 5, the large white phase is substantially equiaxed titanium carbide particles, the acicular light gray phase is silicon carbide whiskers and the dark gray matrix in which the foregoing phases are substantially homogeneous dispersed is alumina containing the residue (not visible at this magnification) of the magnesia sintering aid. FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 except that this composition contains large diameter titanium carbide whiskers (white phase) instead of equiaxed titanium carbide particles.
The foregoing billets were then sectioned and ground into SNGN-433T style (American National Standard Designation in accordance with ANSI B212.4--1986 (cutting edge preparation: 0.008 inch×20° chamfer)) indexable cutting inserts. An example of such a cutting insert 10 is shown in FIG. 7. The cutting insert 10 has a rake face 30, a flank face 50 and a cutting edge 70 at the junction of the rake and flank faces. The cutting edge 70 is preferably in a chamfered condition as mentioned above and shown in FIG. 7.
These materials were then subjected to hardness testing (Rockwell A), fracture toughness testing by the Palmqvist method (Evans and Charles, Fracture Toughness Determination by Indentation," J. American Ceramic Society, Vol. 59, No. 7-8, pages 371, 372, using an 18.5 kg load) and cutting tests the results of which are described in Tables I and II and plotted in FIGS. 8 and 9.
TABLE I__________________________________________________________________________ v/o Fracture % Hot PressingMix v/o v/o Sintering RA Toughness Density Theoretical TemperatureNo. TiC SiC.sub.w Aid Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 Hardness K.sub.IC (E & C) (g/cc) Density °C.__________________________________________________________________________A 15 WS 15 1 MgO Rem 93.5 5.67 3.95 99 1600B 30 WS 15 1 MgO Rem 94.0 5.85 4.12 100 1600C 15 E 15 1 MgO Rem 93.9 5.67 3.97 99 1600D 30 E 15 1 MgO Rem 94.0 5.98 4.12 100 1600E 15 WL 15 1 MgO Rem 93.9 5.80 3.96 99 1600F 30 WL 15 1 MgO Rem 93.8 6.25 4.09 99 1600G 15 WS 30 1 MgO Rem 94.2 5.72 3.81 98 1700H 15 E 30 1 MgO Rem 94.2 5.99 3.87 99 1650I 15 WL 30 1 MgO Rem 94.6 6.26 3.86 99 1700K 30 E 0 1 ZrO.sub.2 Rem 92.3 5.72 4.24 99 1500L 30 E 0 1 ZrO.sub.2 Rem 92.2 5.00 4.27 100 1550M 30 WS 0 1 ZrO.sub.2 Rem 94.0 5.79 4.25 99 1500N 30 WS 0 1 ZrO.sub.2 Rem 94.1 6.44 4.25 99 1550O 0 15 0 Rem 94.2 5.32 3.80 99 1750P 0 20 0 Rem 94.3 6.14 3.78 99 1750Q 0 30 0 Rem 94.6 6.36 3.72 99 1750K090 27 to 0 1 MgO Rem 94.4 4.41 4.29 -- -- 28 E__________________________________________________________________________ WS = small diameter TiC whiskers WL = large diameter TiC whiskers E = substantially equiaxed TiC particles
TABLE II______________________________________TURNING AISI 1045 STEEL Flank Wear Average Cutting Edge Lifetime ResistanceMix No. & Failure Mode (minutes) Minutes/Inch______________________________________A 2.1 BK 625B 1.5 BK 435C 2.3 BK 714D 3.4 BK 526E 1.8 BK 714F 5.3 BK 667G 0.5 CR 57H 1.1 DN,BK 99I 2.0 DN,CH 154O 5.8 DN,CH 500P 2.25 DN,BK 323Q 1.0 CR,BK 159K090 1.3 BK,CR 909______________________________________Cutting Conditions:Workpiece Material: AISI 1045 (180-195 BHN)Insert Style: SNGN-433TLead Angle: 15°Speed: 1000 surface feet/minuteFeed: 0.024 inches/revolutionDepth of Cut: 0.100 inchComparative tests O, P and Q were performedunder similar conditions described in Table II of U.S.Pat. No. 4,801,510 using the similar style insertused therein: SNGN-453T.Cutting Edge Life Criteria:FW-.015" uniform flank wearCR-.004" crater wearDN-.030" depth of cut notchCH-.030" concentrated wear or chippingBR-breakage ##STR1##where ##STR2##As shown in Tables I and II and FIGS. 8 and 9, increasing additions oftitanium carbide to alumina-silicon carbide whisker compositionscontaining less than 30 v/o silicon carbide whiskers results in anincrease in fracture toughness. At a concentration of 30 v/o siliconcarbide whisker (Mix Q), the data indicate that the addition of titaniumcarbide phase (Mixes G, H and I) results in an adverse effect on both thefracture toughness and flank wear resistance of the material comparedwith the material without titanium carbide. At silicon carbide whiskercontents below 30 v/o, the addition of titanium carbide results inincreased fracture toughness and generally results in increased flankwear resistance (see A, C, E, D and F). The data surprisingly indicatethat the addition of titanium carbide as substantially equiaxed particles(D and C) or as whiskers with a diameter in the range of 1 to 6 microns(E and F) provides a higher fracture toughness and flank wear resistancethan the addition of titanium carbide whiskers with a diameter in the
Review of these test results lead us to believe that, to obtain optimum combinations of flank wear resistance in cutting soft steel and fracture toughness, the titanium carbide phase content of the material preferably should, at least, be equal to the silicon carbide content, and most preferably, greater than the silicon carbide content. In addition, it is our belief that, for optimum toughness and wear resistance, the average titanium carbide whisker diameter should preferably be between about 1 to 10 μ and, more preferably, should be greater than the average silicon carbide whisker diameter.
It can clearly be seen that the present invention provides a range of compositions containing a combination of K IC fracture toughness exceeding 5.5 MPam 1/2 , and more preferably, exceeding about 6 MPam 1/2 , in conjunction with high flank wear resistance in the high speed roughing of soft steels such as AISI 1045 steel. Preferably, these cutting tools in accordance with the present invention are characterized by a flank wear resistance of greater than 400, more preferably greater than 500, and most preferably greater than 650 minutes/inch when turning AISI 1045 steel having a hardness of 180-195 BHN at a speed of 1000 surface feet/minute (sfm), a feed rate of 0.024 inch/revolution (ipr) and a depth of cut (doc) of 0.100 inch.
These compositions in accordance with the present invention also provide cutting tools having improved thermal shock resistance compared with similar compositions containing titanium carbide without silicon carbide. Silicon carbide increases the hardness and the thermal conductivity, and decreases the thermal expansivity, of these materials. The combination of the improvements in thermal conductivity and expansivity in conjunction with high fracture toughness, provides the aforementioned improvement in thermal shock resistance.
The combination of properties possessed by the present invention--improved flank wear resistance in the high speed roughing of soft steels, fracture toughness and thermal shock resistance--cannot be found in the prior art alumina compositions containing only silicon carbide or titanium carbide as a reinforcing agent.
It is contemplated that the ceramic compositions in accordance with the present invention will be useful as cutting inserts with or without a coating. If coated, they may be coated with one or more refractory coatings such as alumina with or without titanium nitride as described in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,510.
It is further believed that the manufacturing cost of the present invention may be reduced if the hot pressing step utilized herein to at least substantially fully densify the substrate is replaced by the densification method described in P. K. Mehrotra et al copending U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,663, the whisker containing ceramic substrate is sintered to substantially full density by a method including the steps of: (a) forming a compact of a sinterable ceramic composition; (b) applying a coating to the compact by vapor deposition of a ceramic composition that does not become vitreous before or during the subsequent isostatic pressing step; and (c) heating and isostatically pressing the coated compacts in an atmosphere that reacts with the coating and/or the compact at pressing temperatures and pressures to cause the compact to approach theoretical density. U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,663 and all other patents, patent applications and publications referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification or practice of the invention disclosed herein.
For example, it should be recognized that one skilled in the art can develop optimized compositions within the scope of the invention for machining carbon steel or other materials, perhaps using machining conditions differing from those used herein.
It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims:
|
A ceramic composition is provided having a alumina based matrix with silicon carbide whiskers and titanium carbide phase dispersed therein. The composition includes about 1.0 to less than 30 volume percent silicon carbide whiskers, about 5 to about 40 volume percent titanium carbide phase. The sum of the volume percents of silicon carbide whiskers and titanium carbide phase is less than about 60 volume percent.
| 1
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a loom with sliding shuttles, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for retracting the cut end of the weft, after the weft is introduced into the shed by a sliding shuttle, and transferring that end of the weft to a subsequent shuttle.
DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
In known looms the weft is held under tension by a partial movement of a storage lever after the weft has passed through and beyond the fabric shed opposite to the side of the feed. The weft placed under tension in this way is grasped on the feed side by a gripping device located in the vicinity of the lateral edge of the fabric and is cut by a cutter or a knife. In order to be sure that no part of the weft is lost, mechanisms have been provided to grasp the weft end not only by means of the subsequent sliding shuttle but also to re-use that part of the weft extending between the point at which the weft was cut off and the point at which the weft is secured by the new shuttle. In the known looms a clamp for the weft transfer secures the weft before it is cut off by means of the cutter. After it is cut off, the weft moves back to the clamping point of the next sliding shuttle. In order to keep the weft under tension as it moves back, the storage lever which gave tension to the weft inserted in the shed performs an additional movement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to simplify the transfer process for the weft end and to eliminate the clamp required for the weft transfer, thereby leading to a greater speed of operation and more time for the transfer of the next sliding shuttle into the feed position. According to the invention, the thread end is retracted into a recess up to the intake side of the supply drum and is pivoted into the open shuttle clamp, after which the latter is closed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a schematically represented loom with sliding shuttle;
FIG. 2 is a partially broken away top view of the loom of FIG. 1 showing the area of the supply drum at a time when the weft has been cut adjacent the selvage and the next shuttle has been moved into shooting position;
FIG. 3 is an end view of the supply drum in the position of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a top view similar to FIG. 2 when the weft is transferred to the next shuttle;
FIG. 5 is an end view of the supply drum in the position of FIG. 4; and
FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a shuttle used in the loom of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a loom 1 which has a machine frame substantially comprising two side plates 2, 3 and a main web 4 connecting the two side plates. A geared motor 5 is provided relative to side plate 2 and by means of a belt drive 6 drives a longitudinal to shaft 7, normally referred to as the main shaft, mounted in the machine frame. All the parts necessary for the operation of the loom 1 are continuously or intermittently driven under the impetus of the main shaft. Such driven elements include the warp beam, warp, shafts and fabric beam for winding on the fabric. The main shaft 7 correspondingly drives or actuates the shooting device 10, securing device 11 and sley 12, all in a conventional manner. For example, drive means 40 couples shaft 7 to shooting device 10, means 41 controls the operation of the supply drum, and drive means 42 controls securing device 11. All of these means are conventional, means 41 typically comprising a chain drive and a Maltese cross transmission for stepwise rotation of the drum.
The sliding shuttles 13 are brought into their shooting position by a rotary supply drum 14 and are shot by means of the shooting device 10 through shuttle guides 8 arranged on the sley 12 and through the particular open shed. At the other end of the machine the shuttles are braked by the securing device 11, are placed top downwards by a guide shaft (not shown) on a conveyor belt 16 and are thereby brought back to the supply drum 14. Prior to shooting the sliding shuttle 13, a weft 17 which originates from a fixed weft bobbin located outside the shed, is fed through weft guides 19 and weft brake 18 and is inserted into the sliding shuttle 13 which is ready for shooting. However, a storage lever 21 is interpositioned between brake 18 and drum 14 as will be explained in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. The basic operation of the loom as outlined above is well known.
FIG. 2 shows a gripping and cutting device 22 positioned immediately alongside the fabric having just cut off the weft 17 which has been inserted into the shed. Device 22 is of conventional structure. It moves in the direction of arrow 44, grips the just inserted weft while it is taut, cuts it adjacent the material selvage and then releases the weft and moves out of the way of the direction of arrow 45 (FIG. 4) while the loom performs the beating-up step. The drum 14 is simultaneously rotated by one pitch so that a new sliding shuttle 13 arrives in the shooting position. The weft extends from the cut end through the guide slot 23 of drum 14. Guide slots 23 are those longitudinal slots in the drum which retain shuttles 13. When a shuttle grips the weft and is shot through the sley the weft trails through the slot 23 from which the shuttle was just shot and remains therein when cut by device 22. The drum is formed with spaced circumferential grooves 27 which intersect with and have the same depth as guide slots 23. An arm 25 is fixed to the machine frame. A shaft 25' connects guide comb 24 to the arm 25, the guide comb having a plurality of fingers 26 projecting from carrier bar 24'. The guide comb is located on the empty side of the supply drum 14, that is, that side whose guide slots carry no sliding shuttles. The guide comb 24 fingers 26 project into and ride in the spaced annular peripheral grooves 27 of drum 14. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the fingers 26 extend against the next shuttle 13 which is ready for shooting. The free end of each of the fingers is formed as a V-shaped groove 31, corresponding to the shape of the side of the shuttle, in which the end of the cut weft 17 is guided. The weft is thus frictionally held against the shuttle 13 in shooting position by groove 31 . As a result of this arrangement, rotation of the drum, combined with guidance of the weft end in grooves 31, provides controlled relocation of the weft from empty guide slot 23 to the next shuttle. Note how the weft loops alternately from a portion of empty slot 23 to groove 31 in peripheral groove 27 of the drum.
Prior to the cutting off of weft 17 by the device 22, the storage lever 21, through which the weft passes, is moved in the direction of arrow 46 in FIG. 2 by part of its stroke in order to place the weft still held by the shuttle in securing device 11 under tension before beat-up and changing the shed. At this time weft brake 18 applies a certain amount of friction to the weft so that lateral motion of the storage level away from its normal position in line with weft guides 20 and 9 causes the weft in the shed to be in tension. At the time that the weft is cut by device 22, weft brake 18 firmly grips the weft. Further motion of the storage lever 21 as shown in FIG. 4 by arrow 47 then pulls the end of the weft through slot 23 and grooves 31 and past arm 28 which frictionally holds the weft against the inlet or left face of the drum. The retaining arm 28 is simply an arm having a surface which bears against the inlet or left face of the supply drum. The frictional engagement of the weft in and against the drum is relatively light so that it easily slides through due to the motion of lever 21. A connecting dot-dash line 43 in FIG. 1 is shown coupling the main shaft to the weft brake, indicating that its operation is synchronized with the other operations of the loom. Since during this movement the weft is secured as it comes from the bobbin by the weft brake 18, the cut off weft end in the guide slot 23 is retracted to such an extent that only a small portion thereof remains in the slot 23, as shown in FIG. 4, and that portion is pressed by a retaining arm 28 against the inlet face of the supply drum 14. This is simultaneously accompanied by a movement of a guide hook 29 which draws the weft end into the shuttle clamp opened by a ram 30 (FIG. 4), the clamp being located on the back of the sliding shuttle 13. This terminates the transfer of the weft end to the sliding shuttle 13 which is ready for shooting. As shown in FIG. 3, ram 30 is pivoted back so that the shuttle clamp closes and the weft end is secured. The guide hook 29 is simultaneously brought into the aligned position with the weft guides 20 and 9 and the weft brake 18 is released, followed by the shooting of sliding shuttle 13 by shooting device 10 and the insertion together with the weft 17 into the shed. Only a small piece of weft end is left free which is held by the retaining bolt 28.
Storage lever 21 is merely an arm which is cam or gear controlled from shaft 7. The loop in the weft formed by lever 21 by means of the operating step shown in FIG. 4 is absorbed immediately when the shuttle is shot through the shed. Guide hook 29 is a conventionally shaped hook through which the weft passes. The hook moves in a reciprocating manner as indicated by arrow 51 in FIG. 2. When moved to the position shown in FIG. 4, the weft is pulled into engagement with the clamp of shuttle 13.
The shuttle is conventional and is shown in FIG. 6. The clamp is comprised of upper blade 52 and lower blade 53 which come together at end 54 and engage the weft at that point. Lower blade 53 is biased to normally contact upper blade 52. A hole 55 is provided in the shuttle body in alignment with hole 56 in the upper blade. Ram 30 which has a relatively small pointed end enters through these holes and presses lower blade 53 downward to separate the blades at end 54. This occurs at about the time storage lever 21 reaches its farthest point of travel as shown in FIG. 4 and is immediately followed by the motion of the guide hook as shown in the same figure. The weft is thus inserted into the shuttle clamp and ram 30 is then pivoted out of the way allowing the clamp to close. The shuttle is then shot through the shed. The motions of the guide hook and the ram are controlled by the main shaft in conventional manner and it would serve no useful purpose to show the various connecting means in detail here.
Due to the fact that the guide slot of the particular sliding shuttle shot is used for guiding the weft end, a very simple and reliable guidance of the weft end is obtained and no additional holding devices are required.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and various modifications will likely occur to those skilled in this art which are within the scope of the invention.
|
A method and apparatus for controlling and transferring the cut end of a weft to a subsequent sliding shuttle clamp. The weft end is retained in the guide slot of the shuttle supply drum which was occupied by the previous shuttle before it was shot through the shed. A storage lever retracts the cut end of the weft to the intake side of the drum and the weft is then pivoted to the new shuttle.
| 3
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/343,846, filed May 4, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This invention relates to quick connector assemblies that join fluid conduits in a substantially leak-proof connection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. Connection joints that join two fluid lines are currently known in the art. One limitation of some current connection joints is the necessity to use tools, such as screwdrivers, to tighten screws that secure one or both of the fluid lines together. Another limitation of some current connection joints is their tendency to give a user the impression that the fluid connection lines are securely joined together, when in fact they are not, thus potentially separating during the transfer of fluid within the lines and through the connection joint.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a quick connector assembly including a housing and a retainer. The housing provides fluid communication between a first conduit and a second conduit. The first conduit has a flange. The housing has a first end that connects with the first conduit, and the housing has a second end that connects with the second conduit. The housing also has a fluid passage that extends between the first and second ends. The retainer is carried by the housing. The retainer has a portion that is located in the fluid passage of the housing. When connecting the housing and the first conduit, the flange of the first conduit makes contact with the portion of the retainer and displaces the portion outwardly with respect to the fluid passage of the housing. During further connection, the flange passes the portion of the retainer so that the portion springs inwardly against the first conduit. Abutment between the flange and the portion of the retainer inhibits separation of the housing and the first conduit.
[0005] In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a quick connector assembly including a housing and a wire spring. The housing is constructed to provide fluid communication between a conduit and a hose. The conduit has a flange. The housing has a fluid passage, and the housing has an opening in a wall of the housing. The opening is open to the fluid passage. The wire spring is wrapped externally around a portion or more of the housing. The wire spring has a portion that is extended through the opening and that is located within the fluid passage of the housing. When the housing receives the conduit, the flange of the conduit makes contact with the portion of the wire spring, and the contact of the flange displaces the portion outwardly with respect to the fluid passage of the housing and also displaces the portion forwardly with respect to the direction of reception of the conduit. During further reception, the flange passes the portion of the wire spring so that the portion springs inwardly and rearwardly against the conduit. Abutment between the flange and the portion, and abutment between the portion and a surface of the opening, inhibits separation of the housing and the conduit.
[0006] In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a quick connector assembly including a housing, a wire spring, and a tab. The housing is constructed to provide fluid communication between a conduit and a hose. The conduit has a flange. The housing has a first end that receives the conduit, and the housing has a second end that is inserted into the hose. The housing has a fluid passage that extends between the first and second ends. The housing further has a first opening, a second opening, and a through-hole. The wire spring is carried by the housing. The wire spring has a first leg that is extended through the first opening and that is located within the fluid passage. The wire spring has a second leg that is extended through the second opening and that is located within the fluid passage of the housing. The tab has a first portion that is extended through the through-hole and that is located within the fluid passage at a position that is forward of the first and second legs with respect to the direction of reception of the conduit. The tab has a second portion that is located exteriorly of the housing. When the housing receives the conduit, the flange makes contact with the first and second legs and displaces the first and second legs outwardly with respect to the fluid passage, and displaces the first and second legs forwardly with respect to the direction of reception of the conduit. During further reception, the flange passes the first and second legs so that the first and second legs spring inwardly and rearwardly against the conduit. The flange contacts the first portion of the tab and displaces the tab outwardly with respect to the fluid passage of the housing. And during further reception, the flange passes the first portion of the tab.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements, and wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a right side view of an embodiment of a connector assembly joined to conduit;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a left side view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0011] FIG. 4 is a top view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0012] FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0013] FIG. 6 is an enlarged bottom view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0014] FIG. 7 is an enlarged top view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0015] FIG. 8 is an enlarged top view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0016] FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0017] FIG. 10 is an end view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 from the end of the conduit that is connected to the connector assembly;
[0018] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 joined to a conduit;
[0019] FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of an O-ring, bushing, retainer, insertion verification tab, and conduit, according to an embodiment of a connector assembly;
[0020] FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 and conduit residing within the connector assembly;
[0021] FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 , including a retainer, and a conduit locked within the connector assembly;
[0022] FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 with a conduit contacting an insertion verification tab within the connector assembly;
[0023] FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 depicting an O-ring, bushing, retainer, and insertion verification tab;
[0024] FIG. 17 is a side view of a conduit around which an O-ring, busing, retainer, and insertion verification tab may be situated, relative to the conduit;
[0025] FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 depicting a hole through which an insertion verification tab can pass;
[0026] FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 depicting a passage through which the insertion verification tab can pass;
[0027] FIG. 20 is a top view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 depicting a passage through which an insertion verification tab can pass;
[0028] FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 depicting passage through which an insertion verification tab can pass;
[0029] FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an insertion verification tab depicting flexible tabs, a hook, and nodules;
[0030] FIG. 23 is a rear view of an insertion verification tab depicting flexible tabs and nodules; and
[0031] FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 and a conduit with the conduit engaging a retainer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0032] With reference now to FIGS. 1-24 of the drawings the operative workings of embodiments of the invention will now be described more fully. In general, a quick connector assembly is used to facilitate the transition between two conduits, in one example a metal pipe and a rubber hose, without the use of a hose clamp; though in some embodiments a hose clamp can be used. Turning first to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a quick connector assembly 10 is depicted with a conduit 12 residing within the connector assembly 10 . In one embodiment, the connector assembly 10 employs a housing 14 , a retainer 16 , an insertion verification tab or tab 18 , an O-ring 20 ( FIG. 13 ), and a bushing 22 ( FIG. 13 ). The conduit 12 is inserted into and locks within the connector assembly 10 . The connector assembly 10 may be utilized to connect a fluid transfer line, such as a rubber hose (not depicted), to a nipple with ridges or barbs 24 around a hollow inlet 26 . The hollow inlet 26 may also be used as an outlet. Continuing, the housing 14 has a conduit or hose stop 28 against which a conduit or hose may reside when installed over the barbs 24 . The housing 14 can be made of a plastic material such as nylon 66 , 33% glass filled; other materials could be suitable and could be used. The housing 14 , as a molded plastic structure may have multiple features molded into it in order to facilitate the acceptance of the hollow conduit 12 , such as a metal or plastic pipe, within the interior of the housing 14 . More specifically, and with reference to FIGS. 3-6 , the housing 14 may employ an opening or groove 28 that passes through the wall thickness of the housing 14 and around a majority of the circumference of the housing 14 . FIG. 6 depicts the groove 28 on the bottom of the housing 14 . The groove 28 is molded into the housing at an angle, that is, the groove 28 is not perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of the fluid passage through the housing 14 . The angle at which the groove 28 is molded into the housing facilitates the direction of movement of the retainer 16 within the groove 28 . More specifically, the retainer 16 , which may be a piece of steel such as spring steel or wire, resides in a first position depicted with numeral 30 , before insertion of the conduit 12 .
[0033] Upon insertion of the conduit 12 into the connector assembly 10 as depicted in FIGS. 1-5 , the retainer 16 will move according to the angle of the groove 28 from the position 30 to the position 32 as the conduit 12 makes contact with the retainer 16 . From the position 30 and to the position 32 , the retainer 16 is displaced outwardly with respect to a fluid passage 48 and is displaced forwardly with respect to the direction of insertion of the conduit 12 . A first exterior wall 34 of the connector assembly 10 provides a surface for the retainer 16 to bear against as the conduit 12 is pressed into the connector assembly 10 and against the retainer 16 . A second exterior wall 36 may also reside on an outside of the connector assembly, parallel to the first exterior wall 34 , and together with the first exterior wall 34 , form part of the groove 28 , within which the retainer 16 may reside. Between the exterior walls 34 , 36 the groove is not though to the fluid passage 48 of the connector assembly 10 and is rather located externally of the fluid passage 48 and externally of the housing 14 ; however, other portions of the groove 28 are through the wall of the connector assembly 10 so that the retainer 16 , in position 30 and position 32 , may make physical contact against the conduit 12 .
[0034] FIG. 6 clearly depicts a bottom view of the connector assembly 10 and the groove 28 , and more specifically, depicts how a first portion 38 of the groove 28 is formed at a non-perpendicular angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the conduit 12 and the connector assembly 10 , while a second portion 40 of the groove 28 is formed at a right angle to, or is perpendicular to, the longitudinal axis of the conduit 12 and the connector assembly 10 . Similarly, the top view of the connector assembly 10 of FIG. 7 depicts how the retainer 16 moves within the groove 28 of the connector assembly 10 during insertion of the conduit 12 into the connector assembly 10 . More specifically, before the conduit 12 is inserted into the connector assembly 10 , the one-piece retainer 16 is in position 30 . When the conduit 12 is inserted into the connector assembly 10 , a flange 42 ( FIG. 10 ) of the conduit 12 contacts a portion or more of the retainer 16 , which is in position 30 . As insertion of the conduit 12 continues into the connector assembly 10 , the flange 42 pushes, urges, and displaces the retainer 16 from position 30 into position 32 . The retainer moves within the groove 28 and between its surfaces, which initially is at an angle that is not ninety degrees, relative to the longitudinal axis of the conduit 12 . As the conduit 12 continues even further into the connector assembly 10 , the retainer 16 reaches the end of the angled portion of the groove 28 and may then proceed within the groove 28 at a ninety degree angle to the conduit 12 , as depicted in FIG. 10 . As soon as prongs 44 , 46 of the retainer 16 move outwardly (toward the outside diameter of the connector assembly 10 ) such that the distance between the prongs 44 , 46 is larger than or equal to the diameter of the flange 42 , the retainer 16 and prongs 44 , 46 move inwardly and spring back into the position 30 , as depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8 .
[0035] FIG. 9 depicts two positions of the retainer 16 . The first position 30 depicts the first prong 44 in a position in which the conduit 12 has either not yet been inserted or a position in which the conduit 12 has been fully inserted. The second position 32 of the prong 44 of the retainer 16 depicts a position in which the conduit 12 is undergoing insertion. Stated differently, when the prongs 44 , 46 of the retainer 16 are at position 32 , the conduit is undergoing insertion and when the prongs 44 , 46 of the retainer 16 are at position 30 , insertion and installation either has not started or is complete.
[0036] FIG. 10 depicts the fully inserted position of the conduit 12 with the retainer 16 in position 30 blocking the flange 42 of the conduit 12 from exiting the passage 48 of the housing 14 and therefore inhibiting separation of the housing 14 and the conduit 12 . That is, the retainer 16 is between the flange 42 and the exit of the passage 48 of the housing 14 . FIG. 10 also depicts the position 32 of the retainer 16 with its prongs 44 , 46 location at a position in order to permit the flange 42 to pass in order for the retainer to assume the position 30 and lock the flange 42 and conduit 12 within the housing 14 . With reference again to FIG. 7 , another embodiment of the connector assembly 10 will be explained. More specifically, the groove 28 is angled so that after installing the conduit 12 into the housing 14 to a depth that permits the conduit 12 to lock behind the retainer 16 , as depicted in FIGS. 10 and 14 , if the conduit 12 is pulled or forced in the opposite rearward direction, or non-insertion direction, an end of surface 50 of the groove 28 in the housing 14 will prevent the retainer 16 from spreading apart and outwardly and rearwardly, as is necessary for insertion of the conduit 12 , as described above. FIGS. 12 and 13 also depict, in perspective cross-sectional views, how the retainer 16 resides between the exit of the passage 48 of the housing 14 and the flange 42 of the conduit 12 . In this embodiment, because the retainer 16 is a single piece of material, such as a stainless steel spring wire, the retainer 16 maintains its shape and position against the flange 42 unless forced by contact in another direction, as described above in connection with insertion of the conduit 12 into the housing 14 .
[0037] FIG. 12 also depicts another embodiment of the present teachings. More specifically, the bushing 22 has a rounded or beveled edge 52 that permits easy insertion of the conduit 12 into the passage 48 of the housing 14 . Similarly, the conduit 12 has a rounded or beveled end 54 that will assist in directing the conduit 12 into the connector assembly 10 , such as if the beveled end 54 strikes the beveled edge 52 of the bushing 22 . Next to the bushing 22 , the O-ring 20 resides to create a fluid-tight seal between the conduit and the housing 14 . The seal that the O-ring 20 provides prevents fluid from passing beside and around the O-ring 20 . Because the O-ring 20 compresses, it also assists in maintaining the position of the conduit 12 within the housing 14 by maintaining a constant and equal force against the conduit 12 where the O-ring 20 contacts the conduit 12 . FIG. 14 also shows that the O-ring 20 and bushing 22 maintain their positions within the housing 14 during insertion and removal of the conduit 12 . More specifically, FIG. 14 depicts a ridge 56 that protrudes toward a centerline of the housing 14 . The ridge 56 mates with or fits into a valley 58 of the bushing 22 and prevents movement fore and aft within the housing 14 , or stated differently, movement back-and-forth in the direction of the centerline of the conduit 12 and housing 14 is restricted or prevented. With continued reference to FIG. 14 , because the O-ring 20 is located against the bushing 22 on one side, and the housing structure itself on the other side, the O-ring 20 is prevented from moving within the housing 14 .
[0038] Turning now to FIGS. 15-20 , an explanation of the insertion verification tab 18 will be presented. With reference first to FIG. 22 and FIG. 23 , the insertion verification tab 18 has a top button 60 , a stalk 62 , a first tab 64 , a second tab 66 , a tension post 68 , a hook 70 with a land 72 , a first nodule 74 , and a second nodule 76 . When viewed in the rear view of FIG. 23 , the first tab 64 and second tab 66 are molded in an arcuate configuration to impart tension in the tension post 68 when the tabs 64 , 66 are pressed flat against the housing in their installed position, as depicted in FIG. 11 and FIG. 15 . Because the tabs 64 , 66 are flexible, they act as a spring to place the tension post 68 in tension when the insertion verification tab 18 is in its installed position as in FIG. 11 and FIG. 15 . Tension results in the tension post 68 between the tabs 64 , 66 and the hook 70 because the hook 70 is situated under and against part of the housing 14 when the tabs 64 , 66 are in flexure and compressed against the top surface of the housing 14 . With the tabs 64 , 66 trying to unflex and relax to their unstressed state, but being prevented from doing so by the position of the hook 70 under and against an interior surface of the housing 14 , the tension post 68 is placed into constant tension. Continuing when in its installed position, the insertion verification tab 18 passes through a hole 78 ( FIG. 19 ) in the top of the housing 14 and the tabs 64 , 66 abut against a vertical wall perpendicular to a top surface 80 of the housing 14 . As depicted in FIG. 15 , the conduit 12 is not yet fully inserted into the passage 48 of the housing 14 . For clarity, FIG. 16 depicts the relative positions of the connector assembly 10 , including the housing 14 , insertion verification tab 18 , O-ring 20 , bushing 22 , retainer 16 , and groove 28 in the housing 14 are depicted without the conduit 12 . Similarly, FIG. 17 depicts the relative positions of the conduit 12 , insertion verification tab 18 , O-ring 20 , bushing 22 , and retainer 16 without the housing 14 .
[0039] FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the housing 14 within which the hole 78 through which the insertion verification tab 18 passes. The hole 78 is located through the top wall and inside diameter 82 of the housing 14 . As depicted, the land 72 of the hook 70 of the insertion verification tab 18 resides against the inside diameter of the passage 48 of the housing 14 . FIG. 18 also depicts the first nodule 74 and the second nodule 76 at the end of the insertion verification tab 18 . The nodules 74 , 76 in conjunction with the insertion verification tab 18 will be explained later.
[0040] Turning now to FIG. 19 , details of the hole 78 in the housing 14 through which the insertion verification tab 18 passes will be described. More specifically, the hole 78 is in the outer or exterior wall of the housing 14 and in one embodiment is a through hole that passes from inside the passage 48 of the housing 14 and through the top surface 80 of the housing 14 . The hole 78 is square as viewed from the top surface 80 , as depicted in FIG. 20 , but other shapes are possible. Continuing with FIG. 19 , the hole 78 is molded such that not all opposing sides are parallel. More specifically, as depicted in FIG. 19 , a first wall 84 is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the housing 14 while its opposing or second wall 86 is not. The second wall 86 is closer to the first wall 84 deeper into the hole 78 ; that is, the hole size is larger at the top surface 80 and decreases with the depth of the hole 78 through the wall of the housing 14 . One reason for a tapered hole that is larger at one end, such as at the exterior surface of the housing, of the hole 78 than the other end, such as at an interior surface 88 of the housing 14 , of the hole 78 will now be explained.
[0041] With reference to FIG. 16 , before inserting the conduit 12 into the connector assembly 10 , the insertion verification tab 18 can be in place through the hole 78 of the housing 14 , and can be situated as depicted. Next, the conduit 12 , with its rounded or beveled end 54 first, is inserted into the connector assembly 10 , and more specifically, into the passage 48 of the housing 14 . As the conduit 12 is pushed deeper into the housing 14 , the flange 42 will eventually contact the retainer 16 , as depicted in FIG. 24 . More specifically, the flange 42 first contacts the retainer 16 when the retainer 16 is in position 30 . Then due to the angle of the groove 28 as it is molded from the exterior of the housing 14 to the conduit 12 , the retainer 16 is moved outwardly and forwardly, and away from the conduit 12 , toward the exterior or outside diameter of the housing 14 . The retainer 16 moves to position 32 , as depicted in FIG. 24 , when the conduit 12 is nearly fully inserted. As depicted in FIG. 24 , the retainer 16 is spread or separated to its largest degree when the retainer 16 is contacting the outside diameter of the flange 42 . Next, upon pushing the conduit 12 a little farther into the passage 48 of the housing 14 , the retainer will again move and spring into position 30 . With the conduit 12 fully pushed into the housing 14 , and the retainer 16 in position 30 , the flange 42 is locked between the retainer 16 in position 30 and the bushing 22 . Thus, even if the conduit 12 is pulled in the rearward direction of arrow 90 , the retainer 16 will prevent the removal of the conduit 12 . More specifically, because the groove 28 is angled, when the conduit 12 is moved in direction 90 , the flange 42 will actually direct the retainer 16 into the conduit 12 instead of away from the conduit 12 , which would be necessary to remove the conduit. Thus, the connector assembly 10 has a conduit locking and snapping feature that functions using the flange 42 , retainer 16 , and angled groove 28 molded completely through the housing 14 wall around much of the retainer.
[0042] While the above structure and method of conduit 12 insertion ensures that the conduit 12 is locked within the housing 14 , the insertion verification tab 18 permits a user to actually see that the conduit 12 is locked in place. Stated differently, the insertion verification tab 18 provides visual verification to a user that the conduit 12 is locked into place within the housing 14 . More specifically, FIG. 11 depicts a cross-sectional view of the relationship between the housing 14 , conduit 12 , retainer 16 , and the insertion verification tab 18 . More specifically, when the flange 42 of the conduit 12 strikes the hook 70 of the insertion verification tab 18 , the flange 42 has already outwardly biased the retainer 16 , as explained above, and passed by the retainer 16 to cause the retainer 16 to snap, click, or move into the position depicted in FIG. 11 , which is on one side of the flange 42 , with the hook 70 being on the opposite side of the flange 42 . As a user continues to push the conduit 12 into the housing 14 , the tapered front portion 91 ( FIG. 22 ) of the insertion verification tab 18 contacts the flange 42 of the conduit and the hook 70 is forced off of the interior surface 88 ( FIG. 11 and FIG. 18 ). When the hook 70 is forced from the interior surface 88 of the housing 14 due to the force of the flange 42 on the tapered front portion 91 of the insertion verification tab 18 , the tension in the tension post 68 , together with the stored energy in the first tab 64 and second tab 66 , causes the hook 70 to pull into or move into the hole 78 . When the hook 70 moves into the hole 78 , the entire insertion verification tab 18 moves away from the top surface 80 of the housing 14 . More specifically, and to indicate to an observer that the conduit flange is securely stowed between the retainer 16 in position 30 and the bushing 22 , the first tab 64 and the second tab 66 move from their compressed and flattened position, as depicted in FIG. 11 and FIG. 16 , to their unstressed and arched position depicted in FIG. 10 . To assist in guiding the tabs 64 , 66 into and away from the housing 14 , a top wall 92 protrudes perpendicularly from the top surface 80 . When a user can physically view a gap 94 between top surface 80 and the tabs 64 , 66 , then the user knows that the land 72 of the hook 70 has been moved from the interior surface 88 of the housing 14 and that the flange 42 of the conduit is secure in its location between the retainer 16 and the bushing 22 .
[0043] Upon secure installation of the flange 42 as described above, the insertion verification tab 18 may then be removed by a user. If a user chooses not to remove the insertion verification tab 18 , it will loosely remain in the hole 78 of the housing 14 in part because the tension in the tension post 68 has been removed and the land 72 of the hook 70 has been removed from the inside diameter 82 of the housing 14 , but also because of the first nodule 74 and the second nodule 76 . More specifically, the nodules 74 , 76 prevent the insertion verification tab 18 from falling from the housing 14 because the distance between a first tip 96 of the first nodule 74 and a second tip 98 of the second nodule 76 is greater than a width 100 of the hole 78 through which the insertion verification tab 18 passes in order to be removed from the housing 14 . However, because the insertion verification tab 18 may be molded or made from a plastic material that is compressible or deformable, the insertion verification tab 18 may be removed entirely from the housing 14 through the hole 78 by somewhat forcefully pulling on the button 60 of the insertion verification tab 18 . In response to such pulling, the nodules 74 , 76 will deform and pass through the hole 78 of the housing 14 . Pulling the insertion verification tab 18 from the housing 14 is possible when the land 72 of the hook 70 no longer resides on the interior surface 88 of the housing 14 , after being forced from such a position, as previously described.
[0044] Therefore, in one embodiment what is disclosed is a connector assembly employing the tubular housing 14 defining the groove or opening 28 through at least a portion of a wall of the housing 14 , and the through hole 78 . Additionally, the assembly may employ the retainer 16 , such as a stainless steel spring wire retainer, that passes through the groove 28 , and may employ the insertion verification tab 18 that passes through the through hole 78 . The assembly may further employ the tubular conduit 12 defining the annular flange 42 that protrudes radially outwardly from the conduit 12 , the flange 42 having a diameter that is larger than the tubular conduit 12 .
[0045] Optionally, the connector assembly may employ the annular bushing 22 positioned within the housing 14 such that the flange 42 of the tubular conduit 12 is positioned between the bushing 22 and the retainer 16 . The annular O-ring 20 may reside against the bushing 22 on a side of the bushing 22 opposite the retainer 16 . The groove 28 in the housing 14 may be formed at an angle other than ninety degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the housing 14 to facilitate the passing of the flange 42 deeper into the housing 14 . The angle of the groove 28 in the housing 14 may then prevent removal of the conduit 12 as the retainer 16 reaches a closed end of the groove 28 . During insertion of the conduit 12 , the flange 42 may contact a first side of the retainer 16 , such as a side of the retainer 16 facing the insertion end (where the conduit 12 enters the housing 14 ) of the housing 14 , and upon completion of insertion of the conduit 12 , the flange 42 may contact a second side of the retainer 16 , or that side of the retainer 16 not facing the end of the housing 14 where the conduit 12 enters the housing 14 . Stated differently, during insertion of the conduit 12 , the flange 42 may contact a first side of the retainer 16 and upon completion of insertion of the conduit 12 , that is, when the land 72 of the hook 70 of the insertion verification tab 18 is forced into the hole 78 , the flange 42 contacts a second side of the retainer 16 . The retainer 16 may be a spring steel wire that biases into and out of the groove 28 of the housing 14 , and is locatable in and out of the fluid passage 48 , during insertion of the conduit 12 into the housing 14 due to the flange 42 contacting the retainer 16 .
[0046] The insertion verification tab 18 may employ the main stalk 62 with a first end (the end with the disc or button 60 ) and a second end (the end with the hook 70 ). The disc 60 , which may be molded to the first end of the main stalk 62 , may be used for grasping by human fingers to extract the stalk 62 from the housing after full insertion of the conduit 12 , as described above. The hook 70 with the flat land 72 may be molded to the second end of the main stalk 62 , and the first tension tab 64 and the second tension tab 66 may be molded to the main stalk 62 between the disc 60 and the hook 70 . The first tension tab 64 and the second tension tab 66 may be arched such that only an edge or tip of each, such as that portion of each most distal to the stalk 62 , is closest to the housing 14 before insertion of the stalk 62 into the housing 14 , so that they act as springs and flex to place part of the stalk 62 into tension when the tabs 64 , 66 are pressed against the housing 14 , with part of the tabs 64 , 66 still connected to the stalk 62 , and the land 72 of the hook 70 is contacting the inside surface 88 of the housing 14 . The first and second tension tabs 64 , 66 may be forced flat against the top surface 80 of the housing 14 thereby creating tension in the main stalk between the first and second tension tabs 64 , 66 and the hook 70 .
[0047] The insertion verification tab 18 may further employ the first nodule and the second nodule located at the second end of the main stalk, or that end of the stalk with the hook 70 . A distance between the first nodule tip 96 most distal from the main stalk and the second nodule tip 98 most distal from the main stalk is less than a shortest distance between opposing parallel sides of the through hole 78 . The nodules 74 , 76 and the walls of the hole 78 may deform to permit removal of the insertion verification tab 18 from the housing 14 after complete insertion of the conduit 12 into the housing 14 and the forcing by the flange 42 of the hook 70 into the hole 78 . The stalk 62 may flex to permit such positioning of the hook 70 for removal of the stalk 62 .
[0048] It is to be understood that the foregoing description is not a definition of the invention, but is a description of one or more preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention. The invention is not limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed herein, but rather is defined solely by the claims below. Furthermore, the statements contained in the foregoing description relate to particular embodiments and are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention or on the definition of terms used in the claims, except where a term or phrase is expressly defined above. Various other embodiments and various changes and modifications to the disclosed embodiment(s) will become apparent to those skilled in the art. All such other embodiments, changes, and modifications are intended to come within the scope of the appended claims.
[0049] As used in this specification and claims, the terms “for example,” “for instance,” and “such as,” and the verbs “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and their other verb forms, when used in conjunction with a listing of one or more components or other items, are each to be construed as open-ended, meaning that the listing is not to be considered as excluding other, additional components or items. Other terms are to be construed using their broadest reasonable meaning unless they are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.
|
A quick connector assembly that provides fluid communication between a first conduit and a second conduit. The quick connector assembly includes a housing and a retainer. The housing has a first end that connects with the first conduit, has a second end that connects with the second conduit, and has a fluid passage that extends between the first and second ends. The retainer is carried by the housing and has a portion located in the fluid passage of the housing.
| 5
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of disposal of highly radioactive materials, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reducing the volume of radioactive rectangular tubular fuel channels stored under water.
In one type of boiling water nuclear reactor (BWR), there is a fuel assembly consisting of fuel rods surrounded by a fuel channel. The channel is a 5.278 inch square tube, approximately fourteen feet long, with open ends and made of zircalloy. The channels typically have a wall thickness of 0.080, 0.100 or 0.120 inch.
There are a large number of these fuel assemblies in a BWR reactor, and one-third of these assemblies are normally replaced each year. Even though the fuel channels are normally reused after the fuel rods are removed, for various reasons it has been determined that in some cases, they cannot be resued, but must be replaced, thereby requiring these highly radioactive fuel channels to be disposed of in a safe and economical manner.
These used fuel channels are highly radioactive for two reasons. First, the zircalloy metal itself has become somewhat radioactive during operation of the nuclear reactor, and second, there is formed on the outside of the channel a crust or crud which itself is also highly radioactive.
The present method of disposing of such radioactive fuel channels is to place them in a special heavy metal shipping cask, and transport them to one of the five federal disposal grounds in the country where they are then buried. However, the rental for these casks is quite expensive, and it would be highly desirable to reduce the effective volume of these tubular fuel channels thereby to increase the number of channels which can be shipped in each cask.
There are presently hundreds of these fuel channels stored in water-filled fuel pools at numerous BWR-nuclear power plants. Due to the radiation levels of these fuel channels, they must be handled under water, thus posing one problem. Another problem is that the handling operation must result in as little debris as possible, since such debris is radioactive and will contaminate the pool water.
One suggestion has been to crush the fuel channels in order to reduce their volume, but this procedure would result in a great deal of debris in the form of flaked-off radioactive crust dislodged from the channel during the crushing operation. In addition, the volume reduction would not be optimum using this method of compaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the broad object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for disposing of these fuel channels, which are stored under water, by minimizing the effective volume of each fuel channel, with a minimum of radioactive debris, such that each shipping cask can accommodate a much larger number of fuel channels than would otherwise be possible.
A more specific object of this invention is to cut under water a radioactive rectangular tube into four side plates which are then nested or stacked as they are placed in a shipping cask which is also under water.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus into which a rectangular fuel channel may be placed under water, such apparatus being provided with four roller cutters which travel along the four longitudinal edges or corners of the fuel channel to cut the fuel channel simultaneously and efficiently into four side plates which are then placed in a shipping cask, thereby greatly increasing the total number of fuel channels which may be accommodated by each shipping cask.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the method of this invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the environment in which the preferred apparatus of the invention is used;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the apparatus of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line "5--5" of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line "6--6" of FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 is a vertical section of the cutter head assembly taken along line "7--7" of FIG. 8;
FIG. 8 is a section taken along line "8--8" of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a section taken along line "9--9" of FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a section taken along line "10--10" of FIG. 7; and
FIG. 11 is a section taken along line "11--11" of FIG. 7.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Reference numeral 10 designates a spent highly radioactive fuel channel 10, typically made of zircalloy which has become highly radioactive, and reference numeral 12 designates a radioactive crust or crud which is formed on the channel during its use in a nuclear reactor. The illustrated channel is an approximately five inch square tube which is approximately fourteen feet long with open ends. The thickness of the walls of the channel is typically in the range of 0.080 to 0.12 inch.
FIG. 1 illustrates the method of the invention. The spent radioactive fuel channel is stored in a pool 14 of water. In order to ship such fuel channels to the federal burial grounds within the country, the channels must be stored in a radioactive-shielded shipping cask 16. In accordance with this invention, in order to reduce the volume of the fuel channel for shipping, the channel is cut along its four longitudinal corners 18, 20, 22 and 24 to sever the channel into four rectangular side plates 26, 28, 30 and 32 which may then be nested to form a stack having a volume approximately ten times less than that of the fuel channel 10. In practice, after the fuel channel is severed into the side plates, the side plates are removed from the cutting apparatus 34 by suitable mechanical manipulator means controlled by an operator above the pool and stacked in a suitable disposal basket 36. Several side plates are stacked in each disposal basket, and then several disposal baskets are placed in the shipping cask 16. Since available shipping casks are of various heights, the fuel channel 10 may be cut into shorter lengths to accommodate the dimensions of the cask. Since the upper end of the fuel channel may have some projecting members which prevents tight nesting, this upper end may also be transversely severed and handled as a separate radioactive element.
As will be explained in more detail in connection with the description of the preferred apparatus of the invention, the severing operation is accomplished by roller cutter blades, thereby reducing to a minimum the production of metal chips and any radioactive debris caused by flaking off of the radioactive crust during the cutting operation. Any chips or radioactive debris is collected by suitable filtering means for subsequent disposal.
FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the preferred apparatus of the invention as applied to the disposal of spent fuel channels which are stored under water in a pool. A fuel channel 10 is shown already inserted in the corner cutter apparatus 34 which is supported by cables 38 and 40 from a bracket 42 attached to the edge 44 of the pool 14. A hydraulic cylinder and piston actuator 46 is fixed to the lower end of the outside of the apparatus 34 and actuates the fuel channel cutter assembly via a pulley and cable arrangement 48 which will be described in more detail below. The actuator 46 is connected via a pair of hydraulic lines 50 and 52 to a hydraulic power supply 54 whose operation is controlled by a cutter control console 56. Of course both the power supply and the cutter control console are located at the top of the pool. The support cables 38 and 40 maintain the cutter apparatus 34 in a vertical orientation.
In order to prevent the pool water from being contaminated by metal chips or radioactive debris which may be flaked off of the fuel channel 10 during the cutting operation, a filtering system is provided to remove this debris from the apparatus 34. To achieve filtering, the water is pumped from the lower end of the apparatus 34 via a conduit or hose 60, and intermediate filter assembly 62, a suction pump 64 and a final filter 66 from which the filtered water is discharged back into the pool. As shown in FIG. 3, note that both the hydraulic lines 50, 52 and the filter hose 60 are strapped to the support cables 38 and 40. Any radioactive debris is trapped in the filters 62 and 66 for subsequent disposal.
FIGS. 4-7 illustrate the cutter apparatus 34 used in this invention. The apparatus consists of an outer cylindrical tubular housing 70 which is suspended by cables 38 and 40 fixed to the support bar and bracket 42 which in turn is hooked to the pool's top edge. Mounted on the outside of the housing 70 at the lower end thereof are the piston and cylinder actuator 46 and the cable and pulley assembly 48.
Mounted for longitudinal movement within the outer housing 70 is a cutter assembly 72 having four roller cutter blades 74 in engagement with the four longitudinal corners or seams, respectively, of the fuel channel 10. The cutter assembly 72 is mounted on a carrier assembly 78 which is supported within the inside walls of the outer housing 70 by four guide assemblies 80 which are driven in a reciprocating manner along the length of the fuel channel 10.
In FIGS. 4-7, the cutter assembly 72 is shown in its upwardmost position generally opposite an upper mandrel assembly 82 which is disposed within the inside corners of the fuel channel 10 to act as a backing member for the cutter blades 74. Mandrel assembly 82 is fixed to cylindrical support member 86 extending the length of the fuel channel. As indicated, a duplicate mandrel assembly 82 is affixed to the lower end of support member 86.
FIGS. 8-12 are sectional views showing the details of the cutter assembly 72.
As shown in FIG. 8, the channel 10 may be supported on top of the mandrel assembly 82 by means of one or more inwardly extending straps 84 which are an integral part of a particular fuel channel to which this invention is addressed. (In such fuel channels, the upper end thereof may be transversely severed from the remainder of the channel in order to permit tighter nesting of the severed side plates.)
It is seen that the cutter assembly 72 consists of four sets of three rollers which engage respective corners of the fuel channels. Two of the rollers 90 and 92 in each set are guide rollers, whereas the third roller 94 is a cutter roller having a cutter blade 96. These rollers are all mounted for rotation on stainless steel ball bearings, such as ball bearing 98.
Each of the rollers 90, 92 and 94 has a concave recess 100 which mates with the corresponding slightly rounded corner 102 of the fuel channel 10. Thereby, all three rollers, including the cutting roller 94, act as guide rollers to keep the cutter assembly positioned relative to the fuel channel 10 so that the cutter blades 96 bisect the corner angles of the fuel channel 10, thereby assuring maximum nesting and compaction of the four side plates after they are severed.
The cutter roller 94 is mounted for rotation on a shaft 104 which is journaled in a member 106. The upper guide roller 90 is mounted for rotation on a shaft 108 which is journaled in the member 110 such that the member 106 carrying the cutter roller 94 is pivotable about the shaft 108. The member 106 is welded to a cam 112 which is spring-biased outwardly by a spring 114. The lower end of a cutter adjusting screw 116 engages the inclined surface of the cam 112, and an adjusting knob 118 is fixed to the upper end of the adjusting screw 116. By moving the adjusting screw downwardly, the cutter blade 94 is moved inwardly to increase the depth of cut in the walls of the fuel channel 10. In operation, the cutter assembly starts in its upwardmost position, and the cutter rollers 94 are adjusted for the desired depth for the first downward cutting stroke. Upon return of the cutter assembly to its upper position and before it begins its next downward stroke, the adjusting knob 118 is turned to move the cutter blade inwardly to increase the depth of cut for the next downward stroke. All four cutter blades 94 may be simultaneously so adjusted at the top of each stroke until the four side plates are completely severed.
It is noted that the mandrel assembly 82 is slightly rounded at the extremities thereof to mate with the curved corners of the fuel channel, and that each projection of the mandrel assembly has a small notch therein to accommodate the cutting blade 96 on the cutter roller 94.
The cutter assembly 72 and carrier assembly 78 are supported within the outer housing 70 by means of the four guide assemblies 80, each of which has an upper double guide roller 120 and a lower double guide roller 122 which engage the inner wall of the housing 70.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, two of the guide assemblies 80 are affixed to and driven by the cable and pulley assembly 48. More specifically, one of the guide assemblies 80 is fixed at its upper end to a cable 126 which passes over an idler pulley 128, and is fixed at its lower end to another cable 130. In like manner, the diametrically opposite guide assembly 80 of FIG. 3 is fixed at its upper end to a cable 132 passing over a second idler pulley 134, and the lower end thereof is fixed to another cable 136 corresponding to the cable 130.
The cable and pulley assembly 48 consists of a series of pulleys located at fixed points on the housing and on a horizontal bar attached to the end of the piston rod 47. This arrangement of pulleys results in a four-to-one mechanical advantage between the travel of the cutter head 72 and the travel of the piston rod 47. In other words for every inch of extension of the piston rod 47 the cutter head 72 will travel four inches. There are four groupings of cable and pulley assemblies but it will be necessary to describe only one as all four operate essentially the same. Reference is made to the right-hand power pulley assembly of FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. Cable 130 is fixedly attached at 138 to the middle portion of casing 70 (FIG. 3). From there the cable runs down to pulley 140 mounted on the end of piston rod 47. The cable then runs up to pulley 142 and back down again to pulley 144 lying adjacent to pulley 140. From there the cable 130 runs up to pulley 146 then down to 148 and into the interior of casing 70. The cable 130 then runs up the inside of the casing to the lower portion of guide assembly 80 and is fixed at this point.
The operation of the illustrated preferred apparatus of the invention may be summarized as follows.
A plurality of spent, highly radioactive fuel channels 10 are stored under water in a pool. The corner cutter apparatus 34 is suspended in a vertical orientation under water from the edge of the pool. A human operator, using suitable mechanical manipulators, places a fuel channel 10 in the apparatus 34 so that the mandrel assembly 82 is inside of the channel. A channel hold down plate 83 is affixed to the upper mandrel assembly 82 by suitable bolts 85. The four roller blades 94 are adjusted by the adjusting screw 116 to the desired depth of cut for the first stroke of the cutting mechanism 72. The hydraulic power supply 54 is operative via the cutter controls console 56 to activate the piston and cylinder arrangement 46 to initiate a downward stroke of the cutter assembly. The pulley and cable arrangement 48, having a four-to-one mechanical advantage relative to the piston stroke, pulls the cutter assembly down to its lowermost position, thereby making a first cut through the longitudinal corners or seams of the fuel channel. The hydraulic power supply then returns the cutter assembly to its upwardmost position, where the adjusting screws are rotated wither individually or simultaneously to move the roller cutters inwardly for the next downward cutting stroke. This operation is continued until the four side plates are severed from the fuel channel. (The fuel channel may also be cut transversely into varying lengths to remove projections thereof which would prevent nesting and to accommodate the height of the ultimate storage casks.) The side plates are then removed by a mechanical manipulator, and several of the plates are then stacked or nested in a disposal basket 36, several of which are then stacked in the shipping cask 16. All of the above operations take place under water. Furthermore, there is provided a filtering system (62, 64 and 66) which removes from the housing assembly 34 and possible metal cutter slivers or radioactive debris produced during the cutting operation by the flaking off of radioactive crust on the exterior surface of the fuel channel. The filtered, uncontaminated water is then returned to the pool.
The operation of the preferred apparatus of the invention thereby provides the means by which highly radioactive BWR fuel channels can be safely and economically shipped from the owner's storage pool for ultimate disposal with minimum infringement on pool space and without degradation of storage pool water.
|
Irradiated tubular rectangular fuel channels from a nuclear reactor are temporarily stored under water. In order to dispose of these highly radioactive channels and to ship them to permanent burial grounds, the channels must be placed in specially designed shipping casks under water. In order to reduce the volume of the channel so as to economize on the use of the casks, the channels are cut along their longitudinal edges to form four plates which are then nested before being placed in the storage casks, thereby greatly increasing the number of channels which may be stored in each cask. The cutting is done under water by an apparatus having four roller cutters which are positioned along the outside of the four edges or corners of a channel and are moved longitudinally down the channel edges in a reciprocating motion until the four side plates of the channel are severed.
| 6
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a device which prevents the entry of foreign or unwanted material into predetermined areas of a turbine assembly. The device can be utilized to temporarily seal substantially any desired opening on a turbine while the same is being assembled.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Energy supplying power plants, whether nuclear, hydro or fossil fueled, contain numerous turbine assemblies which play an integral part in energy production. Power shortages and outages have become increasingly more common and well publicized in recent years. Both experts and the press have highlighted the fact that few new power plants are being constructed to alleviate the dwindling power supply.
[0003] It is important that the turbines in power plants be constructed and maintained with the utmost efficiency. Loss of a large plant during a time of high power demand can cost over five million dollars per hour for replacement power or blackouts if replacement power is not available. The power plants alone can lose millions of dollars when a turbine is down for maintenance or due to breakage. Turbines have a large number of crevices and openings. During maintenance or assembly, small parts, screws, bolts, or other foreign objects can fall into these crevices. If not retrieved or noticed, these small parts have the potential to destroy a turbine and create hazardous situations such as by having a broken rotor piece explode through the turbine housing.
[0004] Various attempts of limited success have been made to combat the foreign material problem prior to the discovery of the present invention. One such attempt was the use of plywood to cover the sensitive areas of a turbine. The drawbacks of plywood were many, including difficulty in proper size formation and ability to secure the plywood in an opening. Further difficulties included the fact that once a turbine was assembled it was all but impossible to remove the plywood from inner portions of the turbine without breaking or partitioning the same, thus creating a further foreign material problem. Inflatable rubber air bladders have also been utilized to seal turbine openings with limited success. The bladders had to be continually monitored to make sure that proper air pressure was maintained to insure a good seal. The air bladders were heavy and had to be removed prior to turbine assembly, leaving the turbine completely exposed during this critical juncture.
[0005] It has been found by the inventors of the present invention that aforementioned problems can be avoided by utilizing a device which prevents small misplaced parts or foreign objects from gaining access to sensitive areas of a turbine assembly. It is also easily removable from an assembled turbine through existing man way openings; i.e. openings that are too small for existing devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention relates to foreign material exclusion devices which can be used to prevent foreign materials from becoming lost or trapped within a turbine, more specifically predetermined areas of a turbine while being assembled or repaired. The foreign material exclusion devices preferably comprise an elastomer of resilient plastic or rubber or foam such as a plastic foam or rubber foam composition.
[0007] An important aspect of the present invention is that the foreign material exclusion devices can be placed in any desirable turbine opening or orifice at substantially any point during the assembly or repair process. Once the turbine is assembled the device can easily be removed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] [0008]FIG. 1 is an outline view of an example of one possible design for the foreign material exclusion devices of the present invention. Also shown in phantom is the outline of a cavity into which the foreign material exclusion device is adapted to be inserted into.
[0009] [0009]FIG. 1A is a side view of the foreign material exclusion device shown in FIG. 1. The portion of the retaining members located within the main body are shown in phantom.
[0010] [0010]FIG. 2 and FIG. 2A are an outline view and a side view respectively, of another possible configuration for the foreign material exclusion device.
[0011] [0011]FIG. 3 and FIG. 3A are a top view and a side view respectively, of a rectangular foreign material exclusion device.
[0012] [0012]FIG. 4 is a side view of an assembled retaining member for the foreign material exclusion device.
[0013] [0013]FIG. 4A through FIG. 4D show various aspects of the retaining member of the present invention.
[0014] [0014]FIGS. 5A through 5C show various portions of an alternative embodiment for the retaining member of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] During the assembly or repair of a turbine assembly, or other assemblies of products such as, but not limited to, pumps, fans, housings or any other device with limited access openings and cavities, foreign material exclusion is critical and failsafe integrity of inner portions thereof is desired.
[0016] Typically, turbines are constructed from many individual sections and parts which inherently have different shapes and sizes. If foreign matter breaches certain sensitive areas of a turbine, it is possible that the turbine, because of its large mass rotating at very high speeds, can be catastrophically damaged.
[0017] The foreign material exclusion devices of the present invention protect predetermined sensitive areas of a turbine from foreign material during maintenance or assembly. As shown in at least FIG. 1, a foreign material exclusion device or apparatus 10 generally comprises a resilient body 20 , a retaining member or plate 30 , and an extraction member 40 . As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 , the foreign material exclusion device of the present invention is not limited to a certain shape, but instead can be sized to fit any opening on a turbine assembly.
[0018] The composition of the main body of the exclusion device is generally a polymer, a rubber, or a polymer or rubber foam. It is important that the body is elastic or resilient in nature so that it can be compressed to fit into a desired opening, and yet reexpand to provide a snug fit within or about an opening on a turbine. The resiliency of the body allows the foreign material exclusion device to hold itself in place in a predetermined location or orifice of the turbine assembly.
[0019] The actual size dimensions, i.e. the length, width, and thickness of the body of the foreign material exclusion devices of the present invention will vary depending on the size and shape of the turbine or boiler assembly orifice which is to be protected or isolated. That is, the foreign material exclusion device is not limited to one specific shape or size such as a square or rectangle, but is custom tailored or profile fit to the dimensions of generally each cavity or turbine assembly orifice. The foreign material exclusion devices are substantially not cylindrical or circular and substantially do not have a constant diameter inasmuch as the turbine assembly or other orifices are irregularly shaped. The body is dimensioned to provide a resilient snug fit with the above-mentioned orifice which thereby provides a barrier to the entrance of foreign materials. Foreign materials can generally be defined as any object, particle or the like such as, but not limited to, nuts, bolts, metal bits, debris, hand tools, sockets, measuring devices, or any other material not designed to be located in a desired area of a turbine assembly. The thickness of the body is sufficient to maintain a snug or tight fit about the desired opening, with the body being generally from about 0.5 or 1 to about 12, desirably from about 2 to about 8, and preferably from about 4 to about 6 inches thick. Dimensions can vary widely by application, with the primary goal of foreign object exclusion requiring sufficient strength to retain the heaviest object used in that portion of the protected device.
[0020] The body of the foreign material exclusion device of the present invention is generally formed from a polymer or rubber, and is preferably a foam or foam like material. Foams are cellular materials generally having small hollow spaces which occur during manufacture of the foam. If the cells are fully surrounded by cell walls, the foam is called closed cell foam. In mixed cell foams, the cell walls are partially perforated. In open cell foams, the cells have gas phase connections to each other. Any of the above mentioned foam types can be utilized in the present invention so long as the foams can be resiliently compressed and prevent the foreign material from entering a predetermined area of the turbine. Generally, open cell foams are preferred as they are more flexible and elastomeric when compared to closed cell foams which tend to be compression resistant.
[0021] Suitable polymer compositions which can be foamed to form the main body of the present invention include polyethylene, e.g. low density polyethylene and high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene, and copolymers of ethylene or propylene and a monoethylenically unsaturated monomer copolymerizable therewith. Other suitable polyolefins include branched polypropylene homopolymer and branched copolymers of polypropylene. Examples also include copolymers of ethylene and acrylic acid or methylacrylic acid and C 1-4 alkyl esters or ionomeric derivatives thereof; ethylene vinyl-acetate copolymers; ethylene/carbon monoxide copolymers; anhydride containing olefin copolymers of a diene; copolymers of ethylene and an alpha-olefin having ultra low molecular weight (i.e., densities less than 0.92 g/cc); blends of all of the above resins; blends thereof with polyethylene (high, intermediate or low density); etc.
[0022] Other suitable polymeric compositions which may be used in the practice of this invention include, but are not limited to, polyesters, polyamides, polyvinylchloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polycarbonates, polyurethanes, and polystyrene resins.
[0023] Rubbers include copolymers of ethylene and propylene and can be prepared by known addition polymerization techniques, including the use of small amounts of a diene such as butadiene. Additional rubber or elastomeric components include various conjugated dienes having from 4-8 carbon atoms such as isobutylene, butadiene, and ethylene/propylene/diene interpolymers may be included in the blend if desired. Rubbers include the aromatic containing rubbers such as styrene, butadiene rubber and the like. Moreover, additional components such as cross linking agents designed to provide latent cross linking of the ethylenic or propylenic polymer, such as silane functional cross linking agents, or covalent or ionic cross linking agents, may be included if desired.
[0024] The thermoplastic polymer material or blend is melt processed in a conventional manner by feeding, melting, and metering into a conventional melt processing apparatus such as an extruder. A volatile blowing agent and an optional cross linking agent are mixed with the polyolefin polymer or blend under a pressure suitable to form a flowable gel or admixture. A cross linking agent may be added in an amount which is sufficient to initiate cross linking and raise the pressure of the mixture to less than that pressure which causes melt fracture of the polymer to occur. The term “melt fracture” is used in the art to describe a melt flow instability of a polymer as it is extruded through a die, which flow instability causes voids and/or other irregularities in the final product. Any other known methods for producing foam compositions can also be utilized to form the foam utilized in the present invention.
[0025] The foam blends are generally prepared by heating the desired polymer or rubber to form a plasticized or melt polymer material, incorporating therein a blowing agent to form a foamable gel, and extruding the gel through a die to form the foam product. Prior to mixing with the blowing agent, the resin or blend is heated to a temperature at or above its glass transition temperature or melting point. The blowing agent may be incorporated or mixed into the melt polymer material by any means known in the art, such as with an extruder, mixture, blender, or the like. The blowing agent is mixed with the melt polymer material at an elevated pressure sufficient to prevent substantial expansion of the melt polymer material and to generally disperse the blowing agent homogeneously therein. Optionally, a nucleating agent may be blended in the polymer melt or dry blended with the polymer material prior to plasticizing or melting. The foamable gel or melt is typically cooled to a lower temperature to optimize physical characteristics of the foam structure. The gel may be cooled in the extruder or other mixing device or in separate coolers. The gel is then extruded or conveyed through a die of desired shape to a zone of reduced or lower pressure to form the foam product. The zone of lower pressure is at a pressure lower than that in which the foamable gel is maintained prior to extrusion through the die. The lower pressure may be super-atmospheric or sub-atmospheric (vacuum), but is preferably at an atmospherical level.
[0026] The polymer or rubber foam may be open or closed-celled, as desired. The percentage of open cells can be controlled, as is well known in the art, by appropriate selection of blowing agents, additives, polymers, and processing parameters, such as temperatures, pressures, and extrusion rates. The preferred foam of the present invention is polyester and is available from Orbis Manufacturing of Mentor, Ohio.
[0027] While the density of the foam can vary, the foams of the present invention are generally considered lightweight and range generally from about 1 to about 200 or 300 kg/m 3 , desirably from about 5 to about 100 kg/m 3 and preferably from about 10 or 20 to about 50 or 75 kg/m 3 .
[0028] It is also possible to add various additives such as inorganic fillers, pigments, anti-oxidants, acid scavengers, ultraviolet absorbers, flame retardants, surfactants, processing aids, extrusion aids and the like is suitable as known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0029] Other additives include inorganic substances such as calcium carbonate, talc, clay, titanium oxide, silica, barium sulfate, diatomaceous earth and the like, carbon dioxide generated by the combination of a bicarbonate or a carbonate of sodium, potassium, ammonium or the like and an inorganic or organic acid such as boric acid, citric acid, tartaric acid or the like, thermal decomposition type chemical foaming agents such as azodicarbonamide, benzenesulfonyl hydrazide, toluenesulfonyl hydrazide and the like, etc.
[0030] The volatile foaming agents usable in this invention generally have a boiling point temperature range of −90° C. to +80° C., and include, but are not limited to, aliphatic hydrocarbons such as n-pentane, isopentane, neopentane, isobutane, n-butane, propane, ethane and the like; fluoro-chlorinated hydrocarbons such as dichlorotetrafluoroethane, trifluoroethane, trichloromonofluoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, dichloromonofluoromathane and the like. Among them, the non-fully halogenated hydrocarbons are preferred on account of environmental considerations. Particularly preferred among the non-fully halogenated hydrocarbons are partially or fully fluorinated hydrocarbons and non-fully halogenated fluoro-chlorinated hydrocarbons. Examples of these include 1-chloro-1,1-fluoroethane, 1,1,1,2-tetra fluroethane and 1,1-difluoroethane. Particularly preferred among the aliphatic hydrocarbons is isobutane and isobutane/n-butane mixtures. Other blowing agents which may be employed include alcohols such as methanol and ethanol. Also contemplated are inorganic blowing agents such as carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, argon and combinations thereof, as well as combinations of these inorganic blowing agents with hydrocarbon and/or halogenated hydrocarbon blowing agents. Also decomposable blowing agents, such as azobisformamide, may be incorporated with the volatile foaming agents. Mixtures of any or all of these volatile foaming agents are also contemplated within the scope of this invention. Also contemplated are combinations including water and/or carbon dioxide as the primary blowing agent.
[0031] As stated above, the foreign material exclusion device also includes a retaining member or plate 30 , as shown in at least FIG. 1. The retaining member generally provides support to the body in an area where an extraction member is attached. The retaining member maintains alignment of the extraction member during retraction and prevents the same from being pulled through the relatively less dense foam body. It also assists in the handling of the device during insertion and retraction. The retaining member includes from about 1 to about 10, and preferably two apertures or holes which allow connection to the extraction member.
[0032] The preferred embodiment of the retaining member is shown in FIG. 4. The retaining member 30 , as shown in FIG. 4, is generally a two-piece fitting wherein a first fitting is connected to a second fitting wherein a portion of the main body can be held therebetween. Each fitting has a surface section 32 which is substantially planar and can be substantially any planar shape, including but not limited to, a circle, square, rectangle or other geometric shape. The thickness of the retaining member surface section must be sufficient to accomplish the above stated goals and is generally from about 0.025 or 0.05 to about 0.5 or 1 inch and preferably from about 0.0625 to about 0.25 inch. A post section 34 is attached to surface section 32 . The post section 34 has either a male connector 36 or a female connector 38 which allows the two fittings of the retaining member to be interconnected as shown in FIG. 4.
[0033] Post section 34 of the retaining member 30 is shown generally cylindrical, but can be any desired shape such as square or oblong. The post section includes a hole or recess 39 generally centrally disposed therein and running the length thereof. As will be described hereinbelow, the recess 39 allows the extraction member to be operatively connected to the foreign material exclusion device.
[0034] The surface section of the retaining member 32 is generally planar and can have any shape as described hereinabove. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4C, surface section 32 connects two post sections. It is also foreseeable that the surface section can have only one post section connected thereto or also that more than two post sections can be connected together via planar surface section 32 .
[0035] In an alternative embodiment, retaining member 30 of the present invention can comprise a number of separate members as shown in FIGS. 5A through 5C. For example, surface section 32 as shown in FIG. 5B is a separate member from post section 34 as shown in FIG. 5C. The separate members function in a similar way as the connected members of the retaining member as described hereinabove.
[0036] The retaining member can be made from generally any rigid or semi-rigid materials such as but not limited to metal, wood, fiberglass, ceramic, carbon fiber, and the polymer or rubber, or polymer foam or rubber foam listed above which have not been foamed and are herein incorporated by reference, e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, etc. Preferably, the retaining member is polyvinyl chloride. The retaining member importantly prevents the extraction member from being pulled through the relatively softer body while maintaining alignment of the relative parts.
[0037] An extraction member 40 is connected to the body through retaining member 30 to allow the foreign material exclusion device to be removed from its location in the turbine assembly once the device is no longer needed. The extraction member is adapted to be fastened to a rope, string, line, or cable which is pulled on by a person in order to allow remote extraction of the foreign material exclusion device. The extraction member does not contact the body due to the configuration or presence of the retaining member. Any number of extraction members can be attached to the main body. Generally, an extraction member forms a loop which is attached to the main body and retaining member. As shown in FIGS. 1A, 2A, and 3 A, two ends of the extraction member have each been inserted through recess 39 of the retaining member and thus through the main body. The ends are tied or otherwise suitably fastened to form a loop and a piece of shrink-wrap 42 is optionally attached to the knot to prevent the same from becoming untied or undone. The extraction member is generally a rope, line, or cable made from any woven or nonwoven, natural fiber, such as cotton, or synthetic material such as nylon or nonfoamed thermoplastic as stated hereinabove. Nylon is preferred.
[0038] Optionally, a flame retardant, resistant, or quenching coating or covering can be applied to the foreign material exclusion device, preferably on the main body thereof. The flame retardant coating or covering can be applied to one or more sides of the main body, especially the portion thereof which can be exposed to high temperature debris, such as from a welding process on the turbine assembly.
[0039] Such coatings are well known in the art and are generally latexes such as HCF from PDI, Inc. of Circle Pines, Minn. Coverings of the present invention include but are not limited to woven and nonwoven natural and synthetic fibers, and are available from Sandel of Amsterdam, N.Y. as Non-combustible Fiber.
[0040] In order to seal a desired cavity or orifice of a turbine or other assembly, measurements are taken of the orifice to be sealed. The main body of the foreign material exclusion device is custom fabricated to the measurements of the orifice, wherein the main body of device is sized from about 2.5 to about 40 percent and preferably from about 5 to about 20 percent larger in dimension than the orifice to allow for compression. After the main body is fabricated, at least one retaining member and extraction member are assembled thereon. The foreign material exclusion device is then hand inserted into the predetermined orifice in the desired location.
[0041] As can be imagined, turbines and other assemblies contain numerous openings or orifices which must be protected against potentially harmful foreign material. Accordingly, the present invention also relates to a kit containing two or more foreign material exclusion devices of various predetermined sizes according to the openings to be sealed. Thus, a whole set of foreign material exclusion devices can be developed for a particular turbine assembly to substantially cover all applicable orifices and be sold in a single kit.
[0042] In accordance with the patent statutes, the best mode and preferred embodiment have been set forth, the scope of the invention is not limited thereto, but rather by the scope of the attached claims.
|
A device which can be utilized to temporarily seal substantially any opening on a turbine which is being assembled or repaired. The foreign material exclusion device of the present invention advantageously maintains fail-safe integrity of desired portions of a turbine. Protection of the sensitive areas of a turbine prevents possible hazardous malfunctions or explosions of a turbine. The foreign material exclusion device is substantially elastic or resilient and can be compressed to fit into a desired opening and can be reexpanded to provide a snug fit about an opening.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the fabrication of electronic apparatuses and more particularly to the process for forming an acrylic resist on a surface of a copper layer that forms a part of a substrate such as a printed circuit board carrying thereon a conductor pattern.
Electroplating process is used commonly in the fabrication of multilayer circuit substrate of electronic apparatuses. In the fabrication of such a multilayer circuit substrate or a circuit substrate in general, an acrylic resist layer is applied on the surface of a copper layer that forms a part of the multilayer circuit substrate, wherein such an acrylic resist layer is patterned by a photolithographic process to form a resist pattern. The resist pattern thus obtained is then used as a mask pattern when forming an interconnection pattern on the substrate by an electroplating process.
FIGS. 1A-1G show the process of formation of a conductor interconnection pattern on a substrate.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a copper layer 2 is formed on an insulating substrate 1 by a sputtering process and the like, as an electrode. In the electroplating process, it should be noted that the surface of the substrate has to be covered by a conducting film for providing the same an electric conductivity. In other words, the copper layer 2 acts as an electrode. As most of part of the copper layer 2 thus formed has to be removed later, the copper layer 2 is generally formed as thin as possible.
Next, an acrylic resist layer 3 is formed on the surface of the copper layer 2 in the step of FIG. 1B, wherein the acrylic resist, being a mixture of a resin and a photosensitive agent or a photosensitive resin dissolved in a solvent, adheres upon the copper layer 2.
It should be noted that such a photoresist may be any one of: (1) a negative resist in which exposed part of the resist causes a polymerization to become insoluble to a developer solution while the rest of the resist remains soluble to such a developer solution; and (2) a positive resist in which exposed part of the resist alone causes a decomposition to become soluble to a developer solution. Generally, the negative resist is suitable for formation of fine patterns on a thin film multilayer substrate. On the other hand, such a negative resist generally has a poor adherence upon the underlying electrode layer 2. A typical example of the negative resist is the acrylic resist described above.
After the formation of the acrylic resist layer 3, the substrate 1 is subjected to a pre-exposure bake process, followed by an exposure process in the step of FIG. 1C such that the resist layer 3 is exposed by ultraviolet radiation. As a result of the exposure, the pattern of a photomask 4 is transferred upon the acrylic resist 3.
Next, a development of the resist layer 3 is conducted in the step of FIG. 1D, wherein the unexposed part of the resist layer 3 is dissolved by a developer solution.
After the foregoing step of developing, the copper layer 2 is connected to a negative pole of a d.c. power supply and an electroplating of copper is conducted. Thereby, the deposition of copper occurs only on the exposed part of the copper layer 2 and a thick copper pattern 5 is formed thereon. On the other hand no deposition of copper occurs on the resist pattern 3. Typically, the copper pattern 5 has a thickness of about 10 times as large as the thickness of the copper layer 2 used for the electrode.
After the electroplating process of FIG. 1E, the acrylic resist pattern 3 is removed in the step of FIG. 1F. In the state of FIG. 1F, it should be noted that the copper layer 2 remains exposed between the copper patterns 5, and the copper patterns 5 are interconnected by the exposed copper layer 2 electrically.
Thus, in the step of FIG. 1G, an etching process is conducted uniformly over the structure of FIG. 1F to remove the exposed copper layer 2, wherein the etching is conducted for a limited duration such that the etching is terminated upon removal of the exposed copper layer 2.
Thus, the acrylic resist is suitable for the formation of fine, minute interconnection patterns of copper or other conductive material on a thin film multilayer substrate. On the other hand, such an acrylic resist has a problem in that the adherence upon the underlying copper layer is generally poor as already noted. Conventionally, improvement of adherence of a resist upon an underlying layer has been achieved by adherence agent. For example, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazane has been used for such adherence agent of rubber-base resist or Novorak resist, while this substance is not effective for improving the adherence of acrylic resist. In the case of acrylic resist, no effective adherence agent is known so far.
In the absence of the effective adherence agent, conventional fabrication process of substrates has suffered from the problem in that the acrylic resist layer 3 tends to come off from the surface of the electrode layer 2 upon the post-exposure bake process that is conducted after the exposure step of the acrylic resist shown in FIG. 1D. When an electroplating process is conducted in such a state, it will be noted that the electrolytic solution containing copper penetrates into the gap between the resist layer 3 and the electrode layer 2 and causes a deposition of a copper layer therein as indicated in FIG. 2. Once a deposition occurs in such a gap with a thickness larger than the thickness of the electrode layer 2, the copper layer in the gap cannot be removed completely even after the etching process of FIG. 1G is conducted to remove the exposed layer 2. Thereby, a short-circuit occurs between the copper patterns 5.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful process for forming an acrylic resist on a substrate and a fabrication process of an electronic apparatus that uses such a substrate, wherein the foregoing problems are eliminated.
Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming an acrylic resist on a surface of a copper layer with an improved adherence and a fabrication process of an electronic apparatus that uses such a substrate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming an acrylic resist on a surface of a copper layer, comprising the steps of:
processing a surface of said copper layer by an ammonia water; and
depositing a layer of acrylic resist on said surface of said copper layer after a processing by said ammonia water.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for fabricating an electronic apparatus that includes a substrate carrying thereon a conductor pattern, comprising the steps of:
depositing a first copper layer on a substrate;
processing a surface of said first copper layer by an ammonia water;
depositing a layer of acrylic resist on said surface of said first copper layer after said step for processing by said ammonia water;
exposing said layer of acrylic resist according to a desired conductor pattern to form a resist pattern of acrylic resist on said first copper layer;
depositing a second copper layer upon said first copper layer carrying thereon said pattern of acrylic resist by an electroplating process, while using said resist pattern as a mask;
removing said resist pattern after said step of depositing said second copper layer to expose said first copper pattern located underneath said resist pattern; and
removing said first copper layer exposed after said step of removing said resist pattern.
According to the present invention, the adherence of the acrylic resist upon the surface of a copper layer is improved substantially by processing the surface of the copper layer by ammonia water. Although the mechanism of such an ammoniac processing is not fully understood, it is thought, at the present juncture, that one or both of the following mechanisms are working.
(A) The ammonia water reacts with the copper electrode layer to form a layer of complex compound on the surface of the copper electrode layer, while the layer of the complex compound thus formed reacts with the acrylic resist to develop a firm bond between the electrode layer and the acrylic resist layer.
(B) The ammonia water removes oxide or oxide films from the surface of the electrode layer, and the bare surface of the copper electrode layer thus exposed establishes a firm bond with the acrylic resist layer thereon.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A-1G are diagrams showing the conventional process for forming a substrate of an electronic device;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the problem pertinent to the conventional process of FIGS. 1A-1G.
FIGS. 3A-3C are diagrams showing the principle of the present invention; and
FIGS. 4A-4H are diagrams showing the process for forming a substrate of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
First, the principle of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A-3C.
Referring to FIG. 3A, a copper layer 2 is formed on the surface of a substrate 11.
Next, in the step of FIG. 3B, an ammonia water is applied on the surface of the copper layer 12, followed by the step of FIG. 3C wherein an acrylic resist 13 is applied on the surface of the copper layer 12.
It should be noted that the foregoing substrate 11 provides a support to the copper layer 12 and may be a slab or a flexible sheet of glass, ceramics, resin, metal or a composite material formed of arbitrary combination of these materials. Further, the substrate 11 may be any of a circuit substrate, multilayer substrate, semiconductor substrate, module substrate or a half product of these. The formation of the copper layer 12 may be conducted by any suitable means such as sputtering.
The application of the ammonia water on the surface of the copper layer 12 is preferably conducted by a spin coating process for uniform processing of the surface by the ammonia water. In such a spin coating process, the substrate 11 carrying thereon the copper layer 12 is mounted upon a chucking mechanism of a spin coater and a predetermined amount of ammonia water is supplied to the surface of the copper layer 12 thus mounted upon the spin coater. Upon revolution of the substrate 11 together with the chucking mechanism, the ammonia water thus supplied spreads uniformly over the surface of the copper layer 12 and the surface of the copper layer 12 experiences a uniform processing. Alternatively, one may dip the substrate 11 carrying thereon the copper layer 12 into a bath of the ammonia water for a predetermined duration.
After such an ammoniac processing, the surface of the copper layer 12 is dried and a layer of acrylic resist 13 is applied on the surface of the copper layer 12 according to a spin coating process as usual.
It should be noted that one can eliminate the process of drying when the ammonia water is applied to the surface of the copper layer 12 by the spin-coating process, as the removal of the ammonia water and hence the process of drying the copper layer surface is achieved simultaneously to the spreading of the ammonia water as a result of revolution of the substrate 11.
Preferably, the ammonia water used in the step of FIG. 3B contain ethanol for improving the wetting of the copper layer surface. By setting the concentration of the ammonia water (the concentration of ammonia in the ammonia water) to fall in the range of approximately 1-4 percent by weight, one obtains an advantageous effect of suppressing a gel formation caused as a result of reaction between ammonia and the acrylic resist, in addition to the foregoing improvement of the adherence of the acrylic resist upon the copper layer 12.
The foregoing process of the present invention is applicable to the fabrication of multilayer substrates as will be described in detail below with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4A-4H.
Referring to FIG. 4A, a sputtering process is conducted to from an electrode layer 22 of copper on the surface of a substrate 21. As most part of the layer 22 has to be removed after the electroplating process as will be described later, the layer 22 is preferably formed as thin as possible, typically several hundred nanometers.
Next, an ammonia water is applied upon the surface of the electrode layer 22 in the step of FIG. 4B. Preferably, an ammonia water admixed with ethanol is employed for improving the wetting of the copper layer surface. In the present embodiment, the ammonia water has a concentration set to about 1 percent by weight. The ethanol, in turn, is admixed to the ammonia water with a proportion of 60 milliliter for 1 liter of the ammonia water. It should be noted that ethanol thus admixed to the ammonia water acts to reduce the surface tension of the ammonia water and improves the wetting of the surface of the electrode layer 22 by the ammonia water.
The foregoing step of FIG. 4B for applying the ammonia water is conducted by a spin coating process. More specifically, the substrate 21 is mounted upon a chucking mechanism of a spin coater and the foregoing ammonia water is supplied to the surface of the electrode layer 22 with a predetermined amount. After this, the spin coater is activated and the substrate 21 is revolved at a speed of about 3000 rpm. Thereby, the ammonia water spreads over the surface of the electrode layer 22 and forms a film of uniform thickness.
After the processing of the copper electrode layer 22 by the ammonia water, the step of FIG. 4C is conducted wherein an acrylic resist is applied on the surface of the layer 22 by a spin coating process to form a resist layer 23. In this spin coating process, the same spin coater used in the previous step of FIG. 4B is used without removing the substrate 21 from the chucking mechanism. Thereby, the unnecessary or extraneous step of dismounting the substrate 21 from the spin coater and mounting the same upon another spin coater is eliminated. In the illustrated example, it should be noted that the acrylic resist forming the resist layer 23 is a negative type resist. As a result of the processing of the copper electrode layer 22 by the ammonia water in the step of FIG. 4B, the adherence of the resist layer 23 upon the electrode layer 22 is substantially improved.
After the step of FIG. 4C, the resist layer 23 on the substrate 21 is subjected to a pre-exposure bake process conducted typically at 70°-90 ° C., followed by an exposure process in FIG. 4D conducted by ultraviolet radiation. As a result of such an exposure process, an exposure pattern of a photomask 24 is transferred upon the resist layer 23.
Next, in the step of FIG. 4E, the exposed photoresist layer 23 is subjected to a development process wherein the unexposed part of the resist layer 23 is dissolved by a developer solution. As a result of the development in the step of FIG. 4E, one obtains a resist pattern 23' on the surface of the copper electrode layer 22.
Further, in the step of FIG. 4F, an electroplating process is conducted while using the resist pattern 23' as a mask. More specifically, the substrate 21 carrying thereon the copper electrode layer 22 and the resist pattern 23' is dipped in a bath holding an electrolytic solution of copper, and a negative pole of a d.c. power supply is connected to the electrode layer 22 to cause a deposition of copper on the exposed surface of the electrode layer 22. As a result of such a deposition of copper, a copper interconnection pattern 25 is formed in correspondence to the exposed part of the copper layer 22. Typically, the copper interconnection pattern 25 is formed with a thickness of several microns, which is about 10 times as large as the thickness of the copper layer 22.
Next, in the step of FIG. 4G, the resist pattern 23' is removed by dissolving the same into an organic solvent. Thereby, one obtains a structure in which the copper layer 22 is exposed between the adjacent interconnection patterns 25. Further, an etching process is conducted in the step of FIG. 4H upon the structure of FIG. 4G such that the exposed copper layer 22 is removed. As the copper layer 22 is formed with a reduced thickness as compared with the copper interconnection pattern 25, the individual interconnection patterns 25 are separated electrically and provide the wiring of various elements provided on the substrate 21.
As a result of the foregoing ammoniac processing step of FIG. 4B, it was confirmed experimentally that the problem of penetration of the electrolyte used in the electroplating process of FIG. 4F into the gap between the copper electrode layer 22 and the resist pattern 23' thereon is substantially reduced.
More specifically, the inventor of the present invention has conducted an experiment for forming a line and space pattern, in which a line having a 50 μm width is repeated with a pitch of 50 μm, on a square substrate having a size of 6 inches for each edge. It was observed that the rate of occurrence of defects as a result of such a penetration of the electrolyte was 70% in the case where no ammoniac treatment of the copper electrode layer 22 is made, while the rate of occurrence of the defects has dropped to 3% when the treatment of the copper electrode layer 22 by the ammonia water shown in FIG. 4B is employed.
Thus, it was confirmed experimentally that the adherence of the acrylic resist upon the electrode layer is substantially improved as a result of the treatment of the copper electrode layer 22 by the ammonia water. Although the mechanism of the improvement of the adherence of the acrylic resist is not fully understood at the present juncture, it is thought probable that one or both of the following reactions take place as a result of the ammoniac treatment.
(A) The ammonia water reacts with the copper electrode layer 22 to form a layer of complex compound on the surface of the layer 22, while the layer of the complex compound thus formed reacts with the acrylic resist 23 to develop a firm bond between the electrode layer 22 and the acrylic resist layer 23.
(B) The ammonia water removes oxide or oxide film from the surface of the electrode layer 22, and the bare surface of the copper electrode layer 22 thus exposed establishes a firm bond with the acrylic resist layer 23 thereon.
In the experiment conducted by the inventor, it was also found that the adherence of the acrylic resist layer 23 upon the electrode layer 22 increases with increasing concentration of the ammonia water. However, it was found that excessive increase of the concentration of the ammonia water invites a gel formation as a result of reaction between the components forming the acrylic resist and ammonia in the ammonia water. It should be noted that such a gel formation provides a harmful effect upon the photosensitivity of the resist.
For example, gel formation of as much as 3 percent was observed when the concentration of the ammonia water is increased to 4 percent by weight. Although the rate of occurrence of the defective patterns as a result of invasion of the electrolyte is suppressed to zero (0%) as a result of use of the ammonia water having such a high concentration of ammonia, the observed gel formation of 3% is thought the allowable upper limit in view of the necessary photosensitivity of the resist. Thus, it is preferable to set the composition of the ammonia water used in the step of FIG. 4B to fall within the range of 1-4 percent by weight. When the ammonia concentration is set to 1 percent by weight, it was observed that the gel formation is in the order of 0.5 percent, wherein such a value of gel formation does not affect the photosensitivity of the resist. Here, it should be noted that the rate of gel formation used herein represents the volumetric proportion of the gels with respect to the entire volume of the resist.
As already noted, the admixing of ethanol into the ammonia water reduces the surface tension of the ammonia water on the electrode layer 22 and improves the wetting of the surface of the electrode layer 22 by the ammonia water. Thus, the use of ammonia water admixed with ethanol is suitable for processing the electrode layer provided on a multilayer substrate. It should be noted that the multilayer substrate generally has projections and depressions on the surface thereof and is difficult for uniform surface treatment. Of course, the proportion of ethanol admixed to the ammonia water is not limited to 60 milliliter for 1 liter of the ammonia water.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described heretofore, but various variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
|
A method for forming an acrylic resist on a surface of a copper layer includes the steps of processing a surface of the copper layer by an ammonia water, and depositing a layer of acrylic resist on the surface of the copper layer after a processing by the ammonia water.
| 2
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to obtaining information from a utility meter.
2. Description of the Background
Information from utility meters is required for a number of purposes. For example, owners or operators of large numbers of meters such as gas, electricity or water companies generally keep a database of the number, location, type, age etc of their meters. In the past this information has been acquired by manually reading this information from newly installed and existing meters and manually entering this information into a database. However, the manual writing down of this information and subsequent manual entry into a database leads to a significant number of errors reducing the usefulness of the database. The amount of commodity measured by the meter is also displayed on a meter and collecting this information for billing purposes generally involves a person writing down the reading and later having it entered into a database. This also leads to human errors in the recording and transferring of many numbers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is the acquisition of information from a utility meter with a reduced risk of error.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of obtaining information from a utility meter, the method comprising using a digital camera to take a digital image of information displayed on the utility meter, passing the digital image to a computing means and using the computing means to obtain information from the image.
By using the computing means to obtain the meter information from the digital image there is a much lower risk of recording erroneous data. The information may be displayed on the meter as numbers, letters, words, barcodes, shapes or colours and the computing means can extract, interpret and store the information from the image. The digital camera is preferably a handheld digital camera to enable an operator to carry it easily from meter to meter and to enable the operator to take a clear picture of the information displayed on the meter.
The computing means may be a portable computer such as a so-called “laptop” or handheld computer. Such a computing means may also be carried around by an operator and connected to the digital camera so that as digital images are taken by the camera the image is passed directly to the computing means and the relevant information extracted from the image.
The extracted information is preferably stored by the computing means for later use.
Alternatively the digital camera may store a number of images and at a convenient time for the operator the images may be passed to a suitable computing means such as a computer in a van or at the operator's base. The relevant information can then be extracted from all of the stored images. The digital image may be passed from the camera to the computing means by a variety of methods. For example, the digital camera may be in communication with the computing means by an electrical cable or by a wireless link, using for example an infra red link or a mobile phone.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for obtaining information from a utility meter, the apparatus comprising a digital camera to take a digital image of information displayed on the utility meter, computing means to receive the digital image taken by the digital camera and the computing means being arranged to extract information displayed on the utility meter from the image.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An example of a method and apparatus illustrating the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows an operator taking a digital image of a utility meter; and
FIG. 2 shows the information displayed on the meter index plate and the corresponding information extracted from the digital image.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIG. 1 , a utility meter 10 which in this example is a gas meter has an input pipe 11 , an output pipe 12 and a meter index plate 13 . The meter index plate 13 displays a variety of information such as the meter manufacturer, year of manufacture, meter reference number, meter reading and information about the construction of the meter. This information is displayed in a variety of forms including numbers, letters, barcodes, colours and shapes. The operator 1 takes a digital image of the meter index plate 13 using a digital camera 20 . Any conventional digital camera 20 will be suitable such as those made by Kodak or Panasonic (trade marks). The digital image from camera 20 is then passed through cable 21 to computing means 30 which in this case is a handheld portable computer with a screen 31 . The computer 30 is arranged to identify relevant information from the image and store it. Any known software package may be used to identify the relevant information from the digital image such as LabView Vision or C++. The operator may enter the type of meter to be analysed into the computing means 30 . The computing means 30 may then select a template suitable for the meter index plate 13 of the meter to be read which defines the relevant positions of various desired pieces of information on the meter index plate 13 . The computing means may position and size the template over the image based on two or more reference positions read from the image. Information obtained from the image may then be stored within the computer or on a removable storage means such as a disc 32 shown inserted into the computer 30 or may be transmitted to a remote location using, for example, a mobile telephone.
Alternatively the digital camera may be used to take and store a number of images of meter index plates 13 which are then passed to a computer 30 together at a convenient opportunity. The computer need not be connected to the camera whilst the images are taken and the computer could be kept at a convenient remote location such as the operator's vehicle or base.
In either case the images could be sent to the computer 30 by any convenient means such as a communication cable 21 , infra red communication link or as a radio signal using a mobile telephone for example.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a meter index plate 13 and the extracted information from the meter index plate 13 displayed on a computer screen 31 . As can be seen, information is displayed on the meter index plate 13 in the form of letters, numbers, bar codes and shapes which can be various colours. The computer 30 analyses the digital image and extracts desired information which can then be stored and displayed. Information in the form of bar codes, shapes and colours can be converted into their corresponding alphanumeric meaning.
In the present example the operator 1 visually identifies the type of meter to be analysed. This information is stored in association with the image. Knowing the type of meter, the computer 30 selects a suitable template which identifies the location of various pieces of information on the image of that identified meter index plate 13 such as the manufacturer 14 , meter index reading 15 , meter reference numbers and bar codes 16 , year of manufacture 17 and coloured shapes 18 . Since the size of the meter index plate 13 in the image can vary depending upon how close the camera is to the index plate 13 when taking the image and the position of the index plate 13 can be anywhere in the image, the computer identifies at least two reference points on the image. For example, for the meter index plate 13 of FIG. 2 these points could be the top lefthand corner of the box containing the manufacturer 14 a and the top righthand corner of the box containing the coloured shape 18 a . However, of course, any two points which are always at the same positions on the meter index plate 13 will be suitable. These two points will be a known distance apart and at known locations relative to the desired information. Upon identifying these two points the computer calibrates the image by scaling it to an appropriate standard size and positioning it to accommodate the template. The desired information is then read from the calibrated image and stored or presented on the computer screen 31 . The collected information may be used for any suitable purpose such as for updating data bases or for supplying bills.
Many modifications may be made to the example described without departing from the invention. For example, the computer 30 could be connected directly to the digital camera 20 or they could be separate and the images passed from the camera 20 to the computer 30 when convenient. Furthermore, information could be read from any type of utility meter such as an electricity or water meter as well as the gas meter described in the example.
|
A method and apparatus for obtaining information from a utility meter. A digital camera is used to take a digital image of information displayed on the utility meter. The digital image is passed to a computer that is arranged to extract information displayed on the utility meter from the image. The information may be used for a variety of purposes such as updating databases with details of utility meters and for billing purposes.
| 8
|
This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/SE98/00199 which has an International filing date of Mar. 5, 1998 which designated the United States of America.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydraulic pressure arrangements.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of spindle mounted balancers have been designed over the years having the meaning to simplify and improve the accuracy of manual balancing methods. Attention shall be given to those designed to operate while the spindle is revolving. Such balancers, generally known as unbalance compensators, can be broadly classified into two categories; mechanical and fluid operated. The mechanical types cannot, however, do both large and fine balance corrections at the same time. Such balancing arrangements have been illustrated for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,518,226 (Drake), U.S. Pat. No.4,683,681 (Russ) and the PCT publication number WO82/00353.
Also the following publications present structures belonging to this technological field. The U.S. patent publications 5,174,585 (Rinne), 2,324,225 (Mueller), 2,553,990 (Vidal), 2,652,749 (Hagmeister), 2,794,661 (Sears), 2,826,420 (Klinger), 2,852,287 (Baker), 2,911,222 (Eve), 3,259,020 (Walker), 4,430,017 (Stefanicich) and the UK patent publication 2007550 disclose fastening means for axial bodies based on the idea of using hydraulic pressure in a closed cylindrical space to deform a fastening sleeve and to clamp a tool accurately with high torque.
Releasable hydraulic chucks are widely used to clamp tools and workpieces. However, these clamping means involve problem of oil leaks and they require big size which is causing weight and therefore unbalances.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to avoid the drawbacks of the known technology and to provide a well balanced toolholder whereby its own design is so well balanced that only the additional unbalance of the tool or workpiece to be clamped need to be balanced. The object mentioned above includes quickly operable pressurizing means and an unleakable piston and seal arrangement for a clamping device, whereby said problems can be eliminated.
A guide surface which is inclined or bent with respect to the moving direction is moved via an actuating element, particularly designed as a ring. On this guiding surface an actuator is sliding which in turn moves a pressure transfer piston which is movable in a pressure cylinder to a clamping means. The actuator is advantageously a ball, which rolls on the guiding surface. In the pressure transfer piston the actuator is supported by means of a support element, particularly made of a slippery PTFE-material which is able to creep under pressure. The pressure transfer piston further comprises a sealing to maintain the pressure applied by the actuator in the pressure cylinder.
By the help of the present invention a new and improved design and way to use a piston and seal arrangement for a clamping device can be achieved. As an advantage the invention provides a fast way to clamp a toolholder or the like. Further the device is light weight, accurate, symmetrical and has automatic balancing properties.
As the pressurizing ring of the toolholder is floating on the pressurized bearing balls the ring can find the best balance position for itself when the spindle is turning with high speed and still at the same time the ring is functioning as a pressurizing device of the clamping tool. The balancing ability is, of course, depending on the weight of the ring and the gap between the body and the ring which defines possible movement of the ring.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The invention is described in detail on the following pages by the help of the enclosed drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and in which:
FIG. 1 shows a sectional side view of the present invention,
FIG. 2 shows a sectional side view of an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 shows a sectional side view of further another enbodiment of the present invention having a different tool fastening system,
FIG. 4 shows a sectional side view of further another embodiment of the present invention having a booster for a tool fastening system,
FIG. 5 shows a sectional side view of the embodiment of FIG. 4 where the clamped piece is locked,
FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view of the present invention, whereby the hydraulic bearing ball piston and seal arrangement are shown,
FIG. 7 shows a cross sectional view of the present invention, whereby several hydraulic pistons are pushed in by the eccentric ring and fastening the tool with hydraulic pressure,
FIG. 8 shows an exaggerated illustration of the balancing situation of the ring, and
FIG. 9 a further embodiment of the invention with axially inclined surfaces.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a sectional side view of a toolholder having a body section 1 connected to a fastening device 2 , the latter comprising a turnable pressurizing ring 3 which has on its inner circumference for instance three low angle eccentric surfaces 11 . The pressurizing ring 3 fits on its smallest diameter accurately onto the body section 1 . Further the pressurizing ring 3 has more than one, preferably three pistons 4 , each of the pistons comprising a bearing ball 4 a rolling along the corresponding eccentric surface 11 of the pressurizing ring 3 when the ring is rotated and thus working as power intensifier of the hydraulic pressure.
The fastening device 2 comprises further an axial bore 12 for a tool or a workpiece 7 to be fastened, the bore 12 being coaxial with the toolholder. The bore is surrounded by pressure channels 5 filled with pressure medium and connected with the pressure side of the pistons 4 of the pressurizing ring 3 . Between the pressure channels 5 and the bore 12 there is a tubular steel sleeve 6 which is fixedly connected to the body of the toolholder. The sleeve 6 can be deformed by the pressure caused by the turning of the pressurizing ring 3 and conducted to the sleeve by the pressure medium in the pressure channels. When deforming the sleeve presses towards the bore 12 thus decreasing the diameter of the bore causing the tool or workpiece 7 inside the bore to be securely fastened.
FIG. 2 shows another type of a toolholder. The fastening system is basically the same as in FIG. 1 . However, in this type the tool or workpiece 7 is not inserted inside the bore but onto the cylindrical projection of the fastening device 2 which cylindrical projection is coaxial with the toolholder. The pressure in channels 5 presses the steel sleeve around the cylindrical projection now outwards and the sleeve expands thus fastening the tool or workpiece 7 securely onto the cylindrical projection when the pressurizing ring 3 is turned to the fastening position. The angle of rotation from loose position to fastened position can be between 60° to 180°, for example 90°.
FIGS. 3-5 show further another type of a toolholder. The tool or workpiece 7 is now form locked to its position when the pressurizing ring 3 is turned to the fastening position. Form locking is applied with hydraulically operated pistons B comprising bearing balls 8 a which are moved by the pressure caused by the pistons 4 and which bearing balls 8 a press towards the matching semi-circular groove 9 encircling the tubular locking projection of the tool or the workpiece. The groove 9 is better seen in FIG. 4 where the locking process is just beginning and the bearing balls 8 a have not yet pressed completely into the bottom of the groove 9 . Small arrows in FIG. 4 show the directions of the motions of the tool or the workpiece and the bearing balls 8 a when turning the pressurizing ring 3 to the fastening direction. The pressure medium 10 conveys the pressure from the pistons 4 to the bearing balls 8 a.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show a special embodiment of the invention where the diameter of the bearing ball 8 a is bigger than that of bearing ball 4 a. In this structure the piston system acts as a pressure booster or amplifier for the clamping device causing bigger pressure for locking the tool or the workpiece.
FIGS. 6 and 7 present a cross sectional view of the invention, where the hydraulic bearing ball piston and seal arrangement are shown. In FIG. 6 the bearing balls 4 a are further out in the eccentric surfaces 11 and thus the tool or workpiece is not fastened into its position. The system has its minimum pressure on. Piston 4 comprises the bearing ball 4 a supported by a slippery supporting part 4 b against which the bearing ball 4 a is rolling when the pressurizing ring 3 is turned. The supporting part 4 b consists of e.g. PTFE plastic or another similar slippery material. In order to achieve sufficient sealing in the piston bore the piston 4 is further equipped with a lip seal 4 c which is situated on the pressure side of the piston arrangement 4 adjacent to the supporting part 4 b.
When turning the pressurizing ring 3 to the position of FIG. 7, for instance 60°-180° (depending from the design) manually or with some known mechanical device the eccentric surfaces 11 press the bearing balls 4 a in the piston bore towards the central axis thus causing a required hydraulic pressure to achieve the deformation of the steel sleeve 6 or the necessary locking power to clamp the tool or workpiece 7 .
When the soft PTFE supporting parts 4 b and 8 b are used under the bearing balls 4 a and 8 a the PTFE supporting parts compensate their own wearing as they form and tend to creep against the bearing balls under a very high pressure. Thanks to the self compensating wearing property of the PTFE supporting parts the working pressure remain constant throughout the whole active working life of the toolholder.
FIG. 8 shows an exaggerated illustration of the balancing situation of the pressurizing ring 3 . When rotating with a high speed the pressurizing ring balances the toolholder by moving to its best balanced position and thus working as an automatic balancing device at the same time as causing the necessary fastening pressure to the tool or the workpiece 7 . When rotating with a high speed the pressurizing ring 3 is floating in a balanced position on the bearing balls 4 a. The movement to the best balanced position happens in the radial direction of the pressurizing ring 3 .
When having two piston systems 4 and 8 they both comprises basically similar parts. They both are situated in the same piston bore so that the bearing balls 4 a and 8 a are further apart from each other thus each situating at its own end of the piston bore. Adjacent to the bearing ball 4 a and 8 a to inwards direction there are slippery supporting parts 4 b and 8 b and between the both supporting parts there is hydraulic pressure medium 10 .
It is, of course, possible to design various combinations with slight modifications for diverse purposes without departing from the spirit and scope of the protection of the enclosed claims. For example the number of pistons 4 and 8 can vary depending on the embodiment. Also the connection of the pressurizing ring 3 with the body of the toolholder can be different from the structures shown in this description.
In the embodiment of FIG. 9 the turnable ring 3 is supported at the toolholder (not shown) by means of axial threads 30 . A rotation of the ring in direction a is transformed by the threads in an axial movement according to arrow b. The guiding surface at the inner diameter of ring 3 is designed as axial cone with axially inclined guiding surfaces, whereon the balls 4 a or other actuators of the pressure transfer pistons are sliding when the clamping means is operated.
The above illustrated invention in form of a hydraulically operated clamping means and arrangement for applying pressure to a piston sealing system is designed for an axially shaped cylindrical or spherical tool or workpiece or machine part of a desired shape. The device comprises a closed hydraulically operated system in a body part 1 and an eccentric clamping or pressurizing ring 3 located in the body part. This eccentric pressurizing ring 3 actuates bearing balls and associated pressure transferring pistons for applying pressure to a pressure channel 5 of a hydraulically operated device. This device may be a hydraulically operated toll holder, a clutch, a chuck or similar clamping means. This device is designed for clamping and releasing machine parts.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
|
An arrangement for a hydraulically operated tool holder has a pressurizing system for operating a clamping device for a tool or workpiece. The pressurizing system comprises a movable operating element for pressure generation whereby the movement of the operating element causes a movement of a guideway which has an inclined or end or bend surface with respect to its direction of movement. The guideway coacts with the actuator rolling or sliding at the surface thereof whereby the movement resulting from the movement of the guideway is transmitted to at least one pressure transfer piston in a pressure cylinder. The pressure transfer piston comprises at least one support part for the actuator and a lip seal and coacts with the clamping device.
| 8
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a protective cover for a portable electronic device and more particularly to a modular protective cover with an accessory slot for a portable electronic device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the past decade or so, mobile phones have become ubiquitous and are almost a necessity. Therefore, the protection of mobile phones from damage has become important. In particular, many people drop and break there phones, which causes them to have to spend money to buy a new phone. Accordingly, covers and the like for protecting mobile phones have become popular. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,933,122, issued on Apr. 26, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, mobile phones are often used for more than telephone calls. For example, mobile phones can be used for GPS navigation, viewing movies and playing video games, etc. Accessories that make such uses easier are desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a protective cover for a portable electronic device that includes a main body portion that is adapted to at least partially surround and enclose a portable electronic device. The main body portion includes a rear section that has an accessory slot defined therein. The accessory slot removably receives an accessory assembly that includes a base having an accessory mounted thereto.
In a preferred embodiment, the rear section includes a first set of two receiving openings defined therein that are positioned on opposite sides of the accessory slot that receive first and second tabs that extend outwardly from opposite sides of the base. Preferably, the receiving openings each include a first portion and a second portion. The first and second tabs on the base define a first width from the outer edge of the first tab to the outer edge of the second tab, the first portions define a second width from the outer edge of the first portion on one side of the accessory slot to the outer edge of the first portion on the opposite side of the accessory slot, and the second portions define a third width from the outer edge of the second portion on one side of the accessory slot to the outer edge of the second portion on the opposite side of the accessory slot. The second width is wider than the first width and the third width is narrower than the first width, such that the first and second tabs can be inserted into the first portions and slid into the second portions and under the rear section.
In a preferred embodiment, the accessory slot includes one of a ridge or a groove and the base includes the other of a ridge or a groove. The ridge is received in the groove to secure the base within the accessory slot. Preferably, the rear section includes a second set of two receiving openings defined therein that are positioned on opposite sides of the accessory slot. The second set of receiving openings are adapted to receive the first and second tabs that extend outwardly from opposite sides of the base, such that the accessory assembly is reversible. In a preferred embodiment, the accessory is selected from the group consisting of a kickstand, bicycle handlebar mounting assembly, tripod mounting assembly and windshield mounting assembly.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a protective cover for a portable electronic device that includes an inner cushion enclosure adapted to at least partially surround and enclose a portable electronic device and a front shell that is received on and secured to the inner cushion enclosure. The inner cushion enclosure includes a back wall, two side walls, a top pouch and a bottom pouch that all cooperate to define an interior and a front screen opening. The top pouch and the bottom pouch include a groove defined in an outside surface thereof. The front shell includes a front section that has a front screen opening defined therein and rearwardly extending top and bottom members. The top member includes a hook portion that is removably received in the groove in the top pouch and the bottom member includes a hook portion that is removably received in the groove in the bottom pouch.
In a preferred embodiment, the protective cover further includes a back shell that includes a rear section and two forwardly extending side members that are removably secured to the front section of the front shell. Preferably, the front section of the front shell includes at least two grooves defined therein and the side members of the back shell each include at least one tab disposed thereon. The grooves of the front shell cooperate with the tabs of the back shell to secure the back shell to the front shell. In a preferred embodiment, the top and bottom members of the front shell include grooves defined therein that cooperate with tabs disposed on the rear section of the back shell to secure the back shell to the front shell. In a preferred embodiment, the rear section of the back shell has an accessory slot defined therein that removably receives a base having an accessory mounted thereto.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling a protective cover for a portable electronic device. The method includes the steps of purchasing an inner cushion enclosure made of a relatively flexible material that includes a back wall, two side walls, a top pouch and a bottom pouch that all cooperate to define an interior and a front screen opening, covering the portable electronic device with the inner cushion enclosure, purchasing a front shell that is made of a relatively hard material, and securing the front shell to the inner cushion enclosure. In a preferred embodiment, the method further includes the steps of purchasing a back shell that is made of a relatively hard material, and securing the back shell to the front shell.
Preferably, the top pouch and the bottom pouch of the inner cushion enclosure each include a groove defined in an outside surface thereof and the front section of the front shell has a front screen opening defined therein and rearwardly extending top and bottom members that each include a hook portion. The method further includes inserting the hook section of the top member into the groove in the top pouch and inserting the hook section of the bottom member into the groove in the bottom pouch. In a preferred embodiment, the rear section of the back shell includes two forwardly extending side members that each include at least one tab disposed thereon, and the front section of the front shell includes at least two grooves defined therein. The method further includes inserting the tabs into the grooves to secure the back shell to the front shell. Preferably, the back shell includes a rear section that has an accessory slot defined therein, and the method further includes inserting an accessory assembly into the accessory slot.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the detailed description of the various embodiments and specific examples, while indicating preferred and other embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration and not limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be more readily understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a modular protective cover assembly for a portable electronic device disposed on a mobile phone in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the inner cushion enclosure of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the inner cushion enclosure of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the front shell of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the front shell of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the back shell of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view of the back shell of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 ;
FIG. 9A is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 with a kickstand assembly in the accessory slot;
FIG. 9B is a cross-section of the kickstand assembly and accessory slot taken along line 9 B- 9 B of FIG. 9A ;
FIG. 10A is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 with a bicycle handlebar mounting assembly in the accessory slot; FIG. 10B is a cross-section of the base and tabs mounted in the accessory slot taken along line 10 B- 10 B of FIG. 10A ;
FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 with a tripod mounting assembly in the accessory slot; and
FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly of FIG. 1 with a windshield mounting assembly in the accessory slot; FIG. 13 is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly with a windshield/flat surface mounting assembly in the accessory slot.
Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure can be, but not necessarily are references to the same embodiment; and, such references mean at least one of the embodiments.
Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the-disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not other embodiments.
The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinary meanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in the specific context where each term is used. Certain terms that are used to describe the disclosure are discussed below, or elsewhere in the specification, to provide additional guidance to the practitioner regarding the description of the disclosure. For convenience, certain terms may be highlighted, for example using italics and/or quotation marks: The use of highlighting has no influence on the scope and meaning of a term; the scope and meaning of a term is the same, in the same context, whether or not it is highlighted. It will be appreciated that the same thing can be said in more than one way.
Consequently, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein. Nor is any special significance to be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussed herein. Synonyms for certain terms are provided. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms discussed herein is illustrative only, and is not intended to further limit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given in this specification.
Without intent to further limit the scope of the disclosure, examples of instruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according to the embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note that titles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of a reader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, the present document, including definitions, will control.
It will be appreciated that terms such as “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “left,” “right,” “above,” and “side” used herein are merely for ease of description and refer to the orientation of the components as shown in the figures. It should be understood that any orientation of the components described herein is within the scope of the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 1-13 , the present invention is preferably directed to a modular protective cover assembly 10 for a hand-held electronic device or the like. In the figures, the hand-held electronic device is a mobile phone 100 . However, this is not a limitation on the present invention and the protective cover assembly 10 can be used with any type of portable electronic device, including personal digital assistants (PDAs), computers, tablets, notebooks, smartphones, mobile phones, satellite phones, cellular phones, pagers, music players, MP3 players, media players, digital cameras, video cameras, global positioning system devices (GPS), portable game consoles and the like.
In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 , the assembly 10 generally includes a front shell 12 , a back shell 14 , and an inner cushion enclosure 18 . Generally, the phone 100 is enclosed within the cushion enclosure 18 so that the screen 110 (and the keyboard, if present) of the phone are exposed through a screen opening 18 a in the cushion enclosure 18 . The front and back shells 12 and 14 are secured over the cushion enclosure 18 to form the protective cover assembly 10 , as is shown in FIG. 1 . When fully assembled, the protective cover assembly at least partially and substantially surrounds and provides protection for phone 100 .
As shown in FIGS. 2-4 , in a preferred embodiment, the cushion enclosure 18 is made of a relatively flexible material such as a thermoplastic, rubber, silicon, urethane, or other material that is capable of stretching sufficiently to allow the phone 100 fit inside of the cushion enclosure 18 . The cushion enclosure 18 generally includes a back wall 20 , two side walls 22 , a top pouch 24 and a bottom pouch 26 that all cooperate to define an interior 28 that receives the phone 100 and provides cushioning in a drop situation and fits snugly over the phone 100 . As shown best in FIG. 2 , the cushion enclosure 18 includes an accessory recess 34 , the purpose of which will be described below. It will be understood that the top and bottom pouches 24 and 26 can just be walls that cover the bottom and top of the phone.
It will be understood that the protective cover assembly 10 can be modified for different phone models and other portable electronic device models. Accordingly, the cushion enclosure 18 may include pads that are a part of or are connected to the cushion enclosure 18 to allow actuation of switches, buttons or the like that are on the phone 100 . The pads can then be depressed by a user to activate a tilt switch or push button switch, such as pads 30 that are positioned to allow a user to operate switches on the phone 100 . In another embodiment, the pads can be omitted and an opening can allow access to buttons or switches on the phone. Other pads or openings (such as speaker opening 32 and charger opening 39 ) can also be incorporated in the stretchable cushion layer that allow a user to interface with various controls on the phone 100 .
Preferably, the front and back shells 12 and 14 are made of a relatively hard material, such as an ABS material, propylene, a polycarbonate, thermoplastics, metals, composite materials, and other rigid materials used in injection molding and the like. It will be understood that assembly 10 can be used and designed differently for different types of phones or similar devices. Accordingly, front and back shells 12 and 14 can include different openings, slots, etc. for access to buttons, switches, cameras and the like on different phones.
In a preferred embodiment, the back shell 14 includes “soft components” that are made of a similar material to the cushion enclosure 18 . These components can be glued to the back shell 14 and used to plug, fill or cover openings in the back shell 14 to protect openings in the phone 100 (such as the charger opening or other mini or micro USB openings, or a multi-media opening, etc.). For example, as shown in FIG. 7 , the back shell 14 can include slots 27 and adjacent openings 29 defined therein for gluing or otherwise adhering tabs 31 that allow soft covers 33 to be pivotal within openings 29 . In a preferred embodiment, the soft covers 33 are friction fit within openings 29 . For example, in a preferred embodiment, back shell 14 includes a charger opening 29 , which is covered by a pivotal cover 33 , in the side 22 thereof that allows a charger to be inserted into the charging/docking port of phone 100 .
In a preferred embodiment, the cushion enclosure 18 , front shell 12 and back shell 14 are modular and sold separately. In other words, a user can purchase the cushion enclosure 18 by itself and use it to protect and enclose a phone. Then, if the user desires, he/she can purchase separately the front shell 12 , which is designed to fit on and be retained by the cushion enclosure 18 , as shown in FIG. 9 . Lastly, the user can purchase separately the back shell 14 , which is designed to connect with the front shell 12 to form the complete assembly 10 . In this embodiment, the steps for forming the assembly 10 include purchasing the cushion enclosure 18 , enclosing the phone in the cushion enclosure 18 , purchasing the front shell 12 , securing the front shell 12 on the cushion enclosure, purchasing the back shell 14 , and securing the back shell 14 to the front shell 12 and over the cushion enclosure 18 . It will be understood that in other embodiments the steps above can be rearranged. For example, the assembly 10 can be designed to allow the back shell 14 to fit on the cushion enclosure 18 first before securing the front shell 12 thereon. In another embodiment, the entire assembly 10 can be sold as a unit. In another embodiment, the user can purchase only the back shell 14 to cover a phone, or the front shell 12 , to cover a phone.
The method of connecting the front and back shells 12 and 14 to one another or to the cushion enclosure 18 is not a limitation on the present invention. It may be done via snap fit, tabs, or other known methods. The assembly of the front shell 12 and back shell 14 form an assembled hard shell housing 40 . It will be understood that housing 40 is preferably sized and shaped to form a rigid cover for the cushion enclosure 18 .
As is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 - 6 , in a preferred embodiment, the front shell 12 includes a front section 35 (that includes a front opening 42 defined therein) and rearwardly extending top and bottom members 36 and 38 , that cooperate to secure the front shell 12 onto the front of cushion enclosure 18 . In a preferred embodiment, the top and bottom members 36 and 38 each include a hook portion 36 a and 38 a that is received in a groove 44 on the back 20 of the cushion enclosure 18 . In another embodiment, there may be several separate hook portions that are received in a single groove 44 or separate grooves 44 . In another embodiment, the front section 35 can include tabs, grooves or snaps that cooperate with corresponding features on the cushion enclosure 18 , to help secure the front shell 12 to the cushion enclosure 18 .
As is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 7 - 8 , in a preferred embodiment, the back shell 14 includes a rear section 46 and two forwardly extending side members 48 and 50 . In a preferred embodiment, the side members 48 and 50 include a series of tabs 52 thereon that cooperate with grooves 54 in the front section 35 of the front shell 14 to secure the back shell 12 to the front shell 14 . In a preferred embodiment, the rear section 46 of the back shell 12 also include tabs 52 thereon that cooperate with grooves 54 in top and bottom members 36 and 38 of the front shell 14 to secure the back shell 12 to the front shell 14 . In another embodiment, the tabs and grooves can be reversed.
In another embodiment, the cushion enclosure 18 can be made of a hard material, such as plastic or the like and the front and back shells 12 and 14 can be made of a relatively flexible material, such as silicon or rubber. In an embodiment, the cushion enclosure 18 and the front and back shells 12 and 14 can be made of the same material.
As shown in FIGS. 8-13 , in a preferred embodiment, the back shell 14 includes an accessory slot 56 . It will be understood that any number of accessories can be secured in the accessory slot 56 because the accessories are mounted on a base 57 that is received and secured in slot 56 . In a preferred embodiment, the accessory slot 56 includes at least one set of receiving openings 58 . In the embodiment shown in the figures, the slot 56 includes two sets of receiving openings 58 so that an accessory mounted in the slot 56 can be reversed as desired. As shown in FIG. 8 , the first and second (or top and bottom) receiving openings 58 include a first portion 58 a and a second portion 58 b and are designed to receive tabs 60 that extend outwardly from the base 57 and more preferably from a bottom surface 57 a of the base 57 . It will be understood that with this arrangement, the first portion 58 a is at a higher level than the second portion 58 b , as is shown in FIG. 2 , so that the tabs 60 can be slid under the rear section when they are slid into the second portions 58 b.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10B , in a preferred embodiment, the tabs 60 on the base 57 define a first width W 1 from the outer edge of one tab 60 to the outer edge of the other tab 60 , the first portions 58 a define a second width from the outer edge of the first portion 58 a on one side of the accessory slot 56 to the outer edge of the first portion 58 a on the opposite side of the accessory slot 56 , and the second portions 58 b define a third width W 3 from the outer edge of the second portion 58 b on one side of the accessory slot 56 to the outer edge of the second portion 58 b on the opposite side of the accessory slot 56 . Preferably, the second width W 2 is wider than the first width W 1 and the third width W 3 is narrower than the first width W 1 . This allows the tabs 60 to be inserted into the first portions 58 a and slid into the second portions 58 b and under the rear section 46 .
In a preferred embodiment, the accessory slot 56 includes a ridge 62 thereon that cooperates with a groove 64 in the bottom surface 57 a of the base 57 to secure or lock the base 57 in place within accessory slot 56 . In another embodiment, slot 56 can include multiple ridges and bottom surface 57 a can include multiple grooves. In another embodiment, the ridge can be on the bottom surface 57 a and the groove can be on the accessory slot 56 . Other features for locking the base 57 in the accessory slot 56 are within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, it will be understood that the accessory recess 34 in the cushion enclosure 18 receives the accessory slot 56 when the back shell 14 is secured on the cushion enclosure 18 and the accessory recess 34 allows the tabs 60 to slide along the second portion 58 b.
FIGS. 10A and 10B show the accessory to be mounted in the accessory slot 56 as a kickstand 66 that is hingedly mounted on the base 57 . FIG. 10B is a cross-section of just the base 57 and tabs 60 mounted in the accessory slot 56 . To mount the kickstand 66 (the kickstand 66 together with the base 57 are referred to herein as a kickstand assembly), the tabs 60 are inserted into the first portions 58 a in a first direction and are then slid or moved in a second direction (which is generally perpendicular to the first direction) until the ridge 62 is received in groove 64 , thereby locking the base 57 in place. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that with this arrangement, the kickstand 66 and base 57 are removable so that another accessory can be positioned in the accessory slot 56 as desired.
FIGS. 10A-13 include examples of other accessories that can be used in the accessory slot 56 . It will be understood that each of these accessories include base 57 that allows the accessory to be docked with the accessory slot 56 . FIG. 11 is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly 10 with a bicycle handlebar mounting assembly 70 in the accessory slot 56 . Bicycle handlebar mounting assembly 70 can be used to secure a phone 100 and the protective cover assembly 10 to a handle bar or other tubular object so that a user can read maps, use GPS, when desired. The bicycle handlebar mounting assembly 70 generally includes base 57 , a rotary dial 72 , clamp 74 , hinge 76 , threaded fastener 78 and elastomeric gasket 80 . The rotary dial 72 fastens the assembly 70 against back shell 14 and allows rotational adjustability. To secure the assembly 70 to a handlebar, threaded fastener 78 is unscrewed so that the two halves of clamp 74 can be hinged apart. The clamp 74 is then placed over a tube and the threaded fastener 78 is reinserted into a threaded opening (not shown) and the clamp 74 is tightened down to secure the assembly 70 (and phone and cover assembly 10 ) in place. The gasket 80 provides grip on the tube.
FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly 10 with a tripod mounting assembly 82 in the accessory slot 56 . Tripod mounting assembly 82 generally includes base 57 , a handle 84 with a threaded female tripod connection receiving opening 85 therein. In a preferred embodiment, the handle 84 is knurled and includes a indentation where a user's fingers can be placed while taking a picture. Opening 85 can be used to mount the phone 100 and assembly 10 to a tripod or other object that includes a threaded male fastener.
FIG. 13 is a rear perspective view of the modular protective cover assembly 10 with a windshield/flat surface mounting assembly 86 in the accessory slot 56 . The windshield/flat surface mounting assembly 86 generally includes base 57 , a socket member 88 , ball 90 , latch 92 and suction cup 94 . As is known in the art, ball 90 is received in socket member 88 and latch 92 is used to hingedly latch suction cup 94 to a windshield or the like. The arrangement of ball 90 and socket member 88 allows for pivotal adjustment of phone 100 and assembly 10 .
The accessories described herein are not limitations on the present invention. Other accessories can be used in combination with base 57 and accessory slot 56 . Other accessories, for example, may be a light, a magnet, a container, a cup holder, etc.
In a preferred embodiment, the back shell 14 and at least one accessory are sold as a kit. For example, the back shell 14 can be sold with the kickstand assembly. In another embodiment, the back shell 14 can be sold with more than one accessory. In another embodiment, assembly 10 can be sold with one or more assemblies.
In another embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 1 , the assembly 10 can include a front cover portion 16 that covers and protects the screen 110 and any keys. The front cover portion 16 can be loose or secured to the inner surface of the front shell 12 such that it covers a screen opening 42 defined in the front shell 12 or secured in the inner cushion enclosure 18 . However, this is not a limitation on the present invention. The front cover portion 16 can be made from a soft, plastic layer such as a soft, thin Lexan (polycarbonate), PVC, urethane, or silicon material that can be molded, such as by thermoforming, casting, stretching, heating, or injection molding, or otherwise shaped to fit to screen 110 of the phone 100 and/or other surfaces of the phone 100 . The front cover portion 16 may be made from a single material or multiple materials that are welded, glued or formed together into a single sheet or membrane. For example, for the portion of the front cover portion 16 that is disposed over the display screen 110 , it may be desirable to use a clear, thin, hard layer of glass or plastic to provide a clear, transparent material over the display screen that protects the display screen from scratches. The other part of the front cover portion 16 may be made of a thin layer of Lexan (polycarbonate), PVC or a silicon material that is flexible so that a keyboard and other buttons may be pressed through the screen protective portion 16 .
In another embodiment for a phone with a keyboard, the front cover portion 16 may be made so that it is open to allow direct access to the keyboard, while the screen 110 is covered. In addition, various portions of the front cover portion 16 can be made clear, translucent, opaque or any desired color, or any combination of these alternatives. The front cover portion 16 is shown as covering a front portion of the phone 100 , but can also be made to wrap around a portion of, or all of, the backside of the phone 100 and be at least partially sealed together, especially if a self-adhering material is used for the front cover portion 16 . For example, if a camera is included on the backside of the phone 100 , a clear portion of the front cover portion 16 can be used to cover a camera lens (not shown). The front cover portion 16 can also have some elasticity so that it fits tightly to the phone 100 . The front cover portion 16 can be thermoformed or otherwise molded to fit the specific shape of all, or a portion of, the surfaces of the phone 100 , to provide a tight, form fit to the phone 100 . The molding or thermoforming process can be quickly and easily performed by simply generating a mold of the surfaces of the phone 100 to be covered and using that mold to generate a thermoforming mold or other mold. In this manner, a precisely formed membrane that fits tightly to the surfaces of the phone 100 can be simply and easily formed. Overlapping flaps (not shown) can also help to seal the membrane to the electronic device.
In a preferred embodiment, the molded, snug fit of the front cover portion 16 to the phone 100 , as well as the tight fit of the cushion enclosure 18 , front shell 12 and back shell 14 to the phone 100 and/or to each other, helps to seal the phone 100 within the protective cover assembly 10 . Further, the tight fit of the stretchable cushion enclosure 18 also helps to keep water, dirt and dust out.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variant thereof, means any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling of connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context permits, words in the above Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number respectively. The word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.
The above-detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the teachings to the precise form disclosed above. While specific embodiments of and examples for the disclosure are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the disclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform routines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified to provide alternative or subcombinations. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel, or may be performed, at different times. Further any specific numbers noted herein are only examples: alternative implementations may employ differing values or ranges.
The teachings of the disclosure provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.
Any patents and applications and other references noted above, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Aspects of the disclosure can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the disclosure.
These and other changes can be made to the disclosure in light of the above Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments. While the above description describes certain embodiments of the disclosure, and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the teachings can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may vary considerably in its implementation details, while still being encompassed by the subject matter disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features or aspects of the disclosure with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the disclosures to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification unless the above Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the disclosure encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the disclosure under the claims.
While certain aspects of the disclosure are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the disclosure in any number of claim forms. For example, while only one aspect of the disclosure is recited as a means-plus-function claim under 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6, other aspects may likewise be embodied as a means-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as being embodied in a computer-readable medium. (Any claims intended to be treated under 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6 will begin with the words “means for”). Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the disclosure.
Accordingly, although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that all the terms used herein are descriptive rather than limiting, and that many changes, modifications, and substitutions may be made by one having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
|
A protective cover for a portable electronic device that includes a main body portion that is adapted to at least partially surround and enclose a portable electronic device. The main body portion includes a rear section that has an accessory slot defined therein. The accessory slot removably receives an accessory assembly that includes a base having an accessory mounted thereto.
| 0
|
[0001] This invention relates to neuroactive peptides, and in particular to peptides which have the ability to act as analogues of angiotensin IV. The peptides of the invention bind with high affinity and specificity to a variety of sites in the central nervous system, and are useful as modulators of motor and cognitive function, and of neuronal development.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The renin-angiotensin system has diverse roles in the regulation of body fluid and electrolyte balance and blood pressure control. These actions are exerted in a variety of target organs, including the cardiovascular system, adrenal glands, kidney and central and peripheral nervous systems, by both the circulating hormone and hormone locally produced in tissues. Most of these actions are exerted by the octapeptide, angiotensin II, although the C-terminal heptapeptide angiotensin III has some activity. The hexapeptide NH2-Val Tyr Ile His Pro Phe-COOH, corresponding to the 3-8 fragment of angiotensin II (ie. amino acids 3-8), is also called angiotensin IV (Ang IV), and has until recently been believed to be an inactive degradation product devoid of biological activity.
[0003] However, Harding and co-workers have confirmed an earlier report (Braszko et al, 1988) that Ang IV has central nervous system activity, and can modify learning and behaviour (Wright et al, 1995). In addition, Ang IV has vasoactive effects, and can dilate cerebral arteries (Haberl et al, 1991) and increase renal blood flow (Swanson et al, 1992). This, coupled with the discovery of highly specific, high affinity sites for Ang IV binding in bovine adrenal and other tissues, has reawakened interest in the hexapeptide, and the subject has been comprehensively reviewed (Wright et al 1995).
[0004] Ang IV has been associated with the central nervous system effects of increasing stereotypy behaviour (Braszko et al, 1988) and facilitating memory retrieval in passive avoidance studies (Braszko et al, 1988; Wright et al, 1995). Ang IV also dilates cerebral arterioles (Haberl et al, 1991), and increases renal blood flow (Swanson et al, 1992).
[0005] Receptor autoradiographic studies have revealed a widely abundant but selective and characteristic distribution of binding sites for [ 125 I]Ang IV (known as the AT 4 receptor) in the guinea pig, sheep and monkey central nervous systems, in regions associated with cholinergic neurons and in somatic motor and sensory associated areas (Miller-Wing et al, 1993; Moeller et al, 1995, Moeller et al, 1996). In addition, Ang IV binding sites are abundant in supraspinal components of the autonomic nervous system, and in the spinal cord are found in sympathetic preganglionic neurons, in the dorsal root ganglia, and in Lamina II of the dorsal horn, and in the motor neurons of the ventral horn (Moeller et al, 1995).
[0006] The distribution of the Ang IV binding site differs from the localization of the Ang II AT 1 or AT 2 receptors. In addition, the pharmacology of each receptor is distinct in that the Ang IV site exhibits a low to very low affinity for [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, the non-subtype selective Ang II antagonist, and losartan (du Pont-Merck) and PD 123319 (Parke-Davis), the specific AT 1 and AT 2 receptor antagonists respectively (Miller-Wing et al, 1993; Swanson et al, 1992; Hanesworth et al, 1993). Conversely, Ang II receptors show a low affinity for the Ang IV binding site (Bennett and Snyder, 1976).
[0007] The wide distribution of the Ang IV binding site in motor, sensory and cholinergic regions suggests important roles for this peptide in the central nervous system. However, a physiological action of the peptide in neurons has yet to be clearly defined.
[0008] Numerous neurotransmitters and neuropeptides have been associated with the regulation of neuronal development. Acetylcholine inhibits neurite outgrowth from embryonic chicken ciliary ganglion cells and sympathetic neurons (Pugh and Berg, 1994; Small et al, 1995), and rat hippocampal neurons (Muttson, 1988). Conversely, vasoactive intestinal peptide stimulates superior cervical ganglion branching (Pincus et al, 1990) and somatostatin increases neuronal sprouting from Helisoma buccal ganglion neurons (Bulloch, 1987).
[0009] We have now surprisingly found that the peptide LVV-haemorphin-7, derived from β-globin, acts as an agonist at the AT 4 receptor, and is the endogenous ligand for the AT 4 receptors in the brain. We have characterised its pharmacological activity. This enables us to design novel agonists and antagonists of Ang IV action.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] According to a first aspect, the invention provides a method of modulating motor neuron activity, cholinergic neuron activity, or neuronal development, comprising the step of administering an effective amount of a neuroactive peptide having at least one of the biological activities of angiotensin IV as herein defined, comprising the amino acid sequence: Leu-Val-Val-Tyr-Pro-Trp-Thr-Gln-Arg-Phe, (SEQ ID NO:1) or a biologically-active analogue or fragment of said peptide to a mammal in need of such treatment. This aspect of the invention specifically includes the use of decapeptide sequence referred to above in the method of the invention which relies on a previously unknown and unsuspected activity of the decapeptide.
[0011] It will be clearly understood that the sequence of the invention may be modified by conservative amino acid substitutions, insertions, deletions or extensions, provided that the biological activity is retained. Such variants may, for example, include sequences comprising D-amino acids, non-naturally occurring amino acids, and/or amino acid analogues. Thus the analogue may be a peptidomimetic compound.
[0012] Preferably the mammal is a human.
[0013] The Ang IV agonist and antagonist compounds according to the invention are useful in the treatment of a variety of conditions, including but not limited to:
[0014] Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease
[0015] Other neurodegenerative disorders involving cholinergic pathways, motor pathways, or sensory pathways, such as motor neurone disease
[0016] sensory and motor peripheral neuropathies
[0017] brain or spinal cord injury due to trauma, hypoxia or vascular disease.
[0018] In a second aspect, the invention provides a non-peptide analogue of the peptide of the invention. This non-peptide analogue is to be understood to encompass modifications or substitutions of the peptide structure which are designed to improve the bioavailability, metabolic stability, half-life in the body, or to modify the biological activity, of the compound of the invention. Such non-peptide analogues are known in the art, for example compounds in which the peptide backbone is replaced by a non-peptide chain, and are often referred to as peptidomimetic compounds. Alternatively, in one or more of the peptide linkages the order of the nitrogen and carbon atoms can be reversed to form a pseudo peptide bond. One or more of the amino acid side-chains may be replaced by an analogous structure of greater stability. Many other such variations will occur to the person skilled in the art. The only requirement is that the overall 3-dimensional structure is sufficiently preserved that ability to bind to the AT 4 receptor at suitable affinity is retained. Using modern methods of peptide synthesis and combinatorial chemistry, it is possible to synthesize and test very large numbers of analogues within a short space of time, and such synthesis and screening is routinely carried out by pharmaceutical companies.
[0019] Considerable information is available regarding the structural features of Ang IV peptides which are necessary for high affinity, and these results may be used as guidelines for modification of the peptides of the invention. See for example Wright et al, 1995.
[0020] The person skilled in the art will appreciate that by modifying the sequence or by constructing a non-peptide analogue the activity of the compound of the invention can be very considerably modified. Not only can improvement in activity be obtained, it is also possible to obtain compounds which bind to the AT 4 receptor in such a way that Ang IV activity is inhibited. Such inhibitory compounds can have the ability to antagonize the activity of Ang IV. The person skilled in the art will readily be able to synthesize modified peptides and peptide analogues and to test whether they have activity as Ang IV agonists or antagonists, using methods well known in the art.
[0021] According to a third aspect, the invention provides a method of screening for putative agonists or antagonists of the effect of LVV-haemorphin-7 on neuronal activity, comprising the step of testing the ability of the compound to stimulate or inhibit the effect of LVV-haemorphin-7 on a biological activity selected from the group consisting of modifying learning, modifying behaviour, vasoactive effects, dilation of cerebral arteries, increase in renal blood flow, increase in stereotypy behaviour, facilitating memory retrieval, neurite modelling and alleviation of the effects of spinal cord injury.
[0022] Thus according to a fourth aspect, the invention also provides compounds which are able to act as agonists or antagonists of the neuroactive peptides of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] The invention will be now described in detail by way of reference only to the following non-limiting examples, and to the figures, in which
[0024] [0024]FIG. 1 shows competition curves derived from prefrontal cortical sections incubated with [ 125 I]Ang IV in the presence of increasing concentrations of the following unlabelled ligands: ▴ Ang IV, □ Ang II, ▪ Ang III, Δ Ang II(1-7), losartan and ∘ PD 123319. Values are the mean of four sections, each from two animals. B/Bo×100 expressed as a percentage available receptors occupied;
[0025] [0025]FIG. 2 shows the results of competition binding studies showing the inhibition of [ 125 I]Ang IV binding to E13 chicken chorioallantoic membranes with varying concentrations of unlabelled compounds: ▴ Ang IV, Nle 1 -AIV, Δ CGP 42112, □ Ang II, ▾ Nle 1 -Y-I-amide, WSU-4042, ▪ [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, PD 123319 and ∘ losartan. Values are expressed as a percentage of total binding, and are pooled from two experiments. B/Bo×100=% of available receptors occupied;
[0026] [0026]FIG. 3 summarizes competition binding studies showing the inhibition of 125 I[Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II binding to E13 chicken chorioallantoic membranes with varying concentrations of unlabelled compounds: ▪ [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, □ Ang II, Δ CGP 42112, Nle 1 -AIV, ▴ Ang IV, ∘ losartan, PD 123319, WSU-4042 and ▾ Nle 1 -Y-I-amide. Values are expressed as a percentage of total bnding, and are pooled from two experiments. B/Bo×100=% of available receptors occupied;
[0027] [0027]FIG. 4 shows the effect of Ang IV on neurite outgrowth from E11 chicken sympathetic neurons. Values are expressed as a percentage of control levels, and are depicted as the mean±standard error of the mean (SEM). The results are pooled from 3 experiments, each with at least 40 neurite measurements. * indicates a significant difference from control values using Bonferroni's test;
[0028] [0028]FIG. 5 shows the effect of 10 nM Ang IV on neurite outgrowth in the presence of 1 μM Nle 1 -Y-I-amide, WSU-4042, Nle 1 -AIV, [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, losartan, PD 123319 and CGP 42112. Values are expressed as a percentage of control levels, and are depicted as the mean±S.E.M. The results are pooled from 3 experiments, each with at least 40 neurite measurements. * indicates a significant difference from control values using Bonferroni's test;
[0029] [0029]FIG. 6 shows the effect of 10 nM Ang II on neurite outgrowth in the presence of 1 μM Nle 1 -Y-I-amide, WSU-4042, Nle 1 -AIV, [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, losartan, PD 123319 and CGP 42112. Values are expressed as a percentage of control levels, and are depicted as the mean+S.E.M. The results are pooled from 3 experiments, each with at least 40 neurite measurements. * indicates a significant difference from control values using Bonferroni's test;
[0030] [0030]FIG. 7 illustrates the binding of 125 I-angiotensin IV to sheep spinal cord. The arrow indicates the site of damage to the spinal cord;
[0031] [0031]FIG. 8 summarizes the results of competition binding studies showing the inhibition of [ 125 I]LVV-haemorphin-7 binding to sheep cerebellar cortical membranes with varying concentrations of unlabelled compounds: ▴ Ang IV, Δ LVV-haemorphin-7, ▪ Ang III, □ Ang II, ∘ PD 123319, losartan, * naloxone and ∇ haloperidol. Values are the mean of three experiments. B/Bo×100=% of available receptors occupied;
[0032] [0032]FIG. 9 summarizes the results of competition binding studies showing the inhibition of [ 125 I]Ang IV binding to sheep cerebellar cortical membranes with varying concentrations of unlabelled compounds: ▴ Ang IV, Δ LVV-haemorphin-7, ▪ AngIII, □ AngII, ∘ PD 123319, losartan, * naloxone and ∇ haloperidol. Values are the mean of three experiments. B/Bo×100=% of available receptors occupied;
[0033] [0033]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the position of the oligonucleotide probes used for cloning and PCR experiments. (A) schematic diagram of the β-globin precursor showing relevant position and direction of oligonucleotides used. The shaded region represents the LVV-haemorphin-7 sequence, which is given below. (B) sequences of the oligonucleotides H170 to H173 (SEQ ID Nos:2 to 5 respectively) used in this study;
[0034] [0034]FIG. 11 illustrates the detection of β-globin mRNA by RT-PCR and Southern blotting in sheep cerebellar and cerebral cortices, heart and liver. Molecular weight markers are shown on the left;
[0035] [0035]FIG. 12 shows the complete nucleotide sequence of Clone EX (SEQ ID NO:6); and
[0036] [0036]FIG. 13 shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO:7) and derived amino acid sequence of the rat EX clone. The region of the potential LVV-haemorphin-7 is shown in bold.
[0037] [0037]FIG. 14 summarizes the effects of LVV-haemorphin-7 on the performance of scopolamine-treated rats in a passive avoidance task.
[0038] [0038]FIG. 15 summarizes the effects of LVV-haemorphin-7 on the performance of scopolamine-treated rats in a water maze acquisition trial.
[0039] The unlabelled ligands, Ang IV (Peninsula Laboratories, Calif. USA), Ang II and the Ang II antagonist [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II (Sigma, Mo. USA), the Ang II partial agonist CGP 42112 (Ciba-Geigy, Basle Switzerland), the Ang II ATI antagonist, losartan (Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, Del. USA), the Ang II AT 2 antagonist, PD 123319 (Parke-Davis, Mich. USA-Ms. C. L. Germain), and the Ang IV analogues, WSU 4042, Nle 1 -Y-I-amide and Nle 1 -AIV (prepared as previously described by Sardinia et al, 1993), were used at final concentrations ranging from 10 −9 to 10 −4 M.
EXAMPLE 1
Mapping of Angiotensin AT 4 Receptors in Monkey Brain
[0040] We mapped the distribution of the receptors for Ang IV (AT 4 receptors) in the Macaca fascicularis brain using in vitro receptor autoradiography in order to determine if the widespread and distinct distribution of the receptors that are found in the guinea pig brain is also found in primates. The binding sites were initially characterized pharmacologically in competition studies on prefrontal cortical brain sections. These results are summarized in FIG. 1. Ang IV, Ang III and Ang II competed for [ 125 I]Ang IV binding with IC 50 s of 5 nM, 80 nM and 730 nM respectively, while Ang II(1-7) was a weak competitor (IC 50 of 24 mM). The AT 1 receptor antagonist, losartan (du Pont-Merck) and the AT 2 receptor antagonist, PD 123319 (Parke-Davis), were inactive, even at concentrations of 10 mM. These pharmacological properties are similar to those previously described for the AT 4 receptor in bovine adrenal and guinea pig septal membranes, confirming that we were mapping the distribution of the same receptor.
[0041] The distribution of the AT 4 receptor was remarkable, in that its distribution extended throughout several neural systems. This is summarized in Table 1. The most striking finding was the localization of this receptor in motor nuclei and motor-associated regions. These included the ventral horn spinal motor neurons, all cranial nerve motor nuclei including the oculomotor, trochlear, facial and hypoglossal nuclei, and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. Receptors were also present in the vestibular, reticular and inferior olivary nuclei, the granular layer of the cerebellum, and the Betz cells of the motor cortex. Moderate AT 4 receptor density was seen in all cerebellar nuclei, ventral thalamic nuclei and the substantia nigra pars compacta, with a lower receptor density being observed in the caudate nucleus and putamen. The localization of the AT 4 receptor in all levels of the motor hierarchy in the central nervous system implies an important role for the binding site in motor activity.
TABLE 1 Localization and Quantitation of the AT 4 Receptor in the Macaca fascicularis Brain AT 4 receptor density dpm/mm2 Region (mean ± SD) Caudate nucleus 48 ± 2 Vertical limb of the diagonal band* 86 ± 3 Basal nucleus of Meynert* 81 ± 5 Granular layer of the dentate gyrus 117 ± 11 CA1 45 ± 4 CA3 41 ± 3 Supraoptic retrochiasmatic nucleus* 93 ± 7 Ventral posterior lateral/medial nuclei 35 ± 2 Red nucleus* 44 ± 2 Oculomotor nucleus* 44 ± 1 Pontine nuclei 50 ± 2 Lateral geniculate 52 ± 2 Mo5* 84 ± 3 Facial nucleus* 90 ± 4 Hypoglossal nucleus* 93 ± 8 Inferior olive 76 ± 10 Granular layer of the cerebellum 126 ± 10 Molecular layer of the cerebellum 47 ± 6
[0042] In addition to the somatic motor nuclei and autonomic preganglionic motor nuclei, abundant AT 4 receptors were also found in other cholinergic systems and their projections, including the nucleus basalis of Meynert, vertical limb of the diagonal band and the hippocampus. Apart from being a neurotransmitter in motor neurons, acetylcholine is also implicated in cognition, since anti-cholinergic drugs induce memory disorders and confusion; in Alzheimers's disease, neuronal loss occurs in the cholinergic-rich basal nucleus of Meynert. Ang IV has been shown by two independent studies to facilitate memory retrieval in passive and conditioned avoidance tests (Braszko et al, 1988; Wright et al, 1993), and, when administered intracerebroventricularly, induces c-fos expression in the hippocampus (Roberts et al, 1995). Together with the presence of high densities of AT 4 receptors in this region, these observations suggest that Ang IV may play an important role in the modulation of cognitive function.
[0043] AT 4 receptors were also observed in sensory regions, with moderate levels in spinal trigeminal, gracile, cuneate and thalamic ventral posterior nuclei, and in the somatosensory cortex. While receptor density was low in sensory neurons when compared with that observed in motor and cognitive areas, the AT 4 receptor was located throughout most sensory-associated areas, including the lamina II of the spinal cord, gracile, cuneate and spinal trigeminal nuclei, ventral posterior thalamic and lateral geniculate nuclei and the sensory cortex, suggesting a substantial involvement with sensory activity. This distribution pattern has also been observed in the guinea pig and sheep brain. As shown in Example 2, abundant AT 4 receptors were also observed in sheep dorsal root ganglia.
EXAMPLE 2
Mapping of Angiotensin AT 4 Receptors in Sheep Spinal Cord
[0044] We extended the localization of the AT 4 receptors to the sheep spinal cord, to investigate if the strong presence of the AT 4 receptors in supraspinal motor and sensory regions persists in the spinal cord.
[0045] When the binding characteristics of [ 125 I]Ang IV were assessed in the eighth cervical segment (C8) of the sheep spinal cord, we found that the affinities of the different unlabelled ligand in competing for the binding were similar to those observed for the monkey brain.
[0046] In the sheep spinal cord, high densities of AT 4 receptors were found in lamina IX in the ventral horns of all segments examined. At a cellular level, the binding was found overlying the cytoplasm of lateral and medial motor neurons and in their processes, but binding was absent from the cell nuclei. Whilst a clearly defined function of the Ang IV binding site is yet to be determined, the association with motor activity is strengthened in view of its abundant localization in the motor neurones in the ventral horn of the spinal cord, in addition to its strong presence in supraspinal motor areas.
[0047] High densities of AT 4 receptors were also found in the lateral tip of lamina VII of all thoracic segments and lumbar segments L1 to L4, which corresponded with sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the intermediolateral cell column. However, binding was absent from L5 and L6 and from the sacral segments S1 and S2.
[0048] In the dorsal root ganglia associated with all spinal segments, high densities of AT 4 receptors were found in the cytoplasm of small and large cell bodies of the sensory neurons, but not in the satellite cells, nor in the endoganglionic connective tissue. In laminae I and II, the terminal fields of the dorsal root ganglia sensory afferents, only a low abundance of the receptor was noted in lamina II. Despite the low levels of AT 4 receptors in lamina II, their high abundance in the dorsal root ganglia and their consistent but low levels in most supraspinal sensory areas suggest that AT 4 receptors may still play a role in the processing of sensory information.
[0049] Low levels of the AT 4 receptors were also found in the blood vessels which extended radially to the pial surface, in the blood vessels of the anterior and posterior fissures, and in the ependyma of the central canal. Ang IV has been reported to induce an endothelium-dependent dilation of rabbit pial arterioles, and in rats Ang IV reverses acute cerebral blood flow reduction after experimental subarachnoid haemorrhage.
[0050] Our localization studies suggest that AT 4 receptors are quite distinct from the known angiotensin receptors—the AT 1a , AT 1b and AT 2 receptors—in terms of their pharmacological specificity and their pattern of distribution in the brain and spinal cord. Furthermore, the pattern of distribution of the AT 4 receptors suggests that they may be involved in the function of neurones involved in motor function, sensory function and cholinergic systems, including cognition.
EXAMPLE 3
Characterization of Embryonic Chicken Ang IV and Ang II Binding Sites
[0051] In order to characterize the pharmacology of the embryonic chicken AT 4 and Ang II receptors, chorioallantoic membranes (CAM) from embryonic day 13 (E13) chickens were used. The membranes were removed and frozen in isopentane cooled to −40° C.
[0052] a) Characterization of the embryonic chicken Ang IV binding site
[0053] CAM were homogenized in 30 ml of a hypotonic buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 5 mM EDTA) and then centrifuged for 10 min at 500 g and 4° C. The supernatant fraction was removed and centrifuged for 20 min at 40,000 g and 4° C. The resulting pellet was rehomogenized in 2 ml of hypotonic buffer, and the final volume of the homogenate was adjusted to give a protein concentration of 10 mg/ml, as determined by the Biorad protein assay. The binding assay contained CAM (100 μg of protein), 0.14 μCi of [ 125 ]Ang IV (approximately 260 pM), and competing ligand, in a total volume of 270 μl in a 50 mM Tris buffer, pH 7.4, containing 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 100 μM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 20 μM bestatin and 0.1% (w/v) bovine serum albumin. The binding system was incubated at 37° C. for 2 h.
[0054] b) Characterization of the embryonic chicken Ang II binding site
[0055] CAM were prepared as described above with the following exceptions. The isotonic buffer contained 50 mM Tris, pH 7.4 and 6.5 mM MgCl 2 and the hypotonic buffer contained 50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 6.5 mM MgCl 2 , 125 mM NaCl and 0.2% (w/v) bovine serum albumin. In addition, the peptidase inhibitors, leupeptin, lisinopril, phosphoramidon, Plummer's inhibitor and bestatin, each used at a 1 μM concentration and 1 mM benzamidine and 2.5 mM phenanthroline, were included in both buffers.
[0056] In binding competition studies on E13 chicken CAM, [ 125 I]Ang IV binding was strongly inhibited by Ang IV and Nle 1 -AIV (IC 50 s of 18 and 43 nM respectively), whereas WSU-4042, Nle 1 -Y-I-amide and Ang II were weaker competitors with IC 50 s of 5, 2.2 and 0.65 μM respectively, and losartan and PD 123319, were inactive at concentrations up to 10 μM. [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II and CGP 42112 were effective at only competing for 50% of the sites, and then only at concentrations of 10 and 0.5 μM respectively. These results are summarized in FIG. 2.
[0057] In studies of 125 I[Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II binding to CAM, Ang II, [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II and CGP 42112 competed for binding with IC 50 s of 100, 13 and 180 nM respectively, whilst Ang IV, Nle 1 -AIV and losartan were very weak competitors (IC 50 s of 50, 8 and 100 μM respectively). PD 123319, WSU-4042 and Nle 1 -Y-I-amide exhibited IC 50 s greater than 100 μm. These results are shown in FIG. 3.
EXAMPLE 4
Effects of Ang IV on Neurite Outgrowth
[0058] The wide distribution of the AT 4 receptors in motor, sensory and cholinergic regions suggests important roles for this peptide in the central nervous system. However, a physiological action of Ang IV in neurons has yet to be clearly defined. Numerous neurotransmitters and neuropeptides have been associated with the regulation of neuronal development. For instance, acetylcholine inhibits neurite outgrowth from embryonic chicken ciliary ganglion cells, sympathetic neurons, and rat hippocampal neurons. Conversely, vasoactive intestinal peptide stimulates superior cervical ganglion branching and somatostatin increases neuronal sprouting from Helisoma buccal ganglion neurons.
[0059] We determined whether Ang IV has a trophic role in the central nervous system by examining its effects on neurite outgrowth from cultured embryonic chicken sympathetic neurons.
[0060] Sympathetic ganglia from E11 chickens were dissociated using trypsin/Versene, and were cultured in 24 well plates in DMEM and Ham's F12 medium which contained 1% (v/v) insulin-transferrin-selenium-X growth supplement (Gibco BRL, Maryland USA), 100 mM putrescine, 1.67 mg/ml prostaglandin F2α, 6.67 ng/ml progesterone, and 5 ng/ml nerve growth factor (Sigma, Mo. USA). Neurons were allowed to adhere to the wells (approximately 2 h) before being given a 24 h treatment of peptides and/or their antagonists. Peptides and antagonists used were added to the cultures 0.5 h prior to either Ang IV or Ang II addition. Ang IV dose response curves were performed over the concentration range 10 −11 to 10 −5 M. Culture dishes were coated with 0.1 mg/ml polylysine and then given three washes with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) before being coated with 10 μg/ml laminin. Wells were washed with PBS before being used for culture.
[0061] At the conclusion of the experiment, the culture medium was removed from the wells, the neurons were fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in PBS for 20 min and examined under a phase-contrast microscope, attached to an MD30 Plus image analysis software (Adelaide, Australia). The length of neurites (longer than 50 μm) of every neuron examined was measured. A minimum of forty neurite measurements was taken per treatment group, and each experimental treatment was performed at least in triplicate.
[0062] At the conclusion of the experiment, the viability of the cells were confirmed by exclusion of 0.1% aniline blue.
[0063] In cultures of embryonic (E11) chicken sympathetic neurons, Ang IV inhibited neurite outgrowth in a dose-dependent manner, with a threshold at 10 −11 M, half maximal inhibition at 10 −10 M and a maximal effect at 10 −9 M. Between 10 −9 to 10 −5 M, outgrowth was maximally inhibited (P<0.05). These results are shown in FIG. 4. At 10 −8 M Ang IV, the inhibition of neurite outgrowth was totally reversed by 1 μM of the Ang IV analogues WSU-4042, Nle 1 -Y-I-amide, and Nle 1 -AIV. The effects of the analogues alone were not statistically different from control values. In contrast to the Ang IV analogues, the Ang II antagonist, [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, the AT 1 and AT 2 antagonists, losartan and PD 123319, and the Ang II partial agonist, CGP 42112, had no effect on the Ang IV response, as shown in FIG. 5.
[0064] At 10 −8 M Ang II, neurite outgrowth was inhibited by 25%, which was highly significant. The Ang IV analogues completely reversed this effect, whilst the Ang II antagonists [Sar 1 Ile 8 ]Ang II, losartan, PD 123319, and CGP 42112 were ineffective. This is illustrated in FIG. 6.
[0065] These studies suggest that the inhibition of neurite outgrowth by both peptides is mediated by the AT 4 receptors, and supports a role for angiotensin IV in neurite modelling.
EXAMPLE 5
Effect of Angiotensin IV on Spinal Cord Damage
[0066] Glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes are involved with modelling neurite formation after damage to the spinal cord (Bovolenta et al, 1992). Injury-evoked plasticity is a similar situation to that observed in the developing embryo (Schwartz, 1992). In light of our findings on the ability of spinal cord tissue to bind Ang IV (Example 2), we tested the effect of spinal cord injury on Ang IV binding. Surprisingly, we found a marked elevation of [ 125 I]Ang IV binding in damaged spinal cord sections. This is illustrated in FIG. 7.
[0067] These results suggest that the AT 4 receptor may be a suitable target for alleviation of the effects of spinal cord injury.
EXAMPLE 6
Purification of an Endogenous Brain Peptide Which Binds to the AT 4 Receptor
[0068] The level of Ang IV in the brain is very low to undetectable (DJ Campbell, personal communication). The widespread and characteristic distribution of AT 4 receptors in the central nervous system suggests that there may be an as yet unidentified peptide ligand for this receptor. We therefore undertook a search for such a ligand, using conventional protein chemistry purification techniques together with an AT 4 receptor assay system in order to detect and monitor substance(s) in extracts of sheep brain which compete for [ 125 I]Ang IV binding in this system.
[0069] a) 125 AT 4 Receptor Binding Assay
[0070] The binding of 125 I-Ang IV to bovine adrenal membranes was used as an assay system to screen for AT 4 receptor binding activity in sheep cerebral cortex fractions. Bovine adrenal glands obtained from the abbatoir were diced into 1 mm×1 mm blocks, homogenized in 3 ml of a hypotonic buffer (50 mM Tris, 5 mM EDTA, pH 7.4) and then centrifuged for 10 min at 500 g. The supernatant was removed and centrifuged for 20 min at 40,000 g, and the resulting pellet was rehomogenized in 2 ml of hypotonic buffer. Binding assay samples contained bovine adrenal (56 mg of protein as determined by the Biorad protein assay), 0.14 μCi of [ 125 I]Ang IV (approximately 260 pM), and 10 μl of test sample, in a total volume of 270 μl in 50 mM Tris buffer, pH 7.4, containing 150 mM sodium chloride, 5 mM EDTA, 100 μM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 20 μM bestatin, and 0.1% (w/v) bovine serum albumin. The relative potency of the fractions in competing for 125 I-Ang IV binding was determined from a standard curve in which known amounts of unlabelled Ang IV were added (10 −10 to 10 −6 M). Fractions from each purification step were assayed for their ability to compete for [ 125 I]Ang IV binding, with those exhibiting the highest activity undergoing the next purification step.
[0071] b) Purification Procedure
[0072] Sheep cerebral cortex was homogenized in 2 M acetic acid, (2 ml/g tissue), centrifuged, and the supernatant decanted. A preliminary purification of the extract was performed using a column of preparative C18 material (55-105 mm, Waters). The C18 eluent was lyophilized, reconstituted, and subjected to a series of chromatographic steps, in which fractions were assayed for Ang IV displacement activity. In brief, the chromatographic steps were: three successive reversed-phase HPLC steps, using columns of varying pore size (Deltapak C18, 300°A, and Novapak C18) as well as changing ion-pairing agents, solvents and gradient elution conditions; this was followed by anion exchange, then cation exchange, with final purification on a microbore LC C8 column. The purified active peptide was sequenced using an Applied Biosystems Model 470 A Protein Sequencer with an on-line Model 120A PTH Analyzer.
[0073] The sheep cerebral cortex yielded 1.9 nmoles of AT 4 receptor binding activity per gram of wet weight after the first C18 Deltapak column. Following the third Poly LC column (55° C.), Ang IV activity coeluted with the major UV absorption peak, and the following peptide sequence was obtained from this peak: Leu-Val-Val-Tyr-Pro-Trp-Thr-Gln-Arg-Phe (SEQ ID NO:1).
[0074] A search of protein database records revealed that this sequence corresponded to the amino acid sequence 32-41 of the humane β, δ, γ and ε globin chains and is known as LVV-haemorphin-7.
[0075] LVV-haemorphin-7 is a 10 amino acid peptide found in the brain, pituitary, hypothalamus and bone marrow which binds with high affinity to the angiotensin AT 4 receptor. The sheep peptide sequence is identical to amino acids 30-39 of the sheep β A , β B , β C , and ε globin precursors (Garner and Lingrel, 1989; Saban and King, 1994), and this sequence is conserved in many species, including human (see for example Karelin et al, 1994). In humans, there are 6 β-globin-like genes ε, γ A , γ C , δ, β and a pseudogene Ψβ, clustered on chromosome 11, and all encode the LVV-haemorphin-7 sequence (Karlsson and Nienhuis, 1985). This sequence is not present in any of the α globin family of genes. LVV-haemorphin-7 and some shorter sequences within this peptide have opioid activity, and it appears that the sequence VVYP is required for this activity (Karellin et al, 1994).
EXAMPLE 7
Properties of Synthetic LVV-haemorphin-7
[0076] A decapeptide with the sequence isolated above was synthesized under contract by Chiron Mimotopes, and its biochemical and pharmacological properties were characterized as follows:
[0077] a) HPLC
[0078] A preliminary high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) run indicated that the synthetic peptide did not coelute with the fraction that was sequenced. It appeared that the fraction might have been degraded due to prolonged storage at 4° C. Mass spectrometry analysis was carried out in order to determine whether this was the case. The data obtained from mass spectrometry analysis of the two active peaks produced following prolonged storage of the original purified material were indeed consistent with degradation. The early eluting peak gave a mass corresponding exactly to the loss of the phenylalanine residue from the carboxy terminus, whereas the second active peak gave a mass corresponding exactly to the loss of the amino terminal leucine residue. Furthermore, these data (given that all the mass readings were unambiguous) strongly suggest that the active peptide is not post-translationally modified, either in the peptide core or at the amino or carboxyl terminus.
[0079] b) Ligand Binding Studies
[0080] The pharmacological properties of the decapeptide LVV-haemorphin-7 in competing for the binding of 125 I-Ang IV in bovine adrenal membrane and sheep cerebellar cortical membranes were determined. Both LVV-haemorphin-7 and Ang IV were radioiodinated using chloramine T, and separated on a C18 Sep-pak column using 0.5% trifluoroacetic acid in a 20-80% methanol gradient.
[0081] Bovine adrenal membranes or sheep cerebellar cortical membranes were homogenized in 30 ml of a hypotonic buffer (50 mM Tris, 5 mM EDTA, pH 7.4), and then centrifuged for 10 min at 500 g. The supernatant was removed and centrifuged for 20 min at 40,000 g, and the resulting pellet was rehomogenized in 2 ml of hypotonic buffer. Binding assays contained:
[0082] bovine adrenal (56 μg of protein) or sheep cerebellar membranes (26 μg of protein), as determined by the Biorad protein assay (Bradford, 1976);
[0083] [0083] 0 . 14 μCi of [ 125 I]Ang IV (approximately 260 pM), or 0.11 μCi of [ 125 I]LVV-haemorphin-7 (approximately 200 pM), and
[0084] competing ligand,
[0085] in a total volume of 270 μl in 50 mM Tris buffer, pH 7.4, containing 150 mM sodium chloride, 5 mM EDTA, 100 μM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 20 μM bestatin and 0.1% (w/v) bovine serum albumin.
[0086] The assay was incubated at 37° C. for 2 h.
[0087] In the bovine adrenal membranes, a range of concentrations of unlabelled LVV-haemorphin-7 or Ang IV was added to the assay system in order to determine the relative potencies of the two peptides in this radioreceptor assay system. Both Ang IV and LW-haemorphin-7 displayed comparable affinities in competing for the 125 I-Ang IV binding (approx. 1-5 nM), with Ang IV exhibiting slightly higher affinity.
[0088] For competition studies in sheep cerebellar cortical membranes, dilutions of the unlabelled ligands, LVV-haemorphin-7, Ang IV, Ang II, Ang III and the non-specific opioid antagonist, naloxone, the Ang II AT 1 antagonist, losartan, the Ang II AT 2 antagonist, PD 123319, and the sigma opioid and dopamine D 2 antagonist, haloperidol, were used at concentrations ranging from 10 −13 to 10 −4 M. Quantitation of receptor binding was calculated as the mean of two experiments.
[0089] In these studies, 125 I-LVV-haemorphin-7 binding to sheep cerebellar cortical membranes was competed for by LVV-haemorphin-7, Ang IV, Ang III, and Ang II (IC 50 s of 5.6 nM, 1 nM, 77 nM, and 1.6 μM respectively). PD 123319 was a weak competitor (IC 50 of 46 μM), whilst losartan, naloxone and haloperidol were ineffective (IC 50 greater than 100 mM). These results are illustrated in FIG. 8. Similarly, [ 125 I]Ang IV binding to cerebellar membranes was competed for by Ang IV, LVV-haemorphin-7, Ang III, and Ang II with IC 50 S of 1.13 nM, 2 nM, 6.9 nM and 2 μM respectively, whilst PD 123319, losartan, naloxone and haloperidol were inactive at 10 μM. These results are illustrated in FIG. 9.
[0090] c) Binding of 125 1I-LVV-haemorphin-7 to Sheep Brain
[0091] Sheep hindbrain sections were used to compare the distribution of 125 I-LVV-haemorphin-7 binding and AT 4 receptor sites. Sections at 10 μm thickness were equilibrated to 22° C. (30 min), and then preincubated for 30 min in an isotonic buffer containing 50 mM Tris, 150 mM sodium chloride, 5 mM EDTA, 100 μM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 20 μM bestatin and 0.1% bovine serum albumin, pH 7.4, before a further 2 h incubation in the same buffer containing 2.84 μCi of [ 125 I]LVV-haemorphin-7 or [125I]Ang IV (approximately 140 pM). The binding of the radioligands was cross-displaced with either 1 μM unlabelled LVV-haemorphin-7 or Ang IV. After incubation, the sections were given three 2 min washes in buffer at 4° C., and exposed to X-ray film for 14 to 28 d.
[0092] [ 125 I]LVV-haemorphin-7 and [ 125 I]Ang IV exhibited an identical binding pattern in the sheep hindbrain. Binding was localized to the motor-associated areas, the granular layer of the cerebellum, the inferior olive, hypoglossal and lateral reticular nuclei, to the autonomic regions, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and the nucleus ambiguus, and to the sensory regions, the external cuneate and spinal trigeminal nuclei. The binding of both radioligands was displaced by a 1 μM concentration of either unlabelled Ang IV or LVV-haemorphin-7, indicating that not only are the two binding sites distributed in the same brain regions, but that the two radioligands are actually binding to the same sites.
EXAMPLE 8
Isolation of Potential LVV-Haemorphin-7 Precursor Clones
[0093] It is not known whether LVV-haemorphin-7 is synthesized in the brain, or whether it is derived from the breakdown of haemoglobin. Demonstration of LVV-haemorphin-7 precursor mRNA in the brain would provide evidence for the former. Possible methods to demonstrate that LVV-haemorphin-7 precursor mRNA is present in the brain include:
[0094] (a) isolation of specific cDNA clones from a brain cDNA library;
[0095] (b) detection of the mRNA in the brain by RT-PCR;
[0096] (c) detection of LVV-haemorphin-7 precursor MRNA by in situ hybridization histochemistry; and
[0097] (d) demonstration of the MRNA in brain specific cell cultures.
[0098] It has previously been reported that α- and β-globin mRNAs are expressed in mouse brain, as demonstrated by Northern analysis (ohyagi,Y., et al, 1994).
[0099] Each of these approaches has specific advantages. In situ hybridization histochemistry and detection of the mRNA in brain specific cell cultures would provide evidence for synthesis in the brain. Isolation of clones and the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection of mRNA would show the presence of mRNA in the brain, but contamination by reticulocytes cannot be excluded. However, isolation of cDNA clones provides considerable information about the structure of the precursor. The precursor of LVV-haemorphin-7 may be a member of the β-globin family, eg β A etc, or an alternatively spliced globin, or it may be a previously unknown non-globin peptide.
[0100] To isolate potential clones that code for the precursor of the LVV-haemorphin-7 peptide, we have screened a rat brain cDNA library using an oligonucleotide based on the LVV-haemorphin-7 sequence.
[0101] Oligonucleotide Design
[0102] A number of oligonucleotides have been designed, as illustrated in FIG. 10. Oligonucleotide H170 (SEQ ID NO:2) was designed to correspond to the region of the sheep β-globin gene encoding the LVV-haemorphin-7 sequence. This probe was used for screening the library, and also as the sense oligonucleotide in PCR. Oligonucleotide H173 (SEQ ID NO:5) was designed as the antisense primer for use in PCR. PCR with H170/H173 spans intron 2, and will generate a 255 bp fragment with cDNA as the template and a 1098 bp fragment with genomic DNA. Oligonucleotide H172 (SEQ ID NO:4) can be used as an internal probe for H170/H173 PCR products. Oligonucleotide H172 and H173 (SEQ ID NO:4, 5) are antisense probe corresponding to exon 2 and 3 of the sheep β-globin gene, and were used for in situ hybridization histochemistry.
[0103] Detection of β-Globin Like Sequences in Brain by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
[0104] RNA was isolated from sheep cerebellar and cerebral cortices, heart and liver. The RNA (20 μg) was reverse transcribed in a 25 μl reaction containing 100 mM KCl, 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.4), 6 mM MgCl 2 , 10 mM dithiothreitol, 500 μM dNTPs (Progen), 12μg/ml random hexamers (Boehringer Mannheim), 40 units RNasin (Progen), and AMV reverse transcriptase (Boehringer Mannheim, 25 units) at 42° C. for 1 h. An aliquot of the reverse transcription reaction (10% ) was used in the polymerase chain reaction. The primers used for amplification of the β-globin mRNA were sense H170 and antisense H173 (see FIG. 10). PCR was performed in a reaction containing: 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 400 μM dNTPs, Taq Polymerase (Bresatec, 2.5 units), 3 μM MgCl 2 ,and each primer at 400 nM. Denaturation, annealing and extension were carried out at 94° C., 60° C. and 72° C. for 1 min each for 40 cycles, followed by a final extension at 72° C. for 10 min.
[0105] The PCR products were separated on an agarose gel, transferred to Hybond N+, and Southern analysis using an internal oligonucleotide (H172) was performed to confirm that the products were derived from globin precursors. Specific bands of the expected size of 255 bp were detected in all four tissues examined, as shown in FIG. 11.
[0106] Screening a Rat cDNA Library for β-Globin Like Sequences
[0107] An oligonucleotide corresponding to the nucleotide sequence of the LVV-haemorphin-7 region of the sheep β-globin (H170) was used to screen a rat brain cDNA library (Stratagene Cat No: 936515, Sprague-Dawley, whole brain). Approximately 8×10 5 clones were plated, and plaque lifts taken using standard methods (eg Maniatis et al: Molecular Cloning). The filters were prehybridzed in Rapid-Hyb (Amersham) for 1 hr at 42° C., then the 5′ end labelled H170 was added for 2 hr. The filters were then washed 3 times at 42° C. in 2× SSC/0.1% SDS. The filters were autoradiographed for 4 days using Biomax film and an intensifying screen. A total of 24 putative positives was isolated. The positives were eluted in PSB.
[0108] The positives were then further characterized using a PCR based method. PCR was performed using oligonucleotide H170 as the 5′ primer and H173 as the 3′ primer. A PCR product derived from H170/H173 will span an intron in the sheep β-globin gene, and will generate a 1098 bp fragment.
[0109] An aliquot of the eluted λ clone was boiled for 5 min, then chilled on ice. This was used as template DNA in a PCR reaction containing 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, 400 μM dNTPs, Taq Polymerase (Bresatec, 2.5 units), 3 μM MgCl 2 ,and each primer at 400 nM. Denaturation, annealing and extension were carried out 94° C., 60° C. and 72° C. for 1 min each for 30 cycles, followed by a final extension at 72° C. for 10 min. PCR products were analysed by electrophoresis on a 1.4% agarose gel.
[0110] The H170 positive/PCR negative clones were stored for further characterization. It is considered that they may be either non-globin precursors, alternatively spliced precursors or fragments of globin clones.
[0111] Sequencing Rat β-globin Clones
[0112] The 6 positives selected by PCR were plaque purified, and subjected to plasmid excision according to the manufacturers instructions. The insert sizes were determined by separate restriction mapping with the enzymes EcoRI and PvuII. Clones EX, FX, LX, RX and TX contain inserts of approx 500 bp. Clone DX was the longest, and contained an insert of approximately 2500 bp. Southern analysis of the clones using an internal oligonucleotide (H172) confirmed that these clones were derived from globin precursors.
[0113] These plasmids were sequenced using the Pharmacia T7 sequencing kit. Sequencing of clones EX, FX and LX, using the universal primer, showed sequence homology to the 3′ untranslated region of β-globin. Clones RX and TX when sequenced with the universal primer, and clone DX when sequenced with the reverse primer, showed sequence homology to the 5′ end of the β-globin gene, including the initiation codon ATG.
[0114] Clone DX was subjected to nested deletion analysis to generate more templates for sequencing. This clone contained the β-globin sequence, and approximately 1.8 kb of sequence which was not homologous to the globin cluster, and may be the result of two inserts in the one clone.
[0115] Complete sequencing of clone EX showed that the clone was identical to rat β A -globin (Genbank accession No: X16417), as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 13 shows the nuclectide sequence and derived amino acid sequence of clone EX, indicating the putative LVV-haemorphin-7 region.
EXAMPLE 9
In situ Hybridization Histochemistry
[0116] The distribution of mRNA encoding LVV-haemorphin-7 and its precursor peptide is being investigated using a range of oligonucleotides for the different regions of the β-globin gene, including the C-terminal of exon 2 (H172 of FIG. 13) and the N-terminal regions of exon 3 (H173). The antisense (initially H172, H173) oligonucleotides were 3′ end labelled with a 35 S-dATP using terminal d-transferase and purified on a Nensorb column. Sheep brain sections were then hybridized with 7.5×10 5 cpm of labelled probe in a 75 μl total volume of 50% formamide, 4× SSC, 1× Denhardt's solution, 2% sarcosyl, 20 mM Na 2 PO4 buffer (pH 7), 10% dextran sulphate, 50 μg/ml herring sperm DNA and 0.2 mM dithiothreitol. After a 16 h hybridization period, the sections were washed four times in 1× SSC, rinsed in distilled water and dehydrated through increasing ethanol and exposed to Hyperfilm β-max. Preliminary experiments using oligonucleotides H172 and H173 detected β-globin MRNA in the inferior colliculus and nucleus of the spinal trigeminal. Further in situ hybridization histochemical studies involve the use of additional antisense and sense synthetic oligonucleotides from different regions of the β-globin sequence to confirm our finding of β-globin MRNA in brain nuclei. The distribution of β-globin mRNA is then compared to our autoradiographic localization of the AT 4 receptors in order further to lucidate roles for this novel peptide system.
EXAMPLE 10
Radioimmunoassay and Immunohistochemical Detection of LVV-haemorphin-7
[0117] Two sheep were immunized with the LVV-haemorphin-7 sequence conjugated to diphtheria toxoid and both antisera and affinity purified antisera with adequate titre to set up radioimmunoassays for LVV-haemorphin-7 have been obtained. The radioimmunoassay, which is of conventional type, is used to determine the concentration of LVV-haemorphin-7 in different tissues or in specific regions within a tissue, in order to provide us with further information as to other possible physiological actions of the decapeptide.
[0118] The antisera are also used immunohistochemically to determine the tissue distribution of LVV-haemorphin-7, particularly in the brain. Guinea pigs are perfused intracardially with 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline solution, the tissues dissected out and immersed in a 20% sucrose solution overnight. The tissues are then frozen, 5-10 micron sections cut, and endogenous peroxidase blocked by a 30 min incubation in 0.5% hydrogen peroxidase in methanol prior to an overnight incubation with the primary antibody in phosphate-buffered saline containing 3% normal goat serum. After a few washes in phosphate buffered saline, the sections are incubated with the secondary anti-sheep antibody, and detected using the streptavidin-biotin/horseradish peroxidase complex system (Vectastain). The detection of LVV-haemorphin-7 in neurones provides further support that the decapeptide is synthesized within neurones, and thereby may function as a neuropeptide, since we have already shown that its receptor occurs in neurones. Immunohistochemistry is also performed at the electron microscopic level in order to evaluate the subcellular distribution of the peptide, in particular whether it occurs in intracellular storage granules.
[0119] The radioimmunoassay for LVV-haemorphin-7 is also employed to investigate the secretion of the peptide from neural tissue. Slices prepared from brain regions found to be rich in LVV-haemorphin-7 immunoreactivity are incubated in Krebs Ringer Bicarbonate buffer at 37° C., and the effects of depolarization by high K + medium and various secretagogues are evaluated to test whether the peptide is secreted from neurones. Similar experiments are carried out on cultured neuronal cell lines which are found to contain the peptide. Radioimmunoassays of body fluids including plasma and cerebrospinal fluid are used to determine levels of the peptide in these fluids under normal and pathological conditions.
[0120] In addition, the subcellular distribution of the peptide is evaluated by radioimmunassay of subcellular fractions from nervous tissues, including synaptosomes, in order to evaluate if the peptide is stored in subcellular granules, as occurs for other secreted neuropeptides.
EXAMPLE 11
Effect of LVV-haemorphin-7 in Passive Avoidance Conditioning Trials
[0121] Angiotensin IV has been shown to improve memory retention and retrieval in a passive avoidance task (Braszko et al, 1988, Wright et al, 1993), an effect which was mediated via the AT 4 receptor. Scopolamine , a muscarinic receptor antagonist, has been used to induce amnesia. It has been reported that a more stable analogue of angiotensin IV, WSU 2088, reversed the disruption in learning in a passive avoidance task induced by scopolamine. The effects of LVV-haemorphin-7 on the conditioned passive avoidance task in untreated and scopolamine-treated rats were tested.
[0122] Rats were surgically implanted with intracerebroventricular cannulae and handled daily. On the conditioning day, each animal was habituated to the dark compartment of a passive avoidance conditioning apparatus for 5 min with the guillotine door closed. The animal was then returned to its home cage for 5 min and then placed in the light compartment with the guillotine door opened. Latency to enter the dark compartment with all four feet was measured in seconds. These trials were repeated with 5 min in the home cage between trials until the rat entered the dark side within 20 seconds. Before the final trial on conditioning day, the rats were randomly divided into four groups: (a) saline followed by saline (b) saline followed by 1.0 nmol LVV-haemorphin-7 in (c) 70 nmol scopolamine followed by saline (d) 70 nmol scopolamine followed by 1.0 nmol LVV-haemorphin-7, all administered in a volume of 2.5 μl intracerebroventricularly 30 min and 5 min before the final trial respectively. On the last trial, the guillotine door was closed and the animals received one low-level shock (0.2 mA) for 1.5 seconds via the grid floor. The animals were then returned to their home cages for 24 hours before being tested once daily for the next four days and the latency periods to reenter the dark compartment were measured. Results are shown in FIG. 14.
[0123] In this passive avoidance paradigm, the control animals which received successful conditioning displayed high latencies in entering the darkened compartment, whereas rats treated with scopolamine displayed learning and memory deficits, as indicated by much lower latencies in entering the dark compartment. The mean latencies to enter the dark compartment of rats which received LVV-haemorphin-7 after scopolamine were not significantly different from those of the control rats, indicating that in these rats LVV-haemorphin-7 completely reversed the scopolamine-induced amnesia. However, the rats which received LVV-haemorphin-7 alone performed worse than the scopolamine-treated rats.
[0124] These results indicate that LVV-haemorphin-7 successfully counteracts the memory disruption induced by scopolamine treatment. However, administration of the peptide alone was detrimental to learning, which may be due to overstimulation of the neuronal system because of the high dose used.
[0125] Effective doses of LVV-haemorphin-7 are determined by conducting dose-response studies with LVV-haemorphin-7 and observing the effects on learning a passive avoidance task in the animals, including those with scopolamine-induced amnesia. Similar studies are also used to determine if the memory disruption caused by LVV-haemorphin-7 is due to excessively high doses of the peptide.
EXAMPLE 12
Effect of LVV-haemorphin-7 in the Water Maze Acquisition Trials
[0126] The circular water maze (Morris water maze) consists of a circular tank containing water which has been rendered opaque, with a hidden platform underneath the surface of the water. Scopolamine blocks the trial-to-trial decrease in latency of this task, and this effect appears to be due to impairment of short-term memory. The effect of LVV-haemorphin-7 on the scopolamine-induced amnesia in this task was investigated.
[0127] Rats were surgically implanted with intracerebroventricular cannulae and handled daily. On the day of the trial, the rats were introduced into the water maze from different starting positions equidistant from the escape platform . The time taken for each rat to reach the platform was noted. There were four consecutive trials for each animal on each day, with a 60 second rest period between trials. The mean latency period before the animal reached the platform was plotted, and is shown in FIG. 15. On days 1 and 2 of the trial (non-spatial), none of the animals received any drug treatment. Although the scopolamine group displayed increased latency on day 1, the latency on day 2 decreased to control level. The rats were then randomly divided into 3 groups:
[0128] (a) the saline control,
[0129] (b) 70 nmol scopolamine in 2.5 μl, and
[0130] (c) 70 nmol scopolamine followed by 1.0 nmol LVV-haemorphin-7, and were subjected to 5 days of testing. Upon intracerebroventricular treatment with scopolamine 30 min prior to testing, the rats displayed significantly increased latencies in finding the platform, demonstrating deficits in learning. In rats treated with LVV-haemorphin-7 25 min after scopolamine, the scopolamine-induced latency in finding the platform was totally reversed, and these rats were indistinguishable from the control group. Withdrawal of treatment on day 8 brought the latency of scopolamine-treated group back to control levels, indicating that the scopolamine-induced amnesia is reversible.
EXAMPLE 13
Effect of LVV-Haemorphin-7 on Acetylcholine Release in Rat Hippocampus
[0131] Acetylcholine is thought to be the major transmitter involved in the processing of cognitive function, since anti-cholinergic drugs induce memory deficit and confusion. In Alzheimer's disease, neuronal loss has been reported in cholinergic-rich areas, particularly in the septohippocampal pathway. Angiotensin AT 4 receptors were found in high abundance in the basal nucleus of Meynert, in the CA2 and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, and in somatic and autonomic preganglionic motoneurones of the monkey brain. This pattern of receptor distribution closely resembles that of cholinergic neurones, and suggests that the AT 4 receptors may be associated with cholinergic pathways centrally. Moreover, as shown in Example 12 LVV-haemorphin-7 can reverse the learning deficit induced by scopolamine (a muscarinic receptor antagonist). We therefore postulate that LVV-haemorphin-7 can modulate acetylcholine release from the septohippocampal neurones via the AT 4 receptors.
[0132] Rats are anaesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone, and stereotaxically implanted with intracerebral guide cannulae either in the dorsal hippocampus (coordinates 3.8 mm caudal to bregma, 2.5 mm lateral to midline, and 3.0 mm ventral to the surface of the skull) or ventral hippocampus (coordinates 5.3 mm caudal to bregma, 5.4 mm lateral to midline, and 6.5 mm ventral to surface of the skull). The guide cannulae are secured with dental cement anchored to three screws in the skull. Dummy probes are then inserted into the guide cannulae to prevent blockade of the cannulae. The rats are allowed to recover for 5-7 days. On the day of the experiment, a microdialysis probe, with a 3 mm dialysis membrane, is inserted through the guide cannula and perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (148 mM NaCl, 3 mM KCl, 1.4 mM CaCl, 0.8 mM MgCl, 1.3 mM NaH 2 PO 4 , 0.2 mM Na 2 HPO 4 , pH 7.4) at a flow rate of 2.0 μl/min. Neostigmine (1.0 μM) is added to the artificial cerebrospinal fluid to facilitate recovery of acetylcholine. Four 20-min baseline samples are collected 1 h after probe insertion, followed by four 20-min samples during the experimental period when LVV-haemorphin-7 (1 μmol dissoolved in artificial cerebrospinal fluid and 1 μM neostigmine) is perfused through the probe. During the recovery period, the peptide perfusion is withdrawn and four 20-min samples are collected.
[0133] Acetylcholine in the dialysates is measured by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Acetylcholine and choline are separated on a 10 cm polymer-based analytical column, and then converted to hydrogen peroxide and betaine by an immobilized enzyme reactor (acetylcholinesterase and choline oxidase) coupled to the analytical column. The mobile phase consists of 35 mM sodium phosphate at pH 8.5 supplemented with the antibacterial reagent Kathoon CG.
EXAMPLE 14
Detection of β-globin Sequences in Different Neuronal Cell Lines by RT-PCR
[0134] Total RNA is isolated from the following cell lines:
[0135] (a) NG 108 rat glioma-neuroblastoma hybrid,
[0136] (b) SKNMC human neuroblastoma, and
[0137] (c) PC 12W rat pheochromocytoma. The total RNA is prepared as follows: 10 7 cells are homogenized in 4 ml of 4M guanidine thiocyanate, 25 mM sodium citrate and 0.05% sodium dodecyl sulphate followed by sequential addition of 0.4 ml of 2 M sodium acetate pH 4.0, 4 ml water saturated phenol, and 0.8 ml of chloroform-isoamyl alcohol. The homogenate is mixed and cooled on ice for 15 min followed by centrifugation at 2000 g for 15 min. The aqueous phase is removed and subjected to 2 phenol-chloroform extractions before RNA is precipitated by the addition of isopropanol.
[0138] The mRNAs are then subjected to RT-PCR. cDNA is synthesized from approximately 20 μg of total RNA, using reverse transcriptase and random hexamers. Ten percent of the cDNA product was amplified by PCR through 40 cycles, with each cycle consisting of denaturation at 94° C. for 1 min, annealing of primers at 60° C. for 1 min and primer extension at 72° C. for 1 min, followed by a final 10 min incubation ac 72° C. The primers used were 5′ CTGGTTGTCTACCCCTGGACTCAGAG3′ (SEQ ID NO:2), and 5′ CAGCACAACCACTAGCACATTGCC3′ (SEQ ID NO:5), which corresponded with high homology to sheep β,δ, ε globin chains and flanked a 255 bp cDNA fragment. The sense primer spans the nucleotide sequence which coded for LVV-haemorphin-7, and the antisense primer spans the second intron of the globin gene, to enable cDNA to be distinguished from contaminating genomic DNA. The PCR products are transferred to a Hybond N+ membrane by downward Southern blotting in 0.4 M NaOH. The membrane is hybridized at 42° C. in 5× SSC, 5× Denhardt's solution and 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulphate, with a 32 p end-labelled oligonucleotide 5′ CTCAGGATCCACATGCAGCTTATCACAG3′ (SEQ ID NO:3), which is internal to the primers used for PCR and binds to β,δ and ε globin chains. After 12 h of hybridization, the filter is washed at 42° C. in a buffer with a final stringency of 0.5× SSC and 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulphate.
[0139] We have mapped the distribution of AT 4 receptors in the brain of Macaca fascicularis and sheep spinal cord. The receptor has a striking and unique distribution, including motor- and sensory-associated regions and pathways and cholinergic cell bodies, including all motor nuclei in the brain stem and spinal cord. We have demonstrated that Ang IV inhibits neurite outgrowth in cultured embryonic chicken neurones, and that this peptide may therefore have a role in growth and development of the central and peripheral nervous systems.
[0140] We have purified an endogenous brain peptide which binds to the AT 4 receptor with high affinity. This decapeptide is 100% identical to the internal amino-acid sequence 30-39 of sheep β-globin. The presence of this β-globin-like sequence was demonstrated in sheep brain and other tissues using PCR. Screening of a rat brain cDNA library led to the isolation of a clone identical in sequence to rat β A -globin.
[0141] We have demonstrated the presence of β-globin mRNA in brain tissue and isolated a β-globin cDNA clone from a rat brain library. These data suggest that LVV-haemorphin-7 is derived from β-globin precursors synthesized in the brain, although contamination by reticulocytes cannot be excluded. All of the cDNA clones sequenced correspond to the sequence encoding rat β A -globin. The rat LVV-haemorphin-7 peptide sequence has a conservative substitution at position 10, with a tyrosine replacing a phenylalanine.
[0142] It therefore appears that a peptide corresponding to the sequence of the bovine LVV-haemorphin-7 exists in brain, and is derived from β-globin as precursor. The peptide is almost certainly an endogenous ligand for abundant brain AT 4 receptors, and may therefore exert a range of actions on defined motor sensory and cholinergic neurones.
[0143] We have shown that LVV-haemorphin-7 reverses the memory-disruptive effects of scopolamine in both passive avoidance conditioning trials and in water maze acquisition trials. However, administration of high doses of the peptide may be detrimental to learning due to overstimulation of the neuronal system.
[0144] In a wider context, our findings suggest that β-globin may be a precursor of a range of neuroactive peptides generated in the central nervous system by specific cleavage enzymes to interact with a range of receptors.
[0145] It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that while the invention has been described in some detail for the purposes of clarity and understanding, various modifications and alterations to the embodiments and methods described herein may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive concept disclosed in this invention.
[0146] References cited herein are listed on the following pages, and are incorporated by this reference.
REFERENCES
[0147] 1. Bovolenta, P., Wandosell, F., Nieto-Sampedro, M., Prog. Brain Res., 1992 94 367-379
[0148] 2. Braszko, J. J., Kupryszewski, G., Witczuk, B. and Wisniewski, K. Neurosci., 1988 27 777-783.
[0149] 3. Garner, K. J. and Lingrel, J. B. J. Mol. Evol., 1989 28 (3) 175-184
[0150] 4. Haberl, R. L., Decker, P. J. and Einhaupl, K. M., Circ. Res., 1991 68 1621-1627.
[0151] 5. Karksson, S. and Nienhuis, A. W. Ann. Rev. Biochem., 1985 54 1071-1108
[0152] 6. Karelin, A. A., Philippova, M. M., Karelina, E. V. and Ivanov, V. T. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 1994 202 410-415
[0153] 7. Miller-Wing, A. V., Hanesworth, J. M., Sardinia, M. F., Hall, K. L., Wright, J. W., Speth, R. C., Grove, K. L. and Harding, J. W. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 266 (1993) 1718-1726.
[0154] 8. Moeller, I., Chai, S. Y., Oldfield, B. J., McKinley, M. J., Casley, D. and Mendelsohn, F. A. O. Brain Res., 1995 701 301-306.
[0155] 9. Moeller, J., Paxinos, G, Mendelsohn, F. A. O., Aldred, G. P., Casley, D and Chai, S. y., Brain Ros, 1996 712 307-324.
[0156] 10. Ohyagi, Y., Yamada, T. and Goto, I. Brain Res., 1994 635 323-327
[0157] 11. Roberts, K. A., Krebs, L. T., Kramar, E. A., Shaffer, M. J., Harding, J. W. and Wright, J. W. Brain Res., 1995 682 13-21.
[0158] 12. Saban, J. and King, D. Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 1994 1218 87-90
[0159] 13. Sardinia, M. F., Hanesworth, J. M., Krebs, L. T. and Harding, J. W. Peptides. 14 (1993) 949-954.
[0160] 14. Swanson, G. N., Hanesworth, J. M., Sardinia, M. F., Coleman, J. K. M., Wright, J. W., Hall, K. L., Miller-Wing, A. V., Stobb, J. W., Cook, V. I., Harding, E. C. and Harding, J. W. Reg. Peptides, 1992 40 409-419.
[0161] 15. Schwartz, J. P. Int. Rev. Neurobiol. 34 (1992) 1-23.
[0162] 16. Wong, P. C., Hart, S. D., Zaspel, A. M., Chiu, A. T., Ardecky, R. J., Smith, R. D. and Timmermans, P. B. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 255 (1990) 584-592.
[0163] 17. Wright, J. W., Miller-Wing, A. V., Shaffer, M. J., Higginson, C., Wright, D. E., Hanesworth, J. M. and Harding, J. W. Brain Res. Bull., 1993 32 497-502.
[0164] 18. Wright, J. W., Krebs, L. T., Stubb, J. W. and Harding, J. W. Neuroendocrinology, 1995 16 23-52
1
10
1
10
PRT
Unknown Organism
Description of Unknown Organism Beta globin
precursor
1
Leu Val Val Tyr Pro Trp Thr Gln Arg Phe
1 5 10
2
26
DNA
Artificial Sequence
Description of Artificial Sequence Primer
2
ctggttgtct acccctggac tcagag 26
3
26
DNA
Artificial Sequence
Description of Artificial Sequence Primer
3
ctctgagtcc aggggtagac aaccag 26
4
28
DNA
Artificial Sequence
Description of Artificial Sequence Primer
4
ctcaggatcc acatgcagct tatcacag 28
5
24
DNA
Artificial Sequence
Description of Artificial Sequence Primer
5
cagcacaacc actagcacat tgcc 24
6
613
DNA
Rattus sp.
6
cacaaactca gaaacagaca ccatggtgca cctgactgat gctgagaagg ctgctgttaa 60
tggcctgtgg ggaaaggtga accctgatga tgttggtggc gaggccctgg gcaggctgct 120
ggttgtctac ccttggaccc agaggtactt tgatagcttt ggggacctgt cctctgcctc 180
tgctatcatg ggtaacccta aggtgaaggc ccatggcaag aaggtgataa acgccttcaa 240
tgatggcctg aaacacttgg acaacctcaa gggcaccttt gctcatctga gtgaactcca 300
ctgtgacaag ctgcatgtgg atcctgagaa cttcaggctc ctgggcaata tgattgtgat 360
tgtgttgggc caccacctgg gcaaggaatt caccccctgt gcacaggctg ccttccagaa 420
ggtggtggct ggagtggcca gtgccctggc tcacaagtac cactaaacct cttttcctgc 480
tcttgtcttt gtgcaatggt caattgttcc caagagagca tctgtcagtt gttgtcaaaa 540
tgacaaagac ctttgaaaat ctgtcctact aataaaaggc atttactttc actgcaaaaa 600
aaaaaaaaaa aaa 613
7
613
DNA
Rattus sp.
CDS
(23)..(463)
7
cacaaactca gaaacagaca cc atg gtg cac ctg act gat gct gag aag gct 52
Met Val His Leu Thr Asp Ala Glu Lys Ala
1 5 10
gct gtt aat ggc ctg tgg gga aag gtg aac cct gat gat gtt ggt ggc 100
Ala Val Asn Gly Leu Trp Gly Lys Val Asn Pro Asp Asp Val Gly Gly
15 20 25
gag gcc ctg ggc agg ctg ctg gtt gtc tac cct tgg acc cag agg tac 148
Glu Ala Leu Gly Arg Leu Leu Val Val Tyr Pro Trp Thr Gln Arg Tyr
30 35 40
ttt gat agc ttt ggg gac ctg tcc tct gcc tct gct atc atg ggt aac 196
Phe Asp Ser Phe Gly Asp Leu Ser Ser Ala Ser Ala Ile Met Gly Asn
45 50 55
cct aag gtg aag gcc cat ggc aag aag gtg ata aac gcc ttc aat gat 244
Pro Lys Val Lys Ala His Gly Lys Lys Val Ile Asn Ala Phe Asn Asp
60 65 70
ggc ctg aaa cac ttg gac aac ctc aag ggc acc ttt gct cat ctg agt 292
Gly Leu Lys His Leu Asp Asn Leu Lys Gly Thr Phe Ala His Leu Ser
75 80 85 90
gaa ctc cac tgt gac aag ctg cat gtg gat cct gag aac ttc agg ctc 340
Glu Leu His Cys Asp Lys Leu His Val Asp Pro Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu
95 100 105
ctg ggc aat atg att gtg att gtg ttg ggc cac cac ctg ggc aag gaa 388
Leu Gly Asn Met Ile Val Ile Val Leu Gly His His Leu Gly Lys Glu
110 115 120
ttc acc ccc tgt gca cag gct gcc ttc cag aag gtg gtg gct gga gtg 436
Phe Thr Pro Cys Ala Gln Ala Ala Phe Gln Lys Val Val Ala Gly Val
125 130 135
gcc agt gcc ctg gct cac aag tac cac taaacctctt ttcctgctct 483
Ala Ser Ala Leu Ala His Lys Tyr His
140 145
tgtctttgtg caatggtcaa ttgttcccaa gagagcatct gtcagttgtt gtcaaaatga 543
caaagacctt tgaaaatctg tcctactaat aaaaggcatt tactttcact gcaaaaaaaa 603
aaaaaaaaaa 613
8
147
PRT
Rattus sp.
8
Met Val His Leu Thr Asp Ala Glu Lys Ala Ala Val Asn Gly Leu Trp
1 5 10 15
Gly Lys Val Asn Pro Asp Asp Val Gly Gly Glu Ala Leu Gly Arg Leu
20 25 30
Leu Val Val Tyr Pro Trp Thr Gln Arg Tyr Phe Asp Ser Phe Gly Asp
35 40 45
Leu Ser Ser Ala Ser Ala Ile Met Gly Asn Pro Lys Val Lys Ala His
50 55 60
Gly Lys Lys Val Ile Asn Ala Phe Asn Asp Gly Leu Lys His Leu Asp
65 70 75 80
Asn Leu Lys Gly Thr Phe Ala His Leu Ser Glu Leu His Cys Asp Lys
85 90 95
Leu His Val Asp Pro Glu Asn Phe Arg Leu Leu Gly Asn Met Ile Val
100 105 110
Ile Val Leu Gly His His Leu Gly Lys Glu Phe Thr Pro Cys Ala Gln
115 120 125
Ala Ala Phe Gln Lys Val Val Ala Gly Val Ala Ser Ala Leu Ala His
130 135 140
Lys Tyr His
145
9
620
DNA
Unknown Organism
Description of Unknown Organism RNBGLO
9
tgcttctgac atagttgtgt tgactcacaa actcagaaac agacaccatg gtgcacctga 60
ctgatgctga gaaggctgct gttaatggcc tgtggggaaa ggtgaaccct gatgatgttg 120
gtggcgaggc cctgggcagg ctgctggttg tctacccttg gacccagagg tactttgata 180
gctttgggga cctgtcctct gcctctgcta tcatgggtaa ccctaaggtg aaggcccatg 240
gcaagaaggt gataaacgcc ttcaatgatg gcctgaaaca cttggacaac ctcaagggca 300
cctttgctca tctgagtgaa ctccactgtg acaagctgca tgtggatcct gagaacttca 360
ggctcctggg caatatgatt gtgattgtgt tgggccacca cctgggcaag gaattcaccc 420
cctgtgcaca ggctgccttc cagaaggtgg tggctggagt ggccagtgcc ctggctcaca 480
agtaccacta aacctctttt cctgctcttg tctttgtgca atggtcaatt gttcccaaga 540
gagcatctgt cagttgttgt caaaatgaca aagacctttg aaaatctgtc ctactaataa 600
aaggcattta ctttcactgc 620
10
6
PRT
Unknown Organism
Description of Unknown Organism Hexapeptide
10
Val Tyr Ile His Pro Phe
1 5
|
The invention relates to neuroactive peptides or analogues thereof, having at least one of the biological activities of angiotensin IV, and which comprise the sequence Leu-Val-Val-Tyr-Pro-Trp-Thr-Gln-Arg-Phe, to methods of modulating neuronal activity, and to pharmaceutical composition thereof.
| 2
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
[0003] Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] 1. Field of the Invention
[0005] The field of the invention is free-venting pipe for conducting oil and gas or other fluids in subsea and offshore operations and method of manufacturing the pipe.
[0006] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0007] This is an improvement on the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,942, which is herein incorporated by reference. When the pipe disclosed therein is used to transport compressed gas, or fluids containing gas, some gas can permeate through the inner core or the pipe over time and gather between the inner core and extrusions causing a steady rising inward pressure on the core. The oil and gas industry and those skilled in the art generally refer to spaces between the inner core and the extrusions as annulus regions. Although not in itself a problem under normal circumstances, pressure that builds up in the annulus regions can cause a problem if the pressure in the bore of the pipe is released more quickly than the pressure between the layers. When that happens, the inner core can collapse due to the adverse pressure differential and its poor hoop strength. This problem can become more serious as the depth of water in which pipes are used to transport oil and gas increases, along with the increased ambient pressures at deeper water depths.
[0008] Pipe collapse has happened in the past with prior art pipes that have steel based flexible pipes and therefore prior art pipes used for gas transmission are normally constructed using a central interlocking metallic carcass under the inner core. The metallic carcass provides sufficient radial strength to withstand any collapse forces generated by the scenario described above but the overall diameter of the pipe necessarily requires an increase of twice the thickness of the carcass. Furthermore, the inclusion of a carcass increases each reinforcement layer for the same performance because the reinforcement layers have to be wound on larger diameters. An example of such a configuration is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,806.
[0009] Some degree of protection can be provided to pipes by relieving the pressure between the two extrusions through a valve or valves in the end fittings but this is insufficient for all circumstances and collapse of the inner core may still occur.
[0010] The problem has also solved by Michael J. Bryant, the inventor of the current invention, in pending, published US Patent Publication Number US-2006-0249215-A1, wherein a method is taught to prevent the collapse of the core by embedding a polymer in laterally spaced openings formed in reinforcing tapes that surround the core. The embedded polymer is then bonded to the core to strengthen the hoop strength of the core to prevent its collapse.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] What is needed is an apparatus that provides a structure that avoids a pressure build up on the core, thereby eliminating the need to add structural elements to increase the pressure resistance of the core.
[0012] The device according to this invention comprises a permeable tubular core member with at least one permeable hoop reinforcement layer around the core member. A non-permeable membrane layer is positioned outside of the hoop reinforcement layer and at least one permeable tensile reinforcement layer is positioned outside of the membrane layer whereby a free volume does not exist between any of the layers of the free venting pipe.
[0013] An extruded, permeable, polymer jacket is usually provided outside of the tensile reinforcement layer to provide abrasion resistance.
[0014] The hoop reinforcement and tensile reinforcement layers typically comprise composite laminate construction that includes stacked laminates having resin between the laminates as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,942. The stacked laminates may be wrapped with a tape member in a “z” pattern whereby each of the stacked laminates is prevented from bonding to adjacent stacked laminates. The stacked laminates may also be wrapped with a tape with a resulting “s” pattern wherein the orientation of the wrapped tape is reversed from the “z” orientation. The opposite orientation of the “z” versus the “s” patterns results from the stacked laminates being wrapped in opposite directions during manufacturing.
[0015] The method of manufacture of the present invention comprises the steps of wrapping at least one hoop reinforcement layer about a polymeric, pressure resistant core, covering the hoop reinforcement layer with an impermeable membrane and wrapping the impermeable membrane with at least one tensile reinforcement layer. Typically, two tensile reinforcement layers are provided to balance the wrapping forces created when wrapping the layers. A polymer jacket may also be applied or extruded about the tensile reinforcement layer. Both the tubular core and the polymer jacket are typically perforated to allow pressure to pass through to the impermeable membrane.
[0016] Because fluid pressure that is imposed from outside the free venting pipe, such as from ambient pressure from the ocean depth is not trapped in annulus layers outside of the inner core, the inner core is not subject to extreme pressures when a pressure drop occurs inside of the bore of the inner core. A sudden pressure drop on the inner core can occur for example, when the pipe, which is in the subsea, is vented from the surface. The single non-permeable membrane, which surrounds a permeable inner core and at least one hoop reinforcement layer, is surrounded by at least one tensile layer and may be surrounded by a permeable outer jacket. Fluid pressure from outside of the free venting pipe passes through the outer jacket, and through the one or more tensile layers to the impermeable membrane extrusion. Similarly, pressure in the bore of the inner core, which is permeable to gas, and liquid, passes through the inner core, through the one or more hoop reinforcement layers, and through any anti-extrusion layers to the impermeable membrane extrusion. Because pressure is allowed to pass through the layers outside of the impermeable membrane extrusion and pressure is also allowed to pass through the layers inside of the impermeable membrane extrusion, there is an absence of annular regions between layers that can cause undesirable pressure to be imposed on the inner core.
[0017] Perforating all extrusion layers other than the membrane extrusion ensures that there are no annulus regions of free volume in which pressure can build up. In conventional flexible fiber reinforced pipe and steel alternatives designed in accordance with API-17, the annulus can build up pressure over time.
[0018] Additional tensile reinforcement, hoop reinforcement, anti-extrusion, lubrication, or extrusion layers can added as desired so long as all layers other than the membrane extrusion layer are permeable. The free venting pipe design can also include weighted layers, according to the environmental demands of the underwater and offshore environment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the invention showing the outside of the layers of the free venting pipe with a supplemental anti-extrusion layer.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 .
[0021] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of stacked tapes forming composite laminates and separated by z-tapes.
[0022] FIG. 3 a is a cross-sectional view of stacked tapes forming composite laminates and separated by s-tapes.
[0023] FIG. 4 is a set of graphs showing a comparison of the potential annulus pressure acting on the inner core of a conventional flexible pipe without the current inventive free venting pipe to the maximum differential pressure acting on an inner core of the current inventive free venting pipe.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 1 , the letter A- 1 generally refers to a free venting pipe of the current invention. The tubular core 11 is typically wrapped with a hoop reinforcement layer 12 . The hoop reinforcement layer 12 is shown covered with an anti-extrusion layer 16 . The anti-extrusion layer 16 helps to bridge gaps formed in the hoop reinforcement layer 12 when the free venting pipe A- 1 is bent, thereby preventing the membrane 19 layer from extruding through the gaps formed in the hoop reinforcement layer 12 . The anti-extrusion layer is typically formed from a single layer of glass-reinforced tape, but multiple layers or alternative materials may be used, so long as they are pressure resistant to prevent the impermeable membrane 19 from being forced between the gaps that can form in the hoop reinforcement layer 12 . For example, in one embodiment a layer of glass-reinforced tape may be alternated with a layer of polyester (such as Mylar®), or polyamide, or other polymer. An impermeable membrane 19 is shown extruded outside of the anti-extrusion layer 16 . Tensile reinforcement layers 20 , 21 are typically helically wound around the membrane 19 . A jacket extrusion 24 is then extruded outside of the tensile reinforcement layers 20 , 21 . The jacket extrusion 24 is perforated to allow fluid pressure or gas to pass through the jacket extrusion 24 , and through the tensile reinforcement layers 20 , 21 . The tubular core 11 and the jacket extrusion 24 are perforated to allow gas pressure to permeate through the layers to the membrane 19 . In a preferred embodiment, sets of four ⅛″ holes are provided circumferentially, evenly spaced around the tubular core 11 and the jacket extrusion 24 . The sets are spaced approximately 6″ apart along the length of the tubular core 11 and the jacket extrusion 24 . Other sizes of perforations and a different quantity of perforations and spaces may also be provided.
[0025] The anti-extrusion layer 16 may be omitted. A lubricated layer that is typically a wrapped tape made of tensilized polyethylene or polyamide or other polymer can instead be wrapped around the hoop layer 12 in place of the anti-extrusion layer 16 . The lubricated layer helps to prevent the layers that are being separated by the lubricated layer from sticking to one another. The lubricated layer may also comprise an extruded jacked constructed of polyamide or other low friction material. A lubricated layer may also be used between other layers of the free venting pipe A- 1 as desired, to provide a separation and anti-stick layer.
[0026] In FIG. 1 , the hoop reinforcement layer 12 and the tensile reinforcement layers 20 , 21 are comprised of a composite laminate construction as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,942 and 6,491,779. Referring to FIG. 3 , individual tape strips 32 are stacked together and each resulting composite laminate B is separated from the other composite laminate B by a z-tape 34 . The resulting composite laminate can also be separated from another composite laminate B by an s-tape 34 a as shown in FIG. 3 a. The use of a z-tape 34 or s-tape 34 a depends upon the direction of wrapping of the composite laminate layer. Generally, the z-tape 34 will be used when wrapping in one direction, while the s-tape 34 a will be used when wrapping in the opposite direction. The tape strips 32 are typically bonded together with epoxy or resin and the z-tape or s-tape keeps the composite laminates 32 from bonding to each other as they cure. The tape strips 32 may also be unbonded.
[0027] The composite laminates B are not pressure tight, and allow pressure to pass around the composite laminates B through the gaps 35 ( FIG. 3) and 35 a ( FIG. 3 a ) to the impermeable membrane 19 .
[0028] It is to be understood that multiple tensile layers, multiple hoop layers and/or multiple anti-extrusion, or extrusion layers may also be provided, so long as each of the layers provided is permeable to gas and a single impermeable membrane is provided outside of a permeable core. The single impermeable membrane may be of a co-extruded multiple layer construction or may otherwise be formed such that a unitary impermeable layer is provided. Also, a layer may be added to provide weighting to a desired length or lengths of the free venting pipe A- 1 . For example, weighting could be added to the inventive pipe to form a catenary, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,978 to Michael J. Bryant.
[0029] FIG. 4 provides graphs that show a comparison of the potential annulus pressure acting on the inner core of a conventional flexible pipe without the current inventive free venting pipe to the maximum differential pressure acting on an inner core of the current inventive free venting pipe A- 1 . In FIG. 4 , the Annulus Pressure is shown on the y-axis and Time is shown on the x-axis. The annulus pressure is that pressure that builds up between non-permeable or semi-permeable layers of conventional, flexible pipe. Curve 44 shows the relative pressure of the bore of either a conventional, flexible pipe or the inventive free venting pipe A- 1 . Curve 45 graphically shows the relatively high annulus pressure that can potentially develop in a conventional, flexible pipe. The relatively high annulus pressure shown in Curve 45 will be acting on the outside of the inner core of the conventional, flexible pipe and therefore the high pressure must be counteracted with either an inner metal carcass or other hoop reinforcement must be provided to prevent the inward collapse of the core. Curve 42 graphically shows the relatively low pressure outside core 11 of the inventive free venting pipe A- 1 . The differential pressure 46 is the difference between the pressure in the bore of the inventive free venting pipe A- 1 and the pressure outside of the core 11 . The pressure difference 48 graphically shows the relative potential between the annulus of a conventional, flexible pipe and the 5 pressure of the inventive free venting pipe A- 1 . It is evident from the Annulus Pressure versus Time curves in FIG. 4 that the inventive free venting pipe A- 1 reduces the resulting or potential annulus pressure on the core 11 to thereby reduce the need to additional hoop layers or other hoop reinforcement to add strength to the inner core of a conventional, flexible pipe.
[0030] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the details of the illustrated apparatus and construction and method of operation may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
|
A free venting pipe and method of forming same, comprising a permeable tubular core member with at least one permeable hoop reinforcement layer around the core member; a substantially non-permeable membrane layer positioned outside of the hoop reinforcement layer and at least one permeable tensile reinforcement layer positioned outside of the membrane layer whereby a free volume annulus does not exist between any of the layers of the free venting pipe. The hoop and tensile reinforcement layers are comprised of a laminate construction.
| 8
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a neuropeptide with a widespread distribution in brain. CCK receptors are classified into two types; CCK A and CCK B , both of which are present in brain (Woodruff, G. N. and Hughes, J., 1991, Ann. Rev. Pharmacol. 31, 469-501).
Devazepide is a selective antagonist of CCK A receptors. The chemical name and structure of devazepide are:
1H-indole-2-carboxamide, N-(2,3-dihydro-1-methyl-2-oxo-5-phenyl-1H-1,4-benzodiazepin-3-yl)-, or (L 364718) and ##STR1##
L-365,260 is a selective antagonist of CCK B receptors. The chemical name and structure of L-365,260 is (R)-N-(2,3-dihydro-1-methyl-2-oxo-5-phenyl-1H-1,4-benzodiazepine-3-yl)-N'-(3-methylphenyl)urea and ##STR2##
Other CCK antagonists are lorglumide and loxiglumide. Lorglumide is DL-4-(3,4-dichlorobenzoylamino)-5-(dipentylamino)-5-oxopentanoic acid and loxiglumide is (±)-4-[(3,4-dichlorobenzoyl)amino]-5-[(3-methoxyproxyl)pentylamino]-5-oxo-pentanoic acid.
These CCK A and CCK B antagonists are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,215 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,834. These documents are hereby incorporated by reference.
The above patents cover compounds of the instant invention, methods for preparing them, and several uses thereof.
The uses disclosed are gastric acid secretion disorders, gastrointestinal motility, pancreatic secretions, dopaminergic functions, analgesics, psychic disturbances, anorexia, weight increases in farm animals, and pathological cellular growth such as tumors.
Other CCK antagonists include compounds (J. Med. Chem. 1991, 34, 1505-8) of formula ##STR3## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein
X o is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, methoxy, or trifluoromethyl;
X m is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, methyl, ethyl, methoxy, propoxy, trifluoromethyl, cyclopentyloxy, MeS, or NMe 2 ;
X P is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, methoxy, or X m and X p together form --OCH 2 O--;
Y is hydrogen, fluorine, bromine, chlorine, or methoxy; and
R is hydrogen or methyl.
These CCK-B receptor ligands are also useful as agents in the treatment of depression.
Other compounds (presented at the 23rd Central 24th Great Lakes Joint Regional American Chemical Society Meeting; Abstract No. 306) useful in treating depression are those of formula ##STR4## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof,
wherein R is 2,3-dichloro, hydrogen, 4-trifluoromethyl, 4-chloro, 4-bromo, 4-methyl, 4-ethyl, 4-isopropyl, 4-methoxy, 4-OCH 2 Ph, 3-trifluoromethyl, 3-methyl, 3-methoxy, 3-trifluoromethyl, 4-chloro, 3,4-dichloro, 3,4-(CH 2 ) 3 , 3,4-(CH 2 ) 4 , 2-trifluoromethyl;
R 2 is hydrogen or methyl; and
R 3 is hydrogen or methyl.
Other compounds useful for treating depression are those of formula ##STR5## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein R 4 is 3-pyridyl, 4-pyridyl, 1-naphthyl, 2-naphthyl, 3-quinolinyl, 6-quinolinyl, n-Bu, c-hexyl, CH 2 Ph, CH 2 Ph-3,4-diCl, (CH 2 ) 2 Ph, (CH 2 ) 2 Ph-2-Cl, or (CH 2 ) 3 Ph.
Other compounds useful for treating depression are those of formula ##STR6## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein
R 1 is 4-trifluoromethyl or 4-bromo;
R 2 is hydrogen, 2-chloro, 3-cyano, 3-methoxy, 4-N(Me) 2 , 2-methoxy, 2,3-dichloro, 3-CONH 2 , 4-NO 2 ;
R 3 is hydrogen, 2-chloro, 3-chloro, 4-chloro, 3-methoxy, or 4-methoxy.
Especially useful are compounds of formula IV wherein R 1 is 4-CF 3 , R 2 is 2-Cl, and R 3 is hydrogen and wherein R 1 is 4-Br, R 2 is 2-Cl, and R 3 is 2-Cl.
Other compounds useful in treating depression are those of formula ##STR7## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein
R 1 is 4-bromo or 4-trifluoromethyl;
R 2 is phenyl, 3-pyridyl, or n-butyl; and
R 3 is 1-naphthyl, phenyl, or n-butyl.
Other compounds useful in treating depression are those of formula ##STR8## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein
X is absent, CH 2 , oxygen, or sulfur, and R is trifluoromethyl, bromine, or chlorine.
Other compound useful are selected from: ##STR9## or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Especially useful as agents for depression are CCK antagonists
1-pyrazolidinecarboxamide, N-(4-bromophenyl)-3-oxo-4,5-diphenyl-, trans-,
1-pyrazolidinecarboxamide, 5-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-oxo-4-phenyl-N-[4-trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-, trans-, and
1-pyrazolidinecarboxamide, N-(4-bromophenyl)-5-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-oxo-4-phenyl-, trans-.
The above references do not disclose the use of CCK antagonists for treating depression.
Depression can be the result of organic disease, secondary to stress associated with personal loss, or idiopathic in origin. There is a strong tendency for familial occurrence of some forms of depression suggesting a mechanistic cause for at least some forms of depression. The diagnosis of depression is made primarily by quantification of alterations in patients' mood. These evaluations of mood are generally performed by a physician or quantified by a neuropsychologist using validated rating scales such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale or the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Numerous other scales have been developed to quantify and measure the degree of mood alterations in patients with depression, such as insomnia, difficulty with concentration, lack of energy, feelings of worthlessness, and guilt. The standards for diagnosis of depression as well as all psychiatric diagnoses are collected in the diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Edition Revised) referred to as the DSM-III-R manual published by the American Psychiatric Association, 1987.
The compounds of the instant invention have an antidepressant action in patients with major and minor forms of depression.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a novel therapeutic use of known compounds, CCK A and CCK B antagonists, their derivatives, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts. The present invention concerns a method for treating depression in a mammal in need of such treatment.
The treatment comprises administering in unit dosage form an amount effective to treat depression of a CCK A or CCK B antagonist or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof to a mammal in need of such treatment.
Preferred compounds include but are not limited to CCK A antagonists devazepide, lorglumide, and loxiglumide.
Preferred compounds include but are not limited to CCK B antagonist L-365,260 and LY262691.
Pharmaceutical compositions of a compound of the present invention or its salts are produced by formulating the active compound in dosage unit form with a pharmaceutical carrier. Some examples of dosage unit forms are tablets, capsules, pills, powders, aqueous and nonaqueous oral solutions and suspensions, and parenteral solutions packaged in containers containing either one or some larger number of dosage units and capable of being subdivided into individual doses. Some examples of suitable pharmaceutical carriers, including pharmaceutical diluents, are gelatin capsules; sugars such as lactose and sucrose; starches such as corn starch and potato starch, cellulose derivatives such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, and cellulose acetate phthalate; gelatin; talc; stearic acid; magnesium stearate; vegetable oils such as peanut oil, cottonseed oil, sesame oil, olive oil, corn oil, and oil of theobroma, propylene glycol, glycerin; sorbitol; polyethylene glycol; water; agar; alginic acid; isotonic saline, and phosphate buffer solutions; as well as other compatible substances normally used in pharmaceutical formulations. The compositions of the invention can also contain other components such as coloring agents, flavoring agents, and/or preservatives. These materials, if present, are usually used in relatively small amounts. The compositions can, if desired, also contain other therapeutic agents.
The percentage of the active ingredient in the foregoing compositions can be varied within wide limits but for practical purposes it is preferably present in a concentration of at least 10% in a solid composition and at least 2% in a primary liquid composition. The more satisfactory compositions are those in which a much higher proportion of the active ingredient is present.
Routes of administration of a subject compound or its salts are oral or parenteral. For example, a useful intravenous dose is between 100 and 800 mg and a useful oral dosage is between 200 and 800 mg.
A unit dosage form of the instant invention may also comprise other compounds useful in the therapy of depression.
A typical dose is, for example, from 600 to 2400 mg per day given in three individual doses.
Useful individual doses are from 5 mg to 50 mg parenterally or from 5 mg to 600 mg enterally or a compound or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
A skilled physician will be able to determine the appropriate situation in which subjects are susceptible to or at risk of minor or major depression for administration by methods of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a method of treating depression which comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of at least one compound or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof of D,L-glutamic acid and D,L-aspartic acid of formulae: ##STR10## wherein n is 1 or 2
R 1 is a phenyl group mono-, di-, or tri-substituted with linear or branched C 1 -C 4 groups, which may be the same or different, or with halogens, with a cyano group or with a trifluoromethyl group;
R 2 is selected from the group consisting of morpholino, piperidino, and amino with one or two linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl group substituents containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms which may be the same or different.
The present invention also relates to a method of treating depression which comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of at least one compound or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of a compound of formula ##STR11## wherein
R 1 is H, C 1 -C 6 linear or branched alkyl, loweralkenyl, lower alkynyl, --X 12 COOR 6 , --X 11 cycloloweralkyl, --X 12 NR 4 R 5 , X 12 CONR 4 R 5 , --X 12 CN, or --X 11 CX 3 10 ;
R 2 is H, loweralkyl, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl (wherein the substituents may be 1 or 2 of halo, loweralkyl, loweralkoxy, loweralkylthio, carboxyl, carboxyloweralkyl, nitro, -CF 3 , or hydroxy), 2-, 3-, 4-pyridyl, ##STR12## wherein
R 4 and R 5 are independently R 6 or in combination with the N of the NR 4 R 5 group form an unsubstituted or mono or disubstituted, saturated or unsaturated, 4-7 membered heterocyclic ring or benzofused 4-7 membered heterocyclic ring, or said heterocyclic ring or said benzofused heterocyclic ring which further comprises a second heteroatom selected from O and NCH 3 and the substituent(s) is/are independently selected from C 1-4 alkyl;
R 6 is H, loweralkyl, cycloloweralkyl, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl, or substituted or unsubstituted phenylloweralkyl wherein the phenyl or phenylloweralkyl substituents may be 1 or 2 of halo, loweralkyl, loweralkoxy, nitro, or CF 3 ;
R 7 and R a 7 are independently α- or β-naphthyl, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl (wherein the substituents may be 1 or 2 of halo, --NO 2 , --OH, --X 11 R 4 R 5 , loweralkyl, CF 3 , CN, SCF 3 , C═CH, CH 2 SCF 3 , ##STR13## OCHF 2 , SH, SPh, PO 3 H-loweralkoxy, or loweralkylthio, COOH), 2-, 3-, 4-pyridyl, ##STR14##
R 8 is H, loweralkyl, cycloloweralkyl, --X 12 CONH 2 , --X 12 COOR 6 , --X 12 -cycloloweralkyl, --X 12 NR 4 R 5 , ##STR15##
R 9 and R 10 are independently H, --OH, or --CH 3 ;
R 11 and R 12 are independently loweralkyl or cycloloweralkyl;
R 13 is H, loweralkyl, acyl, O, or cycloloweralkyl;
R 14 is loweralkyl or phenylloweralkyl;
R 15 is H, loweralkyl, ##STR16## or --NH 2 ;
R 18 is H, loweralkyl, or acyl;
p is 0 when its adjacent ══ is unsaturated and 1 when its adjacent ══ is saturated except that when R 13 is O, p═1, and is unsaturated;
q is 0 to 4;
r is 1 or 2;
X 1 is H, --NO 2 , CF 3 , CN, OH, loweralkyl, halo, loweralkylthio, loweralkoxy, --, X 11 COOR 6 , or --X 11 NR 4 R 5 --;
X 2 and X 3 are independently H, --OH, --NO 2 , halo, loweralkylthio, loweralkyl, or loweralkoxy;
X 4 is S, O, CH 2 , or NR 18 or NR 8 ;
X 5 is H, CF 3 , CN, --COOR 6 , NO 2 l, or halo;
X 6 is O or HH;
X 7 is O, S, HH, or NR 15 ;
X 8 is H, loweralkyl;
X 9 and X a 9 are independently NR 18 or O;
X 10 is F, Cl, or Br;
X 11 is absent or C 1-4 linear or branched alkylidene;
X 12 is C 1-4 linear or branched alkylidene;
--is a saturated or unsaturated bond; or ##STR17## wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 8 , R 9 , R 10 , R 11 , R 12 , R 13 , R 14 , R 15 , p, q, r, X 1 , X 2 , X 3 , X 5 , X 6 , X 7 , X 8 , X 9 , X 10 , X 11 , and X 12 are as defined above, ##STR18##
R 7 is α- or β-naphthyl, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl (wherein the substituents may be 1 to 2 of halo, --NO 2 , --OH, --X 11 NR 4 R 5 , loweralkyl, CF 3 , CN, SCF 3 , C═CH, CH 2 SCF 3 , ##STR19## OCHF 2 , SH, SPh, PO 3 H, loweralkoxy, loweralkylthio, or COOH), 2-, 3-, 4-pyridyl; ##STR20##
R 16 is alpha or beta naphthyl or 2-indolyl;
R 18 is H or loweralkyl; and
═ is a saturated or unsaturated bond.
Certain CCK A and CCK B antagonists were tested in the Porsolt test, an animal model of depression, and in the "open field test" in the olfactory bulbectomised rat model of depression.
Methods
1. Porsolt Test (Behavioral Despair)
This test is based on the original method of Porsolt, et al (1977), Porsolt, R. D., La Pichon, M., and Jalpe, M. Depression: a new animal model sensitive to antidepressant treatment, Nature 266:730-732. On the first day of the experiment, the rats were plunged individually into a container 40 cm high, 18 cm diameter containing 15 cm of water at a temperature of 25° C. The animals were left to swim in the water for 15 minutes before being removed, allowed to dry, and returned to their home cage. Twenty-four hours later the procedure was repeated but on this occasion the duration that the rats remained immobile in a 5-minute observation period was recorded.
Animals received their first dose 15 minutes after removal from the water on the first day. They received the second dose 1 hour prior to the second placement in the water. Experiments were carried out in olfactory bulbectomised and in nonoperated animals.
Standard antidepressants such as desipramine caused a significant reduction in immobility in this test.
Results
1. Porsolt Test (Behavioral Despair)
The results obtained are shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1______________________________________Group Time Immobile(s)______________________________________Vehicle Median 159(n = 8) ST DEV 54 Q1-Q3 151-239Devazepide Median 100*(n = 8) ST DEV 380.1 mg/kg) Q1-Q3 77-144______________________________________ST DEV = Standard DeviationQ1-Q3 = Interquartile range *P <0.005 Mann Whitney U Test***P < 0.001
Table 1 shows the effect of devazepide in the Porsolt test in nonoperated animals. Devazepide (0.5 mg/kg) caused a significant decrease in immobility, indicating antidepressant activity.
2. Open Field Test in Olfactorv Bulbectomised Animals
This apparatus is essentially as described by Gray & Lalljee, Gray, J. A. and Lalljee, B. (1974): Sex differences in emotional behavior in the rat: correlation between the `open field` defecation and active avoidance. Anim. Behav. 22: 856-861. The open field consisted of a circular base, 90 cm in diameter which was divided into 10 cm squares by faint yellow lines. The wall surrounding the base consisted of a 75 cm high aluminum sheet. Illumination was provided by a 60 watt bulb, positioned 90 cm above the floor of the apparatus. All measurements were carried out in a darkened room in the morning. Each animal was placed in the center of the open field apparatus and the following parameters were measured over a 3 minute period:
a) Ambulation: the number of squares crossed;
b) Rearing: the number of times the rat simultaneously raised both forepaws off the floor of the apparatus;
c) Grooming: the number of times the rat stopped and groomed itself; and
d) Defecation: the number of fecal boli deposited.
Experiments were carried out in sham operated rats and in rats with olfactory bulbectomy performed as described by Cairncross, K. D., Wren, A. F., Cox, B., and Schrieden, H. (1977): Effects of olfactory bulbectomy and domicile on stress induced corticosteroid release in the rat, Physiol. Behav. 19:4845-487.
Since the CCK A antagonist, art recognized devazepide, demonstrated activity in the recognized behavioral despair model, CCK A receptor antagonists will be effective in the treatment of depression in man.
CCK B antagonists are also effective in the treatment of depression in man.
Scheme I below illustrates a method for preparing the above compounds. ##STR21##
Compounds 1 and 2 are commercially available. They are reacted at 160° C. in ET 3 N and Ac 2 O to produce an acid of formula 3. The acid is dissolved in methanol. HCl is bubbled through the reaction mixture for about 10 minutes. This is then stirred at reflux for several hours. HCl is again bubbled through the reaction mixture. This is stirred at reflux overnight. This is then concentrated in a vacuum and the residue taken up in ether, washed with water, NaHCO 3 and brine, dried over MgSO 4 , and concentrated in a vacuum to produce an ester of formula 3. This is mixed and stirred with NH 2 NH 2 .H 2 O at reflux for 24 hours and then cooled. Water is added slowly until a solid begins to separate; about 400 mL of H 2 O are added. Cool in an ice bath, filter, and wash to produce a compound of formula 4.
A desired compound of formula 4 is then mixed and stirred with a compound of formula 5 at room temperature overnight. Then it is concentrated in a vacuum. A compound of formula 6 is produced.
Such final products are, for example,
1-pyrazolidinecarboxamide, N-(4-bromophenyl)-3-oxo-4,5-diphenyl-, trans-,
1-pyrazolidinecarboxamide, 5-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-oxo-4-phenyl-N-[4-trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-, trans-, and
1-pyrazolidinecarboxamide, N-(4-bromophenyl)-5-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-oxo-4-phenyl-, trans-.
Examples of formulations of the subject compounds and of salts thereof are illustrated by the following.
EXAMPLE 1
Injectables
1 mg to 100 mg/mL
Devazepide for Injection USP q.s.
The compound or a suitable salt thereof is dissolved in, for example, ethanol, and passed through a 0.2-micron filter. Aliquots of the filtered solution are added to ampoules or vials, sealed and sterilized.
EXAMPLE 2
Capsules
5 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 300 mg or 400 mg
Devazepide, 250 g
Lactose USP, Anhydrous q.s. or 250 g
Sterotex Powder HM, 5 g
Combine the compound and the lactose in a tumble blend for 2 minutes, blend for 1 minute with the intensifier bar, and then tumble blend again for 1 minute. A portion of the blend is then mixed with the Sterotex Powder, passed through a #30 screen, and added back to the remainder of the blend. The mixed ingredients are then blended for 1 minute, blended with the intensifier bar for 30 seconds, and tumble blended for an additional minute. The appropriately sized capsules are filled with 141 mg, 352.5 mg, or 705 mg of the blend, respectively, for the 50 mg, 125 mg, and 250 mg containing capsules.
EXAMPLE 3
Tablets
50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 300 mg,
400 mg, 500 mg or 600 mg
Devazepide
Corn Starch NF, 200 g
Cellulose, Microcrystalline, 46 g
Sterotex Powder HM, 4 g
Purified Water q.s. or 300 mL
Combine the corn starch, the cellulose, and the compound together in a planetary mixer and mix for 2 minutes. Add the water to this combination and mix for 1 minute. The resulting mix is spread on trays and dried in a hot air oven at 50° C. until a moisture level of 1 to 2 percent is obtained. The dried mix is then milled with a Fitzmill through a #RH2B screen, and added back to the milling mixture and th total blended for 5 minutes by drum rolling. Compressed tablets of 150 mg, 375 mg, and 750 mg, respectively, of the total mix are formed with appropriate sized punches the 50 mg, 125 mg, or 500 mg containing tablets.
L-365,260 could also, for example, be used in Examples 1 to 3 above.
|
The invention concerns cholecystokinin antagonists useful in the treatment major and minor forms of depression. Especially useful are CCK A antagonists such as devazepide and CCK B antagonists such as L-365,260 and LY262691.
| 0
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
A leakproof union coupling for use in connecting conduits used in refrigeration systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Herman D. Wiser's U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695, which is assigned to Chatleff Controls, Inc. of Buda, Tex., discloses and claims a connector assembly which contains (a) a connector body with a first end and a second end having a central channel and an internal annular sealing groove, said adaptor and external sealing groove being dimensioned relative to the connector body and internal sealing groove such that a portion of the adaptor and external groove are received within the central channel of the connector body, and the internal groove and the external groove mate to form a variable washer seal cavity, (b) a washer disposed within the variable seal cavity for forming a sealed connection when the body and adaptor are engaged, the adaptor having an annular stop surface thereon, said stop surface positioned such that it contacts a portion of the connector body after the washer has exceeded its maximum intended compression, and (c) means for movably connecting the connector body to the adaptor and selectively positioning the external sealing groove with respect to the internal sealing groove to thereby vary the compression of the washer within the variable seal cavity. The disclosure of this patent is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695 was reexamined, and reexamined patent B1 5,131,695 was issued on Jan. 18, 1994. The reexamined patent claimed a connector assembly similar to that claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695 and additionally containing a generally cylindrical collar having internal threads adapted for engaging a threaded outer surface of the body, said collar also having an inwardly extending annular flange ring engaging a flange extending radially outward from the adaptor.
The reusable union coupling disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,695 and B1 5,131,695 is being sold by Chatleff Controls, Inc. of Buda, Tex. This coupling is frequently used in refrigeration systems.
As is discussed in column 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695, "Refrigeration systems may typically include several components, such as compressors, condensers, heat exchangers, and valves, which must be connected together in a way that effectively seals the interior of the refrigerant circulating system from the environment around it. Refrigerants, such as freon, which are introduced into such systems as the working fluid, are expensive, hazardous to the environment, and sometimes toxic . . . "
The Chatleff coupling, however, presents a problem: during its installation, it sometimes is damaged so that it ceases to function in its intended manner.
As is illustrated in design patent Des. 341,409, which is also assigned to Chatleff Controls, Inc, which depicts the Chatleff coupling, and which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification, the Chatleff coupling is adapted to be used with a multiplicity of copper circuit tubes which are joined to the top of the coupling. These copper circuit tubes are conventionally attached to the top of the coupling by a silver brazing process in which temperatures in excess of 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit are often applied to the coupling body. This heat treatment affects the physical properties of the coupling body, effectively annealing it.
After the copper circuit tubes are joined to the coupling body, the coupling body is then joined to another device (such as, e.g., a condenser evaporator coil) by applying torque to it, typically with a wrench. Depending upon the size, strength, and energy of the person attaching the coupling, and the length of the wrench used, the amount of torque applied will vary within wide limits. Although the coupling body is designed to be torqued within specified given limits, these limits are often exceeded, especially when the person installing the fitting does not have a torque wrench readily accessible.
Disposed within the coupling body is a central passageway (see, e.g., channel 16 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695) in which a movable piston is frequently disposed. Typically, the outside diameter of the piston is only from about 0.001 to about 0.003 inches smaller than the diameter of the channel. Thus, it does not require much distortion of the walls of the coupling body to cause such walls to impinge upon and affect the function of the movable piston.
Damage to the movable piston often will not be discovered until the coupling has been installed and the refrigeration system has been charged with "expensive", "hazardous", and/or "toxic" refrigerant fluid.
When concealed damage to the movable piston is discovered after installation of the coupling, it often requires a substantial amount of time and expense to remedy the problem. The are a substantial number of state and federal regulations governing the repair of devices containing refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and other regulated refrigerant materials. A licensed technician must evacuate the refrigeration system, remove the coupling, repair or replace the coupling and/or the movable piston within it, reconnect the coupling, charge the system with fresh refrigerant, dispose of the used refrigerant, and fill out whatever forms are necessary. It is desirable to avoid this tedious, time consuming, expensive process.
It is an object of this invention to provide a reusable union coupling which is substantially less likely than the coupling of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695 to be damaged during its installation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a connector assembly which is comprised of a connector body with a specified shape and size. The connector body has a first end and a second end and a central channel and an internal annular sealing groove, said adaptor and external sealing groove being dimensioned relative to the connector body and internal sealing groove such that a portion of the adaptor and external groove are received within the central channel of the connector body, and the internal groove and the external groove mate to form a washer seal cavity. A washer is disposed within the seal cavity for forming a sealed connection when the body and adaptor are engaged, the adaptor having an annular stop surface thereon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof, when read in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top view of one preferred distributor valve body of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the distributor valve body of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the distributor valve body of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a back view of the distributor valve body of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the distributor valve body of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5A is a sectional view of another preferred distributor valve body;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of yet another preferred distributor valve body;
FIG. 7 is a partial, enlarged view of the knife edge portion of the valve body of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the valve assembly of FIG. 5 with a piston movably disposed within it.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of an bi-flow distributor valve of this invention;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of one portion of the valve of FIG. 9; and
FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view of another portion of the valve of FIG. 9.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The coupling of this invention is adapted to distribute refrigerant fluid (such as refrigerant chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and/or other regulated refrigerant gases or liquids) in several different directions. It is often referred to as a "Bi-Flow Distributor" and is discussed, e.g., on pages 2-3 of the "Brass Products Division" of Spinco Metal Products, Inc., One Country Club Drive, Newark, N.Y. 14513.
Bi-directional flow valves are well known to those skilled in the art and are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,364,070, 5,345,780, 5,174,544, and the like. The disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
The bi-directional flow valve of this invention, however, is especially suitable for use in refrigeration systems. This Bi-Flow device is a reusable coupling which is identical or similar in many respects to the reusable coupling disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,695 and B1 5,131,695, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference into this specification; thus, the configuration of its collar, its inwardly-extending annular flange ring of the collar, its internal threads of the collar, its connector body, its connector body sealing groove, its stop surface of the connector body, its external threads of the connector body, its adaptor, its adaptor sealing groove, its stop surface of the adaptor, and its outwardly-extending flange of the adaptor are identical to or similar to the configurations of these elements disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,695 and B1 5,131,695.
However, the reusable coupling of this invention differs from the coupling of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,695 and B1 5,131,695 in at least two major respects: the use of a connector body with a different geometry than the connector body of such patents, and the use of relatively "soft" washer which, under normal operating conditions, allows metal-to-metal contact between the stop surface of the body and the adaptor when less than about fifty percent of the washer's width has been compressed.
The geometry of the Chatleff coupling was discussed during the prosecution of Chatleff's design patent Des. 341,409, the disclosure of which (and the file history of which) are incorporated by reference into this specification. In an Apr. 14, 1993 "RESPONSE" filed in Design patent application 07/602,198, Chatleff stated that the design of their coupling included ". . . two cylindrical portions having different diameters (C and D in Exhibit 1) below the hexagonal portion (B) . . ."; such ". . . two cylindrical portions having different diameters . . ." is not present in the coupling of the instant application, which contains one cylindrical portion of substantially constant diameter below its top hexagonal portion.
In the same Apr. 14, 1993 "RESPONSE", Chatleff also stated that their coupling was distinguished by ". . . the presence of a cylindrical (not hexagonal) portion at the upper part of the distributor body . . .," by having a ". . . cylindrical portion between the hexagonal portion and the top of the body . . ."; in applicant's claimed structure, by comparison, there is a hexagonal (not cylindrical) portion at the upper part of the distributor body.
The modifications applicant has made to the geometry of the Chatleff coupling body have made such body substantially more resistant to being damaged by the application of a torquing force. These modifications are discussed in more detail below.
FIG. 1 is a top view of a preferred distributor valve body 10. Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that valve body 10 is comprised of a top portion containing a beveled edge 12 and a substantially flat top 14.
The top portion of valve body 10 can have other shapes. Thus, e.g., in one embodiment, not shown, it is substantially arcuate.
In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the top portion of distributor valve body 10 has a substantially hexagonal shape. Other shapes which can readily be grasped by a wrench also may be used. Thus, in one embodiment, not shown, the top portion of distributor valve body 10 has a substantially square shape. In another embodiment, not shown, the top portion of distributor valve body 10 has a substantially octagonal shape.
Referring again to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the top 14 of valve body 10 and/or the beveled egde 12 of valve body 10 contains circuit holes 16 which, after brazing, communicate with copper tubes (not shown in FIG. 1, but see FIG. 6). In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, there are four circuit holes 16 which can be joined to four copper tubes. In general, from about 2 to about 10 circuit holes 16 can exist on top of body 10, it being preferred that there be either 2, 3, 4, or 6 of such circuit holes 16.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the valve body 10 of FIG. 10 illustrating preferred circuit holes 16 in more detail. Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that each of circuit holes 16 preferably has a stepped bore arrangement and is comprised of first stepped bore 18, tube stop 20, and second stepped bore 22.
In one preferred embodiment, not shown, each of circuit holes 16 is comprised of a first stepped bore, a transition section, a second stepped bore, a transition section, and a third stepped bore.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and referring to FIG. 5, the copper tubes (not shown in FIG. 5) inserted into circuit holes 16 will contact tube stop 20 when pushed into such holes.
It is preferred that bore 18 have an inner diameter of from about 0.06 to about 0.3 inches, that bore 22 have an inner diameter of from about 0.05 to about 0.24 inches, and that the diameter of bore 18 exceed the diameter of bore 22 by at least about 0.01 inches. In one embodiment, bore 18 has a diameter of 0.25 inches, and bore 22 has a diameter of 0.19 inches. In another embodiment, bore 18 has a diameter of 0.19 inches, and bore 22 has a diameter of 0.13 inches.
In one embodiment, not shown, the top edges of circuit holes 16 are chamfered.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the valve body 10. Without wishing to be bound to any particular theory, applicant believes that the dimensions and shape of body 10 contribute towards the increased durability of a distributor flow valve in which it is incorporated.
Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that body 10 is preferably an integral assembly comprised of a top substantially hexagonal portion 24, a first intermediate cylindrical portion 26, a second intermediate threaded portion 28, and a bottom non-threaded portion 30.
In the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, body 10 has an overall length 32 of from about 1.0 to about 1.4 inches. In an even more preferred embodiment, the length 32 of body 10 is from about 1.1 to about 1.2 inches, an especially preferred length 32 being from about 1.15 to about 1.19 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the overall length 34 of the substantially hexagonal portion 24 is preferably at least about 0.30 inches, and more preferably at least about 0.37 inches. The hexagonal part 36 of portion 24 has a length 38 of from about 0.25 to about 0.5 inches. In one preferred embodiment the length 38 is from about 0.3 to about 0.4 inches, a length 38 of about 0.312 inches being especially preferred.
The chamfered part 12 of portion 34 has a length 40 of less than about 0.25 inches and, preferably, less than 0.2 inches. In one preferred embodiment, length 40 is less than about 0.1 inches. In another embodiment, length 40 is about 0.08 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the chamfered part 12 of portion 24 preferably forms an angle of from about 10 to about 40 degrees. The top 14 of body 10 preferably is substantially flat and preferably has a width 42 of from about 0.1 to about 0.7 inches, more preferably from about 0.37 to about 0.63 inches and, even more preferably, from about 0.4 to about 0.5 inches. In one embodiment, width 42 is about 0.45 inches.
The ratio of the length 38 of the hexagonal part 36 to overall length 32 of the body 10 is at least 0.15 and, preferably, is at least about 0.2.
Referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the hexagonal part 36 of portion 24 (see FIG. 2) has a width 44 (as measured from flat part 46 to opposing parallel flat part 48) of from about 0.6 to about 1.3 inches and, more preferably, from about 0.75 to about 1.125 inches. In one preferred embodiment, width 44 is from about 0.75 to about 0.85 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the first intermediate cylindrical portion 26 of body 10 preferably has a width 50 of from about 0.62 to about 1.3 inches and, more preferably, from about 0.73 to about 1.125 inches and, even more preferably, from about 0.74 to about 0.84 inches. It is preferred that width 44 exceed width 50 and that the ratio of width 44 to width 50 be from about 1.01 to about 1.36. In another embodiment, not shown, width 44 is substantially equal to width 50.
In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the first intermediate portion 26 has a length 52 of from about 0.1 to about 0.4 inches, more preferably from about 0.18 to about 0.38 inches and even more preferably from about 0.25 to about 0.35 inches. In one embodiment, length 52 is about 0.3 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 2, and in the preferred embodiment depicted therein, the second intermediate threaded portion 28 preferably has a width 54 (as measured from outside thread to outside thread) which is substantially equal to width 50 of first intermediate portion 26. In another embodiment, not shown, width 54 is greater than width 50 by from about 0.01 to about 0.2 inches. In yet another embodiment, not shown, width 50 is greater than width 54 by from about 0.01 to about 0.3 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the length 56 of portion 28 is preferably from about 0.25 to about 0.6 inches and, more preferably, from about 0.4 to about 0.6 inches; in one embodiment, length 56 is about 0.5 inches.
The bottom, non-threaded portion 30 of body 10, under-cut 30, has a diameter 58 of from about 0.58 to about 1.22 inches and, more preferably, from 0.62 to about 0.70 inches; in one embodiment, diameter 58 is from about 0.0.65 to about 0.67 inches.
Referring again to FIG. 2, it will be seen that undercut portion 30 has a length 60 of less than about 0.08 inches and, more preferably, less than about 0.04 inches. In one embodiment, where length 60 is 0 inches, the undercut portion 30 is omitted.
It is preferred, however, to include the undercut portion 30. Without wishing to be bound to any particular theory, applicant believes that this particular configuration for undercut 30 allows body 10 to sustain a greater amount of torque than prior art devices before it becomes damaged.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the body 10 of FIG. 1, illustrating that body 10 is comprised of a piston chamber 62. As is indicated in FIG. 12, during use the valve body 10 as a bi-flow distributor, a movable piston is preferably disposed within chamber 62.
Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the piston chamber 62 extends from about the bottom 64 of body 10 to a point 66 intermediate the top 14 and the bottom 64 of body 10. The top 68 of piston chamber 62 is at a distance 70 from the top 14 of body 10 and is at least about 0.3 inches and, preferably, ranges from about 0.45 to about 0.8 inches. The distance 70 is at least about 35 percent of overall length 32 (see FIG. 2) and, preferably, is at least about 50 percent of overall length 32. Referring again to FIG. 5, it will be seen that hexagonal portion 24 ends at point 72. The distance 74 between point 72 (where hexagonal portion 24 ends) and point 68 (where the top of chamber 62 ends) is at least about 0.03 inches and, more preferably, is at least about 0.1 inches; most preferably, distance 74 is at least about 0.12 inches.
Without wishing to be bound to any particular theory, applicant believes that the increased durability of applicant's assembly is not due only to the location of hexagonal portion 34 but also to the fact that the walls of body 10 are substantially thicker throughout its entire length than the walls of the prior art devices.
Referring to FIG. 5, and in the preferred embodiment depicted in this Figure, refrigerant (not shown) preferably flows through piston chamber 62 (and, more precisely, through a movable piston disposed within such chamber), and into transition chamber 76. Thereafter, the refrigerant flows from the transition chamber 76 through passageways 22, 20, and 18 and thence to copper circuit tubes (not shown in FIG. 5). As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, such refrigerant also may flow in the opposite direction.
Because, in the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, transition chamber 76 preferably has a substantially smaller inner diameter than piston chamber 62, the walls surrounding transition chamber 76 are substantially thicker than the walls surrounding piston chamber 62.
Referring again to FIG. 5, the minimum thickness 78 of the wall surrounding piston chamber 62 is at least about 0.13 inches. This minimum wall thickness 78 is preferably measured from the exterior wall 79 of piston chamber 62 and the major diameter of threaded portion 28 and/or the diameter of unthreaded portion 26, depending upon which is smaller.
In one preferred embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 5A, a reverse cut off nib section 80 is included on the top of valve body 10. In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A, reverse cut off nib section 80 has a substantially triangular shape; however, a square or rectangular shaped section 80 also could be advantageously used.
It is preferred that section 80 have a height of from about 0.03 to about 0.09 inches and, more preferably, from about 0.05 to about 0.07 inches. The width of section 80 should preferably be from about 0.04 to about 0.20 inches and, more preferably, should be from about 0.1 to about 0.14 inches.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another preferred body 10 in which transition chamber 76, instead of terminating in a chamfered section 84 (see FIG. 5A), terminates in a substantially flat section 86.
Referring again to FIG. 6, it will be seen that washer cavity 88 is preferably comprised of a knife edge section 90. This section is shown in more detail in FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of knife edge section 90. Referring to FIG. 7, it will be seen that a knife surface 92 (which can bite into the washer, not shown) is disposed at a distance 94 of from about 0.015 to about 0.030 inches from the end 96 of the washer cavity. It is preferred that the apex 98 of knife point 92 be disposed at a distance 100 of from about 0.01 to about 0.03 inches (and more preferably about 0.010 inches) above the base 102 of the washer cavity and that the knife point be formed by walls 104 and 106 at angle of from about 60 to about 120 degrees. In one preferred embodiment, the angle is about 90 degrees.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a body 10, similar to that depicted in FIG. 5, in which a movable piston 108 is disposed within piston chamber 62. Referring to FIG. 8, it will be seen that movable piston 108 is comprised of a central orifice 110 extending through annular body 112 and washer or O-ring assembly 114, which preferably is made from a synthetic polymeric material such as, e.g., "Teflon". Alternatively, or additionally, the O-ring assembly may comprise or consist essentially of an elastomeric material, such as neoprene.
Movable piston 108 is illustrative of the "orifice pistons" commonly used in the art; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,685,545 and 4,206,726, the entire disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
Some of these orifice pistons are disclosed on page 4 of Spinco Brass Products Division 1995 catalog (Spinco Metal Products, Inc., One Country Club Drive, Newark, N.Y.). Referring to such catalog, it will be seen that, e.g., style 7PK5XXX is a 5 fluted piston with either a teflon or neoprene gasket, and style 3PKXXX is a 3 fluted piston. The distributor valve body described above may be used as a component of a bi-flow distributor assembly. These assemblies strictly regulate flow in one direction, while allowing relatively free flow in another direction. Thus, e.g., when two of these units are installed back to back between a condenser and an evaporator, they provide performance and control in a heat pump unit. One preferred bi-flow distributor assembly is illustrated in FIG. 9.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a preferred reusable coupling 10. Referring to FIG. 9, it will be seen that reusable coupling 120 is comprised of body 10, adaptor 122, collar 124, and washer 126, which are used to connect one or more connector tube circuit tubes 128 to another fluid-containing device (not shown). Fluid may flow, or exit from, the valve 120 through connector tube 130.
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, and in the preferred embodiment depicted therein, it will be seen that the leading edge 132 of adaptor 122 preferably has a small inwardly facing lip 134. The structure of adaptor 122 is similar to that of adaptor 20 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695.
Adaptor 122 is held to body 10 by collar 124, which has an inwardly facing flange ring 136 and one end and internal threads 138 at the opposite end. The radially outward surface 140 of collar 124 may be hexagonal or square or octagonal to accommodate manipulation with standard hand tools. Flange ring 136 engages collar retaining surface 142 of adaptor 122 and is rotatable with respect thereto while collar threads 138 engage body threads 28. As collar 124 is rotated, adaptor 122 is pulled into correct concentric alignment with body 10 and the leading edge 132 of adaptor 122 engages channel 62 of body 10. As collar 124 is rotated further the desired axial position of adaptor 122 with respect to body 10 can be achieved.
In one preferred embodiment, the adaptor, body, and collar may all be constructed of brass.
The body 10 has an interior configuration such that it forms a seal assembly similar to the seal assembly described in columns 3 and 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695. Thus, referring to FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification, body 14 has an internal annular sealing groove 18 which is defined by body sealing surface 46 and body retention surface 48. Adaptor 20 includes external annular sealing groove 24 which is defined by adaptor sealing surface 50 and adaptor retention surface 52. Sealing surfaces 46 and 50 each lie in a plane generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 9 of the coupling and oppose each other in substantially parallel and spaced relationship. Body retention surface 48 is of cylindrical shape facing inwardly from the lower-most projection of the body structure, while adaptor retention surface 52 is cylindrical in shape facing outwardly from the uppermost portion of the adaptor structure. When leading end 26 of adaptor 20 is inserted into channel 16 of body 14, these four sealing and adaptor surfaces 46, 48, 50, and 52 form a washer seal cavity in which washer 30 is positioned and retained upon assembly. The cavity is generally annular in shape and may be substantially square or rectangular in cross section.
In the assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,695, the stop surface element of such assembly does not contact the adaptor until after the maximum intended compression of the washer has been exceeded. In the assembly of the instant application, by comparison, the stop surface contacts the adaptor substantially prior to the time the maximum intended compression of the washer has been exceeded.
In one preferred embodiment, a relatively "soft" washer is used together with suitable dimensions of the coupling body and the adaptor such that metal-to-metal contact occurs between ween the stop surface of the coupling body and the adaptor when the washer has been compressed no more than about 40 percent. Thus, e.g., in one embodiment, the washer in its uncompressed state has a width of 0.062 inches; and, when it is compressed to a width of not less than 0.038 inches, metal-to-metal contact occurs.
In one preferred embodiment, and referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, washer 126 is comprised of "Teflon". As is known to those skilled in the art, Teflon is a name for tetrafluoroethylene fluorocarbon polymers manufactured by the E. I. duPont deNemours & Company of Wilimington, Del.
These type of Teflon washers are well known to those skilled in the art and are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,282,640 and 5,131,695, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, by appropriately choosing the a washer 126 with the correct thickness, and by utilizing washer cavities with the correct depths and lengths, a distributor valve assembly can be constructed which, under normal operating conditions, sees metal to metal contact. This condition is preferred in applicant's device.
The washer cavity typically has a depth 144 of from about 0.04 to about 0.08 inches (see FIG. 10) and a length 146 of from about 0.5 to about 0.75 inches.
FIG. 11 is a partial sectional view of the valve of FIG. 9, illustrating how washer 126 is compressed between adaptor 122 and body 10. Referring to FIG. 11, it will be seen that, when metal-to-metal contact occurs between surfaces 148 and 150 of adaptor 122 and of body 10, respectively, the washer 126 is compressed only to a relatively minor extent. The original thickness 152 is compressed to lesser thickness (not shown) when such metal-to-metal contact occurs, which lesser thickness is preferably at least about 60 percent of original thickness 152. Thus, by way of illustration, when the original thickness 152 of washer 126 is 0.062 inches, the thickness of the compressed washer when surfaces 148 and 150 touch is at least about 0.038 inches.
It is to be understood that the aforementioned description is illustrative only and that changes can be made in the apparatus, in the ingredients and their proportions, and in the sequence of combinations and process steps, as well as in other aspects of the invention discussed herein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
|
A connector assembly with an integral connector body of a specified size and shape. The connector body has a substantially hexagonal upper section connected to a first, unthreaded cylindrical section, which in turn is connected to a second threaded cylindrical section, which in turn is connected to a third unthreaded cylindrical section with substantially the same diameter, which in turn is connected is connected to a, bottom, undercut, unthreaded section. The assembly also contains an adaptor having a central channel and an external annular sealing groove, a washer disposed within a seal cavity for forming a sealed connection when the body and adaptor are engaged, and a collar for movably connecting the connector body to the adaptor and selectively positioning the external sealing groove with respect to the internal sealing groove.
| 5
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication and, more particularly to capacitor container structures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Continuing advances in miniaturization and densification of integrated circuits have led to smaller areas available for devices such as transistors and capacitors. With shrinkage of the cell size, maintaining a sufficient amount of cell charge storage capacitance is a challenge in a dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
Several techniques have been developed to increase the storage capacity of a capacitor in a limited space. One such technique is to fabricate a cup-shaped bottom electrode defining an interior surface and an exterior surface within a container formed in an insulative layer. A recess between adjacent bottom electrodes is formed in the insulating layer to expose a portion of the electrodes' exterior surfaces. A capacitor dielectric and then a top electrode are deposited over the interior of the cup-shaped bottom electrode and the interior of the recess. The structure provides additional capacitance.
Conventionally, the bottom electrode is formed of N-type hemispherical grain silicon (HSG). Using a double-sided HSG bottom electrode provides a higher surface area for increased capacitance. However, the growth of HSG on the exterior container surface can cause cell to cell shorts, requiring the space between containers to be enlarged.
Thus, a need exists for a structure and process therefor that overcomes such problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides capacitor structures and methods of forming such structures.
In one aspect, the invention provides methods for forming a container capacitor. In one embodiment of the method, the lower electrode of the capacitor is fabricated by forming a layer of doped polysilicon within a container in an insulative layer disposed on a substrate; forming a barrier layer over the polysilicon layer within the container; removing the insulative layer to expose the polysilicon layer outside the container; nitridizing the exposed polysilicon layer at a low temperature, preferably at about 550° C. or less and by remote plasma nitridation; removing the barrier layer to expose the polysilicon layer within the container; optionally cleaning the exposed polysilicon layer to remove native oxide and remaining barrier layer using a wet etch selective to the nitride layer overlying the exterior surface of the polysilicon layer; and forming HSG polysilicon over the polysilicon layer within the opening. The capacitor can be completed by forming a dielectric layer over the lower electrode, and an upper electrode over the dielectric layer.
In another embodiment of the method, a plurality of capacitors can be formed on a semiconductor substrate. The capacitors can be fabricated by forming a conformal layer of doped polysilicon over an insulative layer disposed on a substrate and within a plurality of containers formed in the insulative layer; depositing a conformal layer of a barrier material over the polysilicon layer; removing the barrier layer and the polysilicon layer overlying the insulative layer outside the containers; removing the insulative layer to expose the exterior surfaces of the polysilicon layer outside the containers and form a recess between adjacent bottom electrodes; nitridizing the exterior surface of the polysilicon layer outside the containers, preferably by remote plasma nitridation at a temperature of about 550° C. or less to form a nitride layer; removing the barrier layers from the interior surface of the polysilicon layer within the containers; optionally cleaning the interior surface of the polysilicon layer within the containers; and forming HSG polysilicon over the polysilicon layer within the containers. The capacitor can be completed by forming a dielectric layer over the lower electrodes and into the recesses between electrodes, and an upper electrode over the dielectric layer.
In another aspect, the invention provides a container capacitor. In one embodiment, the capacitor comprises a cup-shaped bottom electrode defining an interior surface and an exterior surface within a container formed in an insulative layer; the interior surface comprising HSG polysilicon, and the exterior surface comprising smooth polysilicon. The bottom electrode is preferably 300 to about 400 angstroms. The capacitor can further comprises a dielectric layer overlying the inner and outer surfaces of the bottom electrode; and a top electrode overlying the dielectric layer. The cup-shaped bottom electrode can be, for example, circular, square, rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, oval, or rhomboidal shaped, in a top down view.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a semiconductor device. In one embodiment, the semiconductor device comprises a plurality of cup-shaped bottom electrodes, each electrode defining an interior surface and an exterior surface within a container formed in an insulative layer; the interior surface comprising HSG polysilicon, and the exterior surface comprising smooth polysilicon; a recess formed within the insulative layer between adjacent electrodes; a dielectric layer disposed over the bottom electrodes and the recess between the adjacent electrodes; and a top electrode disposed over the dielectric layer. The bottom electrodes can be, for example, circular, square, rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, oval, or rhomboidal shaped, in a top down view. In another embodiment of the semiconductor device, an etch stop layer (e.g., silicon nitride) can underlie the insulative layer, and the recess within the insulative layer between adjacent electrodes can be formed to the etch stop layer.
Advantageously, the present invention provides for the manufacture of a double-sided electrode having a smooth outer surface and a rough inner surface, which enables an increase in container critical dimensions (CD) and capacitance and provides a capacitor having a large electrode surface area. The invention also proves a semiconductor device comprising multiple closely-spaced capacitors for increased density of the device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the following accompanying drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only. Throughout the following views, the reference numerals will be used in the drawings, and the same reference numerals will be used throughout the several views and in the description to indicate same or like parts.
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a semiconductor wafer fragment at a preliminary step of a processing sequence.
FIGS. 2-10 are views of the wafer fragment of FIG. 1 at subsequent and sequential processing steps, showing fabrication of a capacitor according to an embodiment of the method of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The invention will be described generally with reference to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating the present preferred embodiments only and not for purposes of limiting the same. The figures illustrate processing steps for use in the fabrication of semiconductor devices in accordance with the present invention. It should be readily apparent that the processing steps are only a portion of the entire fabrication process.
In the current application, the terms “semiconductive wafer fragment” or “wafer fragment” or “wafer” will be understood to mean any construction comprising semiconductor material, including but not limited to bulk semiconductive materials such as a semiconductor wafer (either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials thereon), and semiconductive material layers (either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials). The term “substrate” refers to any supporting structure including, but not limited to, the semiconductive wafer fragments or wafers described above.
An embodiment of a method of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1-10, in a method of forming a capacitor.
Referring to FIG. 1, a portion of a semiconductor wafer 10 is shown at a preliminary processing step. The wafer fragment 10 in progress can comprise a semiconductor wafer substrate or the wafer along with various process layers formed thereon, including one or more semiconductor layers or other formations, and active or operable portions of semiconductor devices.
The wafer fragment 10 is shown as comprising a substrate 12 , a first insulative layer 14 , a wet etch stop layer 16 , and a second overlying insulative layer 18 . An exemplary substrate 12 is monocrystalline silicon that is lightly doped with a conductivity enhancing material. Exemplary insulative materials include silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), phosphosilicate glass (PSG), borosilicate glass (BSG), and borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), in a single layer or multiple layers, with the insulative layers 14 , 18 , being BPSG in the illustrated example. Multiple containers or openings 20 a-c have been conventionally dry etched through the first and second BPSG insulative layers 14 , 18 , and the wet etch stop layer 16 to an active area in the substrate 12 using a dry etch process using, for example, CF 4 , C 4 F 6 , among others.
The wet etch stop layer 16 , which is conformally deposited over the first insulative layer 14 , has a characteristic etch rate in which etchants will selectively remove the second insulative layer 18 in a later processing step without significantly etching the etch stop layer 16 in a later wet etch processing step. The wet etch stop layer 16 can comprise, for example, silicon nitride (SiN x ) at about 100 to about 200 angstroms, or silicon dioxide formed by decomposition of a tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) precursor at about 500 to about 1000 angstroms.
Referring to FIG. 2, a layer 22 of smooth, conductively doped polysilicon is conformally deposited over the BPSG insulative layer 18 and within each of the openings 20 a-c of each container capacitor structure, to form a cup-shaped structure (lower electrode) within the openings. By cup-shaped, it is understood to include any of circular, square, rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, oval, or rhomboidal, among other shapes, with respect to the top down view of the lower electrodes.
The polysilicon electrode layer 22 can be deposited from a silicon source material such as dichlorosilane (SiH 2 Cl 2 , DCS), silicon tetrachloride (SiCl 4 ), silicon trichlorosilane (SiHCl 3 , TCS), and a silicon precursor that contains a hydride such silane (SiH 4 ) and disilane (Si 2 H 6 ). The silicon material can be deposited utilizing a known deposition process including plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), and rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD). For example, the silicon material can be deposited by LPCVD of SiH 4 at a temperature of about 450° C. to about 650 20 C., a pressure of about 0.2 to about 1 Torr, and an SiH 4 flow rate of about 250 sccm, for a duration of about 20 to about 60 minutes, to a preferred thickness of about 300 to about 400 angstroms. The polysilicon can be doped during deposition or after deposition by diffusion or ion implantation.
As shown in FIG. 3, a thin barrier layer 24 is then formed over the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode layer 22 , being titanium nitride (TiN) in the illustrated example. A TiN barrier layer 24 can be formed by a conventional thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD), plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD), or atomic layer deposition (ALD), utilizing a source gas comprising precursors of tetrakisdimethyl-amidotitanium (TDMAT) ((CH 3 ) 2 N) 4 Ti) and ammonia (NH 3 ), or titanium tetrachloride (TiCl 4 ) and NH 3 Preferably, the titanium nitride layer 24 is about 100 to about 200 angstroms.
Referring to FIG. 4, the TiN barrier layer 24 and the polysilicon electrode layer 22 overlying the second BPSG insulative layer 18 and outside the openings 20 a-c, are subjected to a conventional dry etch or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) 28 to expose the upper surface of the BPSG layer 18 . A suitable dry etch comprises exposing the wafer 10 to CF 4 , C 4 F 6 , among others, at a temperature of about 25° C. to about 150° C., a pressure of about 30 to about 100 mTorr, and gas flow rate of about 30 to about 100 sccm.
As depicted in FIG. 5, a portion of the BPSG insulative layer 18 is removed by wet etch 30 using a hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution to form an opening or recess 28 to expose the exterior surface 34 of the polysilicon lower electrode 22 , resulting in a cup-shaped lower electrode structure. As shown, the insulative layer 18 has been downwardly etched to expose the nitride etch stop layer 16 . The HF wet etch is selective to the TiN layer 24 and the polysilicon electrode 22 . An example and preferred HF solution comprises a 10:1 HF solution. For an about 1.7 μm (17,000 angstroms) BPSG insulative layer, the etch can comprise the use of a 10:1 HF solution for about 345 seconds.
The exterior surface 34 of the polysilicon electrode layer 22 is then nitridized by exposure to a nitrogen-containing gas 36 , as shown in FIG. 6, to form an overlying passivating layer 38 comprising silicon nitride (SiN x ). The nitridizing process step can be performed by remote plasma nitridization (RPN) or decoupled plasma nitridization (DPN) over a temperature range of about 400° C. to about 550° C. Examples of nitrogen-containing gases for use in such methods include nitrogen (N 2 ) and ammonia (NH 3 ).
An example and preferred nitridation process is a RPN at a low temperature of about 550° C. or less, a pressure of about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr, with a nitrogen precursor flow rate of about 10 sccm to about 1000 sccm, for a duration of about 5 seconds to about 5 minutes, to form a nitride layer 38 of about 15 to about 25 angstroms thick. The use of a low temperature RPN prevents the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode 22 from being nitridized by the reaction of the TiN barrier layer 24 with the polysilicon.
Referring to FIG. 7, the TiN barrier layer 24 is then stripped from the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode 22 using a conventional piranha wet etch 40 , for example, by immersing the wafer 10 in a solution of sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) and an oxidant such as hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ).
The wafer fragment 10 can then be subjected to a wet etch to remove native oxide and titanium silicide (TiSi x ) that may have formed over the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode 22 , and prepare the surface 26 for formation of hemispherical silicon grain (HSG) polysilicon in the next step. An example of a suitable etchant comprises a mixture of NH 4 F and H 3 PO 4 , which provides etch rates of native oxide, TiSi x , and nitride at about 48, 50 and 2 angstroms per minute. Immersion of the wafer in the etchant solution for up to about 2 minutes, preferably about 60 to about 100 seconds, provides cleaning of the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode 22 while maintaining a sufficient thickness of the RPN nitride passivating layer 38 over the exterior surface 34 of the electrode.
A selective HSG conversion of the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode 22 is then performed, resulting in a layer 42 of HSG polysilicon, as depicted in FIG. 8 . Due to the presence of the RPN nitride passivating layer 38 overlying the exterior surface 34 of the polysilicon electrode 22 , HSG growth is limited to the interior surface 26 of the electrode 22 , resulting in the lower electrode 22 having a smooth exterior surface 34 and a rough (HSG) interior surface 26 .
HSG formation is well known in this art and many different known processes may be used in conjunction with the present invention. An example and preferred method of forming HSG is by silicon seeding and annealing in vacuum or at low pressure. To selectively create HSG on the interior surface 26 of the polysilicon electrode 22 , the wafer 10 is exposed, for example, to silane or disilane, to form a seed layer of amorphous silicon, and the seed layer is then thermally annealed to convert to HSG.
As shown in FIG. 9, a nitride wet strip 44 is then preformed to selectively etch the RPN nitride layer 38 remaining on the exterior surface 34 of the polysilicon lower electrode 22 . An example of a suitable wet etch of the nitride layer 38 can be performed using a conventional hot phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) strip.
The structure can then be processed by conventional methods to complete the capacitor structure.
Referring to FIG. 10, a cell nitride layer 46 comprising silicon nitride (SiN x ) can be conformally deposited over the polysilicon lower electrode 22 and into the openings 20 a-c and the recesses 32 , typically by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) of a silicon source gas such as SiH 2 Cl 2 , SiCl 4 , SiH 4 , and Si 2 H 6 , and a nitrogen source gas such as NH 3 . Conventional silicon nitride deposition processes other than LPCVD can also be used, including physical deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition, among others.
A conductive material can then be deposited over the cell nitride layer 46 to form the top capacitor electrode 48 . The top electrode 48 can comprise a conductive material such as doped polysilicon or a conductive metal. The conductive material can be deposited on the cell nitride layer 46 and into the openings 20 a-c and the recesses 32 , by conventional methods, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or physical vapor deposition (e.g., sputtering) for a metal plate, to complete the capacitor structures 50 a-c.
In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown and described, since the means herein disclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.
|
A container capacitor and method of forming the container capacitor are provided. The container capacitor comprises a lower electrode fabricated by forming a layer of doped polysilicon within a container in an insulative layer disposed on a substrate; forming a barrier layer over the polysilicon layer within the container; removing the insulative layer to expose the polysilicon layer outside the container; nitridizing the exposed polysilicon layer at a low temperature, preferably by remote plasma nitridation; removing the barrier layer to expose the inner surface of the polysilicon layer within the container; and forming HSG polysilicon over the inner surface of the polysilicon layer. The capacitor can be completed by forming a dielectric layer over the lower electrode, and an upper electrode over the dielectric layer. The cup-shaped bottom electrode formed within the container defines an interior surface comprising HSG polysilicon, and an exterior surface comprising smooth polysilicon.
| 7
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application pertains to the art of telemetry systems for warning of abnormal conditions and, more particularly, to wheel mounted telemetry systems for monitoring the conditions of pneumatic vehicular tires. The invention is particularly applicable to systems for monitoring automobile tires for low inflation or profile and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention has broader applications, such as monitoring tire conditions of all types of vehicles, monitoring the mechanical movement of rotating or reciprocating machinery parts, and the like. Further, the apparatus can monitor symptoms of a variety of abnormal tire conditions, including underinflation, overinflation, weakened sidewalls, and the like.
A variety of tire monitoring systems have heretofore been proposed. Many of these systems have included wheel mounted, radio transmitters for transmitting AM or FM radio signals indicative of the abnormal condition. A central receiver received the radio signals and produced a visual or audio signal to warn the driver of the abnormal condition. In some systems, the carrier frequency was amptitude or frequency modulated to enable differentiation from stray radio signals.
One of the problems with the prior tire condition sensing systems has been false signals. The receiver was subject to receiving AM and FM radio signals from various other sources such as TV stations, radio stations, CB radios, and the like. Even using a different range of frequencies than the FCC assigns to other TV and radio broadcasts did not eliminate false signal problems. Various harmonics, echoes, and tones from these signals would cause false indications of abnormal tire conditions.
Another problem was false signals caused by road conditions. For example, potholes and rough roads deflect the tire profile. Many prior art tire sensing systems could not distinguish between an abnormally low tire profile caused by underinflation and an abnormally low tire profile caused by impacting a pothole or other roughness in the road surface. Brick, cobblestone, or other washboard road surface are especially hard to distinguish from underinflation.
Another problem with prior art sensors has been the cost and reliability in meeting FCC regulations. The FCC has assigned a band of frequencies which may be used for this purpose. However, the FCC requirements limit the duration of broadcasts and the periodicity of broadcasts severely. To meet these FCC requirements, various clocks were employed. However, such clock systems were expensive, and in some instances were unreliable under the extreme temperature, centrifugal force, and impact conditions to which wheel-mounted sensors are subject.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved apparatus which overcomes all of the above-referenced problems and others, yet provides a tire condition sensing system which is simple to construct, highly reliable, and low in cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an abnormal tire condition sensing apparatus. The apparatus includes a transducer which is adapted to be mounted adjacent a pneumatic tire on a vehicle. The transducer detects the abnormal tire condition and produces electrical pulses when the abnormal condition is sensed. A counter for counting the number of pulses from the transducer is connected with the transducer. When the counter reaches a predetermined count, it produces an enable signal. An encoder produces an encoded signal. A transmitter for transmitting a modulated radio signal receives the encoded signal for modulating a carrier frequency to produce the modulated radio signal. At least one of the encoder and transmitters are connected to the counter to be enabled by the enable signal.
In accordance with a more limited aspect of the invention,
The predetermined count is so chosen that at realistic speeds, the minimum time necessary to reach the predetermined count meets the FCC regulations. Further, the predetermined count is so chosen that a sufficient number of sensings of the abnormal condition are sensed to enable the system to differentiate abnormal conditions from rough roads and other causes.
In accordance with a still more limited aspect of the invention, a counter reset is provided which monitors the modulator and resets the counter after a preselected number of modulated signal cycles have been transmitted. The number of modulator cycle periods is so selected as to meet the FCC requirements concerning duration of broadcast transmissions.
An advantage of the present invention is the relative freedom from false signals caused by rough roads and the like.
Another advantage of the present invention is the elimination of clocks and clocking systems heretofore thought necessary to meet the FCC duration and periodicity requirements.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that its operation is relatively temperature independent.
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those reading and understanding the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and specification as follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof:
FIG. 1 illustrates an abnormal tire condition sensing and indicating system in accordance with the present invention including telemetry units in combination with the wheels and pneumatic tires of a vehicle and a central receiving and indicating unit;
FIG. 2 illustrates an electronic circuit for the telemetry units of the abnormal tire condition sensing and indicating system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an alternate embodiment of the circuit of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary electronic circuit suitable for use in receiving and indicating unit in FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, wherein the drawings are for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for purposes of limiting it. FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle with a plurality of wheels, each having a pneumatic tire mounted thereon and a telemetry means A mounted between the wheel and the inner surface of the pneumatic tire. When one of the telemetry means senses an abnormal tire condition, it produces a radio signal indicative thereof. Mounted in a central location in the vehicle is a receiving means B for receiving the radio signals from each of the telemetry means and providing the driver with an indication of the sensed abnormal tire condition.
As illustrated in FIG. 2 or 3, each of the telemetry means includes a transducer means C for producing electrical pulses with rotation of the wheel in response to a sensed abnormal condition. An accumulator means D accumulates the pulses from the transducer means C until a predetermined level is accumulated. When the predetermined level is attained, the accumulator enables an encoder means E for producing an encoded modulating signal for a transmitting means F. Transmitter means F generates a carrier signal that is modulated by the encoded modulating signal.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, receiving means B includes a radio signal receiving means G for receiving radio signals from each of telemetry means A. A decoder H determines whether the received radio signals are modulated with appropriate encoded signals. The decoder means on detecting the appropriately encoded signal actuates an indicating means I which produces an indication of the abnormal tire condition. In an alternate embodiment in which each telemetry means has a distinct code, indicator means I further indicates which telemetry means sensed the abnormal condition.
Looking now to a preferred embodiment of telemetry means A in more detail, reference is made to FIG. 2. Transducer means C includes a housing 10 which is adapted to be mounted to the wheel or the wheel rim of a vehicle. Slideably mounted in housing 10 is a mechanical member 12. Mechanical member 12 is so dimensioned that when housing 10 is mounted on the wheel rim, its outer end is adjacent the inside surface of the pneumatic tire. The mechanical member 12 is sufficiently short that when the tire is properly inflated, the inner surface of the tire does not impact the member at any point of the revolution. However, the mechanical member is sufficiently long, that when the tire is underinflated, the inner surface of the tire impacts the member as the member passes the low or road contact point of each revolution. Mechanical member 12 may be a stiff but bendable material, such as hardened rubber or plastic to inhibit breaking or permanent deformation by a badly underinflated or flat tire. The inner end of the mechanical member abuts a piezoelectric transducer 14 in the form of a wafer. When the mechanical member is impacted, it deflects the piezoelectric wafer into a small depression 16 in the housing so that impacts upon mechanical means 12 may bend the piezoelectric crystal a controlled amount. It is a property of piezoelectric crystals that compression of deflection of the crystal will cause a potential across the crystal. Electrical connections are made to one surface of the wafer 14 and a conductive substrate 18 along the opposite surface of the crystal. These connections convey the electrical impulses generated when the mechanical member 12 is impacted.
Suitable piezoelectric crystal wafers which include conductive layer 18 are sold by Vernitron under the trade name of Unimorph, by Gulton under the trade name CATT, and by Linden under the trade name of Piezo-Ceramic Disc Benders. All three of these piezoelectric elements are sold for transforming an oscillating electric potential into an acoustic, siren-like noise.
Other transducer means may also be used. For example, a battery and electric switch could be mounted in the housing for producing electrical pulses when the abnormal tire condition is sensed. Alternately, a generator powered by revolution of the wheels may replace the battery.
Other abnormal tire conditions than underinflation may be sensed. For example, overinflation may be sensed by positioning the mechanical member so as to be impacted under normal inflation but not impacted under overinflation. In such an embodiment, the logic of the circuitry is inverted to produce radio signals when the member is not impacted. As another alternative, the transducer means may sense erroneous mechanical movement of machinery parts. This may be accomplished, for example, by positioning mechanical member 12 adjacent the path of travel of a reciprocating element with such spacing that excessive travel causes the reciprocating element to impact the mechanical member 12.
The accumulator means D receives the electrical pulses from the transducer means. If the transducer means does not produce pulses of a single polarity, as is the case the piezoelectric transducers, the accumulator means may include a rectifier means 30. In the preferred embodiment, the rectifier means is a full-wave diode bridge.
The undirectional pulses from rectifier means 30 increase the stored charge in a storage means 32. The charge storage means includes a storage capacitor 34 upon which an electrical potential is stored and a threshold detector means 36 which detects whether the stored charge exceeds a predetermined level. The potential is increased with each pulse from rectifier means 30. When the stored charge reaches the predetermined threshold potential, an output signal is provided. The predetermined threshold potential is determined by the breakdown potential of a zener diode 38 and a resistive voltage divider 40. When the predetermined potential is reached, a first transistor 42 is gated to its conductive state which, in turn, gates solid state switching means or second transistor 44 to become conductive. When second transistor 44 becomes conductive, a regulator network 46 and a counter means 50 are actuated. In the regulator network, a third solid state switching means or transistor 48 becomes conductive, to supply regulated power to encoder means E and transmitting means F. The encoder means draws power until the stored potential is drained to a voltage level defined by a zener diode 49 of the regulator circuit. When the potential across zener diode 49 is equal to its breakdown voltage, transistors 42, 44 and 48 are gated off. This stops the drainage of capacitor 34 starting the next charging cycle. Thus, regulating means 46 provides encoder means E and transmitting means F with an operating potential which exceeds the minimum power required for operating these means. Counter means 50 includes a counter 52 which increases its count with each high output caused by transistor 44 becoming conductive. When counter 52 reaches a predetermined count, it enables solid state switching means 54 to produce an enable signal. The enable signal produces one of the outputs of the accumulator and actuates a reset means 56 for resetting counter 52.
With the piezoelectric transducer of the preferred embodiment, about 16 or 17 revolutions are required to charge the capacitor 34 to its predetermined potential level. The number of revolutions varies with the strength of the impact upon piezoelectric transducer 14 by mechanical member 12. Thus, after each 16 or so times that the abnormal tire condition is sensed, transistor 44 becomes conductive and increases the count on counter 52 by one. It has been found that counting about 150 occurrences of the abnormal tire condition is sufficient to differentiate between rough road conditions and an underinflated pneumatic tire. Thus, if counter 52 is set to count 9 before producing the enable signal and resetting itself, relative freedom from erroneous signals from rough roads is achieved. The time between successive enable signals will, of course, vary with the speed of the vehicle and the circumference of the pneumatic tire. For some vehicles at some speeds, 150 revolutions of the wheel will occur at shorter intervals than the FCC requirements on periodicity of radio transmissions allow. Using a counter which counts to 18 has been found sufficient for assuring that the FCC periodicity requirements between successive radio transmission cycles is met.
The encoder means E produces an encoded signal for modulating the carrier frequency of the transmitting means F. In the preferred embodiment, the encoder means provides a digitally coded signal. More specifically, the digitally coded signal is a series of square waves at regular intervals. Each square wave pulse has the same height but its duration may vary. For example, a square wave for indicating a binary one may fill 3/4 of the interval between successive square waves and the square wave for indicating a binary zero may fill 1/4 of the interval. A suitable encoder for producing this digitally encoded signal can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,348 issued Sept. 16, 1975, to Collin B. Willmott. Other digital codes may also be used, such as a trinary code of circuit chips produced by National Semiconductor Corporation.
The encoder means is connected by transistors 44 and 48 to the charge storage capacitor 34. Encoder means is designed to draw power from the charge storage means more rapidly than the transducer means supplies power. Thus, each time transistors 44 and 48 are rendered conductive, encoder means E discharges the stored potential to a predetermined level and allows the charging cycle to be repeated. The rate at which encoder means E and transmitter means F consume the electric potential stored on capacitor 34 determines duration of each radio broadcast. By appropriately selecting the rate at which encoder means E and radio transmitter F draw power or alternately selecting the size of capacitor 34, the duration of each radio broadcast may be selected to comply with the FCC regulations.
The transmitting means F includes a control means 60 for controlling the transmissions of encoded radio signals. Control means 60 includes an AND gate 62 and the transistor 64. One input of AND gate 62 is connected with counting means 50 to receive the enable signal therefrom. The other input of AND gate 62 is connected to the output of encoder means E. Whenever the enable signal from the counting means is high and the output from the encoding means is high, then, the output from AND gate 62 is similarly high. In this way, the AND gate passes the digitally encoded signal from encoder means E whenever counter 52 has reached the predetermined count and counting means 50 has produced an enable signal. However, until counter means 50 reaches the predetermined count, AND gate 62 blocks the output from the encoder means. The output from the AND gate controls transistor 64 rendering it conductive and nonconductive with the digitally coded signal. The output from transistor 64 controls the carrier frequency generator 66 such that a digitally modulated radio signal is produced by transmitting means F.
In the preferred embodiment, the encoded signal is a series of square waves. Each square wave has substantially the same amplitude but my have one of a plurality of widths. If the code is a binary code, the square waves will have one of two widths; a first width corresponding to a binary one and a second width corresponding to a binary zero. The number of square waves in each coded signal determines the number of bits. For example, an eight bit signal is a series of eight square waves.
The control means actuates the radio frequency generating means when it receives both the enable signal from the accumulator means and a square wave from the digital encoder means. It actuates the radio frequency generating means for short periods, each period having a duration determined by the width of the corresponding square wave pulse. Thus, an eight bit binary code is transmitted as eight spaced, short periods of the carrier frequency, each period having a duration indicative of a zero or a one.
Radio signals generated by each of the telemetry means A is received by the receiving means B. The radio signal receiving means G may, for example, be an AM superregenerative receiver. The received radio signal may be amplified by an amplifier 80 before being conveyed to a decoding means H. Decoding means H decodes the encoded modulating signal of the radio signal received by radio signal receiver G. A complimentary decoding means to the encoding means described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,348 is also described therein. Similarly, National Semiconductor Corporation produces complementary trinary code decoding chips for their encoding chips. When decoding means H recognizes the appropriate code, it actuates indicating means I. Indicating means I may consist of a driver circuit 82 and an audio or visual indicator. For example, an electro-acoustic transducer 84, such as one of the electric wafers described in connection with the transducer means, may be connected with the driver circuit. In this way, whenever one of the telemetry means signals an abnormal tire condition, an audio signal is produced.
If the encoding means of each telemetry means have distinct codes, then decoding means H may have a similar number of decoders. Each decoder enables one of driver circuits 84, 86 or 88. Connected with each driver is a visual indicating means such as light bulbs 94, 96 and 98. Driver circuits 84, 86 and 88 may further include hold or delay circuits so that their respective light bulb remains illuminated continuously although radio signal receiving means G only receives abnormal tire sensing conditions intermittently. Further, the indicating means may include both audio and visual indications, such as an audio signal of relatively short duration when any abnormal condition is initially sensed and visual indications which indicate both the abnormal condition and its source.
FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of telemetry means A. In FIG. 3, corresponding parts to the embodiment of FIG. 2 are marked with like reference numerals followed by a prime, ('). The accumulating means in FIG. 3 receives pulses from the transducer means C and conveys them to a rectifier means 30' to convert the pulses to pulses of a single polarity. Single polarity pulses are conveyed to a charge storage means 32' which includes a charge storage capacitor 34' and threshold detector means 36'. With each pulse from rectifier means 30' electrical potential is accumulated. When the potential on capacitor 34' reaches the predetermined threshold level as determined by the breakdown voltage of diode 38' capacitor 34' is connected to counting means 50'. After the threshold level is reached, charge storage means 32' functions as a power supply for the counting means.
Each pulse from the transducer means is also conveyed to a Schmitt trigger 100. Whenever the transducer pulse is of sufficient amplitude, Schmitt trigger 100 produces an output pulse of fixed amplitude and duration. The output pulse from the Schmitt trigger is conveyed to a counter 102 which counts the number of pulses of the prescribed amplitude produced by the transducer means. When charge storage means 32' has reached the predetermined threshold level to supply power to counter means 50', counter 102 increases its count with each pulse from Schmitt trigger 100. When it reaches a predetermined number of counts, it triggers solid state switching means 54'. Switching means 54' comprises a flip flop 104 and a transistor 106.
When the solid state switching means is triggered, transistor 106 connects the charge storage means with encoding means E to enable it. When the transistor 106 enables encoding means E with a power supply, it starts producing the digitally coded signal. The output of encoding means E is connected to a reset means 56'. The reset means includes a counter 110 for counting the square wave pulses from digital encoding means E. When counter 110 reaches a preselected number, it resets counter 102 and flip flop 104. The predetermined number for counter 110 is determined by the number of bits in each decoded signal and the number of times each encoded signal is to be transmitted. For example, if an 8-bit signal is to be transmitted ten times, then the predetermined number is 80. Reset counter 110 in turn is reset by flip flop 104 each time counter 102 reaches its predetermined number.
Transistor 106 in addition to enabling encoder means E also enables transmitting means F. Transmitting means F includes a control means 60' which receives the enable signal from transistor 106 and the modulating signal from encoding means E. Control means 60' includes a transistor 64' which controls radio frequency generator 66' with the digitally coded signal from encoding means E to produce the digitally modulated radio signal.
When an underinflated tire condition is sensed, mechanical member 12' is impacted by the inner surface of the pneumatic tire at the low point of each wheel revolution. This in turn produces a series of output pulses from the piezoelectric crystal. These transducer pulses are received by the accumulator means and used to charge the charge storage means 32'. When the charge storage means 32' reaches the predetermined potential level, power is connected to counters 102 and 110 and flip flop 104. Additional pulses from the transducer means continue charging the charge storage means and are counted on counter 102. When the predetermined number of counts is reached, solid state switching means 54' provides an enable signal and resets counter 110. The enable signal is provided to encoder means E and transmitting means F. When enabled, encoding means E starts producing a series of digital pulses to provide the coded signal used to modulate the carrier radio frequency. The digital pulses from encoder means E are counted by reset counter 110 until it reaches its predetermined number of counts. Then, counter 102 and flip flop 104 are reset. This renders transistor 106 nonconductive stopping encoder means E and transmitting means F from functioning. Counter 102 again commences counting pulses from transistor means C and the cycle is repeated.
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding this specification. It is our intention to include all such modifications and alterations, in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or equivalence thereof, in our invention.
|
An abnormal tire profile indicating system comprising a telemetry unit mounted on each wheel of a vehicle and a central receiver. Each telemetry unit comprises a piezoelectric transducer which is deflected with each wheel revolution when the tire profile is low. Deflecting the transducer produces an electric pulse. The transducer pulses are accumulated on a charge storage capacitor to provide a power supply. When the level of charge on the capacitor reaches a predetermined level, a counter commences counting the transducer pulses. When a predetermined number of pulses are counted, the counter renders a transistor conductive, which transistor connects the power supply capacitor to an encoder and a transmitter. The encoder produces encoded signals and resets the counter after a predetermined number of encoder signals are produced. The central receiver receives the modulated radio signals from each of the telemetry units. The counter limits the transmitter to transmitting only after a sufficient number of low profiles are detected to assure reliable operation and only after a sufficient number of wheel revolutions to meet FCC periodicity of transmission requirements. The reset counter limits the duration of transmissions to meet FCC requirements.
| 1
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2010/072091, filed Dec. 9, 2010, which claims the benefit of Japanese Application No. 2009-284225, filed Dec. 15, 2009, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device including a touch panel, and to a method of controlling the portable electronic device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Some portable electronic devices include a touch panel having: a display unit; a detection unit that detects a finger or the like that touches the display unit; and a control unit that controls display contents on the display unit in accordance with a result of detection by the detection unit. In such portable electronic devices, in a case in which a standard screen is displayed on the display unit, when a finger or the like touches an area that triggers displaying of a menu screen that includes a plurality of areas for activating applications, the menu screen is displayed on the display unit. As a result, a user can activate a desired application by selecting an area for activating the desired application from the menu screen (see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2008-141519
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Incidentally, in the portable electronic device including the touch panel, in a case of activating an application enabling an input of characters (for example, a memo pad application), first of all, while a standard screen is displayed on the display unit, when an area that triggers displaying of a menu screen is operated (touched), the menu screen is displayed on the display unit. Next, when the user selects the memo pad application from the menu screen, the portable electronic device activates the memo pad application. In this way, the conventional portable electronic devices had a problem of requiring a large number of operations for activating an application enabling an input of characters.
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device and a method of controlling the portable electronic device, all of which can utilize an application enabling an easy input of characters.
Means for Solving the Problems
The portable electronic device of the present invention is characterized by including: an activation unit that activates an application enabling an input of characters; a display unit that displays a screen based on the application; a detection unit that detects contact to the display unit; and a control unit that identifies a track of contact to the display unit according to the contact to the display unit detected by the detection unit in a state where a standard screen is displayed on the display unit, and causes the activation unit to activate the application in a case in which the control unit determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact thus identified.
In a case in which the control unit determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact, it is preferable for the activation unit to activate an application based on an input character thus input.
It is preferable for the application based on the input character to be an application having an application name including the input character.
In a case in which application names of a plurality of applications predicted based on the input character are displayed on the display unit, it is preferable for the application based on the input character to be an application corresponding to a single application name selected from the plurality of application names.
In a case in which the control unit determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact, it is preferable for the control unit to cause the activation unit to activate an application, and to cause an input character to be input into the application.
It is preferable for the application activated by the activation unit to be a preset application.
In a case in which application names of a plurality of applications enabling an input of characters are displayed on the display unit, it is preferable for the application activated by the activation unit to be an application corresponding to a single application name selected from the plurality of application names.
After the input character is input into the application, in a case in which a single application is selected from applications enabling an input of characters, it is preferable for the control unit to cause the single application thus selected to be activated, and to cause the input character to be input into the single application.
It is preferable for the control unit to cause the display unit to display a plurality of words predicted based on the input character, and when a single word is selected from the plurality of words, it is preferable for the control unit to cause the activation unit to activate the application, and to cause the word thus selected to be input into the application.
It is preferable for the activation unit to be capable of activating a call originating application, and it is preferable for the control unit to be capable of determining that numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact, and in a case of determining that the numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact detected by the detection unit, it is preferable for the control unit to cause the activation unit to activate the call originating application.
In a case in which the control unit determines that characters or numeric characters are not being input based on the track of contact detected by the detection unit, it is preferable for the control unit to cause the display unit to display a menu screen for selecting an application from a plurality of applications.
The present invention is a method of controlling a portable electronic device including a display unit capable of displaying a screen based on an application enabling an input of characters, and the method is characterized by including: a detecting step of detecting contact to the display unit; and an activating step of identifying a track of contact to the display unit according to the contact to the display unit detected in the detecting step in a state where a standard screen is displayed on the display unit, and activating the application in a case of determining that characters are being input based on the track of contact thus identified.
Effects of the Invention
According to the present invention, it is possible to utilize an application enabling an easy input of characters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a mobile telephone device according to an embodiment of a portable electronic device;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the mobile telephone device;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart for illustrating a method of controlling the mobile telephone device;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating operations of the mobile telephone device in a case of executing processing of activating an application, or executing processing of displaying a menu screen;
FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating a first state of the display unit 11 ;
FIG. 6 is a diagram for illustrating a second state of the display unit 11 ;
FIG. 7 is a diagram for illustrating a third state of the display unit 11 ;
FIG. 8 is a diagram for illustrating a fourth state of the display unit 11 ;
FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating a fifth state of the display unit 11 ; and
FIG. 10 is a diagram for illustrating a sixth state of the display unit 11 .
EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
1 mobile telephone device (portable electronic device)
10 touch panel
11 display unit
12 detection unit
18 activation unit
19 control unit
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment for carrying out the present invention is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings. First of all, with reference to FIG. 1 , descriptions are provided for a basic structure of a mobile telephone device 1 according to an embodiment of the portable electronic device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the mobile telephone device 1 according to an embodiment of the portable electronic device.
The mobile telephone device 1 includes a body 2 . A touch panel 10 , a microphone 13 and a speaker 14 are disposed on a front face portion of the body 2 .
The touch panel 10 includes a display unit 11 and a detection unit 12 (see FIG. 2 ). The display unit 11 is a liquid-crystal display panel, an organic EL (electroluminescence) display panel, or the like. The detection unit 12 is a sensor for detecting a position or the like touched by a contact object such as a finger or a stylus of a user. For example, a sensor that employs a method such as a capacitive sensing method and a resistive film method can be utilized as the detection unit 12 .
The microphone 13 is used for inputting sound produced by the user of the mobile telephone device 1 during a telephone call.
The speaker 14 is used for outputting sound produced by the other party of the telephone call.
Next, a functional configuration of the mobile telephone device 1 is described with reference to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the mobile telephone device 1 .
The mobile telephone device 1 includes the touch panel 10 (the display unit 11 and the detection unit 12 ), the microphone 13 and the speaker 14 as described above. The mobile telephone device 1 includes a communication unit 15 , memory 16 and a central processing unit (CPU 17 ).
The communication unit 15 includes a main antenna (not shown) and an RF circuit unit (not shown), and performs communication with a predetermined communication party. The communication party, with which the communication unit 15 performs communication, is an external device that performs a telephone call or transmission/reception of mail with the mobile telephone device 1 , or an external device or the like such as an external web server, with which the mobile telephone device 1 establishes Internet connections.
The communication unit 15 performs communication with an external device via a predetermined usable frequency band. More specifically, the communication unit 15 executes demodulation processing on a signal received via the main antenna, and transmits the processed signal to the control unit 19 . The communication unit 15 executes modulation processing on a signal transmitted from the CPU 17 (the control unit 19 to be described below), and transmits the signal to an external device (a base station) via the main antenna.
The memory 16 includes, for example, working memory, and is utilized for arithmetic processing by the CPU 17 (the control unit 19 ). The memory 16 stores data, tables and the like, which are utilized by various applications running inside the mobile telephone device 1 . The memory 16 may also serve as detachable external memory.
The CPU 17 (the control unit 19 ) controls the entirety of the mobile telephone device 1 , and performs predetermined control of the communication unit 15 and the display unit 11 . The CPU 17 (the control unit 19 ) receives a result of detection by the detection unit 12 , and executes various processing based on the result of detection as various input operations.
The mobile telephone device 1 with such a configuration has a function capable of utilizing an application enabling an easy input of characters. Descriptions are hereinafter provided for a configuration and operations for achieving the aforementioned function according to the mobile telephone device 1 .
The CPU 17 includes an activation unit 18 and the control unit 19 .
The activation unit 18 activates an application enabling an input of characters. Specific examples of the application enabling an input of characters may include a memo pad application, a mail application, a browser application, an address book application and the like.
The display unit 11 displays a screen based on an application activated by the activation unit 18 . More specifically, in a case in which the activation unit 18 activates an application, the display unit 11 displays a character (an input character) that is input into the application, in accordance with control by the control unit 19 . More specific descriptions are provided by taking the memo pad application as an example. In a case in which the activation unit 18 activates the memo pad application, the display unit 11 displays input characters in an area for inputting characters of a memo pad in accordance with the memo pad application, and displays a screen for inputting characters when a predetermined operation is carried out to input characters.
The display unit 11 displays a standard screen (also referred to as wallpaper, desktop or stand-by screen) while waiting for communication, or while waiting for activation of an application.
The detection unit 12 detects contact of a contact object such as a finger or a stylus of the user with the display unit 11 . As a result, the detection unit 12 detects a state where the display unit 11 is touched by the contact object (a state where the contact object does not move on the surface of the display unit 11 ), and a state where the contact object moves on the surface of the display unit 11 , as contact of the contact object with the display unit 11 . The detection unit 12 outputs, to the control unit 19 , information (position information) about a position of the contact object touching the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ), and information (position information) about moving positions of the contact object in a case in which the contact object moves on the surface of the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ).
In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 , the control unit 19 identifies a track of contact to the display unit 11 according to the contact to the display unit 11 detected by the detection unit 12 , and in a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact thus identified, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application.
More specifically, based on the position information (information about positions where the contact object moves) provided from the detection unit 12 , the control unit 19 identifies a track of contact of the contact object that moves while touching the surface of the display unit 11 .
The control unit 19 determines whether characters are being input, based on the track of contact of the contact object. For example, the determination may be made as follows. More specifically, the control unit 19 compares an identified track with character recognition data that is stored beforehand in the memory 16 (data for associating a character with a track pattern of writing the character), and in a case in which the identified track coincides with the track in the character recognition data, the control unit 19 determines that a character associated with the track in the character recognition data is being input. On the other hand, in a case in which the identified track does not coincide with the track in the character recognition data, the control unit 19 determines that characters are not being input.
In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters are being input, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application enabling an input of characters.
Herein, the characters include hiragana, katakana, kanji and alphabetic characters.
Next, descriptions are provided for a method of controlling the mobile telephone device 1 . FIG. 3 is a flow chart for illustrating the method of controlling the mobile telephone device 1 .
The mobile telephone device 1 performs a detecting step (Step S 1 ) and an activating step (Step S 2 ).
In the detecting step in Step S 1 , the detection unit 12 detects contact to the display unit 11 .
In the activating step in Step S 2 , in a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 , the control unit 19 identifies a track of contact to the display unit 11 according to the contact to the display unit 11 detected in the detecting step, and in a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters are being input based on the track of the contact, an application enabling an input of characters is activated.
As discussed above, by writing a character on the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) with a contact object while the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 , the mobile telephone device 1 determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact of the contact object, an application enabling an input of characters is activated, and the application can be utilized. Thus, the mobile telephone device 1 can reduce the number of operations required for activating an application, as compared to conventional cases.
In a case in which the activation unit 18 activates an application enabling an input of characters, the control unit 19 may cause the display unit 11 to display (dispose) keys enabling an input of characters in order to input characters thereafter. In a case in which a key displayed on the display unit 11 is operated (touched), the detection unit 12 provides information about a touched position (position information) to the control unit 19 . Based on the position information thus provided, the control unit 19 determines what character is assigned to the touched key, and based on a result of the determination, the control unit 19 causes the application to input a character assigned to the touched key. Here, the control unit 19 may display keys enabling an input of hiragana characters on the display unit 11 in a case in which the input character is a hiragana character, may display keys enabling an input of katakana characters on the display unit 11 in a case in which the input character is a katakana character, and may display QWERTY keys enabling an input of alphabetic characters on the display unit 11 in a case in which the input character is an alphabetic character.
In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 , and the display unit 11 displays an area to which a predetermined function is assigned, such as a short-cut icon (an icon for activating a predetermined application), in a case in which the short-cut icon (an area to which a predetermined function is assigned) on the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) is touched with a contact object, the control unit 19 does not determine whether characters are being input. In this case, the control unit 19 may activate the predetermined application corresponding to the short-cut icon.
In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact, it is preferable for the activation unit 18 to activate an application based on an input character thus input.
More specifically, in a case in which a character is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the character recognition data. In a case in which the input character is identified based on the character recognition, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application based on the input character. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen based on the application activated by the activation unit 18 .
Here, as a case in which an application is activated based on an input character, for example, data for associating an input character with an application is stored beforehand in the memory 16 , and when the input character is identified based on character recognition, the control unit 19 may refer to the data stored in the memory 16 , and may cause the activation unit 18 to activate the application associated with the input character.
A specific example is described with reference to FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating a first state of the display unit 11 . First of all, the data for associating a hiragana character “a” with the address book application is stored in the memory 16 . In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 (see FIG. 5A ), in a case in which the hiragana character “a” is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) (see FIG. 5B ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the character recognition data. In a case in which the input character is identified as the hiragana character “a” based on the character recognition, the control unit 19 refers to the data stored in the memory 16 , identifies the address book application associated with the input hiragana character “a”, and controls the address book application to be activated. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen (image) of the address book application thus activated (see FIG. 5C ). In this case, the screen of the address book application includes an area (a character input area 100 a ) for inputting characters.
As a case in which an application is activated based on an input character, the activation unit 18 may activate an application having an application name that includes the input character, as will be described below.
Therefore, since an application is activated based on an input character, the mobile telephone device 1 can easily activate an application associated with the input character, simply by determining that characters are being input.
Here, as a case in which the activation unit 18 activates an application based on an input character, the control unit 19 may cause the activation unit 18 to activate an application having an application name that includes an input character.
More specifically, in a case in which the input character is identified based on character recognition, the control unit 19 determines whether the input character is included in any one of a plurality of application names stored beforehand in the memory 16 . In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that the input character is included in any one of the application names, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application corresponding to the application name.
Specific descriptions are provided by taking an example, in which the address book application is activated. The memory 16 stores “address book” as an application name of the address book application. First of all, in a case in which the user writes a hiragana character “a” on the surface of the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition based on a track of writing the hiragana character “a”. As a result of the character recognition, the control unit 19 determines that the input character is the hiragana character “a”, and determines whether there is an application name including the input character among the plurality of application names stored in the memory 16 . The control unit 19 identifies “address book” as the application name including the input character “a”, and causes the activation unit 18 to activate the address book application.
In addition to the specific example described above in which the control unit 19 performs control to activate a corresponding application in a case in which an initial character of the application name is input as an input character, the control unit 19 may also perform control to activate a corresponding application in a case in which a character other than the initial character of the application name is input as an input character. For example, in a case in which a hiragana character “re” is input as an input character, the control unit 19 may perform control such that “address book” (including “re”) is identified as an application name, and the address book application is activated.
With reference to FIG. 6 , descriptions are provided for an example in which an application is activated based on an input alphabetic character. FIG. 6 is a diagram for illustrating a second state of the display unit 11 . First of all, as an application name of the mail application, “Mail” is registered with the memory 16 . In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 (see FIG. 6A ), in a case in which an alphabetic character “M” is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) (see FIG. 6B ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the character recognition data. As a result of the character recognition, the control unit 19 determines that the input character is the alphabetic character “M”, and determines whether there is an application name including the alphabetic character “M” among the plurality of application names stored in the memory 16 . The control unit 19 identifies “Mail” as the application name including the alphabetic character “M”, and causes the activation unit 18 to activate the mail application. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen (image) of the mail application thus activated (see FIG. 6C ). In this case, the screen of the mail application includes the character input area 100 a.
In addition to the aforementioned example in which the control unit 19 performs control to activate a corresponding application in a case in which an initial character of the application name is input as an input character, the control unit 19 may also perform control to activate a corresponding application in a case in which a character other than the initial character of the application name is input as an input character. For example, in a case in which an alphabetic character “L” is input as an input character, the control unit 19 may perform control such that “Mail” (including “L”) is identified as an application name, and the mail application is activated.
Therefore, since an application is activated based on an input character, the mobile telephone device 1 can easily activate an application associated with the input character, simply by determining that characters are being input.
As a case in which the activation unit 18 activates an application based on an input character, the control unit 19 may cause the display unit 11 to display a plurality of application names that are predicted based on the input character, and may cause the activation unit 18 to activate an application corresponding to an application name selected from the plurality of application names.
More specifically, in a case in which an input character is identified based on character recognition, the control unit 19 determines whether there is an application name predicted from the input character among the plurality of application names stored beforehand in the memory 16 . In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that there is an application name predicted from the input character, the control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display the application name predicted from the input character. In a case in which the user selects any one of the application names displayed on the display unit 11 , the control unit 19 controls the activation unit 18 to activate an application corresponding to the application name thus selected.
Here, with reference to FIG. 7 , descriptions are provided for an example in which a memo pad application is activated. FIG. 7 is a diagram for illustrating a third state of the display unit 11 . The memory 16 stores “memo pad” as an application name of the memo pad application, and stores “mail” as an application name of the mail application. In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 (see FIG. 7A ), in a case in which the user writes a hiragana character “me” on the surface of the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) (see FIG. 7B ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition based on a track of writing the hiragana character “me”. As a result of the character recognition, the control unit 19 determines that the input character is the hiragana character “me”, and determines whether there is an application name predicted from the input hiragana character “me”. The control unit 19 determines that there are application names “memo pad” and “mail” predicted from the input hiragana character “me” (pronounced like “meh” in Japanese), and controls the display unit 11 to display the application names “memo pad” and “mail” (see FIG. 7C ). In a case in which the user selects “memo pad”, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate the memo pad application. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen (image) of the memo pad application thus activated (see FIG. 7D ). In this case, the screen of the memo pad application includes the character input area 100 a.
Whether there is an application name predicted from the input character “me” may be determined based on whether there is an application name including the input character “me”, or whether there is data in which the input character “me” is associated beforehand with application names.
As discussed above, the mobile telephone device 1 causes the display unit 11 to display application names predicted from an input character, and in a case in which any one of the application names is selected, an application corresponding to the application name thus selected is activated. Thus, the mobile telephone device 1 can easily activate an application associated with an input character.
In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters are being input based on the track of contact, it is preferable for the activation unit 18 to activate an application, and it is preferable for an input character to be input into the application.
More specifically, in a case in which a character is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the character recognition data. In a case in which an input character is identified based on the character recognition, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application, and causes the input character to be input into the character input area of the application. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen based on the application thus activated, in which the input character is input into the character input area thereof.
Here, descriptions are provided for an example with reference to FIG. 8 , in which the memo pad application is activated to input characters into the memo pad application. FIG. 8 is a diagram for illustrating a fourth state of the display unit 11 . In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 (see FIG. 8A ), in a case in which a hiragana character “yo” is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) (see FIG. 8B ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the character recognition data. In a case in which the input character is identified as the hiragana character “yo” based on the character recognition, the control unit 19 activates, for example, the memo pad application. The control unit 19 causes the hiragana character “yo” to be input into a memo input area (the character input area 100 a ) of the memo pad application. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen, in which the hiragana character “yo” is input into the memo input area (see FIG. 8C ).
Therefore, the mobile telephone device 1 activates an application based on performing recognition of a character, and causes the character to be input into the application; accordingly, simply by determining that a character is being input, the character can be input into the application, and the application can be activated in a state where the input character is displayed.
In a case in which the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application to input a character into the application, the control unit 19 may cause the activation unit 18 to activate a preset application to input a character into the application thus activated.
Regarding setting for activating applications, for example, the user may set any one of a plurality of applications, or the control unit 19 may set an application that is most frequently activated among the plurality of applications.
Here, a specific example is described with reference to FIG. 9 , in which the user sets any one of a plurality of applications. FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating a fifth state of the display unit 11 . In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 (see FIG. 9A ), in a case in which a hiragana character “me” is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) (see FIG. 9B ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the character recognition data. As a result of the character recognition, the control unit 19 determines that the input character is the hiragana character “me”, and controls the display unit 11 to display predictive conversion candidates “melon” and “medaka (Japanese killifish)” with the initial character “me” (see FIG. 9C ). In addition, in a case in which the user selects, for example, “medaka” from the predictive conversion candidates, the control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display application names “mail”, “address book”, “memo pad” and “web” corresponding to the plurality of applications, respectively (see FIG. 9D ). In addition, in a case in which the user selects, for example, “mail” from the plurality of application names, the control unit 19 causes the mail application to be activated, in which the mail application corresponds to the application name “mail”. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen (image) of the mail application, in which the conversion candidate character “medaka” selected by the user is input into the character input area 100 a (see FIG. 9E ).
The specific example has been described for a case in which a screen for selecting an application name is displayed when a predictive conversion candidate is selected. As another example, a screen for selecting an application name may be displayed in a case in which an input of a sentence is completed. In this case, the sentence is input into a character input area of the application thus selected.
Therefore, the mobile telephone device 1 activates a preset application based on performing recognition of a character, and causes the character to be input into the application; accordingly, simply by determining that characters are being input, the character can be input into the application, and the application can be activated in a state where the input character is displayed.
As a case in which the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application to input a character into the application, after determining that characters are being input based on the track of contact, the control unit 19 may cause the display unit 11 to display a plurality of names of applications enabling an input of characters, may cause the activation unit 18 to activate an application corresponding to an application name selected from the plurality of application names, and may cause the character to be input into the application thus activated.
As a specific example, in a case in which the user writes a hiragana character “yo” on the surface of the display unit (the detection unit 12 ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition based on a track of writing the hiragana character “yo”. As a result of the character recognition, the control unit 19 determines that the hiragana character “yo” is being input, and determines that characters are being input. In a case in which the input of the hiragana character “yo” is completed, i.e. in a case in which the detection unit 12 does not further detect contact of the contact object within a predetermined period after detecting the contact of the contact object for inputting the hiragana character “yo”, the control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display names of applications enabling an input of characters such as “memo pad”, “mail”, “browser” and “address book”. In a case in which the user selects “memo pad”, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate the memo pad application, and causes the hiragana character “yo” to be input into the memo input area of the memo pad application.
As discussed above, based on performing recognition of a character, the mobile telephone device 1 causes the display unit 11 to display names of applications enabling an input of characters, activates an application corresponding to a selected application name, and causes the character to be input into the application thus activated. Therefore, with the mobile telephone device 1 , simply by determining that a character is being input, the character can be input into an application, and the application can be activated in a state where the input character is displayed.
As a case in which the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application to input a character into the application, after determining that characters are being input based on the track of contact, the control unit 19 may cause the display unit 11 to display a plurality of words predicted from the character thus input, may cause the activation unit 18 to activate an application when a word is selected from the plurality of words, and may cause the word thus selected to be input into the application.
More specifically, in a case in which an input character is identified based on character recognition, the control unit 19 causes the display unit 11 to display a plurality of prediction conversion candidates (words) for converting the input character into a word. In a case in which the user selects one of a plurality of predictive conversion candidates, the control unit 19 causes the prediction conversion candidate thus selected to be input into an application activated by the activation unit 18 .
As a specific example, in a case in which an input character is identified as a hiragana character “me” based on character recognition, the control unit 19 causes the display unit 11 to display prediction conversion candidates such as “melon” and “medaka” for converting the hiragana character “me” into a word. In a case in which the user selects “melon”, the control unit 19 causes “melon” to be input into a character input area of an application activated by the activation unit 18 . Similarly, in a case in which an input character is identified as an alphabetic character “C” as a result of character recognition, the control unit 19 causes the display unit 11 to display prediction conversion candidates such as “California” and “Chicago” for converting the alphabetic character “C” into a word. In a case in which the user selects “California”, the control unit 19 causes “California” to be input into a character input area of an application activated by the activation unit 18 .
Regarding an application activated by way of the activation unit 18 , a preset application may be activated by way of the activation unit 18 as described above, or an application corresponding to an application name selected from a plurality of application names may be activated by way of the activation unit 18 .
Therefore, with the mobile telephone device 1 , in a case of selecting one of a plurality of words (predictive conversion candidates) predicted based on an input character, the word thus selected is input into the character input area of the application thus activated; accordingly, the word can be input into the application, and the application can be activated in a state where the input character is displayed.
It is preferable for the activation unit 18 to be capable of activating the call originating application. In this case, it is preferable for the control unit 19 to be capable of determining that numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact, and in a case of determining that numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact detected by the detection unit 12 , it is preferable for the control unit 19 to cause the activation unit 18 to activate the call originating application.
More specifically, based on the position information (information about positions where the contact object moves) provided from the detection unit 12 , the control unit 19 identifies a track of contact of the contact object that moves while touching the surface of the display unit 11 .
The control unit 19 determines whether numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact of the contact object. For example, the determination may be made as follows. More specifically, the control unit 19 compares an identified track with numeric character recognition data that is stored beforehand in the memory 16 (data for associating a numeric character with a track pattern of writing the numeric character), and in a case in which the identified track coincides with the track in the numeric character recognition data, the control unit 19 determines that a numeric character associated with the track in the numeric character recognition data is being input. On the other hand, in a case in which the identified track does not coincide with the track in the numeric character recognition data, the control unit 19 determines that numeric characters are not being input.
In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that numeric characters are being input, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate the call originating application.
The call originating application is an application capable of making a telephone call by utilizing the communication unit 15 .
Here, with reference to FIG. 10 , descriptions are provided for a specific example of activating the call originating application. FIG. 10 is a diagram for illustrating a sixth state of the display unit 11 . In a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 (see FIG. 10A ), in a case in which a numeric character “5” is input by way of a contact object via the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ) (see FIG. 10B ), the control unit 19 performs character recognition by comparing the track of contact and the track in the numeric character recognition data. As a result of the numeric character recognition, the control unit 19 determines that the numeric character “5” is being input, and activates the call originating application. The control unit 19 causes the numeric character “5” to be into an area (a numeric character input area 100 b ), into which numeric characters are input for the call originating application. The control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to display a screen (image), in which the numeric character “5” is input into the numeric character input area 100 b (see FIG. 10C ).
The specific example has been described for a case in which the call originating application is activated when a single numeric character is input. As another example, the call originating application may be activated when all digits of a numeric character string as a telephone number are input.
Therefore, since the call originating application is activated in a case in which the mobile telephone device 1 determines that numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact of a contact object, the call originating application can be easily activated.
In a case in which the activation unit 18 activates the call originating application, the control unit 19 may cause the display unit 11 to display (dispose) keys enabling an input of numeric characters in order to input numeric characters thereafter. In a case in which such keys are operated (touched), the control unit 19 causes numeric characters, which are assigned to the keys thus operated, to be input into the call originating application.
In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that numeric characters are being input, the control unit 19 may determine that numeric characters are being input after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the detection unit 12 ceased to detect contact of a contact object. As a result, the control unit 19 can distinguish, for example, whether a longitudinal line is drawn in a sequence of inputting a hiragana character “ha”, or a numeric character “1” is input.
In the abovementioned embodiment, in a case in which the identified track coincides with the track in the character recognition data or the numeric character recognition data, determination is made such that non-numeric characters or numeric characters associated with the data are being input; however, also in a case in which the identified track coincides with a part of the character recognition data or a part of the numeric character recognition data, determination may be made such that non-numeric characters or numeric characters associated with the data are being input.
In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters or numeric characters are not being input based on the track of contact detected by the detection unit 12 , it is preferable for the display unit 11 to display a menu screen for selecting an application from a plurality of applications.
The control unit 19 determines whether characters or numeric characters are being input based on the track of contact of the contact object. For example, the track of contact of the contact object is compared with the character recognition data and the numeric character recognition data as described above, and in a case in which the track of contact of the contact object does not coincide with any of the track in the character recognition data and the track in the numeric character recognition data, the determination may be made such that characters and numeric characters are not being input. In a case in which the control unit 19 determines that characters and numeric characters are not being input, the control unit 19 controls the display unit 11 to switch the standard screen to the menu screen.
Therefore, in a case in which the mobile telephone device 1 determines that characters or numeric characters are not being input, the mobile telephone device 1 determines that the contact is a touch by a contact object, and causes the display unit 11 to display the menu screen; as a result, the user can select any one of a plurality of applications.
Next, descriptions are provided for operations of the mobile telephone device 1 when an application is activated or the menu screen is displayed on the display unit 11 . FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating the operations of the mobile telephone device 1 in a case of executing processing for activating an application, or executing processing for displaying the menu screen.
In Step S 11 , in a state where the standard screen is displayed on the display unit 11 , the control unit 19 determines whether a character or a numeric character was input by way of a contact object. More specifically, based on a track of a contact object touching the display unit 11 (the detection unit 12 ), determination is made as to whether characters are being input, numeric characters are being input, or characters and numeric characters are not being input. In a case in which the determination is that characters are being input, the processing advances to Step S 12 . In a case in which the determination is that numeric characters are being input, the processing advances to Step S 13 . In a case in which the determination is that characters and numeric characters are not being input, the processing advances to Step S 14 .
In Step S 12 , based on the input character, the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate an application enabling an input of characters.
In Step S 13 , the control unit 19 causes the activation unit 18 to activate the call originating application.
The processing of activating an application is terminated by executing the processing in Step S 12 or S 13 . Subsequently, processing corresponding to each application thus activated is executed.
In Step S 14 , the control unit 19 causes the display unit 11 to display the menu screen. The processing for displaying the menu screen is terminated by executing the processing in Step S 14 . Subsequently, for example, as a result of selecting any application from the menu screen, the activation unit 18 executes processing of activating the application thus selected.
As described above, the mobile telephone device 1 can reduce the number of operations required for activating an application, as compared to conventional cases.
As described above, the embodiment has been described by illustrating the cases in which the present invention is applied to the mobile telephone device 1 . However, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, and may also be applied to an electronic device such as a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a portable navigation device.
|
Disclosed are a portable electronic device and a method for controlling the portable electronic device wherein it is possible to use an application enabling an easy input of characters. The portable electronic device is provided with a starting unit, a display unit, a detection unit, and a control unit. The starting unit starts the application enabling the input of characters. The display unit displays a screen based on the application. The detection unit detects a contact to the display unit. The control unit causes the starting unit to start the application when identifying, while a standard screen is displayed on the display unit, the track of the contact to the display unit according to the contact to the display unit detected by the detection unit and determining from the detected track of the contact that characters are being inputted.
| 7
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/653,671, filed on Sep. 2, 2003, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/058,912, filed on Jan. 28, 2002, now abandoned.
STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT
[0002] (Not Applicable)
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention relates in general to exposed particulate concrete, and in particular to an improved method for surface-seeding the particulates into the upper surface of the concrete.
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,788 entitled SURFACE SEEDED EXPOSED AGGREGATE CONCRETE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a surface seeded exposed aggregate concrete characterized by the use of small, rounded aggregate, such as sand, being broadcast over the upper surface of concrete. The method disclosed results in a reduction in the size of the aggregate exposed on the surface of concrete compared to other prior art methods. The resultant surface seeded exposed aggregate concrete exhibits an extremely flat exposed aggregate surface suitable for extremely high traffic flooring applications. Additionally, the surface texture and color are able to approximate the surface color and texture of more conventional flooring surfaces, such as stone, granite and marble.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,146 entitled GLASS CHIP LITHOCRETE AND METHOD OF USE OF SAME, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a surface seeded exposed particulate concrete and method for producing same. U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,146 improves upon the surface seeded aggregate concrete and method of making same disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,788 by disclosing a method that produces surface seeded particulate concrete that expands the colors and surface texture appearances of concrete surfaces beyond those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,788.
[0006] The patents described above produce surface seeded exposed particulate concrete with desirable characteristics, as evidenced by the use and extensive licensing of such products throughout the United States. However, the application of the surface seeded particulate is a timely process. Furthermore, uniformity of application is difficult to achieve for large surface areas. Typically, it is difficult to achieve a uniform application for surface areas which require broadcasting of particulate beyond a distance of ten feet from the broadcaster.
[0007] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved process for surface-seeding of the particulate into the upper surface of a very large concrete slab.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention specifically addresses and alleviates the problems described above in treating large areas of poured concrete with exposed particulates.
[0009] Aspects of the present invention may be regarded as a surface seeded exposed particulate concrete product and a method of forming the surface seeded exposed particulate concrete product. The surface seeded exposed particulate concrete has a generally flat exposed particulate surface suitable for flooring applications. The particulate may be reactable with a hydrolyzed alkali silica to form an insoluble silicate structure. For example, such a particulate may comprise glass or organic materials, such as sea shells. The alternate may also be a non-reactive particulate. For example, a non-reactive particulate may comprise coarse sand, such as Monterey Aquarium coarse sand.
[0010] The method begins by preparing a subgrade to a desired grade. A concrete mixture is poured over the subgrade. The concrete mixture is screeded to a desired grade which forms a top surface thereof. The top surface of the concrete mixture is finished with a float to seal the top surface and dispose a quantity of cement/fines derived from the concrete mixture at the top surface of the concrete mixture to form an upper surface of cement/fines concrete paste. A quantity of particulate is sprayed upon the upper surface of cement/fines concrete paste. A quantity of particulate is mixed into the cement/fines concrete paste with a float to form an exposed surface of a depth of a mixture of surface-concentrated particulate and cement/fines concrete paste. A surface retarder is applied uniformly over the exposed surface of the surface-concentrated particulate and cement/fines concrete paste. Surface films are washed from the exposed surface. The concrete mixture and paste are cured to form a cured mixture and a cured paste. The exposed surface is then washed to remove surface residue therefrom.
[0011] If the particulate is reactable with a hydrolyzed alkali silica, after the exposed surface is washed, a chemical treatment of hydrolyzed alkali silica solution is applied uniformly over the exposed surface in a quantity sufficient to penetrate only the depth of the surface-concentrated particulate and cement/fines concrete paste. The hydrolyzed alkali silica used with particulates may be a hydrolyzed lithium quartz solution. Applying of chemical treatment may cause penetration of the hydrolyzed alkali metal and silica compound into the upper surface of the concrete mixture through a distance greater than the mean diameter of the particulate.
[0012] Preferably, the particulate has a mean diameter of less than three-eighths of one inch.
[0013] The spraying the quantity of particulate is accomplished using a material gun. The spraying uniformly sprays the quantity of particulate. The spraying includes spraying some of the quantity of particulate a distance of at least twenty feet.
[0014] Applying of the surface retarder may cause penetration of the surface retarder into the upper surface of the concrete mixture through a distance greater than the mean diameter of the particulate.
[0015] The particulate may be sprayed over the upper surface of the concrete mixture at an approximate rate of one pound per square foot of concrete mixture.
[0016] Mixing may comprise using a float in a circular motion to cover the particulate with the cement/fines concrete paste.
[0017] The method may include sponging in a circular motion any areas of the upper surface of the concrete mixture after the mixing and before the applying of the surface retarder.
[0018] The washing of surface film may include applying water to the upper surface of the concrete mixture and lightly brushing the upper surface of the concrete mixture. Preferably, the lightly brushing removes no more than five percent of the particulate from the upper surface of the concrete mixture.
[0019] The washing of the upper surface of the concrete mixture to remove surface residue therefrom may comprise washing the upper surface of the concrete with a mixture of water and muriatic acid.
[0020] The method may include covering the upper surface of the concrete mixture with a vapor barrier after applying of the surface retarder and before washing surface film. The covering the upper surface of the concrete mixture with a vapor barrier may extend for a period of two to twenty-four hours.
[0021] The curing may comprise curing the concrete mixture by use of a fogger or curing the concrete mixture by use of a soaker hose.
[0022] Reinforcement means may be placed upon the prepared subgrade to be disposed within the poured concrete mixture.
[0023] The pouring may comprise mixing the concrete mixture with a color additive.
[0024] After the curing, the method may include altering the surface roughness of the upper surface of the concrete mixture.
[0025] Prior to spraying particulates, the method may include washing with potable water and air drying the particulates.
[0026] The subgrade may be prepared by compacting the subgrade to approximately ninety percent compaction. Preparing the subgrade may include placing a layer of sand between the subgrade and the poured concrete mixture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] These as well as other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings wherein:
[0028] FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of the surface seeded exposed particulate concrete of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the concrete mixture having the exposed particulate thereon; and
[0030] FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram of the manipulative steps utilized in producing the surface seeded exposed particulate concrete of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and not for purposes of limiting the same, the surface seeded exposed particulate concrete and method of producing the same is pictorially and schematically illustrated. The particulate may be potentially reactive with the concrete mixture 16 . For example, the particulate 18 may comprise glass, such as silica glass, organic materials, such as sea shells of marine animals and mollusk, and other various metals and composite materials. Alternatively, the particulate 18 may be an aggregate that does not react with the concrete mixture. For example, the particulate may comprise coarse sand, such as Monterey Aquarium (Grade) coarse sand. Preferably, the particulate is characterized by having a mean average diameter size of approximately one-eighth inch diameter. The particulate may possess a rounded external surface configuration. Alternatively, the individual particulates may have an angled external surface configuration.
[0032] As is conventional, the initial step in the method of the present invention comprises the preparing of the subgrade to the desired elevation and grade and the compacting of the same to preferably 90% compaction. Subsequently, the subgrade 10 is covered with a one inch minimum thick layer of clean, moist fill sand 12 . The fill sand 12 is not absolutely necessary, but it is highly desirable to control the hydration process of the concrete. Further, in order to increase the resultant strength of the concrete and inhibit subsequent cracking, reinforcement wire mesh or rebar 14 is positioned upon the bed of fill sand 12 .
[0033] With the rebar 14 in place, a concrete mix or mixture 16 is poured over the fill sand 12 and rebar 14 respectively, and as is conventional is poured to approximately a three and one half to four inch thickness. Although variations in the concrete mix 16 are fully contemplated, preferably the mixture 16 comprises 70% sand and 30% three-eighth inch mean diameter particulate combined with a minimum of five sacks of cement, such as Portland cement per cubic yard. Dependent upon individual preferences, various conventional color mixtures may be added to the concrete mix.
[0034] The concrete surface is preferably struck off or screeded to the desired level plane of the concrete surface. However, the mix is preferably not tamped as is conventional, as Applicants have found tamping brings up too many sand fines in most concrete mixes, which would interfere with the subsequent surface seeding of the exposed particulate thereupon. Rather, subsequent to screeding the concrete surface, the surface is floated using a conventional bull float, which may be manufactured of fiberglass, wood, magnesium, or the like. Such floats are characterized by possessing an extremely smooth surface which tends to seal the top surface of the concrete mix 16 and bring out appropriate amounts of cement paste for the subsequent steps of the present invention.
[0035] When the upper surface of the concrete mix 16 is still plastic, small size exposed particulate 18 is sprayed over the top surface of the concrete mix 16 . An industrial sprayer, such as a Goldblat material sprayer or a sand blaster may be used to spray the exposed particulate. Use of such a spraying device allows for the uniform placement of the particulate over large surface areas. For example, the particulate can be uniformly sprayed for distances of about twenty to twenty-four feet from the sprayer as compared to traditional methods of broadcasting the particulate (e.g., manually) which can only achieve uniformity for a distance of about eight to ten feet away from the person broadcasting the particulate.
[0036] Depending on the particulate used, it may be desirable to wash the particulate with potable water and air dry it prior to spraying the particulate on the plastic concrete surface. The particulate 18 should not initially depress below the top surface of the concrete mix 16 but rather, should be sprayed solely to cover the same.
[0037] After the spraying of the particulates 18 , the particulates are then floated into the plastic upper surface of the concrete mix 16 using floats, for example, a fiberglass, wood or magnesium float. The mixing of the particulates 18 with the sand cement paste is critical as it ensures that the particulates 18 are thoroughly adhered or bonded to the top surface of the concrete mix 16 upon resultant curing. Hand sponges may then be used in a rotary fashion to further coat the surface seeded particulates 18 with the sand cement paste of the concrete mix 16 . The entire surface is then finished with steel trowels.
[0038] When the resultant particulate 18 and concrete surface 16 has sufficiently set such that a finger impression not in excess of three-eighths of an inch deep is made upon manually pressing with the fingertips thereupon, a conventional surface retarder, preferably a citric acid based surface retarding agent, is spread to uniformly cover the top surface of the concrete mix 16 . The surface retarder slows down the hydration process of the concrete by penetrating the top surface of the concrete mix to a depth of approximately one-eighth inch.
[0039] After the uniform coverage of the surface retarder thereon, the top surface of the concrete mix 16 is covered with either a plastic sheathing membrane or a liquid evaporation barrier, maintained thereupon for a period of approximately two to twenty-four hours. After about four hours, the surface can usually support a workman without leaving an impression, and the sheathing is removed and the top surface may be loosened with clean wet sponges working in a circular fashion, revealing the top surface of the embedded particulate 18 . The surface is then washed with clean water at low pressure and the heavy latents removed with a soft broom. The washing procedure and light bristle brushing preferably removes no more than five percent of the particulate 18 from the top surface of the concrete mix 16 . Subsequent to the washing, the concrete mix 16 is cured for a minimum of seven days with water only by use of a conventional fogger or soaker hose. Craft paper or liquid membrane cures may be used in place of water as job conditions dictate. Preferably after curing for a minimum of seven days, the surface is subject to conventional power washing using 3,000 PSI water pressure at a temperature of approximately 220° F. A mixture of 10-50% muriatic acid is preferably introduced into the hot water wash. The entire surface is then flushed with clean hot water. Preferably 28 days after the initial concrete placement, the surface is again washed with the high pressure/hot water wash to remove any efflorescence or discoloration from the surface. Sandblasting, acid etching or grinding and polishing may also be used to create texture variations on the surface.
[0040] If the particulate is reactable with a hydrolyzed alkali silica to form an insoluble silicate structure, after the final washing of the concrete, the top surface is treated with a hydrolyzed alkali silica solution, preferably lithium quartz sealer (approximately 12.5% lithium compound by volume). Other members of the alkali family of metals which may be suitable include sodium, potassium, rubidium, sesium, and francium. Other abundant silicone containing materials which may be suitable include feldspars, amphiboles or pyroxenes, and mica. The SINAK HLQ sealer is applied in light even coats using a sprayer or brush to a surface having a temperature between 50°-100° F. The hydrolyzed lithium quartz sealer penetrates the top surface of the concrete mix 16 , again to a depth of approximately one-eighth of an inch. The chemical treatment reacts with the mineral compounds or silicious materials within the concrete mix. The reaction causes formation of an insoluble silicate structure, which acts as a protective barrier, reducing the permeability of the surface to water. Applicant believes that minimizing the addition of moisture over time minimizes the undesired expansion and cracking, even given some chemical reaction in the concrete involving the potentially reactive particulates. Applicant also believes that minimizing the addition of moisture minimizes the scope of the chemical reaction involving the non-inert particulates. Of course, this chemical treatment may be omitted when non-reactive particulates are used.
[0041] The resultant surface seeded exposed particulate concrete besides exhibiting an extremely flat exposed particulate surface suitable for pedestrian and vehicular paving applications, is also not subject to deterioration from the chemical reaction from the non-inert particulates and minerals and silicates found in the concrete mix 16 . The surface texture and color approximates conventional flooring surfaces such as terrazzo, or ceramic tile, and this resemblance may be further accentuated by cutting the concrete surface into rectangular or irregular grids. The present invention comprises a significant improvement in the art by providing surface seeded exposed particulate concrete, wherein a large variety of exposed particulates not necessarily chemically inert may be introduced into the upper cement surface of the concrete mixture.
[0042] Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiment as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon reference to the description to the invention. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any modifications of the embodiments that fall within the true scope of the invention.
|
An improved surface seeded exposed particulate concrete and method of making the improved surface seeded exposed particulate concrete is disclosed. Small particulate is sprayed over the upper surface of the concrete. The particulate may be sprayed using a material sprayer. The particulate may be uniformly sprayed to distances exceeding twenty feet. The particulate is mixed into a cement paste derived from the concrete mixture using floats. A surface retarder is then applied to cover the concrete surface. Subsequently, any surface film is washed from the surface of the concrete and the concrete is cured. The result is a surface seeded particulate with an exposed surface that is flat and is suitable for high traffic areas. The resultant surface may resemble stone, granite or marble.
| 4
|
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/894,555, entitled “Analysis of Multiuser Stacked Space-Time Orthogonal and Quasi-Orthogonal Designs”, filed on Mar. 13, 2007, is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “GROUP LMMSE DEMODULATION USING NOISE AND INTERFERENCE COVARIANCE MATRIX FOR RECEPTION ON A CELLULAR DOWNLINK”, Attorney Docket 06088A, filed Mar. 13, 2008; is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “GROUP MMSE-DFD WITH ORDER AND FILTER COMPUTATION FOR RECEPTION ON A CELLULAR DOWNLINK”, Attorney Docket 06088B, filed Mar. 13, 2008; and related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “GROUP MMSE-DFD WITH RATE (SINR) FEEDBACK AND WITHOUT PRE-DETERMINED DECODING ORDER FOR RECEPTION ON A CELLULAR DOWNLINK”, Attorney Docket 06088D, filed Mar. 13, 2008; all of which their contents are incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to group minimum mean-squared error decision-feedback-decoding (MMSE-DFD) with rate (SINR) feedback and predetermined decoding order for reception on a cellular network.
[0003] A wireless cellular system consists of several base-stations or access points, each providing signal coverage to a small area known as a cell. Each base-station controls multiple users and allocates resources using multiple access methods such as OFDMA, TDMA, CDMA, etc., which ensure that the mutual interference between users within a cell (a.k.a. intra-cell users) is avoided. On the other hand co-channel interference caused by out-of-cell transmissions remains a major impairment. Traditionally cellular wireless networks have dealt with inter-cell interference by locating co-channel base-stations as far apart as possible via static frequency reuse planning at the price of lowering spectral efficiency. More sophisticated frequency planning techniques include the fractional frequency reuse scheme, where for the cell interior a universal reuse is employed, but for the cell-edge the reuse factor is greater than one. Future network evolutions are envisioned to have smaller cells and employ a universal (or an aggressive) frequency reuse. Therefore, some sort of proactive inter-cell interference mitigation is required, especially for edge users. Recently, it has been shown that system performance can be improved by employing advanced multi-user detection (MUD) for interference cancellation or suppression. However, in the downlink channel which is expected to be the bottleneck in future cellular systems, only limited signal processing capabilities are present at the mobiles which puts a hard constraint on the permissible complexity of such MUD techniques.
[0004] In the downlink, transmit diversity techniques are employed to protect the transmitted information against fades in the propagation environment. Future cellular systems such as the 3GPP LTE system are poised to deploy base-stations with two or four transmit antennas in addition to legacy single transmit antenna base-stations and cater to mobiles with up to four receive antennas. Consequently, these systems will have multi-antenna base-stations that employ space-only inner codes (such as long-term beam forming) and space-time (or space-frequency) inner codes based on the 2×2 orthogonal design (a.k.a. Alamouti design) and the 4×4 quasi-orthogonal design, respectively. The aforementioned inner codes are leading candidates for downlink transmit diversity in the 3GPP LTE system for data as well as control channels. The system designer must ensure that each user receives the signals transmitted on the control channel with a large enough SINR, in order to guarantee coverage and a uniform user experience irrespective of its position in the cell. Inter-cell interference coupled with stringent complexity limits at the mobile makes these goals significantly harder to achieve, particularly at the cell edge.
[0005] The idea of using the structure of the co-channel interference to design filters has been proposed, where a group decorrelator was designed for an uplink channel with two-users, each employing the Alamouti design as an inner code. There has also been derived an improved group decorrelator for a multi-user uplink where each user employs the 4×4 quasi-orthogonal design of rate 1 symbol per channel use. Improved group decorrelators have resulted in higher diversity orders and have also preserved the (quasi-) decoupling property of the constituent (quasi-) orthogonal inner codes.
[0006] Accordingly, there is a need for a method of reception on a downlink channel with improved interference suppression and cancellation that exploits the structure or the spatio-temporal correlation present in the co-channel interference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In accordance with the invention, a method for decoding and rate assignment in a wireless channel, where all dominant transmitter sources use inner codes from a particular set, comprising the steps of: i) estimating channel matrices seen from all dominant transmitter sources in response to a pilot or preamble signal transmitted by each such source; ii) converting each estimated channel matrix into an effective channel matrix responsive to the inner code of the corresponding transmitter source; iii) obtaining the received observations in a linear equivalent form (linear model) whose output is an equivalent of the received observations and in which the effective channel matrix corresponding to each dominant transmitter source inherits the structure of its inner code; iv) processing the transmitter sources according to the specified (or pre-determined) order of decoding; v) for each transmitter source, assuming perfect cancellation of signals of preceding transmitter sources; vi) computing a signal-to-interference-noise-ratio SINR responsive to the effective channel matrix of the transmitter source and the covariance matrix of the noise plus signals from remaining transmitter sources; and vii) feeding back all computed SINRs to respective transmitter sources.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0008] These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic demonstrating a scenario that the invention addresses; and
[0010] FIG. 2 is a receiver flow diagram for the case when there is a feedback link (channel) between the destination receiver and each transmitter source, in accordance with the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
1. Introduction
[0011] The invention is directed to a wireless system where the user (or destination) receives data from the one or more base-stations and is interfered by other adjacent base-stations. In general, the invention is applicable in a scenario where the user (destination) receives signals simultaneously from multiple sources and is interested in the signal transmitted by some or all of the sources as shown by the diagram of FIG. 1 . The signals transmitted by all sources have structure. In particular the inner codes used by all transmitter sources are from a set of inner codes [(2)-to-(5)]. The inner codes of the each source of interest is known to the destination.
[0012] The inventive method resides in the user (destination) receiver design in which we exploit the structure of the co-channel transmitted signals to design filters that yield improved performance (henceforth referred to as improved filters). Moreover, the computational cost of designing these filters can be reduced (Efficient filter design: see Section 4 below] and the demodulation complexity can be kept low, for example see Theorem 1 below for specifics.
[0013] More specifically, the inventive method is directed to the situation where the user (destination) receives signals simultaneously from multiple sources and is interested in the signal transmitted by some or all of the sources. The inner codes of all the sources of interest are known to the destination receiver. The inventive method teaches using improved filters, efficient design of the improved filters and using the decoupling property for SINR computation. Using improved filters results in higher rates from all sources of interest compared to those obtained with conventional filters. Key aspect of the invention in addition to using improved filters is: how to assign rates for the transmitter sources of interest.
[0014] The process steps in accordance with the invention are shown in FIG. 2 . The schematic of FIG. 2 is flow diagram for the case when there is a feedback link (channel) between the destination reseiver and each transmitter source of interest. The destination receiver determines a rate (or equivalently an SINR) for each transmitter source using a pre-determined order and feeds that back to the respective transmitter source, which will then transmit data at that rate.
[0015] Referring now to FIG. 2 , the receiver is intialized 20 with an inner code for each transmitter source and the order for decoding the transmitter source signals. In response to a pilot or preamble signal sent from each source, an estimation of the channel matrix of each transmitter source is performed 21 . In the next step 22 , i) the transmitter sources are processed according to the order determined, ii) for each trasmitter source assume perfect cancellation of the signals of preceding transmitter sources, and iii) efficiently compute the signal-to-interference-noise ratios SINRs using the structure of covariance matrices along with the decoupling property (see section 4, theorem 1). Lastly, feedback all the computed SINRs to the respective transmitter sources 23 .
2. System Descriptions
[0016] 2.1. System Model
[0017] We consider a downlink fading channel, depicted in FIG. 1 , where the signals from K base-stations (BSs) are received by the user of interest. The user is equipped with N≧1 receive antennas and is served by only one BS but interfered by the remaining K-1 others. The BSs are also equipped with multiple transmit antennas and transmit using any one out of a set of three space-time inner codes. The 4×N channel output received over four consecutive symbol intervals, is given by
[0000] Y=XH+V, (1)
[0000] where the fading channel is modeled by the matrix H. For simplicity, we assume a synchronous model. In practice this assumption is reasonable at the cell edge and for small cells. Moreover, the model in (1) is also obtained over four consecutive tones in the downlink of a broadband system employing OFDM such as the 3GPP LTE system. We partition H as H=[H 1 T , . . . , H K T ] T , where H k contains the rows of H corresponding to the k th BS. The channel is quasi-static and the matrix H stays constant for 4 symbol periods after which it may jump to an independent value. The random matrix H is not known to the transmitters (BSs) and the additive noise matrix V has i.i.d. (0, 2σ 2 ) elements.
[0018] The transmitted matrix X can be partitioned as =[x 1 , . . . , x K ] where
[0000]
X
k
=
[
x
k
,
1
x
k
,
2
x
k
,
3
x
k
,
4
-
x
k
,
2
†
x
k
,
1
†
-
x
k
,
4
†
x
k
,
3
†
x
k
,
3
x
k
,
4
x
k
,
1
x
k
,
2
-
x
k
,
4
†
x
k
,
3
†
-
x
k
,
2
†
x
k
,
1
†
]
,
(
2
)
[0000] when the k th BS employs the quasi orthogonal design as its inner code and
[0000]
X
k
=
[
x
k
,
1
x
k
,
2
-
x
k
,
2
†
x
k
,
1
†
x
k
,
3
x
k
,
4
-
x
k
,
4
†
x
k
,
3
†
]
,
(
3
)
[0000] when the k th BS employs the Alamouti design and finally
[0000] X k =[x k,1 x k,2 x k,3 x k,4 ] T u k , (4)
[0000] when the k th BS has only one transmit antenna. The power constraints are taken to be
E{|x k,q | 2 }≦2w k , 1≦k≦K, 1≦q≦4.
[0019] We also let the model in (1) include a BS with multiple transmit antennas which employs beamforming. In this case
[0000] X k =[x k,1 x k,2 x k,3 x k,4 ] T u k , (5)
[0000] where u k is the beamforming vector employed by BS k. Note that X k in (5) can be seen as a space-only inner code. Also, the beamforming in which vector u k only depends on the long-term channel information, is referred to as long-term beamforming. We can absorb the vector u k into the channel matrix H k and consider BS k to be a BS with a single virtual antenna transmitting (4). Notice that the inner codes in (2)-to-(5) all have a rate of one symbol per-channel-use and we assume that the desired BS employs any one out of these inner codes. Furthermore, we can also accommodate an interfering BS with multiple transmit antennas transmitting in the spatial multiplexing (a.k.a. BLAST) mode as well as an interfering BS with multiple transmit antennas employing a higher rank preceding. In such cases, each physical or virtual transmit antenna of the interfering BS can be regarded as a virtual interfering BS with a single transmit antenna transmitting (4). Then since the codewords transmitted by these virtual BSs are independent they can be separately decoded when the interference cancellation receiver is employed.
[0020] Let Y n and V n denote the n th , 1≦n≦N, columns of the matrices Y and V with Y n R , Y n 1 and V n R , V n 1 denoting their real and imaginary parts, respectively. We define the 8N×1 vectors {tilde over (y)} [(Y 1 R ) T , (Y 1 1 ) T , . . . ,(Y N R ) T ,(Y N 1 ) T , {tilde over (v)} [(V 1 R ) T ,(V 1 1 ) T , . . . ,(V N R ) T ,(V N 1 ) T ] T . Then, {tilde over (y)} can be written as
[0000] {tilde over (y)}={tilde over (H)}{tilde over (x)}+{tilde over (v)}, (6)
[0000] where {tilde over (x)} [{tilde over (x)} 1 T , . . . , {tilde over (x)} K T ] T with {tilde over (x)}=[x k,1 R , . . . , x k,4 R , x k,1 1 , . . . , x k,4 1 ] T and {tilde over (H)}=[{tilde over (H)} 1 , . . . , {tilde over (H)} K ]=[{tilde over (h)} 1 , . . . , {tilde over (h)} 8K ]. Further when the k th BS employs either the quasi-orthogonal design or the Alamouti design we can expand {tilde over (H)} k as
[0000] {tilde over (H)} k =[{tilde over (h)} 8k-7 , . . . , {tilde over (h)} 8k ]=[( I N {circle around (×)}C 1 ) {tilde over (h)} 8k-7 , ( I N {circle around (×)}C 2 ) {tilde over (h)} 8k-7 , . . . , ( I N {circle around (×)}C 8 ) {tilde over (h)} 8k-7 ], (7)
[0000] where {circle around (×)} denotes the Kronecker product, C 1 =I 8 and
[0000]
C
2
=
I
2
⊗
[
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
]
C
3
=
I
2
⊗
[
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
]
C
4
=
I
2
⊗
[
0
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
]
C
5
=
J
2
⊗
[
1
0
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
-
1
]
C
6
=
J
2
⊗
[
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
]
C
7
=
J
2
⊗
[
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
-
1
1
0
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
]
C
8
=
J
2
⊗
[
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
]
J
2
=
[
0
-
1
1
0
]
,
with
(
8
)
[0000]
h
~
8
k
-
7
=
{
vec
(
[
(
H
k
R
)
T
,
(
H
k
I
)
T
]
T
)
,
for
quasi
-
orthogonal
,
vec
(
[
(
H
k
R
)
T
,
0
N
×
2
,
(
H
k
I
)
T
,
0
N
×
2
]
T
)
,
for
Alamouti
.
(
9
)
[0000] Finally, for a single transmit antenna BS, defining {tilde over (C)} i =(I N {circle around (×)}C i ), we have that
[0000]
H
~
k
=
[
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
…
,
h
~
8
k
]
=
[
C
~
1
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
-
C
~
2
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
C
~
3
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
-
C
~
4
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
C
~
5
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
C
~
6
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
C
~
7
h
~
8
k
-
7
,
C
~
8
h
~
8
k
-
7
]
and
h
~
8
k
-
7
=
vec
(
[
(
H
k
R
)
T
,
0
N
×
3
,
(
H
k
I
)
T
,
0
N
×
3
]
T
)
.
Further
,
we
let
W
~
=
Δ
diag
{
w
1
,
…
,
w
K
}
⊗
I
8
and
define
(
10
)
H
~
k
_
=
Δ
[
H
~
k
+
1
,
…
,
H
~
K
]
,
(
11
)
W
~
k
_
=
Δ
diag
{
w
k
+
1
,
…
,
w
K
}
⊗
I
8
.
(
12
)
[0021] 2.2. Group Decoders
[0022] We consider the decoding of a frame received over T=4J, J≧1 consecutive symbol intervals, where over a block of 4 consecutive symbol intervals (or four consecutive tones in an OFDMA system) we obtain a model of the form in (6). We first consider the group MMSE decision-feedback decoder (GM-DFD), where the user decodes and cancels the signals of as many interfering BSs as necessary before decoding the desired signal. We then consider the group MMSE decoder (GMD) where the user only decodes the desired BS after suppressing the signals of all the interfering BSs.
[0023] 2.2.1. Group MMSE Decision-Feedback Decoder (GM-DFD)
[0024] For ease of exposition, we assume that BS k is the desired one and that the BSs are decoded in the increasing order of their indices, i.e., BS 1 is decoded first, BS 2 is decoded second and so on. Note that no attempt is made to decode the signals of BSs k+1 to K.
[0025] The soft statistics for the first BS over 4 consecutive symbol intervals, denoted by {tilde over (r)} i , are obtained as,
[0000] {tilde over (r)} i ={tilde over (F)} 1{tilde over (y)} ={tilde over (F)} 1 {tilde over (H)} 1 {tilde over (x)} 1 +ũ 1 , (13)
[0000] where {tilde over (F)} 1 denotes the MMSE filter for BS 1 and is given by, {tilde over (F)} 1 ={tilde over (H)} 1 T (σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} i {tilde over (W)} i {tilde over (H)} 1 T ) −1 and ũ 1 ={tilde over (F)} 1 {tilde over (H)} 1 {tilde over (x)} 1 +{tilde over (F)} 1 {tilde over (v)} 1 and note that
[0000] {tilde over (Σ)} 1 E[ũ 1 ũ 1 T ]={tilde over (F)} 1 {tilde over (H)} 1 ={tilde over (H)} 1 T (σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} 1 {tilde over (W)} 1 {tilde over (H)} 1 T ) −1 {tilde over (H)} 1 . (14)
[0026] To decode BS 1, ũ 1 is assumed to be a colored Gaussian noise vector with the covariance in (14). Under this assumption, in the case when no outer code is employed by BS 1, the decoder obtains a hard decision {tilde over (x)} 1 , using the maximum-likelihood (ML) rule over the model in (13). On the other hand, if an outer code is employed by BS 1 soft-outputs for each coded bit in {tilde over (x)} 1 are obtained using the soft-output MIMO demodulator over the model in (13), which are then fed to a decoder. The decoded codeword is re-encoded and modulated to obtain the decision vectors {{tilde over (x)} 1 } over the frame of duration 4J symbol intervals. In either case, the decision vectors {{tilde over (x)} 1 } are fed back before decoding the subsequent BSs. In particular, the soft statistics for the desired k th BS, are obtained as,
[0000]
r
~
k
=
F
~
k
(
y
~
-
∑
j
=
1
k
-
1
H
~
j
x
^
j
)
,
(
15
)
[0000] where {tilde over (F)} k denotes the MMSE filter for BS k and is given by, {tilde over (F)} k ={tilde over (H)} k T (σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} k {tilde over (W)} k {tilde over (H)} k T ) −1 . The decoder for the BS k is restricted to be a function of {{tilde over (r)} k } and obtains the decisions {{circumflex over (k)} k } in a similar manner after assuming perfect feedback and assuming the additive noise plus interference to be Gaussian. Note that the choice of decoding BSs 1 to k-1 prior to BS k was arbitrary. In the sequel we will address the issue of choosing an appropriate ordered subset of interferers to decode prior to the desired signal.
[0027] 2.2.2. Group MMSE Decoder (GMD)
[0028] We assume that BS 1 is the desired one so that only BS 1 is decoded after suppressing the interference from BSs 2 to K. The soft statistics for the desired BS are exactly {tilde over (r)} 1 given in (13). Note that the MMSE filter for BS 1 can be written as {tilde over (F)} 1 ={tilde over (H)} 1 T ({tilde over (R)} 1 ) −1 where {tilde over (R)} 1 =σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} 1 {tilde over (W)} 1 {tilde over (H)} 1 T , denotes the covariance matrix of the noise plus interference. Thus to implement this decoder we only need estimates of the channel matrix corresponding to the desired signal and the covariance matrix. Also, the user need not be aware of the inner code employed by any of the interfering BSs. In this work we assume perfect estimation of the channel as well as the covariance matrices.
[0029] Inspecting the models in (13) and (15), we see that the complexity of implementing the ML detection (demodulation) for the k th BS (under the assumption of perfect feedback in case of GM-DFD) directly depends on the structure of the matrix {tilde over (F)} k {tilde over (H)} k . Ideally, the matrix {tilde over (F)} k {tilde over (H)} k should be diagonal which results in a linear complexity and if most of the off-diagonal elements of {tilde over (F)} k {tilde over (H)} k are zero, then the cost of implementing the detector (demodulator) is significantly reduced. Henceforth, for notational convenience we will absorb the matrix {tilde over (W)} in the matrix {tilde over (H)}, i.e., we will denote the matrix {tilde over (H)}{tilde over (W)} by {tilde over (H)}.
3. Decoupling Property
[0030] In this section we prove a property which results in significantly lower demodulation complexity. Note that the matrices defined in (8) have the following properties:
[0000] = ε{1,3 }, = ε{ 1, . . . ,8}\{1,3 }, = I , ∀ . (16)
[0000] In addition they also satisfy the ones given in Table 1, shown below,
[0000] TABLE I PROPERTIES OF {C i } C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 1 T C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 2 T −C 2 C 1 −C 4 C 3 C 6 −C 5 C 8 −C 7 C 3 T C 3 C 4 C 1 C 2 C 7 C 8 C 5 C 6 C 4 T −C 4 C 3 −C 2 C 1 C 8 −C 7 C 6 −C 5 C 5 T −C 5 −C 6 −C 7 −C 8 C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 6 T −C 6 C 5 −C 8 C 7 −C 2 C 1 −C 4 C 3 C 7 T −C 7 −C 8 −C 5 −C 6 C 3 C 4 C 1 C 2 C 8 T −C 8 C 7 −C 6 C 5 −C 4 C 3 −C 2 C 1
where the matrix in the (i, j) th position is obtained as the result of C i T C j . Thus, the set of matrices ∪ i=1 {±C i } is closed under matrix multiplication and the transpose operation. We offer the following theorem.
[0031] Theorem 1. Consider the decoding of the k th BS. We have that
[0000] {tilde over (H)} k T (σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} k {tilde over (H)} k T ) −1 {tilde over (H)} k =α k C 1 +β k C 3 , (17)
[0000] for some real-valued scalars α k , β k . Note that α k , β k depend on {tilde over (H)} k and {tilde over (H)} k but for notational convenience we do not explicitly indicate the dependence.
[0032] Proof. To prove the theorem, without loss of generality we will only consider decoding of the first BS. We first note that
[0000]
σ
2
I
+
H
~
1
_
H
~
1
_
T
=
∑
i
=
1
8
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
)
A
~
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
T
)
,
(
18
)
[0000] where à σ 2 /8I+Σ k=1 K {tilde over (h)} 8k−7 {tilde over (h)} 8k−7 T . Let {tilde over (B)} (σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} 1 {tilde over (H)} 1 T ) −1 and note that {tilde over (B)}>0. Using the properties of the matrices {C i } in (16) and Table 1, it is readily verified that
[0000]
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
)
B
~
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
T
)
=
(
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
)
(
∑
i
=
1
8
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
)
A
~
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
T
)
)
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
T
)
)
-
1
=
B
~
.
[0000] As a consequence we can expand {tilde over (B)} as
[0000]
B
~
=
∑
i
=
1
8
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
)
(
B
~
/
8
)
(
I
N
⊗
C
i
T
)
.
(
19
)
[0000] Next, invoking the properties of the matrices {C i } and using the fact that {tilde over (B)}={tilde over (B)} T , it can be seen that the matrix (I N {circle around (×)}C k T )(Σ i=1 8 (I N {circle around (×)}C i )({tilde over (B)}/8) (I N {circle around (×)}C j ), where 1≦k, j≦8 is identical to {tilde over (B)} when k=j, is identical when (k, j) or (j, k)ε{(1,3),(2,4),(5,7),(6,8)} and is skew symmetric otherwise. The desired property in (17) directly follows from these facts.
[0033] Note that Theorem 1 guarantees the quasi-orthogonality property even after interference suppression. In particular, the important point which can be inferred from Theorem 1 is that the joint detection (demodulation) of four complex QAM symbols (or eight PAM symbols) is split into four smaller joint detection (demodulation) problems involving a pair of PAM symbols each. Thus with four M-QAM complex symbols the complexity is reduced from (M 4 ) to (M). Furthermore, specializing Theorem 1 to the case when the desired BS (say BS k) employs the quasi-orthogonal design and there are no interferers, we see that
[0000] {tilde over (H)} k T {tilde over (H)} k =α k C 1 +β k C 3 . (20)
[0000] (20) implies that maximum likelihood decoding complexity of the quasi-orthogonal design is (M) instead of the more pessimistic (M 2 ) claimed by the original contribution. We note that a different quasi-orthogonal design referred to as the minimum decoding complexity quasi-orthogonal design, was proposed for a point-to-point MIMO system in the prior art, which was shown to have an ML decoding complexity of (M).
[0034] Finally, it can be inferred from the sequel that β k =0 in (17), when no BS in {k, k+1, . . . , K} employs the quasi orthogonal design.
4. Efficient Inverse Computation
[0035] In this section we utilize the structure of the covariance matrix {tilde over (R)} σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)}{tilde over (H)} T to efficiently compute its inverse. Consequently, the complexity involved in computing the MMSE filters is significantly reduced. Let {tilde over (S)}={tilde over (R)} −1 . From (18) and (19), it follows that we can expand both {tilde over (R)}, {tilde over (S)} as
[0000]
R
~
=
[
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
P
11
C
i
T
⋯
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
P
1
N
C
i
T
⋮
⋯
⋮
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
P
N
1
C
i
T
⋯
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
P
NN
C
i
T
]
S
~
=
[
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
P
11
C
i
T
⋯
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
P
1
N
C
i
T
⋮
⋯
⋮
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
Q
N
1
C
i
T
⋯
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
Q
NN
C
i
T
]
,
(
21
)
[0000] where {P ij , Q ij } i,j=1 N are 8×8 matrices such that
[0000] P ji =P ij T , Q ji =Q ij T , 1≦ i,j≦N. (22)
[0036] The inverse {tilde over (S)} can be computed recursively starting from the bottom-right sub-matrix of {tilde over (R)} using the following inverse formula for block partitioned matrices
[0000]
[
E
F
G
H
]
-
1
=
[
(
E
-
FH
-
1
G
)
-
1
-
(
E
-
FH
-
1
G
)
-
1
FH
-
1
-
H
-
1
G
(
E
-
FH
-
1
G
)
-
1
H
-
1
+
H
-
1
G
(
E
-
FH
-
1
G
)
-
1
FH
-
1
]
(
23
)
[0000] The following properties ensure that the computations involved in determining {tilde over (S)} are dramatically reduced.
[0037] First, note that the 8×8 sub-matrices in (21) belong to the set of matrices
[0000]
{
=
Δ
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
A
C
i
T
:
A
∈
IR
8
×
8
}
.
(
24
)
[0038] It is evident that is closed under the transpose operation. Utilizing the structure of the matrices {C i } in (8), after some algebra it can be shown that the set can also be written as
[0000]
_
=
Δ
{
∑
i
=
1
8
b
i
S
i
:
[
b
1
,
…
,
b
8
]
T
∈
IR
8
}
,
(
25
)
[0000] where S 1 =I 8 , S 5 =J 2 {circle around (×)}I 4 , S 3 =C 3 and
[0000]
S
2
=
[
1
0
0
-
1
]
⊗
[
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
]
S
4
=
[
1
0
0
-
1
]
⊗
[
0
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
]
S
6
=
[
0
1
1
0
]
⊗
[
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
]
S
7
=
J
2
⊗
[
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
]
S
8
=
[
0
1
1
0
]
⊗
[
0
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
]
.
(
26
)
[0039] It is readily seen that the set in (25) is a matrix group under matrix addition and note that any matrix Bε is parametrized by eight scalars. The matrices {S i } have the following properties.
[0000] = ε{1,3}, = ε{1, . . . ,8}\{1,3}, =,∪ (27)
[0000] in addition to the ones given in Table II, shown below.
[0000] TABLE II PROPERTIES OF {S i } S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 S 5 S 6 S 7 S 8 S 1 T S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 S 5 S 6 S 7 S 8 S 2 T −S 2 S 1 −S 4 S 3 −S 6 S 5 S 8 −S 7 S 3 T S 3 S 4 S 1 S 2 S 7 −S 8 S 5 −S 6 S 4 T −S 4 S 3 −S 2 S 1 S 8 S 7 −S 6 −S 5 S 5 T −S 5 S 6 −S 7 −S 8 S 1 −S 2 S 3 S 4 S 6 T −S 6 −S 5 S 8 −S 7 S 2 S 1 S 4 −S 3 S 7 T −S 7 −S 8 −S 5 S 6 S 3 −S 4 S 1 S 2 S 8 T −S 8 S 7 S 6 S 5 −S 4 −S 3 −S 2 S 1
Using these properties it can be verified that the set {±S i } i=1 8 is closed under matrix multiplication and the transpose operation. The following lemma provides useful properties of the set .
[0040] Lemma 1.
[0000]
A
,
B
∈
_
⇒
AB
∈
_
(
28
)
A
=
A
T
∈
_
⇔
A
=
a
1
I
8
+
a
2
S
3
=
a
1
I
8
+
a
2
C
3
(
29
)
A
=
a
1
I
8
+
a
2
S
3
&
A
≠
0
⇒
A
-
1
=
a
1
a
1
2
-
a
2
2
I
8
-
a
2
a
1
2
-
a
2
2
S
3
(
30
)
[0000] for some scalars α 1 , α 2 and
[0000]
∑
i
=
1
8
C
i
BC
i
T
=
b
1
I
8
+
b
2
S
3
=
b
1
I
8
+
b
2
C
3
,
∀
B
=
B
T
∈
IR
8
×
8
(
31
)
Q
∈
_
⇒
QQ
T
=
q
1
I
8
+
q
2
C
3
(
32
)
[0000] for some scalars b 1 , b 2 , q 1 , q 2 .
[0041] Proof. The facts in (28) and (29) follow directly by using the alternate form of in (25) along with the properties of {S i }. (30) follows after some simple algebra whereas (31) follows from (29) upon using the definition of in (24). Finally (32) follows from (28) and (29) after recalling that the set is closed under the transpose operation.
[0042] Thus for any A,Bε , the entire 8×8 matrix AB can be determined by only computing any one of its rows (or columns). The set is not a matrix group since it contains singular matrices. However the set of all nonsingular matrices in forms a matrix group as shown by the following lemma.
[0043] Lemma 2. If A□ such that |A|≠0 then A −1 ε . The set of all non-singular matrices in , denoted by , forms a matrix group under matrix multiplication and is given by
[0000]
^
_
=
{
∑
i
=
1
8
b
i
S
i
:
[
b
1
,
…
,
b
8
]
T
∈
IR
8
&
∑
i
=
1
8
b
i
2
≠
±
2
(
b
1
b
3
+
b
2
b
4
+
b
5
b
7
-
b
6
b
8
)
}
(
33
)
[0044] Proof Consider any non-singular Aε so that A −1 exists. We can use the definition of in (24) to expand A as Σ j=1 8 C j QC j T for some QεIR 8'8 . Consequently A −1 =(Σ j=1 8 C J QC j T ) −1 . Next, as done in the proof of Theorem 1, using the properties of {C i } we can show that C i A −1 C i T =(C i (Σ j=1 8 C j QC j T )C i T )C i T ) −1 =A −1 . Thus, we have that
[0000]
A
-
1
=
∑
j
=
1
8
C
J
(
A
-
1
/
8
)
C
j
T
,
(
34
)
[0000] so that A −1 ε . Next, using the alternate form of in (25) we must have that A=Σ i=1 8 α i S i , for some {α i } Since the non-singular Aε we must have that AA T ε and note that
[0000] |A|≠ 0 AA T |>0. (35)
[0000] Invoking the property in (32), after some algebra we see that
[0000]
AA
T
=
∑
i
=
1
8
a
i
2
I
8
+
2
(
a
1
a
3
+
a
2
a
4
+
a
5
a
7
-
a
6
a
8
)
C
3
.
(
36
)
[0045] Then it can be verified that
[0000]
AA
T
=
(
(
∑
i
=
1
8
a
i
2
)
2
-
4
(
a
1
a
3
+
a
2
a
4
+
a
5
a
7
-
a
6
a
8
)
2
)
4
.
(
37
)
[0000] From (35) and (37), we see that the set is precisely the set of all non-singular matrices in . Since this set includes the identity matrix, is closed under matrix multiplication and inversion, it is a matrix group under matrix multiplication.
[0046] Lemma 2 is helpful in computing the inverses of the principal sub-matrices of {circle around (R)}. Note that since {circle around (R)}>0, all its principal sub-matrices are also positive-definite and hence non-singular. Then, to compute the inverse of any Aε , we can use Lemma 2 to conclude that A −1 ε so that we need to determine only the eight scalars which parametrize A −1 . As mentioned before, in this work we assume that a perfect estimate of the covariance matrix {tilde over (R)} is available. In practice the covariance matrix {tilde over (R)} must be estimated from the received samples. We have observed that the Ledoit and Wolf's (LW) estimator [10] works well in practice. For completeness we provide the LW estimator. Let {{tilde over (y)} n } n=1 S be the S vectors which are obtained from samples received over 4S consecutive symbol intervals over which the effective channel matrix {tilde over (H)} in (6) is constant. These samples could also be received over consecutive tones and symbols in an OFDMA system. Then the LW estimate R is given by
[0000] {tilde over ({circumflex over (R)}=( 1−ρ) {circumflex over (Q)}+μρI, (38)
[0000] where
[0000]
Q
^
=
1
s
∑
n
=
1
S
y
~
n
y
~
n
T
and
[0000]
ρ
=
min
{
∑
n
=
1
S
y
~
n
y
~
n
T
-
Q
^
F
2
S
2
Q
^
-
μ
I
F
2
,
1
}
and
μ
=
tr
(
Q
^
)
8
N
.
(
39
)
5. GM-DFD: Decoding Order
[0047] It is well known that the performance of decision feedback decoders is strongly dependent on the order of decoding. Here however, we are only concerned with the error probability obtained for the signal of the desired (serving) BS. Note that the GM-DFD results in identical performance for the desired BS for any two decoding orders where the ordered sets of BSs decoded prior to the desired one, respectively, are identical. Using this observation, we see that the optimal albeit brute-force method to decode the signal of the desired BS using the GM-DFD would be to sequentially examine
[0000]
∑
i
=
0
K
-
1
i
!
(
K
-
1
i
)
[0000] possible decoding orders, where the ordered sets of BSs decoded prior to the desired one are distinct for any two decoding orders, and pick the first one where the signal of desired BS is correctly decoded, which in practice can be determined via a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Although the optimal method does not examine all K! possible decoding orders, it can be prohibitively complex. We propose an process which determines the BSs (along with the corresponding decoding order) that must be decoded before the desired one. The remaining BSs are not decoded.
[0048] The challenge in designing such a process is that while canceling a correctly decoded interferer clearly aids the decoding of the desired signal, the subtraction of even one erroneously decoded signal can result in a decoding error for the desired signal. Before providing the process we need to establish some notation. We let ={1, . . . , K} denote the set of BSs and let k denote the index of the desired BS. Let R j , 1≦j≦K denote the rate (in bits per channel use) at which the BS j transmits. Also, we let π denote any ordered subset of K having k as its last element. For a given π, we let π(1) denote its first element, which is also the index of the BS decoded first by the GM-DFD, π(2) denote its second element, which is also the index of the BS decoded second by the GM-DFD and so on. Finally let |π| denote the cardinality of π and let Q denote the set of all possible such π.
[0049] Let us define m({tilde over (H)},j,S) to be a metric whose value is proportional to the chance of successful decoding of BS j in the presence of interference from BSs in the set S. A large value of the metric implies a high chance of successfully decoding BS j. Further, we adopt the convention that m({tilde over (H)},φ,S)=∞, ∪S, since no error is possible in decoding the empty set. Define {tilde over (H)}s=[{tilde over (H)} j ] jεS . Let I({tilde over (H)},j,S) denote an achievable rate (in bits per channel use) obtained post MMSE filtering for BS j in the presence of interference from BSs in the set S and note that
[0000]
I
(
H
~
,
j
,
S
)
=
1
2
log
I
8
+
H
~
j
T
(
σ
2
I
+
H
~
S
H
~
S
T
)
-
1
H
~
j
=
2
log
(
(
1
+
α
j
,
S
)
2
-
β
j
,
S
2
)
,
(
40
)
[0000] where the second equality follows upon using (17). In this work we suggest the following three examples for m({tilde over (H)},j,S)
[0000]
m
(
H
~
,
j
,
S
)
=
I
(
H
~
,
j
,
S
)
-
R
j
,
(
41
)
m
(
H
~
,
j
,
S
)
=
I
(
H
~
,
j
,
S
)
/
R
j
,
(
42
)
m
(
H
~
,
j
,
S
)
=
max
ρ
∈
[
0
,
1
]
ρ
(
1
2
log
I
8
+
1
1
+
ρ
H
~
j
T
(
σ
2
+
H
~
S
H
~
S
T
)
-
1
H
~
j
-
R
j
)
=
max
ρ
∈
[
0
,
1
]
ρ
(
2
log
(
(
1
+
α
j
,
S
1
+
ρ
)
2
-
β
j
,
S
2
(
1
+
ρ
)
2
)
-
R
j
)
.
(
43
)
[0050] Note that the metric in (43) is the Gaussian random coding error exponent obtained after assuming BSs in the set S to be Gaussian interferers. All three metrics are applicable to general non-symmetric systems where the BSs may transmit at different rates. It can be readily verified that all the three metrics given above also satisfy the following simple fact
[0000] m ( {tilde over (H)},j,S )≧ m ( {tilde over (H)},j, ), ∪ S ⊂ ⊂K . (44)
[0051] Now, for a given πε Q , the metric m(H,k, \∪ j=1 |π| π(j)) indicates the decoding reliability of the desired signal assuming perfect feedback from previously decoded signals, whereas min 1≦j≦|π|−1 m({tilde over (H)},π(j), \∪ i=1 j π(i)) can be used to measure the quality of the fed-back decisions. Thus a sensible metric to select π is
[0000]
f
(
H
,
π
)
=
Δ
min
1
≤
j
≤
π
m
(
H
~
,
π
(
j
)
,
\
⋃
i
=
1
j
π
(
i
)
)
.
(
45
)
[0052] We are now ready to present our process.
1. Initialize: S={1,. . . , K} and {circumflex over (π)}=φ. 2. Among all BS indices jεS, select the one having the highest value of the metric m({tilde over (H)},j,S\j) and denote it by ĵ. 3. Update S=S\ĵand {circumflex over (π)}={{circumflex over (π)}, ĵ}. 4. If ĵ=k then stop else go to Step 2.
The proposed greedy process is optimal in the following sense.
[0057] Theorem 2. The process has the following optimality.
[0000]
π
^
=
arg
max
π
∈
Q
_
f
(
H
~
,
π
)
.
(
46
)
[0058] Proof. Let π (i) be any other valid ordered partition in Q such that its first i elements are identical to those of {circumflex over (π)}. Construct another ordered partition {circumflex over (π)} (i+1) as follows:
[0000] π (i+1) ( j )=π (i) ( j )={circumflex over (π)}( j ), 1≦ j≦i, (47)
[0000] π (i+1) ( i+ 1)={circumflex over (π)}( i+ 1),
[0000] π (i+1) ( j+ 1)=π (i) ( j )\{circumflex over (π)}( i+ 1), i+ 1 ≦j≦|π (i) |& {circumflex over (π)}( i+ 1)≠ k.
[0000] Note that π (i+1) ε Q . Now, to prove optimality it is enough to show that
[0000] f ( {tilde over (H)}, π (i+1) )≧ f ( {tilde over (H)},π (i) ). (48)
[0000] To show (48) we first note that
[0000] m ( {tilde over (H)},π (i+1) ( j ), K\∪ q=1 j π (i+1) ( q ))= m ( {tilde over (H)},π (i) ( j ),K\∪ q=1 j π (i) ( q )), 1≦ j≦i. (49)
[0000] Since the greedy process selects the element (BS) with the highest metric at any stage, we have that
[0000] m ( {tilde over (H)},π (i+1) ( i+ 1),\∪ q=1 i+1 π (i+1) ( q ))≧ m ( {tilde over (H)},π (i) ( i+ 1),\∪ q=1 i+1 π (i) ( q )). 50)
[0000] If {circumflex over (π)}(i+1) equals k then (49) and (50) prove the theorem, else using (85) we see that
[0000] m ( {tilde over (H)},π (I+1) ( j+ 1),\∪ q=1 j+1 ( q ))≧ m ( {tilde over (H)},π (i) ( j ),\∪ q=1 π (i) ( q )), i+ 1≦ j≦|π (i) |. (51)
[0000] From (51), (50) and (49) we have the desired result.
[0059] The following remarks are now in order.
The metrics in (41)-to-(43) are computed assuming Gaussian input alphabet and Gaussian interference. We can exploit the available modulation information by computing these metrics for the exact alphabets (constellations) used by all BSs but this makes the metric computation quite involved. We can also compute the metric m({tilde over (H)}, j,) by assuming the BSs in the set of interferers S to be Gaussian interferers but using the actual alphabet for the BS j, which results in a simpler metric computation. In this work, we use the first (and simplest) option by computing the metrics as in (82)-to-(84). Moreover, the resulting decoding orders are shown in the sequel to perform quite well with finite alphabets and practical outer codes. A simple way to achieve the performance of the optimal GM-DFD with a lower average complexity, is to first examine the decoding order suggested by the greedy process and only in the case the desired BS is decoded erroneously, to sequentially examine the remaining
[0000]
∑
i
=
0
K
-
1
i
!
(
K
-
1
i
)
-
1
[0000] decoding orders.
Note that when f({tilde over (H)},{tilde over (π)})—where π is the order determined by the greedy rule—is negative, less than 1 and equal to 0 when m({tilde over (H)},j,S) is computed according to (41), (42) and (43), respectively, we can infer that with high probability at least one BS will be decoded in error. In particular, suppose we use the metric in (41). Then an error will occur (with high probability) for the desired BS k even after perfect cancellation of the previous BSs if m({tilde over (H)},k, \∪ j=1 |π| {tilde over (π)}(j))<0. On the other hand, when m({tilde over (H)},k, \∪ j=1 |{circumflex over (π)}| (j))>0 but min 1≦j≦|π|−1 m({tilde over (H)},{circumflex over (π)}(j), \∪ i=1 j {circumflex over (π)}(i))<0, we can infer that the decoding of the desired BS will be affected (with high probability) by error propagation from BSs decoded previously. Unfortunately, it is hard to capture the effect of error propagation precisely and we have observed that the assumption that error propagation always leads to a decoding error for the desired BS is quite pessimistic.
6. Special Cases
[0063] In this section a lower complexity GMD is obtained at the cost of potential performance degradation by considering only two consecutive symbol intervals when designing the group MMSE filter. Further, when no interfering BS employs the quasi-orthogonal design no loss of optimality is incurred. Similarly, when none of the BSs employ the quasi-orthogonal design, without loss of optimality we can design the GM-DFD by considering only two consecutive symbol intervals.
[0064] In this case, the 2×N channel output received over two consecutive symbol intervals can be written as (1). As before, the transmitted matrix X can be partitioned as X=[X 1 , . . . , X K ] but where
[0000]
X
k
=
[
x
k
,
1
x
k
,
2
-
x
k
,
2
†
x
k
,
1
†
]
,
(
52
)
[0000] when the k th BS employs the Alamouti design and
[0000] X k =[x k,1 x k,2 ] T , (53)
[0000] when the k th BS has only one transmit antenna. Note that over two consecutive symbol intervals, an interfering BS employing the quasi-orthogonal design is equivalent to two dual transmit antenna BSs, each employing the Alamouti design. Then we can obtain a linear model of the form in (6), where {tilde over (x)}=[{tilde over (x)} 1 T , . . . , {tilde over (x)} K T ] T and {tilde over (x)} k =[x k,1 R ,x k,2 R ,x k,1 1 ,x k,2 1 ] T with {tilde over (H)}=[{tilde over (H)} i , . . . , {tilde over (H)} k ]=[{tilde over (h)} 1 , . . . , {tilde over (h)} 4K ].The matrix {tilde over (H)} k corresponding to a BS employing the Alamouti design can be expanded as
[0000] {tilde over (H)} k =[{tilde over (h)} 4k−3 , . . . , {tilde over (h)} 4k ]=[{tilde over (h)} 4k−3 ,( I N {circle around (×)}D 1 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 ,( I N {circle around (×)}D 2 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 , ( I N {circle around (×)}D 3 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 ], (54)
[0000] with {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 =vec ([(H k R ) T , (H k 1 ) T ] T ), whereas that corresponding to a single transmit antenna BS can be expanded as
[0000] {tilde over (H)} k =[{tilde over (h)} 4k−3 , . . . , {tilde over (h)} 4k ]=[{tilde over (h)} 4k−3 ,−( I N {circle around (×)}D 1 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 , ( I N {circle around (×)}D 1 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 , ( I N {circle around (×)}D 2 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 ,( i N {circle around (×)}d 3 ) {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 ], (55)
[0000] with {tilde over (h)} 4k−3 =vec([(H k R ) T , 0 N×1 , (H k 1 ) T , 0 N×1 ] T ). The matrices D 1 , D 2 , D 3 are given by
[0000]
D
1
=
Δ
[
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
]
D
2
=
Δ
[
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
]
D
3
=
Δ
[
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
]
.
(
56
)
[0000] Note that the matrices defined in (56) have the following properties:
[0000] = , = I , 1 ≦ ≦ 3
[0000] D 2 T D 1 =−D 3 , D 2 T D 3 =D 1 , D 1 T D 3 =−D 2 . (57)
[0000] Using the properties given in (57), we can prove the following theorem in a manner similar to that of Theorem 1 . The proof is skipped for brevity.
[0065] Theorem 3. Consider the decoding of the k th BS. We have that
[0000] {tilde over (H)} k T (σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)} k {tilde over (H)} k T ) −1 {tilde over (H)} k =α k I 4 . (58)
[0000] Let Ũ{tilde over (U )}σ 2 I+{tilde over (H)}{tilde over (H)} T denote a sample covariance matrix obtained by considering two consecutive symbol intervals. Define k =[2k−1,2k, 4N+2k−1, 4N+2k], 1≦k≦2N and e=[e 1 , . . . , e 2N ] and let M denote the permutation matrix obtained by permuting the rows of I 8N according to e. Then, it can be verified that the matrices in (7) and (10), corresponding to Alamouti and single antenna BSs (over four symbol intervals), are equal (up to a column permutation) to M(I 2 {circle around (×)}{tilde over (H)} k ), where {tilde over (H)} k is given by (54) and (55), respectively. Consequently, the covariance matrix {tilde over (R)} −1 in (21) is equal to M(I 2 {circle around (×)}Ũ)M T , when no quasi-orthogonal BSs are present, so that {tilde over (R)} −1 =M(I 2 {circle around (×)}Ũ −1 )M T . Moreover, it can be shown that the decoupling property also holds when the desired BS employs the quasi-orthogonal design and the filters are designed by considering two consecutive symbol intervals. Note that designing the MMSE filter by considering two consecutive symbol intervals implicitly assumes that no quasi-orthogonal interferers are present, so the demodulation is done accordingly.
[0066] Next, we consider the efficient computation of the inverse {tilde over (V)}=Ũ −1 . Letting D 0
[0067] =I 4 , analogous to (18) and (19), it can be shown that we can expand both Ũ, {tilde over (V)} as
[0000]
U
~
=
[
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
P
11
D
i
T
…
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
P
1
N
D
i
T
⋮
…
⋮
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
P
N
1
D
i
T
…
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
P
NN
D
i
T
]
V
~
=
[
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
Q
11
D
i
T
…
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
Q
1
N
D
i
T
⋮
…
⋮
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
Q
N
1
D
i
T
…
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
Q
NN
D
i
T
]
,
[0000] where {P ij , Q ij } ij=1 N , are now 4×4 matrices satisfying (22).
[0068] The inverse computation can be done recursively using the formula in (23). The following observations greatly reduce the number of computation involved.
[0069] First, utilizing the properties of the matrices {D i } in (57), we can show that the set
[0000]
Q
=
Δ
_
{
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
AD
i
T
:
A
∈
IR
4
×
4
}
=
{
∑
i
=
0
3
b
i
T
i
:
[
b
0
,
…
,
b
3
]
∈
IR
4
}
,
(
59
)
[0000] where T 0 =I 4 , and
[0000]
T
1
=
[
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
]
T
2
=
[
0
0
-
1
0
0
0
0
-
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
]
T
3
=
[
0
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
-
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
]
.
[0000] Thus Q is closed under the transpose operation and any matrix Bε Q is parametrized by four scalars. The matrices {T i } have the following properties:
[0000] = , =I, 1≦ ≦3
[0000] T 2 T T 1 =T 3 , T 2 T T 3 =−T 1 , T 1 T T 3 =T 2 . (60)
[0000] Using these properties it can be verified that the set {±T i } i=1 8 is closed under matrix multiplication and the transpose operation. The following two lemmas provide useful properties of the set Q . The proofs are similar to those of the previous two lemmas and hence are skipped for brevity.
[0070] Lemma 3.
[0000] A, Bε Q ABε Q
[0000] A=A T ε Q A=α 1 I 4 , (61)
[0000] for some scalar α 1 and
[0000]
∑
i
=
0
3
D
i
BD
i
T
=
b
1
I
4
∀
B
=
B
T
∈
IR
4
×
4
Q
∈
Q
_
⇒
QQ
T
=
q
1
I
4
,
(
62
)
[0000] for some scalars b 1 , q 1 .
[0071] Thus for any A, Bε Q , the entire 4×4 matrix AB can be determined by only computing any one of its rows (or columns). Further, the set of all nonsingular matrices in Q forms a matrix group under matrix multiplication and is given by, {tilde over (Q)} ={Σ i=0 3 b i T i :[b 0 , . . . ,b 3 ] T εIR 4 \O}.
[0072] The invention employs improved filters, and provides for efficient design of the improved filters and using the decoupling property for SINR computation. Using improved filters results in higher rates from all sources compared to those obtained with conventional filters. The proposed inventive reception exploits the fact that the co-channel signals have a particular structure, in order to obtain significantly improved performance while ensuring low decoding complexity.
[0073] The present invention has been shown and described in what are considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is anticipated, however, that departures may be made therefrom and that obvious modifications will be implemented by those skilled in the art. It will be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous arrangements and variations which, not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and are within their spirit and scope.
|
A method for decoding and rate assignment in a wireless channel, where all dominant transmitter sources use inner codes from a particular set, comprising the steps of: i) estimating channel matrices seen from all dominant transmitter sources in response to a pilot or preamble signal transmitted by each such source; ii) converting each estimated channel matrix into an effective channel matrix responsive to the inner code of the corresponding transmitter source; iii) obtaining the received observations in a linear equivalent form (linear model) whose output is an equivalent of the received observations and in which the effective channel matrix corresponding to each dominant transmitter source inherits the structure of its inner code; iv) processing the transmitter sources according to the specified (or pre-determined) order of decoding; v) for each transmitter source, assuming perfect cancellation of signals of preceding transmitter sources; vi) computing a signal-to-interference-noise-ratio SINR responsive to the effective channel matrix of the transmitter source and the covariance matrix of the noise plus signals from remaining transmitter sources; and vii) feeding back all computed SINRs to respective transmitter sources.
| 7
|
This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/424,957 filed Apr. 19, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,377, issued Jun. 23, 1998, which was a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/277,660, filed Jul. 20, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,908.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the area of cancer detection and therapeutics. More particularly it relates to the prevention or disruption of the inactivation of the p53 tumour suppressor which occurs as a result of the binding of a protein through the amino acid motif within the region of p53 represented by amino acids 16-30 QETFSDLWKLLPENN (SEQ ID NO:1) of the human p53 protein. An example of such a protein is the oncogene protein MDM2 (human MDM2).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Inactivation of the p53 tumour suppressor is a frequent event in human neoplasia. The inactivation can occur by mutation of the p53 gene or through binding to viral or cellular oncogene proteins, such as the SV40 large T antigen and MDM2. While the mechanism through which wild-type p53 suppresses tumour cell growth is as yet poorly defined it is clear that one key feature of the growth suppression is the property of p53 to act as a transcription factor (Farmer, G., et al. (1992). Nature, 358, 83-86; Funk, W. D. et al. (1992). Mol. Cell. Biol., 12, 2866-2871; Kern, S. E., et al. (1992). Science, 256, 827-830). Currently, considerable effort is being made to identify growth control genes that are regulated by p53 binding to sequence elements near or within these genes. A number of such genes have been identified. In cases such as the muscle creatine kinase gene (Weintraub, H., et al. (1991). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 88, 4570-4571; Zambetti, G. P., et al. (1992). Genes Dev., 6, 1143-1152) and a GLN retroviral element (Zauberman, A., et al. (1993). Embo J., 12, 2799-2808) the role these genes might play in the suppression of growth control is unclear. Yet there are other examples, namely mdm2 (Barak, Y., et al. (1993). Embo J., 12, 461-468; Wu, X., et al. (1993). Genes Dev., 7, 1126-1132) GADD 45 (Kastan, M. B., et al. (1992). Cell, 71, 587-597) and WAF1 or CIP1 (El-Beiry, W. S., et al. (1993). Cell, 75, 817-825; Harper, J. W., et al. (1993). Cell., 75, 805-816) where their involvement in the regulation of cell growth is better understood.
In the present text "mdm2" refers to the oncogene and "MDM2" refers to the protein obtained as a result of expression of that gene.
Mdm2, a known oncogene, was originally found on mouse double minute chromosomes (Cahilly-Snyder., L., et al. (1987) Somatic Cell Mol. Genet. 13, 235-244). Its protein product was subsequently found to form a complex with p53, which was first observed in a rat fibroblast cell line (Clone 6) previously transfected with a temperature sensitive mouse p53 gene (Michalovitz, D., et al. (1990). Cell, 62, 671-680). The rat cell line grew well at 37° C. but exhibited a G1 arrest when shifted down to 32° C., which was entirely consistent with an observed temperature dependent switch in p53 conformation and activity. However, the p53-MDM2 complex was only observed in abundance at 32° C., at which temperature p53 was predominantly in a functional or "wild-type" form (Barak, Y. et al. (1992). Embo J., 11, 2115-2121 and Oren, 1992; Momand, J., et al. (1992). Cell, 69, 1237-1245). By shifting the rat cell line down to 32° C. and blocking de novo protein synthesis it was shown that only "wild-type" p53 induced expression of the mdm2 gene, thereby accounting for the differential abundance of the complex in terms of p53 transcriptional activity (Barak, Y., et al. (1993). Embo J., 12, 461-468) The explanation was further developed by the identification of a DNA binding site for wild-type p53 within the first intron of the mdm2 gene (Wu, X., et al. (1993). Genes Dev., 7, 1126-1132). Reporter constructs employing this p53 DNA binding site revealed that they were inactivated when wild-type p53 was co-expressed with MDM2.
This inhibition of the transcriptional activity of p53 may be caused by MDM2 blocking the activation domain of p53 and/or the DNA binding site. Consequently, it was proposed that mdm2 expression is autoregulated, via the inhibitory effect of MDM2 protein on the transcriptional activity of wild-type p53. This p53-mdm2 autoregulatory feedback loop provided a novel insight as to how cell growth might be regulated by p53. Up to a third of human sarcomas are considered to overcome p53-regulated growth control by amplification of the mdm2 gene (Oliner, J. D., et al. (1992). Nature, 358, 80-83). Hence the interaction between p53 and MDM2 represents a key potential therapeutic target.
The cDNA sequence encoding the human MDM2 protein (which is also referred to as "HDM2" in the art) is known from WO93/20238. This application also discloses that human MDM2 protein binds with human p53 and it has been suggested that molecules which inhibit the binding of MDM2 to p53 would be therapeutic by alleviating the sequestration of p53. However it is also suggested that the p53 and MDM2 binding site is extensive, including amino acid residues 13-41 of p53 as well an additional nine to thirteen residues at either the amino or carboxyl terminal side of the peptide are also involved. This would indicate that a large polypeptide or other large molecule would be required in order to significantly interfere with the binding.
The applicants have therefore sought to immunochemically characterize the p53-MDM2 complex, and also determine in fine detail the MDM2 binding site on p53.
Surprisingly, it has been found that only a relatively small number of amino acids within the p53 protein are involved in binding to MDM2.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The precise identification of this binding site is vital to allow the rational design of molecules which will disrupt or prevent binding between p53 and MDM2 or proteins containing analogous p53 binding sites. In addition it allows for the design of screening procedures which will enable compounds which can disrupt or prevent the binding interaction to be accurately and rapidly identified.
The applicants have found that the site on the p53 protein which is responsible for binding to MDM2 is a small sequence of only six amino acids, of which three amino acids have been found to be critical. This sequence is represented by the sequence TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:2) in human (amino acids 18-23 in the sequence) and TFSGLW (SEQ ID NO:3) (amino acids 18-23) in mouse, of which the critical amino acids appear to be F-LW. By disrupting or preventing p53 from binding in this specific region, the deleterious effects of binding to MDM2 or proteins having an analogous p53 binding site can be avoided. Proteins having a p53 binding site which is analogous to that of MDM2 will generally comprise oncogene proteins which bind to p53 through the amino acid motif within the region of p53 represented by amino acids 16-30 (QETFSDLWKLLPENN) (SEQ ID NO:1) of the human p53 protein.
This finding has recently been reinforced by a report that two components of the transcriptional machinery, namely TAFII140 and TAFII60, require Leu-22 and Trp-23 for them to bind to p53 and mediate p53 transcriptional activity (Thut-CJ, et al., 1995, Science 267:100-4). The same two amino acids of p53 are critical for the binding of MDM2 as disclosed above as well as Ad E1b, thus strengthening the hypothesis that MDM2 and E1b act by binding to p53 and blocking the transcriptional activity of p53.
Hence the present invention provides a method for interfering with the binding between p53 and MDM2 or an oncogene protein having an analogous p53 binding site, which method comprises administering a effective amount of a compound, selected from the group consisting of a peptide having up to twenty eight amino acids which is able to disrupt or prevent the binding between p53 and MDM2, or a functional peptide analogue thereof.
It may be expected that small peptides, for example of from 4 to 10 amino acids, suitably from five to 10 amino acids, or peptide analogues thereof would be particularly suitable in such a process. Peptides which would be of particular interest are those which show a consensus with the fragment of p53 which has been found to be crucial for binding. Such peptides include fragments of p53 protein which includes at least some of amino acids 18-23 within the sequence of human p53, as identified in WO93/20238 or a peptide analogue thereof. Suitably these peptides are those which are circular, linear or derivatised to achieve better penetration of membranes.
Novel peptides or peptide analogues of this type form a further aspect of the invention.
Hence preferred peptides include the sequence FxxLW (SEQ ID NO:4) such as TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO: 2) or a portion thereof. As used herein, `x` refers to any amino acid. In a preferred embodiment, an aspartate residue in the sequence is replaced by a glutamate residue so that the sequence is FXELW (SEQ ID NO:5) such as TFSELW (SEQ ID NO:6).
Other compounds which may interfere with the binding include organic compounds which are modelled to achieve the same three dimensional structure as the said region of the p53 peptide. Hence in an alternative embodiment the invention provides an organic compound which is modelled to resemble the three dimensional structure of the amino acids represented by the sequence F-LW (SEQ ID NO:4) as it appears in human p53 in the region of amino acids 19-23 and which binds to human MDM2. In particular the organic compound may be modelled to resemble the three dimensional structure of the sequence TFSDLW as it appears in the region of amino acides 18-23 of human p53.
A suitable oncogene protein is MDM2 but the disruption of binding of p53 to other oncogene proteins containing a p53 binding site analogous to that of MDM2 are included within the scope of the present invention. Examples of other such oncogene proteins include the adenovirus EIB 58kD protein, the Tata box binding protein TBP and the transcription factor of the E2F family.
As used herein the expression `peptide analogue` prefers to peptide variants or organic compounds having the same functional activity as the peptide in question, in particular which interfere with the binding between p53 and MDM2. Examples of such analogues will include chemical compounds which are modelled to resemble the three dimensional structure of the sequence TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:2) and in particular the arrangement of the F-LW (SEQ ID NO:4) amino acids as they appear in human p53, which compounds bind to human MDM2.
Suitable modelling techniques are known in the art. This includes the design of so-called `mimetics` which involves the study of the functional interactions of the molecules and the design of compounds which contain functional groups arranged in such a manner that they could reproduce those interactions.
The designing of mimetics to a known pharmaceutically active compound is a known approach to the development of pharmaceuticals based on a "lead" compound. This might be desirable where the active compound is difficult or expensive to synthesise or where it is unsuitable for a particular method of administration, eg peptides are unsuitable active agents for oral compositions as they tend to be quickly degraded by proteases in the alimentary canal. Mimetic design, synthesis and testing is generally used to avoid randomly screening large number of molecules for a target property.
There are several steps commonly taken in the design of a mimetic from a compound having a given target property. Firstly, the particular parts of the compound that are critical and/or important in determining the target property are determined. In the case of a peptide, this can be done by systematically varying the amino acid residues in the peptide, eg by substituting each residue in turn. These parts or residues constituting the active region of the compound are known as its "pharmacophore".
Once the pharmacophore has been found, its structure is modelled to according its physical properties, eg stereochemistry, bonding, size and/or charge, using data from a range of sources, eg spectroscopic techniques, X-ray diffraction data and NMR. Computational analysis, similarity mapping (which models the charge and/or volume of a pharmacophore, rather than the bonding between atoms) and other techniques can be used in this modelling process.
In a variant of this approach, the three-dimensional structure of the ligand and its binding partner are modelled. This can be especially useful where the ligand and/or binding partner change conformation on binding, allowing the model to take account of this the design of the mimetic.
A template molecule is then selected onto which chemical groups which mimic the pharmacophore can be grafted. The template molecule and the chemical groups grafted on to it can conveniently be selected so that the mimetic is easy to synthesise, is likely to be pharmacologically acceptable, and does not degrade in vivo, while retaining the biological activity of the lead compound. The mimetic or mimetics found by this approach can then be screened to see whether they have the target property, or to what extent they exhibit it. Further optimisation or modification can then be carried out to arrive at one or more final mimetics for in vivo or clinical testing.
In order to identify compounds which are useful in the above described methods, compounds may be screened for interference of the MDM2/p53 interaction. Suitably screening methods would be based upon observations with regard to compounds which interfere with the binding between peptides which comprise or represent the binding site of an oncogene protein such as MDM2 and p53, based upon the information regarding said binding site given herein. Such methods include immunoassay techniques such as radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) which are well known in the art. Particularly suitable techniques are competitive assay techniques where a peptide or reagent which either is or represents one of the peptides or reagents which either is or represents either p53 or the oncogene protein is exposed to a compound under test and the other one of the peptides or reagents which either is or represents either p53 or the oncogene protein. The presence of bound complex is then detected. This may be achieved either by labelling of the said one of said peptides or reagent for example using a gold or other visible label, or by administering a labelled antibody or sequence of antibodies, one of which includes a label, in a conventional manner. Suitable antibodies for example for MDM2 and p53 are described herein. Suitably one of the peptides or reagents representing p53 or the oncogene protein is immobilised on a support.
Hence the invention further provides a method of identifying compounds which interfere with the binding of human MDM2 to human p53,said method comprising
immobilising a first peptide molecule,
adding a compound to be tested and a second peptide molecule; detecting the presence of bound second peptide at the immobilisation site;
wherein one of the first peptide or second peptide is MDM2 or an oncogene protein having a p53 binding site analogous to that of MDM2 or a fragment thereof which includes said binding site, and the other is a fragment of human p53 of from five to twenty eight amino acids including the amino acid residues FxxLW (SEQ ID NO:4) or a peptide analogue thereof.
A immunoassay for detecting binding is illustrated hereinafter.
A biotinylated peptide containing the MDM2 binding site fo p53 from amino acids 16-25 (or smaller peptides as described above containing for example TFSDLW) (SED ID NO:2) would be immobilised on a streptavidin coated ELISA plate. Recombinant MDM2 protein would be added to these ELISA plates in the presence of absence of test compounds or agents. This would then be incubated for 2 hours at 4° C. Bound MDM2 would be detected by a standard ELISA procedure. The inhibitory or stimulatory effect of these reagents would be determined by reference to control wells in which no such test compounds were included. Further experimental details are as described hereinafter and the binding assay is illustrated in FIG. 7.
The invention includes quantitative assays. For example there is provided a method of identifying compounds which interfere with the binding of human MDM2 to human p53, said method comprising binding a predetermined quantity of a first peptide which is detectably labelled to a peptide, adding a compound to be tested; and determining the quantity of the first protein which is displaced from or prevented from binding to the second peptide, wherein one of the first peptide or the second peptide is MDM2 or a peptide having a p53 binding site analogous to that of MDM2, and the other is a fragment of human p53 of from six to twenty eight amino acids including the amino acid residues 18-23 in the sequence of human p53 as set out in WO93/20238, or a peptide analogue thereof.
Assays which include fragments of p53 including the MDM2 binding site as characterised above, or peptide analogues thereof form a further part of the invention. The assay may be formulated as a kit which also forms part of the invention. A particularly useful form of the assay would be one which was adapted to test levels of oncogene protein in biological samples. Such a kit would comprise a fragment of p53 or a peptide analogue as binding agent thereof together with an antibody which is specific for the oncogene protein such as MDM2. Alternatively antibodie(s) able to detect bound complex may be included in the kit.
This could be used in diagnosis to measure the levels of oncogene protein or MDM2 in blood samples in the case of leukaemias or solid carcinomas such as sarcomas and glioblastomas.
Suitably in the above described assay methods, the oncogene protein is human MDM2 and the other protein comprises a fragment of human p53 of from 12 to 28 amino acids including the sequence TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:2).
The methods can be readily adapted to provide a high throughput screen, for example by carrying out the process in a 96-well format. Automated screening techniques can be applied in these circumstances as would be understood in the art. Compounds from various sources can be screened in large numbers. One potential source of compounds are the available synthetic combinatorial peptide libraries.
The use of compounds identified by this screening method in the treatment of tumours forms a further aspect of the invention.
Methods of treatment of conditions such as cancer and other malignancies are envisaged by the administration of the compounds of the invention.
Hence the invention also provides a method for inhibiting the growth of tumour cells which contain a human MDM2 gene amplification which method comprises administering a effective amount of a compound which interferes with the binding between pS3 and an MDM2, said compound being selected from the group consisting of a peptide having up to twenty eight amino acids which is able to disrupt or prevent the binding between p53 and MDM2, or a functional peptide analogue thereof.
Preferably in the above-described method of treatment, the compound is a peptide of from six to twenty eight amino acids which has a consensus with a region of human p53 and includes the sequence FxxLW (SEQ ID NO:4) for example TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:2).
Alternatively, the compound used in the method is peptide analogue such as an organic compound which binds to the same site on MDM2 as the sequence TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:2).
For use in these applications, the compounds are suitably applied in the form of compositions with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers. These may be solid or liquid for carriers and the compositions suitable for oral or parenteral application as would be understood in the art. Dosages of the compounds will depend upon the patient, the particular condition and the nature of the specific compound chosen. For example, when the compound is a peptide fragment dosages of from 0.1 to 10 mg/Kg may be effective.
It has been suggested (Picksley and Lane. (1993). Bioessays. 15, 10, 689-690) that mdm2 expression is autoregulated in a feedback loop, via the inhibitory effect of MDM2 protein on the transcriptional activity of wild-type p53. Any interference with the binding between p53 and MDM2 in accordance with the present invention, will affect the p53-MDM2 autoregulatory loop. Given p53's role as guardian of the genome, compounds which have such an effect could enhance the activity of other therapeutic agents.
Hence in a further aspect the invention comprises a pharmaceutical composition comprising synergistic amount of a compound of the invention in combination with another anticancer therapeutic agent.
DNA encoding an MDM2-binding, p53 derived peptide, or multiple copies thereof may also be administered to tumour cells as a mode of administering the peptide. Hence the invention provides a method for inhibiting the growth of tumour cells which contain a human MDM2 gene amplification, the method comprising applying to said tumour cells a DNA molecule which expresses a polypeptide comprising a portion of p53 or a variant thereof, said portion comprising amino acids 18-23 of p53, said polypeptide being capable of binding to human MDM2.
The DNA will typically be in an expression construct, such as a retrovirus, DNA virus, or plasmid-vector, which has the DNA elements necessary for expression properly positioned to achieve expression of MDM2-binding peptide. The DNA can be administered inter alia encapsulated in liposomes, or in any other form known to the art to achieve efficient uptake by cells.
By identifying the binding site so specifically, the applicants have opened up the possibility of making small therapeutic compounds which will target this site specifically. This is advantageous since small molecules are more likely to be able to penetrate into a cell and hence be therapeutically active. Furthermore the diagnostic process can be effected more accurately and using simpler molecules as a result of this discovery.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A-1B show Western blots of immunoprecipitates of MDM2, p53 and the MDM2-p53 complex obtained from Clone 6 cells.
FIGS. 2A-2B are graphs showing the results of two-site immunoassays to determine the levels of MDM2, p53 and MDM2-p53 complex in Clone 6 cells grown at 32° C. for 24 hours (A) or continuously at 37° C. (B).
FIGS. 3A-3C are graphs showing the results of binding MDM2 to a peptide library as determined by ELISA assay using monoclonal antibody 4B2. The library of human and mouse p53 had been challenged with insect cell extract alone (SF9) and insect cell extract expressing mouse MDM2 (SF9 Mus MDM2. The results of peptides numbers 3-50 of the N-terminal to mid region of human p53 are shown in 3A, and the remainder of the human p53 amino acid sequence and the N-terminal sequence of mouse p53 in 3B. 3C shows the results from a control experiment using certain peptides from B in order to verify the specificity of the detecting antibody 4B2.
FIG. 4 identifies the peptide sequences to which MDM2 bound (SEQ ID NOS:1, 20-22), and defines the consensus binding site on human and mouse p53. (SEQ ID NOS:11, 12).
FIGS. 5A-5C show the key residues required for binding MDM2, antibody DO-1 and antibody Bp53-19 respectively (SEQ ID NOS:17, 22-33).
FIG. 6 shows the level of binding between MDM2 and a series of peptides based upon the sequence of amino acids 18-23 of p53 (SEQ ID NOS:11, 23-50).
FIG. 7 illustrates an immunoassay procedure of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The first indication of an interaction between MDM2 protein and p53 protein emerged from work on a rat cell line, Clone 6, which expressed a temperature sensitive mutant form of mouse p53 (Barak and Oren, 1992; Michalovitz, D., et al. (1990). Cell, 62, 671-680; Momand, J., et al. (1992). Cell, 69, 1237-1245). MDM2 was readily observed to form a complex at 32° C. with p53 but was just detectable when cells were grown at 37° C.
The formation of a p53-MDM2 complex in Clone 6 cells at 32° C. and 37° C. was re-examined in a quantitative manner. The results confirm previous immunoprecipitation observations that the level of MDM2 at the lower temperature is significantly elevated, approximately 10-30 fold greater than that at 37° C., at which temperature MDM2 is only just detectable. Consequently, the p53-MDM2 complex is readily observed at 32° C. and not at 37° C. The levels of p53 also vary at the two different temperatures. However, the p53 levels are elevated approximately five fold at 37° C. as compared with that at 32° C., --the opposite behaviour to that of MDM2. Accordingly, the difference in the levels of p53 and MDM2 are likely to have alternative explanations. In the case of MDM2 other groups have established that the increase of MDM2 at 32° C. is due to increased transcription of MDM2 due to a conformational change in p53 to a presumed transcriptional active form (Barak, Y., et al. (1993).
Embo J., 12, 461-468; Wu, X., et al. (1993). Genes Dev., 7, 1126-1132). The same explanation does not apply for p53 even though wild type p53 is required for p53 expression (Deffie, A., et al. G. (1993). Mol. Cell. Biol., 13, 3415-3423), and is probably explained by the increased half life of the mutant conformation of p53 at 37° C. (Gannon J. V. et al (1991) Nature, 349, 802-806). Data described herein after using both direct observation of the p53-MDM2 complex by ELISA and immunoprecipitation combined with the indirect inference of the loss of the Bp53-19 epitope suggested that nearly all p53 molecules are complexed to excess MDM2 protein in C6 cells at 32° C. This is not consistent with the powerful p53 dependant transcriptional response seen in these cells at this temperature and suggests that either that complexing to MDM2 is unable to completely inactivate p53 in vivo or that small amounts of "free" p53 may be very active. The complex between p53 and MDM2 may be regulated in cells to release functional p53 at the individual cell level perhaps as a cell cycle dependant response.
The present invention is based upon the identification of the minimal MDM2 binding site to be TFSD/GLW (SEQ ID NOS:11, 23-50). This site is in a location broadly reported by other groups to be the MDM2 binding domain of p53, specifically aa1-41 and 13-57 (Oliner, J. D., et al. (1993). Nature, 362, 857-860), aa1-52 (Chen, J., et al. (1993). Mol Cell Biol, 13, 4107-14) and aa1-59 (Brown, D. R., et al. (1993). Mol. Cell. Biol., 13, 6849-57.) Notably, a construct generated by Oliner and co-workers encompassing aa13-41 of p53 was not sufficient for MDM2 binding in a three hybrid protein system, and differs from our observations. The disparity might be explained by the close proximity of the fusion protein sequence adjacent to the TFSDGLW sequence at aa18-23 as the present data does show that flanking sequences do contribute in a minor way to MDM2 binding. The TFSD/GLW sequence is very closely adjacent to the transactivation domain aa20-42 (Unger, T., et al. (1992). Embo J., 11, 1383-1390), and as shown by others the binding of MDM2 to this site interferes with the transcriptional activity of p53 (Oliner, J. D., et al. (1993). Nature, 362, 857-860). While substitution analysis of the MDM2 binding site on p53 identified the TFSD/GLW sequence (SEQ ID NOS:2, 3, and 7) to be the key region required for MDM2 to bind p53, other residues flanking this site also contribute in a minor way to MDM2 binding, but clearly the TFSD/GLW sequence (SEQ ID NOS:2, 3, and 7) is a minimal target for agents that might disrupt complex formation without effecting the transactivation activity (for which as yet the key residues are undetermined). The first two residues TF are part of the conserved box I, and the latter four SD/GLW (SEQ ID NOS:8, 9) are outside but are also part of a region of p53 that is conserved from Xenopus to man.
The corresponding binding site on MDM2 for p53 has variously been reported to be between aa1-121, 19-102 (Chen, J., et al. (1993). Mol. Cell. Biol., 13, 4107-14) together with aa102-294 or 249-491, and also 1-221 (Brown, D. R., et al. (1993). Mol. Cell. Biol., 13, 6849-57). Notably, a monoclonal antibody against the N-terminal region of human MDM2, 3G5 (maps at aa59-89) is able to immunoprecipitate MDM2 but not co-immunoprecipitate p53 (Chen, J., et al. (1993). Mol Cell Biol, 13, 4107-14), an analogous observation to our findings with antibody Bp53-19.
The binding of MDM2 to p53 peptides has obvious parallels to a similar study that used small peptides to identify the binding sites of Adenovirus E1A and human papilloma virus E7 for a range of proteins including retino-blastoma protein, p107, cyclin A and p130 (Dyson, N., et al. (1992a). J. Virol., 66, 4606-4611). The MDM2 binding site on p53, appears to be a single domain rather than two domains as in the case of E1A and E7. The MDM2 binding site on p53 overlaps precisely with a highly immunogenic epitope on the protein; many independently isolated monoclonal antibodies to p53 recognise the site, and antibodies to it are present in the sera of cancer patients (Schlichtholtz, B., et al. (1993). Cancer Res., 52, 6380-6384). This suggests that it has an exposed and defined structure. It is possible that the amino acid sequence of the complementarity determining regions of these antibodies will show homology to the p53 binding site of MDM2. It also suggests that anti-p53 antibodies used to examine p53 levels where high levels of MDM2 are present must be chosen with care. Binding of MDM2 to this site may be regulated by phosphorylation since there is a DNA-dependent kinase site at serine 20 (Less-Miller, S. P. et al. (1990). Mol. Cell. Biol., 10, 6472-6481) and other phosphorylation sites at serine 6, 9 and 15 (Samad, A., et al. (1986). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 83, 897-901; Meek, D.W. et al. (1988). Mol. Cell. Biol., 8, 461-465; Meek and Eckhardt, 1988).
The following examples are provided to exemplify various aspects of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
In these examples, the following materials and methods were used.
Materials and Methods
Cell Culture
Clone 6 cells (Michalovitz et al., 1990) were grown in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% FCS at either 32 or 37° C. The Spododoptera frugiperda cell line, SF9, was grown at 27° C. in ExCell 400 medium (J. R. H. Biosciences, Sera-Lab, UK) supplemented with 5% FCS and glutamine.
Expression of MDM2 in Insect Cells
The mouse mdm2 gene was obtained from a mouse prostate cell line (Lu et al., 1992) by polymerase chain reaction and then cloned into a Spododoptera frugiperda expression vector pVL1393 using standard DNA and baculovirus expression techniques. An expression clone was identified by the production of a 90-95kDa protein that was recognized by anti-MDM2 antibodies.
Antibodies
p53 protein was detected using the polyclonal sera CM1 (Midgley, C. A., et al. (1992). J. Cell. Sci., 101, 183-189), or monoclonal antibodies PAb421 (Harlow E et al., (1981) J. Virol., 39, 861-869) and Bp53-19 (Bartek J., et al (1993). J. Pathol., 169, 27-34). MDM2 was detected using rabbit anti-MDM2 polyclonal sera (Barak, Y., et al. (1993). Embo J., 12, 461-468) or monoclonal antibody 4B2 (Chen et al., 1993) and SMP14 (a previously unreported monoclonal antibody raised by us against a peptide, CSRPSTSSRRRAISE (SEQ ID NO:10), containing part of the human MDM2 sequence from aal54 to 167 (Oliner, J. D., et al. (1992). Nature, 358, 80-83) the first cysteine is not part of the MDM2 sequence but was added to provide an extra coupling option). An antibody, PAb419, raised against SV40 large T antigen (Harlow, E., et al. (1981). J. Virol., 39, 861-869) was used as an irrelevant control for immunoprecipitations.
Immunoprecipitation
Cells were lysed in ice-cold NET buffer (50 mM Tris-HCI, pH8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 1% NP40) containing 1 mM phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride, for 30 min at 4° C. Debris was removed from the cell extract by centrifugation at 14,000 rpm in a refridgerated Eppendorf centrifuge. The immunoprecipitation procedure was essentially as previously described (Gannon, J. V., et al. (1990). Embo J., 9, 1595-1602) using 1 μg of purified mouse monoclonal antibody, and Protein G Sepharose beads (Pharmacia) for both pre-absorption of the cell extracts and subsequent isolation of the antibody-protein complex.
Screening of p53 Peptide Library
Peptide libraries of the entire human p53 protein and a partial N-terminal region of the mouse p53 protein was obtained from Chiron Mimotopes P/L (Victoria, Australia).
The libraries were in the form of 15 mer peptides linked to biotin via an additional peptide spacer region of serine-glycine-serine-glycine, and each peptide shared a 5 amino acid overlap with the previous peptide in the primary sequence. ELISA plates were coated with 100 μof 5 μg/ml streptavidin (vector labs) per well and incubated overnight at 37° C. and then blocked with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA) for 1 hour at room temperature. The stock biotinylated peptides were diluted to 5 μg/ml in PBS containing 0.1 BSA and 50 μl of each were plated into designed wells and then incubated at room temperature for 1 hour. The plates were washed four times with PBS containing 0.1% Tween 20 before addition of the cell extract (50 μl of 1-4 mg/ml per well) or purified protein. The plates were incubated at 4° C. for 2-3 hours, before washing four times with PBS containing 0.1% Tween 20 to remove unbound protein. In the case of cell extracts bound protein was detected with the appropriate primary antibody at 1-3 μg/ml, and followed by an anti-mouse horse radish peroxidase conjugate and 3'3'4'4'-tetramethyl benzidine (TMB) substrate as in the standard ELISA assay (Harlow, E., et al (1988). Antibodies: a laboratory manual. New York. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press and Lane, 1988).
The levels of p53, MDM2, and complexes thereof were determined by a two site immunoassay using stated antibodies. Mouse monoclonal antibodies were used as the solid phase by incubating Falcon microtitre dish wells with 50 μl of a 30 μg/ml solution of purified antibody overnight at 4° C. The plates were blocked with 2% bovine serum albumin in PBS for 2 h at room temperature, and washed with PBS. Cell extracts were prepared as described for immunoprecipitations and then serially two-fold diluted before adding 50 μl per well and incubating at 4° C. for two hours. The plates were then washed with 0.1% NP-40 in PBS, before addition of 50 μl of detecting polyclonal antisera at 1/1000dilution. The plates were washed again with 0.1% NP-40 in PBS and 50 μl of 1/1000 dilution peroxidase conjugated swine anti-rabbit Ig serum (DAKO) was added for 2 h, then visualised by the TMB reaction.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
Immunoprecipitation of MDM2, p53 and the MDM2-p53 Complex
The observation that the rat cell line, Clone 6 expressed a temperature sensitive mutant form of mouse p53 was reexamined using a panel of p53 monoclonal antibodies.
Western blots were obtained of immunoprecipitates of MDM2, p53 and the MDM2-p53 complex from Clone 6 cells grown at 32° C. for 24 hrs (FIG. 1A) or continuously at 37° C. (FIG. 1B). The immunoprecipitates were obtained using 1 g of purified antibody which were as follows: in lanes 1 and 4,--PAb421; in lanes 2 and 5,--Bp53-19; and in lanes 3 and 6,--4B2. MDM2 was detected in lanes 1, 2 and 3 using SMP14 antibody supernatant and rabbit anti-mouse horse radish peroxidase conjugate; and p53 detected in lanes 4, 5 and 6 using a 1 in 200 dilution of DM-1 and swine anti-rabbit horse radish peroxidase conjugate. An irrelevant antibody, PAb419, did not immunopecipitate either MDM2 or p53 from cell extracts prepared at either 32° C. or 37° C. (data not shown). The molecular weight of the markers are given in kDa.
It was surprisingly found that one of the antibodies, Bp53-19, failed to immunoprecipitate p53 from Clone C6 cells grown at 32° C. for 24 hours , but efficiently precipitated p53 from cells grown continuously at 37° C. (compare FIG. 1A track 5 with FIG. 1B track 5), whereas PAb421 precipitated p53 at both temperatures (FIG. 1A track 4 and 1B track 4). Investigations were then carried out to determine whether Bp53-19 would co-immunoprecipitate MDM2 with p53. From the immunoprecipitation western data in FIG. 1A and 1B it is clear that Bp53-19 does not co-immunoprecipitate MDM2 from cell extracts grown at 32 or 37° C. (track 2 in FIG. 1A and B). Other p53 antibodies such as PAb421 do however co-immunoprecipitate MDM2 with p53 at 32° C. but not at 37° C. (track 1 FIGS. 1A and B). Conversely, antibodies against MDM2 such as 4B2, FIG. 1, and SMP14 (data not shown) co-immunoprecipitate p53 at 32° C. but not at 37° C. (track 6 FIGS. 1A and B). The two bands recognized by 4B2 (and SMP14) at just below 80 kDa are truncated forms of rat MDM2, as full length migrates on an SDS-PAGE gel with an apparent relative molecular mass of 90 kDa, multiple forms of MDM2 are often observed (Chen, J., et al. (1993). Mol Cell Biol, 13, 4107-14).
Example 2
Two-site Immunoassay to Determine Levels of MDM2, p53 and MDM2-p53 Complex
Two-site immunoassays were carried out to determine the levels of MDM2, p53 and MDM2-pS3 complex in Clone 6 cells grown at 32° C. for 24 hrs (FIG. 2A) or continuously at 37° C. (FIG. 2B). In FIG. 2A the coating antibodies were one of the following purified antibodies as stated in the figure legends: 4B2, 421 and Bp53-19, probed with rabbit anti-p53 serum CM1 or rabbit anti-MDM2 serum, and then detected using swine anti-rabbit horse radish peroxidase conjugate and TMB as substrate. At 37° C. the MDM2-p53 complex was undetectable by any combination of antibodies.
The two-site immunoassays of the levels of MDM2, p53 and MDM2-p53 complex at 32° C. and 37° C. are consistent with the immunoprecipitation results of Example 1. A striking feature apparent from the data in FIG. 2A is that the levels of p53 and p53-MDM2 complex are very similar suggesting that most, but not all, p53 is in complex with MDM2 at 32° C. The inability of BpS3-19 to detect a p53-MDM2 complex at 32° C. is again notable since other combinations of antibodies are able to do so.
From comparison of the two-site immunoassays at 32° C. and 37° C. it is clear why MDM2 is not immunoprecipated at 37° C., as the levels of MDM2 protein are very much lower and are only just detectable. No MDM2-p53 complex could be detected by the two-site immunoassay of cell extracts prepared at 37° C., see FIG. 2B, where the data for the 4B2 (as the capture antibody) and CM1 (as the detecting antibody) combination of antibodies is shown (similarly antibodies PAb421 or Bp53-19 and rabbit anti-MDM2 polyclonal did not detect the complex). The diminished level of MDM2 at 37° C., less than 10% of that at 32° C., is in contrast to the situation with p53 which is elevated approximately 5 fold relative to the levels at 32° C.
The explanation for the ability of PAb421 and 4B2 only being able to coprecipitate p53 and MDM2 together at 32° C., but not at 37° C. is consistent with difference in levels of MDM2 at the two temperatures, and also with the published observations that mdm2 expression is dependent on the "wild-type" form of p53 predominantly present at 32° C.
The failure of Bp53-19 to co-immunoprecipitate MDM2 or detect the p53-MDM2 complex at 32° C. is unexpected for two reasons. Firstly, the two-site assay suggests there is MDM2 protein in excess, which is able to form complexes with p53 as detected by the capturing antibodies PAb421 and 4B2. Secondly, the two-site immunoassay at 37° C. suggests that Bp53-19 is almost as efficient as PAb421 at recognizing p53 in the cell extracts. The simplest interpretation for this observation is that BpS3-19 recognizes the same region on p53 that MDM2 binds to.
Example 3
Identification of MDM2-p53 Binding Site
It has previously been shown that Bp53-19 and MDM2 interact with the amino acid terminal end of p53 (Stephen et al manuscript in preparation; Oliner, J. D., et al. (1993). Nature, 362, 857-860). A complete peptide library of the human p53 protein, and a partial peptide library of the mouse p53 protein were available to identify the region to which MDM2 binds. The human p53 sequence starts at peptide number 3 and ends at peptide 79, and each peptide consists of 15 amino acids, with the last five amino acids being present in the next peptide along. The mouse p53 sequence is partial and consists of the N-terminal sequence from amino acid 1-92, again each overlapping the next and previous peptide by five amino acids.
These libraries consisted of 15 amino acid long sections of the p53 primary amino acid sequence, that consecutively overlapped by 5 amino acids, and were each attached to biotin via a 4 amino acid long spacer. By immobilizing the biotinylated peptides on streptavidin coated ELISA plates the MDM2 binding site on p53 could be quickly identified if it was encompassed within a stretch of fifteen amino acids or less. Extract containing MDM2 was added to an ELISA plate with the peptide library bound to it, and the bound MDM2 protein was later detected using monoclonal antibody 4B2 and the standard ELISA assay. Several sources of recombinant MDM2 protein were used to challenge the p53 library, these included crude extracts and partially purified preparations of human and mouse MDM2 expressed in E.coli and also mouse MDM2 expressed in insect cells; --all forms identified the same peptides in the p53 library. The results using the mouse MDM2 expressed in insect cells are shown in FIGS. 3A and B. The peptide library was challenged with insect cell extract alone, SF9, and insect cell extract expressing mouse MDM2, SF9 Mus MDM2. Binding of MDM2 to the peptides was determined by an ELISA assay using monoclonal antibody 4B2, and then detecting bound antibody with rabbit anti-mouse Ig conjugated horse radish peroxidase and TMB substrate. In FIG. 3C is shown the results from a control experiment using peptides 59, 71, 83 and 95, as used in FIG. 3B but conducted in the presence or absence of extract to verify the specificity of the detecting antibody, 4B2. The results are presented alongside the ELISA readings for extract of insect cells alone not expressing mouse MDM2. The specificity is remarkable, --suggesting a strong interaction between MDM2 and p53 derived peptides. From the controls shown in FIG. 3C it can be seen that the binding is only observed in the presence of extract expressing MDM2, and is not due to the antibody recognizing the peptide alone, moreover identical results were obtained using SMP14 as the primary detecting antibody (data not shown).
The four peptides that bind MDM2 are shown in FIG. 4. Peptides 5 and 6 identify a site at the N-terminal end of human p53, whereas peptides 83 and 84 identify the corresponding region in the N-terminal end of mouse p53. Collectively, these four peptides define the consensus MDM2 binding site on p53 to be --QETFSD/GLWKL (SEQ ID NOS:11, 12), the aspartate to glycine being the only amino acid difference between the human and mouse sequence. The peptides involved in binding MDM2 are also those recognized by the p53 antibodies DO-1 and Bp53-19 (Stephen et al, manuscript in preparation).
To define key residues on p53 that are involved in the interaction with MDM2 a form of the consensus binding site sequence -QETFSDLWKL (SEQ ID NO:11)- was modified by substituting alanine at each position in the sequence and determining what effect this had on the binding of MDM2 from the insect cell extract expressing MDM2. This experiment was conducted in concert with examining the effect on binding of the antibodies DO-1 and Bp53-19. The results are presented in FIG. 5. The amino acid sequences are as stated. In A the sequence QETFSDLWKLLPENN (SEQ ID NO:1) represents the sequence of peptide 6 from FIG. 3 and SPDDIEQWFTEDPGP (SEQ ID NO:13) is an irrelevant peptide control. Formally the first serine residue on the stated peptide is part of the spacer coupling the consensus peptide to biotin, since serin also precedes the consensus p53 sequence this residue was also substituted with alanine. With regard to MDM2 binding all alanine substitutions in the consensus binding site reduce the level of binding as measured by ELISA, however, the key residues would appear to be TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:2) as substitutions in these positions reduce the amount of MDM2 binding to less than 15% of that seen with the unchanged consensus sequence. Interestingly, a higher level of binding of MDM2 is observed to the smaller consensus peptide rather than to peptide 6 (QETFSDLWKLLPENN) (SEQ ID NO:7) of the p53 peptide library reaffirming the definition of the binding site. In the case of monoclonal antibody DO-1 binding to the consensus sequence the key residues are ETFSDLK (SEQ ID NO:14), with D and K being the most crucial. The importance of the aspartate residue to the DO-1 epitope is consistent with the report that DO-1 only recognizes human p53 and not mouse p53,--the only difference being an aspartate to glycine change. While this difference has a critical affect on DO-1 binding it does not grossly affect the interaction of MDM2 Δ with the protein or peptides. However substitution of alanine for aspartate at this position blocks binding of all three protein ligands. The ability of MDM2 to distinguish alanine from either glycine or aspartate at this position may imply that the polar environment of this region of the binding site is critical for the interaction. It has also been established from phage display libraries that the epitope of DO-1 is FSDLWKL (SEQ ID NO:15) (Stephen et al, manuscript in preparation), which is in agreement with our observations on key residues. For the antibody Bp53-19 the alanine substitution series identifies the key residues to be F-DLW (SEQ ID NOS:16)- with the latter three residues being the most crucial, and is similar to the requirements for MDM2 binding to the consensus binding site. Not surprisingly, it was found that the pre-binding of antibody Bp53-19 onto he SQETFSDLWKL (SEQ ID NO:17) biotinylated peptide blocked binding of MDM2 to the peptide when added later (data not shown).
Example 4
Further Characterisation of the p53-MDM2 Binding Site
The process of Example 3 was repeated but using insect cells infected with baculovirus expressing Mus MDM2 from SF9 cells in two 180ml 2 tissue culture flasks. The extract was prepared in approximately three mils of lysisi buffer to give a concentrated supernatant of 13 mg/ml.
As before, the MDM2 binding site was defined by alanine substitution of the p53 derived peptide, SQETFSDLWL (SEQ ID NO:18) and the results are shown in FIG. 6. Additionally other conserved substitutions were tested (i.e those commonly seen in highly conserved proteins of identical function) and the results are also shown in FIG. 6. With a higher protein concentration, (13 mg/ml as opposed to 1-4 mg/ml) the alanine substitution experiment reveals the same six amino acids are important ( 18 TFSDLW 23 ) (SEQ ID NO:2) in addition to glutamate (ETFSDLW) (SEQ ID NO:18). This data however establishes that the most critical residues are F-LW as these are intolerant of both alanine substitutions and some, if not all of the conserved substitutions.
A further interesting observation relates to the fact that substitution of the aspartate residue for the glutamate enhances binding of MDM2, indicating that such a residue may usefully be included in the therapeutic peptides of the invention. This also illustrates that this approach can lead to the discovery of agents that have enhanced binding to MDM2.
Additional References
Dyson, N., et al. (1992b). J. Virol., 66, 6893-6902. Houghten, R. A., et al. (1991). Nature, 354, 84-86. Lu, X., et al (1992). Cell, 70, 153-161.
__________________________________________________________________________# SEQUENCE LISTING - - - - (1) GENERAL INFORMATION: - - (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 50 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1: - - Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Leu Le - #u Pro Glu Asn Asn 1 5 - # 10 - # 15 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 6 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2: - - Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 6 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3: - - Thr Phe Ser Gly Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 5 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4: - - Phe Xaa Xaa Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 5 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5: - - Phe Xaa Glu Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 6 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6: - - Thr Phe Ser Glu Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:7: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 7 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:7: - - Thr Phe Ser Asp Gly Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:8: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 4 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:8: - - Ser Asp Leu Trp 1 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:9: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 4 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:9: - - Ser Gly Leu Trp 1 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:10: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:10: - - Cys Ser Arg Pro Ser Thr Ser Ser Arg Arg Ar - #g Ala Ile Ser Glu 1 5 - # 10 - # 15 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:11: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:11: - - Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Leu 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:12: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:12: - - Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Gly Leu Trp Lys Leu 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:13: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:13: - - Ser Pro Asp Asp Ile Glu Gln Trp Phe Thr Gl - #u Asp Pro Gly Pro 1 5 - # 10 - # 15 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:14: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 7 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:14: - - Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Lys 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:15: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 7 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:15: - - Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Leu 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:16: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 6 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:16: - - Phe Xaa Asp Leu Trp Xaa 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:17: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:17: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:18: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 10 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:18: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Leu 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:19: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 7 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:19: - - Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp 1 5 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:20: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:20: - - Glu Pro Pro Leu Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser As - #p Leu Trp Lys Leu 1 5 - # 10 - # 15 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:21: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:21: - - Pro Leu Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Gly Leu Tr - #p Lys Leu Leu Pro 1 5 - # 10 - # 15 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:22: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 15 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:22: - - Thr Phe Ser Gly Leu Trp Lys Leu Leu Pro Pr - #o Glu Asp Ile Leu 1 5 - # 10 - # 15 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:23: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23: - - Ala Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:24: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:24: - - Ser Ala Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:25: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:25: - - Ser Gln Ala Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:26: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:26: - - Ser Gln Glu Ala Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:27: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:27: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Ala Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:28: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:28: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ala Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:29: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:29: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Ala Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:30: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:30: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Ala Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:31: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:31: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Ala Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:32: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:32: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Ala Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:33: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:33: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Al - #a 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:34: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:34: - - Asp Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:35: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:35: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Asp Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:36: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:36: - - Ser Gln Glu Ser Phe Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:37: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:37: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Ile Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:38: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:38: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Leu Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:39: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:39: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Met Ser Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:40: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:40: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Thr Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:41: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:41: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Pro Asp Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:42: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:42: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Glu Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:43: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:43: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Gln Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:44: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:44: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asn Leu Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:45: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:45: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Met Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:46: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:46: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Ile Trp Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:47: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:47: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Arg Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:48: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:48: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Phe Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:49: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:49: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Asp Leu Tyr Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10 - - - - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:50: - - (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino - #acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: (D) TOPOLOGY: unknown - - (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:50: - - Ser Gln Glu Thr Phe Ser Phe Leu Ile Lys Le - #u 1 5 - # 10__________________________________________________________________________
|
A method for interfering with the binding between p53 and MDM2 or a protein having a p53 binding site analogous to that of MDM2, which method comprises administering a effective amount of a compound, selected from the group consisting of a peptide having up to twenty eight amino acids which is able to disrupt or prevent binding between p53 and MDM2, or a functional peptide analogue thereof.
Compounds for use in the method, methods for detecting such compounds and their application in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors is also described and claimed.
| 0
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.